THE RANK AND FILE.

Much has been written and said about great generals, admirals, and great public men who have been leaders, but do you ever give a thought to the rank and file?

Were it not for the faithful and conscientious work of the private, these great men might never have been heard of outside the confines of their own immediate circle of friends and relatives.

We cannot all be leaders, nor will we all become great--at least so far as worldly greatness is concerned-for various reasons, yet so much depends upon the individual effort put forth by each of us in helping to make this world a pleasant place in which to live, that it behooves us "one and all, both great and small," to put forth every effort for the betterment and well being of our fellowmen and the advancement of ourselves intellectually and along broader lines.

A great artist receives recognition from the result of his labors, in the way of com. mendation and appreciable recognition from something his mind conceives, and his brush has portrayed to you on the canvas; the writer by saying something in prose or measured verse which touched or found a responsive chord in the breasts of the reading and listening public. The success of a corporation depends to a large degree in the perfect carrying out of its detail work by its minor employees, for while we must and do recognize, at all times, leadership, yet the rank and file-those who toil day by day-the brain and brawn-are they not only worthy our admiration but our kindly consideration as well?

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

With all due respect and consideration to the great minds of this and all other ages,

we must yet acknowledge that it is the "brain and brawn" of the toilers of today that wield the greatest influence in causing the wheels of commerce to keep up their ceaseless turning, and the mighty millions of people provided with the necessities of life.

Some consideration is due the working man of today. How is he to get it? How is he to prove his "right of dower" to a comfortable living and some of the "little pleasantries" of this life, so long as he does his duty as a citizen of this great commonwealth, but by organization?

"Time and tide wait for no man" nor will it bring him "good fortune" unaided, so "let us then be up and doing, with a heart for any fate," work for our own uplifting and betterment, and make the world acknowledge that the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and the Ladies' Auxiliary thereto, have both been a factor in elevating, not only the standard of efficiency of those who toil, but the moral and mental condition of its members, as well.

Let us not turn a deaf ear to "opportunity," but "work while the day grows brighter," ever toiling and striving for that which will make good men and women of today, instead of in after years, when our race is well-nigh run, weeping over a lost cause and thinking of "what might have been."

IS CONCEIT THE WORST OF ALL? By Dorothy Dix. What is the most aggravating thing in married life?

Is it conceit?

Numerous sisters, married to men who assume a cock-of-the-walk strut on their own hearthstones will aver that nothing so completely rubs the gilt off the gingerbread of matrimony as for a husband to possess what the alienists call "an exaggerated ego."

"Commend me," says the woman who is the wife of one of these know-it-alls and am-alls, "commend me as a cheerful, comfortable every-day companion to the man who has knocked a few holes through the Ten Commandments and isn't stuck up over doing it rather than to the man who is a model of perfection and never lets you forget it.

One may occasionally hurt your heart, but the other batters your vanity to a pulp every hour of the twenty-four. And I don't know of anything that can be as sore and aching as one's self-love.

"Now, I am cne of he women who made what is called a good match. When I married, my friends all opined that I had done well, but none of them thought I had done as well for myself as the man I married did, and he has expected me to be on my knees burning incense to my luck in getting him ever since.

"I'm willing to be reasonably thankful for not having a husband who drinks, or gambles or runs after chorus girls, but there are times when nothing but being a perfect lady enables me to refrain from remarking that maybe the men who do those Awful Things are not quite as tiresome as the man who does nothing but discourse about himself.

"For, oh, I do get so tired of the eternal I-I-I-uttered by a man who makes mistakes in grammar, errors in his quotations, boggles his historical references, and who has never been able to do anything more profitable and spectacular in life than hold down a fairly good job as a clerk. Yet there isn't a question under the sun that he doesn't settle offhand, and the only reason that there is ever a panic on Wall street or muddle in the government is because Mr. Morgan and Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Roosevelt neglect to ask his advice.

"And the way he brags sets my teeth on edge. He foresaw the rise in U. P. and could have made millions, only he doesn't believe in speculating. He could have been governor of the state long ago. In fact, a certain prominent official, very close to the president, but whose name he won't mention, told him years ago that it was his sacred duty for a man with a statesman-like mind such as his, to devote it to the service of his country, but politics doesn't attract him, and so he has resisted every effort to get him to be minister to St. James. "Never were such fish caught as the whales he hooks, but doesn't land, when he

goes off for his summer outing, and after the race he always remarks casually that he knew such and such a horse was going to win the Suburban or the Futurity, and could have told you so all along.

"Our children exist in a sort of a reflected halo because they are his. When they take prizes at school, or people praise them for their beauty, he throws out his chest and tells how he has raised them, and how they are supposed to look just like him. Yet I'm the one that wrestles with their manners and their morals, and sees that they get their lessons.

