The Van Buren press., 1896-10-03
THE AVERAGE MAN.
He Goes Through Life Easily and with
Little Friction

Little Friction.
It's pleasure to fit you" said tbe
clothing salesman to his customer.
Why" queried the patron. as bs'
glanced eomplacently over his shoulder
at his figure reflected in the long mir.
ror.
Because you are an average man. I
mean that your height, width of Shout
Gers, chest measure, length of back
width across the hips. length of arms
aBd legs and general set conform to the
average dimensions struck off by the
manufacturer Of ready-made clothine.v
Il thought you fellows could fit auy
sized man."
so We can, but to do il sometimeswe
must break up three different sets Of
clothing; take the coat from one. the
vest from another and the trousers from
another. Now. with you i. is differ.
emit. | simply took your cheat measure
and found the coat, in few minutes.
made for that measure. The vest and
trousers were all right, OF course, Tor
you are a man Of average build. And
YOU are a lucky man, too, according to
my way of thinking. know that when
/ it is said: oh. he is an average man..
the term is used in a deprecatory sense.
| AS matter of fact, 10 say that mans
ar average man is to say that he will go
through life easily, with less friction,
With more pleasure and less annoyance
than the man who il above or below the
average. Everything made in quaint,
ty is made to fit the average man. A
door knob is placed where it is most
handy to the man of average height.
a letter-box is put up so that the aver
age man can mail his letters with the
least difficulty. Car straps hang down
far enough for the average man to
clutch them with the least effort Car
steps are placed so that the average
man can get in and out of a street car
easily.
Hats, shoes, shirts. collars. cuffs
stockings. clothing of every sort, are
made of average sizes. Ii man Of
certain height is too fat or too slim for
the average build of that height, he is
in trouble as soon as he enters cloth
ing store. If his legs are too long, or
too short, the salesman must overhaul
his stock and try on number of trou-
scrs before he finds a pair that viii fit,
and frequently he must have them al
tered after all.
"Now, it's the same in other ways
The man of average intelligence, aver
age brain power, average schooling
average morality and average religious
ideas will get along in the world better
than men who stand high above him.
Men above the average have added re-
sponsibilities thrust upon them. More
is expected of them. They are sup
posed to keep up fast gait, and if they
do not the world finds fault with them.
The average citizen, average husband,
average father, average man, is happy
because he is inconspicuous. He goes
along unnoticed, as he is neither foN
nor a genius; he attracts no attentid
and finds ten times more solid pleasufy
in life than those who are highly gifted
in one way or another. You see tha
average man is a well-balanced mani
and balance means stability and staoil'
ity means rest. / have figured this
thing out and have come to the con-
clusion that the world is better because
of the great majority of average men,
who go steadily and quietly along, not
because of the few geniuses who flash
up and blaze like bonfres for time
: aud then die down, TO have their ashes
: blown into everybody's eyes to annoy
! and poster them. "-Chicago Record.