The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-02-10
Think Twice Before you Strike any
Creature that Cannot Speak.

rene nber reading in my boyhood
about merchant travelling on horse.
back. accompanied by his dog. He dis.
mounted for some purpose, and acci-
dentally dropped his package OF mon.
ey. The dog barked to stop him, and
as he rode farther, bounded in front of
the horse and barked louder and loud
er. The merchant thought he had
gone mad, drew pistol from his hol
ster and shot him. The wounded
dog crawled back OF the package, and
when the merchant discovered his loss
and rode back, he found his dying dog
lying there. faithfully guarding the
treasure.
The following little story told by a
friend of mine, is not so painful, but
adds forco to the thought, think before
you strike any creature that cannot
speak,
"When I was a boy, and lived up in
the mountains of New Hampshire, l
worked for farmer, and was given a
q aspan of horses to plough with, one
of which was four-year-old colt. The
colt, after walking few steps, would
lie down in the furrow. The farmer
was provoked and told me to sit OH
the colts head, to keep him from ris-
ing while he whipped him, to break
him of that notion as he said. But
Just then neighbor came by. He
said, There's something wrong here;
let him get up, aud let US examine
he patted the colt, looked at his har-
ness, and tnen said, Look at this col
lar; it is 80 long and narrow, and car
ries the harness so high, that when he
begins to pull it slips back and chokes
him so he can't BREATHE And so it
was; and but for that neighbor, we
should have whipped as kind a crea-
ture as we lad on the farm because he
laid down when he couldn't breathe"
1t was only the other day I heard OF
a valuable st. Bernard dog being shot,
because having wound on his head,
concealed by the hair, he bit a person
who handled him roughly.
Boys, young and old, please remem-
Der that these creatures are dumb.
Theo may be hungry, or thirsty, or
cold, or faint, or sick, or bruised, or
wounded, and cannot tell you.
Think before you strike any creature
that crnnot speak.-From "Twelve
Lessons on Kindness to Animals" by
Geo. II. ANGEL.
EVERY ambitious young man may
benefit by the success of such man,
but mistakes are likely to be made, in
the application. One mistake is to
look upon his success as being achiev-
ed by an uneducated man. Captain
Eads was an educated man, though he
did not get his education from colleg-
es; he worked it out himself, but it was
no less complete and to the purpose.
Whether better earlier educational ad-
vantages would nave been benefit to
him, or otherwise, is question that
cannot be answered. The most that
we do know is that he succeeded beyond
more than O few others without these
"Another thing too often assumed
is that such man succeeds through
some other means-undefined and
indefinite-than hard persistent ef-
fort; good, honest, hard work, with a
fixed purpose in view. 1t was exactly
this kind of work in the way of self
education and in carrying out his
plans that made Captain Eads a great
engineer. What he possessed, that
many others do not, was fixed pur-
pose to succeed, backed by untiring
industry"
The trouble with too many young
men is that they have no particular
ambition. Having obtained an ordi-
nary-or it may be an extraordinary
they start in life fitted for
nothing i'll particular, filled with de-
sire to make money rather than an
to make something of them
selves. 1t is in this way that the
trades are left largely to foreigners,
while the vast army of clerks is recruit
ted. TO be sure there is nothing dis
honorable in being u clerk, but it is
for any young man who
has in him the possibility of some
thing better to be satisfied with the
routine of clerical work.
"Good, honest, hard work. is COM
mendable in any position, but it. is
the fixed purpose in view" that
makes every stroke tell. With it he
may be an equally good clerk while
he occupies that position, but he will
be something more. 1t is the fixed
purpose to succeed, backed by an un-
tiring industry, that makes successful
men.