22 JANUARY Salt Lake City, Utah, Sunday Morning, July 14, 1935. Wisdom and Ways of Insects GO to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, said Solomon in the sixth verse of the sixth chapter of Proverbs. Mark Twain did not regard the ant as a shining example of wisdom. He studied the ever moving insects with a firm resolve to mend his ways and develop industry. They seemed to rush about with no particular purpose in view. If one encountered a blade of grass, instead of going around the obstacle with its burden, the ant climbed to the very top and down the other side. When it fell it rose, took up the load, circled about as if bewildered and often started back in the direction from which it had been coming. Some embryologists and evolutionists have sought to correlate the functions and attributes of the lower order of animals with those of man. Others Have compared the social systems of people and insects. It is estimated that there are at least 10,000 varieties of minute invertibrates possessing numerous legs and occasional wings; some of them have been practicing industry, cooperation and other virtues of social behavior for perhaps a hundred million years. In comparison man is a novice and a tenderfoot with infantile habits and immature ideas concerning a fundamental law of nature, which is conservation of energy for preservation of the species. To witness mans erratic gestures and eccentric actions, a disinterested spectator, if there be any such, must admit that Mark Twains ant loses little, if anything, by relative estimates. TUESDAY Looking down upon a busy thoroughfare in any town or city the observer will note the usual procession of automobiles racing in one direction and another line countermarching, drivers dashing around each other, apparently as frantically trying to go nowhere as anywhere; there will be a parade of pedestrians hurrying along or across the seething street, dodging traffic, taking lives in their hands, meeting others as madly rushing to the opposite side; up and down, back and forth, helter skelter, pellmell, all day long and half the night these aimless, uneasy bipeds tramp the treadmill of restlessness until, exhausted, they finally return to the point of beginning. Ants would naturally locate in the section nearest their work and interests, in order to keep the marchers from running past, into or over each other. They might not be as intelligent as we are, but they would be far more methodical and purposeful. One of the learned scientists in an eastern university places responsibility for unrest and discontent on the problem of the male. In every class of creatures that inhabits the animal kingdom, the male is a restless, aggressive criminal. The wisdom of ants and bees, gained from longer experience, has reduced males to futility and magnified the importance of females. It is stated as a scientific fact that the male termite is merely tolerated for an obvious purpose, but made to work in the kitchens, dining rooms and nurseries, and at building and defending the termitary, instead of permitting him to sit around with other parasites and annoy the females. This is a rather strong indictment of masculine pretensions and propensities, but no casual observer, however indignant, may dispute the findings of a scientific investigator. It is alleged further, from a careful study of the habits and achievements of self-governing colonies of bees and ants, that the conduct of the human male would not be tolerated by these insects for an instant. He is alleged to be forever asserting himself, taking the best and killing when he is hungry, or merely for the sport of hunting. He is also accused of constantly scheming or struggling for some selfish end or object. From his anthropoid ancestors man has probably inherited egotism, pugnacity, desire and ruthlessness, which keep society in a state of turbulence. If he is kind he spoils the female; if brutal he interferes with her higher and holier mission in life. Man is essentially a creature of self interest and personal ambition. He seeks fame, fortune, adulation and domination over his fellow men. He is a rational being, but often deaf to reason. He chafes under disappointments, resents criticism and regards his home as the castle of his lordship. The average woman is an ornament to the society in which she moves, a blessing in her home, an influence for good wherever she goes. Thackaray has said that men who avoid female society have dull perceptions, stupid minds or gross tastes. A good woman is the noblest work of the Creator, and a real lady is known wherever one meets her. She does not simper, nor gossip, nor make herself conspicuous in dress or conduct. In time of physical affliction her fortitude is proverbial. She will sacrifice comfort on occasion and while nursing the sick can endure more than a half dozen men. As a rule the judgment of a sensible woman is better than that of an experienced man. Her perceptions are more acute in emergencies and her intuition is more dependable than the convictions of a person sure of himself. Great changes have taken place in the relative positions of the male and female in human society. Subdued for countless centuries woman is coming into her own. Coincidentally, the world is getting better. Is the race slowly drifting into the termites formula for orderly existence? Is the male to be subdued or crushed to saved society from ultimate delirium and dementia? Will it be necessary to go to the ant for wisdom and to the bee for a new social order?