The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1915-01-14
THE HUMAN FAULT
OF INDIGESTION
DO aE ACQUIRE THE TENDENCIES TO
Be DISHONEST OR ARE THEY NATURAL?
Violation of Laws attributed to IndeciSion
is Very Ably illustrated, Showing That
the Lack Of Decision Is the Principal
Cause OF Failure.
Bv T. W. L.

One of the worst human faults is
indecision; and l believe you will
all agree with me if you will only
stop and consider the matter,
How many men are there in
this institution today who began
life as a criminal, or with any tend
ency to be dishonest? Very few, |
warrant, if any. Yet we are all
here through having violated the
laws in some form.
Of course, you may say it was bad
associates, drink, poverty, or again
you are innocent. Well. of the lat
ter class, there are no doubt few,
but they are the exception. And SO
far as the other excuses go, they
are only the final stages in the case.
For what leads us to drink. bad
companions, or poverty?
think that if each and every in
dividual would just take few minu-
tes to look back over his life, he
would see that the primary cause of
his present incarceration was simply
case of lack of will power on one
side; and, as | said in the beginning,
indeclsion in temptation.
Now, to make my point plain to
all, / am going to give you little
incident that l had called to my at
tention a few years ago; although at
the time did not take it to heart.
If | had done so, it is more than
likely | should not be here now.
But at that time l was enjoying
every mans heritage, freedom
It never entered my head that some
day might have to learn my wis
dom in the same manner that little
Jimmy D learned his-by bit
ter experience.
Jimmy came from the middle
class; his parents being able to give
him fair education, and there was
no reason why he shouldn't have
made success of life. But.
On first leaving school Jim had
All idea, he would like to be law
yer. So he secured place as jun
lor in well-known firms office and
started off on his road to success. CD.
However, as you all know, there's a
long row to hoe between junior
clerk and full fledged lawyer. And
so it was not long before Jim dis
covered he had made mistake. He
next took a dabble in pharmacy;
from that to insurance.; first one
kind and then another-he tried
them all. Then he tackled railroad
ing, and if he only knew it, he was
OH the way to success; for the short
time he stayed with it he made rap
id advancement. But his various
trials in business had taken time;
and now he found that his former
school chums, who had started out
on their own when he had, were be-
ginning to get a little way up the
ladder. and naturally had little
more money to show for their efforts
than he had. So instead of staying
with the railroad where, there is no
doubt he would have had at least
made moderate success in time, he
threw up all and made a start at
real estate. Now there are many
tricks in this business, and Jim very
soon found them out; in fact, if all
| was told was true-yes, or even
half of it-he coined a few new
ones, and he certainly made money
hand over fist. AS soon as things
in the realty line became dull in one
place, Jimmy would move along to
where another boom was in progress.
Now it happened on one of his
moves that he found he was just a
little late; for, although times were
at their best, and every foot Of
property in and around the city
of A. for miles had been OBJ
tanned by agents prior to his arriv-
al. And then the big idea hit him
A. was a Pacific Coast city stu
ated on a good harbor, and a great
deal of the sales were made east
through correspondence. He there
fore made a nice little profile all OF
his own, showing the lay out of the
city, marking all the places of in
terest to would-be purchasers, and
marked out 5000 lots he had to sell
right on the water front; in fact,
manv were between the water and a