Crayon and Character: Truth Made Clear Through Eye and Ear Part 19

THE LESSON--That our seemingly useless, or even harmful, traits may prove to be our most valuable talents.

This little fragment of industrial history should impress a lesson upon all young people, though it is especially adapted to Boys' Day.

~~The Talk.~~

"During the period extending from the time that people first settled in America up to the time of the civil war those who chose to live in some portions of the area which are now the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia selected their land with great care. In some parts of the land they found a disagreeable kind of oil in the ground which oozed from the rocks below. When a man bought a piece of ground he was very careful to find out for sure that there was none of this oil about the place, and if he did find any of it, it is probable that he made this fact known: [Draw the signboard and the letters, Fig. 98, complete.] To him the ground was worthless.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 98]

"It may be that some of the people knew that this oil was the same kind that the ancient Jews used in the preparation of their cement for building purposes, and that it was the same that the more ancient Egyptians used in the preservation of the mummified bodies of their dead; but, as the Americans did not need oil for such purposes, they considered the oil a nuisance. At one time, while a man was drilling for water, he struck such a strong artesian well of oil that it gushed out all over the ground; then it ran down to a river and caught fire as it spread out over the swiftly flowing water. The flames spread down the river and it looked for all the world as if the river was burning up!

"They called this oil petroleum--rock-oil.

"One day, in 1859, after there had been a good deal of talk as to whether or not this oil was good for anything, Col. E.L. Drake hired some men to drill a well at t.i.tusville, Pennsylvania. The drillers at first refused to work for a man who was so foolish as to spend his money in this way, but, finally, they set at work on the job under the belief that they were really drilling for salt! But the oil began to flow, and some men soon learned how to make kerosene out of it. This took the place of tallow candles, and from that moment the world has been much brighter. The men kept right on with their experiments, until now we have not only kerosene, but gasoline, benzine, rhigoline, naphtha, mineral sperm oil, lubricating oils, paraffins wax, carbon oil and a variety of medicinal products--all made from this once-useless petroleum. These discoveries have brought also the gasoline and oil stoves, gasoline and gas engines and the automobile.

Prom the industry has grown the Standard Oil company, one of the richest and most powerful commercial enterprises in the world. So now, in these eastern states, it is vastly different from what it used to be when a man discovered oil on his land. If he finds oil now, and if be puts up a sign at all, it is apt to read like this: [Revise Fig. 98 to Complete Fig. 99.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 99]

"From this little fact of industrial history I want to draw a lesson, especially for the boys, today. Perhaps we cannot own any stock in the Standard Oil company, but we have something just as good, and better. Perhaps we have found in ourselves what we think is a useless talent--useless unless we refine it and cultivate it. One day some people living on a certain street in New York raised a big row because a small, ragged street boy drew pictures all over their sidewalks with chalk. To them, he was nothing but a nuisance. However, a prominent man came walking by one day. He looked at the chalk drawings and knew at once that the boy had real artistic talent. He became interested, gave the boy an education and now he is one of America's celebrated painters.

"Study yourselves, boys. Do you love music? If you do, and if you have the talent to become a musician, don't throw away your talent by using your ability for any low purpose. Make music, like Haydn, who praised G.o.d through every note!

"Do you like to draw? If you are to be an artist, do not use your talent for low purposes. Let your work be of a kind to reflect credit upon you--work which will make other people better for having seen it and for having been influenced by it.

"Do you like to speak? Do you plan to study medicine, or law, or to be a teacher? Whatever your plans may be, based on what you believe your best talent to be, do not let your talent go to waste like this oil did for so many years. Treasure it up, refine it, and in whatever direction G.o.d may lead you, you may be sure that you will have ample opportunity to let your talent bring greater brightness into the world. And then you, too, would not part with your possession for any price!"

THE STORY OF A HAT --Politeness --The Common People

A thought for the Thoughtless Who Have But Little Politeness and Respect for the Common People.

THE LESSON--That every one who truly fills his high or lowly place In the world is deserving of respect and honor.

This story contains a splendid lesson for all of us. There is much in it to start the boys and girls to thinking of the worthiness of doing the humble things in life, and of the respect due those whose place may be more lowly than theirs. True worth is the measure of our value in the world, whether our work be great or little.

~~The Talk.~~

"This morning I am going to tell you 'The Story of a Hat,'--and this is the hat. [Draw only the hat, A, completing Fig. 100. This is the same drawing as that of the lower right-hand corner of Fig. 101, before the face is added.] I don't wonder that you smile. It's a seedy-looking old hat, isn't it? It looks as if it ought to be burned up or else dumped in the ash barrel; but, before we do that, let us hear the story.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 100]

"Once upon a time Mr. Brown, a college president, was pa.s.sing a clothing store when he saw, displayed in the window, a hat like this.

[Draw only the hat as in B.] Mr. Brown went into the store and tried on the hat. It fitted him, and when he came out he looked like this in his new four-dollar hat. [Add the head of Mr. Brown, completing B.]

Everybody respected the college president and was polite to him.

After a while Mr. Brown's wife told him that his hat was getting just a little bit shabby--perhaps just a little bit out of style, too. And so the college president gave the hat away to a poor but respectable preacher, Mr. Green, and this is the way Mr. Green looked in the hat.

