Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-11-21
From the London Standard.

medical contemporary publishes some SEN
sible and, we fear. only too opportune observa-
tions on what it calls the "habit of hurry" in
modern business life The modern man of bust
ness dresses in hurry; he breakfasts in hurry;
he is in hurry to catch his train; he is in a
hurry to get out of it. 1t is with hurry that he
proceeds to his office, in hurry that he reads
his letters, that he answers them, that he passes
his day, and that he returns to the station to
catch his hOmeward bound train. All this pre-
cipitation, this constant, daily, perpetual being
in hurry is altogether gratuitous, and that it
is the mere result of bad habit Business men
cannot afford not to seem to be in hurry If
one of them were to walk at leisurely and
deliberate pace to his morning train and saun-
ter through the day at the same rate people
would conclude that he had either very little
business to transact, or that he was remiss and
lethargic IN transacting 1t. Hence. he begins
by assuming necessity for haste when none
really exists and. by degrees, habit becomes a
second nature.
That there is a good deal of truth in all this
nobody who has Observantly watched modern
ways of life would dream of denying But in
truth the habit of hustle which is so marked a
characteristic Of our time is originally set I'M bv
conditions over which men have little or no con-
troll. In the case of men of business there are
necessarily certain days in the year-''mair'
days for instance, or balancing" days-when
there really does exist greater pressure of
work than at other times In these cases a
push has to be made, and everybody con-
cerned in getting the work done communicates
his own feverishness to his neighbOrs. But such
is the constitution of the human frame. such the
mechanism Of the human temperament. that
what is done frequently has tendency to estab-
fish itself as something that is always done It
even becomes pleasure to some men at last, as
well as a necessity. to do things quickly.
Moreover. on the suppOsitiOn that q man
Of business lives in the country, or in
semi-rural subu1b-which is the case
with the majOrity-it is only natural that he
should linger among his household gods till
the last possible minute. 1t is 80 much pleas
anter to go round to the stable, to see how the
azaleas are getting on to count the coming
rosebuds, to linger on the dewy gravel path
than to be in the noisy, dirty, steaming CITY.
Then suddenly the watch is taken out of the
pocket to see what time 1t is. and in order to
catch the city train he must make run for
1t. The day begun in that fashion probably is
continued in that fashion. The train arrives
at the place Of departure five, ten. fifteen min
utes late The traveller begins to fidget and
worry. He has an appointment, and he fears
he will be late for it. Possibly he is. Thereby
everything is thrown out of gear, and for the
rest OF the day he is in the plight OF Macauley's
Duke OF Newcastle whom the historian de-
scribed as losing half an hour in the morning
and spending all the rest of the day in futile
attempt to catch it up.
1t is easy enough to see how it is that the
'habt Of hurry is set up, but much more diff
cult to perceive how the setting I'D of it ia to
be avoided under the conditions of modern life
or how, when once set up. it is to be remedied
There is however, this comfort which men of
business and the working bees of society NAV
take to themselves, that modern life very often
seems to spare the drOnes no less Certainly
during the height of the London season no per
sons acquire habits of hurry more completely
than people OF fashion. In order to consume
all the amount of ''enjOyment' that is placed at
their disposal they must perpetually be in a
hurry. How to be in the ROw-in time; how
to be back for luncheon-in time; how to dress
for dinner-in time; how to reach the theater
or the opera-in time; these are problems
OF daily. OF hourly occurrence in the
West End. The whole OF modern life, whether
in the centers of pleasure or the centers Of bust
ness. is dominated by the desire to do too much.
and the consequent necessity Of doing it with
precipitation. 1t is horrible habit-a detri-
mental habit; We had almost said avulgar habit.
The whole world is in a conspiracy to double, to
treble the pace And what Is gained by It? Loss
of temper, deterioration Of manners, injury to
digestion, increase of nervous diseases-these
are the natural and inevitable results of that
high pressure to which we nearly all expose our
selves and subject each other. Who is made
happier by it, who wiser, who even richer?
Everything is relative in this wOrld and IL
everybody gallOps, nobody is better off than II
everybody walked. But who will consent to
alter IT! 1t would require universal Consensus:
anu th%S ls not attainable.