Little builders

Front matter

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Class PZ. T

CHAPTER I A Building I Watched Men Build

Y OU boys and girls have all seen men building houses or other kinds of buildings, haven't you? And most of you like to watch the men at their work.

I want to tell you about a large building I have been watching some men make as I have gone to and from my work each day. I had to go by this place each morning and evening, and it was interesting to see just how much the building had grown since I went by the time before. Sometimes I stopped and watched the men as they worked.

The first I knew that a building was to be built was when one morning I saw workmen clearing away the rubbish from a vacant lot. Some men with a measuring line were carefully counting off so many

H feet this way, and so many feet that way. Then they drove stakes in the ground, and were very particular that they put them in just the right place. I saw then that they must be going to build something, and began to wonder if it would be just a small, low building, or a great, tall sky¬ scraper with many stories.

But I didn’t have to wonder long, for the next time I went by there was a large machine standing on the lot, and there were many horses and wagons too. That large machine was a steam shovel. It was digging a hole in the ground.

How much faster it could dig than you or I could! It would put its great iron hand down into the earth and get a hand¬ ful; then lift it up, and empty it into a wagon that was standing near. About three handfuls of this great machine’s iron hand would fill a wagon, and the man would drive away and another wagon would be driven up to be loaded. Not many days passed until the shovel had made a large hole, deeper than the houses some of you live in. Maybe you wonder why they dug such a large hole before they began to make the building. I will tell you why. They wanted to build a strong foundation on which the building could rest. When they make a small house they do not need such a strong foundation, but when they build a skyscraper they have to dig away down into the earth and make a strong foundation. The tall buildings are called skyscrapers because they seem to reach almost up to the sky. They were making a strong foundation, so I knew this was going to be a tall building.

The steam shovel stayed there for about two weeks, and then they took it away and began to put in the foundation. In a little while we will talk about another building, and you must remember that the founda¬ tion is the part of a building which is al¬ ways made first.

The men with the horses and wagons hauled a great pile of stones, and other men carried them down into the big hole. Then some of the men, called stone¬ masons, began to lay the stones into a wall for the foundation. The stones had to be placed in the wall one by one, and they were very careful to pick out the ones which would fit just right. Sometimes they would throw a stone away which they thought was not good enough to go into the wall. If one bad stone were put into the wall, the whole building might tumble down. The stones in the wall were fas¬ tened together with cement and sand, and when it was all dry it was like one big stone.

When the foundation walls were fin¬ ished the bricklayers began to lay the bricks to make the walls of the building. As I watched them I noticed how careful they were to see that every brick was laid exactly straight, and that it fit in just so. If some had been put in crooked, they might have ruined the wall.

Then there were great, long pieces of iron to make what we call the framework, and these were fastened together with long iron bolts. I thought of what might happen if some of the men did not fasten those together well,— the building might fall and kill many people.

The carpenters also were there at work. We all like to watch the carpenters. When we think of them, what tools do we think of ? I think I know what you will say. In these pages you will find pictures of many of the tools the carpenters and plumbers and other workmen use. See if you can name them. The carpenter has a whole box of tools, but we can’t name all of them. They were careful to see that every board they sawed was exactly right, and if it was rough they took their planes and planed all the roughness off; for they did not want any bad boards to go into such a fine building.

Before this skyscraper was done, the plumber came with all his wrenches and other tools, and put in the water pipes. Then the electrician put in the lights. But still the building was not finished, for the painter had to come and paint it. I liked to watch him mix his paints, for he was particular that they were mixed just so, and he was very careful as he put the paint on the wood with his brushes. The building would not look very well if the i 8 painter did not do his work skillfully.

While all these men were working there was a man who held a blue paper in his hand and walked around and watched them, to see that they did their work well, — that they did not put in any bad stones, bricks, or boards. They called him the contractor, and they told me he was really to blame if any work was poorly done.

