We Should Teach 'Basic Economics

Hello, Folks! Christmas time came and went so fast for me I got very few greeting cards written. So to all my friends who read this, here is wishing you the best of all good things for 1955.

We had a lovely Christmas as usual. Spent Christmas Eve with the Petersen Clan. Then Christmas morning we opened the gifts from Vera's family. I came in from chores Christmas morning and the children were getting dressed, anxiously waiting to open the gifts. I noticed a Christmas tag tied to the baby. Inside it read, "To Mother and Daddy from Heavenly Father."

—o—

The scoutmaster asked the four young scouts if they had done their good deed for the day. They all nodded in unison, grinning broadly. "What did you do?" he asked. "We helped an old lady across the street." "It took all four of you to help one old lady across the street?" "Yes, she did not want to go!"

—o—

I think Albert Lea has the prettiest decorations of any town I know. Those large illuminated bells hanging over the middle of the street add the real touch to the rest of the decorations.

—o—

Farmer — "Young man, what are you doing up in my apple grass!' "
Boy —. "I'm just obeying your sign that says, 'Keep off the grass-"

—o—

It seems to me that the biggest failure of our educational system has been in not teaching our students the basic principles of economics. They are not, or need not, be complicated. There are a few basic facts that we all can and ought to learn. In fact, they must be learned if we are to have a stable economy and continuing prosperity.

Communism has capitalized on our failure to teach them. I think if we had learned these principles as part of our regular education we would be far less apt to be taken in by foreign philosophies. Too many people believe that it is possible to get something for nothing. This is a good basis for gambling, but it does not work out for the individual on the job, in the school, or anywhere else. You can't . spend more than you have and remain solvent. We just fool ourselves when we try otherwise.

You can't equalize ability by a control system, Competition is the dynamo for progress in our economic system. We should welcome it rather than stifle or try to get around it.

—o—

Mother — "Jimmy, where did you get that bump on your nose?"
Jimmy — "1 bent down to smell a brose."
Mother — "Why, there isn't a 'B' in rose."
Jimmy — "There was in this one!"

—o—

Farm Bureau insurance companies have shown a tremendous growth the past 30 years. The first one was organized in Illinois. Today Farm Bureau insurance companies have a total of $287,023,269 in assets.

On Monday, January 10, the officers of all Farm Bureau Units in the county met to work out their programs for the year. They will work out the educational, recreational, and social aspects of the Farm Bureau program.

A state training session will be held in St. Paul, January 17, 18, and 19 for County Farm Bureau presidents, secretaries or office secretaries and some of the county committee chairmen. An attendance of close to 500 is anticipated.

Headlining the "imported" instructional staff will be T. C. Petersen, midwest organization director, Kenneth lngwalson, director of leadership services, AFBF, and Herbert Alp commodities director for the AFBF.

Handel's Story An Inspiring One

HELLO FOLKS — This Christmas holiday season there were many songs sung concerning Santa Claus, Christ, the Christmas tree and winter.

Among all those sung and played there is none greater than the greatest of all great compositions, Handel's "The Messiah".

I have just finished reading the story of Handel's life, and for the benefit of many who probab1y haven't read the story of tragedy and victory of this great man, I will review it briefly here.

Handel was born in the year 1685. His father, Georg, insisted that his son would never be a musician, for in those days musicians were mostly travelers. He even went so far as to say that he would cut off his son's fingers, if he had to, to deter him from being a musician.

Upon the insistance of the Duke of Weissenfels, Georg finally changed his mind and enrolled his son under the tutorship of the great organist Zachau.

Handel learned to play the violin, oboe, bassoon, clavichord, and organ. From the inexaustible well of his creativity came 40 operas and many and varied pieces for the organ, orchestra, violin and nineteen oratorios.

People thronged to the operas to hear his renditions. He was acclaimed the world over; then the 'roof' seemed to fall in. Jealous rivals and critics turned against him and along with other happenings he found himself penniless, friendless and miserable.

In his despair he wandered the streets of London, returning to his shabby room to rest and mope.

One night when he returned he found a package waiting for him. It was from the poet Charles Jennings; with a letter urging him to write suitable music for the enclosed poem. The poetry was entitled "A Sacred Oratorio".

Handel scoffed at the idea of writing music for religious purposes.

As he went over the words they seemed to burn into his soul. He once again felt the life of music come into his being. For 22 days he wrote almost constantly. When the score was finished he fell to his bed and slept, as if in a coma, for 17 hours.

