Newspapers / The Harbinger (Raleigh, N.C.) / Nov. 22, 1902, edition 1 / Page 1
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HARBINGER ORGANIZATION. EDUCATION, ELEVATION. Vol. I. Raleigh, N. C, Saturday, November 22. 1902. No. 46 THE HE AIN'T WENT YIT. S. E. KIZER IN CHICAGO-RECOB D HERALD. Every little while they tell us that the horse ha gottogo; First the trolley w as invented 'cause the horses went too slpw, And they told us that we'd better not keep raisin' colts no more ; When the street cars got to moving that the horses pulled before. I thought it was all over for old Fan and Doll and Kit, S'posed the horse was up and done for. But he ain't went yit. When the bike craze first got started people told us right away, As you probably remember, that the horse had saw his day, People put away their buggies and went kitin round on wheels ; There were lots and lots of horses didn't even earn their meals, 1 used to stand and watch 'em with their bloom ers as they flit, And I thought the horse was goin'. But he ain't went yit. Then they got the horseless carriage and they said the horse was done, And the story's been repeated twenty times by Edison ; Every time he gets another of his batteries to go, He comes whooping out to tell us that the horse don't stand a show, And you'd think to see those chaffeurs, as they go a chaffin' it Was good-bye to Mr. Dobbin, But he ain't went When the people get to flying in the air, I 'spose they'll say, As we have long been a-sayin', that the horse has had his day, And I 'spose that some old feller jist about like me'll stand Where it's safe and watch the horse haulin' stuff across the land, And he'll maybe think as I do, while the clouds above him flit, Oh, they say the horse is done for, But he ain't went - . yit. SOCIAL MORALITY. Mr. Henry Watterson has recently delivered himself of a severe criticism of-the Four Hundred, which has at tracted wide attention throughout the country. He says "the distinguishing trait of the smart set is its moral aban don," and accuses its members of many extremely naughty and reprehensible actions. The doings of the smart set are a perennial theme for self-constituted moral censors to wax indignant over, and ever and anon a Watjerson arises to furnish "good copy" for the news papers by telling the world in ex tremely vigorous English something which is already well known about the Four Hundred and which no person of even ordinary discernment ought to wonder at namely, that the moral standards of the smart set are not those of ordinary people. Morality is entirely a social quality and is largely a matter of economic po sition. I fancy the members of the so called smart set are much like ordinary people in the clay of which they are constructed and conduct themselves exactly as most of their critics would act under similar circumstances. They are not justly censurable as : individ uals nor as a class. They have reach ed their position of economic superi ority solely by reason of the existence of terribly unjust social arrangements. Society as a whole is responsible for their existence as an economic class and society must take the blame for their moral lapses. as a maner or actual lact most o this vigorous criticism of the doings of the Four Hundred is dictated more by envy than by indignant virtue. The ideal of nine-tenths of those who are not already wealthy is to be rich and have nothing to do in life but spend their money. It is toward the attainment f this ideal and being possessed of the ordinary amount o animals spirits which cannot be worked off in ordinary ways, they must con coct and execute bizarre and uncon ventional schemes and doings to fill in the dreary blank that would otherwise exist in their lives. How many of indignant critics would be an iota bet ter than they are if placed in the same circumstances? Suppose indignant vir tue to have attained the social ideal plenty of money, with nothing to do but to spend it would it be any bet ter than the smart set ? We prate about "the dignity of la bor," but we use our utmost endeavors to escape the indignity of laboring. If we have any surplus left from our earn ings, we endeavor to invest it in such a way as will enable us to grow rich suddenly so as to be relieved from the necessity of working any more. We want to mount up into the ranks of the idle class without much regard as to the means of doing so short of the acts which society classes as crimes, such as house breaking or train robbing. That is the social ideal. It is the heaven of the poor to be able to live without work, to have nothing to do but spend one's money. We endeavor to inculcate in the minds of the masses respect for the so called virtues of economy, abstemious ness, etc. These are denominated moral qualities which should be pos sessed by all members of society. They are taught elements of an absolute moral code for the government of so ciety. But let a workingman make his pile by a lucky stroke in mining, land or stock speculation, and the economy and abstemiousness which were form erly regarded