The Arkansaw traveler. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1882-1???, 1888-11-24
OUR KALEIDOSCOPE.

A tuin of the kaleidoscope to-day
puts me in a speculative mood will
not dignity 1t rs philosophical ]
am set to thinking on mans many
sided characteristics. Primarily, !
suppose, we are made up OF two ma
lures, good and evil; but insist that
man Ia the creature of his moods, and
that as these change, 80 does no. II
takes no magic potion TO converta DR..
Jtk,yH into Ar. Hyde. A late dinner,
q missed train, q careless, stupid SER
want, or many other things just ~
trifling, can effect the transformation.
A man In frenzy Of rage may not
carry his cussedness to the extreme of
committing murder always, but he Is
no more the creature OF his quiet
moods than l am George Washington
OF course he dwells In the same body
and to the physical eye appears to be
the same individual, but ! maintain
he IL not. The mind Is the man; and
whatever manifestations come from Il
denote the kind of individual you have
before you. This, OF course, would not
include assimilation. The actor, for
instance, uses his mind and appears TO
you In character, often quite the
opposite from his real one. The point
want 10 make IL, however, that
quiet, evcn-tempered people maintain
one individuality more nearly than do
those of quick and passionate natures,
and hence they are happier and better
off in every way than those who, like
an April sky, are all sunshine and
warmth one minute, and q little
later, overcast with clouds and dark
meas.
Speaking of clouds reminds me Of a
favorite pastime in boyhood days. l
do not mean building castles In the
air, Of course, ! !sdulsed In that, but
8 pleasure just az fascinating, and that
was constructing pictures In the
clouds. 1t required but little stretch
Of the imagination to construct o
landscape of magnificent proportions,
In which were broad sweeps Of plain,
picturesque valley and towering
mountains, and such coloring 90 only
the sun could lend. There was no inn
az nation In those tints; they, at
least, were real. Some people there
are, too, who claim TO have seen
remarkable pictures in the clouds. I
remember that In 1859 many saw, or
said they did, anyhow, hosts of men,
Two vast armies marching and coun-
termarching In the heavens, now
meeting In the shock Of battle, and
then falling back for fresh assaults; all |
Of which was pronounced by the secrs
and prophets Of those days 10 presAge
q war close at hand. You know what
followed. Draw your conclusions.
Talking the other day with Q vet
eran of 81, he told me this story:
"When the war broke out was in |
the employ Of large railway supply
house In New York. Shortly before |
Fort Sumter was fred on had just |
closed large contract with the N
railroad, Of which 0 Mr.. Fisher was
the president. The supplies were fur
nished according 10 contract, and,
about that time, finding things get
ting pretty warm for me down south,
| came home. Shortly Afterwards
entered the army, served through the
war and 1t its close re-entered the
service OF my old employers. One day |
the president Of the company called
me into his Office on some little mat
ter Of business. As / entered his room
! found him porting over some old
lsdgers. He looked up, and with .
smile on, his faee, aid: Il was just
looking Svsr-s.r accounts with the
old NJ Railway company. You
remember that was your last big sie
In Dixie before sighting bsgssr
nodded assent and he continued: Well,
we charged that to proht and loss
long ago. The war has swept every
thing away down there, and however !