La Grange Journal. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1922 Page: 1 of 8
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Opposite Masonic Buildin« Published Every Thursday Mcflfg a ad Entered at the Poat Office as Seoend-Class Matter
By B. F. Harigel
Democratic in Principle and a Worl "or LaGrange and Fayette County
$2.00 Per Year
Volume 43
LaGrange, Fayette Count'
i, Thursday, January 5, 1922
Number I
THINGS IN GENERAL
. Remarks by the Editor
Predictions which find ready space in the
columns of the editorial pages these days are
good reading, and the pity of it is that we can
not entertain the hope that these predictions
wiU come to pass. Insofar as they may con-
cern the immediate community, one might
lean to the belief that it is going to happen,
and these lethargic spells will pass out of time
and busy, hustling days step in and occupy
the hour. It is not to be considered imposs-
ible if a review of the history of some of the
towns which recently struck oil is taken into
consideration. Take Brackenridge, Mexia and
the other communities where enterprising
chaps sunk wells and found the liquid gold.
Those towns have jumped in population like
u toad on the banks into a small brook, and
they are calling the attention of every mani-
pulator of finance who cares to take a plunge.
They have sprung right out of the sleepy hol-
low and cast aside the rut spirit of content-
ment and forged ahead so much that even the
newspapers in that section have begun to
prosper. They have also caused some banks
to close their doors.
Hence I repeat, if all predictions were to
come true, this little town of LaGrange might
do a little hop step and jump act and some of
those who have been thinking a long while as
to why the old town didn’t rise into promi-
nence will uncork the good bottle and turn a
little of the lqchre loose so that it can roll
right along into the pool of progress and help
build some of the very needed things for this
community. This is not the time to pick a
quarrel with anyone, so get that notion out
of your think tank; I have no one in mind to
ohend, merely rattling along to get some at-
tention. You see we are now in a. new year.
Almost every merchant in the city has taken
stock and found out by this time whether his
investment has paid him twenty-five per cent
or whether he has made any interest thereon,
and the only thing he can do is to rub his
hands, sigh as he has done hundreds of times
—not annually but daily—and hope that this
new year will bring all the prosperity that
has been predicted.
Well, It may and it may not. The first
thing we have to taka into consideration is,
are we doing anything to make things , better I
Now, keep your shirt on, gentlemen, keep your
shte^on, I am not going to cali names, I am
to ask these questions, and if they ere
not too hard I am going to answer them for
you. I repeat, are we doing anything to make
Yep, we are. We have ai-
"the highway commission at Aus-
you. i repeat, i
things bette^J
•ggadx-«a*dffft tli
tin and those good-natured chaps have given j sehool building for th« children of this city
us a lot of money to be used for the purpose
of building a new bridge across the Colorado
river, and for the highway north. This means
somethings Wrtffe" than a start Furthermore,
it rrrtans that there is going tp be a bit of life
among the working classes, and a distribution
of money to those who can earn it. We
haven’t got the bridge yet, that is true, but
we are after it. You will have noticed that
the mayor’s order for an election has been is-
sued in the Journal, and that you who pay
taxes and have an interest in the town are
asked to tell by your vote whether you want
LaGrange to issue bonds to the value of twen-
ty-five thousand dollars, to add to the amount
of money granted by the commission, and that
to be set aside by the county, t That is strictly
up to you. The question is, do you want La-
Grange to do it, and are you willing, now that
you have said that you wanted it, to go and
talk to your neighbor about it in a friendly
way and get him to see things in the same
light that you do?
Very well, that part is settled, that means
that one of the predictions made that La-
Grange will go forward this year, is not an
idle one. The next thing is, do we stop there ?