as virtues in him at once become extremely reprehensible traits of character. John Smith dress es cheaply, but neatly, and avoids ex cessess in eating and drinking and thus becomes a moral signboard for the guidance of his fellows. Russell Sage dresses in a ten dollar suit and eats an apple for lucheon and thus earns the execration of society and obtains a reputation as a niggardly old miser. Why the difference? John Smith is a workingman, with an in come of $io a week. Russell Sage is a millionaire, with an income of $10 a minute. Society judges the two indi viduals by different moral standards. t is John Smith's duty to save; it is Russell Sage's duty -to spend. And low can Russell Sage perform his so cial duty if he affects the moral virtues of John Smith? It is quite an interesting psycholog ical study, these different moral points of view from which society regards an indentical act of different individuals, but there is space here merely to call attention to it. An understanding of these different points of view, however, ! will remove the veil from many of the vexing social problems that confront us and point the way to theattainme of a healthy, sane and truly moral so cial system. The members of the smart set are really much to be pitied. 1 hey have no proper, healthy sane and holy en joyment of life. Hut of course they don't know this, being simply ordinary clay like the rest of us. . . J ,llu,fO , t1 . r , , , jington, death from accident is far more because they have accomplished the1 4, . . . ., ,, ,. common than many suppose. Last universal social idea and have nothing' ., , , , . . . tt year it was responsible for from 6 to q , , . ' 3 snnnlri thevhe (rnvprnpn hvhut.ipnre. L f , ' . ,. ' t cepts of bourgeoise morality? Society , . , . , useu nas raugni mem aiiierenuy irom that. Every time that society winks at or approvesof the millionaire drunk ard being carefully taken home in a hack while the ordinary drunkard is taken to the police station in the Black Maria, it exposes its real ethical stand ard and gives countenance and support to exactly such actions as Watterson and other critics condemn in the smart set of Newport. The real ethical prin- . , ,. . . ciple which governs society is "all you need is the price." The smart but the reflex of an almost universal social condition. The Wattersons make rather cheap notoriety for themselves by periodically pouring forth the vials of their wrath on the actions of the!.. u XT j , , . , .. . Pour Hundred, but when it comes to condemning the economic conditions which make the Four Hundred nossi - ble they are most industriously silent Short of progressively raising the standard of life and maintaining its economic position by raising the wage rate of the working class, I can con ceive of no more important duty for the trade union than to inculcate proper ethical standards in the minds of its members, for it is by means of an entire change in the ethical point of view that the emancipation of labor will finally be accomplished. Most workingmen are embryo capitalists, embryo members of the smart set. All they lack is the opportunity. When ever they are ready to repudiate the ir 1 -t-i 1-1 i rvloe ' economic and sow the moral principles which animate present day society, their emancipation is assured, for they are in the majority and can have any system they really want. Capitalism flourishes because the workers would be capitalists if they could and are fill ed with the morality of capitalism. W. P. Borland. Vallejo, Cal. LACEMAKING BY HAND. Making lace by hand is a well de veloped art in Paraguay. It was taught the natives 200 years ago by the missionaries and has been trans mitted from generation to generation till it is now quite general throughout the republic. Some towns are devoted to making a certain kind of lace. In one town of 8,000 or 9,000 inhabitants almost all the women and children and many of the men make lace col- arettes, handkerchiefs and ladies' ties. Another town makes lace embroidery and others drawn thread work, such as centerpieces, try mates, teacloths and doilies. The designs used in making the lace are taken from the curious webs of the semitropical spiders that are so numerous there. On this account it is called "nanduti," an In dian name which means spider web. Senator Spooner, in opening the campaign in Milwaukee, placed him self squarely on record as being in full ympathy with the striking miners. ACCIDENTAL DEATHS IN CREASING. People are accustomed to think of death as usually being due to old age or some disease, and upon fatal acci dents as something out of the common. Yet. aCCOrdincr tr rerenr rpnortc frr- I O . the owprtitnerif oonct, fK T 1. per cent, of all deaths in the country. . J I "is means that twice as many people I,- r . . ,, J, idle from accident as from old agfe. The , M , . . " . ; f f., . r 1 monia and "heart failure,"and in these days people do not place much confi dence in "heart failure" as the name of a specific disease. There is a growing belief that all physical ills are due to germs, and the discovery of any germ is hailed as a isteo in the nrno-rpsc rliai- ic f- mol-o i,,,,,, f , , , Al humanity safe and sound, but there J t j certainly seems to be need of some an set is tit.,.' 