Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1895-12-31
STOnKe urnHrD
{ ~ WamN@sss EMe. :

AS the moon-clock unerrlngly recorus
the ebb and flow of the ocean tides, SO
the sun-chronograph writes down the
DAYS and seasons and determines the
lime of their recurrence. Man has given
names to the latter and set apart GER
tain of the days as commemorative OF
heroic lives and deeds, or as suggestive
of sentiment that may be valuable OF
otherwise, as it is taken. The Fourth
of July teaches of patriotism, Christ
mas of the blessings of home and the
beauty of the Christrlife, while New
Years tells of the sepulture of one ana
the genesis of another cycle of earth.
Celebration of the latter anniversary
is sentimental, but sentiment pierces
the heart that is callous to logic. Patrl-
otism is sentimental, but it impels men
to t6e,mouths of death-dealing cannon.
New Yearis might have been as apPro-
priately on May 1, or any other day,
but time has hoff2red the selection ana
there are, besides, 10 means OF hAihs
the period when, accorda!iipg to the sub,
lime Mosaic account, "the eSs seh. !, aAN
the morning were the first day :.
This anniversary is suggestivets. -
things that have been. Nnemosynss
whispers of ships that passed in the
night-of opportunities that came and
were not seized; of follies and sins; of
grief and pain; aye, and of pleasure,
and joy, and peace. God be blessed for
memory! The saddest recollection.
even, is touched of the gentle hand of
sympathy, and the greatest tragedy
bears lofty lesson. Who can too
dearly prize the shadows of the past
that come up out of the night, self
tllumed by the deeds of goodness, mercy
and all-kindness that marked them
when in substance they lived and moved
with us? These unwritten books have
the most precious pages, and us we turn
them, one by one, over, we scan the
lines with moistened eyes of tenderness
and with hearts that beat in unison
with the sentiments thereon inscribed.
Cherishing whatever is good of the
past, man stands in the vestibule of the
inchoatc year and fills its salons and
chambers with CHEEKY furniture aid
dear, loving forms. New Years has, in
fact, been termed day of receives that
are broken. But it is better, far, to pur-
pose and not to do than never try the
right at all. The sum of life's duty is
contained in the simple adjuration,
Try! and, should failure come, try and
try again. Not everyone is privileged
to attain all-goodness, and few there be
who can boast of record of unbroken
success. The night comes to all, but the
star of Hope, like Sirius, never sets.
Happy is that man who has strength to
do when the promise of fulfillment is
weak.
If the full sunshine may not come, let
the glints find their way through the
dense foliage and tesselate the ground
with their tremulous mosaics of vary
ing shape. Pity for him who cannot see
in the dawn of the new year the light of
better things. What hour SO glad and
bright as that which paints the eastern
sky in crimson and gold, and that is
filled with songs of birds, inspired Of
the pure air and the fresh, sun-kissed
light? The matin-time of 1896 is come,
and all who will may hear the angel
voice of Hope whisper benisons that
shall be inspiration to renewed courage
in the putting aside of things that HIN
der the onward march to better living.