The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-06-30
Howe About:
Age of Reason
Great Americans
Luck
BY ED HOWE

quake: those who built strong houses
realized that they lived in an earth
quake section-suffered much less than
the occupants Of houses carelessly
thrown together, and neglected after
they were built. There seems no
doubt that carelessness is one of the
very worst of our human sins.
When the age Of reason arrives IL
II ever does we will admit that the
man who goes about turning off I'M
necessary lights left burning by care
less people. is a better man than the
mean persons who left them burning
because the expense is not charged
to them. We will also like better the
string saver. Few families keep a sup
ply of new string OF hand; when
string is needed. it usually comes from
saving woman who has ball in the
drawer of the kitchen table.
A man asks me: who In your opin-
ion are the fifteen greatest living
Americans" have written him | be-
lieve they are comparatively unknown
men; some of them possibly hidden
away in small towns or on farms.
Most of the noted men of the present
have been called to Washington to adj
wise President Hoover or President
Roosevelt in the present emergency.
Not one of them measured up to real
greatness in the recommendations [
have seen in print. My correspondent
also wishes me to prepare list OF
fifteen of the greatest Americans in
all our history. | have only three
clearly in mind: Benjamin Franklin
would head the list, followed by Alex
ander Hamilton and John Adams. II
urged to add other names. possibly
should select John D. Rockefeller, Sr..
]. P Morgan the elder, and Thomas
A Edison. | have never believed
George Washington was truly great,
and doubt Lincoln was. We have
never had great soldier, except pos
sibly some unknown man who never
had a chance Measured by world
standards we have never had a great
literary man. Henry Wallace. grand
father of the present secretary of az
riculture. was country parson and
farmer, and came very near greatness
If an infallible. list of the fifteen
greatest Americans, living or dead,
could be prepared. few would be wide
ly known; perhaps two-thirds of them
not known at all do not believe one
professional politician would be on
the list; several business men might
make it. The manner In which we
marched cheering into the present
American ruin. and the weakness we
displayed In efforts to get out, have
greatly discouraged me as to Ameri-
can greatness.
No little fairy attends any man to
bring him good luck; no little devil
attends any man to bring him bad luck.
In the course of year or life what
baseball players call the good and bad
breaks" are about even. Good breaks
have come to all of us frequently, and
we have not taken proper advantage
of them; frequently we all fail to ham
die bad breaks" as well as we might.
This is the truth, and l know It well,
but what believe is l am the un-
luckiest man In the world.
l came to Mama, Fla, this winter.
disguised because Hannah, the colored
woman we employ at home. never en-
tered my room without putting the
windows down, If | had them up. or
putting them up If ] had them down.
| have been disguised all winter In
Miami because Nancy, at the apart
ment house where I live, does the
same thing.
was walking on the streets lately
with white woman from Indiana.
She learned bossy ways as a school
teacher when young. The tilt of my
hat brim didn't suit her, so she
reached over and changed II. Occa-
sionally (not often) l rebel, and said
to her:
"Put that hat brim bacs where you
found It."
She is probably telling around now
that am no gentleman, but she did it.
have never suited women; always
there is something about me they want
to fix.
AS soon as a fool proposes another
plan for more human betterment than
is possible, the people should some
how have the power to say to him:
Nov, now, we've tried that" and
force him back to work The certain
thing seems to be we cannot afford to
try all these plans as we have been
doing some thousands of years to the
violent disturbance of industry and
oeace.
The greatest good of the greatest
number is the soundest possible JUS
tice. Take any group of one hundred,
one thousand, one million or one bill
lion human beings, and the right of the
majority of them to rule cannot be
questioned; there is no argument
against it. But we have never had
majority rule; the rule of kings, labor
leaders, popes. presidents, old soldiers,
prophets, politicians, has always been
minority rule. When we have
achieved majority rule, we can do no
better.
So send out another general warn
ing: be careful When your simple
common sense tand we all have IT'D be-
comes suspicious, heed 1t Unneces-
sary troubles due to carelessness Grip
pie and discourage all of Us too fire.
quently. Life is hard enough at best;
1t is the worst of all follies to suffer
unnecessarily.