The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-07

But do we not also love and cling to our
 wives and husbands and children? We seem to grow a bigger baby about them
 every day When we go away from home now we long to get back, just as
 little child cries for It's mother How would you like to go back to childhood.
 and live ten, twenty or thirty years be- fore you had the pleasure of domestic life that you have now? Are you sure
 you would find a wife as well adapted to
 you as she who is now your companion and helper? You know how faithfully
 she has clung to you. She is like sap
 ling, she never loses her anchorage. When
 the storm of anger subsidies she rights herself and compels you to do the same.
 I do not believe there is another woman,
 in all the world Who is more fitted to be.
 the companion of your life than she has been. If I were you I would not ask to go back to childhood and risk losing her. It was hard enough in the beginning to win her. All her school friends were
 amazed to see her choose you when, from a worldly standpoint so many suit
 ors had laid siege to her heart and hand. Then the babiesl How could we give them up, even for little while? l once
 read of little girl who, with her brother.
 was watching a knife grinder sharpening some scissors. Her father, quite near sighted and deaf, turned to the boy and said: My son, here is some money. Ask
 the organ grinder to play another tune" With that the boy began to laugh. His sister turned upon him look of sharp
 rebuke as she answered. ''Yes, father,
 we will" Then she turned and gave the organ grinder another pair of scissors to , sharpen, and the nearsighted and deaf father turned smilingly away, thinking
 he had made his children happy, whereas.
 in fact, 1t was the daughter who had |
 older our children have a habit of cov-
 ering up our weaknesses. We do not know why it is, but we are growing more and
 more dependent upon them every day. An, yes, those boys and girls of ours, how much they are to usi The hair may be gray upon our heads, the hand may be feeble, but we would not have raven
 locks and stout limbs if we had to be separated from them even for a year. If 1 we went back to childhood days, could we improve our lot? Could we have any bet
 ter children than are now. blessing our lives?
 But" says some one. q did not ex- actly mean that. What do mean is this: I would like to live my life over again
 just as it is. would like to go back into the past and be born in the same cradle
 and have the same brothers and sisters.
 I would like again to go to the same schools and marry the same girl and
 have the same children. I would like to have my life exactly reproduced as it has been in the past" Then, my friends, I want to tell you that your life, if it were to be reproduced just as it was, would be great disappointment to you. "A twice told tale is never as interesting the second time as it Is the first time it is told. Let me illustrate:
 A Twice Told Tale.
 For many years my father led very
 busy life. Pleasure had but little in his
 existence He went from engagement to
 engagement, from duty to duty. But
 during these years of work he kept one
 hope ever before him. He wanted to go
 back and live little while close to na-
 ture, as he did when a boy. "Oh." said
 he thousand times, If we could get big carriage and take all the children along and go camping through the noun
 tains. Then we would picnic by day and
 sleep under the shadow of the trees by night" Well, the time did come when
 that often planned dream was to come true. We were spending that summer in the mountains of old Virginia. Father
 put all his children into wagon. and we started. We travelled through the woods as he did when boy for just two days. The first day was stihing hot. It ended in a terrific thunder storm, which fright ened all the children and I think himself included The next day the milk soured: that meant no coffee. While father was eating his lunch on d log he saw crawling up between his legs a snake, lifting it's head to strike. That ended our outing
 That ended the beautiful dreams of boy