"The carnation, as we see it today, was not always such a perfect blossom—no, it is a development of the modest little old-fashioned pink. Men everywhere are devoting their attention to the betterment of things in the vegetable and animal world. We are constantly bringing forth more splendid cattle and horses and sheep, through cultivation; Luther Burbank and his followers are giving us each year more perfect vegetables and fruits and flowers, through scientific cultivation. Here, for example, we find in a northern state a plum tree bearing fruit such as no other northern tree ever produced before. We ask the nurseryman how it is possible to transplant this fruit from a warmer zone to the region of rigorous Winters. He replies that this tree was not brought from a warmer locality, but that it grew here from the beginning. How, then, can it be made to produce such big, splendid plums when no other tree in the neighborhood grows such luscious fruit?



"Here is the explanation: The tree was found growing wild in the woods. [Draw the branch of Fig. 112 in brown and the leaves in green.] And there in the woods it produced only very small, sour plums. [Complete Fig. 112 by drawing the plums in purple or a combination of red and blue.] But with this hardy tree to work on, the fruit experts, through grafting and cultivation, have caused it to bring forth this large, luscious fruit. [With purple, or a combination of red and blue, enlarge the plums, completing Fig. 113.] These men knew what to do and they did it. If they hadn't done it, the tree, worthless and neglected, would still bear little, sour plums instead of big, sweet ones.



"Mothers, the nursery of your home is like the nursery where the fruit experts do their wonderful work. God has placed in your keeping these little ones. You are the expert whose business it is to see that as they grow older they will not bear the small, sour fruit of wrong living, but the large, sweet fruit of Christian service. What they are to be depends upon you. The plum tree in the woods could not grow better of itself. It had to have help. And yet, we find mothers everywhere who seem to think that the child can develop into a high type of manhood and womanhood if he is provided with a plenty to eat and wear and with the public school and the Sunday school at his disposal.

"Within the heart of each mother God has implanted a natural knowledge of how to care for the child. To fail to apply this knowledge is to fail to reach up to a parent's highest privilege.

"The Sunday school can do much, but we must remember that home was God's first and holiest school. It is in the home that the child receives his first and most lasting lessons. Let us not misjudge the ability of the child to perceive the inconsistency, the insincerity, of father and mother. Even though the parent be a teacher in the Sunday school, her influence cannot be for the best if her everyday life is wasted in society and unworthy amusements. The father's praise of the Bible loses its gilt edge when the boy sees him bound up in the Sunday paper for two hours, without ever finding time to read the Scriptures.

"Let us all, therefore, look at this whole matter seriously. We may each have a part in this training, this cultivating, this producing of better minds, better hands and cleaner lives, but after all, mothers, the great responsibility is yours, for it is into your hands that God has placed the children, these innocent little ones who are a type of heaven itself."



THE HOLLOW TREE —Decision Day —Honesty

A Figure of the Deceitful Life—The True Test of Character.

THE LESSON—That stability or weakness of character are revealed when the supreme test comes.

This lesson from nature is planned to impress the truth that we must be worthy "through and through" if we are to endure the test of character which comes to every life.

~~The Talk.~~

"I want every one of you to stop looking at me and to take a good look at the wood out of which the pew ahead of you is made. [If necessary, revise the following sentences to meet your immediate conditions.] You will notice that the pew is made up of a good many pieces of oak fastened together so nicely that you can hardly tell where they are joined. And so it is with all this other furniture, and with the tables and the chairs and the bookcases in your homes and everywhere else. A great many fine trees must be cut down every day to furnish the wood from which all the things are made. The furniture manufacturers buy the wood in the form of heavy lumber. The companies which sell this lumber to the furniture factories send their expert tree buyers into the forests to pick out the trees which will make the best lumber. These tree experts go into the forests and select the trees that they want, and leave all the others standing.

"One day a tree buyer, after examining an oak grove, told the owner that he would pay him a certain amount of money for a specified number of trees, and at the same time he pointed out the trees which he wanted.

"'But,' said the owner of the forest, 'you have overlooked one of the nicest-looking trees of them all. Don't you want this one?' [Draw outlines of tree, Fig. 114.]



"'No,' replied the buyer, 'I can't use that tree. It is no good for our purpose.'

"'No good!' exclaimed the owner, 'why that tree looks to me to be a good deal better than some that you selected.'

"But the buyer was an expert and knew what he was talking about. To show the owner what was the trouble with it, he cut the tree down, and this is what they found: [Remove the paper from the drawing board; turn it one-fourth around, and reattach to the board; add lines to complete Fig. 115.]



"What was the matter with the tree? Yes, it was hollow. The owner was a much-surprised man. The expert, by tapping the tree with the blunt side of his ax, could tell that the tree was not solid. We might call it a deceitful tree because it seemed to be better than it really was.

