The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-30
Success and Failure.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.

one afternoon by his wife Among the crowd o.
jpeople trudging home from their work he noticed
Ia man who was old and ill-clad and obviously
worn out. He called upon his wife to stop the
car. AS she slowed down she looked at him with
curiosity.
| What do you want me to stop for?" she asked
/ Il want to get out" he replied. "See that old
man over there? He has been working hard all
day long. l have been doing practically nothing
He has been paid starvation wages, much less than
he is worth. 1 have been paid big salary, much
more than / worth. l am feeling fresh, and
he is tired. The only decent thing for to do
is to get out and walk and let you take that fellow
home"
The wife, instead of stopping, put on speed.
For several blocks she kept going at furious
rate. Then she remarked, looking straight ahead,
1 Il wish you would play your jokes people that
appreciate your kind of humor"
That husband likes to tell of that little incident
Besides his love of joking, it expresses something
very sincere and deep in his nature.
A great many people throughout the world,
| favortes of fortune, feeling in the way.
They are FESTIVE under their advantages, i'll at
ease, worried.
1t is good sign that they should be so. But
l sometimes wonder if in regard to their belief in
their fortune they are actually right.
Consider that business man, for example.
Under the present conditions of his life, he gives
expression to only small part of his ability. If
he not successful, he might accomplish
more. At any rate. he would strike out in drec-
tions that would give his faculties more vigorous
exercise, and, incidentally, bring him more salts
faction. Just he suffers from surfeit He
not only has too much leisure, but too much sue
cess. He misses the excitement that goes with
occasional, failure! and the striving. In fact
through life everything has been so easy for him
that. he has often told me- he feels "habby"
"If | only had to go and dig in the fields l
should be better man." he once remarked. THE
trouble is that have no incentive. For the little
accomplish l could pay that needed
the money and have it done better
Through lack of physical exercise this man
has become enormously fat. He must weigh con-
siderably more than 200 pounds So walking is
a burden. l doubt if he has walked half dozen
blocks at time in the past ten years. Naturally, |
he misses the exharation Of exercise, one of the
greatest pleasures in life. AS things being
done for him all the time, he misses the sense of
in small matters. Such efficiency he
has is wholly mental. But with him thinking is
no trouble and gives him no zest. He merely
feels that he sets others working
AS people this riding through the
street suppose they envy him. They think that
he is enjoying his motorcar and all the other in
dugenccs that go with his fe but he really is
not Through his indifference he has found his
sense of enjoyment weakening. Moreover, his
realization of social injustice tends further to
weaken his power to enjoy.
On the other hand, it affords him one of the
greatest pleasures of his life 1t gives scope for
his satire and his cyncism and his ,vhimscality
Most of the things that his wealth obliges him to
do he does not for. He often tells me about
the people he has to meet and the dinners he
has to go to and the things he sees his wife and
lis three children doing.
1t is plain that his outlook on the life around
him is exceedingly pessimistic; but, though he
criticiscs system, he would never think of
giving up his wealth. 1t is helping to drive one
IF his to drink, and it is likely to lead one
IF his daughters to make loveless marriage.
Nevertheless it is such an allurement that even
or this shrewd man it has not lost its control.
Through all his criticisms there runs a certain
consciousness of the power of his money. That
power nothing in the world would make him give $
lp G
In thinking this l wondered if after q
ii there such great difference between the ,
nan speeding in the motorcar and the man trudg- :
ng through the street. Perhaps we could not f
now without looking into the mind OF each
Which do you suppose really the more S
ontented? | can conceive of that workman spent 7
With toll, going home with good deal of salts t
action to his family. Perhaps walking, instead of n
eing trial to him. JOY After day spent h
etween four walls there must have been pleas d"
mt contrast in getting out of doors and breathing
he fresh air. Then, too there the relief from
ne kind of effort. e
Nature has very adroit way of offering COM y
ensation The harder the strain the greater the t
elicf. ie
In the life of that poor man there were many .
ontrasts.
The rich man, by having life kept sheltered and
asy, was bored with monotony of success
But, as far as the fundamentals of happiness
'ere concerned, there not very great diff
srence between the chances of the two men,
hose rested on the essentials Of living on human
elatiOnS and