group. H a lf way up the flagpole was
a great shaggy monster who cleverly
reversed himself, slid to earth, turned
a dozen graceful somersaults and
walked around on his hind fe e t
“ Oh, we’ll put him on our vaude­
ville program as the one leading at­
traction tomorrow !’* voted a dozen ob-
servers. “ What’s the r o w !” as cheer-
T t e Old Tstu «a t beslds the hearth.
In thoughtful mood; the hour wag late; tng echoed from the other end o f the
encampment. From a dust-covered,
And ere he vanished from the earth.
The past he fain would contemplate.
battered automobile two men were
I brought a wealth of joy for those
throwing ofT packages.
Who had o'erburdened been with grief,"
“ Belated
mall,”
announced
the
He said, "and for unnumbered woes
driver. “ Section A. Throw off the
Furnished the cordial of relief.
plunder, men, and you hungry fellowa
To some I gave a garden's bloom.
grab and distribute."
Sweet pansies and forget-me-nots;
Boxes, packages, tled-up bundles of
To some the cypress and the tomb.
The barrenness o f desert spots.
newspupers and letters passed from
With love I tarried for a while
band to hand. Roy Bartley was most
Breathing the sweet Elysian air;
active In the work o f sorting out the
And bidding Hope Berenely emile
Across the threshold o f Despair,
heterogeneous mass.
“ Something fo r you, Dale,” he called,
“ I entered on my natal hour
poising a square box before hurling it.
Burdened alike with bliss and bane.
Commissioned by my Lord to dower
“ I say," inspecting the marks on the
Some hearts with ease, and some with box,” It’s been up and down the whole
pain,
battle lin e !”
Where happiness had rich Increase;
“ See If there Isn’t a letter," directed
I shall be honored long, I know;
But those I robbed of Joy and peace—
Dule, placing the box beside a tent,
They will be glad to have me go!
and Ids eyes were euger and hopeful.
Doubtless the box held remembrances
" I 'v e followed many a bridal train;
Have watched by many a lonely bier;
from some home group, but his soul
W ith birth and death, with loss and gain.
was hungry fo r something more prized.
Made up the record o f the year.
“ Nothing fo r you,” called out Roy,
And now beside December's gate
Where hangs the year's alarum bell,
running over the letters In his hand.
1 pause to scan the past and wait
“ H e y ! look out fo r your b ox!”
The sound of my own funeral knell.
R oy spoke Just In time. Old Bruin,
“ One!—How the hours have slipped away! unnoticed, hud been sniffing intrusive­
Tw o!—Some will weep with sore re­ ly at the box. Then he had pawed It,
gret;
his claws piercing the frail pasteboard.
Three!—Could I still on earth delay—
I
| paper.
The Old Year
and the N e w
Four!—Some good I might accomplish
yet.
F ive !—An angelic song awoke!
Six!—Surely are the fetters riven.
Seven!—Soon I shall hear the final stroke—
Eight!—Chime sweetly with the clock of
heaven!
N ine!—I am nearer to my goal!
Ten!—Time must eternity begin!
Eleven!—Awake, Immortal soull
T w elve!—Farewell! and let the N ew Tear
in!”
PERSONAL
STOCK-TAKING
|
,
i
!
D aw n o f N ew Y ear a G ood
T un e to Bolster U p
W eak Spots
N
O W ’S the time fo r a personal
stock taking.
The habit Is
In the air around Christmas.
The kiddle lives a miserable
life from the first o f December trying
to do bis best so that old Santa will
be good to him.
The average man
starts in around Christmas to think
about the N ew Year resolutions he Is
going to make. All his friends, wise
and otherwise proffer advice gratis
until the poor chap Isn’t sure whether
the New Year Is coming or going and
he himself Is hopelessly lost. I f he’s
wise he will go off by himself to a
quiet corner and turn over the events
o f the past year and strike a balance
on the results. The chances are that
he will feel as chipper as a squirrel
In Muy when the job is finished. There
will be many Instances where the
“ might have been" will condemn what
was.