"Sometimes we hear of deceitful men and women—deceitful boys and girls. None of us wants to be called deceitful, for the world has no more use for a deceitful person than this man had for a hollow tree. Some may think that they may deceive their friends and everyone else around them, but they get found out sooner or later, and, worst of all, their lives are an open book to the Lord, who sees and knows their every thought. The hollow tree in the forest is certain to come crashing to the earth when a severe storm breaks. The deceitful man or woman suffers a like fate when something happens to reveal their hollow lives to the world.

"On this Decision day, let us resolve anew to make our lives of solid worth through and through. We can do it only by coming close to the Master and learning from Him how to live.

"The trouble with the tree in the forest was that it was not sound. It lacked inside strength. Even a slight tap of the ax proved that it was a sort of 'hollow mockery.' It was a good-looking tree on the outside, but its heart was not right. And isn't that exactly the case with a lot of good-looking, well-dressed people? Why, even a boy or a girl can be all wrong at the heart, though their faces and hands and clothes are clean and beautiful.

"Have you ever stopped to think what good eyes God has? He never needs a telescope or a microscope, for 'the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.' God never beholds evil where there is none, but no boy or girl, man or woman, can hide it so well in their hearts but that God sees it and knows it.

"Let us, therefore, on this Decision day, resolve never to let deceit come into our hearts, to make our lives hollow, but to be sound in character through and through."



TWO MEN —Ideals —Error

Know Your Man Before You Trust and Follow Him—Our Ideals.

THE LESSON—That we cannot safely choose an example of true living from among those about us, without knowing their real character.

The accompanying illustration is offered for occasions in which children—especially boys—above the primary age are interested.

~~The Talk.~~

"There are a good many boys and girls who make a great mistake in trying to imitate older people; and there are a good many older people who make a great mistake when they try blindly to make a success of things just because other people have been successful in doing them. It is a splendid thing to want to have in our lives the same great governing principles which rule the lives of people who stand before us as splendid models of character; but it is not always a good thing to try to do the very same things that these people do. Why? Because it is likely that we are not cut out to do their kind of work. The Lord may have intended that we should follow an entirely different line of effort. Let us, therefore, cultivate in our own lives the great and true principles which we find in other people, but let us also try to find out what the Lord wants us to do, and then let us learn to do it just the very best we can."

"'Blessed is he,' says Thomas Carlyle, 'who has found his work; let him ask no other blessing.' The surest way to find what our life work is to be is to 'do the common things uncommonly well.' If we do this, our life-work will be pointed out to us clearly and plainly. Therefore, in selecting our ideals in life, let us be careful how we choose."



"A boy, whom we will call John, worked in a certain downtown office. Two men used to pass the window of his place of employment very frequently. These two men were never together—in fact, they were not even acquainted with each other. Here is one of the men who passed John's window. [Draw Fig. 116, complete.] He was evidently a laboring man, as John judged from his clothing, which showed the effects of hard work of a rather rough character. He carried a dinner bucket. John merely noticed that this man passed and repassed his window every day, but gave him very little thought. But there was another man who did attract John's attention. Here he is: [Draw the second man, completing Fig. 117.] This second man was always well dressed, and he appeared to be a prominent business or professional man. Everything in his appearance and manner attracted the admiration of the boy. Without knowing it, John was selecting an ideal—he was studying the people whom he saw and hoping to be unlike this one and to be like that one.



"'Some day,' he said to himself, as the prosperous, well-dressed man walked by, 'when I grow up, I hope I shall be just like him.' He had chosen his ideal. The man was one of the leading merchants of the city, and when John found this to be so, he was still more firmly determined to pattern his life after the man whom he admired.

"A short time after this John's folks—his father, mother, brothers and sisters—removed to another part of the city—and to the boy's great surprise, he found that the merchant lived just a square away. Incidentally, too, he found that the laboring man lived right next door to his new home.

"And, right then and there, John learned one of the great lessons of his life. What did he learn about the merchant? He learned that the man, while he looked pleasant and kindly, was selfish and unkind. He learned that the making and hoarding of money was his great object in life. He learned that he cared but little for the comfort and welfare of other people. He learned that the man's family was unhappy because no home can be happy when selfishness and unkindness reign.

"What else did he learn? He learned that the laboring man who lived next door was one of the finest men he ever knew. He learned that the whole family was so kind and helpful that he soon forgot the merchant and his fine clothes. He learned that the laboring man with his wife had been willing to live humbly and work hard in order that their children might be kept in school and then go to college. He learned that all the children of the neighborhood liked to go to this man's home where everybody seemed to have such a jolly good time. He found that the Bible was opened every day while the Scriptures were read, and that the dust never had a chance to gather on its covers.

"So one day, when John was looking out of the window of his place of employment, and received a happy smile from his friend, the working man, he said to himself, 'I've changed my mind. Clothes don't count for everything. To be a good man depends upon what's inside, and not what's on the outside. When I grow up, I want to be just as good and kind as this man is.'

"Let us all be careful in choosing our examples of how to live. The life of Christ is full of help to us, and the lives of many of His true disciples all about us today give us a practical illustration of the best way to live."



TREE SURGERY —Rally Day —Obstacles

Trees Need Skillful Surgery More Often Than People Do—Superfluous Branches.

