The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-08

been trained to succeed in it. 1t may
be only to make table or construct a
| watch. but he should be able to do
F., that better than other people. If he is
lapidary he should be able to distin-
| guish the precious stone from the com
! mon pebble and should know how to
| cut and polish it. If You find when You
make your first halt that you have not
| this capacity to do some one work bet
| ter than others, would advise YOU to
| go back and acquire this power, this
| trained brain, before You proceed fur
| Their. Remember you are pitching camp
as did Joseph and Mary after your first
days journey.
| In camp every one must be willing
| to do his part, and more than his part
| or else friction will surely come. Some
| one must chop the wood and cook and
! wash the dishes. Some one must carry
! the water and unload the pax mules
| or the wagon. Some ole -: '-:-,e the
| long, weary journey 10 Ia ,'--.il and
| pasture for horses. All these d. IS are
| not easy to perform when Hvt:t mus
| cles are tired and you have the blood
| jumping and jabbing and throjbing
| in your infamed feet. But some one
| has to do these tasks. If you are not
| willing to do them some one else must
| And yet sometimes you will have a
man on camping trip who is too lazy
and selfish to do anything or to learn
| to do anything. He magni1ies his own
tro1hlaS and IiSnara ynur \ hOrc
until he becomes perfect pest and
| makes himself miserable and irritates
every one around him. That is the
| journey of life. Some men are willing
| to do their share of work and a great
deal more than their share of work. |.
| they are mentally incompetent, then
| they brayely and conscientiously say:
Il will repair my mental deficiencies.
| will learn to do my duty. When am
ignorant l will manfully shoulder the
burden God has given me to carry" l.:
that your life, o man? Is that your
life, 0 woman? What you mentally
lack are you by Gods help and by
hard labor willing to develop?
In the Redwood Forests.
I was nightly impressed with this
fact some time ago when travelling
among the famous redwood forests OF
northern California. We had been
climbing one of those lofty hills when
| night overlook US. We slept near a
watering trough by the roadside. The
tall trees grew taller. The silence OF
the woods became more still. The
presence of God was perceptible Us II
Is to none hut those who have been
communing with him in the silent
places of nature. The next morning 4
fine, tall, handsome man stopped in
camp He was ON his way back to his
timber claim. He asked NE TO accom-
pany him and take short cut through
the woods to the road ahead, and |
went. While we walked along he told
me the struggles of his life. He was
left fatherlesS at eight years of age.
At nine he was working for his living
At eleven he was driving plOw. Ut
terly alone he had to work his way up
Some years ago he came to the red
wood forests as teamSter. Now he
was the owner of some of the finest
sections in that region. Then what Go
you suppose he talked about? His sue
cess? Oh, no. About his lack of edu-
cation. Though a grown man of near
" thirty years of age, he intended the
next winter to go back to Eureka and
enter the public school as if he had
been little boy. Do you suppose you
could keep down man like that:
Never! He worked, and he worked
hard, but as he worked he said, The
educational deficiencies of my youth
must and will rectify." | admired that
mans courage and humility. | thought
then what good thing it would be for
some Of us If we took the same course.
At the end of the first days journey
we have discovered that we have not
the capacity requisite to fulfill the du
ties we have undertaken. We spent
our school and college days in idleness
and frivolity. We are not equipped for
the journey of life. Is it possible for
US to lay aside our pride and go back
to obtain the equipment we need?
Dangers to Be Met.
But a man in the journey of life
needs to be more than mentally equip
ped. He must also be physically and
morally protected. AS many dangers
confronted the oriental traveller, so
when a young man breaks loose fron
his home surroundings there are many
temptations before him. The only way
to successfully meet and overcome
those temptations is to prepare for
them before we start. You would not
have thought much Of the old ''forty-
miner" who attempted to cross the
western prairie without first we'll test
ing his shooting irons. He may not
have cared how the exterior of his
guns looked, but he was very careful
about the inner side Of his rifles. He
always saw to it that no rust was
there and there was no indentation of
his barrels Whether those guns shot
straight or no was to decide his life or
death. The fierce savages, the ugly
grizzlies, the hungry panthers and the
half starved pack Of wolves all de-