Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-09-28
THIS THREADBARE WORLD.
without the remotest idea who W,

without the remotest idea who was
the originator of tie term L ap ropri.
ate as my title, l do not know--and,
indeed, do not very much care-if L am
committing a kind of heresy when |
say 1t is one which reflects but small
credit on the mind which conceived
il.
For surely this old world seems
threadbare only to those whose minds
lack the freshness, the observation, the
capacity for enjoying sights, sounds,
and the study of human nature as much
when standing on the shore Of middle
age, as when they first began to gaily
follow the ver-widening stream of
youth.
1t is, 1 think, Just this 'threadt tare''
tendency of mind, too common, alasl
amongst those getting on in years,
which is at the bottom of the great
gulf which is often fixeo between folks,
say, with thirty years difference be.
tween them.
Now, had we all the freshness of sym.
pathy, the power-which really Uery
few parents possess-of looking back
truthfuIly, and seeing that we, too,
we're young and foollsh;" we, too,
preferred play to work, or thought
love in cottage would be an ideal ex-
lstence; had we, so to speak, kept the
warp and woof of our hearts and minds
intact, and not worn it threadbare with
the rub of worldly feelings, our wis
dom painfully garnared, perchance,
from our own disappointments and
heartachesl would have none the less
eight because we "know Just how it
&C ho-l 70 II
Why so few eldei ly people seem to have
any capacity for the enjoyment of
small pleasures, whether their own or
those of others. AS regards the latter,
we must all be aware that in the sublime
egotism of youth we have but scsnt
room In our hearts for the joys and
sorrows of our friends. "a heart at
leisure from itself to soothe and SYM
pathize" is, / take it, but seldom part
of the moral adorument OF those in the
full glamour of youths golden dream;
it Is, or should be, one OF the autum nal
charms We may hang around us as We
begin to go down-hilL
Yesl there are plenty Of threadbare,
minded people in the world, people
who are capable of travelling from Dan
to Beersheba, aud find all barren, who
would indeed be miserable If they
could not prove their ''doll is stuffed
with sawdust."
, One of this pitiable kind, when ask ed
"W hat struck her most IN Cairo?" plant
lively replied ''The smells" Thread
bare, indeed, must be the mind which
oan ignore the endless panorama OF
gorgeous sights, of glorious color and
vivid picturesqueness-to forget the
| joys of perfect winter climate, and
focus itself On a grievance which, il
spite of costly local boards, etc, may
! still, if a grievance really must be
found, be INDUCED in without the ex-
pense of going to Egypt
GLOW fresh and green you are in
this old world" says Shakespeare,
showing that, even in those distant
days, freshness, a power to stand out
above the level of dull commonplace,
| was valued. l canEot, however, at this
moment recall whether the character
,apostrophized was elderly or notl
! But do we not all know some men and
women who could nerer seem old, who
could never be wearisome, who car
throw the glamour of imagination ovel
everything, and whose every word and
deed arouses ones interest?
To such natures, no matter what
their trials and heartaches may have
been, the worldly which / mean the
best things in it, such as love, sympa
thy, friendship, faith, hope, and char,
Iity-will never seem thresdbare, bu
al ways fuii of freshness and beauty
aud, above all, of God-sert chances tc
make others happier.
But the charm of never growing ole
ceases to be IA charm If we think our
selves ever youthful. The sarcastic
! saving, cit is strange women do no
like their ages known; most of then
are younger than they look" certainly
strikes at feminine folly. For men
fully as vain as women, only in another
way seldom seem to mind their tale
If years being known.
But one does sometimes see foolisl
women cliuging wildly with elderly
hands that is, by the way, no possible
disguise or "make up" for hands anC
throats; one can always read advancing
years writ large on both TO the rosy
skirts of youth, boasting they still
dance everything" and too foolish t
Inotice that the partners have become
mere cailow fiedgelings, while tht
"best men in the room" delighted Il
dine with the elderly slren) dane,
with their daughters. When we are a
the age to think a woman of thirty
quite old" and that forty-five is quit,
beyond the limit of conside alton, NJ
one could ever convince us that the
latter age, if met as friend, no
shrunk from as a foe, yet holds "tht
simple Joy of living" especially t.
those who can live again in their chill
dren's lives, who can be content-hav
ing had their day-to "take a bach
seat "(only fguratively), and let th'
Young folks have their day.
! The late Archbishop Thomson, him
self one of the lovable evergreen ma
lures, once wrote
| But love and purpose as OF yore,
With the worlds throbbing pulses NIX;
The world, with thousands 70 its score,
Is young, though am sixty six.
Happy IS it then if-while nevel
forgetting there is another world we
have get eyes TO notice the beauties O.
nature, art, and humanity in this one
There are noble actions we can ali see
and may some day be privileged t.
DO, If our own hearts and minds arr
not worn too threadbare to stand tn
strain.