They are forcing the drill down into the howels
of the earth northwest of LaGrange and try-
ing to find whether there is a hidden oil lake
under the surface, or whether we have nothing
but a lot of rich soil to tickle. Several hun-
dred feet have been penetrated. Should it be
considered as merely dreaming for me to say
that the finding of oil out there will mean
something for this old town? Not if you
have your hat on straight. They tell me it
was a dreamer who put Mexia and Beaumont
on the map. If that is what a dreamer can
do, I ought to be handling the biggest end of
a billion dollar business in these parts, for I
have had a number of dreams tately. And if
it were so tha( I did handle that end of Hie'
business—aP large as stated—I would find
some way to get holders of good lots in this
city, suitable for building purposes, to jar
OUR WEEKLY POEM
WHEN IT DOESN’T COME.
Wag”
he
My Paw he says the “Mig
reads, ain’t put up right.
He finds a lot of fault, he does, perusin’
it all night.
He says there ain’t a single thing in it
worth while to read,
And it doesn’t print the kind of stuff the
people need.
He tosses it aside and says it’s strictly
on the bum—
But you ought to hear him raise ’ell,
when the “Wig Wag” doesn’t come.
* 1
He reads about the games, and snorts
like all get out;
He reads the moonlight picnics with a
most derisive shout. \
He says they make the paper for kids’
and women’s sake;
He reads about the early breakfast par-
ties and fumes and frets and groans,
He says for information, it doesn’t con-
tain a crumb—
But you ought to hear him raise ’ell,
when the “Wig Wag” doesn’t come.
He’s always first to grab it and he
reads it plumb clean thru.
He doesn’t mine an item, or a want ad—
that is true.
He says they don’t know what we want,
them dum paper guys;
I’m going to take a day some time, and
go and put ’em wise.
Sometimes it seems tbo they must be
deaf and blind and dumb-~
But you ought to hear him raise ’ell
when the “Wig Wag” doesn’t come.
—Topics (Modified h
loose, and build some substantial rent homes,
modern to the how and rent them to good
people who want t6 live among us, but have
not yet determined to make a purchase. Pri-'
vate homes are being invaded by these new
recruits because the home proposition is a
joke. Too bad, indeed. |
What e^e wo*M I'ao if I headed that
business comern* Why I would build a new
and the many children who want to come to
LaGrange, because w» have ajcr1 school and
attend the regular aessionc. Our accommo-
dations are growing too small and the public
is growing too indifferent. And then I would
concoct some sort of a scheme which would
create a serum to be used to inoculate a few
of our city who have the enterprising spirit
in mind but cannot put it into action. I
would point out the way for them to follow,
and you can just bet your last year’s expense
account that things would move. I wqpld
eliminate the man whose predictions annoy
us all, and put in his stead one who would act
and dispel his dreams. Yes, I admit there are
a great many things I would do, and the only
reason I am so brave about saying all this is-
because I can’t do this thing alone. Like
hundreds of others the task of talking comes
easy, that of writing still easier to me, but
hanged if it can be done by the editor of a
small town weekly by his lonesome. Look
around you, see if what I have said is mere
buncombe or if there isn’t just enough truth
therein to make it worth entertaining.
Let not the resolutions be made to take
hold of the bellows and pull if you are not in
earnest. Look into the propositions as I have
stated them, and see whether ft is worth while
to entertain either one or all. Look to the
matter of providing more rent homes, and in
that way modernize the city. Look at the
bridge proposition, the school hc=2e proposi-
tion, and the other matters which would help
to make our town a better one, and push the
either with much vim. We have the bridge
proposition under way; the influx of desirable
citizens prompts the mentioning o£ a dire ne-
cessity, more rent homes, but you will have
to find some means to get hold of the desir-
able lots now owned and not used or sold.
Then take up one proposition after the other,
work the plans Out carefully and press them
systematically; take hold of the business end
of the movement and shove, eve until some-
thing gives way, and something is the opposi-
WHATS LIFE WORTH?
Seriously Speaking, What Is It Worth?