"But that isn't the worst, I could stand for his blowing his own horn if it didn't involve his making invidious comparison between the wise, perfect way in which he does things, and the poor bungling way in which I do things. If dinner is five minutes late, I'm reminded that he is as punctual as the clock, and owes his marvelous success in life to always being on time. have trouble with the servants I have to listen to a recitation on his wonderful ability to handle people as examplified by the fact that he has had the same stenographer for three years.

If 1

"If I get sick I am told that it is because I lack firmness of character and strength of mind such as he possesses, and that enables him to combat every weakness of the flesh. 'You never sees me give up for trifling aches and pains, such a mere headache that sends you to bed.'"'

"Oh, I don't know,' I respond, 'seems to me that you were sending for a doctor, and a trained nurse, and a lawyer to make your will about a week ago after you had been kept at the office until 3 a. m., balancing your books.' 'So I did,' he answers, 'but that was a different matter entirely. I was threatened with congestion of the brain and only staved it off by the intelligent and heroic measures that I took.'

"As for my cooking, how unfavorably it contrasts with the marvels that he has achieved when he was camping out. As for my attempts to economize, how ridiculous they seem. how pitiful and paltry, and foolish, when I hear him discourse about how he could keep house and clothe the family, and pay rent, doctor's bills, on absolutely nothing, if he only had time to devote his great financial ability to the subject. So far as I can ascertain, the only error in judgment he has ever made in his

entire life was when he picked me out for a wife; and, oh, how fervently I wish he hadn't made that one.

"The man with the big 'I' habit is the most tiresome creature on earth, and as being bored to death is the most painful death imaginable, I contend that conceit is the most aggravating thing in married life." What say you, gentlemen?

SHREVEPORT LODGE NO. 8.

It has been some time since we had any thing from Lccal No. 8, so I will drop in and have a little chat and tell all the other Lodges about our entertainment we gave the B. of R. C. No. 57, and let you see how appreciative the Brothers are. When we organized they were nice to help us in many ways and we have wanted to thank them other than in words, so we took advantage of strawberry season and invited each member of 57 to be present the night of April 18, and we would serve refreshments to them. We prepared cake, berries and cream or the whole membership of eighty-eight, their wives or sweethearts, and only eight were appreciative enough of our efforts to be present.

Do you think there is another Lodge in existence could do that well? All the ladies were so disheartened they wanted to abandon right away, but we will try to get our energies together again and do the best we can to increase our membership.

This is the first time we ever knew men to fail to come where there was plenty to eat, and that free. Several of our members have been sick and some going to leave town, so we will be a still smaller band. I feel that much has been done where a few were gathered together, so we will take cour age and battle on.

Best wishes to the Grand Lodge and all Lecals. I am fraternally,

From sheer obstinacy they object to everything that does not originate in their own minds.

There is nothing more beautiful n a lodge or order than harmony, and nothing that insures success and prosperity so much as harmony in the lodge room.

Let us enter more fully in the spirit of the phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall," and resolve we will work harmonious. ly together.

The L. A. to B. R. C. was organized for this very purpose to try and make everything more hormonious and especially with each other; also, to help and give encouragement in any way to a worthy Brother or his family, in distress.

Sickness may fall to

Fortune is fickle. your lot, or financial distress overtake you, then it is when we need brotherly love and good fellowship, and a true brother or sister is every ready to extend the helping hand.

Now, Brothers, let me ask you to adopt a few resolutions, as follows:

"Be it Resolved, That we work in harmony in the lodge room, and always try to upbuild the Order to which we belong, and not take up our personalities and quarrels in the lodge room.

"Be it further Resolved, That each local of the B. R. C. will, before the close of the present year, have established a L. A. to their local.

"Be it still further Resolved, That each and every member of B. R. C., where there is a L. A. already to his local, have at least one member of his family belonging to the L. A. before the close of the year."

Just try these resolutions, Brothers, and see how much good will come from them and let us know through the columns of the Clerk the result.

Wishing all B. R. C locals and L. A.'s increased and continued success, I am,

Fraternally,

ADELL.

MEMBER L. A.

MEMPHIS NO. 6.

In unity there is strength. One of the greatest elements of success in any society is united effort.

Without harmony, failure is sure to mark the existence of any order, for a "house divided against itself cannot stand." No lodge can pursue its work successfully with wrangles and back-biting members, who are con stantly trying to knock some other Brother.

"Da ain't er bit of use," said Uncle Eben, "foh er man ter hab er heap ob book larnin' in der upper story ef he hain't got no common sense on de groun' flooh."

"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse trap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."-Emerson.

CLAUDE MANLOVE, Chairman..

O. W. THOMPSON.

GEO. J. BURI..

IKE GIMBLE

C. M. BAILEY.

804-6 Delaware St., Kansas City, Mo.

79 Vance St., Memphis, Tenn. 2303 Pestalozzi St., St. Louis, Mo. 2203 Whitaker St., Savannah, Ga. 32 Plain St., Arlington, R. I.