St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-02-23
Slow Your Engine.

Engineers say that if we take the
running time of il river Steamboat to he
10 miles an hour II requires as much
additional fuel To push her one mile an
hour more. as is required for the normal
speed of l. miles. Long experience
and careful calculations have c"uvinc-
rd railroad managers that 30 miles an
hour Is a. rapid Il rate OF speed as caI,
Ice secuted prolitahll on our .kmcricau
railroads with their heavy grades and
sharp curves. English railways 90
more rapidly because Straightcr and
more level. We can make Il greater
speed here. hut the wear and tear of
every additional mile per hour is out of
all proportion to the increase of speed
that is gained. Stagc-drivrr> calculate
that they can drive twenty miles Il day
if they are content with six miles an
hour. Eut if they drive ten miles an
hour their horses cannot average with
ont injury more than nine miles Il day {:
that i>. they cAnn,d travel quite an
hour Il day and keep ii up week after
week.
in other words. il i not the amount.
il is the intensity of work that wcaI>.
Men Kill themselves not 10y working too
much. hut hy working too hard. 1t i
high pressure that strains the boilers.
Thc>,. illustrations enforce Il princi-
pie which is as applicable to the human
mind H. tu machinery. Those men ac-
compli>Ii the most who work itiSurelN.
it is better tn drive Nour work than to
let Your work drive Nou. People that
are always in Il hurry often do the least.
The energy that should bc utilized i'll
their work l. wasted in their haste
Americans ;Ic not too industrious: but
they are too intense. Ii is not hc who
l. caIctul and troubled about many
thing, who>c many things are accom-
pli>hcd most successfully. NalthI il
not always the best hou>ekycpcr. Ncv-
cr man accomplished more in three
short Years than Jesus of Nazareth.
And he WAS never hurried.
Ministers particularly need to ''~low
their engine. They do not perhaps
work too much. hut they work under
toe uuch pressure They ought 10 rule
their parish their parish rnlcS them
The minister That writes all his sermon.
on Saturday, and sits up into ihc small
hours of sunday morning to complete
it. Uses energy enough III composing
one discourse to compose half Il dozen.
Haste is the beSctting sin of America
We do not run with patience" the rae,
that is set before lis. There is not :.
day that goes 10y that we do not see i'll
manuscript. book, or paper. the signs OF
hurry that is the curse OF American lit
clature. our artists are i'll Il hurry {:
and good ideals are half drawn because
they have not time to study their sub
icct. Our cngravers are in IL hurry
and good blocks are spoilt 10y skiltul
workmcn who have not time to he care
ful. Our editors are i'll Il hurry: ana
their crude thoughts are embodied il
editorials written at IL dash. brilliant.
but Ineffective. because not matured.
Our writer's are in IL hurry and Ameri
can books aIe sloVenly i'll scholarship.
and careless III execution. and marreG
by rhetorical and sometimes even gram
matiraI blunders. that would disgrace
Il college composition. Our merchants
are in il hurry and they launch out il.
wild speculations that bring ninety
three out of every hundred into bank
ruptcy. Our ministers are i'll il hurry
and they sacrifice themselves without
serving their parishes by working un-
der an unnatural excitement.
We heard on every side exhortations
to activity, industry, energy. We
would fitin exhOrt to calmne>s. sobriety
moderation, leisurely industry.
But there Is no use. We shall not
even heed our own sermon: and OF
course no one else will do so.
1t is nevertheless true, that the Amer
lean people ueed nothing 50 much as to
''>low their engines. christian Week
y.