It was performed for the first time in Dublin, Ireland, (London would have nothing to do with him then.) Handel insisted that all the proceeds go to charity. He was a changed man. From then on he wrote only for religious music. "The Messiah" was presented 34 times during the life of Handel. He received the praise of kings and paupers alike.

On April the sixth, at the age of 74, he sat listening to an Easter rendition of his greatest achievement, When the chorus began to sing, "The trumpet shall sound," he slumped in his chair. He was carried to his bed, never to rise again.

His wish was to die on Good Friday. This wish was granted him, for it was on the morning of Friday, April 14, 1759, that Handel died.

Although Handel has been dead over 200 years his music lives on and brings happiness to ever increasing millions the world over.

Turkey Relives Biblical Story

HELLO FOLKS! — It is tourist time again and our affluent American society will be contributing to other nations of the world, some of our wealth in the form of American dollars.

Turkey is one nation making a big play for these dollars. At first thought it might seem that Turkey has very little to offer the average tourist. However, I ran across an interesting article, about one site that offers much of interest.

Near the city of Izmer lies the ruined and ancient city of Ephesus. This city at one time was a great center of civilization and culture. Today it lies in ruins. Inhabited only by a few hawkers eager to make a few dollars from the few tourists who travel to this spot.

One of the suburbs of Ephesus which lies high on a hill near what once was the city, is a shrine maintained by the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the information given about this shrine it was the final home of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Tradition has it that when the Christians left Jerusalem John the disciple took Mary, and made a home for her at Ephesus. After her death the Christians maintained the place.

In the city of Ephesus lies ruins of two churches named after Mary and John. The oldest church is the church of Mary. It was built the year 351. Later about 400, to accommodate the growth of the Christian community, the church of John was built on the end of the older church. They were sometimes called the "double church".

They were destroyed about 500 AD by invaders. About 600 AD the church of John was rebuilt.

It is obvious from the pictures that these churches and especially the church of John were extremely well built. Some of the walls, floors and pillars still remain. Imbedded in the floors of the baptismal rooms are the fonts with steps leading down to them.

...a whisper of its past glory.

Tradition has it that, except for the time he was banished to the isle of Patmos, John lived here and directed the affairs of the Church after the death of Peter. He lived to a tremendous age, that was the marvel of all who knew him. It is believed that he lived there until 105 AD.

An interesting sidelight to all this is: Why did Jesus have John take Mary? We know from scripture (Matt. 13:55) that Mary had four other sons and at least two daughters. Did they not accept the divinity of Christ? Or were they not considered by Jesus to be worthy enough to care for his mother?

At any rate it seems that while Jerusalem is the birth place of Christianity; Epheus probably could be called its first permanent home.

Who Built The Pyramids?

HELLO FOLKS — Pronounced by the ancient Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world, and about the only one of the seven wonders remaining in existence today, are the pyramids of Egypt. Who built them is a question that has been asked many times but never answered. It is of course assumed that they were under the supervision of the Egyptian rulers but the pryamids themselves were probably constructed by slave labor.

For many years it was assumed that the great knowledge needed about astronomy was the product of Egyptian culture, However today the majority of students of the pyramids seem to think that the Egyptians received their knowledge from some outside source, as they do not seem to have had the basic culture to have developed it themselves.

Encylopedias state that the pyramids were the product of the fourth dynasties of Egypt and that they were built about 2500-2600 B. C. In this they must be wrong, for that would place their history be-fore the flood. The flood occurred approximately 2400 B.C., according to biblical cronology; which must be pretty accurate as an exact record was kept of mankind since the creation.

Egyptian history is strictly post-diluvian. Were it pre-diluvian there would be no Egyptians today. As it is they are very much alive.

Being post-diluvian they are the product of one of the families that escaped the flood (probably Ham). It takes centuries to establish a nation from one family no matter how prolific they are. Therefore the pyramids could hardly have been built before 2000 B. C.

That takes us down to the days of Abraham, who was born about 300 years after Noah's flood, and most likely before the pyramids were built.

We know from scriptures that Abraham was taught great truths about the stars by heavenly messengers. Abraham being highly respected by the Egyptians and also having been told that his descendants would be held captive by the Egyptians 400 years, could possibly have given them the needed knowledge needed to erect the pyramids. Then with the descendants of Abraham bing slaves in Egypt for (as it turned out to be) 350 years, is it not highly probable that they could have been the ones who furnished the man-power for the pyramids?

We don't know, of course. But it is interesting to speculate and what could be more appropriate than for the children of Israel to have had a hand in the building and their great-grandfather having supplied the knowledge. I believe that some day we will know. Then we won't need to wonder.

