Evening star., 1928-11-26
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

ing at Botticelli's Spring" said, "It Is
terrible!" What she should have said
was, II think 1t Is terrible!" The whole
thing reminds one of the ancient mar
rative of the man who stood by the rail-
road track as the great train went by
He began to rave about the greatness
of railroad companies. the majesty of
locomotives, etc. Suddenly cinder
got in his eye. Then he began to curse.
But nothing had changed except his
eye.
The standards of living which call
for respect for property, particularly
ones own, are the outgrowth of thou
sands of years of property owning by
the peoples of the world. 1t is based
not only on valuation. no unimportant
matter but also on the difficulty which
most men and women have to secure
anything. 1t would seem that an auto
mobile which cost several hundreds of
dollars would be worth a certain
amount of care, not only by reason OF
it's actual cost in dollars and cents, but
even more because the owner probably
pined for car many months before he
was able to get one. Yet nothing Is
more common than to see the family
f1ivver kept out in the streets day and
night in utter neglect, without any one
to do it reverence.
The same thing applies to houses,
perhaps in a greater degree, since au-
tomobiles are more in the class OF
pleasures than houses, which are re-
garded more as necessities, and 1t is
usual for men to take more pains in
regard to their pleasures than their
necessities. Houses are permitted to go
unpainted until the bare boards show
through, until shingles are worn down
to the grain. Cutters and downspouts
become rusted and full of holes. yet
owners do not think of doing anything
about the matter until the water be-
gins pouring down the side Of the
house.
In the world where most human be-
ings, fortunately or unfortunately for
them. must hew out their own fortunes.
taking every possible advantage of nat
ural talents, the whims of others, the
advantages of the moment and Just
plain luck. it would seem reasonable
for them to hold onto what they get,
in the same way that a mother bird
will fight for her nest, carefully add
ing bits of string and leaves to make
it a softer and better home.
A certain pride in property Is as
much a benefit to be gained from own
ership as the actual possession of the
thing itself. This, too, is based upon
the fact that most ownership. by and
large, is the result Of effort. physical
and mental. The physical care of fur
niture. for instance. gives its owner
more appreciation for beautiful things,
and such appreciation is one of the real
pleasures of life. Two families buy like
quantities and qualities of high-grade
mahogany pieces. In one family the
children are permitted to kick and scuff
everything In the other they are made
to realize, not only the value of fine
things, but also to take a legitimate
pride in keeping beautiful things beauti-
full After a year one home resembles
a pig pen, the other real home. Can
there be any doubt that the children
in the second have actually received,
not only good lessons, but tangible,
measurable appreciation which will be
a part of their lives forever? One would
not ask that such appreciation be
carried to the point of crankineSs. bore
dom or off1ciousness. but simply that it
have a part in every human life. Even
the little girl appreciated this when she
said. Johnny likes his new wagon-he
hasn't ruined 1t yet!'