Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-14
Sunday Morning Talk
The Spendthrift.

man blowing in his patrimony or his
nun Nancy treating and entertaining his
friends literally, showily dressed, obllvlous
10 the fact that every honest dollar in this
world originally represents some ones
Drawn or brain put to hard. toilsome use
that is the spendthrift as we customarily
conceive of him. at least in the first stages
of his existence. Years, or perhaps months
mass and we see him again, not a favored
child of fortune. popular fawned upon, the
victim of parasites and shar.-s, but quite
likely in threadbare garments, friendless,
passed by, back number, ready, it may be,
TO fill his empty stomach with the husks
that the swine do eat. That is the probable
end of the man who spends prematurely
and lavishly his all, whether he travels In
a far country or whether he INDUCES his
spending propensities nearer home.
But there are other spendthrifts besides
the man who makes away with lot of
money 1 noticed the other morning high
school boy going to school in the rain. A
splendidly built, athletic fellow he was,
looking as if he was certain TO make the
varsity foot ball team when he goes to col
lege next year and 10 put up Merry game
But he was sauntering along in the rain
without umbrella or overcoat or rubbers, in
a kind OF devil-may-care fashion as if he
wanted to give notice to the whole street
that he didn't need any outward wrap for
protection that il only women and
children and sickly men that needed to
protect themselves against an inclement
morning. II was a glorious sight from a
certain point OF view. but extremely pa
thetic from another Even he who has been
blessed with abundant health has no right
to act If he were entirely above all the
laws of hygiene. if he could waste his
vitality and not feel the drain in the long
run. The world is fun today of detected and
Tcpentant physical wrecks They thought
they could defy nature. that they could
burn the candle AT both ends; that they
could sit up half the night; that they could
indulge ia rOistering to their hearts con-
tent and not feel the effects in depleted
constitution or in a jaded or diseased
frame.
Some people spend. before they are very
Old. their entire capital in terms of reputa-
ton. They start out by saying: Who
cares what people think of us: We are not
going to be tied up to any conventional
standards, We don't require any ones good
viii 0r respect But they sadly err who
think jhat they can afford To throw away
their reputation. This is a critical world.
To be sure. but after all, it is disposed TO
give every man a fair chance. and it would
rather think better of a man than 10 think
i'll % him. But II he shows no signs of
caring for his own reputation. If he fiaunts
his departure from accepted standards of
righteous behavior in the face of the world.
and what might have been a real asset to
him becomes positive handicap. That
distinguished Russian novelist who visited
our country not long ago soon found that
lie could not defy American ideas of the
marriage relationship and remain on the
footing that is accorded the man who does
not thus violate the deepest instincts of the
popular heart.
And i; is possible To throw away life
itself hiSt as one throws away money.
health and reputation. You can spend all
Your hope and enthusiasm in short time.
You can lose the ZeSt for the everyday
experiences. which. If rightly entered into,
make existence rich and blessed. You can
throw away golden hours and opportunities
and keep on doing this long that by and
by YOU WILL wake up 10 the fact that you
have nothing left but mere fragment OF
your earlier enthusaSms and have become
So tangled up in repining and complaints
that You have heart left to go on with
the task Of living bravely, sunnly and
VIGOROUSLY.
Spendthritts are more numerous in mod
ern life than we realize. Each has made
some too great. too severe and too constant
demands upon a capital that was meant TO
last many years. Happy the spendthrift
who. like the pTOdigal of old, comes 10 him
self before il is too late. and who not only
setas his face toward the homeland, toward
earlier ideals and associations, but who ac-
tuaIy starts out to attain them. Such a
one will soon find that IL is possible even
for spcndthrift to retrieve his past.
THE PARSON.