Peterson Tells Bedtime Stories

HELLO FOLKS — Minds are like parachutes, they function only when open. Some folks demand the benefits of the doubt you when there isn't any.

—o—

EX-PESIDENT John Quincy Adams was asked as he was nearing his death, "how are you." He had this to say. "Thank you, sir! John Quincy Adams, himself, is quite well. thank you. But the house in, which he lives at present is becoming quite dilapidated, It is tottering upon it's foundations. Time and the seasons have nearly destroyed it. It's roof is pretty well worn out. Its walls are much shattered, and it trembles with every wind. The old tenement is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon; but he, himself, is quite well, sir, quite well."

—o—

Grandmother was visiting at the little girl's home. One Sunday morning she gave her a dime to give in Sunday School. When Janet returned home, her grandmother asked her if she put the dime in the collection.

"No I didn't Grandma," the little girl replied. "But, my dear, why didn't you?" Grandma asked.

"Because I found a wonderful bargain, Grandma. You see, it was this way: I met a poor old man pushing one of those ice cream carts, and I stopped and asked him if he ever went to church, and he said he did, every Sunday. Then I said, 'Mister, if I give you this dime for two ice cream cones, will you give it to the church?' and he said, 'Sure, kiddo!' So I gave him the dime and he gave me two cones, Now, how's that for a bargain?" the little girl said.

Good Extremism Is Needed — Ed

HELLO FOLKS! — My good friend, Herman Gruis, Jr., suggests that I write something concerning the extremism of such men as Adolph Hitler, Castro and Khrushchev. I think it is a good idea, so here goes.

As I see it, evil always seems to end up in extremism. It either starts moderately or else it just seems to. But unless it is checked it ends up in extremism. I believe it to be a truism that evil always destroys itself. For a long time, evil breeds more evil, but it eventually ends up destroying itself. Human nature will put up with a certain amount of evil for a long time, but eventually it tires of it and mistrusts it until good extremism rises up and replaces it.

How did the extremism of Adolph Hitler get started? As I recall history and understand it, there were too many moderate politicians in Germany at the time.

The saying, "All that is needed for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing," certainly proved true in the case of Germany's Hitler. There are so many seemingly "good" men who think it wrong to step out of the role of moderation. They seem to be consumed with the idea that to be a good Christian or at least a good fellow they have to be a moderate. I think that idea is a complete fallacy. I need to go no further than the word of the greatest authority that ever lived to firm up my convictions.

When Jesus Christ wanted a message to go to the Church at Laodicea he revealed it to John the Revelator and said, among other things, "so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

The modern church leader who is now dead, Ralph W. Hardy, put it this way: "The gospel of Jesus Christ was not placed upon the earth to make ordinary human beings."

So I believe that the very reason we have such men as Castro, Khrushchev, Hitler and many others of their kind is because we have so few good extremists. Too many want to sit back and read history rather than make it; or worse yet, they don't even want to study it.

If we are ever to have peace on earth — and I am certain we will some day — we are going to have to make it. The only was to make it is to live extremely good lives.

Good extremists are generally misunderstood. Their thinking is geared far in advance of the average person and, therefore, they are generally not called to great positions until extreme evil has forced the public to accept them. If, then we are going to be wise enough to place these men where they can do the job that needs to be done, we all have to be somewhat the good extremists ourselves. When we do not understand an extremist we are quite apt to conclude that he is evil, whether that is true or not.

Fond Memories Of Cold Snow

Hello Folks! Just a year ago we visited Virginia City, Montana. I hadn't heard of the place before, so I wasn't too excited about going there, but this was our vacation and it was hot in the Gallatin Valley where we were staying with my in-laws. We left early one morning. As we looked westward we could see snow capping the mountains over which we were to pass. With the temperature over 90 degrees in the valley it would seem good to throw a few snowballs.

Virginia City is not on a main highway. We left No. 10 and took state highway 34. It is a new road and very good except for a few miles that is rough and gravely. As we climbed the mountain range the temperature became very comfortable; finally we even rolled up the windows. We got very close to the snow but didn't get to throw any snow balls.

Virginia City lies right in the heart of the Rockies. A gulch goes right through the town along side the street (there is only one street). The sights we were to see that day I will remember for a long time. Virginia City has a fabulous history. Silver was discovered there is such quantities that is became a boom town and, at one time it was one of the largest towns in Montana and its capitol. As happens in any boom town prices were exorbitant. Most of the equipment and clothing had to be shipped be stage over poor roads from Salt Lake City, 300 miles away.

