Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1899-11-30
.sTIRED OF THE GAME.o

A certain man died in North Caro-
| lima the other day. It was asked of
one of his friends of what he died,
and the answer was,'' of whiskey and
morphine. He was a man of gifts
| and promise, and it was asked why
he should thus dispose of himself,
and the reply was
"Oh, well. he was tired of the
game"
The answer was full of meaning.
The world is full of people who
are tired of the game. They have
worried and struggled. Perhaps
they have reared, or tried to rear,
children who have been a disappoint-
ment to them. Perhaps to them for
tune has looked backward" They
have worked hard and seen no re
suit of their labor; the past has been
unfruitful, the future is unpromis-
ing. They have thought upon the
problems of life and they see moth
ing in it for them. They are tired of
the game.
Hon. Henry Watterson delivered
in Charlotte a year Or two ago his
lecture on money and Morals" It
was not worthy of him, and was a
disappointment to his audience, but
it contained, toward it's conclusion,
this striking inquiry: What is the
use? A man who had become Presi-
dent of the United States said to
him that this was the goal of his am
bition; that for years he had looked
forward to the Presidency; that
when he finally reached it, he found
that his former friends had become
his enemies and that his former en-
mics had become his friends, and so
the chief value of the Office had gone
he was unable to reward his
friends or punish his enemies. The
question was, wherefore had he ex-
pended his energies, why had he
spent restless days and sleepless
nights in seeking something that
brought no pleasure in the attain
ment? The answer was, of cours
Solomon's-Vanity Of Vanities.
But we lose our course, and yet
not altogether. Is the game worth
the candle? That is the question
which hundreds of thousands of
human beings, all over the earth, are
asking themselves, and the answer
they get is in the negative. If they
are in public life and try to follow
the popular caprice, they find them
selves involved in all sorts of absur
dities: if they follow the dictates of
conscience and of right, they lose
STRIFE" pursuing the even tenor of
their way, they often find toll unre-
Quilted and effort gone for naught,
they get tired of the game.
The world is full of these luckless
ones. Is not the great majority to be
so classified? It is a world of toll
and mol, with nothing to show for
it when we have run our little race;
when all life's duties have been done
it may be a cottage left; it may be
some acres of farming land; it is toll
erably certain to be a widow and
several children.
It is not quite heroic to get out of
it all through the medium of whis-
key or morphine; it is not-Qu1te the
thing to leave to others the care of
children which we have brought into
the world. But there is the ever re-
curing question. Is it worth while?
and the W present answer, l am
tired Of the game.-Charlotte OBJ
server.
The exclusion of a pessimistic
conclusion runs so near the sur-
face in the above lugubrious but
sadly true editorial in Sundays
Charlotte Observer as to be ais
most tangible-and certainly
startling: Startling, because the
philosophic and lovab]e genius
that presides with sach grace
and culture over the best paper
in North Carolina should write
SO near the tolerance, if not the
actual PRONUNCIATION of such
false ethics, and the ARGUS can
not pass the remarkable editorial
without at least a re7erie of op-
posite tenor.
Yes, it is "worth while". The
game is worth the candle-the
game when played according to
Gods plan. In these times of poll
tical strife, it is we'll to pause
and take note Of the real purpose
of life-for life is real, and the
principles OF right living are
eternal, and every life must ad
just itself to the ethics of the
sphere in which it's lot is cast.
''In the reproof of chance
Lies the true proof of men; the sea being
smooth,
How many shallow bauble boats dare sail
L Lien lon ian Gronct nanIinr tInir HnH