The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-06-13

| for You.
| Importance of Care of Body.
| But, though physical health offers the
foundation stones of the ''temples of
success and the temple Of peace and
happncss,' 1t is amazing how men and
women will deliberately go forth and
ruin their physical frames. They
would not treat horsctcsh as they treat
| their own bodies HOrSetlesh they look
upon as valuable, and yet they do not
seem to think that their physical bodies
are valuable also. Some tilue ago |
was riding through the country on one
| Of the most famous stage routes Of the
| world. About every ten or twelve miles
| the driver would rein In his team, ana
then we would get a relay OF horses.
| found that every little while he would
| stop the horses and give them time to
| catch their breath. Then | said: Il
suppose it is a very easy matter to find
| drivers for this stage line. The pay l.,
good. The positions are absolutely as
| Sured to the men as long as they be
! have themselves. Some Of these tlriv-
company for ten, fifteen, even for TWEEN
| ty years." "Ch, yes" was the answer
ITS easy enough for the company to
get drivers, but very difficult to get
| the right kind Of drivers \ driver
who is careless can ruin these horses
in a few weeks. He will water them
| when they ought not to be watered. He
will push them hard when they should
be allowed to go slow. He will feed
them when they should not be fed. On
the other hand, the longer some drivers
handle their horses the stronger the
horses become" Then the driver lifted
his whip and cut the forward off horse
twenty years Old He Is good, strong
animal yet. That one by his side is
only five. lie is good for fifteen years
Of future service. The reason our
horses last SO long and do so much hard
work is because we treat them right"
give out and tumble into premature
graves Is because their owners do not
look after them and care for thcm
But as there are physical valetudi-
nar1ans, so there are mental AS there
are scores and hundreds of phys
zeal crpples who hobbe around on
clutches because they have not taken
care of their health, so there are scores
| and hundreds Of mental cripples, who
never have right thinking, robust
manly, independent minds, because
they have never made an effort to
think. These mental weaklings are
always depending upon others, or Dor
rowing from others, or trying to be
propped up by others. AS children,
they started their mental training
wrong. They have been very regular
in their habits Ever since childhood
days they have been living mentally
wrong.
Mental Cripp1es.
We first met these mental cripples,
or mental dependents in our school
room. One of them was our seat mate
If there was a hard problem in equa-
lions, or algebra, or trigonometry, he
always sat by our side, chewing the
end Of his pencil and looking around
the room, until we had worked out
the answer, and then he calmly copied
it off and turned in our work as his
own: In school days l had one Of
those mental leeches by my side. For
days and weeks he always copied my
work. And what was my surprise in
one examination, he received a higher
mark than I, although his paper was
mine, practically in toto. He was
mentally capable, but he simply would
not work.
We find these mental weaklings or
dependents everywhere around us in
the world. You have one in all proba
bility in your domestic servant. She
will do what you tell her to do, but IN
less you furnish her your brain and
thinking power she Is Of no more prac-
teal use in the world than a lifeless
stick. Instead of rising little earlier
than the family and getting: her work
we'll under way she does not get up
till you call her. After breakfast she
just sits. Then you come. to her. and
say, MARY, wish you would sweep
up the parlor and dust the mantels.'
Eyes, ma'am." Two hours later, going
into the room, you find Mary leaning
out Of the window and watching the
children playing In the street. You
say: MARY, this Is cleaning day. Can't
you do something besides stare out of
the window? Have you swept the par
for floor?" Eyes, ma'am." '"Then why
did you not go ahead and make up the
beds?" Because, ma'am, you did not
tell me to do 1t, ma'am." "Well, then
go ahead and make the beds" Eyes,
ma'am." Two hours later you come
back from some shopping and market
ing, and there you find Mary gosslping
with the cook In the kitchen, and the
front porch is dirty, and the rugs are
all askew In the halls, and the wash
ing has not been put away. "Mary,
Mary" you cry, losing all your pa,
thence, what Is the matter with you?
Why are you sitting idly there? Have
you fixed the halls and cleaned the
bathroom and put away the washing?"
mo, ma'am." "Why have you not
done these things?" Because, ma'am,
you never told me to do that, ma'am."