Most of the mining was placer or surface mining. Huge equipment was moved in to do the work. The results of the big machinery is still evident as whole hillsides were moved to get at the silver.

A brewery was built and was the next largest industry. A theater was established and New York players were engaged to perform. Of course when the silver gave out everybody got panicky and the town was deserted overnight. Values dropped to nothing and nearly everything left as tho the proprietors had just stepped out for lunch. Hauling costs were too high to warant moving anything out. I'll tell you more about Virginia City next week.

—o—

"Why won't you marry me?" he demanded. "There isn't anyone else is there?"

"Oh Edgar," she sighed, "there must be."

—o—

Sometimes we hear the argument that our surpluses are not so high and that we should prepare for famines just as the pharoah of Egypt did under the direction of Joseph. I think it is a good idea to follow good examples whenever and wherever possible, but we should also analize the conditions and determine whether they apply to us or not. For one thing today we have swift means of transportation, we have knowledge of the use of soils, how to preserve moisture and fertilize them for maximum production. In other words our conditions today do not apply to requirements of ancient days. We know from past experiences about what the needs are for the days ahead, barring any unforseeable conditions. Production by irrigation can be speedily stepped up to meet urgent needs. It doesn't take much surplus to deaden the market and until we have good reason to build up wasteful supplies, I think we ought to keep them within proper bounds.

—o—

You can't kill time without injuring eternity.

—o—

Heaven must be in us before we can be in heaven.

—o—

It seems that congress insists on limiting the flexible program so much that it won't flex off rock bottom. If it won't flex that means we could get lower prices than ever.

Ed Viewed An Emperor

Hello Folks!! I saw the Emperor of Ethiopia (Halie Selassie) in Austin a couple weeks ago. I happened to be in Austin. I noticed a lot of people lining the street so I followed suit. After quite a wait he came from the Hormel plant.

The Parade was headed by a police car with signals flashing and as the procession entered Main Street the siren sounded. I saw his grand-daughter also. She looked pretty much like any other person from the glimpse I got of her. I was rather surprised that Haile Selassie looked as young as he does. Of course from the pitch of his hat brim to his chin there wasn't much distance, but I was less than 10 feet from him.

It is interesting to recall the recent history of Ethiopia. When Mussolini invaded the country Selassie protested to the League of Nations, but the politicians were too busy playing politics to listen to him. Mussolini ended his life in the typical fashion of all tyrants. Today Haile Selassie injoys the privilege of ruling between 10 and 15 million people. It brings to mind what the Savior said, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

—o—

I think giving is the secret of a successful life. And I think we never reach the point of diminishing returns if we give the proper thing and in the proper time and place. However, I do think indiscriminate giving just for the sake of giving can be a terrible liability. For instance at one time our government was giving anything and everything to Russia without a thought of the consequences. The taxpayer was saddled with heavy burdens of taxes and federal debt to do so. Now we are being saddled with even heavier debts and taxes just to pay for our folly. The same way with dozens of other countries. They get the gifts then turn around and despise us for it.

It works the same way with children. While a proper gift at a proper time will help to show our love toward a child, if those gifts are given too often without the child earning them they almost invariably become selfish and fail to develop character. I have almost forgotten the quotation in "The Vision of Sir Launfall" "It's not what you give but what you share, for the gift without the giver is bare." I think when we learn to give properly we will have gone a long ways toward eliminating wars and bitterness.

A bitter tongue can burn up more people than an incendiary bomb. A winner never quits, a quitter never wins.

—o—

The column I wrote two weeks ago sounded awfully hard-hearted when I read it. I imagine it did to you readers also. It was mostly because I left out one adverb. No wonder the editor gave it such a startling title.

—o—

John Nyenhuis and family were heading for California. They were traveling across the hot Mojave Desert. They saw a tiny speck down the road. As they drew closer the discovered it was a man in a bathing suit. John, the ever courteous, stopped the car to see if he could aid the man. "Yes", the man said, "How far is it to the ocean?" "Oh! about 300 or 400 miles," says John. "My! My! It is a wide beach, isn't it?" exclaimed the man.

More About Son Brent

By Edwin B. Petersen

HELLO FOLKS — I've been told that a successful old age depends on a proper beginning.

There is nothing more harmful to a man's progress than to think he is in the grave when he is really in a rut.

—

I DIDN'T FINISH telling you about our episode with Brent, when we were on our vacation last summer.

