Newspapers / The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, … / Aug. 8, 1929, edition 1 / Page 2
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|| ■ You and Me j J<" 1 ’ i, '' “Common sense is the most i ; uncommon kind of sense.’* ? Jj • | , - C '' ’[By HAROLD BELL WRIGHT j ’ 1 F "If r I|F1 |F V l| * l Best People “I ain’t never seen a whale myself, ;but just the same there ain’t no low •down, onery, old catfish goin’ to pass jhimself off on me as a whale so long !as I’m sober.”—Preachin’ Bill. Think it over. I say, it is a good thing for all of jus that most of us are a lot better [than the rest of us. A person without a saving sense of superiority would be a poor sort of Iranian being. If I were not very certain that I am ■M better man than some I w T ould sim ply quit trying. I admit I am not -touch to be proud of. I never took «ny prizes for anything. I don't even claim to be one of the Best People. But if I were no better than some of the worthless, mean, lying, cheating, thieving, heartless, cruel, vicious, de generate, murdering folk that I know about, I would shave in the dark for jfear If I met myself face to face in a mirror I would be forced to cut my ow4| throat. Between you and me I suspect that coroner’s juries might more often than wa kpow render the is self-defense/^ - I wonder who started this equality thing, anyhow. I tell you it is dan gerous. Professor Drummond rang the bell when he said: “The immediate need of the world is not more of us but, if .1 may use the expression, a better brand of us.” The trouble is, our ideas about this better brand of us are so hazy. The most popular brand of Best (Teople are distinguished from the vul gar herd by their money. I am not speaking of small change. No I do not say that we all look upon any person with money as one of ~ * • • • • . . , »-♦- - • You and I know very well j j that a person may possess } I great wealth and be not one of j | tje jgestj i '"The test should be not how f much have you, but where did * you get it and what use are | you making of that which you * were your **ancestors, or who f are your relatives, but what | good are you? J ** • I Even though I am not edu- f i cated I know enough not to ac- f ? cept every graduate at his own | | valuation. If * • * II | would rather receive a ? T great, vital, living truth from | f | an illiterate back-woodsman, | ;? who violates every rule of $ i grammar, than to have a uni- * | versity president lie to me in | ? perfect English. \ f** * | It is the usefulness of the | | graduate, not the graduation, ? f which counts. i # • * i It is not enough to be good; | •j one must be good for -some- ? i{ thing. | j T • | our Best People. I say that money is . quite commonly held to set one apart [from the common crowd. You know i exactly what I mean. ( Why, certainly! To possess money | for which one has rendered a reai j good. But you will notice i that it is not the service Rendered {which brands certain people of wealth. ] in their own eyes, and in the eyes c t* i those who look up to them, as superior 'to the rest of us—it is the mere fact that they do actually possess the coin. iHow they got it or w’hat they do with iit seems to have nothing to do with ! the case. Some wealthy people are, in truth, • salt of the earth. They spend mil | lions to make life more endurable for 'the rest of us. But still, the brand ;which distinguishes them is not that itbey do good with their money but ; that they have the millions to spend. Indeed, the strangest, most ridic ulous, most humiliating phenomenon about the possession of is this: The less one does to gain It, land the less one does with it for [others, the higher one seems to rank among this brand of Best People. Witness how those who have come Into possession of their fortunes with no more personal effort than they ex perided in acquiring the color of their «yes, look down from those topmost heights of gilded uselessness with . sneers of superiority upon those, who by the magnitude of the service they have rendered, by years of grilling labor and personal sacrifice, or by the cheer power of their genius and in dustry, have earned their fortunes. You and I know very well that a person may possess great wealth and be not one of the Best People but one of the worst. Judas, for instance, made more money out of a certain transaction than all the other dis elplec together. It would seem that the test should be not how much have you, but where did you get it and what use are you making of that which you have? ' Oh, uo indeed, money is not the ufily brand which is supposed to mark , , it* r- i ■ fr.y Vp> ■' '-.Yi’ 'VS * ’’“■ brand is quite distinguishing —on, | quite! Why, of course, it is a good thing to have ancestors. As you may have no ticed most of us do have them —of one sort or another. One may even say that to have ancestors is more or less necessary—if one wishes to get on. But a walk m Uie woods will convince t even the most indifferent observer that i there are many of these old family trees whose withered and fruitless i branches’ are so nearly dead that they have barely life enough to keep their hold on the ancient and sapless trunk. And they are poor timber, these so nearly dead limbs- —gopd for neither j the hearth nor the shop. ’ You are right, no one of common sense will discount breeding. A. grand old family is a grand old thing. It is j a very real and tangible asset. That j is, it is an asset if the strength and, glory which made it great in the past are real and tangible in the present. ! But what about these useless tag ends of grand old families that have petered out? What of these well-, bred imbeciles and noble idiots —these social parasites who cling so pre cariously to the edges of what, to them, is the best society? Is a piti ful Mr. or Mrs. Lazarus, banging around the doorstep of a certain house, hoping against hope for entree, while feeding on the social crumbs which fall from the table of some society Dives — is such a person, in fact, one of our Best People? .—caws mm »«■*»- 1 — ; Again, would seem that the test should be not who were youruk ancestors, or who are your fives, but what good are you? * Then consider the brand Education. 