The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-22
THROWN AWAY.

has certainly to pass through many IN
necessary troubles; and may, possibly,
come to extreme grief simply from ignor-
ance of the proper proportions of things.
/ Let puppy eatthe soap in the bath room
/ or chew newly blRcked boot. He chews
and chuckles until, by and by, he finds out
that backing and Old Brown Windsor
make him very sick: so he argues that soap
and boots are not wholesome. Any old
dog about the house will soon show him
the unwisdom of biting big dogs ears. Be
| ing young, he remembers and goes abroad,
/ at six months, we'll hammered little beast
with chastened appetite. If he had been
! kept away from boots, and soap, and big
! dogs till he came to the trinity full grown
and with developed teeth, just consider
how fearfully sick and thrashed he would
be! Apply that motion to the sheltered
life" and see how it works 1t does not
sound pretty, but it is the better of two
evils
There was a boy once who had been
brought up under the sheltered life"
Theory; and the theory killed him dead.
He stayed with his people all his days, from
the hour he was born till the hour he went
into Sandhurst nearly at the top of the list.
marks by private tutor, and carried the
extra weight of never having given his
parents an hours anxiety in his life"
What he learnt at Sandhurst beyond the
regular routine is of no great consequence.
He looked about him, and he found soap
and backing, SO to speak, very good. He
ate little, and came out of Sandhurst not
SO high as he went in. Then there was an
L L.
expected much from him. Next year of
living ''unspotted from the world" in a
third rate depot battalion where all thu
juniors were children, and all the seniors
old women; and lastly be came out to In
dia, where he was cut off from the support
of his parents, and had Eo one to fall back
on in time of trouble except himself.
Now India is place beyond all others
where one must not take things too seri-
ously-the midday sun always excepted.
Too much work and too much energy kill
a man just as effectively as too much as
sorted vice or too much drink. Filtration
does not matter, because every one is be-
ing transferred and either you or she leave
the station and never return. Good work
does not matter, because man is judged
by his worst output and another man
Bad work does not matter, because other
men do worse and incompetents hang on
longer in India than anywhere else. Amuse-
ments do not matter, because you must re-
peat them as soon as you have accomplished
them once, and most amusements only
mean trying TO win another persons
money. Sickness does not matter, because
it's all in the days work, and if you die
another man takes over your place and
your Office in the eight hours between
death and burial. Nothing matters except
home furlough and acting allowances, and
these only because they are scarce. This
is a slack, kutcha country where all men
work with imperfect Instruments; and the
wisest thing is to take no one and nothing
in earnest, but to escape as soon as ever
you can to some place where amusement is
amusement and a reputation worth the
having.
But this boy-the tale is as old as the
hills-came out and took all things serious
ly. He was pretty and was petted. He
took the pettings seriously, and fretted over
women not worth Saddling pony to call
upon. He found his new free life in India
very good 1t does look attractive in the
beginning, from a subaltern's point of view
all ponies, partners, dancing, and so on.
He tasted it as the puppy tastes the soap.
Only he came late to the eating with
grown set of teeth. He had no sense of
balance-just ike the puppy-and could
not understand why he was not treated
with the consideration he received lander
his fathers roof This hurt his feelings.
He quarreled with other boys, and, being
sensitive to the marrow, remembered
these quarrels, and they excited him.
He found whist, and gymkhanas, and
things of that kind (meant to amuse
one after Office good; but he took them
seriously too just as seriously as he took
the head" that followed after drink. He
lost his money over whist and gymkhanas
because they were new TO him
He took his losses seriously, and wasted
as much energy and interest over two
goldmohur race for maiden ekka ponies
with their names hoGged, as if it had been
the Derby. One half of this came from in
eNperience-much IS the puppy squabbles
with the corner OF the hesrthTug-and the
other half from the dizziness bred by STUN
bling out of his quiet lie into the glare and
excitement OF n livelier one. No one told
him about the soap and the backing, be
cause an average man takes it for granted
that an average man is ordinarily careful
in regard TO them It was pitaiul to watch
The Boy knocking himself to pieces, as an
over handled colt falls down a0e cuts him
self when he gets away from the groom
This unbridled license in smusements
not worth the trouble of breaking line for,
much less rioting over, endured for six
months-all through one cold weather
and then we thought that the heat and the
knowledge OF having lost his money and
health and famed his horses would sober
the boy dcwn and Ae would stand steady.
In ninety-nine cases out OF a hundred this
would have happened. You osn see the
principle working ia any Indian station
But his particular csss fell through be
cause the boy was sensitive and took things
may have said some seven
times before. OF course. ~ couldn't tell
how his excuses s1rEck h.m personally.
They were nothing very heart breaking or
shove the average He might be crippled
for life financially and want q little nurs-
ing Still, the memory Of his performances
would wither away In one hot weather,
and the shrof would help aim 70 tide over
the money troubles But he must have
taken another view altogether and have
believed himself ruined beyond redemp-
ton His colonel talked TO him severely
when the cold weather ended Thst made
him more wresehed than ever, ard il was
only an ordinary "osionel's wiggingl''
What follows IS curious instance Of The