The North Otago Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1914. THE DUTY OF SMILING.

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13178, 6 October 1914, Page 4

The North Otago Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1914. THE DUTY OF SMILING.

There may lie times when it is a iluty to,look sail, but' that is another question. Most of us are so inclined to men , tul indigestion anil take so'badly to harsh ami unpalatable mental fare that' wc can always look sail .without an effort, fan grumble and find fault without the slightest • difficulty. To most of us "croaking" comes quite iiaturallc. Even free-born Britishers have walked upright for so short a time that their heads have a tendency,to shake solemnly at the 'slightest provocation, Wherefore, it should be a caso of heads up;, and keep smiling... It is,.quit? true that any of us could do much better, in any position of responsibility, tluui those who are in charge. Any one of us couid-scltle the.most puzzling problem in two minutes or less. Each one coull win a battle as easily as he could win a football.match wcro he on tho field, and,could pe,ffc(;t.,cypr i v ilcta.il.of ,the most complicated organisation as easily, uud i|\iickly..us ho goes to bed. That is B wliat,.imikcs,us.,s.q..sa,d,,o|ily.t.p..lliiii!t of the mismanagement, of tho confusion,, of tho incapacity, • How cau.jivo smile when we can. see so plainly, wh'jt ouglit to.be done and what.ought,not fo be left undone? Ye there aro tinios 1 when (ho niaii..who,,groaiis and wails, au.d wags his head,, and wonders what the end will bo, ought.,to be handed over to the Kaiser. Tlijs is puo, of. tho times;, it is a time-f or smiliug. If we could only materialise our egotistical imaginings!- The Pacific covers ever so many million square miles and tho biggest ship on it is less' than a mote iu a sunbeam. Items'hundreds 'of^'thousands of miles of coast; it hits thousands of port'Sj 'allied •'knd'uoiltral; it has a vast, trade; it is 'dotted with coal carriers. Naturally,', we would each Hko' to hoist our sounds.;well—aboard!

fife (dftdttng WUe ffghtingiuhip (of out day dreams, swoop like an eagle free upon till)', scuttling enemy, land a shell on the couutei of one, drive heroically home into the stem oheets of another run, alongside the biggest [and, board ing t her,,haulidown her colours! Just bo l but, unfortunately, things are not tlono t)mt v>ny nowadays. The pjuokiest, most pcr<>c\ering men in the world, tho fines!; sailors, the stoutest fighters, are doing their best for us ou tho oceans. They 'keep smiling, these na\y men., AnJ ns they keep tho war worn Tom mies aie fighting Germans all round tho_ clock And they keep smiling and cheer ' ful the men who arc, in a thousand | tvaye, toiling for'us and watching over ua—from the Ringion his throne ami | tho hardens of hind and sea who arc loaded with e.inii of Emplie, to 'the statesmen who adminislci om domin 1011 aj a sacicd tiust Tlio moic a maa m doing, Hho bolter work ho is doing, tlio niorb-'lie ik secn'sinijihg, If ho ovor feels depression,'thorc aro none tosfto iti IW may'Wc-undor'tho burdon, but hC'yW'ill diplsniiliugand with a word.of chcoi:J fol ; « bthors oir his lips. The groat.est enemy.to-day tliat'Ncw' Zealand has, 'lhat'-tlio Eilipiro has;'even that civilisation IIUI/, i'siuot' thd Kaiser, -and the Goi ; iiuui',- bi" 'tlfc''spy and intrigue. 1 . It is the Britisher "who''is ? too dull-witted to smile at a time when'smiling is a duty andfjfOoU'choor >a-patriotic obigution.