ANOTHER LEAF
*
By HELEN M. RICHARDSON
W ithin life’s book another leaf is turned;
Today w e face a new and untried year,
Its secrets and its purpose all unguessed.
N o hand m ay lift the veil that hides from us
Success or failure, and no feet save ours
M ay tread our pathway, d o our several tasks.
W e step into the New Year’s outstretched arms,
A n d wonder if with all her luring charms
Truer she'll prove than one w e leave behind.
W hat w e have gained from wrestling with defeat;
Mayhap will give us strength new foes to meet
W ith greater courage. Come, then, storm and stress.
Defeat and failure, or joy’s m agic spell.
T o each or all the new year holds in store
W e reach our hands in welcom e, for we know
O ur truest blessings from our failures grow,
A nd that our share o f happiness will be
W hat w e acquire through self-mastery.
" I come the Old T e a r’s debts to pay!
I come his promises to keep;
T o walk upon the world's highway.
And deck the grave where dear ones
sleep.
W here he gave smiles I may give tears,
L ife ’s path with good or 111 bestrew;
F o r unto him who views the years
The new Is old, the old to new!”
—Josephine Pollard.
N ew Year’s at
the Front
By
Saidee Estelle Balcom
— Farm Jou rnal.
He Acted Frightened.
“ E LL, what have you H e sniffed again, uttered a satisfied
done fo r your country grunt, and, seizing It in his powerful
today?”
Jaws, shook It.
It was the eve o f
“ W hoop! a fruit cak e!” yelled a
the new year and Dale watchful soldier, and grasped it as It
Webster, hailed by a rolled to the ground. “ Hurrah 1”
companion s o l d i e r ,
Some knitted socks and a dozen lit ­
threw his knapsack! tle packages tied up with ribbon fell
within their tent Just out o f the shattered receptacle. Dale
behind the heavy ar­ uttered u sharp gasp. Among them
tillery at the front “ somewhere In was n letter. H e snatched It up and,
France.”
aflush and quivering, secreted It In his
“ Oh, brought In a captive,” was his pocket quickly.
careless reply. “ Ran Into the skulker,
But not fo r long. When he had di­
marched him into camp and left him In | vided the cake among his importunate
the guard house. Auy letters?”
comrades and gathered up the num­
“ Nary a letter. They say the mall berless mementoes from home, he got
packs here are four days overdue, but to his tent speedily. He opened the
they’re rushing holiday stuff to the precious missive, his eyes sparkled, he
camps.”
kissed It fervently and his face fairly
Dale W ebster sighed and his face shone.
grew wistful. “ I ’ve been expecting one
What a wild, riotous, fun-producing
letter particularly. You’re my friend, New Year’s day t Old Bruin did him­
R oy?"
self proud, and Dale never sang the
“ A fte r your carrying me on your patriotic songs apportioned him on the
back half dead across the worst part program so thrillingly.
o f No Man's Land, with the Boches
“ I say,” observed Roy quizzically as
plugging away fo r keeps, I guess so I” the day waned, “ you’ve acted like some
“ And you remember Winnie Trask?” wild schoolboy!”
“ As a memory sweet and fragrant
“ Reason to !” cried Dale fervently,
as a field o f daisies!’’
and his heart beat faster against the
“ W ell, one night In a dugout I Just cherished missive lying next to it—
couldn’t help but write her way back the letter from Winnie saying: " I have
home there what I ought to have said always loved you, and, though hall
to her before we left. Three months, the world separates us, I love you now
and no word. I fancy I was too pre­ more than e v e r!”
sumptuous. I f I knew that Winnie was
caring for me, thinking o f me, at home,
I ’d never get lonesome. I'd fight double
WELCOME. 19191
to get this mix-up over and back to
her— bless h e r!”
“ Don’t lose hope,” encouraged Roy
N ineteea- Nineteen, welcom e I
Bartley. “ One o f the fellow s Just got
O h , I'm glad you’ v e com e I
a letter written by his sweetheart last
T
h
o u gh you're y et e my»tery—
September. It has been chasing him
all over the frontier. About your pris­
T o n g u e discreetly dumb.
oner— make you any trouble?”
