The news & observer., 1897-02-21
How many miles to AIilybright?"
t|rhren score and ton y


and noise; / am, on the whole, q happy
man; have found the world an enter
tanning world and am thankful to Proyi-
dence for the part allotter me in it..
I,ongfeIlow lived to be seventy-five.
When he was seventy he wrote his friend
Childs at is like climbing the Alps; you
reacn a snow-crowned summit and see
behind you the deep valley stretching
miles and miles away, and before you
other SUBMITS, higher and winter which
You may have strength to climb or you
may not Then you sit down and medi-
tate, and wonder which it will be. This
is the whole story"
DR. Holmes saw so much fun in every
thing that he couldn't help making funny
rhymes about an old man:
"But now his nose is thin
And it rests upon his chin
Like a staff
And crook is in his back,
And a melancholy crack
Is in his laugh"
Then he was sorry that he wrote 1t, for
he says:
II know it is a sin
For me to sit and grin
At him here"
The doctor didn't expect to live to be
eighty-fye, for long ago he said: "Our
brains are seventy-year clocks: the angel
Of life winds them up once for all, then
closes the case and gives the key TO the
angel of the resurrection"
But an old man is not obliged to have
a crook in his back nor a crack in his
laugh We see many aged men who are
straight as an Indian and have not lost
the musical tone Of their voice. Habit and
pride Of person have much to do with this.
! know an aged matron, neighbor Of
ours. who. when she is sitting hardly
touches the back Of chair, and yet she
is not stiff or awkward-always graceful,
always beautiful. She is kind and gentle
in her age, and has a warm welcome
wherever she visits. If she cannot hear
all that is said. she is not embarrassed,
for she says what she lacks in hearing,
she makes up in seeing and reading and
is thankful for the faculties that are still
left her. / never saw her with a troubled
look, though / know she has had trouble
and deep grief, Now, contrast such
woman with the one who is always com
planning Of her hard lot, or saying some
thing disparaging about her neighbors.
But the old-time mothers had some
excuse for bent shoulders, for it was the
fashion to step on pillow and bolster.
and it was the fashion to lean to the child
while it was nursing. Habits begun in
childhood and continued in motherhood
will never be broken in the decline Of life.
/ believe that the habits Of the girls Of
this generation are an Improvement on
those of the past. They do not lace like
they used to, and carry themselves more
gracefully They have better fitting
shoes and corsets. They have more com
Portable seats at school and are not allow
ed to lean forward to their books or slate
or writing pad. The life insurance COM
panies have at last discovered that wo-
men live as long as men, if not longer,
and policies are issued to them on equal
terms The longevity Of both seves is
increasing, slowly but surely, and the
only drawback is intemperance-whi
and opium. Were it not for these, the
three-score-a and-ten limit would soon be
advanced to four-score, and give us
stronger and handsomer race of people.
Shakespeare gave us some types Of old
age that seem to have fitted the times in
which he lived, but they are very rare in
ours. Prince Hal said to Falstaff: Have
you not all the characters of age-a moist
eye dry hand, yellow cheek, a white
card, decreasing leg, an increasing cor
porosity? Is not your voice broken, your
wind short, your chin double, your wit
single and every part about you bloated
with antiquity?
deny the picture. AS somebody said
deny the allegation and defy the allega-
tor. There is some Of it that does not
fit me, / know. These poets are too fond
of poking fun at old men. The she bears
ought to come along. The Scripture says
that old age is honorable, and that the
young men shall rise up when the old men
come in at the gate. The old men are
the balance wheels of all the machinery
OF government. If it were not for them,
the boys would run away with the wagon.
There must be wheel horses with breech-
ing on to hold back when going down
Hill. What are we here for? We can't
climb a tree or jump a ten-rail fence any
more, nor kick college ball nor ride n
bicycle but these things are non-essen-
tials and don't have to he done. We,can
look after the grand children and point
= moral and tell them a tale and teach
the young idea how to shoot without car
rvinp n nistol i'm n HIN pocket Solomon