THE LESSON—That the life which wastes its strength in unnecessary efforts cannot bring forth the best fruits.

That the boys and girls may realize the sad results of forming habits which hinder growth, development and fruit-bearing, is one of the great objects of the teaching of the Sunday school. Rally Day is an especially appropriate time for a lesson along this line of thought.

~~The Talk.~~

"A stranger from the East was visiting a large fruit farm in the celebrated Hood River Valley in Oregon. He was astonished at the size and appearance of the growing apples, and he asked the owner of the fruit farm to tell him the secret of such wonderful results.

"'There is no secret at all,' responded the fruit raiser. 'You see, if a tree is allowed to do as it pleases, it usually covers itself with a vast number of useless branches and a multitude of leaves, which are of no benefit whatever except to make shade; and when a tree has too many branches and too many leaves it requires so much strength to keep them alive that there isn't enough left to put into the fruit. In other words, the tree can't bear large, fine fruit if it must also support a lot of useless branches and leaves.' This is the way an apple tree will grow if it is allowed to have its own way. [With the broad side of your green chalk, draw the general form of the tree, Fig. 118; add the trunk and dead branches in brown, and draw the grass with green, and the apples in red, completing Fig. 118.]



"'Such a tree can never bear good apples,' continued the fruit man. 'Many of its branches die, because the tree simply can't support so many limbs and leaves. Notice that all our trees are carefully trimmed.' And he pointed the visitor to trees that looked like this: [Draw the second tree, using the same colors as in Fig. 118, completing Fig. 119.]



"'It is an absolute fact,' added the fruit man, 'that if we allow these unnecessary leaves and branches to stay on the tree they absorb the life and strength which must go into the fruit if we are to raise fruit for which there is a market. So we cut off everything that can be spared, and we get the best fruit that grows.'

"'Then it doesn't all depend upon the place where the fruit is grown?' observed the visitor.

"'No,' laughed the fruit man. 'Many people think it does. Of course, the soil and climate have a good deal to do with it, and we must prepare the ground and keep it in the proper condition; we must also keep the trees free from disease and insects. But all of this same work has to be done, no matter where the apples are raised, and the soil and climate in many other parts of the United States are just as good as they are here. It depends upon the know-how!

"Ah, that's the secret! It depends upon the know-how!

"Boys and girls, on this Rally Day, let me ask you: Are you going to let your life grow to be like this tree? [Indicate the first.] Or is it to be like this one? [Indicate the second.] What do I mean? Here is what I mean:

"If a girl lets her thoughts run too much to clothes and parties—if she worries about her failure to do the things which other girls can do, and which God never intended she also should do—if she is spending her time reading books which can never be of any possible good to her—if she is becoming fault-finding, cynical, cross, selfish—if she is doing any of these things which keep her from being what she ought to be—her everyday life needs trimming! Think it over. If you find any useless, strength-absorbing thing in your life, cut it out!

"Boys, are you letting any bad habits grow into your life? Are you wasting your time running after pleasures and amusements that don't help you to be better boys? Are you getting chummy with other boys whose companionship is not good and whose words and deeds you would not dare to talk about at home? Are you reading useless books and letting the treasures of literature on mother's bookshelf at home go untouched? Are you trying to find short-cuts to success, when there isn't any such thing, and neglecting the hard work which has brought honor and success to all who have reached a high place? If you are doing any of these things, get out the pruning hook of good resolution and the sharp ax of determination. Trim off all these useless things. Gather them in a heap and burn them. Then, in the years to come, will you find that you have been able to be of use to the world and to yourself. But you can't do it with these useless, strength-robbing things growing on your lives. Among the last words of Jesus on earth were these: 'Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.' If we are to bear much fruit, we must trim off the useless things and allow the bright sunshine of His approval and guidance to come into our lives."



THE PILGRIMS —Thanksgiving Day —Bravery

The Story of Their Steadfastness of Faith is an Inspiring Study for Thanksgiving Day.

THE LESSON—That the blessings for which we are thankful today have come through those whose faith was firmly grounded.

Thanksgiving Day should be one of mixed seriousness and smiles. This chalk talk endeavors to meet this combination in its treatment of the character of the Pilgrims and of the present-time observation of the day which had its beginning in Plymouth colony.

~~The Talk.~~

"The thoughts of Christian people all over America should turn today back to the twenty-second day of December, 1620, when that company of noble men and women, after battling with the ocean waves for two months, succeeded in getting ashore from their sturdy little boat, the Mayflower, and set their feet upon the new land of America. The spot where these Pilgrims landed is now a sacred one. We call it Plymouth Rock, and there we may still see the rock on which they are said to have stepped as they came ashore in their row-boats.

"Who were these people? And why did they come to America and start a colony when there were no white people anywhere around; when savage Indians would surely try to kill them; when they would have to labor hard to get any food or clothing, and where they would have to live in the wild country in huts which must be made from the logs which they would cut out of the forest?

