L

ITTLE Arthur, third seat from the back, had studied his spelling lesson just about three minutes and was tapping his desk annoyingly with his pencil. He was looking about, too, across the aisle, out of the window, and then closed his book with an impatient little bang. Then he slid down in his seat, hands in his pockets, and looked at the ceiling.

It was time to admonish him!

"Arthur," said I, "don't waste so much time. You haven't done a thing for the last ten minutes. If you do not get to work at once you will have to remain after school and make up the time lost."

Arthur

I certainly made an impression. didn't want to be detained after school. The boys were to play ball and he was one of the team. Besides, he was pitcher and had to be there to do the best he could.

But when I spoke to Arthur, every other one in the room looked up at me, then at him.

Little Mary had been intent on her reading lesson. But her child's curiosity had to listen to me and then inspect the object of my discipline. She waited for more; then her attention was attracted by Jimmie's pencil on the floor, and she had to tell him about it. Then, she had to see just what he would do with it. Somehow or other, she didn't get earnestly back to that reading lesson.

And so it was with Helen, who raised her thoughtful blue eyes and began to inspect Arthur. What she thought, I do not know, but her gaze rested upon him for some time, then she slowly closed her book and began winding her key-ribbon around her finger.

Bennie took it as a joke! That was one on Arthur! He shifted around quickly and dropped his book in doing so. It struck the floor with a bang, and Martha gave vent to a disturbing "Oooh" That was the signal for a

general burst of merriment, and I did have to stand on my dignity and demand the immediate restoration of order.

But the quiet that had prevailed was gone. Every one seemed to see the clock at once, note that it was fifteen minutes before closing time and begin making preparations for leaving. Books were packed and ten minutes were wasted waiting for dismissal.

Something had been wrong. That was certain. And I promised myself that in the future I would act differently. I had been taught that a child was constructive, that in his moments of dreaming he was always making things, great things, things that were to be when he was a man. His imagination pictured to him fields of conquest in which he was the hero! It was in him to do! There was a divine urge within that the teacher could use to his advantage. Suggest the "Do" that was forever in him and he would respond.

I closed my eyes and reconstructed the incident. I walked quietly back to Arthur, and seeing that spelling was not proving attractive at that time, suggested some interesting point in the geography lesson that he could find in a book on the shelf, also a good story in connection with his history lesson. That energy for doing something that I had interpreted as a desire to waste time, found a ready response, and, encouraged by my evident interest, he awoke from his listless attitude and with a sprightly step went to the shelf. When the bell rang for dismissal, Arthur was still there, but, thinking of the game, he came to the desk and asked permission to take the book home with him that evening.

This all took place in a quiet, orderly way and none of the other students were disturbed. I, too, had learned a lesson, the lesson that a "Do" builds and a "Don't" tears down.The North Carolina Teacher.

Ο

FTEN the teacher or parent who seeks to instill in the boy or girl lifetime health habits is the one who needed them instilled in him in his own school days, and the teacher who shows his pupils how to save may now be suffering from not having learned the art of saving when he was young. The habit of thrift, if begun in youth, will do much to set the individual free, but the path to freedom is long and rough and hard to follow.

As citizens of the largest republic in the world, we boast of our freedom, yet thoughtlessly let our neighbors and friends control our standard of living. Pride keeps more people down than actual want. The keeping-up-withthe-Jones habit has plunged many a teacher into debt. Some live more pretentiously than their limited salaries allow, and as a result become dissatisfied with what they consider an inadequate income and look for more lucrative work, little realizing that it is not high living expenses but living high that has left them without surplus.

Teachers' salaries, in spite of steady improvement, are still inadequate. Teachers have more opportunity of helping, more avenues for charity than those less before the public. Teachers, moreover, have more wants than the uneducated man; they need books, music, lectures, travel, if they are to keep abreast of their profession. These wants are legitimate; they are the natural outcome of education and training. But there are other wants that should be weeded out; they are bad habits acquired slowly as most habits are, but nevertheless tenacious in their hold. Simple food and clothing and adequate shelter are the wants that nature demands. Centuries ago Seneca wrote: "If you live according to what nature requires, you will never be poor, if according to the notions of men, you will never be rich."

The new year is an ideal time to check up on one's mode of living. If it is found too high, a fresh start may be taken now that the holidays are over and work is resumed. If you haven't a bank account, start one now. It

will help you save. January is the logical time to start a budget and keep the usual itemized account of expenses that is necessary in order to make the budget more workable the following year.

The value of budget making is an old story to teachers, who know of its advantages and the wisest of whom use it in planning their expenditures. The expense account is a necessary adjunct. It should be carefully kept, omitting no items, for one year at least. Then, if it has proved too irksome a task, it may be dropped, for subsequent budgets may be adjusted without its aid from year to year to meet changing conditions. The budget plan will help you answer the question of "How much should I save?" but remember that, although it is part of the necessary machinery in saving money, it isn't the power of saving money. That power comes from the will alone.

