The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-12-11
UNLUCKY PEOPLE.
Detected Unlucky Ones who Stand OntSide
the Door Of Fortune.

In George Eber's clever book, Kin
Wort" one of the magic words which
Ulrich adopts as his talisman is ''Gluck,
or, as we would express it, Luck" f"
Many of US are as thorough believers In
luck as Ulrich was, while others de-
clare there is no such thing. and if
man is industrious and hardworking he
is sure to succeed. Well, this is true; and
vet it is no. true. The tide favorS some;
lis certainly against others. For in
stance, clergyman may preach an ex-
cellent sermon, and among his hearers
may happen to be a Cabinet Minister,
Who is struck by the cloqueuee of the
preacher, and soon afterward offers him
IN important living. From that living
the step becomes easy to biShOpric,
and so on. Another clergyman, equally
gifted, may preach till his throat is
hoarSe, but no hearer of authority
! happens to be in the way, and he con-
tinueS on in the old groove, undis-
turbed by offers of promotion. 1t is the
same in literature. n NAV NAV write
an admirable novel; it may even be cried
up by the reviewers; but if the public will
not take to 1t there is no demand. and
consequently the book dies Stillbora. 1t
can not be said that pains and industry
have not been layiShel upon it; the au-
! thor may have devoted years OF his life
| to celebrating the characters and de-
velOping the plot. and yet he may see it
| passed over for some gaUzy, tiimSy pro-
| duc.ion, which has been thrown off in q
| few weeks, and possesses no literary
merit whatever. Is it any wonder that
he protests. and declares that the luck
of some people is amazingp The un-
lucky ones seem to wear their fate in
| their faces; we can tell when they come
| into the room that they are not Fortunes
| favoriteS, that the fckle goddess refuses
| to smile on them, and invariably throws
! cold water on their best attempts.
There is q dispirited look about them
which betrays their secret, and an
nOunceS that they have failed. The
lucky ones, on the contrary, have the
air of well-tO-d0 cock Sparrows; they
| plume their feathers, and look out ag-
| gresSively on the world, as much as to
| say: Look at US; admire us: everv-
| thing that we do is sure TO succeed. II
| we buy shares in new company they
/ are certain to 90 up the next day; if we
purchase house. the value of property
in that particular locality increases ten
| fold. If we write even a SiX-penny
| pamphlet there is q run upon it; it makes
a hit, and we pocket hundreds by the
| transaction. There is no trouble or eff
| fort in the matter. We have only to
| open our mouths, and plums drop into
them. We have only to put our hands
to anything, and 10! it turns to gold or
J glory at our touch"
| Yes, it Is better to be born lucky than
! rich. but that IS poor consolation TO the
| detected unlucky ones vino stand out
| side the door OF fortune, unable to turn
| TIE lock in their fingers, try as they
may. For even glearn of luck they
would be thankful. but none comes to
| them. If they call on an influential
magaate. who may put them in the way
OF climbing the ladder. he is not at
home-gOne on his holiday, laid up il
his bcd-somehOw or other quite invisi-
bic. They shoot their arrows with care
and thought. but not one ever hits the
bu1s eye: there is always something
against them, the wind Is unfavOrable
Or the arrow snaps aSunder III the air.
After time they collapse; it is 70 use
trying. they say. and 50 they give in like
Captain Cutie. very much ''bcaten about
the head" Philosophers would declare
that they are cowardly. So they may
be, but it requires an extraordinary
amount OF courage to struggle pCrpetu-
ally against tremendous odds, and all
the time to be haunted by the idea that
an unforeseen accident may cause them
to be worsted. and give the advantage
to Il rank outsider. who has the magic
gift of luck. What poisoned Carlyle's
life, ald made him moody and bitter
was the long time of probation which
he had to pass through. totally unap-
preciated By the public; the very
presentation copies which he sent
to the Edinburgh literati not even
acknowledged; and his best thoughts
ridiculed and scoffcd at. As one
Of his friends remarkad: What CARLYLE
wants is little success" Under that
encouraging sunshine he might have
snarled less and been more hopeful
teacher. Goldsmith smarted terribly
under the sting of failure. The pub
lic," he exclaimed, ''never do me JUS
tice; whenever / write anything they
make 4 point to know nothing about it.
And IN one of his letters to his brother
ne says: You cannot conceive how
much eight years of disappointment,
anguish and study have worn me down
10 add TO all this, he had the annoyance
IF seeing DIR. Beattie lauded to the skies
for his Essay on Truth. interviewed by
II
sion of f200 year and honOred by
Del. degree at Oxford. No wonder
that Goldsmith exclaimed, in the fullness
of his heart: Heres such 4 stir about
a fellow that has written one book. and
| have written so manyT While Gold
smith only chafed ut his want of success,
to such fiery spirit as ChattertoIs
failure worked like frenzy on the brain,
and death seemed better than life.
What makes the unlucky ones pecu-
liarly sore is that at several times they
have been just on the point Of gaining
their object; they had it almost grasped
in their hand. when suddenly it was
snatched from them, The winning-post
was in sight, they felt the crown of
laurel on their brow; the roar of ap-
plaudin9 multitudcs seemed just about
to burst On their ears; when, presto. all
was changed; they were again shunted
back-in among the ruck once more
while the cold chill of disappointment
crept like ice, to their rhearts.-LOHIOn
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