The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-10-08
TIMELY RElNFORCEMENTS.
Human Life Would BE Dull Without
Associates.

Life was never meant to be a game
of solitaire. and the chief reason why
it is interesting to live is that It IS
not just "one thing after another. as
the dreary libel has it, but constant
meeting with the unexpected at the
frequently interesting crossroads. In
"Pilgrims' Progress" the reader re-
members how others continually join
ed the pathway of the traveller, COM
ing from all directions, and half the
charm OF that great story which has
carried its message into every LAND is
in these dramatic Interruptions. The
reader wonders who will be next to
climb over the orchard wall or come
painting through a dust cloud from a
by-way to join the Pilgrims itinera-
~ for a little while and then the
sight of lions in the apth, or grinnins
giants, become faint-hearted and de-
seTt.
lllS 10 lihC luoI VIC dlC onSStSo
by all whom We meet, either for a
Strengthening contact or a weaken
ing subtraction. What an inspira-
ton it is to have so much as an hour
Or even ten minutes-with true
greatness in man or woman! We
feel their power radiate-we sue
cumb to the magic that we cannot
analyze, the personality that We feel
without being able to make definite
appraisal of its constituent parts.
You may sell old furniture from auc-
ton block, but the atmosphere Of
the dismantled house is not to be
conveyed to a new owner at any
price. Even so, yo umay describe
the attributes of human being, but
you cannot tell me what the sum to-
tai of him is like, beyond indicating
the impression he has made upon
you.
We are about to give up, perhaps,
and 10! our attention is arrested by
some challenging episode or vista
some promise of a fresh voyage of
discovery-that makes us think it
worth while to remain on earth lit
tie longer to "see this thing out" In
these delirious times of piping war,
indeed, we seem to have inherited
future somewhere adumbrated by
H. G. Wells, with his cosmic imagi-
nation, or by Kipling, not to men
tion our old friend Verne, whom we
have always with us in some fresh
substantiation of his prophecies. In
deed, this seems to be the future,
suddenly come upon us not at pres
ent. The centuries ahead are al
ready here. And they act as spur
and a stimulus to the pessimistic
mentality which was about to put
it down that there is nothing new
under the sun.
In our simplest lives, the quietest
ways we can take, there are vivid
lightning flashes of enlivening glory.
No career is so dull and uniform as
not to hold them. A man who drives
a station hack, messenger boy who
trudges with telegram, the conduct
or of freight. train, the motorman,
bo u-bo oparotoc or o1ovafOr' tho
sweeper of a crossing-any one of
these may hold in his hands the keys
of the destiny of others, and in min
iature and at a distance follow the
world-conquering, star-yearning track
of Caesar. Who says that romance
is denied the pale youth who packs
moist sand around mold in a
foundry, or rubs pestle in mortar
compounding a prescription behind
the ground-glass of a pharmastic?;
Either might have in his very grasp
life precious as that of Sir Ed
ward Coke, or Johannes Brahms, or
Anselm, or Michael Faraday.
The timely reinforcements do not
always gallop in noisy numbers over
a hill with cheers and Haunting pen
mons. They may steal in very quiet
ly, as wide river runs, and take
possession. A letter at the very min
ute it is wanted may help immensely,
even if there is no money in it, 40
catering to the appetite of vanity, 40
promise of advantage in some high
er station. 1t is the sheer friendli-
ness that counts most of all. We
cannot always know when we have
helped over the rough places those
who but for us, might have fallen
by the way. We can afford to let
the expression Of their gratitude
wait-but We must not delay the
ministrations and the service that
shall earn this thankfulness.-
delphia Ledger.