The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-07-11
Self-COntrOl.

ing tor, that is more necessary than anothe
it is the power to be able to control on
mental and physical actions and appetiteS
1t is habit that will we'll repay us for an
temporary .deprNatiops and loss of moment
airy pleasures we may endure While acQuil
ing it. 1t will pay us from a pecuniar
standpoint. The business man who is abb
to control his actions will of necessity b
more successful than the one who is led b
sort of prophetic impulse or imaginar
vision of what he should do. The man VIII,
is governed by impulse in his actions ma,
always do what is right and best. but it i
never a sure thing with him. He plays
game of chance and the possibility of hi
doing the wrong thing is equal to that O
his doing the right. But the man who look
to the result of proposed action befor,
moving step has everything in his favor
and the chances of his doing the right thins
at the right time and place almost are Ger
tain. There are conditions such as sud
den emergency caused by all accident
wherein man should be guided to grea,
extent by impulse. But even in such cases
1t is often necessary to control our impulse.
Take as an example the engineer of rail.
road train when he sees the track ahead OF
him blocked up in such manner as to ell
danger his tram. He must act quickly and
yet he must know what he is gong to do.
10 explain the matter more clearly | will
relate all incident read of a short time ago.
1t was passenger train gOnig at a fair
! speed around curve when the eng ineer
saw ahead Of him on the track horse that
had walked short distance out Oh treste
and was unable to, or would not, bulge at
the Shrek OF the whistle. The engineer
was i'll dilemma for few seconds Find
ing that he could not stop the train before
reaching the animal, he put on a full head
OF steam to make certain that the shock
would throw the animal clear off the trestle
and thus avoid a possible accident. This is
called presence of mind which is identical
with control of mind. If that engineer had
followed the impulse of the moment he
would have attempted to stop his train and
the outcome might have been more serious
to others than the unlucky horse, for if the
engine struck the horse with only sufficient
speed to lay him PROSTATE across the track
his body would have acted as camel
back" to derail the train.
There are not many perSOnSin this world
who are fully able to control their actions.
Ii there were this world would be very diff
ferent from what it is at present. Our
prisons would not require so many additions
to their carrying capacity and one judge
would be enough tor each state, and three
fOurths OF the people would not be COM
PEELED to live Oh bread that the other
fourth might eat cake.
l have noticed that among those to whom
l have incidentally spoken Of matters per-
tanning to this subject, nine out of every
ten seemed to take infinite pleasure in tell
ing how easy it was for them to control
their appetites. l dislike to assume that
these persons are lying outright. but if not
they are deceiving themselves, and that
will cause more injury than to deceive
others. Some OF those l speak of | have
met in this institution, and many OF them
have told me time out Of mind how easy ii
was for them to quit the use of tobacco.
But, though they admitted that this was a
bad habit and really unnecessary to their
ell-being, l can remember Of but one OF
them who had the will power to go without
the pipe or quid. | merely speak of the
tobacco here as all instance that l recOllect
which pertains to my subject, and not that
l am trying to abolish its use.
| 1t is this same class Of men who are for
ever harpng about how easy they can con-
troll their appetite for whisky, but the cir
cumstances would indicate that they Will
be no more successful with this than with
the tobacco habit. The carpenter who can.
not make a table is not likely to succeed in
building house.
1t is in the power of any man to control
his every appetite and action. 1t is moi
only the bad habits that need our atten'
tiOn, but the good ones as well. Eating and
sleeping are very good and pleasant habits,
but it is necessary to guard against indulg'