The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-06-14
Uncommon
Sense y John s,...
@. Bell syndicate.-wNu Service.

nests since and long before the days
when they were mentioned In the
Scriptures.
Their intelligence is limited to the
ability to find the twigs, straw and
mud they need to put together the
fut,ffe home of their offspring.
That is about as far as they can go.
Animals of higher sort can be
taught a few tricks, but they do not
have the least idea when they are
performing them, why they are per-
forming them, except that they will be
fed or patted on their heads If they
do the job well, or punished If they
do 1t badly, or refuse to do it at all.
Among all the creatures of the earth,
man alone has reason. Too bad he
often does not make more and better
use of it.
That reason is a gift which i'm
proves by use. There is a difference
in mind capacity, of course.
But it can be improved by thought,
by mingling with intelligent people and
by studying the world around you and
the life in it.
That brain of yours was given yon
to use-not now and then-not just to
support yourself and your dependents
but to do a little something toward
advancing the sum of human knowl-
edge, and making the people of your
own circle a little indebted to you for
spreading new ideas around so they
can get hold of them and use them.
Cultivate people with intelligence,
and your own intelligence will ex-
pand.
If you are not personally acquainted
with that kind Of people, cultivate
them in the books that they have
written.
If your schooling has been made
uuate you can extend it by reading.
Many a sound and useful education
has been built up on the reading OF
newspapers alone.
Reflect about the things you see
around you, and try to make out the
"whys" Of them.
Don't use your mind, merely as an
animal uses his, to find more and bet
ter ways of getting food.
Your comfort, your enjoyment of life
will be dependent on the kind of a
mind you possess.
Make yours as good as possible, and.
though you may not live happily ever
after, you will enjoy your existence much
more, and to enjoy existence is one OF
the important ends of this life OF ours.
There is nothing wrong with hero
worship, if you pick the right kind of
heroes. The other
Hero day at a "speakie"
Worship show I watched
crowd of people go
| into raptures over a cinema star who
was making what is called "per-
sonal appearance"
1 am told that this young man is
agreeable, good to his mother, and
quite popular with his fellow actors
and other people who know him.
! But he hardly deserves an ovation
such as would never be given great
physician or great inventor, or great
novelist, if they too made personal
appearances"
In fact l do not think that Thomas
A. Edison, or even the President OF
the United States would be received
with as much enthusiasm as was this
young man with slicked black hair and
a bad imitation of an English accent.
/ have known great many OF the
heroes of baseball and of football.
They are regular fellows. Some of
them may some day when they are no
longer athletic be of great use in the
world.
But however excellent athletes they
may be it seems a bit overriding it to
bestow more attention upon them than
Is given to a man who has discovered
a new method of combating a deadly
epidemic disease, or driven the graft
ers out of a great municipal govern
ment, or given the poor a better
chance to enjoy the comforts of well
built and sanitary apartment houses.
l know that there is a continuous
effort among school teachers and edu-
Gators generally to convince the young
| idea that some of the great men of
their own country, as well as of the
world ought to be examples for youth
! to follow.
But l think that when at home or
among their playfellows the urchins
think and talk more about the stars
of the screen than they do about the
men who have made this nation pos
| sible.
We could stand a little more wor-
ship of real leaders of thought.
1t wouldn't hurt the youngsters any
to know what they have done for their
country or the world.
But for some reason or other 1t is
the entertainer, not the builder who
gets the big hand.