[Draw C complete.] Mr. Green was not a 'D.D.,' by any means, but he was a good man who was made to suit and fit a certain cla.s.s of people who could not have understood the big words of a 'D. D.' Well, Mr. Green wore the hat for a while, and then he gave it to the janitor of his church, a man named Mr. Blue. The janitor wore it for a while, until it looked about like this: [Draw D, complete.] You will notice that it was somewhat indented by this time, but it was all right for Mr. Blue and he was glad to get it. There was a man in the town by the name of Mr. White, who had a job cleaning the streets. He was a friend of Mr. Blue, and the janitor gave him the hat. This is the way Mr. White looked in it: [Draw the face under the hat, A; this completes Fig. 101.] Mr. White had a little cart and a big shovel and an old broom, and he worked all day sweeping up and carting off the old paper, the stubs of cigars and everything else which, if allowed to acc.u.mulate, would soon make the streets look disgraceful and the town unhealthful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 101]

"And so, we see, this poor old hat had done good service for four different kinds of men. Remember this--that every man who wore the hat was a useful man in his place. Each one was a necessary man. We must have him. Especially is this true of the man who kept the streets clean, for he, just like the man who collects and takes away the garbage, helps to keep away the scourge of typhoid fever, and cholera and other dread diseases, by being willing to do the dirty work and to wear the old hat. Why, just suppose everybody was a college president. Who would wash our clothes? Who would scrub our floors? Who would clean our streets? Who would cart away our garbage?

"Now, don't you see that the street cleaner and the 'garbage gentleman' are far more useful than any wealthy man's son who doesn't do a lick of work, who rides around in an automobile at his father's expense and who spends his time at night in wasteful or sinful ways so that he gets to bed at one or two o'clock in the morning and sleeps until nine or ten o'clock the next day? Why, bless your soul, the street cleaner and the 'garbage gentleman' are worth a dozen good-for-nothings like that!

"Then why look down upon the poor man--the laboring man? Why not be just as polite and respectful to him as to the college president? G.o.d made them both, and each is filling his place in life. Each man whose picture we have drawn belonged to a different cla.s.s of people, just as G.o.d designed they should, and each, if he did his duty in life, had just as important a place in the community as the other.

"Abraham Lincoln said that 'G.o.d must think more of the common people than He did of any other kind, because He made so many more of them.'

"Surely, all this is reason enough for the best of us to be kind and considerate, respectful and polite toward people whose hats would not suit us at all!"

OUR COUNTRY'S FLAG --Flag Day --Patriotism

A Little of its History and of its Meaning--Some Interesting Facts.

THE LESSON--That loyalty to the flag means the fulfillment of duty to G.o.d and to our fellowmen.~~

"Flag Day" suggests a patriotic demonstration, and this talk will harmonize well with your decorations and the other features of your program. The talk calls for the drawing of four flags. It is suggested that you prepare in advance of the talk all four flags of Fig. 102, as the drawing may require more time than you can spare during the talk.

~~The Talk.~~

"We have about us today some of the flags of the United States of the present time. I believe you will be interested, though, in seeing some of the flags of our country of earlier days. I will present them to you.

"Before the Revolutionary war was begun, and at the time of the beginning of the trouble, some of the colonies had flags of their own, and some of them were very curious indeed. However, when General George Washington took command of the troops at the beginning of the war it was decided to adopt one flag for all the united colonies, and so a committee was chosen and a flag like this was designed: [Indicate flag "a."] These two crosses represented the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, and the thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies. You see, they patterned the crosses after the British flag, because there was no certainty at that time that the colonists would break away from England. This is the flag that was raised over the camp of Washington at Cambridge, January 2, 1776.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 102]

"But in 1777, after the colonies had proclaimed the Declaration of Independence, congress ordered that the flag of the thirteen United States be composed of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and that thirteen white stars in a field of blue be subst.i.tuted for the crosses. It was also decided to add one star and one stripe as each new state was admitted. Congress, then in session in Philadelphia, named George Washington, Robert Morris and Colonel Ross to call upon a widow who had been making flags for the government and ask her to make this first real American flag. And this is the flag that Betsy Ross made: [Indicate flag "b."] It is said that Betsy Ross suggested that the stars be five-pointed, as she could fold her cloth so as to make a five-pointed star with one clip of her scissors. Can you make a five-pointed star with one clip? Betsy could! [Note: The writer has seen the simple process described in a sketch of Betsy Ross; it is too long for repet.i.tion here, but a demonstration of the method would be an interesting innovation.]

"Well, this flag was carried throughout the remainder of the Revolution, and it was present at the surrender of Burgoyne and the fall of Yorktown. But when Vermont and Kentucky were admitted as states, the flag was changed, so there were fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, like this: [Indicate flag "c."]

"This flag waved throughout the war of 1812. It was this flag that Francis Scott Key saw 'through the dawn's early light,' and which inspired him to write 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

"It was not until 1818 that congress saw that a mistake had been made and that it would be necessary to confine the number of stripes to the original number, thirteen, though we have continued to add a star for each new state. This is the flag of today: [Indicate flag "d."]

"As we look upon this flag, our hearts grow warm with love for our country. We honor it and the memory of those who brought it into being and who died to preserve it for us. I know of no better closing picture than this, which indicates the true spirit of the patriots who died beneath its folds upon the fields of battle--a picture which speaks to us of Him who said, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' [With heavy black put in the outline of the cross; fill in with orange, completing Fig. 103.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 103]

"Boys and girls, what does the flag stand for? _Loyalty to country_. What does the cross stand for? _Loyalty to Christ_.

Which is the more important? You are not asked to answer--only to _think_. Being loyal to Christ makes people truly loyal to country; but, alas, there are many who profane His name while they pretend to be loyal to their country. It cannot be done."