There is a strong moral virtue in saving, a virtue depending not entirely on the money accumulated. Its value lies in the strength of character resulting from the denial of present pleasures for future good. "The habit of saving is itself an education; it fosters every virtue, teaches self-denial, cultivates the sense of order, trains to forethought, and so broadens the mind." It is a worthy ideal to curb one's personal wants, which have a pronounced tendency to expand. Fortunate is the person who acquires the habit of economy. It may be difficult to form such a habit, but it grows easier the longer it is practised. Before anyone can establish a hardy thrift habit, he will find it necessary to uproot certain thriftless habits which may account for his not getting ahead.

One of the most common leaks in the teacher's purse is money spent on acquaintances, friends or relatives. Often this money is given without the slightest compulsion, but no matter what the motive for giving may have been, the loss of the money when it is needed is just as keenly felt and, if in old age the teacher becomes dependent upon these same relatives, the feeling of dependence is none the lighter. Too liberal treats to friends and acquaintances may be regarded as luxuries to be indulged in

sparingly. Lavish spending after pay day for luxuries precedes borrowing before pay day for necessities.

To buy for the mere sake of spending money is a common but silly habit. Teachers are especially favored with opportunities for shopping. Their daily hours of work, their free Saturdays with frequent excursions to larger cities, their Christmas and Easter vacations, the long summer vacation-all afford plenty of time to spend money. Many teachers, for this reason, become excellent buyers, giving it the thoughtful attention it deserves. The danger for them lies not in buying goods of a poor quality but in laying in an oversupply: they are victims of the useless buying habit. Their homes are full of needless possessions. In spite of the always-with-us Salvation Army and an occasional church rummage sale, hooks and shelves are full to overflowing. We could all live better than we now live on less money if we gave as much thought to spending money as we do to earning money. It is a mark of intelligence to use discrimination in buying.

If we should cultivate a better technique of buying, we would gain greater pleasure. When the desire to buy an article becomes manifest, postpone the buying for a stated period-say two weeks. At the end of that time you will either want the article more intently and know how to go about its purchase more intelligently, or you will cease to want it. Think more and buy less.

When an article is purchased, it were well to take time to enjoy it before we begin thinking of what to buy next. Some time spent in regarding or using it would afford much satisfaction. Think of yourself as its owner and swell with pride for the time being, for today is fleeting and the morrow brings other cares and wants.

A phase of this subject, which is of more than passing interest, is the fact that many save to a certain point, then lose all through some unwise investment. Saving should go hand in hand with caution. Speculation is a leviathan that swallows up the savings of a lifetime. Mark Twain's advice on this is pertinent: "There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate-when he can't afford it and when he can." To the hardworking teacher, get-rich-quick schemes often appear most alluring. Some of them, in the guise of Texas oil leases, western mining stock or Florida real estate booms are promising

enough to entice far more sophisticated investors than teachers remote from the marts of trade. Verily, caution is the handmaid of thrift.

We cannot all have wealth but we can all be thrifty. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, "The art of getting riches consists very much in thrift....all men are not equally qualified for getting money, but it is in the power of every one alike to practise this virtue." If a man earns $100 a month and cannot save anything, he will not be able to save when he earns $200 a month or $500. Spending habits depend so largely on living habits that the reform of the one calls for the reform of the other. Look to the leaks in your daily expenditures. Large sums are easily detected; small ones pass by unnoticed. Grit, grace and gumption are required-and eternal vigilance too, but the satisfaction gained is worth the effort. "Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels. None other holds you that ye live and die, And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss Its spokes of agony,

Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness."

BEST THINGS

The Best Law-The Golden Rule.
The Best Education-Self-Knowledge.
The Best Philosophy-A contented mind.
The Best War-To war against one's weak-

ness.

The Best Theology-A pure and beneficent life. The Best Medicine-Cheerfulness and temperance.

The Best Music-The laughter of an innocent child.

The Best Science-Extracting sunshine from a cloudy day.

The Best Art-Painting a smile upon the brow of childhood.

The Best Journalism-Printing the true and beautiful on memory's tablet.

The Best Telegraphing-Flashing a ray of sunshine into a gloomy heart.

The Best Biography-That life which writes charity in the largest letters.

The Best Mathematics-That which doubles the most joys and divides the most sorrows. The Best Navigation-Steering clear of the lacerating rocks of personal contention. The Best Diplomacy-Effecting a treaty of peace with one's own conscience. The Best Engineering-Building a Bridge of Faith over the River of Death.

She-I'll marry you on one condition. He-Oh, that's all right. I entered college on four.