Las Vegas daily optic., 1907-04-06
SEES JOY In WORK
WORLD SEEMS TO HAVE NO
PLACE FOR TaE aO'.ER.
Ne Rsal Joy In LIE ef Ease "fhoas
Laror, says Man Vine ssas Gwen
the Matter . ThoTeaah
Trial.

After all" said q man Who some
time ago had "A fortune aeit ~ him.
there's nothing like woTk
Il used To think thai hAd
money enough To live on comfortably.
-, that | dian't have 20 woEk. should
be happy. Ny work wgs one tncessans
grind. day after day the same uh'
ending round Of the same things over
and over again. and used TO get so
tired Of u all that sometimes II SEEM
ed a. though should hy,
but l had to keep nj IL 10 live. and
so did keep at II tiii distant resa"
tive Of mine that ! had never known
was worth anything diet aud LEFT me
fortune.
There never was anything that
ever happened TO me- that ever gave
me- bali so much pleasure as that.
The first thing did was to shak" th"
work which | got rid Of as quickly as
dccently could. and then ! set about
planning enjoy ment
The one thing Of all that ] wanted
most vas travel crayed a change.
and when that money came | 20; H.
set out on my dreamed Of travels.
and found a keen delight In them all
for a time
1t was all the same to me whether
IL rained or the sun shone. for wher'
ever was or wherever | was going.
| vas free to enjoy 1t all. and | did
for a time. but then | began To find
myself In Il way apart. and not SO
much privileged 10 enjoy these things
as | had been at first.
For was an idler pure and sim
pie. while all those to whom ! was
indebted for the possibility OF the
pleasures OF travel. the railroad men
and the steamship men. were all
workers. as were also the hotel men
and the theater people and every
body 10 whom | was Indebted FOR
pleasures In sojourn, all workers. So
likewise were all or nearly all tho
travellers | met, workers in one field
or another. all. and finding delight in
every breath they drew because they
were workers.
And they were drawn. IL not to-
gethcr. at least toward one another
of their kind. while |. an idler only,
had nothing In common with the
world Even In the far distant ports
where leaned over the rail found
myself more and more separated from
the labcrer on the wharf. who bound
though he might be to his work, yet
had an object in life. which he ac.
complished by labor. while was a
mere part.
In fact the more idled the more
clearly | came to realize that the law
of the universe is labor. that in nature
there Is nothing idle, and the more
travelled the more clearly 1t came to
me how few real idlers there are
among men. When finally at the
end of three years of idling had
come back again to the city had
this fact borne in upon me with
greater intensity than ever, and now
the great JOY that I had found at
first in sheer loafing was quite de-
parted.
The city was alive with activity.
with men all at work. all doing some
thing. all accomplishing something,
and I was out OF it, an idler and-a
stranger. Actually men looked at
] me as strange being. and some of
, them with curiosity That should
be doing nothing when there was a
chance. they wondered.
Friends that had known greet
+ ed me and smiled and then-passed
' on. They had their work to do and
L. their interests and their sympathies
, were with other people. So stood
alone. as one set of. until, by q
kind Of Providence. there arose with
in me a desire to work.
I've been at 1t ever since, and I
am at 1t still, grateful to be back In
tho fold of mon"