"The Pilgrims were people from England who loved God and wanted to do His will. But there were other and more powerful people in England who punished them and treated them shamefully because they did not choose to do things which they knew would not please God. Finally, to get away from their persecutors, they left England and went over to Holland where they tried to live as they believed the Lord would have them live. But there they found a rough, immoral lot of people—mostly sailors and soldiers who had left the service of their country and were leading reckless lives. For the good of their children, they decided not to remain there. They then bade farewell to all that was near and dear to them in the old country and started across the ocean to America—the new land. After a voyage of two months, they reached the bleak, rocky coast of Massachusetts, and they knew that if they could come ashore safely, they could here worship God just as they wished to do.

"We are glad that they kept a diary of what they did. When they asked the London company to let them start a colony in America, they said, 'We verily believe that God is with us and will prosper us in our endeavors. We are men who will not be easily discouraged.' That's the kind of people they said they were—the women as well as the men—and they proved it to be so. After they had signed the constitution which was the foundation of the first democratic government in America, while the Mayflower was standing in the harbor, the brave company of one hundred and one disembarked from their little vessel and commenced at once to chop down the trees needed to build homes and to provide fuel, for it was in the dead of winter. Before the first winter had ended, forty of their number had died from exposure, famine and disease, but when the Mayflower started back on its return trip to England, not one of the survivors would go with the ship's crew. Here, then, on this bleak, forbidding New England coast these Pilgrims set up the first model government. [Draw a little of the outline of the New England states at the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 120.] They had trouble with the Indians, but the Red Men soon came to respect them, and peace continued for many years. Three years after they had landed, Governor Bradford proclaimed a great feast—the feast of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving! How dear the word has grown. 'Out of small beginnings,' says Governor Bradford in his history of the colony, 'great things have been produced by His hand that made all things out of nothing; and, as one small candle will light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many, yea, to our whole nation.'



"And, today, this nation, the greatest nation on the earth, still looks back to that first Thanksgiving Day. [Draw the remaining lines to complete Fig. 120.]

"To us, it is a day of worship and feasting, and in both of these features we are following the example of Governor Bradford, Elder William Brewster, John Carver, Edward Winslow, Miles Standish and the other brave men and women who formed that early company. We do not go out into the woods for the wild turkey as they did. But we get the turkey just the same. I have no doubt that your thoughts of thanksgiving to God for his many blessings to us this year are already mingling with thoughts of scenes like this: [Detach the map drawing from the board, turn it over and re-attach it with thumb tacks. Change the map into a steaming roast turkey by adding the lines to form the wing, the "drumstick," the garnishment and the plate. Use black for all but the garnishment. This completes Fig. 121].



OUR HANDS —Visitors' Day —Conduct

Actions Sometimes Speak Plainer Than Words—The Important Part Which Our Hands Play.

THE LESSON—That we should watch carefully "the work of our hands."

This chatty little talk about the hand may be given added force if the speaker will, by the use of his own hands, illustrate the characteristics and emotions as they are mentioned.

~~The Talk.~~

"Today, we shall talk a little about our hands—these most useful 'tools' that are fastened to the outer ends of our arms.

"Helen Keller, who has been deaf and blind ever since she was a little child, tells us that her hands are a splendid substitute for eyes and ears, and that their sensitive touch has revealed to her the beauties and wonders of the world. In other words, she has seen the world with her hands!

"Did you ever see a palmist read a hand? It is a very interesting thing, although most of us haven't a great deal of confidence in the revelations which the palmist finds there in the lines and the high places and the low places. [Draw the hand and put in the lettering of Fig. 122.] We laugh at the mistakes which the palmist makes, even though we think seriously of the true things she speaks.



"But we don't need to go to the palmist to find out what is really in our hands—to find out the real story they have to tell. Look at your own hands a moment Let us see what we find there.

"Are your hands the kind that clasp other hands in warm friendship? Are they hands which are busy every day doing good, honest work? Are they hands that take food and clothing to the poor? Are they hands that stroke the fevered brow? Are they hands that help to lighten the burdens of other people? Are they hands that lift up the fallen one and point him to Him who said, 'Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden?' Are they hands that help wherever and whenever they can? Think about it! Are they?

"Or, are they hands that clench in anger? Are they hands that crush heartlessly? Are they hands that drag downward? Are they hands that pull backward? Are they hands that strike in cruelty? Are they hands that slap insultingly? Are they hands that tear pitilessly? Are they hands that grope into the dark places and do more harm than good? Think about it! Are they?

"Or, are they hands that drop lazily? Are they hands that lie idly and fold indolently? Think about it! Are they?

"In God's word, we find the hand mentioned more than a hundred times. It appears constantly as an index of character. So, you see, there is more than one way to determine character than by the 'reading' of the hand. Of the industrious, busy hand, Solomon says, 'The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be under tribute.' And again of the lazy hand, he says, 'How long wilt thou sleep? When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.' What a picture of laziness!

"But in no other place in the Bible do we find such striking references to the hand as in the words of the Psalmist. [Insert the letter "S" in Palmist, changing it to Psalmist.] Here is what the Psalmist says: 'He that hath clean hands and a pure heart shall receive the blessing of the Lord. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands; yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it." [Add the words, "The Work of Our Hands, Establish Thou It."]



