One Good-Deeder

During the early part of the last century, when the Middle West was first being settled on a large scale by white men, there lived an interesting character who devoted his life to a very unusual hobby. As he traveled about the country he carried with him at all times a supply of apple seeds. These he planted wherever he stopped in order that others who came later would have fruit to eat.

Many interesting legends have grown up around this character, who came to be known as "Johnny Appleseed." Even today you can see the results of his early travels in the shape of gnarled old apple trees bearing fruit.

Good-Deeding As A Hobby

While this particular hobby is unusual, it is not at all uncommon for modern men and women to have hobbies that are concerned almost entirely with helping others or with forwarding some cause which they think desirable. Millions of people in this country spend much of their leisure in this way and derive satisfaction from what they do. In fact, as civilization has grown more and more complex and man's power over physical problems has become perfected, the opportunities for leisure activities of this kind have increased. Indeed, leisure itself, as it became more widespread among the population, created problems that up to now have been dealt with largely by volunteer workers.

Telephone Girls In New York City Made Thousands Of Dolls' Dresses For Poor Children

Telephone Girls in New York City Made Thousands of Dolls' Dresses for Poor Children.

Machines are being made every day to help manufacture goods more economically and efficiently, but it is hard to imagine the invention of machines that will solve the many social problems that come with changing civilization. For this reason, the efforts of those who devote their time freely to some of the activities listed below are performing an important service to mankind. Many students of society believe that future progress must really come in changing the character of man rather than in developing further scientific marvels. Certainly there is litde use in manufacturing more and more complicated machines if man is unable to utilize them properly.

Listen to the stories that buzz about your ears. Everyone you meet can tell you actual tales of modern martyrs to some cause. Just enjoying yourself may seem to be a very enticing way to spend your leisure time until one of these dynamic truths is unfolded and you feel a catch in the throat and deep sympathy swelling up in your heart. Truth is stranger than fiction! Those whose names live in history are not by any means the ones who have accumulated the most of this world's goods but rather those who have tried to make this planet better for their fellow men.

Worlds without end and even some to conquer! For a complete life that is what you need. Where shall you find them?

The Good Deeds Of Johnny Appleseed Live On

The Good Deeds of Johnny Appleseed Live On. This boulder was placed in Swinney Park at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1916. On it is a tablet in honor of Johnny Appleseed.

Surely not in the security of the good, modern home you now enjoy, not in your comfortable automobile or in your well-planned schoolhouse. Where then are the challenging conquests to be made? Believe it or not, many of the worth-while things that are done to improve a neighborhood, a city, or a nation arc the result of leisure time spent in good-deeding by persons who have adopted a hobby designed to make the world just a little better place in which to live. And what satisfaction and enjoyment they get out of their hobby!

Truly, the leisure time that has come to man in the twentieth century would not be socially good if everyone used it to pursue activities that benefited himself alone. The value of any gift to society, whether it be a new invention, better schools, or more leisure time, lies in the extent to which the great mass of people will live more richly and more happily.

One interesting thing about good-deeding as a hobby is that you need not wait until you become of voting age before you start it. There are literally hundreds of worth-while and interesting projects all about, in city, village, and country. Furthermore, all over the country young people are finding satisfaction in these adventures. Still another thing to keep in mind is this: it is impossible to help others without helping yourself. What you do with the purpose of helping a friend, the neighborhood, or the community will in the long run enrich your own life.

Preserving Local Color

The chances are that in the very community in which you live there are valuable relics or natural beauty spots that need to be preserved. Unless some interested citizens, like yourself and your friends, take the first steps, these valuable local treasures may cease to exist. Just think of the possibilities in some of the suggestions given below.