Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-03-17

not only to do their class room work
but TO keep on in their original inyesti-
cations. These Investigations each year
are expected to take wider and wider
scope" And what will be the result2
Instead OF Chicago university faculty
being burdened in the future with a lot
of old men at forty or fifty years of age
1t will be blessed with n number of
young men-young in heart, young in
mind, young in purpose at seventy or
even eighty years of age.
"Oh, no." says some one to me; "that
is not right. IL work and work hard
up to sixty years Of age have a right
to retire from work and have n good
rest. II 1 live ten years more 1 intend
to hand over the business to the bows
and just turn myself out to grass and
do nothing but play and play and play.
know IL L can stop work 1 can live
longer and have good time besides"
Is that your idea OF the way of spend
ing your years when you pass the three
score milestone? Well, my friend, IL
that Is your expectation Of spending
your life when your hair has become
silvered tell you you will be doomed
to bitter disappointment. In the first
place, you will not have a good time if
you stop working. In the second place.
II you stop working, instead OF prolong-
ing your life, as you expect, you will
shorten 1t by many years. 1 have rare
ly seen 1t fail where Il man voluntarily
gives up work so that he can pass a
lazy old age that he is a miserably un-
hO4t,or nuI Al
grave. And L have rarely found it to
fail If an old man branches out in new
work that the years of his earthly life
are increased.
Hard Work and Long Life.
AS rule, the greatest thinkers and
the hardest mental workers In the
world have been among the longest
lived men. Study the long list Of men
old in years, but young in heart, branch.
ing out into new work when at seventy
years or beyond. Marden, in his book
Pushing to the Front" has a marvel
GUS collection Of illustrations In refer
ence to this fact. Dandolo, the doge Of
Venice, was q warrior who led his SOL
diers In battle at ninety-four and was
offered a crown at ninety-six. Titan
at ninety-nine was struck down with
the cholera in Venice when he was at
work on one of his canvases- Pope
Leo XIII. ut ninety-three was the most
powerful personality in all Europe
both on account Of his pontlfical throne
and. his own powerful mental equip
mcnt. When an American bishop said
to him, 'Your holiness, we hope God
10 N-nr fn
rian," the pope answered: "NIy friend
do not try to limit the power OF God.
l expect to be as hard Mt work after
am u hundred years old as am now"
DR.. Samuel Johnson wrote his greatest
book when nearly eighty. james Watt
learned German when he was eighty
five. Isaac Newton and BENJAMIN
Franklin were bard at work on scien-
ti1c subjects when over eighty. Lord
Palmerston and William L. Gladstone
were both prime ministers OF England
at fourscore years Robert Hail."
says Marden, learned italian when
past sixty. Noah Webster mastered
seventeen languages after he was fifty.
And some OF the best works OF Long
fellow, Whittier and Tennyson were
written after they were seventy"
Aged friend, the reason you are
growing old and whitening up is be-
cause you have stopped branching out
You have taken In sail and are drift
ing, simply drifting, toward the rocks
OF death, and drifting fast. Take a
new lease of life by taking n new inter-
est in things. Study, study, study.
Work, work, work. Go and hear every
fine singer and every good speaker and
read every new book that you can.
The most foolish law the United States
government ever made was when 1t es-
tablished old soldiers homes, where
the old veterans OF the civil war could
go and live and do nothing. If an old
soldier is physically helpless, then, OF
course, he should be cared for. But a
well soldier IN Danville, Ill, or Santa
Monica, Cal, or Milwaukee, Wis, or
the Old Soldiers home In Washington
should be encouraged to work IL he Is
able to. Stagnation means premature
death, mental and physical as well as
spiritual. at Is better to wear out
than to rust out" Is d poor maxim.
We have no right to do either. But I
would tell those who are coming on
toward old ago there is more danger
for most OF US OF rusting out than OF
wearing out
DON'T Talk Of Troubles.
How should we renew the strength
OF young manhood7 By never talking
about our ailments or misfortunes IL
we can avoid II. II the rheumatism
will NIL NJ
joints. then as far as possible don't
mention 1t. II the holidays bring up
sad memories, then If we must cry
let us go to our rooms and have a good
cry alone, but not before others. II
we were once wealthy and some old
friends OF better days will now have
nothing to do with us, then do not keep
burdening those who are still faithful
to us with our never ending tales or
woe. The most common sense pre-
scription ever saw written by ply
sician was not TO be taken in small
pills. but In knockdown doses. The
prescription was a sign placed in the
rotunda OF large sanitarium In the
central part Of New York state. 1t
was in a most conspicuous position,
where all the patients could see 1t. 1t
read thus: Don't talk about your pains
and your ailments"
doctor, why did you put that sign
up?" asked. "Why," said he, "that
sign has cured more of my patients
than any twenty prescriptions 1 ever
wrote. Every morning my sick people
would come down and greet each other
as follows: Good morning! How do you
feel? Did you sleep well last night? Is
your headache betterT Then the per-
son accosted would begin to rehearse
all the hours she lay awake and all the
pains she had. BY the time she was
through the story her pains would
again begin to gnaw and her nerves to
twitch and she was on the way to an
other sleepless night. Don't talk about
your ailments. 1t is by talking about
the troubles of old age that we increase
those troubles"
But, though talking about the trou