It was a beautiful building when it was all finished, and it looked so straight and tall it hardly seemed possible it could ever fall. I had watched them put in such a strong foundation, I felt it would stand for a long, long time.

But this beautiful building makes me think of another building which I pass every day as I go to work. It is crooked and ugly,— one side is higher than the other, and I wonder each time I go by if sometime it will not fall over. I wonder if you can guess what made it that way. I looked at it carefully and noticed that it did not have a good foundation on which to rest, and one side had settled down lower than the other. Some day it will

Underwood & Underwood

The building I watched men build.

either fall down, or have to be torn down. The one who made it was not careful to see that it was built right. If he had been, it might have stood many years longer.

But we were going to talk about a build¬ ing you yourselves are building, so let us think about that for a while.

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CHAPTER II The Building You Are Building

Y OU wonder what I mean when I say you are making buildings, too. Did you not know that you are little builders? You are, and many people are watching you every day to see just what kind of buildings you are going to make. They are wondering if they will be small ones, or great tall skyscrapers. And your papas and mamas are so anxious that you shall put good foundations under them. After they have watched you for a while they can tell just what kind of buildings they will be because of the foundations you are building.

You say you don’t know how to use a hammer or a saw or any of the other tools, so how can you build anything? Well, maybe some of you girls don’t know how to use tools, but most of the boys do.

The building you are building we call CHARACTER. That is a big word and we must find out what it means. It means this,— if someone is very good, we say he has a good character. If someone is cross and bad, we say he has a bad character. So character is really just what we are — it is the life we live.

We began this building when we were tiny babies, and we will keep building and building every day until we grow old and gray. Remember, the most important part is made when we are just boys and girls. That is the foundation part of our character. You are making that now.

One morning as I came down the street I saw a ragged, poor old man coming toward me. He was muttering some bad words, and stumbling as he walked. His eyes were red, and his clothes ragged and dirty. Pretty soon he fell right down on the sidewalk and had to take hold of a post to help himself to his feet again.

I could see that the poor old fellow was drunk. Have you ever seen a drunken

'vj man? I wonder if you know what I thought about when I saw this man? He made me think of the crooked building which was one-sided and ready to fall down. You see, boys and girls, he had built a bad character.

I must tell you about another old man I know. Every one who knows him calls him Uncle Mahlon. He is about eighty years old, and his snowy white hair and pleasant face make one love him. He used to come to our house often, and he was always thinking of how he could help some one. In fact, he seemed never to think of himself. Uncle Mahlon doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t get drunk, he doesn’t say any bad words; and he always makes me think of some of the good men we read of in the Bible. I don’t see him very often now, for he doesn’t live near, but I love him just the same. He makes me think of the straight, tall building, which has a good foundation. He has lived a good life, — he has built a good character.

If some one should ask you which man you would rather be like, I am sure you would all answer, “Uncle Mahlon.” Of course, every boy and girl wants to build a beautiful character. No doubt the poor old drunken man wanted to have a good character, but somehow he put bad stones into his foundation.

Do you remember what part of the building we said is always made first? Yes, it is the foundation. You are making the foundations of your buildings now. If you make good ones while you are boys and girls, you will have good buildings when you grow older. But if you make poor foundations now, your characters will be crooked and ugly when you are old.

Do you think it would be easy for the poor old drunken man to make his build¬ ing straight now after he has been bad for so long? No, it certainly would not. And do you think it would be easy for dear old Uncle Mahlon to be a bad man, or for his character to become crooked and ugly and ready to tumble down? It is easy to form right habits and build good foundations when you are boys and girls, but it is oh so hard when you grow older!

The best time to teach your little puppy to do tricks is while he is very young. If you had a crooked tree in your yard and wanted to make it fine and straight, you would have to straighten it while it was little, wouldn’t you? It would be easy then, but you could never straighten it after it had become a large tree.

