The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-02-10

Not day passes that we do not read
Va tne papers announcements beginning
thus: ''Died suddenly, aged forty" The
names are different and the ages vary a
lew years, but the comment following is
usually the same: ''The deceased was in
MS ordinary health and actively
engaged in business up to the
moment of his DEATH" What does
1t mean? 1t is not the manner of
dying which is in question; it is the time.
There are many who, if they could
choose. would prefer to go out of this
world into the next without previous
warning or preliminary illness, but few
who care to depart when they are thirty
five years old, or forty, or even fifty.
And a man ought not to be worn out bv
that time. He should be at his best.
physically and mentally. But the sud-
den death means a wearing out, it
means weight under which the BODY
could not stand; it means that the man
has tried to do the work of sixty wears
in half that time, and has failed. Ply
sicians say that brain and heart diseases
increase year by year. Two genera
tons ago sudden death startled the
community and was talked of for
months; now it is SO common as to cause
only momentary surprise.
We live under such high pressure
that we are exhausted early, but we ac-
complish no more, perhaps, than our
fathers did. We attempt greater vari-
ETY. of work than they, because we have
machinery and modern appliances to
work with, but the human machine has
not been improved since their day, and
can endure no more friction and strain
now than then. We lay plans which,
when carried out, must bring great re-
suits. We make haste to execute them,
with body and soul absorbed in the eff
fort; possibly we succeed, but the ten
sion on mind and nerves has been too
great. Our fathers would have gone to
work more slowly; their projects would
have been more limited, too; but, if they
failed, there would remain some power
to recuperate. A great cry is made
about the blessings to mankind in the
inventions of modern times, and we, no
doubt, enjoy many luXuries from that
source which could not well be spared;
yet, the so-called labor-saving machinery
has not been a saving of toll or of time.
The familiar example of the sewing-ma-
chine is only one of many. Where for
merly dress was plain, it now has
yards upon yards of tucks and ruffies
and hemS-a thousand stitches where
one was before.
Even the farmer, less ambitious than
most others as rule, has grown restless,
too. Since the introduction of reapers
and mowers, and all sorts OF implements
to make his work easy, he is no longer
content to till the small farm. He might
learn to live in the time gained, but, in
stead, he seeks fresh fields to conquer,
and pastures new. Over and over again
the story is repeated of the man who
wished to own all the land adjoining his.
Merchants and business men are not
satisfied with moderate profits and
competence in the end; they want ''great
riches," and bend every energy to secure
them at once. They cannot wait. There
is feverish haste everywhere. People
are impatient of the time taken by the
fast trains. Forty miles an hour is not
enough. They telegraph to their friends
instead of writing to them-not that
there is much of importance to say, but
time is gained. That time is spent upon
something else which urges and pushes
for accomplishment. The telephone is
invented, and the man who once walked
a dozen blocks to carry message now
grows exasperated if he is delayed mo-
ment in talking through the instrument.
Men must have news from all parts of
the world every morning, and they di-
vide the breakfast hOur-oftener a quar-
ter-hour-between the paper and the
meal.
They hurry to business, they hurry
through the day, through the week,
through life. They take little time for
living. Or, if they do attempt to fulfill
social duties there is apt to be tighten
ing of screws and more pressure. They
crowd the work into smaller space, but
do not lessen the quantity.
And what is the use of such haste? It
is caused, in part, by the almost resist
less power of competition, and in part
by the chance this country gives for men
to become wealthy or powerful. Yet all
cannot be in the front ranks, nor all gain
wealth in the struggle. If the Compel
itors could only see this early in the day
and be content to accept a modest posi-
ton in life before they are pushed back,
before they have lost courage in the vain
effort to win, would it not be we'll?
They need not be idle; they need not
heed the advice of half-fledged disciples
of beauty who chatter about living up
to the hly.'' This is not an aesthetic
homily; it is only an appeal to live slow
ly enough to enjoy life little, to look
upon it calmly, even if we cannot learn
what it all means, and 60 TRANQUILITY
down to old age. 1t is too much to hope,
perhaps, while the hurry of the age be-
gins almost with the cradle and only
ends with the grave. When it does not
appear in the scramble for existence or
for riches, it shows in another way. The
child is put in school when he should be
at play. He is made to study much for
which his mind is not adapted, or for
which he will have no use. He is crowd
ed and stimulated and crammed and all
along through his school years until he
is filled with a tumble of many things.
He has gained, it may be, an ardent
thirst for learning, wish to dip into
every branch of knowledge. He studies
la Sy,fN ho