“ Not a bit o f It,” declared Dale In a
Nineteen-Eighteen, scurrying I
spirited way. “The bear— ”
T h a t's because you're here.
"T h e b ear!” repeated Roy In won­
A n d I ’m glad— but, just a moment.
derment.
T ill I dry this tear.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that my
catch was a bear,” spoke Dale. “ I
H e was kind to m e you sees
came across him curled up lu a pit, a
performing bear, strayed from some
K in d as I deserved;
mountebank master In one o f the bom
Though, when it came to punishment.
barded villages. Soon as he saw me
H is justice never swerved.
he acted frightened and humble, and
when I patted him uttered a Jolly
But T ve let him carry off
growl, turned a somersault and stood
A l l unpleaiaut things;
on his head.”
“ You don’t mean It I”
K e ep in g safe in M em ory's b o s
“ Come, I’ll show you.”
O n ly that which smgs.
D ele led the way to the guardhouse.
Outside o f It was gathered a noisy
-in
S A N E W YEAR*. «
SERMON
!
By
!
REV. JAMES M. GRAY. D.D. j
ND
now, Lord, what wait
for?” — I ’salm 39:7.
Another twelvemonth haa
almost gone, and we are
yet in the land o f the living. I f we
give this serious consideration, w e
must regard it as remarkable. Some
think death the strangest wonder o f
human history, but Is not life stran­
ger? When we reflect upon our frame,
and the shocks o f life It must endure,
must we not exclaim with Young,
"Strange that a harp o f thousand strings
Should keep In tune so long!”
Is it to be wondered at If, like
David, we too should put the question,
“ What wait I for?” The mystery o f
being here Is not profounder than the
mystery o f staying here. Let us ask
God the question. The psalmist felt
he could not trust his own conclusions,
and so he said, “ Lord, what wait I
for?”
It may be you are waiting to be
saved. God Is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should
come to repentance and live.
“ O Ephraim, how can I give thee up,
how shall I leave thee, Judah?” Be­
hold him weeping over the Holy City,
“ O Jerusalem, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, as a
hen gathereth her brood under her
wings, and ye would n ot!” He Is so
pleading with some o f you today. T o
go back no farther than the past year,
has there been no sermon, no Invitation
or warning, no supplication or exhorta­
tion, that has appealed to your Intelli­
gence, or moved your emotions, plead­
ing with you to accept Christ? Have
you lost no friend or neighbor by death
during that period? Have you had no
escape from bodily peril or no Illness
to remind you o f the uncertainty o f
life? Can you conscientiously say that
In all these respects God has left you
alone?
It may be you are waiting to bear
fr u it You are, by the grace of God,
already saved, let us suppose. But for
what purpose were you saved? Mince
God loves you with a “ love that pass-
eth knowledge,” and since “ to depart
and be with Christ were far better"
than to remain here— why did he not
call you to himself at your conversion ?
Why are you here Instead o f enjoying
your Redeemer’s presence? There
must be some reason. “ Y e have not
chosen me,” said Christ, “ but I have
chosen you, and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, and
that your fruit should remain.” May
It be to give you another opportunity
to glorify his father by bearing fruit,
that you are still here?
It may be you ure waiting to be
perfected. I ought to explain this, be­
cause there is a sense In which every
true Christian Is perfected the moment
he accepts Christ as his Savior. He
is perfected in that he is both justified
and sanctified; his sin Is put awuy, and
by the H oly Spirit he himself Is set
apart fo r God forever. The New Tes­
tament Is very clear on this; notice
Paul's words In his epistle to the Co-
lossians, fo r example.
What, then, do we mean by saying
we may be waiting to lie perfected?
Do we mean the attainment o f a state
o f sinlessness this side o f heaven? N o;
for If a Christian lived to be as old as
Methuselah, would he not still require
to pray, “ Forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against
us?” W e only mean that perfectness,
In the sense o f a ripeness for the
sickle, which comes In the lives o f
some as If a crown o f glory had been
vouchsafed to them even before they
passed Into the unseen.
