Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1904-09-29
"GEr THERE" IN AMERICA.
The Motto That Moves Many to I'm
dermine Health and Degrade
Their Manhood.

The Motto That Moves Many to I'm
dermine Health and Degrade
Their Manhood. -,
If we may Judge by it's effects on those
who obey it's command, eur slang motto:
"Get there"-is not an elevating or en-
nobling one. On the contrary, it is bru-
talizing. It appeals to the lower and
NOS to the higher instincts in man, says
Orison SWEET Marden, in Success.
Yet this motto is quoted all over our
land. 1t is demoralizing the law; it is
creeping into the pulpit; it speaks from
our schools; it looks out Of the eyes
of the ambitious; it undermines health;
and it frequently destroys all nobility of
character.
The old-fashioned, slow and sure
method of attaining competency are
tabooed. The man who spends half a
lifetime in making fortune isFregarded
as "slow." Shortcut processes, at any
cost, are the demand Of the hour. From
the time boy enters school, he is goad-
ed on by unnatural ambitions. He is
not satisfied with steady, permanent
growth. He must progress by leaps and
bounds. Boys and girls are encouraged
by their parents to get ahead in their
classes, even if they must burn mid
night oil and risk their health in order
to do SO.
Business and professional men are
SO accustomed to "hurry-up" methods
and forcing processes that they find it
impossible to relax even after business
hours. They want to be on lightning
express trains all the time. They can
not enjoy their evenings at home. They
are uneasy; their minds are continually
on the alert. Constantly living at high
pressure, they have lost the power to
slow down. Indeed, the modern bust
ness man is like a horse which has
been trained to run on track. He
is not willing to trot or walk, but must
run all the time as If for dear life.
1t is pitiable to watch a typical Amer
ican going to business in the morning.
He is not content to sit quietly and re-
lax until the train carries him to his
destination in the city. Long before that
he leans forward in his seat and makes
ready to leap off while the train is NOV
ing. With every muscle tense, an anx-
ious, worried expression in his face, and
a nervous twitching of the hands,
clutching his cane, umbrella, parcel, or
the back of the seat in front of him,
he wastes enough energy and strength
before he reaches his Office to execute
the labor of half the day.
The same feverish intensity and
anxious haste are seen in restaurants,
at lunch counters, on the streets, and
wherever men and women are intent
on business. Yet these people wonder
why they are so exhausted at night!
They do not realize that every muscle
and every nerve in their bodies have
been draining off their reserve energy
all day, squandering vitality as the leaks
in dam steal the reserve power which
would have ground q grist, sawed lum-
Der, or woven cloth had It been forced
through the mill wheel. -.
The life Of the average American is
feverish unhealthy and unnatural.
We are in too great haste with every.
thing, and consequently; lack poise.
In the perpetual rush to ''get there"
we are in very great dangerFof losing
our equilibrium. ! '''~ m,
. Even boys and girls are trying to be
leaders. They want to do something
unusual-something that will bring
them into publicity and get their
names and photographs into the pa
pers. An average student is eager to
lead his class, not because he loves
knowledge much, but because he loves
distinction more. A young clergyman
overworks in an effort to be popular.
A lawyer becomes prematurely old in
trying to keep pace with his practice.
A man Of affairs keeps himself loaded
down with responsibilities, with d.
rectorships and memberships in a
score of institutions until a paralytic
stroke, or heart failure, puts an end to
his abnormal activities.
Old age is overtaking men and WON.
en- in middle life. Under our forcing
system people hardly reach full
growth before they begin to show signs
of decay. What a travesty on life it is
to see aged men and women in their
thirties and forties!
This pushing and crowding, jam
ming and elbowing, and rushing at
express speed from day to day, from
the nursery to the grave, is not life;
it Is race for death.
An Absent-Minded Sleuth.
"From time to time complaints are
made tn the nO1ice Of hOvS bathing in