George
Wm. Curtis._

"Not all men are of equal value. Not many Platos: only
one, to whom a thousand lesser minds look up and learn to
think. Not many Dantes: one, and a thousand poets tune
their harps to his and repeat his notes. Not many
Raphaels: one, and no second. But a thousand lesser
artists looking up to him are lifted to his level. Not
many royal hearts--great magazines of kindness. Happy the
town blessed with a few great minds and a few great
hearts. One such citizen will civilize an entire
community."--_H._

I

THE ELEMENTS OF WORTH IN THE INDIVIDUAL

Our scientific experts are investigating the wastes of society. Their
reports indicate that man is a great spendthrift. He seems not so much
a husbandman, making the most of the treasures of his life-garden, as
a robber looting a storehouse for booty.

Travelers affirm that one part of the northern pineries has been
wasted by man's careless fires and much of the rest by his reckless
axe. Coal experts insist that a large percentage of heat passes out of
the chimney. The new chemistry claims that not a little of the
precious ore is cast upon the slag heap.

In the fields the farmers overlook some ears of corn and pass by some
handfuls of wheat. In the work-room the scissors leave selvage and
remnant. In the mill the saw and plane refuse slabs and edges. In the
kitchen a part of what the husband carries in, the wife's wasteful
cooking casts out. But the secondary wastes involve still heavier
losses. Man's carelessness in the factory breaks delicate machinery,
his ignorance spoils raw materials, his idleness burns out boilers,
his recklessness blows up engines; and no skill of manager in juggling
figures in January can retrieve the wastes of June.

Passing through the country the traveler finds the plow rusting in the
furrow, mowers and reapers exposed to rain and snow; passing through
the city he sees the docks lined with boats, the alleys full of broken
vehicles, while the streets exhibit some broken-down men. A journey
through life is like a journey along the trackway of a retreating
army; here a valuable ammunition wagon is abandoned because a careless
smith left a flaw in the tire; there a brass cannon is deserted
because a tug was improperly stitched; yonder a brave soldier lies
dying in the thicket where he fell because excited men forgot the use
of an ambulance. What with the