Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-03-04
YOUNG MAN,
KEEP OUT OF DEBT.

editors Keowee Courier: am
not preacher, neither am the son
OF preacher. However, will take a
text, and it will prove of vital i'm
portance to everybody, especially to
the young men who are just setting
out upon the voyage of life. 1t is
the bedrock on which to build a
successful career. We are all out OIL
the sea OF life. and each one >lnuyt
be- his own captain in temporal
things as well as in spiritual things
Therefore, each individual must ex-
anime his chart, and see that the
compass points in the right direction
in order to round ~ a successful bu-
siness life. We wish that we could
impress this truth upon the heart of
every young man in all this broad
land, and that it could be written in
red letters upon the gates and door
posts of every house.
Now, let us stop for one moment
and think what debt is, and what 1t
means, and you may then better un-
derstand what this advice (this text
is worth, or may be worth, to you.
Debt Is worse than cyclones, flood
or fire. 1t is ghost that will not
down, but will sit upon you bed
post as a nightmare that will rob
you of sweet sleep. 1t is shackle
to your energy. 1t stops the pace OF
the fleetest. 1t holds man to the
spot when golden opportunity Is but
one step away. 1t keeps a fellows
nose to the grindstone. There may
be flowers along life's pathway, but
the man in debt finds tlat his arm
is too short to get them. He is like
one with a ball and chain to his leg;
he cannot be his own master
Others dictate or interfere with
his plans. Like q dog with block
he is kept within certain bounds
and his locomotion is necessarily
very slow, but he has to keep NOV
ing to get there at all, and at the end
OF the year he finds, 10 his great dis
appointment, that buckle and tOneue
won't meet. He doesn't have time
to sit down and think and plan.
There may be shaded spots along the
way, but only the man free from
debt may find them to enjoy the
shady places in life.
Young man, if you will put your
shoulder to the wheel, and push with
might and main, and If the smutty
end of the log comes to you, take
right hold of it, and then live in the
hlNSShIh Sdllll, you Will DS just
as sure to succeed in life as a loose
horse Is to run ahead Of the one that
is hobbled; just as sure as cow
that is not fastened is going to find
the tall grass, while the one staked
may have to chew the stubble unless
she breaks the rope.
No man will ever have smooth
sailing until he breaks the rope Of
debt that holds him down. Debt is
not only shackle, a quicksand. but
1T is an eating cancer. 1t ruins the
disposition, produces despair eats
away life itself. This diseasc-this
cancer--not only eats away the en-
ergy and the brain, but it polmtes
the atmosphere Of your home, places
the red placard of pastilence beside
your doorway, throws shadow
about your fireside, and always finds
you fiat on your back, when opportu-
nifty knocks at your door. 1t has
ruined many good man and blight
ed many happy homes. 1t is better
to die with a quick pain than a slow
fever The point Is this: That we
had better deny ourselves of the lux
uries OF life than to go in debt for
them 1t Is an old adage, but a
true one, to keep it up you must pay
the money down. Make up your
mind now, not to go in debt this
year Of grace 1908. And say, in the
language OF the Scotchman, my name
Is McGregor, and this Is my native
heath, and by the eternal powers
here | will forever stand. But to do
this you will have to be as watchfuI
as Roman vastal on duty.
Debt is not only a nightmare, a
cancer, shackle to your feet, but 1t
is horse-leech sucking the very life
blood from the home; 1t Is sting
ing adder, biting serpent.
If you must and will go in debt,
whatever you do don't strain your
credit Keep your hand upon the
throttle, and your eye upon the rail,
and watch for the breakers.
j. Russell Wright.