Recently there was killed in Austin a jit-
ney driver, and the whole state sat up and
took notice when it was announced that twen-
ty-odd of Autsin’s good citizens were arrested
charged with having committed the crime. It
has been published that these men are in-
nocent of the crime and that officers are trying
to make i hit with the public by having them
held. In the meantime the man through
whose body the bullets passed is sleeping un-
der the sod, his flesh is blackened and alowiy
returning to dust
This is one incident, it would be the task of
a few moments to gather a long list of homi-
cides, suicides and assassinations, and have
you to, look them over, and ask yourself the
question: “What’s life worth?” Apparent-
ly, it is worth very little; apparently, the
causes which lead up to these killings are
numerous, and too frequently so trifling that
the man, guilty of making orphans out of hap-
py children, and widows out of contented
wives, should be given a speedy trial, the death
penalty assessed and the life that is his snuff-
ed out to meet the demands of an outraged
society You will ask the question: “Can
this be done?” The answer will come from
several sources; some will say certainly it can,
and without much trouble; others will say It
cannot be done, that our courts are the easiest
marks in the country.
Under such conditions—and these condi-
tions are here today, you can have the proof
by carefully reading the day’s news—it is not
an idle question to ask “What’s life worth?"
Read the article in this issue in the ne.:t col-
umn entitled “The Divorce Evil.” It may help
you to answer this question. It may also fail
in its mission. Yet it is worth reading. While
it appears under a different caption, it re-
verts back t<f the same query: “What’s life
W^rth? ” , . ; •
Seriously speaking, isn’t if jnr+ 'ft Ti'ffle
below human pleasure to kill? Whdn’women
take the initiative and remove the husband’s
influence by using the pistol, ahd the husband
of another uses the pistol to reduce the male
population because of imaginary or other
wrongs, the public streets and highways be-
come unsafe. Human life drops below the
par ebb and danger prevents the pursuit of
common happiness. Someone, earnest In his
belief and strong enough to hack it up, is
needed to put a stop to this killing practice.
We are sinking below the barbarians.
tion one generally finds in every community.
After this has been done we will not have the
neighbor’s chickens—as one man whispered to
me the other day—to contend with, neither
will we have men taking exceptions to friend-
ly suggestions made and printed in this paper.
Horses, cows and mules will be kept in the
lockup at night, at daytime, and everything
will be as glorious as a full moon at midnight.
And better still, the sidewalks will be clean
and neat, and fertilizer will be put where it
properly belongs.
• *.-o----------- •
Politically speaking, there seems to be a
tendency on the part of the ninth congression-
al district news scribblers to keep the pot a-
boiling. Senator Bailey, state senator—not
United States senator—from Cuero, has auth-
orized the statement that ho has willingly
popped his hat into the arena and there it
Will remain %ntil the curtain falls, and then
Jricked up, if he is able to do so. This en-
trance of th{
id adds to the long list. In
THE DIVORCE EVIL
From The Double Standard
Cuero aspirant makes two from
ihnt city, and adds to the long list. In plain
nglish—no, I mean American—the thing is
rowing very interesting. Late reports from
Washington advise us that Judge Mansfield is
•‘out of the hospital and is daily improving.
£This may mean, although I am not authorized
flu> so state, that he will make the race again
Tfor re-election, and by so doing eliminate some
*of the fltfagr aspirants, and bring the matter
* fl hurry. Thus, in political cir-
icles—in this ninth district—the advent of a
1 new year, or the closing of an old year, leaves
little effect upon the situation, and fails to
dampen the aspirations of the lively bunch.
In the words of the old woman who was look-
on while the old man and the b ar was mix-
it, I can say: “Go to it, 'taint no fight
ofmine.”
--o.....- ....