"This is a splendid prayer for all of us. To our visitors today, we extend a warm hand, because you are as welcome as the flowers in May. Ours is the 'right hand of fellowship,' as Paul calls it. Here we have a plenty of work for many more hands to do—willing hands, busy hands, loving hands. If yours are not busy doing a work of uplift and helpfulness somewhere else, remember that we shall be glad to enlist them in service here. The lines of E. A. Houseman, in his poem, 'A Shropshire Lad' show most beautifully the thought which we should give the work of our hands as the days bring new problems and opportunities:

"'Hand,' said I, 'since now we part From fields and men we know by heart, For strangers' faces, strangers' lands, Hand, you have held true fellows' hands; Be clean, then!—rot, before you do A thing they'd not believe of you!'"



HELEN KELLER —Girl's Day —Seeing

Her Wonderful Experience Furnishes an Inspiring Thought for Girls' Day.

THE LESSON—That our physical eyes cannot reveal to us the precious gifts of God; only our spiritual eyes can tell us of His loving kindness.

Helen Keller's wondrous life is full of inspiration, and a study of it will provide the conscientious teacher with many helpful thoughts. The illustration is especially appropriate for Girls' Day.

~~The Talk.~~

"It happens very often that two people look at the same thing at the same time, and each of the two sees something entirely different from the other. Somebody has described the optimist as the man who sees the doughnut, while the pessimist sees nothing but the hole. So, also, you and I might see before us nothing but an unshapely block of marble, while the sculptor would see the angel in the stone!

"All of this proves to us that what we see doesn't depend upon our eyesight, but upon the mind which is back of the eyesight and which receives the impressions not only through the eyes but through the senses of hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling. In fact, our eyes and our ears may be tightly closed—we may be totally deaf and blind—and still we may be able to 'see' things more clearly than we might with our eyesight and our hearing.

"We have all heard about Helen Keller, the deaf and blind girl. I will draw an outline of her portrait. [Draw Fig. 124, with eye closed, complete.]



"This young woman has been deprived of her eyesight and hearing ever since she was a young child, and yet her ability to learn, to comprehend, to understand, to really 'see,' is developed to such a high degree that she is advanced far beyond most well-educated people who possess all of their natural faculties.

"Helen Keller, now grown to womanhood, has written many wonderful things. Here is one of them: 'It does not matter where we are, so long as we have light in our hearts and make our dark ways ring with the music of burdens cheerfully borne and tasks bravely filled. They say life is a closed book to me. One critic doubted that I could feel the sun, and I believe he thought others felt it for me. But if, indeed, I had so little share as that in the life of others, it would still be true that

"'The least flower with brimming cup may stand And share its dewdrops with another near.'

"Truly, the eyes of Helen Keller are widely opened to the great truths and wonderful beauties around her—[change lines of the eye slightly, completing Fig. 125]—whereas, the eyes of many of us which are supposed to be wide open, are indeed closed to many of God's blessings. Many of us have eyes to see with, but we use them only to look with. Helen Keller has seen more and done more without eyes than thousands who have perfect eyes, but have never learned to use them.



"Helen Keller should be an inspiration to every girl here today. Learn from her life the great principles of true living.

"Let us first ask the question, 'How did she reach the high place to which she has been able to attain?' She must have had help. Yes, she did have help. It came chiefly through a dear friend, Miss Sullivan, who, through patient years, sent the light into the darkness which enveloped the poor deaf and blind girl. And listen:

"Never, during those years of patient endeavor, did Miss Sullivan allow Helen Keller to receive a wrong impression of things about her.

"Stop a moment and think what all that means! Nothing came into the life of the girl but clear, certain truth. The false, the unlovely, the hideous, the deceitful, the unreal, never came in to distort her view while she was a child, and so, when she later learned of the sadder side of life, through her extensive reading, she was well prepared to sympathize with those whose youth was not so well favored as her own. Let us be careful in helping to shape the lives of the children, never to leave with them a wrong impression which may require a lifetime to remove from their minds.

"'It must be,' says Helen Keller, 'that when the Lord took from me one faculty, He gave me another, which is in no way impossible. I think of the beautiful Italian proverb, 'When God shuts a door, he opens a window.'

"Truly, God has opened a window to let in the sunshine of His love and care, and this blind girl is one of His brightest children.

"What an example to the world is Helen Keller! What an example to every girl who has heard of her great success. Up with a monument to her memory! Build it high and strong! She has shown the world how difficulties can be overcome by determination and perseverance, and to what rugged, lofty heights one may attain, even though he carry the heaviest of burdens!"



THE STORY OF A KITE —Conceit —Vanity

A Fable Talk to Children About the Ambitious Flier Which Broke the String.

THE LESSON—That sometimes the things which seem to be hindering us and holding us down are the very things which we need to hold us up and build us up.

