Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-01-02
TIE PASSING OF THE NEW vsAR.
These Mile Posts on the Journey of Life
Fly by Faster One by One.

Fly by Faster One by One.
It has no derht often occurred to you.
fellow traveller on Times coach. that the
milestones Of the New Years fly past much
faster now than they did in the early stages
Of your journey
What an interminably long wait it
seemed to be between the first New Years
day of your memory and the second. Per-
haps you were 6 or years old then and
in school for the first term If so, New
Years had its sorrow as we'll as it's Joy, for
1t was the last day of the midwinter holt
days and next day you had to begin your
wrestling with the intellectual arithmetic
and the geography and maybe with the
elements of the English grammar Look
back now and pity yourself. Do not make
the mistake of most of our acquaintance
and declare that particular New Years to
have been the happiest of your existence
Pshaw 1t was perhaps the most misera-
BILE. The fact that you have forgotten
your childhood's miseries does not make
1t true that you had none.
1t was several years after that before the
New Year began to move appreciably
faster. Perhaps it was not till your sister
and your pretty dark eyed cousin began to
chaff you about the silky down upon your
upper lip, and your portly, comfortable
father, in speaking of some doings of yours
of which he did not approve, referred to
you as a foolish young man." Then you
noticed the flight of time I'll be bound.
No one had called you a. young man" be-
fore. You were ready to forgive the gov
ernor's chidings for that. You rejoiced
that although you were very young indeed
you had yet been called man.
hat kad e..
your own opinions on most matters. You
began to shave forthwith, and you fell in
to the habit of calling your chum, who
was of about your own ago, "oId man."
If any one called you my boy" you felt
resentful. 1t seemed SO utterly out of
place. But you had not yet learned that
manhood brings with it certain definite
and sometimes heavy responsibilities. 1t
Is possible you discovered this significant
truth very soon afterward though perhaps
it was not till two or three more New
Years had passed. At all events the
knowledge came to you with somewhat OF
a shook-pcssibly pleasant, possibly other
wise. At all events, it was not long after
that that you found out that your knowl-
edge was not universal and your wisdom
was not infallible.
And ever since the New Years have
flown by faster and faster. After awhile
your girth grew greater. Then there were
lines in parts of your face that had once
been smooth. The top Of your Uranium,
that was once thick matched, grew bare
and smocth and shining. Glasses came
next, and Jour hands wrinkled up. Then
there We're occasional twinges in your
joints, and what hair was LETT grew gray,
then white Only yesterday yen Began s5s
carry cane--onee you carried it for orna-
it helped you when walk
ing. Yesterday? you ask. Oh yes, / TO-
+ was good ten years ago, but
you see the New Years fly so fast now.
What Are you going to leave the
coach2 Is your life journey done? You
amaze me. thought you we're good for
several more New Years Well, goodby,
my boy; goodby.
So he is gone. But, bless me- he was
only 75. He was a young man yet. Now
those of you who are yet on the coach with
me--lct us give the new year 1896 rous-
ing welcomed And may the road between
here and 1897 be smoother one for all OF
us than was that Of 1895 f.. Y. X