| VOL. I | 7 FEBRUARY 1942 | NO. XXXIV |
|---|
Among a party celebrating the New Year at one of the large hotels near Times Square were several prominent De Gaulist French. One of the guests was a very strikingly beautiful French lady who, although she is the mother of three husky youngsters, looks like a young woman of about 22 or 23. As they reached Times Square, she was startled by the enormous number of people on the street and in commenting on this to one of the other guests in the party, remarked, "You know, in France we have an old belief that if the first man you kiss after New Year's is a military man you will be lucky all the rest of the year."
This lady then looked around and saw near her two young West Point Cadets, but she said they looked awfully young and she did not want to startle them.
A little further on she saw three fine looking young American bluejackets. She said they looked so neat, so clean, so healthy, that she could not resist.
Approaching the three bluejackets she threw her arms around the neck of the best looking one and kissed him. She said the expression on the youngster's face showed how startled he was to be kissed in public by such a beautiful young woman, so stylishly dressed.
After kissing him, she thanked him, which further surprised the young bluejackets as, of course, he did not know the French custom. When she thanked him, the young bluejacket immediately said, "Oh, you are French! Are you a De Gaulist?" Immediately she replied, "Why, of course I am De Gualist. We are all De Gaulists." The two other bluejackets immediately piped up with, "We are De Gaulists, too. You ought to kiss us also." She declined and went on dawn the street laughing with her friends.
Brief, so brief--the words were falling
Ere men had time to note and weigh;
As if again the gods were calling
From some Homeric yesterday.
No impulse this, no actor speaking
Of thoughts which came by happy
chance;
The man, the place, were God's own
seeking;
The words are our inheritance.
A pause, a hush, a wonder growing;
A prophet's vision, understood;
In that strange spell of his bestowing,
They dreamed, with him, of
Brotherhood.
"Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg."
--By H. D. Mason
Lincoln and a judge were having a friendly contest of wits on the subject of horses, when Lincoln said:
"Well, look here, Judge! I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll make a horse trade with you, only it must be upon these stipulations: Neither party shall see the other's horse until it is produced here in the courtyard of the hotel and both parties must trade horses. If either party backs out of the agreement, he does so under forfeiture of twenty-five dollars."
It was agreed, and Lincoln and the judge each left to find a horse for the joking trade, while a crowd collected to watch the fun. When the judge reappeared there was a great laugh at the incredibly skinny, dejected-looking animal, blind in both eyes, that he led. But the uproar came when Lincoln strode upon the scene with a carpenter's saw-horse on his shoulder. Relieving himself of his burden, Lincoin with a disgusted air scrutinized the judge's animal. "Well, Judge," he said, "this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade."
Receiving news that a brigadier general and twelve army mules had been captured by the Confederates, Lincoln's comment was: "How unfortunate! Those mules cost us two hundred dollars apiece!"
At one time during the American Civil War, General George B. McClellan, then in command of the Union forces, was conducting a waiting campaign; and so careful was he to avoid mistakes that little headway was evident. President Lincoln thereupon wrote him a letter:
"My dear McLellan: If you don't want to use the Army I should like to borrow it for a while. Yours respectfully, A. Lincoln."
To a man who asked how many men the Confederates had in the field, Lincoln replied: "Twelve hundred thousand, according to the best authority." "Good heavens," cried the man. "Yes, sir," repeated Lincoln, "twelve hundred thousand--no doubt of it. You see, all of our generals, when they get whipped, say the enemy outnumbers them from three or five to one, and I must believe them. We have four hundred thousand men in the field, and three times four make twelve. Don't you see it?"
A foreign diplomat came in upon Lincoln while he was blacking his shoes.
"'What, Mr. President, you black your own shoes?"
"Yes," Lincoln answered, "whose do you black?"
SPURRED by numerous requests from universities and secondary schools, the Navy Department outlined methods through which educational institutions throughout the country can aid the Navy both in the prosecution of the present war and in preparing for the future.
Universities were urged to encourage their eligible students to enlist in the V-5 and V-7 programs for duty as deck, engineering and aviation officers, thereby assisting the Navy in completing these programs as soon as practicable.
Pointing out that the basic training the Navy is asking secondary schools to install certain specific subjects in their curricula that will be of help in preparing students for naval careers.
In announcing that it is asking secondary schools to add certain specific subjects to their curricula, the Navy declared one of the greatest obstacles it has encountered in its program to secure and train men for service in the Navy has been the fact that high school and college applicants have not had the necessary instruction in certain essentials to permit them to be successfully trained in more technical fields. Lack of knowledge in the above essentials by trainees has hampered the Navy training program tremendously.
Beginning 9 February 1942, the United States will set its clocks ahead one hour as a daylight-saving schedule goes into effect "for the duration."
Benjamin Franklin, an early riser by habit, first proposed daylight-saving time in 1782. He advocated moving the clocks forward, if necessary, but favored bell-ringing, drum-beating and firing a cannon in the streets to rout heavy headed Philadetphians from their beds by 4 A.M. in Summer and a little later in Winter.
