Norwich bulletin., 1913-01-07
Y. N. c. \. SHOP MEETINGS
 BEGUN AGAIN.
First of Now Scribe Hold at Mccrur'i HewsH PIant--Rsv. c. II. Ricketts the Spoajer.

tho SpoAker.
 The first in the series of Y. M. c. 4. shop meetings this winter was neio Monday noon at the McCrunn- Howell plant. the speaker being Rev. v. Fl. Fl. past0r ro Sf the The eisan Life was the subject of his address. which was heard with interest by large number of men. Solos were rem dered by Miss Elsie Brand. accompan- jed by Miss Fuller.
 The Clean Life.
 Rev. MT. Ricketts in opening his ad- dress expressed pleasure at meeting once more the employees of the plant where he spoke last season. He saio. in part
 Thero is something about the new year that makes us thoughtful. that is if we are inclined to look at the prob lem of life seriously. You and 1 are just one year older than we were when 1912 began. Are we better or are we worse? Have we been advancing or retreating? Have we been facing the sunlight or the shadows? It Is the one or the other. It Is a scientific fact that life, which is ony another term for activity, is not at standstiH; IL must always be going forward or back ward- I am firmly convinced that hu-
 man life is moving forward and up ward with rapid strides. that each year brings in it's wider and grander hori-
 
 to general wellbeing. Of course there are individual 1apses, far more than we wish, but here as elsewhere 1t is the exception that proves the rule"
 The Clean Page.
 The new year serves as a boundary line. and boundary lines are every where in life. either as fact or as an imagination.
 There is one boundary line in partic- ular that wish to speak about today. In a score of instances 1t is referred to in the Bible, and that is the Book Of Life" The value of book Is condi- toned by what each page contains. The value of. a year is to be gauged by how we live each day. As it is the page that illumines or blackens the makes the year to be commended or condemned. So then my thought for today is The Clean Page.
 Every thoughtful man makes 8 su- preme choice in life. That choice is the title of the book he makes. Ev- cry act of his life consciously or un- consciously made, puts something into thah book. How often do we hear that certain authors do or do not sustain their regulations in certain chapters
 How often does a single sentence mar an entire ehapteri How often does one unfortunate act leave a black 1 mark on what would otherwise be 3 fair reputation! How important it is l lndt Iile udly pdSS DS SiSoA one Chapter Closed.
 Last Tuesday closed the 1912 chap 1 ter in our life book. All except the l inuuence of that chapter is now done l It has gone to the printer, the type has
 been set the proof sheets corrected l the edition struck off, and now it Is or l the tarl1et to be taken by the grea 1 distributing wave of publicity to wher- l ever the silent language of Influence l is spoken. When it has once. beer i gripped by the public it iS no longel 1 ours. We cannot recall it if we would 1 for it has become a part of eternity l itself. Rejoicing or repenting over tn, l closed chapter is of no avail now. Ant l the sooner we drop things that we cal
 no longer change, the better for us
 Let the past take care of itself What Shall We Write? Last Wednesday we took down iron l the shelves new ream of white pa I per with blank pages and began nev l chapter Now the question that is go l ing to fit us for time and eternity Il l this: What am I going to make Q 1 this pager Shall it be clean or vile 1 page each day as it comes that De l r1ands my soul, my life, my all.'' It is not tinsel glitter that makes l book valuable. It is not the iourishe l we make that gives solidity to charac | ter. Many a vile page is covered witt 1 a fine exterior, and many a cheap maj l masquerades in broadcloth, but tn ! outside clothing makes neither tn 1 book nor the man. Fine leather bind l ing cannot prevent a bad book iron having a bad influence. Lampblacl may be found in silver platter. bu it is lampblack all the same, and you touch it you will be smirched witt ] it. You cannot read a page of viii l book without having it's imprint ol | your soul, whether it is in paper GOV l CT or elegant morocco. My friend what are you writing on the clea1 l white page of today? And what sort o | a page are you reading?
 l Remember also that it is not tn
 size of the page that gives the bool
 value It is not the size of the pag
 nor the number of pages, nor tn l mechanical execution that makes i book, but the thought and style. Ma l than Hale lived by 22 years and Me | thuselah nearly a thousand, but whicl | of the two was the more valuable? i is not the number of years we live but how we'll. My friend, are vol writing today the clean, manly. page 1 Tn the long run this only will coun l and this is my new years salutation. NEW LONDON ELkS