EDITORIALS 



"By Their \7orks Ye Shall Know Them" 



The subject of this editorial waa suggested by an 

 article in a recent issue of the Arapaho Woodman, which took it 

 from the Pend Oreville Coyote, which based it upon the following 

 sentence gleaned from the Ouster Cowboy: "Initiative consists 'of 

 doing on the spot, vrlthout being told and -without complaining, 

 what the other fellow never thought of d<51ng and didn : t do when* 

 he was told" When the Woodman, Cov/boy, 'as well as the Coyote, 

 make specie! note of this sage reflection, it is time we set up 

 and "dangled", as the Woodman puts it, to find out how we are 

 concerned. 



Initiative is often impaired, even destroyed, by self- 

 pity. Elbert Hubbard has an article on this subject in the 

 July Cosmopolitan in which he says in part: "Self-pity is the 

 act of feeling sorry for yourself. "Unconsciously the self-pity 

 habit brings indifference, then pity, then contempt, of everybody 

 with whom the individual associateso When you indulge in eelf- 

 pity you are on the slide, reaching for the swab When we ex- 

 plain, when wd accuse, when we denounce others, self-pity begins 

 to consume us, and power takes wing. Carry your 'chin in end the' 

 crown of your head higho Keep y6ur mouth closed, your eyes 6pen. 

 and breathe through your nostrils. 'Don't bewail unkind fate,, 

 Don't fry 'to lay the blame on others. Let T s be grateful that we 

 are dive. There are over ninety million folks in America 'who 

 never played you a single nasty trick. There's work to do. Ring 

 in and be at it I" 



The East Aurora philosopher certainly has a good line 

 on human nature, which is the same in the Forest 'Service as eny- 

 where olse tt There are tales oS woe to be heard, and moans of 

 self-pity sometimes issue forth from some station way off in the 

 woods. Sometimes a Ranger doesn T t think the Supervisor hes 

 enough regard for his "feelings, or doesn T t appreciate what he is 

 doing in his district. Sometimes a member of the office force 

 may feel that his feelings have been unduly lacerated by som 

 other member. Sometimes we all may get an idea that OU.T ef- 

 forts are wasted on an unappre dative public, 



The surest cure for self-pity and all it entails, Is 

 for us to keep one great slogan in mind: "For 1/h? .!ood of ITie Ser- 



