The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-08-19
| LAZY MANS DEFENCE OF
HIS KIND.
LazinesS an Inspiration.

A man is set to digging a well. If
he be an industrious man, one of the
kind that loves work for works sake,
he will dig patiently and joyously
along until his task is completed. But
if he be Il lazy man, he will resent the
dreary arduOusnesS of his task and
look about for some way to make it
easier. Such Il man undoubtedly rig
ged up the first windlass.
When you come to look into the
matter you cannot fail to realize that
nearly all the progress the human race
has made since the day Adam was
driven from the garden of Eden and
forced to go to work, has been due not
to the efforts of the man who loves to
work, but to the efforts of the man
who is averse to work and is trying to
get out of it.
I'll bet the idea of a threshing ma
chine first came to a lazy man who
had to tnresh out wheat with a fail,
and I'll bet that the idea of moving
machine first came to lazy man who
had got curvature of the spine moving
with scythe.
The world owes a lot to the lazy
man. The man who loves to work
Just works right straight along, but
the man to whom work is distasteful,
will, when compelled to work, rack
his brain for some way to tighten his
lahors.
In fact, the entire progress OF the
world is almost directly due to the ef.
forts Of the lazy man to get out of
work. I had no idea I could figure
out so good a case for us fellows, but it
is all right, sound and logical, and the
more you think it over the more you'll
be convinced that I'm right.
The lazy man has never had the
standing in the community which he
should have. We are looked down up
on and sneered at, and every fool writ.
er and speaker has something abusive
to say of us. And it isn't right.
Alleged Lazy Men.
If man likes to work I never inter-
fere with him. Bless his heart! Let
him work. don't write articles and
make speeches giving him fits about it.
And / can prove-in fact, have just
proven-that men of my class have
done more for the human race than
have the men of his class.
How did Watt discover the power OF
steam? Did he do it while he was
chasing around doing lot Of work ?
No. He was sitting by the kitchen
| fire. All there is comfort for you.
Sitting by the kitchen fire And
when he saw the steam from the tea
kettle lift the heavy lid, it occurred to
him that if it could do that it could
lift good many things.
And so it has; but can't you see
| that if he had been one of those terri
bly, industrious fellows he would never
have been sitting idly by the kitchen
| fire?
And how did Newton discover the
law of gravitation? Was he cutting
cord wood, or digging ditch, or haul.
ing gravel? No, he was lying on his
back under an apple tree.
Did you ever lie on your back under
an apple tree along of summer after
noon. and watch the great white
clouds, away off yonder in the sky, as
they changed their shape from an
elephant to lion, and then to great
snowy chariot, drawn by tremendous
horses, driven by woman in long,
flowing robes? And did you ever try
to imagine how it would be to sit on
one of those great clouds and look
down upon the earth and out into
space? Of course you have, aud that
is what Newton was doing when an
apple-a comical, humorous. fun-lov-
ing apple-seeing all opportunity to
play practical joke, loosed its hold
upon twig and dropped, hitting New
ton on the end of his idle, inquisitive
nose. And if an apple can laug h at all
I'll bet that apple laughed heartily as
il rolled away and hid itself in the
grass.
Science and Laziness.
Then, no doubt, Newton forgot all
about the clouds very suddenly, and
sat up and rubbed his nose. Then
realizing what had happened, he lay
down again on his back and looked up
into the tree. And being an idle, in
quisitlve fellow, with deal of imagi-
nation, he wondered why that apple,
being loosed from the twig, did not,
instead of falling straight down, fly off
at tangent and keep going and going
and going, until it landed in the bosom
of one of the great clouds? Or why it
didn't &C straight up and up and up
until? Well, there was no telling
where it would come to finally.
Heaven, maybe. And from that he
went on until he had the law Of gravi-
talon all figured out.
Now, if he had been one of those
people who dearly love to work, he'd
have been chasing around in the sun
performing lot of labor, and the APP
pie, had it fallen at all, would have
fallen unchecked, and the human race
would today, no doubt, be butting its
way through the ages without know
ing anything about the law of gravita-
ton.
Newton and Watt might not be
complimented by what the lazy mans
advocate says of them; and still there
may be some truth in it. Anyhow, we
won't dispute further with the lazy
man, for there are times when all of
US have fellow-feellng for him, how
ever much we may disguise it.