Life — April 18, 1907 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

oN Sat ee IN THE FUTURE OH, NO, THEY ARE NOT JERSEY MOSQUITOES; ONLY JERSEY COMMUTERS A Bible Society Bugaboo HE World reports that the American Bible Society is being run as an octopus, and is crowding small rivals out of business, and putting up the price of the Scriptures. Oh, well! en if it is so (which is disputed), let us not distress our- unduly about it. As things went when the American Bible Society was started, it was a big concern, but as things go now it is a comparatively small concern .and we should still have lots of Bibles at moderate prices even though it went out of business. Possibly the American Bible Society needs to be overhauled. Possibly its management an- tiquated, or less competent than it should be, but it has no monopoly, and if there is a profit in printing Bibles cheaper than it can print them it will be undersold. But if it should go out of business, we guess the Bible-printing would promptly fall into the hands of a real trust, just as has the printing of school-books. And if the American Bible Society is a sort of trust already, with an agreement with the British Bible Society for a division of the field, it is probably so, not from naughti- ness, but from unavoidable submission to the prevailing tendencies of trade. Swear Words WEARING is usually more a matter of taste than of picty or impiety. Most men who swear, swear by ear out of mere liking for the assonances of the comminatory sounds. Mules have the same sort of appreciation, and have it in a high and critical degree. ‘Tones of a cer- tain sort are stimulating to mules. Such tones, conveying earnestness and im- petuosity of intention, they are used to hear in highest perfection in commina- tory language. It is the energy of such language that reaches mules. To its theology we must conclude that they are indifferent. So men, as a rule, are quite indifferent to the theology of swear words, and use them only as vocal m s. The habit of using such words is to be deprecated, especially when it is the sign of imperfect self-control. Yet, like most habits, it is chiefly its abuse that is objectionable. Some very excellent men have used words rated as profane to give empha: 549 to their sentiments. Of one such man it was once said that it was more spiritually uplifting to hear him swear than to hear most men pray, so much there was in his voice of the fear of Go.) and the love of righteousness. National Greatness Y COUNTRY,” quoth the stran- ger, “is the greatest country of all.” “Indeed!” cried several voices at once. “How large an army has it?” “No army whatever.” “How many great battleships, then?” “Not a battleship.” “Well, what islands has it subjugated over se ' “Never an island.” “How dare you call it the greatest country ?” “Because it is the country where the individual man has the best chance of developing the good in him.” There was something touching about the fellow’s simple faith, yet it was hard not to laugh at him. The American Parent ONES, who is a natural handy man, does all manner of things for his chil- dren that they ought to do for themselves. He confesses it as a fault, and says it is really laziness in him, because it is easier for him to do household chores than it is to follow up the children and train them todothem. “They will miss me a good deal when I go,” says Jones. ‘I can see them now, sitting around with tearful eyes, and saying: ‘After all, we never had a man that did the shoes like father.’” Old Clothes Dealer: MEESTER, MEESTER, GOT ANY OLD IRON YOU WANT TO SELL TO-DAY ? comicbooks.com