4. rn . tu maKe ioiks immune against accidents. Accordino- to the census reports the Insurance Press, accidents ' " 111Lieai- r L ... ' it appears that advancing civilization . rri . , . . & 1 , , . . , . J Torn! ormnanfc oz . . . - - 1 -. 1 . J ' 3 eleven million last vear, fifteen acci- dents to every hundred people. WAGES AND PROFITS. Prior to the strike the anthracite miners worked ten hours a day 200 days of the year for an average wage of $1.42 a day, which amounted to an average individual income of $284. Each miner received about 60 cents for each ton of coal that he mined, and each miner mined about two and one third tons a day. In computing the wages of the miners the mine owners fixed the weight of a ton of coal at various figures, ranging between 2,740 and 3,190 pounds, and sold the same 1 a a. 1 a i . 1 uuai 10 uie customer ai 2,240 pounds to the ton. The average cost of the coal deliv ered to the local dealers throughout the country was $1.87 a ton. The average cost to the consumer was $6 25 per ton. The difference between the cost of production and the price paid by the consumer, $4.38, represents the profits of the coal trust and the retail ers. Boston Traveler. FINE FLOUR AND TEETH. Why do colored people as a rule have such splendid teeth ? Mostly be cause they have lived on coarse food, which made demands on the teeth. People, as a rule, now do not want to do any chewing. They demand meat which is so tender that it will melt in the mouth, etc. Nature, prodigal as she is, never bestows anything where it is not used, and the result is that the civilized races are losing their teeth. If the style continues to forbid our teeth to do any grinding, our progeny of, say, 2902 A. D. will be toothless, or with only rudimentary teeth. As individuals we cannot grow good teeth in our heads by eating coarse food. We are beginning to get bad teeth by heredity. But there is almost no tooth or bone-forming material in fine white flour, and the avoidance of coarse foods undoubtedly hastens the decaying of our teeth. Perhaps the millers and dentists are in a secret league to work for mutual interests. Who knows? HUMOROUS. f IMITATORS. Little Ethel Mamma, Mrs. Next door's children are playin' house in their garden. Mayn't we play house in ours? Mamma Certai nl y. Little Ethel That'll be lovely. Then we can quarrel over the back fence just like real neighbors. HIS COURSE CLEAR. "Say," whispered the conductor te the motorman, "that fat slob with the jag says it 1 want ins nickel i ll nave to whip him to get it. What'll I do ?" :None but the brave deserve the fare," replied that worthy, as he put on full speed in an effort to run over a dog. Houston Post. AS SHE SAW IT. Mrs. Dimpleton Why don't you get your life insured ? Dimpleton What's the use? I'll well enough, and I'll probably outlive you. Mrs. Dimpleton Well, you always did look on the dark side. Washing ton Times. RELATED. "Professor, I want to ask you a ques tion, if you please." "Certainly. Let me hear it." "I want to ask you if your experi . ence leads to the belief that a person who eats a Welsh rabbit should sleep on a hare mattress ? " Cleveland Plain Dealer. PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. Patient What would you advise me to do for dyspepsia, doctor? Dr. De Quick Well, if you want it real bad, hire a cheap cook and eat ir regularly. Two dollars, please ! Chi cago News. LAWYERS SCARCE. Many unkind things are said and printed about members of the legal profession, only a few of which are ob served : "Billy" Saunders is a natural born wit. He is in his eighteenth year, liv ing in New York, and still working at his trade, painting. On a recent occa sion "Billy" and one of his mates were beautifying a lawyer's office. The younger partner, thinking to take a "rise" out of "Billy," said : "I say, 'Billy,' did you ever know of a painter going to heaven?" "Yes," said ."Billy," "I knew of one once." "And do you think he stayed there ?" "Well, I did hear that they tried to put him out." "And did they succeed ? " "No, according o latest accounts they had not succeeded." "Why. how is that ? " "Well, sonny, it wasthisway : They couldn't find a lawyer to draw up the papers." ALL AMATEURS. Cultured Mother My dear, your sis ter Clara is an amateur pianist, Dora is an amateur photographer, Edna is an amateur painter, and Elvira is an amateur astronomer, but you don't seem to be anything. Pretty Daughter Oh, yes, mamma, I am an amateur fiancee. Here's my first engagement ring. WHAT JARRED HER. Mother (soothingly) You mustn't mind what he says about his mother's cooking, my dear. All men do that. Married Daughter (warmly) I don't mamma ; it's the things he says about my cooking that annoy me.
The Harbinger (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Nov. 22, 1902, edition 1
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