Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-11-12
Makeshifts

There are a great number Of indo-
lent people in the world who take in
finite pains to discover means by
which they can avoid doing their
work in the most direct and best way (;
who are continually bridging over the
necessities of the present with make
shifts Of various kinds. A little eX-
perience with this class Of persons will
convince the most sanguine Of honest
workers that little change can be ef-
fected i'm the methods of a confirmed
makeshift. Such individuals 60 on,
day after day, piling up obligations,
doing things halfway and ever ready
to argue that it makes no difference.
Honest workers seldom have any time
to argue, but must ever be up and do
ing, if they would not be found want
ing. This has been called an age OF
shams, but there is no greater sham
than the sham worker, the person
who is forever busy, but whose work
is done only to be undone. There is
often no person who works harder
than an idle person who is forced 30
repair and do over his half done
work till triple the time has been
taken which would have been saved
had the work been properly done at
first. A vast amount OF the patented
articles for kitchen work are simply
makeshfts, which do not do the work
they profess to, but something like IT,.
When sewing-machines were first in
troduced they were used for every
thing. Sensible people soon discov-
cred that while this could be done the
work was not so satisfactorily done,
as when the needle was used TO assist
the machine. There Is no person
who is such a miserable load as the
person who never does anything sat
isfactorily, who is forever looking for
short cuts to rid himself of necessary
labor and whose work must usually
be undone and done over by some
honest worker. School girls and
boys begin in school to copy exam
plies, beg for help in their compost
tions OF use a literal translation 10 as
sist themselves i'm Latin or Greek,
and try by every preteXt in their pow
er to appear to accomplish the same
as honest scholars. Such scholars
are usually discovered in time, but
gifted with natural shrewdness, they
often deceive their instructors and the
pinchbeck metal passes for the pure
gold. And in after life the make
shift scholar becomes the makeshift
housekeeper, and finally when the
natural results of her Incidence are
visited upon her in the sickness and
misery Of her family she often comes
to consider herself a victim Of evils
which she is in no way accountable
for. The boy who is a sham scholar
i'm school, who uses his "wits" rath-
er than hard study to get through his
college course, is extremely likely 10
make a dishonest man, to be an alb
sconding cashier OF "bOodle' poll
tician. As straw shows how the
wind blows, so little things show the
tendency of a chtld's disposition. A
parent should forgive anything, every
fault except falsehood or a piece
of deception. That is the most seri-
Gus fault a child can usually be guilty
of. All the greater sins hinge upon
the one crime Of d, ceitfulness. This
should never 90 unpunished. If a
parent never deceives a child, the
child will seldom deceive the parent.
Frankness and sincerity on the part
of the mother make the child frank
even in confessing his shortcomings.
The slightest deceit, the slightest Mt
tempt to conceal anything 10y false
hood, should be considered as serious
as brazen lie.