In the days of our grandfathers and grandmothers, the children were taught from the beginning to perform many household duties which the children of today know nothing of. Whether it be a cause or an effect, the truth of the matter is that the modern tendency is to get away from the home influence and home responsibilities at a very early age—to break loose from "mother's apron strings." The talk deals with this phase of modern life.

~~The Talk.~~ ~~(By Chas. D. Meigs.)~~

"I am going to draw you a picture this morning, and I am wondering which one of you will be able to tell me first what it is a picture of. I will go a little slow, so you can all follow every line and think real hard what it is going to be! [Begin drawing Fig. 126, at the lines indicating the distant foliage; then draw the tail, and finally the kite frame and string.]



"No, no, no! It's not a wood pile! It's not a gridiron! No, it is not a trap! Where's the boy who said 'kite?' He's the smartie, for he got it right. Yes—it's a kite, and it was John's kite.

"One day the wind came up just right for the kite, so John got it out, called to his chum, Harry, across the street, and said, 'Say, Harry, come on—let's go out and fly the kite; the wind is just dandy today.'

"So, away the boys went, and before they reached the open lot three or four other kids had fallen in line, and they went along to help have the fun. 'Now, Harry, you take the kite and run out there towards that old stump,' said John, 'and when I pull the string, you stop and hold the kite up over your head as high as you can and when I say 'ready' you let her go.' Away went Harry, and he held up the kite. [Let speaker hold up a song book, high.] 'Are you ready?' 'Yes.' 'Well, then, let her go.' And with that, along came a gust of wind which laid hold of that kite and began to climb right up towards the sky with it. Higher and higher it went till the kite which was really as tall as the boy who owned it, didn't look much bigger than his hat But Harry kept on letting out the string, till the hat looked like a bird with a great long tail.' [Let speaker here shade his eyes with his hand and peer and point steadily up towards the sky and occasionally take a peep at the audience and see the boys and girls also looking up through the roof at the kite. The writer has so caught them at it many a time.] Then John looked down to see how much string he had left, and he let out more and more, and when he looked up at the kite again he didn't look at it at all—because he could not see it. It was out of sight! But he knew it was up there all right for he felt it pull!

"Now, I guess this kite story is a fable, because in fables kites can talk as well as the boys who fly them. So when the kite got up so high, the story says that it began to want to talk, and as there was nobody up there to talk to, it began to talk to itself, and here is what it said:

"'My! but ain't I high today? Never got so high in all my life before. How beautiful the world looks below me! How beautiful the sky looks above me! Dear me, I can't be so very far from the man in the moon! I have often heard of him, but have never met him. Gee! I wish that boy would let go of that string; if he would, I'd go up and shake hands with the man in the moon and ask him how he is. I just hate to be held down all the time. I heard Harry say, the other day, that he didn't went to be tied to his mother's apron string, and that he'd like to be his own man.' Yes, and I'd like to be my own kite, too, and then I'd show these boys where I'd go.' And the more the kite thought of being 'held down,' the madder it got and finally it said, 'If that boy don't let go of that string, I'll break it—that's what I'll do, and I'll go on up to the moon, now see if I don't!' And with that, the kite gave a sudden jerk—and—snap went the string!

"And what do you think, children—did the kite reach the man in the moon? Not much it didn't!' It began to act crazy and silly and drunk all at the same time! And it wobbled, and wobbled and stumbled and tumbled and finally it fell in the dirt, battered and broken like that! [Detach your drawing, reverse it and reattach it to the drawing board; add the lines to complete Fig. 127.]



"Now boys, why did the kite fall, when the string broke? Because the very same string which had held it down was the very same thing which held it up! And now listen—don't you boys and girls get as silly as the kite was. Don't you jerk, and pull and tug at your mother's apron string and try to break it, so you can be 'your own man' while you are nothing but a boy or a girl? If you break that string too soon, you are liable to tumble in the dirt as the kite did, and go all to pieces as it did; for—don't forget this—the things which hold you down to Sunday School, to Church, to Young People's Meeting, to School and to work, are the things which hold you up and lift you up, and keep you up and build you up into strong, hopeful, helpful, useful, happy men and women. Don't forget what a fool the kite was, and what happened to it! Go as high as you can in the world but don't break the string!"



A STRANGE OLD EPITAPH —Narrowness —Broadness

A Talk to Boys Concerning the Narrow Life and the Broad Life—A Contrast.

THE LESSON—That it is all wrong to be satisfied to be a Mr. Nobody. Do your best and be a Mr. Somebody.

The boy whose days in school and whose hours of serious thought in the home have opened his eyes to future years of responsibility, will drink in the sentiment of this talk and remember the lesson when he reaches the twists and corners of life's pathway which lies before him.

~~The Talk.~~ ~~(By Chas. D. Meigs.)~~

"I am going to tell you today of a very narrow man. Suppose we call him Mr. Slim Jim. Later on, I will tell you about Mr. Broadman, and ask you which one you would rather be when you grow up.



