Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-10-11
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THE HENEMY.1


THE "ENEMY.o
! HOW THE CONSCIOU USNESS OF GROWING OLD
FIRST STARTLES US.
How unlike women do men meet the en-
envy, Age! The first time that a man nOti-
G" that the years are mastering him he Is
slightly surprised, but it never enters his
mind to undertake to dodge old Father
Time or to keep him at respectful distance.
He doesn't run up and down stairs as he
once did. He grumbles as he gets ready to
20 to the theatre, and declares he would
rather stay at home. He wishes his wife
were not always wanting to "gad some
where" He avoids crowds, and begins to
illuminate against high suppers. These
changes Of taste and habits come upon him
so gradually that he never wonders al their
appearance or thinks what causes them.
| One night he is at the theatre, and before
the curtain rises he is entertained in his in
dolence by the chatter of two youthful ships
who sit just in front of him. They are exu-
berant as to spirits, empty-headed and long
tongued They look at everything from u
decided standpoint of extreme youth and
mental shalloWness. Their comments and
actions amuse the man behind them, and
he smiles, half in pity for their lack of So
phistication and half in ~ for his own sad
| knowledge Of life. Suddenly he hears his
own name mentioned, and is startled by the
strangeness of it. 1t is the younger Of the
gabbers who refers to him, and the referen-
ences are surprising. The man of forty
hears himself spoken of by the boy of seven
teen as "Old Wilson," or whatever may be
| his surname.
The little three lettered adjective falls up
on him like hundred pound weight of as
tonishment. "Old Wilson" he repeats over
and over to himself, trying to get accustom-
ed to the queerness of the unt1atterlng ap-
pellation. Sitting there in the blaze OF the
him and the music filling the air with senti-
ment, he loses himself in "reminiscences of
youth, which he never before dreamed had
slipped away from him.
| He does not hear the overture or see the
curtain rise. He is away in the primrose
spring, young again. He is retracting those
forty years in memory. He is trying to
think when he first noticed lines upon his
face and silver in his hair. He is looking
at himself mentally to see if he really is Old:
He thinks of it as he goes home, and that
evening becomes to him forever the mile
stone which marks the boundary Cf his
youth. He may have been old to others
before, but never until then was he old
to himself He can not think of it for y
long time without sudden sinking of the
heart. Strangely enough, he accepts the
charge of being old without disputations,
word or thought. Never once does he say:
"Oh, infdel, mistake! Oh, pagan, nc such
thing!"
The next time he finds himself protesting
against some little plan Of recreation which
he once delighted in he thinks of himself in
his character of Old Wilson, laughs gravely
and says, a little sadly, that he believes he
is getting old. From that time he speaks
of it often and without violence to his feel
ings. He drops into the older ways quite
submissively, and loses his grip little
upon the world. He does not resent the
usurpations of age. He submits because it
is his destiny, and because his religion and
his philosophy teach him that it is folly
to fight the inevitable. But he never sits
in theater again that he does not eXpe-
rience anew that sudden sinking OF the
heart that followed hearing himself called
old.
| A woman, if she has any interest in life
at all, fences with time and manages to keep
little ahead of the years. Oldness never
takes her by surprise as it does Il man. She
knows, too, that he is sure to send out his
messengers to keep her apprised of the day
family. They come in crows feet and
streaks in her hair; in Il loss of color and
| disappearance Of elasticity of movement
and fairness of outline She is on the watch
for them and she grasses their tracks with
the marvellous cunning Of her sex.
At the first intimatiOn that Time is pen
Cling her face she throws Il dash more OF
youthfulness into her attire and if possible,
a little more sweetness into her smile, and
the effect is to show under the old thiefs
pencilng. For while she laughs at the
| ou6orifxy of tho ,vratnh ,oyo louChS nt
locksmiths.
She sits in the theatre and notices the
fair, young faces here and there, and knows
| that Time is closing in on her, but she thinks
to cheat him by assuming Ignorance OF his
power and his intentions. She INDUCES in
spoken "reminiscences, ceases to date her
stories and begins to associate more with
women great deal younger than herself.
When the crows feet become noticeable she
resorts to a mask veil which comes just to
| the top Of her nose and takes at least five
years from her record. a little later and
She makes her hat defy the thrusts Of the
enemy by a jauntier poise than ever. She
fights the foe openly, cheats him with
her cherished articles, contests every step
he takes and scornS him always. She never
admits his mastery, as men do. The theol-
ogy of her toilet tells her to resist Age and
he will flee. This is a doctrine she faith
fully lives up to. When she feels the weight
of years upon her she affects not to know
that time, the all-devourer, is going to be
the victor, after all. Just as bravely does
she fight him as though there was hope
that She would win the day. When she
can no longer defy him utterly she yields
grimly to his dictation, though she never ac-
knowledges his mastery.-Nev York World.
MAKING CRoss-EYEs srRA1GHr.-A
medical expert described to New York
Times reporter his method of making cross
eyes straight as follows:
'The operation to be undergone by the
patient is simple and practically painless.
For convergent cases there is no pain what
ever, only a little annoyance while the ope-
ratOr is reaching the little muscle which has
to be divided. have performed the opera
tion hundreds of times on other people,
sometimes giving anesthetics, and often
with no such aid. The patient is stretched
on the table. / draw apart with my fingers
the lids of his eyes and insert between them
a little steel instrument shaped like the let
ter O. The sides of this expand bya spring
and force the lids open, disclosing the eye
ball and the network of muscles holding t
in position and directing its movements.
| When this expansion is accomplished L lit
up the muscle with small pair OF tweeZerS
and divide it with my instrument. When
it is cut it feels to the patient as if small
band of rubber was being snapped. There
is no pain at all. Very often, however,
painful operations are performed. The mus
Gle has sometimes been divided too much,
and the error has to be rectitied. This re-
quires some stitches to be taken and II new
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