Now let us imagine that we are putting the stones into our foundations. We must be careful to get only the good stones and to throw out all bad ones. Let us think of some stones we want to put in, and we will write down the names here, so we shall re¬ member better: obedience, honesty, truthfulness, and temperance. Then we do not want to leave out love, helpful¬ ness, unselfishness, neatness, and pa¬ tience. And every boy and girl wants to have the stones of faithfulness and de¬ termination in the foundation. Perhaps you can think of some other stones you want to put in too. But be careful about the bad stones, for we don’t want our walls to tumble down, do we?

The Bible tells a story about two men who built houses. For a foundation one chose a great, large, flat, rocky place. A terrible storm came, and winds blew, and the rain fell, but the house stood firm, for it was founded on a rock. The other man thought he would not go to all the trouble of building a good foundation, so he just built his house on the sand, and when this same storm came along, his house fell down, for it had no solid foundation,— it was built on the sand.

I can just hear you boys and girls saying that you are going to be careful like the first man, and that you will be sure to put good foundations under your buildings.

CHAPTER III Good and Bad Stones

W HILE we are talking about some of the good stones we want to put into our foundations, we might just as well talk about some of the bad ones we want to keep out of our buildings. Just think how terrible it would be if some of us did use bad stones and our buildings should be crooked and maybe fall over. In this chapter we will think about obedience, the good stone, and disobedience, the bad stone. You know what that word obedi¬ ence means, don’t you? When boys and girls talk about it they usually say “mind.” They say they mind papa and mama, while older folks use the word “obey.”

Last night when I was reading my paper I saw something about a little boy which made me feel sad, and I know you will feel the same way when I tell you about it. Our house is just two blocks from a deep, wide river, and in winter time it is covered with ice. Now you know boys and girls all like to skate and slide on the ice, and it is hard for them to wait till it gets cold and the ice is strong enough to hold them.

This little boy wanted to go down to the river to play on the ice, but his mother told him it was not safe,— that he might break through and get drowned, and then she would not have any little boy. Our mothers usually know best, and if he had been careful and obedient he would not have gone till his mother told him he could. But like many other little boys and girls, he felt mother didn’t know how strong the ice was and that she might never know if he did go. One day she went to the store to buy some things, and left him at home alone. She hadn’t been gone long when some other boys came by and wanted him to go to the river with them. He thought this would be a good chance to go, and he forgot what his mother had told him, to be sure to stay right at home until she came back, for she would be gone only a few minutes. Do you think he really forgot? No, he didn’t forget, he just disobeyed.

Soon the boys were having a fine time on the ice, but it didn’t last long, for this poor little fellow broke through and went down into the cold water. He kicked and cried and tried to get out, but again and again his hands slipped off the ice and he fell back into the water. The boys did not dare to go out to help him, for fear they too would fall in. He did get hold of the ice once and held on for some time and the boys tried to encourage him to hold on till they could run for help, but he had to let go, and went down into the icy water and was drowned. The last thing they heard him say was, “This will break mama’s heart, for she told me not to go on the ice.” Several days later they found his body. The poor little fellow lost his life because he did not obey.

Another little boy told me that these boys wanted him to go down to the river with them that same evening, but his father and mother had told him not to go near the river because the ice was not safe, and he told them that he was going to mind his parents. Now he is glad he did, for he too might have been drowned.

So you see one of these little boys used the good stone, obedience, while the other one used the bad stone, disobedience, and lost his life. In the next chapter we will talk some more about these stones.

CHAPTER IV The Little Girl Who Wanted the Teakettle

E VEN when we axe very little boys and girls, before we can talk plainly, we begin to want things, and sometimes we think we know better than papa or mama what is best for us.

One time a little girl about two years old saw the pretty, bright teakettle on the stove, and the steam was pouring out of the top of it. Mama had filled it with water to heat for washing the dishes. The little girl was sitting in her high chair near the stove, and she thought she wanted that teakettle to play with. So she started to reach for it. Mama saw her, and said “No, no, baby must not touch. It is hot and will burn her.”

