Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-06-11
TRUE PHILOSOPHY.
iaih ana Practical Advice for Youn.
Men of the Day

NA iaciJcsti ADVICE for Young
Men of the Day.
Real happiness consists of health
self-respect, the good will of the COM
mun1ty and a sufficient income to orat-
ny your reasonable wants. EVERYTHING
else Is trivial and not worth bothering
ABOUT. The man who has steady work,
fair wages, and COSY home. enouoh to
eat ana the consciousness of personal
integrity, is a mig htily favored fellow,
III possession of more than three-ouar.
ters OF the best things that the world
affords
Now, you can have all this if YOU
make certain rules the basis of your
conduct.
tlrst-Don't aim too high. but aim
straight. Emerson's advice to hitch
your wagon to a star is the merest
buncombe of rhetoric. You will pro-
duce larger practical results if you
hitch your wagon to a well-fed mule.
Lonpfellow's poem, Excelsior" is
an other bit of exquisite trash. Of
course it is beautiful, and all like that,
you KNOW but it is not adapted to a
rough-and-tumble fight with circum-
stances.
The young man in that poem Shout
ders flag and starts for-weu. for no.
where, so far as we can discover. He
is one of the imbers-an explorer of
the celestial Alps. When he gets tc
the top of a hill he turns back and
screams out Excelsior" What for we
can't say. This is free country, how
ever, and he can do as he pleases. Ur
he trudges until he gets to the snow
capped summit of the next ascent I'm
reasonable boy! he seems to be Just as
dissatisfied as ever. Evidently he
wants the earth. In spite of chronic
bronchitis and in constant danger OF
pneumonia, he waves his bunting, wells
"Exceisior!' once more. and strikes out
for an altitude where the mercury
freezes in the bulb.
He may be going yet, for aught we
know. He has undertaken tough Job,
though, and his flag by this time must
be in tatters
You want to get rid of good deal of
this excelsior" folderol. 1t is a mighty
poor investment of talent Stay down
below, and let the glaciers and the
mountain peaks take care of them
selves.
Second-Do your work well, no mat
ter what it is. Study your business.
Make yourself master of it by putting
your head and heart into it. If it is
bookkeeping, then keep books in such
fashion that the angel Gabriel will want
to lend you his own as a token of his
approval. If you are a mechanic, or ar
tisan. or farmer, be proud of yourself,
and the rest of the world will soon come
30 be proud of YOU. Nothing is needed
so much in this generation as a man
with skilled fingers. You may have a
long pull, but the clock will strike an
unexpected hour and the opportunity
which comes to everyb body in turns, but
which most people miss-will present
itself. Study the bulldog, and when
you get your teeth into big thing, let
them stay there.
Third-Save money. The coward
runs into debt, the brave man has a
fve-dOllar surplus in his pocket. The
world may laugh at you because you
can't have four-in-hand necl-tie. All
right, let it laugh. You are your own
world, and the people who sheer are
simple outside barbarians. When they
see that five-dollar bill growing bigger
they will all want to shake hands with
you and send you to parliament Keep
well within your income and you will
save yourself from skulking round the
corner like a licked dog when the dun
is on your track. The handiest thing
on the planet is the penny laid up for
rainy day
Now, young sir, get rid of the non
sense that you are genius, settle
down to the conclusion that YOU
are just average boy and then
start in. Keep yourself alert, look
after your digestive apparatus, don't
smoke cigarettes, go to bed early, be
square toed in all your dealings, and
e we will wager cookie that at sixty
you will have to look backward for
those who began the race when you
did.-Aukland IN. H. Journal.