Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-11-09

d
all the next day, without wearing out
my lungs shrieking on gathering rail-
way car. | will let the fact be known.
All. my boy, if some people who have
entertained me on railway trains
only knew my glad heart bounded in
grateful joy when they had to get of
the train and leave me alone, they would
never speak to me again. anywhere.
Of course, my boy. circumstances and
the people you meet. and their ability
10 entertain and their varying DISPOSE
tons, will teach you when and where
to make liberal exceptions to these rules.
And if you can't tell when man or
woman is tired of you, and doesn't want
to talk to yOu. if You can't see when
your conversation is bore and your
chatter is irksOme, then you had better
apply for a position as teacher in some
asylum for deaf mutes, and learn to
forget how to talk and lose your voice
as last as you can.
All through your life, my boy. cult
vate flashes Of silence. And some day.
when you have been many times talked
to the last verge of endurance, you will
learn how beautiful is silence. How
Ike benson she comes to soothe your
ruffled spirit, her breathless presence fall
ing on your tortured soul softly as the
twilight. calm as the shadow of a sum-
mer cloud, peaceful AS vision of still
waters; and you will love her with
love that is alteration. and upon the al
tars of your grateful heart you will burn
before her noiseless shrine the voiceless
incense of your worship.
You see, We talk too Esuch. anyhow.
When sit down to give you a stickiul
of good advice. nine times out of five
amplify the take into a sermon. Now,
just think. in your own case, you are
young, just stepping into the twenties.
you cast your first vote next November.
said too little? How many instances
can YOU recall in which you didn't
speak up when you should? and didn't
say enough when YOU did speak? One?
Well. yes: oiteaer than that. Three
times? Well. think hard, now. Four
tines Yes, four times in twenty-one
years. Four times in all your life when
you said too little, or kept quiet when
you should have spoken.
And now let us see how many times
you have spoken when you said too
much: when you wished very soon
afterward that you hadn't said any,
thing; when your tongue got You into
trouble; when YOU said something
stupid, or thoughtlessly, cruelty or
maliciouslv mean. All. nv boy, you
can't remember them all. But if You
will take a barrel of sand. and l will
tab nd CHI
the grains in both of them, add together
tine two amounts and divide by one. the
quotient would give us about the cor
rect number 1t is true it would take
you long time TO count the sand. but
while you are doing that you can't get
into any other foolishness. and YOU II
have to keep quite or you'll lose your
count And after this you can keep the
account day by day. and it won't take
up SO much OF your time. You should
have begun this long ago." you say.
Telemachus: the day after you were
born would have been about the right
time TO have begun guarding your
tongue. No; don't ''wish you had never
learned TO talk" my boy. That
wouldn't help you a particle. There
wouldn't SO MANY people under
stand what you said. but you could say
just as foolish things with your fingers
as ever you did with your tongue. !
once had neighbor who was a deaf
mute. and he was the most quarrelsoine
man on the block; in all the land of the
Tophians there was no man SO mean
and spiteful in his talk. He could lean
over the back gate and tell any one of
us that our chickens stole his corn. or
that our corn killed his chickens. in the
most tantalizing. hateful way. with his
noiselcss fingers. He could throw more
sarcasm in his thumb than can ex-