And so may It be with some of you.
Though now your pruning, your dig­
ging, and perhaps your growing days
are over, yet the quiet but potent rays
o f divine grace are accomplishing a
maturity In your experience, so that
your Christian life never will have
been so attractive as in the hour that
you depart hence. “ We all do fade as
a leaf, but the fall o f you, ye glory-
crowned ones, Is to be illumined by
the grandeur o f an autumnal sunset.
God bless you, aged brethren! God
bless you, young and old. rich and
poor, saint and sinner I May you have
a “ Happy New Year” In the highest
and truest sense. “ Happy Is the peo­
ple whose God Is the Lord." Accept
him, serve him, wait for him. It Is
only as we stand In such relationship
to him that, after employing the psalm­
ist's question, “ And now. Lord, what
wait I for?” we can confidently apply
the consolation la his words that fol­
low, “My bop« Is la thee."
But the results will be jual
public i f you fall and men who ■
between the lines know the facta.
If you’re concerned about the fuf
you will respect the verdict and \
estly set out to avoid the foolish thj
i done In 1918.
You will maka y
I c irrectlons at once. If you cont?
In error you w ill damage your w(
1 Ing ability, not to speak of yonr !
tation and character.
It lan t
ness to toy with things costly,
can better afford to down a foqfah
self-pride than be downed by tqgka
too big for you. If you make the fpr>
rectlons to your life at once even ths
balance o f this year will profit by
the stock taking and you will start 0M
year with a little practice.
The best assurance o f success is fmmd
in taking stock o f the means o f «MS#n-
ing it.
Many worthy projects art blagtad by
over-zeal. Faith does wonders, but lt?B
a healthy process to mix conaldafsbto
good Judgment with I t Promises ta
pay are o f no value without ths abil­
ity to redeem them. You must count
the cost before b a n n in g the asw so*
terprlse.
Scan your personal fltnass
before undertaking new ventUSSS- I t
you stand the test you are bound M
win.
You have no reason to aspect
that simply because you attempt SOBS*
thing beyond you some mysterious
power is going to pull you through.
The New Y ear w ill be full of dial*
lenges and fo r that reason I want you
to take stock and be ready for ths tast­
Life has many lessons that are hard to
ing when It cornea.
learn.
There’s nothing like knowing ssMf yen
One Is that you can’t pnt yonr abil­
dare expect of yourself.
ity in cold storage until needed fo r
It’s just as foolish to attempt Jobs
, some great scoop. Your present Job
too hlg fo r you as it la to bn afraid
may be no compliment to yonr ability,
of what you can do easily- T h at* are
but you dare not slight It fo r that
some organizations that put on OM*
reason. T c keep yourself fit you must
puigns these days to help people And
constantly employ your talents to the
themselves.
If you want the same
lim it As soon as yon begin to go easy
results without the publicity go after
on them you start to decline. Unused
your own case and don’t b « too essfl
potentialities deteriorate. Labor sav­
with the subject.
The coming year
ing devices and man-made expedients
will be full o f great opportunities and
won't work out with the Divine mas­
you won’t know what to do when tba«
terpiece.
God never Intended ability
cmne unless you take stock In advgneak
to be held In reserve fo r spectacular
T o be sure some lucky turn of fpi«
purposes. The wise man takes stock
tune’s wheel may put you In a high
dally to see whether or not he Is meas­
place, but you are far more likely to
uring up to his privileges. This Is the
stay at the top If you rise by merit.
season to begin the practice o f It.
You owe yourself and your friend$
Man’s measure is best taken when he your best record fo r ths coming year.
toils for the good of others. .
It should be a matter of satisfactfea
Much that he does In this line Is to know that you havo the ability (O
not appreciated.
The knowledge o f do hlg things. It ’s equally Important
this kills some folks at the start. Most to know yonr weakness If you shog|d
men do their best when the thing they be confronted with big things. In and
advocate Is popular.