When we found Brent and didn't realize that he had had such a good time on shore we didn't want to waste his ticket and deprive him of the opportunity to ride on a river boat. Therefore, we put him on the "Bemidji Belle" which was supposed to be leaving for another excursion soon: while we went to visit Paul and Babe.

The Bemidji Belle didn't leave as scheduled and by the time we had seen most of the sights in the park she was still there, tied up at port.


We were anxious to get to Itaska Park before dark so we decided to get Brent off the boat.


No Refunds


He was getting tired of waiting too, so Vera went over to the ticket office to see if we could get a refund on the ticket. The ticket agent was reluctant to refund the money, but offerend to give each of the children a ball of cotton candy. This made good business, so each of them received the biggest ball of cotton candy they had ever eaten.


It wasn't until then we found out what Brent had been up to and why he seemed so happy despite the fact that he had been left behind. Who wouldn't be happy if they could get free rides in a park just by telling a sob story.


We discovered one thing on the trip. The children had a way of getting us to let them go swimming, whenever they wanted to. One of them would 'accidentally' fall in the water or at least get very wet. Then this 'leader' would say something about changing to a swimming suit or staying in the water as long as he or she was already wet. Soon they were all in the swim.


One of the things the children won't soon forget was bathing in the headwaters of the Mississippi. The water was warm and the bottom sandy, and just deep enough for fun. All in all, we had a very lovely time.


I hope that most of you busy people — especially farmers — will take off a few days and see Minnesota 'first'. A trip through the Twin Cities Duluth, North Shore Drive and across through the Iron Range is worth anybody's time and trouble.


HISTORY
Paul Bunyan Park - Click HERE

A Lost Boy Has Fun

By Edwin B. Petersen

HELLO FOLKS! — Election time coming up next week. Be sure and vote.

Remember that the constitutional amendments are as important to vote on as are the candidates. Study the issues well, regarding them. My recommendation is to vote yes on both of them. Not voting on them is the same as voting no.

—

I HAVE DECIDED to tell you about an incident that happened to us last summer while we were on a vacation trip to northern Minnesota. The reason I hesitated to tell you sooner is because you will probably this we are terribly slothful parents; but here goes anyway.

We took a trip to Superior-Duluth and the Iron Range the second week in July and took six of the children along. These included Randy, 12, Zina, 9, Adell, 8, Mark, 7, Brent, 6, and Linnea, 3.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Uncle Pete and Aunt Georgia at superior, seeing the Duluth harbor, climbing boulders in Lake Superior, wading in the pools below Gooseberry Falls along North Shore Drive, seeing the taconite plants and the Messabi Iron Range in Bemidji, and bathing at the head waters of the Mississippi River in Itaska Park.

It was while at Paul's park in Bemidji that the incident took place.

Lost Brent

We had just arrived at the park and decided to take a ride on the Bemidji Belle, (a river boat) on Lake Bemidji. Armed with 8 tickets, we boarded the boat.

When we had been out about 10 or 15 minutes Vera asked me where Brent was. I just then remembered that I hadn't seen him on the boat. Our first thoughts were, of course, that he might have fallen off. We quickly dismissed that idea because it didn't seem possible with the high fence around the edge of the boat.

The next thought was if he had slipped when boarding the boat. That too was ruled out as I had personally helped each one aboard.

Knowing Brent and his independent ways, we decided he had struck off on his own when we entered the park and hadn't seen us board the boat. We felt better with that conclusion and didn't worry to the point that it spoiled our outing.

When we got back to shore an hour later we set about finding the boy. I sent Randy to the car to see if he was there and the others checked around the park. All came back with a negative report.

As we stood there wondering where to look next we spied a small boy darting across the street about two blocks away. From the way he acted I was sure it was Brent and detailed Randy to go after him; post haste.

Instead of what we supposed would be a worried and disappointed boy we found one with the air of the car who has 'swallowed the canary'.

He had apparently had a great time seeing the sights. When he had run out of things to see and do in the park he had visited shops around town. At times he had rushed back to the car to check if it was still there and if we were worried about him; then he would visit some more sights.

The story gradually unfolded. When he missed us he decided that we had either gone on the boat or the sea plane. Instead of griping or moping about it he took advantage of it. He had gone the rounds and told the concession men about his plight, and they, out of pity, would offer him rides.

MAP
Map of the areas visited on the trip to Northern Minnesota
HERE


DICTIONARY
posthaste |ˈpōstˈhāst|

adverb

with great speed or immediacy: she would go posthaste to England.

HISTORY
The constitutional amendment Grandpa is speaking about 
Making a poll tax unconstitutional - Click here for more info.