The little girl did not like that one bit

She thought mother should let her have what she wanted. She waited till mother went out of the room, and then she reached over and took hold of the handle. She pulled and pulled, for it was heavy. She could not lift it, but finally she got it over to the very edge of the stove. One more pull, and the kettle was off the stove, upside down, and a lot of hot, hot water spilled on her little legs.

The poor little girl was badly burned, and she cried and cried. It took several weeks for her little legs to get well, but she learned that mother knew best, and that it is always wise to obey. She never wanted the teakettle any more after that.

Disobedient children are playing with fire and will surely be burned.

CHAPTER V pm

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The Little Mouse That Didn’t Mind

APA and Mama Mouse lived in the house of a rich man in a large city. They had gathered pieces of paper and cloth and made them a snug, warm nest for their home. It was down under the pantry, and the only way they could get up into the house was through a hole in the floor. They were happy in their little home, for it was always pleasant and warm, and they foiind plenty of good things to eat in the pantry. And one day they were made very, very happy, for there were five little baby mice in their nest. They were such tiny pink fellows! Their eyes did not open for several days, so they could not see a thing; but Papa and Mama Mouse cared for them, and

LB-3 they grew very rapidly. In a short time they were large enough to run around.

One morning Papa Mouse called all the family together, to have a little talk with them. This is what he said to them: “Papa and Mama must be away from home to hunt food for you, and we want you to stay right here at home. Don’t ever go through the hole up into the house, for the people have set traps to catch you, and there is a big cat up there too, which will eat you if you ever go close enough for him to get his paws on you. So you stay right at home and be good children.” They all listened to what Papa Mouse said, but they could not understand why they should stay at home all the time when Papa and Mama could go upstairs.

One dark night when Papa and Mama Mouse were both away, one little fellow thought he would go up into the house and look around, He had never been away from home in all his life, and he said to himself, “I know Papa and Mama both say I must not go, but I am big enough to take care of myself. I won’t get caught in the trap, and I’ll keep my eyes open for the old cat.” So up through the hole he went.

When Papa and Mama Mouse came home, one of the children was gone, and they sat up and waited and waited for him to come back, but he never came. They always felt that he must have been eaten by the cat, and it made them feel very sad to think that one of their very own little mice had been killed because he didn’t mind.

Boys and girls almost always get into trouble when they don’t mind. Sometimes they think their papas and mamas don’t love them, and that they don’t want them to have a good time when they tell them not to do some things. But it is because they do love you, boys and girls, and they want you to make good straight, tall buildings, so they try to help you keep out the bad stones.

When you are tempted to disobey, think of the poor little fellow who fell through the ice, and of the little mouse who knew better than his parents. You might not lose your life when you disobey, but when you do it once, it is easier the next time. If you keep on disobeying your fathers and mothers, when you get older you will be likely to disobey the laws of the land. All this makes it easier to dis¬ obey God's laws too, and He cannot take people to heaven who keep on disobeying His laws. So let us watch closely for the disobedience stones and throw them all away, so they will not get into our founda¬ tions.

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CHAPTER VI Adam and Eve Use Some Bad Stones

B EFORE we talk about any of the other stones, I want to tell you about a man and a woman who used some dis¬ obedience stones in their buildings, and how sorry they were. They were the very first man and woman who ever lived on this earth. You know who they were, don’t you? When the Lord put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden He gave them the most beautiful place in the whole world. There were many lovely flowers# fruit trees, and nut trees, and everything that their hearts could wish for.

