The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-12-07
RLuNpERs OF LIFE.
Prof. Riddel Lectures to q Crowded House
in the M. e, Church.

in the NJ. e. Church.
Prof. N. N. Riddell, Ph. D., the cell
ebrated lecturer and reformer, lectured
to crowded house in the M. E.
church Friday night. The subject of his
discourse was "The Blunders of Life
as Seen by the Humorist." The
speaker gave most interesting and
thoughtful lecture, interspersed richly
with wit and humor, so that he held
the undivided attention of all.
the professor divided his "blunders"
into three classes, those made by the
individual, in society aud our national
life. "This is an age of active compe-
tion," said the speaker, land the man
who is to win in the race of life today
must be thoroughly qualified. not only
by practical education but by natural
adaptation to the chosen vocation.
Every person if properly trained can
do something we'll. The secret of sue
cess lies in finding out what that some
thing IS, thoroughly qualifying and
presistently applying in the one;direc-
ton. A serious blunder that is made
by the typical American is in scatter
ing his forces; mind is a limited quail
ity, the more we spread it the thinner
it gets. The men who are leading in
the world today are those who have
bent all their energies in the one di-
rection."
Among the social blunders dwelt on
were the mistakes made in the selec-
tion Of the life companion, largely due
to the arti6ciality of the age. The
speaker urged the Importance of young
people being natural and developing
the peculiarities of their own natures
and illustrated the incongruities of
fads and fashions in society in most
ludicrous manner. Marriage is largely
a failure because 30 many of our young
people get married and then settle
down instead of settling up. They
neglect those little things that were so
attractive in the courting days and fail
to keep on improving the mind. There
Is a great mistake made by too many
fathers in failing to keep the sympathy
and confidence of their boys, and as
result hundreds of boys are going
'astray for lack of more honest,
sympathetic, loving fatherhood.
IA common national blunder is the
dissipation of the art of conversation.
Perverted society and the books Of eti-
quette have crowded out every subject
that could possibly be of any benefit
to any one in conversation. About all
one can talk about is the climate and
the weather which is especially inter-
esting when you have sixteen months
of it all alike as you do here in Oregon.
Another most serious national blum
der is treating woman as mentally in
ferior to man, and denying to her the
right of expressing her views by the
ballot on the moral ard educational
questions of the hour! We deny the
right of franchise to woman and then
turn around and give it without re-
striction to the ignorant. pauper and
criminal foreign born. The right of
suffrage should be given to no one
without educational qualification. 1t
is not more ballots but bette ballots
that we need" The speaker made a
most glowing period in comparing the
difference between politicalship and
craftsmanship, and in closing dwelt on
the blunder we are making today by
looking backward over our glorious
past rather than turning around and
faoing the questionable future.
Much amusement was occasiOned at
the close of the lecture by the pro-
fessor giving a chronological delinea-
tion of the characters of three gentle
men from the audience.