You lucky, well-balanced ones talk much, and sincerely, of the horrors of drink, and of the drunkard’s weakness. You think the whiskey drinker ought to stop. Do you ask yourself whether or not he CAN stop? Let us consider to-day the drunkard’s side of the case. —- Very often physical weakness causes drunkenness. Many a […]

Everybody knows that until recently the average statesman, the majority of prominent men, in England, drank to excess. Pitt was a drunkard–and Pitt was the most remarkable statesman in England. Fox was a drunkard. In fact, to write a list of England’s greatest men, who lived more than a hundred years ago, would be to […]

How often have you seen a drunken man stagger along the street! His clothes are soiled from falling, his face is bruised, his eyes are dull. Sometimes he curses the boys that tease him. Sometimes he tries to smile, in a drunken effort to placate pitiless, childish cruelty. His body, worn out, can stand no […]

How should a whiskey drinker talk to his son? If he talked as he feels he would hold up the flat, brown bottle and say: “My boy, you know that I am a poor man and have nothing to leave to you or your mother. “The difference between myself and the successful men who have […]

Consider to-day the CHEERFUL side of conditions on earth. Every human being has his troubles and worries. The luckiest of us all yearns for what cannot be had, and sees much to regret. But one splendid fact should always be borne in mind: THE PROGRESS OF HUMANITY IS INCESSANT. WE ARE INFINITELY BETTER OFF NOW […]

An interesting discussion progresses in Chicago. Mr. Sam T. Clover has asked this startling question: “If you were bound for a desert island, and could take with you only ten books, which ten books would you select?” Whoever is refined and well read in Chicago seems to have answered Mr. Clover’s question. Mr. Clover introduces […]

Your friend drinks too much, or drinks temperately but unwisely. You may entreat, or argue, or abuse, or threaten. You may show your friend the happy home where rum never enters. You may lead him through the alcoholic ward at Bellevue. Such sights may produce an impression. But usually they do not. The man who […]

Men have explained variously their reasons for drinking to excess. An able architect drank too much every night. He said that he HAD to drink. If he went to bed perfectly sober his mind went on working and dreaming, after he had gone to sleep, and he woke up fatigued and unable to attend to […]

Often a man talks about like this: “I am a regular but moderate drinker. No one ever saw me drunk, and yet I drink every day. And what’s the harm of it? Can you see anything the matter with me?” The man would seem to have the advantage of you. You cannot SEE anything wrong […]

THE MAMMOTH MADE OUR FIRST PATHS THROUGH THE FOREST Every big movement in this world in some way or other does solid good in the long run, however irritating it may be before it is understood. The saddest period in a child’s life is undoubtedly the period of teething. If you saw a baby for […]

It is believed by scientists that the planet Mars may be striving at this moment to communicate with us. Lines of light are seen on her surface–on the border of that part of Mars known as Lake Iscarie–and men of learning believe that the Martians are trying to signal our earth. Possibly they are trying. […]

The philosophers, political economists, lawmakers, editors, sociologists, and all the other would-be deep thinkers of this earth, are really engaged in a pretty small business. We are like a swarm of human beings cast away on some desert island. This earth is our island, a little island in space, and it is a desert island […]

A tidal wave and hurricane combined have destroyed thousands of lives in one small corner of the globe. After the first excitement and horror, the creditable outpouring of help, there should be thankfulness in the hearts of the many millions who live on safely. Do you ever think of the wonderful protection, the marvellous precision […]

Look at the coal strike, the opinions that it calls forth, and notice how respectability dances and hops from one foot to the other when the RESPECTABLE shoe pinches and the RESPECTABLE toe suffers. A little while ago the man who spoke against trusts and general monopolies of public necessities was called demagogue, socialist, anarchist, […]

A workman should use the best tools at his command–the workman’s best tool is his ballot. Everything that men want it can give them if used intelligently. The reasons urged against its use by labor unions are conscientious but not strong. They are based upon the fact that labor men fear to trust each other, […]

The head of a toad, like the head of a trust, is superficially a hideous thing to look at. Sometimes it is alleged that valuable jewels are found in a toad’s head, and on this account the hideousness even of the far-famed horned toad of the West becomes less repulsive. The trust toad, as you […]

If you are willing to assume your responsibilities as an American citizen you should study seriously the question of the trusts. Already trust organization has assumed very real and very threatening proportions. Every family in the United States knows of the existence of the Meat Trust, which cuts down the food supply of the people […]

In this country and throughout the world women progress toward the full possession of the ballot, and toward equality with men in educational facilities. In one State after another women are beginning to practise law, they are obtaining new suffrage rights, they flock to newly opened schools and colleges. In England and Scotland, but a […]

You know what happens in Gounod’s great opera, “Faust,” which is based on Goethe’s work. An old man–his name is Faust–yearns for youth. He gets the youth, makes the devil’s acquaintance, sells his soul to the devil for the devil’s help. In the opera the devil is politely called Mephistopheles. Everybody is beautifully dressed, from […]

An estimable and very intelligent lady criticises modern education, saying, “So much brain is forced into the girl nowadays that it crowds out her heart.” —- At the risk of shattering the foundations of romance and poetry, it must be said here once and for all that the heart has nothing whatever to do with […]