"But first, we will turn our minds to a strange old graveyard over in England, a burying ground where there are a good many old tomb-stones like this: [Draw Fig. 128, complete]. If you were to walk among these old gravestones, you would find one there which would make you laugh, even though you were in a cemetery, because the epitaph, on it is the funniest you ever saw or heard of. It says:

"'Here Lies the Body of John Blank. He Was Born a Man But Died a Grocer!'

[As you speak the words slowly, draw them on the tombstone, completing Fig. 129.]



"Did you ever hear anything to beat that? Now, that isn't anything against grocery men. A grocery man may be just as good a man as the preacher himself—and just as respectable. We can't get along in this world without groceries, and we just have to have men who will sell them to us. Then what was the matter with John? Well, just this: His business had swallowed him up! He had given it his whole time for years, and he did nothing else. It was groceries, groceries, groceries, and nothing but groceries. It was groceries on Monday, groceries on Tuesday, groceries on Wednesday, groceries on Thursday, groceries on Friday and groceries till eleven o'clock Saturday night, and if John went to church Sunday morning, sat on the front seat, and looked straight at the preacher all the time (so the preacher would say to himself, 'John seems to be very much interested in the sermon this morning, bless the Lord'). Ten to one John wasn't thinking of the preacher or his sermon at all—just only of groceries—or some big bill he had to buy or pay on the morrow.

"Now, if the epitaph had said, 'Here lies the body of John Blank; he was born a man and died a banker,' it would have been just as bad. Or, if he had died an undertaker, and buried himself, it would not have been any better.

"Now, John, Harry, Willie, if you want to be a grocer when you grow up, be a grocer and a big one—a wholesale grocer if you wish, and be a good one—the very best in town, if you can, but say—don't let your grocery business swallow you up till you are not good for anything else but to buy and sell groceries! Be a good grocer, but be a better, bigger MAN!!

"Perhaps you would like to be a lawyer; very well, be a lawyer, but see to it that you don't die a lawyer, and nothing but a lawyer. Don't let your profession swallow you up, and be bigger than you are yourself! Yes, be a lawyer, be a judge, if you will; the world doesn't seem to be able to get along without them—some of them to get people into trouble and others to get them out of it!

"Yes, but no matter how big and how good and just a judge you are, be a bigger, better, juster MAN.

"Here is another example. We have had Mr. Slim Jim; now let us have Mr. Broadman—broad-shouldered—broad-backed—broad-minded—big-hearted, open-pursed MAN—born a man and died a MAN. [Write last seven words on the blackboard.] Remember this: It is every man's duty to provide for his family, but it is no man's duty to provide a million for them and provide nothing for those who are aged and sick and lame and blind and poverty stricken, and helpless.

"That kind of charity which 'begins at home' and stays there is a shame and disgrace to its possessor. It is the kind Mr. Narrow Minded Slim Jim dispenses!

"Every man owes some of his time, his talent and his money to the town, the state, the nation to which he belongs! He gets their help and protection when needed. Protection and aid perchance in time of fire, flood or cyclone, and police protection as well. And now let me close where I begin with the gravestone and the epitaph." [Here draw picture of grave and gravestone with the epitaph, "Here Lies John Blank, He Was Born a Man But Died a Grocer."] "Let us read together once more this strange and curious epitaph, and make up our minds that no one will ever have a chance to write such a sentiment on our gravestones."

Read it in concert.



INDEX

TALKS FOR SPECIAL DAYS.

Page. ~~Boys' Day:~~ "Johnnie Appleseed" ........................... 121 "Valueless Things" ............................ 157

~~Children's Day:~~ "Bring Forth Fruit" ........................... 151 "Jennie Casseday" ............................. 91

~~Christmas:~~ "The Christ-Child" ............................ 43 "The Christmas Stockings" ..................... 22

~~Cradle Roll Day:~~ "Messages to the Children" .................... 145 "The Little Ones" ............................. 166

~~Decision Day:~~ "The Hollow Tree" ............................. 181 "The Desert and the Mountain" ................. 112

~~Easter:~~ "The Doorway" ................................. 67 "Easter Lilies" ............................... 55

~~Flag Day:~~ "Our Country's Flag" .......................... 163

~~Girls' Day:~~ "Helen Keller" ................................ 196

~~Home Department Day:~~ "Public Sentiment" ............................ 124

~~Lincoln's Birthday:~~ "A Firm Foundation" ........................... 61 "True Success" ................................ 37

~~Missionary Day:~~ "Hidden Sunshine" ............................. 118

~~Mother's Day:~~ "Mother" ...................................... 94 "The Plum Tree" ............................... 178

~~New Year's Day:~~ "Turn Over a New Leaf" ........................ 34 "New Year's Resolutions" ...................... 97

~~Rally Day:~~ "The Two Flags" ............................... 49 "Tree Surgery" ................................ 187

~~Thanksgiving Day:~~ "The Pilgrims" ................................ 190 "The Perfect Life" ............................ 148

~~Temperance Day:~~ "The Key to Failure" .......................... 25 "The Evolution of the Jug" .................... 79 "The Keg and the Bucket" ...................... 31 "Young Men, Ahoy!" ............................ 154 "The Open Saloon Door" ........................ 103 "The Heart of the Trouble" .................... 73

~~Visitors' Day:~~ "Our Hands" ................................... 193

~~Washington's Birthday:~~ "If Washington Lived Today" ................... 76 "Washington's Strength" ....................... 136

SUBJECT INDEX.

