The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-11
SLAVES OFF THE CLOCK.

SLAN les OF The CLOCK.
All their lives they are the slaves Of
the clock. The very minute Of the hoHr
of the day of the month of the year that
they make their irconsequent entrance
into this world is earefulIy noted. The mo-
ments when they fist say ''goo-goo' and
when their first tooth breaks through are
written down3Ror fature reference. Child
hoods morning meal of mush and milk Is
served to them att certain early min
ute, and In their pulling infancy susie
nance is poured INFO them at stated pc
RODS of two Hours whether they need it
or not. IA
When school days begin, the slave Of
the clock Is driven to bed before the
birds. and is compelled to leave it before
be washed and his hair combed by $3.50 a.
M, and at ocolck sharp he must be
hungry and eat his breakfast. He must
be hungry at certain times during the
day. and he IS inculcated with the idea
that there is an indissoluble connection
between the fingers of his clock and his
appetite, whether for food or Sleep.
When the boy is old enough to own a
watch and has overcome his childish de-
sire to overwind It, to the. confusion of its
works, his real fife work begins. The
observance of time is set before him as
the one great and paramount oh igation
All other things are subsidiary. He will
acquire the habit or watching for the
same street car every morning, and to
catch it he wal rush from his bed or
breakfast, outrageous stomach, forget to-
bid his family good morning, and do
other things tending towards Insanity,
sickness, premature death and the di-
vorce court.
During his business hours the slave of
the clock prostrates himself before his
fetish. Hts eyes are continually turning
to his clock face. He strains and strug-
giles to regulate his every thought and
action by the, clock. He allows himself
but few minutes for his lunch when
the world would never miss him for
whole hour. He forces himself along at
railroad speed in an endeavor to keep
pace with Father Time, but his legs are
too short, and ultimately he falls, ex-
hausted.
Then come sickness and physician 8
order to take three months vacation
The slave Of the clock has by this time
acquired the full certainty that under no
| circumstances, can. he be spared from his
accustomed place In the business and So
cial world without all sorts Of confusion
arising. He knows that in his absence
erything will go wrong, and that there
| will be one less to watch the clock. So he
he cuts his health-seeking vacation down
to one month, chances at the clock and
finds that the next train starts at 1903 p.
M, and he rushes off to catch It, The
mere fact that another train left fer
his destination half an hour later could
not be considered by the slave of the
clock, and after two weeks of health
seeking, done at express speed and al
ways ION time," the slave hurries back
on the 6:37 a. m. train to town, and asks
everybody; What have you been doing
while I have been away, and how did
you get along without me?"
When at length exhausted nature re-
bells against the tyranny of time and
! lays the slave of the clock gently upon
his death bed, the slave insists upon hav
ing his medicine strictly ION time" and
his temperature taken exactly at the half
minute. He counts his failing respira-
lions and works himself into frenzy if the
doctor happens to be two minutes late.
And when Death stretches forth his
mercifuI hand to strike the shackles from
I the slave of the clock, the poor wretch
turns his slow and glazing eyes to the
timepfece- and painfully gasping Exact
ly-three-seventeen acknowledgements" he
gives up the unequal struggle, and for
the first timesIn his career in this world
the clock ceases to be the object of his
supreme interest. q