The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1907-01-10

4 4 OW time flies! Still, the major
II ity of us wish to see it go faster.
An! do we really wish time to
accelerate its speed? think
not. We find time too short as it is,
for there is so much to learn, so many
little things that we profess to know
something about, but really knoW
nothing ng-things which would be for
our benefit to know. Every hour of
the day is worth much, and something
of valae can be learned every hour. 1t
is difficult to convince sonnet that this is
true, but nevertheless it is.
We realize that one must be op i'm
istically embued to derive inspiration
or incentive to stady by simply looking
at the WhiteWashed walls and iron
door of his cell. These offer no en-
couragement, nor do they beckon nim
to seek laures on the Olympian field
OF law, science, oratory, craftsmanship,
| diplomacy, or III the broad martS Of
commerce. Time is too precious a
thing to wish it away flippantly. We
all know that the wise philosopher of
old was correct when he said time was
fleeting. The king of the Oil industry
| has found this to be true, He has
spent years in getting rich, and today
/ he rs just finding out the real joys of
life. For him life has slipt by before
he enjoyed its blessings, before he had
time to figure out what it all meant.
He was too busy. We are all too busy;
in too much Of hurry to get rich to
enjoy life properly; and we know not
whittier we are rushing.
The scholar who spends his life, like
Copernicus or Calico, in studying the
heavenly bodies, bequeatbs toposterity
a rich lore of information; but the
future astronomer must learn his
alphabet, ETC., just the same as his pred
ecessors did before his time. If they,
for instance, were born into this world
fully equipped to carry on the work
where their masters left off, many
questions that are unanswered today
would be common knowledge. Then,
each generation would not be compelled
to spend life time in learning the
why and wherefore of things. The
man who don't know is legion; but he
who can readily explain the why of
almost everything one wishes to know
every day in the year, is not very
plentiful.
For instance, we will consider the
frost on the window panes. What
causes it? You have noticed it times
without number, and undoubtedly
marveled at the wonderful designs
traced thereon. You have seen there
beautiful hillsides with their snow
covered sides, stately trees with their
twigs hanging heavy with icicles, and
deep ravines here and there that looked
as natural as a replica from natures
scenery. Ask the poet what created
these magnificent designs and he
would say that it was done by the spir-
its of the bygone masters of the brush.
The reverend Christian would call it
the handiwork of God. The man who
knows could explain the phenomenon
as easily as he does other simple
questions.
Herbert Spencer, in one of his books
called "Facts and Comments" asks his
readers if they know why the hedges
along an old roadway are higher than
} the road. He does not explain the
cause but after one has given the mat
: ter a moments thought, ,.one will have
J no difficulty in arriving at correct so.
luton. We can easily understand
many mystifying things by simply get.
ting down to first principles.
J The man who knows, or, in other
words, the man who thinks, is the one
: who manages to pilot himself around
!. many of the disagreeable things in
, this life. If seventy-five per cent OF
, the occupants of this, or any other
J prison, could only have thought Of the