Ability—"Valueless Things" ..................... 157 Adversity—"The Burned Book" .................... 169 Allurement—"The Deceitfulness of Sin" .......... 130 Appetite—"The Key to Failure" .................. 25 Bravery—"The Pilgrims" ......................... 190 Broadness—"A Strange Old Epitaph" .............. 202 Character—"If Washington Lived Today" .......... 76 Cheerfulness—"A Merry Heart" ................... 139 Children—"Messages to the Children" ............ 145 Common People, The—"The Story of a Hat" ........ 160 Conceit—"The Story of a Kite" .................. 199 Conduct—"Our Hands" ............................ 193 Conscience—"The Thief of Character" ............ 88 Constancy—"The Wounded Tree" ................... 58 Conversion—"The Desert and the Mountain" ....... 112 Courage—"Flying" ............................... 175 Danger—"The Mountain Climber" .................. 100 Death—"The Doorway" ............................ 67 Destruction—"The Open Saloon Door" ............. 103 Devotion—"Johnnie Appleseed" ................... 121 Diligence—"The Blessedness of Work" ............ 64 Discouragement—"True Success" .................. 37 Dissipation—"Young Men, Ahoy!" ................. 154 Error—"Two Men" ................................ 184 Evil Habits—"The Cigarette Face" ............... 82 Faith—"Christopher Columbus" ................... 85 Fortitude—"A Firm Foundation" .................. 61 Fruitlessness—"Bring Forth Fruit" .............. 151 Giving—"The Christ-Child" ...................... 43 Gladness—"Turn Over a New Leaf" ................ 34 God's Love—"The Puzzle Picture" ................ 70 Gossip—"The Brook" ............................. 127 Haste—"The Simple Life" ........................ 106 Helpfulness—"Reflecting Our Blessings" ......... 115 Home Training—"Mother" ......................... 94 Honesty—"The Hollow Tree" ...................... 181 Humility—"The Fruits of Riches" ................ 40 Ideals—"Two Men" ............................... 184 Industry—"A Busy Life" ......................... 28 Kind Words—"The Man Who Finally Heard" ......... 172 Labor—"The Blessedness of Work" ................ 64 Light—"The Mountain Climber" ................... 100 Love—"Hidden Sunshine" ......................... 118 Meditation—"The Thief of Character" ............ 88 Narrowness—"A Strange Old Epitaph" ............. 202 Nature—"The Puzzle Picture" .................... 70 Needy, The—"The Christmas Stockings" ........... 22 Obstacles—"Tree Surgery" ....................... 187 Optimism—"The Two Faces" ....................... 19 Patience—"The Burned Book" ..................... 169 Patriotism—"Our Country's Flag" ................ 163 Perfection—"The Perfect Life" .................. 148 Perseverance—"Flying" .......................... 175 Pluck and Luck—"A Busy Life" ................... 28 Politeness—"The Story of a Hat" ................ 160 Prayer—"Christopher Columbus" .................. 85 Purity—"The Keg and the Bucket" ................ 31 Quietness—"The Simple Life" .................... 106 Reaping—"Seedtime and Harvest" ................. 46 Repentance—"The Cross" ......................... 52 Rest—"Warmth and Coldness" ..................... 109 Resurrection—"Easter Lilies" ................... 55 Salvation—"The Cross" .......................... 52 Seeing—"Helen Keller" .......................... 196 Service—"Jennie Casseday" ...................... 91 Sin—"The Deceitfulness of Sin" ................. 130 Sincerity—"The Mask" ........................... 133 Slavery—"The Evolution of the Jug" ............. 79 Smiles—"A Merry Heart" ......................... 139 Sobriety—"The Heart of the Trouble" ............ 73 Sowing—"Seedtime and Harvest" .................. 46 Steadfastness—"The Wounded Tree" ............... 58 Success—"What is Best?" ........................ 142 Sunday—"Warmth and Coldness" ................... 109 Teaching—"The Little Ones" ..................... 166 Temptation—"The Cigarette Face" ................ 82 Testimony—"Reflecting Our Blessings" ........... 115 Thoughts, Our—"The Two Faces" .................. 19 Tongue, The—"The Man Who Finally Heard" ........ 172 Training—"The Plum Tree" ....................... 178 Trust—"Washington's Strength" .................. 136 Truth—"The Mask" ............................... 133 Unity—"Public Sentiment" ....................... 124 Vanity—"The Story of a Kite" ................... 199 War—"The Two Flags" ............................ 49 Watchfulness—"New Year's Resolutions" .......... 97 Wealth—"The Fruits of Riches" .................. 40 Words, Our—"The Brook" ......................... 127 Work—"What is Best?" ........................... 142

THE END