4 I mean tKe idea that one’s rating in | life is determined by the school or schools which one attended. To pronounce words correctly, with the proper accent, and everything, is of importance. I wish I could. But even though I am not educated I know enough not to accept every graduate at his own valuation. To hold that people who have been to certain schools are therefore our Best People, regardless of how they do, or do not use their education, is to keep the shell and throw the milk and meat of the coconut to the mon keys. - - ■ y-v, ** As I have said before, I would rather receive a great, vital, living truth front an illiterate backwoods man, who violates every rule of gram mar, than to have a university presi dent lie to me in perfect English. It is the usefulness of the grad uate, not the graduation, which jres, and there is the brand of I GoodnessT ATe not religious people, church people—thqse who make it their busi ness to be good—are not these our Best People? —»■—— - Well, not necessarily. Religion, you see, is not primarily something to “get” or something to “be,” It is something to use. If one makes no use of religion one simply has no re ligion to use. “You ought to see my boy, John,” said a fond parent. “He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t chew, he doesn’t swear, he doesn't drink, he doesn’t do anything.” It is not enough to be good; one must be good for something. By all of which I am merely trying to say tbat-to the Certified Accountant of Life it is not what we have —finan- cially, socially, intellectually, or re ligiously—but what we do with it that determines our rating. When one’s balance sheet shows a gain of 09 per cent in service received, against 1 per cent in service rendered, that one is beaded ; toward bankruptcy. That despicable toadies and social bums j make much of such insolvent in- I dividual s does not alter their credit with those who know. After all, it really matters very little that comparatively small groups of people, for one reason or another, consider themselves our Best People. A gentlemanly stranger says to me: “This brick is solid gold, eigditeeii karats.” Then he explains car Sully why he is giving me an opportunity to purchase this gold brick at less than half its value. For all I know, the man may honestly believe that the brick is gold. If honestly believing things to be of value actually made thgm of value we would all be rich. Well, all that the gentlemanly stranger believes and says about his gold brick is very interesting and harmlessly amusing to me so long as I know the brick is not gold. But the moment I a'ccept his estimate of the brick and purchase it at his valuation, that mo- j nJent I am hooked. i It does matter greatly that so many of the rest of us are ready to accept .these gold brick Best People at their own valuation. ... —. . We always have had our Cains and Judases, and I suppose we shall al ways Lave our moneyed degenerates, our social freaks, our educated Incom petents, our religious defectives. But is there any reason why the rest of us should brand them our Best People? There is only one standard by which Life measures a life; usefulness. If you were a castaway on a desert island; in the last stages of starvation, and found an oyster containing a pearl of great value —which would you throw aside, the ornament or the edible? <© 1928 by the Bell Syndicate. Inc.) Huge Monument for Flyer* Huge likenesses in stone of Nun gesser and Coli, who were lost in an attempt to fly the Atlantic, are to be erected on the Cliffs at Etretat, near Le Havre, France. Back of them will be a tall shaft of stone hi an UMusnal ! design, and in the foreground step* ; and seats for the public. j Another Step Forward HALL’S STORE Pittsboro’s Dry Goods and Shoe Store ANNOUNCES ITS AFFILIATION WITH FEDERATED STORES OF AMERICA f , rS \ r; '•’ * ** -. r r 4000 Merchants United in Buying Effective Saturday, Aug. 10 and to be Signalized by the Beginning of a Big Price-Slashing Sale In the fact of the quantity buying lies the secret of economical buy ing, as one gets far better prices in quantity buying. The Federated idea is nation-wide in its scope, representing 4000 individual merchants, working together with ONE central Buying office. Our connection with the Federated Stores of America enables us to duplicate the service and prices offered you by the largest chain stores. And through more efficient management, and unexcelled buy ing power, our service and prices and style rightness will be equal to any you will find elsewhere. • The Federated Stores combine all the advantages of individual ownership and vital interest in the welfare of the community it serves —with an almost unbelievable buying power, which stretches out to the four corners of the world, it brings to you values that can not otherwise be duplicated. Our Federated Stores connection means this to you: It means that you will have in your home town a bulwark of retail strength which is knit and woven by hands of commercial power into a great organization which reaches out into the markets of the world for the best merchandise and the best bargains to be found. All these advan tages, of course, will be passed on to our customers and friends in this territory. Our Monthly Catalogue will be mailed to you each month. Be on the lookout for the one to be mailed this week. Read it for the best values to be found. We are consistently advancing to keep pace with the rapid growth of the times and ask your patronage only on a basis of deserving it by giving values and service. We feel that you will give this to us if we prove to be worthy. We believe you appreciate our efforts to give you better service and better values, and we will continue to do this. We are doing our best to make shopping a pleasure and not a task. / • .•• t ' HALL’S FEDERATED STORE Member of Federated Stores of America. ‘ PITTSBORO DRY GOODS AND SHOE STORE In Blair Hotel Building.
The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, N.C.)
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Aug. 8, 1929, edition 1
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