The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-08-25
lay far out in the ocean. The great

lay far out in the ocean. The great
Spanish explorer. Juan Ponce de Leon.
fellow-voyager of Columbus, | have no
doubt. felt that if he could discover
that Fountain of Youth, he would do
as much as his frien:l ha IL done in dis
cover :, America, So he put out in
1912 fl ON Porto Rico and cruised about
among the Bahamas in search of that
fountain. am glad he did not find
it. There is no such fountain. But If
there We're. and it's waters were bot
tied up and sent abroad at a thousand
dollars a bottle. the demand would be
greater than the supply; and many
man who has come through life of
uselessness. and perhaps sin, to old
age, would be shaking up the potent
liquid, and if he were directed to take
only teaspoonful after each meal,
would be so anxious to make sure work
he would take Il tablespoonful, and if
directed to take Tablespoonful, would
take a glassful.
But some of you would have to go
back further than II years of age to
make fair start, for there are many
THAT period. Yea, in order to get
fair start, some would have to go back
to the father and mother and get them
corrected; yea, to the grandfather and
grandmother and have their life cor
rected, for some of you are suffering
from bad hereditary influences, which
started hundred years ago. Well, If
your grandfather lived his life over
again, and your father lived his life
over again, and you lived your life
over again, what a cluttered-up place
this world would bc-a place filed with
miserable attempts at repairs. l be-
gin to think that it is better for each
generation to have only one chance,
and then for them to pass off and
give another generation a chance. Be-
sides that, if we were permitted to live
| life over again it would be stale and
stupid experience. The zest and spur
and enthusiasm of life come from the
fact that we have never been along
this road before, and everything is
new, and we are alert for what may APP
pear at the next turn of the road. Sup
pose you, a man of middle Or old age,
were, with your present feelings and
large attainments, put back into the
thirties, or in the twcnties, or in the
teens, what nuisance you would be
to the others. and what an unhappiness
to yourself. Your contemporaries
would not want you, aud you would
not want them. Things that in your
previous Journey of life stirred
your healthful ambition, or gave
you pleasurable surprise, or led you
into happy interrogation. would only
call forth from you a disguised so
pshaw!' You would be blase at 80
and misanthrope at 40, and unen
durable at 50. The most inane ant
stupid thing imaginable would be {
second journey of life. 1t is amusing
to hear people say: Il would like t.
live my life over again, if | could take
my present experience and knowledg'
of things back with me and begin un
der those improved auspices" Why
what an uninteresting boy you woult
be with your present attainments in ;
child's mind. No one would want sucl
| a boy around the house-a philOsophe
at 20, a scientist at Is, an archaeolOgis
at 10, and 4 domestic nuisance all tn,
time. An oak crowded into an acorn
A Rocky mountain eagle thrust bacl
{ into the egg-shell from which it wa
, hatched.
Besides that, if you took life owe
| again you would have to take it's dee
5 sadnesses over again. Would you wan
r to try again the griefs and the heart
: breaks and the bereavements throug
( which you have gone? What mere
t that we shall never be called to sutfe
: them again. We may have others ba
: enough, but those old ones never AGAR
r Would you want to go through til
= process of loosing your father agair
S or your mother again, or your compa,
" ion in life again, or your child agair
V If YOU were permitted to stop at til
S siXtieth milestone, or the fiftieth mil
n stone, or the fortieth mile-sone, and r.
e trace your steps to the twentieth, yot
# experience would be sOmethin
k like mine, one Novem ber da
}, in Italy. | walked through
u great city with friend and tv
e guides. and there were in all the cit
it only four persons, and they were tho
a of our own group. We went up al
e down the streets; we entered Il
ID houses. the museums, the temples, Il
\. theaters We examined the wonde
n. full pictures on the walls and the mo
exquisite mosaic on the floor. In Il
s. streets were the dcep-worn ruts
id wagons. but not a wagon in the cit
,e On the front steps Of mansions t
IS word "Welcome in Latin, but no h
at man beings to greet us. The on
of bodies of any of the citizens that '
be saw were petritied and in the muser
to at the gates OF the 81, 900 people w
it once lived in those homes and W.
rn SHIPPED in those temples and clapp
or in those theaters, not one left. /
es 1850 years that city OF Pompeii h
,e been buried before modern explorati
nd scooped out of it the lava of Vesuvi
It, Well. he who should be permitted
he return on the pathway of his eartl
70. life and live it over again would fine
lu lonely and sad a pilgrimage. 1t wo
= i