The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-28
SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY MEMO.
Copyright.


Mark it down that amateur efforts score
eoo, hits nowadays. A geologist is of more
.-,tn to a party of prospectors than fifty
hicks and shovels. An analytical chemist
sass further than the sharpest eyes in de-
tectlng values The scientific farmer with
hi. microscope and test-tubes has i'm
,cense advantage over the man who knows
rotbing of the actual foods and constit-
.snts of plants. Be thorough or be moth
ing. but to this latter you will need no
commanding if you neglect the former. 1t
isnot for us to repine because the compe-
tition along the lines of every success
ful life is growing so intense. We are here.
here now, and we have to accept that fact
with the best possible grace. To me it
seams that life is just as full of opportu-
ritv as it ever has been, for those Of us
who will comply with the conditions. In
fsct our age appears to exceed all others
In the chances it offers. Since the
branches that call for exact information
nov are possibly as 100 to l when COM
nared with the avenues open before the
Young man of a century ago; and, further
more keeping pace with the need for
complete special knowledge is an increas-
ing ease IN mas IeTlug the DTanCn. lnaI we
may select. 1t is possible to acquire in a
fow days. what Newton strained a life
fine to discover. The tortuous ways blaz-
Oh through the forests of ignorance by
the pioneers are now smooth, straight
highways wherein the wayfarer need not
err i'm his search for the tree of knowledge.
let me draw an illustration from the BIZ
cycle A few years ago a mile done in
three minutes was considered wonderful
riding Now the minute line is being rap
idlv approached, not because human legs
are stouter than formerly, but because the
vehicle is more perfectly constructed. So
the pace in every line of life is faster than
it used to be, but the friction is less.
But if you are a specialist and nothing
else; SO wrapped up in your one ism that
YOU have neither heart nor mind for the
many diverse interests of your neighbors,
YOU are in a fair way to becoming a
wearisome, bumptious nuisance. If you
are known as one who talks shop" in
the home and on the street you are liable
ultimately to be avoided as a bore, and
thus. from your own fault, lose the ad-
vantage to your mind that comes from
mental friction Your descent thereafter
to narrow nlndedness will be rapid, in
deed. My advice is that you drop your
speciality absolutely when your business
hours come TO an end and fill your leisure
hours most of us have at least six)
with conversation or reading, or writing,
of an improving character. This bars out
a good deal of the "bumble- bee" buzzing
in the front parlor; that is the angel
cake food of the mind, never good as
a steady diet. 1t also bars out the pc
rusal of trashy, exciting novels. Fiction
is excellent in its way, but an indulgence
in it should be confined to the masters,
in order that your language, your moral
ideals, and your reading taste may remain
high. It just occurs to me, however, that
the inventor of the steam engine, James
Watt, in his old age, sat down with his
wife to read voraciously all the mawkish
and fabby love-stories that he could lay
his hands on But this proves nothing in
opposition to the advice of the preceding
sentence. In the first place, you are not
in your dotage, and in the second, the
world will gladly let you follow your
reading tastes, no matter how puerile,
when you have accomplished one-half
that Watt did against obstacles of the
most heart-breaking character.
For mental health, 1 would strongly
recommend the taking up Of one, or, two
hobbies. They give definite purpose to
leisure and usually grow so absorbing as
to drive business completely out of the
mind Rest assured that your brain can
not retain its strength for long, If you
deny it these changes of activity. When
business cares stretch their nervous
fingers out over your hours of recreation
eXhausting for you. A hobby comes in
as mental tonic. 1t is impossible for
me to suggest what 1t should be. The
lines of useful investigation outside your
own one business are as many and as
diversified as are the individuals who
read these words. The writer's own hob
pies are so varied that every day of life is
full Of the pleasure of gaining and stor-
ing. Primarily he believes that there
are none SO humble but that they have
information or warning TO impart and
mus conversation, speeches, sermons are
made to pour helpful knowledge into the
brain day by day. Three other main hob
PIES NIL the crevices of time that remain
accommodating historical and geograph-
zeal facts regarding the United States;,
watching foreign events and endeavor-
ing to understand their meaning; writing
IN these Rambling Thoughts" each
week tnose things that must reach,
Vouch, enthuse some heart somewhere.
Along the line of that last mentioned
hooby, let me set down here in closing
Tor the week, a thought that came to
me as turned away on a recent evening
from the house of a friend upon whom
deep sorrow had fallen.
The hot-headed and foolish youth says
10 himself; 81 will see life" and he as
soclates himself straightway with those
VINO are claWed all over with the finger
marks of Death. Life is not self-gra tiff
cation To really live is to be monarch
OF oneself. Life does not even consist in
having where to lay the head, nor some
what with which to be covered, nor
Wnerewithal to be fed. The animals live
such a life almost To live is to gain and
give away; to gather of good in order
TO scatter it abroad; to travel, if needs
pe' the Via dolorosa (the way OF sadness)
SO mat the strong hand may be acquired
Ior leading others to the Delectabl Noun
THROW Influences
reeN and unreservedly so that other
sous may be awakened as to their own
dormant possibilities. These things con-
s.Itute real life; and their motives and re-
SUITS are the spirits sword that cleaves
mighty gulf between the animals and