Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-10-17
Luck
Sometimes 1t Is
Decisive of Ones
Destiny,
by GEORGE l.. KNAPP.

Luck may be defined as those Circum-
stances which man can neither control
nor foresAe, yet which influences, some
times decisively. his fate, Some there
arc who maintain that luck is not only
a great but decisive factor in the lives
OF individuals and nations; others there
be who will have IL that no such thing
as luck exists Neither view can be ac-
cepted by one who takes an unprecedented
look at the world. There is such thing
as luck, and sometimes II Is decisive OF
ones destiny But more often man makes
his own destiny. and the troubles which
ne lays to malign fate are due to hts
own self-indulgenoe and short-sishted-
ness. or course, he may sny that It Is
bad luck to have such qualities. That In
probably true, but It ls further than we
care to carry the subject. on the sur
face OF things, which Is by odds the
most interesting region OF them, We have
stated the rule correctly.
IL one looks over the field OF human
affairs. he will see here and there a
case that seems the rank favoritism OF
fortune. but the longer he gazes the
moro he will wonder whether these APP
parent favors are worth having. The
young man who Is left a multi-milllonaire.
with neither a trade nor the need OF
learning one, Is one of the unlucki9st OF
men. For. unless he Is born. with most
unusual measure OF foresight and philoso-
ply, he will find that his wealth marks
him off from his fellows and lsolates him
In u gilded prison. whore true friendll-
ness and human fellowship may not
enter. And that Is the worst OF mis-
fortunes. The common lot may be hard
but far harder are the fortunes OF hin,
who is separated too thoroughly from
the common lot
wellington, you remember. once de-
claTed that he made luck. lie didn't; al
least. not In the sweeping, vain-glorlous
meaning OF his phrase. II was luck
that is to say, II was something that he
could neither foresee nor control-which
allowed him to face and beat Napoleon
quarreling marshals and their divided
forces instead OF having to bear the
crushing onset of the united forces OF the
French empire. led by the hero of Aus,
terlitz himself Waterloo was the luck.
lest day In the history OF very lucky
nation. for II one Of a half dozen un.
predictable events had failed TO occur
Wellington would have been wiped OF
the slate by 2 o'clock, while Butcher
with his life saving battalions were ye
miles and miles away. In one sense
Wellington deserved his success. II,
knew that tho only certain thing about
luck Ia that It Ia bound to change, Rnt
he held on with tenaclty that even Eng
land has seldom rivaled. till the chang
oame-and tho Prusslans. But one cnnno
help thinking that wellington would hav'
shown more modosty not to mention bet
ter sporting blood, had he admitted th'
help given by his allies and refralnot
from slandoring his army.
And, for that matter, we In America
would do well 10 acknowledge that Il
many. many ways fortune has been very
kind to US. The fact that Washington
lived at the time OF the Revolution. tina
Give died before he could take command
OF the British armies in that war, tina
Arnold's treason came too late TO ruin
that Thomas Jefferson was able to push
through the first ten amendments TO tbs
oonstitutioh--these are favors for any Of
which Rome would have buried the ALTA
OF fortune In costly sacrifices. MOI
must we forget that the good fortune Of
having LINCOLN for our war president
could not wholly be counterbalancod ever
by tho frightfuI catastrophe of his dealt
just when his power for good was great
est. or certainty, We have been q
lucky people. II would be unbecomlng
perhaps unpleasant to inquire toe
closely into how much OF our luck W,
made ourselves.
The man most frequently thought Of
when luck In mentioned Is Napoleon. Ye
there was never a man whose successes
and failures could so easily be traced 4
himself, his genius and his folly. Ma
poleon was really two men In one: tn,
first young, sober, a hard worknI
geniusi the other a conceited, self-in
dulgent. gifted gambler. Each deserved
Just what he got. In his earlier day
Napoleon took no chances that geniu
| and study, and incredible effort coult
rule out In his first Italian campaign
for instance. though he had less than
fourth OF the total number OF troop
sent against him. In all but two Of hi
| fourteen pitched battles he outnumbere,
| his enemy on the field These two wer
| Aroola and Rivoli Jouberts corp
marched all night to get TO the las
named battlefield, fought all the mex
| day, and marched all the next night I,
get back to the Notifications befor
| Mantua.
In his age, on the other hand Napoleon
trusted to his star" and played die
rather than chess. He left 10000 vet
eran troops In German fortresses an,
cities, merely to make the stake NOR
I valuable II he won. and fought the BATH
! OF Leipsic with 10000 men. half OF then
| raw troops and many OF them mutInous
against $4,000 OF the allies. There wa
no element Of luck" about that defeat
for all its factors might have been con
trolled and foreseen
But what Is the use OF writing pros
when some one else has already told tn
tale In verse Here are a few stanza
Of saxes poem on the theme we hav
been discussing:
The real secret OF the certain winner
Against the plottings Of malicious fate
| Learn from the story OF a gaming sinner
Whose frank confessions l viii here re
! late,
I'm this ere business. as In any other.
| BY which man an honest Twin earns