But He told them that there was one tree in the middle of the garden that they should never touch nor eat the fruit of, for they would surely die if they did. They lived very well for a while, but one day Eve stood looking at the fruit of this tree, and she began to wish she might just taste it. Then she heard a voice near her, — it was the voice of Satan. He told her that the fruit of this tree was the best fruit in the whole garden, and it would not hurt her one bit to eat it. He made her think God had told a lie and that He did not love them or He would allow them to eat the fruit. And Eve thought, “Well that does look very good, and I don’t believe it will hurt me. I think I’ll take some just this once anyway.” So she disobeyed God and ate of the fruit. Then she called Adam and told him how good it was, and he also ate of it. Then Satan was happy, for Adam and Eve had sinned. After they had eaten of the fruit, they knew they had done wrong, and they felt as we do when we know we have done something we should¬ n’t. They were sorry of course, but it was too late then to make their mistake right. God often came into the garden to talk with Adam and Eve, but the next time He came they were hiding. You know how we feel when we have done something that papa and mama do not want us to do. We just feel we don’t want to see any one.

Then God told them that they would have to be driven from the garden, their beautiful home. If they had been obedi¬ ent, they could have lived in this lovely place forever and there would never have been any sickness, nor death. Now they had to be driven out, and a little later, would have to die and be buried in the ground. If they had not made this mis¬ take we might have lived in that garden too, and there would not be any sin nor suffering nor death. We would not have toothache nor earache, nor ever be sick; there wouldn’t be any weeds in our gar¬ dens, and this would be a much better world.

Adam and Eve made bad foundations, and it is too late now to make the old world good. But we are glad that some day Jesus is coming back to this world again and will clean it up and make it just like the garden of Eden was then. And He is going to put in it all the boys and girls and men and women who have'been obedient and who have built good char¬ acters.

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CHAPTER VII How Tommy Overcame Temptation

O NCE there was a little boy named Tommy who had to pass a fruit store every day on his way home from school. Day after day he had gone by this store, and many times he had stopped to look into the windows at the fine rosy apples, the oranges, and the bananas. There were grapes too, and figs, and dates, and many good things that Tommy did not remem¬ ber ever tasting, for his father and mother were poor and could not buy these things for him. They had to work very hard to get enough money to buy clothes for Tommy and his little brothers and sisters, and sometimes they had only bread and potatoes to eat. But they were good people, and they had always taught their children to be honest,— never to take anything which did not belong to them.

One day as Tommy passed the store, he saw a barrel of rosy red apples out on the sidewalk, right where he could reach one if he wanted to. My, how good they looked, and how his little mouth watered! He wanted one so much, but still he re¬ membered what he had been taught about taking things. He stopped just to look at the apples, and then something seemed to say to him, “Why don’t you take one, Tommy; no one is looking, and your papa and mama will never know. They are so good and sweet. Go ahead, take one.”

Another voice seemed to tell him it would not be right. But the first voice told him again that he had better take one while he had a good chance. “It wouldn’t be so bad to take just one apple, Tommy, and no one will ever know. It will taste so good.” Before the good voice had time to say any more to him, his little hand slipped down into the barrel, pulled out a big red apple, and down the street he went. As he walked along he felt mean, and his throat filled up till he felt he never could swallow anything. And then the good voice spoke to him again. It told him that he had always been a good boy and had never taken anything, and that he should take the apple right back. So Tommy decided that he would not be a thief, and back to the barrel he went. He walked right up to it, dropped the apple in, and then ran down the street as fast as his little legs could carry him. He wanted to get away from the temptation just as quickly as he possibly could. Tommy felt much better then, and when he reached home, he told his mama all about the trial he had had.

She did not scold him, oh no! She told him she was so glad that he had been an honest boy, and that she would give him some pennies so he could buy one of those apples as he went back to school. Tommy did buy a big red apple, and how he en¬ joyed it! He felt good to think that he had overcome the temptation to steal. He had put an honesty stone into his foun¬ dation. After that Tommy never had much trouble, even though he passed that barrel every day for a long time. When¬ ever temptation came to him, he would run away from it just as quickly as he could.

CHAPTER VIII Honest Abe

I SUPPOSE you boys and girls already know who Honest Abe is, for almost all of us have heard about Abraham Lincoln. We all love him, for he was a good man, and he built a building of which all the world is proud.