Judge — December 21, 1912 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Grouches. ROUCHES have become a habit with some persons around the holidays. Of all peri- ods of the year, this is the most trying— as it may be the most joyfal —for various reasons, Gift giving has become an obses- sion, and the conscientious who make presents in almost all directions for Christmas or New Year's perhaps may be pardoned for the grouches devel- oped, for in their enthusiasm they sometimes go beyond their pecuniary means. The cool and calculating —of whom the census, upon a psychologi- cal analysis, would show an amazing number—may not be forgiven for their grouches, for as a rule they are apt to pat- ronize the five-and-ten-cent counters for gifts to be be- stowed, while they expect any- thing from an automobile toa quit-claim deed to a city house inreturn. Nobody that studies human nature has any sympa- thy for such persons when they get stung. Those who annually look for- ward to New Year’s as a peri- od for the beginning again of lives divorced from tobacco, strong liquors, ete., are also apt to have grouches just at this season, for the memory of former good resolutions broken disturbs them somewhat and leads them to doubt their own bona fides. Such persons should command sympathy, for they mean to do what is right, how- ever weak the flesh may be. All in all, however, this is a season when the grouch should be abandoned, at least temporarily, for these holi- days come but once a year, and every one should make the most of them on philosophical and logical lines, always keeping in mind some of the proverbs in which has been embalmed the wisdom of the ages. One of these is ‘‘Honesty is the best pol- icy,’’? and there is too great a tend- ency these times to take the ‘‘unto’’ out of that sublime prescription, ‘‘Do unto others.’’ The remote yet often-referred-to place said to be paved with good intentions probably also has excuses framed as mottoes on the walls. HEAD, I WIN; TAIL, YOU LOSE. Boy—'* Say, old man, I'll match you to see whether I take nothin’ or one of them drums you ‘ve got fer the rich kids."” Contrary to Precedent. The people this year put a pericd to the monopoly of the presidency by Ohio and New York. At all the national elections since 1868 until and including 1908—with the ex- ception of that of 1888, when Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, was chosen—the country has selected either an Ohio or a New York man for President. In the interval two Ohio Presi- dents, Garfield and McKinley, have died in office, and both were suc- ceeded by Vice-Presidents chosen from New York. This year the Ohio- New York presidential trust has been smashed, and a resident of New Jersey has been selected as the chief executive for the next four years. This departure from an established custom is especially notable, because it is the first time in the history of the nation that a New Jersey man has been chosen to the presidency. However, it may be said that, while President- elect Wilson is not an Ohio man, he frequently visits New York and does not feel under the ne- cessity of employing a guide to aid him in finding his way about the metropolis. A Reminiscence. If, perchance, you are of a soured disposition and wholly out of sympathy with the holi- day spirit, you may neverthe- less rejoice at this season that General Bolivar, of Venezuela, went to glory on the seven- teenth of December, 1830. comicbooks.com