A G. l. wELGolulE for an old Recruit

A touch oI home lar lrom home . , there,s nothing so heartwcrming to cr G. I. Ioe. It might be c fcmilicr lqce or merely cn obiect or ncme. In this cqse, it wqs tr pile of lumber being unlocded crt c busy South Alriccn port. Imcrgine their surprise when these G.I.'s discovered thcrt they themselves or their fcthers qt home hcd helped produce thct ..recruited,, lumber crt the Pope & Tcrlbot Mill ct port Gcmble on puget Sound!

This, however, wcrs not the lirst time pope d Tcrlbot hcrd shipped lumber to lcr-off South Alricc. Some of the oldtirners ct the mills, Ior excrmple, well remember sending speciclly pcckcrged lumber consigned to construct c mcrgnilicent crbor on the estqte of the grecrt empire builder, Cecil Rhodes, ct Kimberly hall c century cgo.

Gay birds will sing their songs again' Sad hearts shall cease rePining, And dawn shall gleam and twilight gild Each cloud with silver lining. The skies of night shall dance with stars, Our world a heaven shall be, When war'5 grim guns shall cease to roar' And you'll come home to me.

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-O. A. Demass.

Guess the above verse make6 a proper beginning for a New Year column, because its theme is in every heart' And so to youo friends of mine, who read this column and who do so much to cheer me on to'its continuance, I am again trying to find-as I'have tried in vain for so many other years-some suitable substitute for "HaPPy New Year." And again I have come to the conclusion that there really isn't any. In spite of worries and wars and troubles galore, the old words with the old intent and meaning come tripping to the tongue. It isn't a really happy new year, is it, with all the world aflame and swept with sorrow? But there is still no harm in wishing that happiness-all the happiness possible under the circumstances-may come to every one of us. So, once again it's Happy New year.

* ,r( *

New Year is a good time for a bit of serious thinking' It's a good time to do a little planning-philosophical planning-for the year to come. Perhaps we can't see far enough ahead of us to do any very specific business planning, but we CAN plan our thinking. "And as a man thinketh," you remember, "so is he." Somehow or other I often find that good American poet, Eddie Guest, a mighty helpful fellow when it comes to good, healthy thought equipment. For instance, how about saying THIS over to ourselves as a sort of working chart for the New Year?

"I'd rather have it said of me, When this old journeY's through, That on my way I tried to be, A friend to all I knew, Than have it said I gathered gold, (And then have voices fallBecause they knew when that was said That they had said it all.) I'd gladly go along my way, When my time comes to die, If everybody said of me'There goes a friendly guy.'"

Yes. friends, there's a crying and immediate, twentyfour hour a day and three hundred .and sixty-five day in the year need for friendliness among us folks here at home' There is nothing that can smooth over the difEculties that face us all, half as well as efrective and manifested friend' liness. It's no good if it's just on the lips. You've got to mean it-to live it. Listen to Eddie Guest again on this subject: :r :r :r

"If your motto says 'Smile,' and you carry a frown, 'Do it now!' and You linger and wait;

If your motto says 'Help !' and you trample men down, If your motto says 'Love,' and you hate; You won't get a$tay with the mottoes you stall; The truth will come uP with a bounce; It isn't the motto you hang on the wallIt's the motto fou, l-t_Vl-that counts."

And there is another verse in my scrapbook, right along this line, that seems to fit in here:

"It's the human touch in the world that counts' The touch of your hand and mine, That means far more to the fainting heart, Than shelter, or bread, or wine; For shelter is gone when the night is o'er, And bread lasts onlY a daY, But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice, Live on in the soul, alwaYs."

Kind of corny, ,or, ""j, l*.. "* so are most of the homely thoughts and things that get under our skin, and bring us back in spirit to where we belong. The things that bring the unsolicited lurnp to the throat and tear to the eye, are generally of the kind called corn. Highbrow stufr won't do the job. "Home Sweet llome" and "Swanee River" and "Old Black Joe" and sich like, are all of the corn variety. And thank God for them and all their kind! "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie" and the "Marseillaise" all come under the head of corn. But men march straight into the cannon's mouth when they're played' No one ever faced death with a grin to a grand opera aria'

Rambling through my scrapbook for useful thoughts to quote at ttte treginning of the year, I selected the following very diversified group, and offer them for your thoughtful attention; and perhaps your scrapbook.

"I owe all my success in life to having always been a (Continued on Page 10)