South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-06-09
A Days Work.

In labor, as in most things, mankind are
prone to run to extremes, so that while on
the one hand the community is afflicted
with a class of persons who seem to view
labor as a curse to be avoided, instead of
as the means of development and progress
it really is, there are others who try to ac-
complish each day a greater task than they
have strength to perform. Yet there are
probably few men who ever attain the full
measure of success they might have Sc
cured had they worked in accordance
with the laws which govern their physical
and mental systems. Thus it happens
that most of the instances of so-called
death from over-work are, more strictly
speaking, cases in which nature has vindi.
Gated her broken laws. The body is, after
all, the engine which drives the various
faculties and upon which they are all
chiefly dependent. for when the physical
system is once exhausted all power to
work ceases. II, therefore, a merchant or
professional man devotes himself so assid-
uously to his work that while he is making
a constant drain upon his mind he utterly
n~eglects his body, he breaks down not
necessarily because he had more to do than
he wal able to perform, but because he did
not know how 10 keep his engine in an
efficient working condition. In order to
secure success in any calling it is necessa-
ry to concentrate on it all the powers of
the mind and body, but it is not wise to
work without intermission. Wholesome
recreation for a portion of each day and a
divergence of the thoughts from their or
binary channels, refresh both the mind
and the body, and give the labOrer renew
ed zest and power Tor his work when he
returns to it.
Where these physical laws are unknown
or neglected, active nervous men of deli
cate build commence the day with feelings
of lassitude and nervous debility which
they seek to dispel by the use of strong
coffee or some alcoholic stimulant, thereby
aggravating the complaint which their
own negligence has produced As the
result of this course of action, we meet in
all parts Of the country business men Ut
terly broken down in health at a season
when they should be in their prime. Some
OF these u~nfortunates, it is true, have &C
cumulated money enough to live on the
rest of their days, but what is life worth
after all its juices are dried up and all its
sources of youth and vigor ir%retrievably
sapped? The movement toward shorten
ing the working hours in the shop and the
counting-room, the multiplication of tel
egraph lines and the various agencies for
the rapid communication of intelligence
and transaction of business, have so in
tensified the strain of business that the
number who break down under the pres
sure is constantly increasing. Not only is
this the case among men engaged IN bust
ness, but women everywhere, and especial
ly farmers wives, are grooming under the
burden of household and family cares, and
where they are not relieved, are either
dying from exhaustion or losing their
minds and becoming inmates of asylums.
The remedy for these growing evils is
for us to consider what is fairly a days
work for each laborer, and not to attempt
to perform more ourselves, or to require
more of others. 1t is impossible to state
definitely how much each individual is 10
perform in the working hours of the day,
but it is safe to say that no one should
attempt or be required to do more than he
can rest from in eight hours sleep, so as
to rise refreshed and fitted for another
tour of labor. This may seem a con-
tracted limit to ambitious souls, but it is a
safe rule to follow. BY wise attention to
the needs of the body, and a constant
effort to strengthen and develop it, its
powers of work may be greatly increased;
but still, II sleep does not refresh US Tor
renewed exertion, we fail to heed the
monitiOns of nature at our peril.
In speaking on this subject, Henry Ward
Beecher, who is a famous worker, says: 81
have thus always tried, by a due and
faithful attention to both exercise and
recreation, to keep up the balance be-
tween my physical and mental energies.
l hold that there must be a careful pro-
portion maintained between these two, or
the man, however great his strength may
be, will soon break down." So, too, when
we examine the habits OF life of William
Cullen Bryant, the poet, who, after a
laborious life, is, at s~eventy-six, as active
and vigorous as many men twenty years
his junior, we find exercise, simple food,
nc %stimulants, and plenty of sleep, the
secret of his longevity. The merchant
who draws more money out of his bust
ness han he puts in it, will Don become
bankrupt, and the man who makes similar
drafts on his body, will sooner or later
come to a disastrous end. 4 days work
for each day is a good motto, but we must
take care to be honest in the measure
ment, and not require of ourselves greater
or less tasks than we are fitted to perform.
-HedTM and Home.