The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-02-23

Jedrs perish DeLOre your eyes. "
cannot rebuild your fortune. raise Il
dead, recover your lost toll, and in Il
face Of the Inevitable your arms dro
Then you neglect TO care for your pc
son. TO keep your house. to guide you
children. All this is pardonable, an
how easy to understand But It is ez
ceedlngly dangerous. To fold one
hands and let things take their cours
is to transform one evil into worse
You who think that you have nothinl
left to lose will by that very though
lose what you have. Gather up the
fragments that remain to you and keer
them with scrupulous care. In good
time this little that is yours will bt
your consolation. The effort made will
come to your relief, as the effort miss
ed viii turn against you. II nothing
but branch is left for you to cling
TO, cling to that branch, and IL you
stand alone In defense of losing cause
do not throw down your arms to join
the rout. After the deluge a few sur
vivors repeopled the earth. The fu-
ture sometimes rests In a single life
MS truly as life sometimes hangs by q
thread. For strength go to history and
nature. From the long travail Of both
you will learn that failure and fortune
alike may come from the slightest
cause, that 1t is not wise to neglect
detail and, above all, that we must
know how to wait and to begin again.
In speaking Of simple duty l cannot
help thinking of military life and the
examples It offers to combatants in this
great struggle. He would little under
stand his soldiers duty who, the army
once beaten, should cease to brush his
garments, polish his rifle and observe
discipline. "But what would be the
usef" perhaps you ask. Are there not
various fashions of being vanquished?
Is II an Indifferent matter to add to de-
feat Encouragement, disorder and de-
moralization1 No; 1t should never be
forgotten that the least display Of en-
ergy In these terrible moments Ia a
sign Of life and hope. At once every
body feels that all Is not lost.
During the disastrous retreat Of 1873
II, in the heart Of the winter, when 1t
had become almost impossible TO pre-
sent any sort Of appearance. general,
| know not who, one morning present
ed himself to Napoleon In full dress
and freshly shaved Seeing him thus,
In the midst OF the general demoraliza-
ton, as elaboratey attired as II for
parade, the emperor said, my general,
you are brave mani"
Again, the plain duty M the near
duty. A very common weakness keeps
many people from finding what IL near
them interesting; they see that only on
Its paltry side The distant, on the
contrary, draws and fascinates them.
In this way fabulous amount Of good
will Is wasted. People burn with ar
dor for humanity, for the public good,
for rlghting distant wrongs; they walk
through life, their eyes fixed on mar
yelous sights along the horizon, tread
Ing meanwhile on the feet of passers-
by or jostllng them without being
aware OF their existence.
Strange inirmity. that keeps Us from
seeing our fellows at our very doorsl
People widely read and far Travelled
are often not acquainted with their
fellow citizens, great or small. Their
lives depend upon the cooperation Of
multitude Of beings whose lot re-
mains to them quite Indifferent. Not
those to whom they owe their knowl
edge and culture, not their rulers nor
those who serve them and supply their
needs, have ever attracted their atten-
tlon. That there Ia ingratitude or I'm
providence In not knowing ones work.
men, ones servants-all those, in short,
with whom one has indispensable So
cial relationships has never come into
their minds, Others 60 much further.
To certain wives their husbands are
strangers, and conversely. There are
parents who do not know their chill.
dren; their development, their thoughts,
the dangers they run, the hopes they
cherish, are to them a closed book.
Many children do not know their par
ents, have no suspicion of their diffi-
culties and struggles, no conception Of
their aims. And am not speaking Of
those piteously disordered homes
where all the relations are false but
Of honorable families. Only all these
people are greatly preoccupied; each
has his outside interest that fills all his
time. The distant duty-very attrac-
tive, don't deny-claims them entire
iy, and they are not conscious Of the
duty near at hand. fear they will
have their trouble for their pains. Each |
persons base of operations is the field
Of his immediate duty. Neglect this
field, and all you undertake at dis
tance Is compromised First, then, be
OF your own country, your own city,
your own home, your own church, your
own workshop; then, If you can, set out
from this to 30 beyond 1t. That is the
plain and natural order, and man must
fortify himself with very bad reasons
to arrive at reversing It. At all events,
the result of 30 strange a confusion of
duties is that many people employ
their time in all sorts of affairs except
those In which we have a right to de-
mand It. Each is occupied with some
thing else than what concerns him, is
absent from his post, ignores his trade.
This is what compllcates life. And It
would be 80 simple for each one to be
about his own matter.
Another form Of simple duty. When
damage Is done who should repair itI
He who did It. This Is just, but 1t is
only theory, and the consequence Of
following the theory would be the evil
In force until the malefactors were
found and had Offset 1t. But suppose
they are not found, or suppose they
iannot or will not make amendsT
The rain falls on your head through
hole IN the roof or the wind blows
IN at a broken window. VIII you wait
10 find the man who caused the mis-
shief2 You would certainly think that
absurd. And yet such is often the prac-
lice Children Indignantly protest. ~