THE HARBINGER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 63, 11 September 1924, Page 6

THE HARBINGER

SPRING AND- THE DONOR.

On sack a day as this has been it would be a poor heart that didn't rejoice, a stony heart that, failed to expand, a barren soul that lacked: the will to give. It has been a real spring day, full of the premise of summer and the rich harvest of Nature; a day when one feels the sap rising in-one's bones and" experiences for the nonce the influence of tho maxim which teaches that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Is it possible that there is in this city a single soul who has failed to notice the signs, who has not noticed the presence of the harbinger? In one of his stones, 0. Henry tells :of a certain spring day when a sudden warmth in the atmosphere led an elderly gentleman to the brink of a proposal to his housekeeper. His daughter noticed the peril in tune, sent post haste to the ice-house (tins was in America), and;chilled her parent's ardour by achieving an artificial but wholly.effective fall in the temperature. Then there is the story of a certain -'Egyptian potentate who hardened Ins. heart, with disastrous results to his dynasty. / ; ■ ■ _ There is a serious and solemn purpose m all this. Human nature is instinctively predisposed to service," to the act of giving. Only by deliberate intention are? the well-springs frozen. Giving is a matter largely of impulse, tempered by deliberation as to the amount which the giver can afford. And ,when the harbinger is in attendance to quicken the impulse, it is all to the good. All of the foregoing may now be resoived into a single personal questionHave you given your quota to the Citizens' War Memorial Fund? Eight weeks remain for the collection of tho last ten thousand of the sum required.- And over nine, thousand pounds is still out. Direct donations may be sent to the secretary, War Memorial Fund, Box 199 G.r.0., Wellington. " •" ' '