A few Indom­ case failure does not add to yypr
itable souls are fired to the heroic credit.
Many o f life ’s failures cof ld
point by opposition. It takes the big be avoided If men would only tafen
souled man to struggle on when he stock. This is business, and |fn
sees few results and gets little thanks. should not shirk It I f you want to SQ^
He works for the sake o f the thing to ceed.
Rise to power and crltlctMB
be done, and that Is the evidence o f go together. You w ill escape moat pt
the master-workman.
It takes the the latter If you take time to dad
stalwart to keep on the Job In cloud yourself and fit yourself for be|yg
and sunshine with his best always aa your best. Take stock before others
the goal.
I f you are willing to take take It fo r you and corrections a i*
stock and profit by the results shown, too late.
you may be in that class soon.
The fellow that is honest m his stock TH E DEATH OF TH E OLD YSA|k
taking will find many loose connections
in his past efforts.
Full knee-deep lies the winter snow.
H e has failed to keep the pace be­
cause his ideals and ability did not
mix properly; or he has been abort on
one or both o f these essentials. There
are many sincere souls that are fail­
ures because they have gone at high
speed with a bolt loose somewhere.
No wonder they wrack themselves to
death.
The stock taking will help
them to see where their personal mech­
anism needs repairs.
Weakness In
any one part hinders the best work o f
the whole. For the sake o f a tempo­
rary gain you dare not endanger your
future usefulness. The past has been
o f your making. I f it does not please
you find wliat has been the mutter
and make sure o f a better record for
1919. It’s unfair to blame yonr com­
petitors fo r lack o f success.
I f you
had been able to deliver the goods you
would doubtless have had your share
o f the trade. They have won because
you have failed somewhere. Most fail­
ures begin with the mental apparatus.
Look well to yours for the New Year.
There Is no time for adjustments
after the race starts.
And the winter winda are wearily slam
Ing:
”
Toll ye the church bell sad and alow.
And tread softly, and speak low.
For the Old T e a r lies a-dylng.
Old Year, you must not die;
You came to us so readily.
You lived with u* so steadily.
Old Year, you shall not die.
His (ace to growing sharp and thin.
Alack! our friend Is gone.
Close up his eyes; tie up his chin;
Step from the corpse, and let him In
That standeth there alone,
And walteth at the door.
There’s a new foot on the floor, WT
friend,
And a new face at the door, my friend,
A new face at the door.
—Alfred Tennyson.
Only Today la Oura.
T h e opening o f the year la every«
body's birthday. God has let us share |
ills work. God has gifts fo r days to
come. W e may send onr thoughts beck
through the ways o f m em ory; we moat
send them forth through opening path#
o f faith and hope. The past w ill oeme
no more, but today is ours and tomor­
row is in the hands o f everybody^
IVhen the head is supplied with right birthday, then, brlng'Joy and courflgnl
thinking the body is apt to be best fitted May God’s spirit help us, each and aw-
eryone, to walk with God and spend n
fo r its tasks.
T o be sure the care o f the body In­ Joyful year In the service of hla K ip *
fluences the thinking, but even that dom.
needs right thinking to help It.
If
youi head Is off yon can't give your
body !> square deal. You can’t booze
•11 night and have a clear head the
next day. You can’t dance until day­
break and have elasticity and sprlght-
liness o f body when the rush is on
the next aftprnoon.
You i*an't fill
your stomach with cheap randies,
creams and
chemically
preserved
fruits and he happy aud obliging to
a trying customer In bosy times. You
must have the whole human mechan­
ism working In hnrmony If you are
going to get the most out o f the com­
ing year. Thut’s why your old uncle
Is asking for u mental and physical
examination. H e’s concerned fo r your
welfare end wants you to make gdbd.
Think right, and you will generally
be right.
I f you haven’t measured up to expec­
tations during igsS you must find the
reason.
The truth will doubtless Jar your
self-opinion a little, and you would
hut* to Bee the analysis la the usws-