The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-08-11
LOOKING AND SEEING
There Is a Marked Difference Be.
i tween These Two Acts.
the POWER OF OBSERVATION
u ehouId D. cuItIvstsd Evan In the
Mssf Ordinary Thinss--A Faculty
! That 10 Possssssd BY All, but That
n Developed by the Few.

ents that their children shall make
some sort Of a mark In the world when
they grow up. They do not IN the ma.
1Srity Of cases expect that their of.
spring will become famous and make
nptnes that will live for ages. but they
cherish the thought that they will be
specessful men aud women in some
profession or business. That is the
keynote--that success shall be their
portion. 4
Yet It n q fact that most parents
neglect or pay very little attention to
one part Of the child's education which
- Of the highest Importance. They do
not train the perceptive faculties.
Power Of observe lion VIII help you
more than anything else in your strug.
gle for existence. and yet there are
comparatively few people who are
keen observers. One small fact will
prove this latter statement. The man
who observes everything. he who sees
everything he looks at, il singled out
either as an inquisitive person or a
clever one, and this shows that he is
an exception.
1t IL easy to give instances Of this
lack OF perception even In the ordinary
things Of life. Some years ago an art.
1st engaged In a London firm Of print
ers had to draw an advertisement IN
which the central figure was cock I'm
the act Of Growing. Nothing seemed
easier, but when he set to work the
artist found himself confronted by a
difficulty-does the cock show its tongue
prominently when 1t crows? Every
one Of the hundred men employed by
the firm had seen cock crow scores
of times, yet not one Of them could
answer the question. The artist had
to 90 to friend who kept fowls and
chase the poor rooster round and round
the yard until 1t crowed.
= A schoolmaster, wishing to test the
perception of his boys. asked them
how many times they had seen COW
or pictures of that animal and found,
~ he had expected, that all the boys
had seen the creature more times than
they could remember. Then he offered
TO give small prizes to the boys who
could correctly answer this question:
'.Are a cows ears above, below, IN
front OF or behind its horns?" Only
two boys gained prizes, and their an
ewers were guesswork.
Now sit down and test yourself In
some such simple manner. You have
ali 'seenra, horse down" Can you de
!sgribs how II rises? Does 1t get up on
rs fore feet first and then ON its hind
feet or does 1t kneel first, then get on
its hind feet and finally on It's fore
feet2
y However, you need not conflne your
self 10 the animal Kingdom I'm testing
your perceptive faculties. Many sub
jects will suggest themselves to you.
As an excuse for this want Of obser-
walton II is often urged that "a man
cant know everything" but the excuse
II bad one. There is great differ
ence between knowing little or nothing
and knowing everything. When the
Faculty has been trained 1t requires no
more effort to note the points Of the
object looked at than 1t does to glance
at that same object and come away
none the wiser.
The chances of success In life are on
the side of the man who knows eer-
tain things because he has learned
about them by using his senses instead
of having to 60 to book for all that
he wishes to know. Books are indis-
pepsable, as there are so many things
which cannot come within the range Of
our observation, but wherever possible
we should use our senses to acquire
knowledge at first hand.
This Will explain why men who can
not read or write have built UP sub
stantial businesses. They have made
use of the power possessed by all. but
cultivated by very few.
: The perceptive faculty must be train
ed during childhood and youth. After
the completion of the twentieth year
very little progress can be made. A
grown man is unable to develop his
powers OF observation to any satisfac.
tory degree. Youth is full OF energy.
ana that is the time to incuIcate the
lesson that we should see all that our
eyes rest upon.
4 1t should be the object Of every par.
ept TO teach his child to note every OBJ,
feet that comes In his way. When out
for walk In park the child should
be told TO observe the shapes Of the
leaves on the different trees, the pal.
ing of the color of animals toward the
under part of the body. and SO on. and
should be told that when asked ques-
.tion on the subject he must be prepar-
ed TO say that It is so. not that he
Thinks II Is
\ All children have inquiring minds,
and after walk or two. coupled with
such instruction as we have mention
ed. you will find the child making
great progress aud acquiring quality
shat will be invaluable In after life.
One Of the methods adopted by Hou,
hin. the conJurer, for quickening the
-p4rcsption Of his son was to make him
walk rapidly past q shop window or
stall on which number of articles
were displayed ana then write down
list OF the objects noticed. At first
only half dozen articles were per.
ceiyed during the moment occupied In
passing the store or window. but after
having done It once day for a month
the boy was able to make list OF