Always contending that it was unchristian
f£r anyone to mislead another and to get him
away from the duties assigned to him, for the
purpose of giving him insight to some prac-
tices heretofore unknown to him, was not lady-
like, I cannot put my stamp of approval upon
Some time ago the readers of this very
truthful little magazine were asked to venture
an opinion as to the chief cause of the divorco
evil, which has assumed such alarming pro-
portions as to warrant an investigation. It
seems to be a moral duty conscientiously to
inquire as to why the vows made “Till death
do us part," mean no more than 9 politician’s
oath of office.
King Alcohol is dead—at least to those
who have not means sufficient to hobnob with
his majesty—and so we must exonerate him
from the many isms for which he has stood
sponsor so long, but the divorce mills grind
merrily on, and the grass widows and grass
widowers cast a decided tinge of green upor.
life’s landscape.
There is a weakness in our social fabric
which has been handed down from time out
of memory, encouraged by man, tacitly ac-
cepted by woman. Man-made in the begin-
ning, it ha3 come down through the gener-
ations, exempting man from moral respons-
ibility and placing the burden of blame upon
the woman.
Tho patriotic phrase, “United we stand;
divided we fall,” is as applicable to humanity
as to our states in insuring good government,
for there is certain to be a weak point in any
organization if all the units thereof are not
working for its best interest. ,
In the organization of mankind, man is a
slacker, falling short of his God-given duty
in aiding the race to a higher standard, leav-
ing to woman the sole duty'of radial advance-
ment, which she foolishly accepts, according
to man social obligations not far above tha
animal.
Convention, not God, provided separate
standards for man and woman, and here wa
will find, as a rule, that mysterious but in-
sidious factor which tugs* the,-Wheels of tha
divorce mills,
version of moral liters rests principally in tha
hands of woman.
When the masculine moral keeper is
shunned, when the sanctity of the home Is
closed to him, when he ie scorned and^nabbei
at, alas, only his feminine eohnlerpait is now*
scorned, when pure and innocent daughters
are denied him, and in hie insufferably
frontery he will accept no Other, a telling
will be struck against his filthy creed,
because he knows the correct angle at which
to tip his hat, the proper way to seat a lady,
or can present a pleasing bank account, h#ls
a “gentleman,’’ a fine prospective husband,
and thus the foundation is laid for another
wobbly structure of domestics life.
When a clean page is as essential to man
as to woman, when the biota upon his charac-
ter shall be atoned for with tears and heart
agonies and isolation before the world will
overlook his fall, then it shall be' aa God in-
tended—His children shall work togethar for
■v'|
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4
the advancement of mankind and forget a con-
dition which almost puts the animal kingdom
to shame.
So long as this masculine leeway exists,
no wife feels secure, for in her horns the
double standard is potentially present, if not
in reality. Even though she may have faith
in her husband, some feminine advocate of the
mistaken creed pityingly “disillusions” her,
telling her that man is not expected to be
moral. 1
(Continued on page four)
the efforts of that bunch at Bastrop who en-
ticed Governor Neff to leave the state capitol
and come to Bastrop county for the purpose
of hunting the elusive and deceiving opossum.
It will be remembered how the political
friends of the governor told the story over and
over again about the then aspirant having
never been on a hunt, having never baited a
hook, having never slipped from off the edge
of the brook and wet his pants by unwillingly,
falling into the water, and how that worked
in some sections and caused him to receive so
many votes. Now, after a year of governor-
ship, he falls for q hunt softer the ’possum.
It might not be displaying.good taste by shy-
ing it, but I cannot reconcile myself to the no-
tion that ono should be treated In this man-
ner, it is very wrong to mislead a good man,
and it cannot result In much good If we permit
his nerves .to be taxed as they were open that
recent hunt. If he sees many more of the big
rats killed by dogs he will begin to hate dogs.
And that will end the show. 1 mm always
willing to stake my lot on the man who ttkee
dogs and children, but I*Ii hang on to the
money when I meet the other kind.
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La Grange Journal. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1922, newspaper, January 5, 1922; La Grange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1007290/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Fayette Public Library, Museum and Archives.