A RIDDLE WITH A MORAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2765, 8 May 1916, Page 7

A RIDDLE WITH A MORAL

Riddles are bad enough, but a riddle with a moral! . . .that is too much! Still, in the case of tho riddle propounded by the Toledo "Blade" (U.S.A.) the moral Is a good one and-the riddlo is sufficiently puzzling to inspire some interest. ...We are apparently confronted with a description of our greatest common enemy. What is this monster?- 1 ; 'I am more powerful than the combined armies of the world. I have destroyed more men than all tho wars of the nation's. I am more deadly than bullets, and I have wrecked more homes than the mightiest siege-guns. . • [steal, in the United-States alone, over 300,000,000 dollars each. year. I spare no one, and I find my victims among the rich and poor alike, the young and old, the strong and weak. Widows and orphans know me. I loom Tip to such proportions fhnt I cost my shadow over every field of labour; fi.om the turning of the grindstone to the moving of every railroad train. I massacre thousands upon thousands of wage-earners a year. •I lurk in unseen places, and do most of my work silently. You aro warned against me, but yon heed not. . , I am relentless. lam every where —in the house, on'., the street, in tho factory, at'railroad-cross, ings, and on tho sea. I bring sickness, degradation, and death, and yet few seek to avoid me. ■ I destroy, crush, and maim; I givo nothing, but tako all. I am your worst enemy. What is the answer? Do you say "drink" or "hatred" or "self-interest"? The answer is given in the words of the riddie-. "I am carelessness." . ,