Reel Life (Sep 1913 - Mar 1914)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

©01.8295229 AWEEKLY MAGAZINE OF KINETIC DRAMA AND LITERATURE PUBLISHED BY MUTUAL riLM CORPORATION, NEW YORK New/ York, P©€em&©r 1913 CLARENCE HERBERT NEW, Editor WM. H. PECKHAM, Business Manager MUTUAL FILM CORPORATION, Publishers, 71 West 23rd Street Five Cents the Copy Circulation This Week 25,000 $2.50 by the Year The question is asked,' many times every year — "just what do you consider the most desirable and most perfect holiday which we observe in the United States — or, for that matter, in any civilized country?" Probably every individual has asked it, more than once of himself and his friends. Merely as a matter of personal taste and preference, different holidays stand pre-eminent in the minds of different people. In the days of our fore-fathers, it was considered unpatriotic to mention any other day in the same breath with the "Glorious Fourth," and in Latin-America, the "Cinquo de Mayo" and the "Set de Settembre" occupy similar positions. In New England, even today, "Thanksgiving^' — a legacy from Puritan ancestors — probably would be given preference on a casual vote. "Christmas" is almost universal — and has a peculiar and lovely charm of its own which has lasted already nearly two centuries and will be venerated by generations yet unborn. The socialists and anarchists undoubtedly have a weakness for "May Day" — possibly because, in the temperate and colder climates, it marks the beginning of a season when they can sleep out of doors if other shelter is denied them, and raise hell generally without the imminent risk of being frozen to death. No anarchist in good Union standing likes a nipping day of zero weather — he'll admit it frankly, if you ask him. "Labor Day" and "Election Day" are political, rather than lovable for sentiment's sake. "Washington's" and "Lincoln's" Birthdays, once, were patriotic— now, they are but legalized excuses for knocking off work. But when the last leaf on the old calendar is torn off, and the first red-letter day of the new one gleams warmly in our faces, a certain effect is produced which is lacking in every other holiday observed by man. It's not the watch-dinner" at a famous lobster palace on the world's "Broadways" — where those of us who haven't better sense cheerfully submit to being robbed in a totally inexcusable way. It's not the "making good resolutions" which, by stern fortitude and self-denial we manage to keep half alive — merely for the shame of the thing — until along after February 1st, sometime. It is, to-day, not even the good old Knickerbocker and Chinese custom of ferreting out and calling upon all the friends whom we haven't seen during the year — and so keeping in touch with those who have been dear to us during the flight of life's arrow from darkness, through light, to darkness. But, in its own individual way — in every nation — under every sun — it is the one day of the year which typifies "Hope" to the entire human race. New Year's is the day of "beginning again" — the day of reconstruction— the time of getting one's second — or third — or hundredth wind. It's the one day of all the year when each human being may bravely close a book of failures — turn over the leaf of mistakes in his life-ledger — and "begin again." With even fair health, there is no man, woman or child — ^of any age — who may not say to himself or herself on New Year morning: "If at first you don't succeed, try — try — again." There is no catastrophe in life so great or irremediable that the victim may not say: "That is over — now, for a fresh start." There is no manuscript coming back with sickening regularity to the writer which may not be sold on its thirtieth or hundredth journey to an Editorial desk. There is no business or occupation ever so completely smashed that the man who came a-cropper with it may not pick himself up — rub the sore spots on the night of December 31st — and start in again next morning with good chances of success. Unless a person is afflicted with incurable disease, there is no such thing as hopelessness in his condition or circumstances. Even the incurables may yet snatch from what remains of life many an hour of forgetfulness — sunshine — ease from pain — and even some degree of accomplishment. One's condition is never really hopeless — he merely thinks it. Hopelessness is a diseased mental attitude— that's all — usually, resulting from a deranged liver. And please don't mistake these statements for Christian Science theories — because they're really not theories at all, but facts which have been proven over and over again. The Christian Scientists were astute enough to base many of their arguments upon just such facts as these — which had comforted humanity centuries before Mary Baker Eddy was born. It really isn't the nature of any healthy man or woman to acknowledge defeat. Hopelessness and melancholia are, primarily, impaired digestion and liver. Simple food — plenty of exercise, sunshine and fresh air — will cure the most obstinate case. And it is some realization of this which has made New Year Day — whether American, Chinese or Hottentot, the date is immaterial — symbolic of hope and better conditions. On the morning of January 1st — or its equivalent with other peoples — we have yet to see the individual who is wholly a pessimist. His affairs may seem, for the moment, about as bad as they possibly can be — his daughter may have eloped with the chauffeur — and, like Job, he may be afflicted with boils. But on New Year morning he begins figuring on "the way out" — reflects that, after all, the chauffeur is a healthy, educated chap, who may produce fine grandchildren — and thinks the boils are at last yielding to antiseptic treatment. There is no time in a man's life when he may not "begin again" — with more or less prospect of success. There is no unfortunate so poor or down-trodden that he may not, to some extent, improve his condition and circumstances. "A Happy New Year !" That toast contains more irrepressible human hope than any other — in every language on earth.