s made to feel ashamed of itself. It
shrinks into the darkness, and we begin the day all over again, thankful
that mother is so good, so considerate and patient.

It isn't exactly by the children that such a mother is best appreciated.
Father knows the real value of her cheerfulness. He knows just what it
has meant in the past, and he knows what it means now. He can look back
and he can recall many instances in which the optimism of his wife was
the agency which turned the tide. He knows of many business deals
wherein the cheerful advice of his wife changed his viewpoint and so
changed failure into success. He can recall many instances during the
early days of his business career when the outlook was gloomy and
doubtful, when its success depended upon so small a matter as
temperament and disposition, when the cheerfulness, the love and tact of
his wife dispelled the gathering clouds, strengthened the wavering
spirit and instilled new fight, new purpose, new hope, into the
situation. Oh, yes, he knows that cheerfulness, and optimism, and tact,
and love, have a definite economic value, but it cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents. He knows they are an asset in the domestic problem,
but they are sacred, holy, consecrated.

Cheerfulness is such a potent reality that it has a definite, concrete
value. Life is a product of environment to a very considerable extent.
Our surroundings very often dictate our attitude, and temperamentally at
least we radiate whatever spirit our environment generates.

HEREDITARY FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS[B]

[Illustration]

Here is the law. The blood of the father was tainted. For several
generations it lay dormant, and then smote this little child, Bertha. It
is the terrible, the inevitable law of heredity.

[Illustration]

Not so much now, as years ago, is there intermarriage. It is fortunate,
for the results of in-breeding are far worse in human beings than in
animals; chiefly because of man's more highly developed nervous system.
New, pure blood above all things else is a re-energizing force which may
go far toward eventually eliminating any trace of taint.

[Footnote B: "Feeble-mindedness; Its Causes and Consequences," Goddard,
The Macmillan Company.]

One cheerful home will radiate, will send out into the world, certain
definite, concrete influences which will encourage and stimulate, and
strengthen and give new hope to every living thing it reaches. The
atmosphere of cheerfulness wi