For a poet wrought in Panama With a continent for his theme, And he wrote with flood and fire To forge a planet's dream, And the derricks rang his dithyrambs And his stanzas roared in steam. Where old Balboa bent his gaze He leads the liners through, And the Horn that tossed Magellan Bellows a far halloo, For where the navies never sailed Steamed Goethals and his crew; So nevermore the tropic routes Need poleward warp and veer, But on through the Gates of Goethals The steady keels shall steer, Where the tribes of man are led toward peace By the prophet-engineer. PERCY MACKAYE.[1] [1] "He [Goethals] received last week three medals--one at Washington, at the hands of President Wilson, from the National Geographical Society; another in New York, at the hands of Dr. John H. Finley, head of the New York State Educational System, from the _Civic Forum_; and a third, also in New York, at the hands of Hamilton W. Mabie, from the National Institute of Social Sciences. At the presentation of the _Civic Forum_ medal, a poem written for the occasion was read by its author, Mr. Percy MacKaye." (_The Outlook_. March 14, 1914.) This poem is here quoted, by permission, from Mr. MacKaye's volume, _The Present Hour_. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York. CHAPTER VI HUMOROUS ITEMS "To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man before the fortieth day from his birth."--PLINY. I. Introduction Laughter, when it hurts nobody, is wholesome. It is the handmaid of happiness. It enriches life. Pleasant but not silly humor and wit are therefore altogether desirable in a paper. Few days in anybody's life are devoid of incidents that tickle the fancy. Material for good humorous stories is abundant everywhere. The faculty of recognizing it when it is seen, and the ability to present it effectively, however, need a little training. To make a beginning in these directions is the object of the exercises that follow. II. Assignment Find, but not in a book or a paper, a humorous story, and tell it, first orally, then in writing. III. Models I Called on to decide the ownership of a hen claimed by George Bass and Joseph Nedrow, of Arnold City, Justice of the Peace John Reisinger hit upon a "Solomonesque" solution. "Take this fowl to Arnold City," he directed his constable, "and release it near the poultry yards of these two men. In whose hen house it goes to roost, to him it belongs." The constable, accompanied by Bass and Nedrow, did as directed. When liberated, the bird promptly flew into the chicken yard of Charles Black, where the constable decided it would have to stay under the justice's ruling. The costs in the case amount to ten times the value of the hen. II