Late slumber always irked him. Writing in his "Autobiography" of a trip to London in 1784, he remarked: "In walking through the Strand and Fleet Street one morning at 7 o'clock, I observed that there was not one shop opened..the inhabitants of London chusing (choosing) voluntarily to live much by candlelight and sleep by sunlight."
I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where a year or two later he was killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Soloman, Abraham, and the like.
My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond "readin', writin' and cipherin"' to the rule of three. If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity.
I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, Macon County. Then I got to New Salem. at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk War; and I was elected captain of volunteers, a success which gave me more pleasure than any I since have had. I went to the campaign, was elated, ran for the legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten -- the only time I ever have been defeated by voting. The next and three succeeding biennial elections I was elected to the legislature. I was not a candidate afterward. During this legislative period I had studied law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress. Was not a candidate for reelection. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics; and generally on the Whig electoral tickets making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.
I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected.
-------------Yours truly, A. Lincoln
A member of the church, being at a Presidential reception, closed some remarks with the pious hope that the Lord would be "on our side."
"I am not at all concerned about that," commented President Lincoln, "for we know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."
I'd rather lose than win, as some men win:
I'd rather quit where many men begin:
I'd rather walk.the paths that others pave
Than know my winning dug my neighbor's
grave.
I'd rather fall and stay there as I fell
Than climb to heights on which f am to dwell.
Where from my fortune's hanging in a scale
That only figures when I see them fail.
I'd rather wear my suits with patches strewn
Than pick a wardrobe from the man in ruin:
I'd rather have my soles feel of the chill
Of winter snows than gain through any ill
Adventure or through ways, where to expand.
I practice in a manner underhand,
Or revel in a deal I put across
To raise me by some other fellow's loss.
I'd rather be just what I am than know
That I have caused the world a mite of woe.
For failure in itself is filled with pride:
To feel it proves, at least, that I have tried.
So when they count my failures on the sheet
Which tallies out the score I made, complete,
What numbers they shall find I do not care.
Provided each will show I played it fair.
J. R. Cushing
A gunner's mate, home on a few days of well-earned leave, sat drowsing by the kitchen stove, his feet comfortably propped against the wood box. All of a sudden the stove backfired. His wife immediately yelled, "Fire!" With a roar of "Bore clear!" the gunner was on his feet. He grabbed the cat by the tail, shoved her into the stove, slammed the door and sang out, "Ready one!"
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" -- even to a Maricopa Indian. From a news item in the "New York Times":
A short time ago a stalwart young Maricopa Indian petitioned the tribal court to have his name changed, according to The Stockton Record. At birth he-'had been given the name "All Right." The court agreed that his request was reasonable and that his name "might be misleading."; After a great deal of red tape had been unwound, representatives of the Great White Father authorized the court to permit "Maricopa Indian known as 'All Right' to change his legal name to any other name of his choosing." Asked if he had selected another name, the young Indian answered promptly: "Yes, I change 'All Right' to 'O. K.' "
It was a noble Roman,
In Rome's ·imperial day,
Who heard a coward croaker
Before -the castle say,
"They're safe in such. fortress.
There is no way to shake it"
"On! On!" exclaimed the hero,
"I'll' find a way or make it"
Is fame your aspiration?
Her path is steep- and high;
In vain you seek her temple,
Content to gaze and sigh.
Beyond your reach it may seem,
But he alone can take it
Who says with Roman firmness,
"I'll find a way or make it!"
Is learning your ambition?
There is no royal road;
Alike the peer and peasant
Must climb to her abode.
Who feels the thirst for knowledge
In Helicon may stake it,
If he has still the Roman will
To find away, or make it!
Are riches worth the getting?
They must be gravely sought;
With wishing and with fretting,
The boon cannot be bought.
To all the prize is open,
But only he can take it
Who says, with Roman courage,
"I'll find a- way or make it!"
J. G. Saxe
The following bit of conversation was picked up in a District of Columbia:
Driver:- I'm taking up a collection for a worthy cause. Would you like to contribute:
Fare:- That all depends on the "cause."
Driver:- A group of us are collecting funds to buy Admiral Tojo a diving suit so that he can review his Navy next May.
In a laboratory in Washington is a burning glass which measures three feet across. Hung in a window is converges 36 inches of sunshine in a tiny point of light, more powerful than a blow torch. This point of concentrated sunshine is so hot that it will burn its way through a steel plate.
To burn your way through obstacles and problems and reach your goal, concentrate your energies as the burning glass concentrates the power of the sun!
Concentration and achievement are twins. Kreisler and the violin, Burbank and plants, Ford and automobiles, Mayo and surgery, Rembrandt and painting, George Arliss and acting, and all the other shining lights, reached the top by concentrating on doing one task supremely well.
Nothing can stop the flaming brilliancy of concentrated effort. Know what you want to do and be—then concentrate!
 |
 |
 |
 |