West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1915-10-21

IN Thiiaueiphia tbere ~ police officer
named Clayton Wilson who bas4 Just
completed forty years OF service For
twenty-five years OF that period heI has
been street sergeant. According 10 an
account OF the veteran officers cAAer.
whenever new man is assigned To his
district, Sergeant Wilson takes him aside
and admonishes him in somewhat the
following fashion:
~ have been in the business forty
years and ] cannot tell when / will get
fired. In order to hold your job as long
as possible do your duty at all times !:
keep your eyes and ears open and your
mouth shut; and keep away from booze.
Booze always gets cop when he amt
looking. And above all be gentlemen at
all times"
AS contemporary observes, it is evil
dent that Sergeant Wilson is not oply a
faithful and efficient officer. but n phi.
losopher as well.
The rules which he lays down are but
four in number, and they are simplicity
itself. They apply with equal force to
men in every walk OF life. The youth
who has the gumption TO adopt them
and follow them will not make failure
oil himself. And it is in the hope that
they may come to the attention of some
who can appreciate and live up to them
that they are recorded here.
do your duty at all times!" That is
plain enough. 1t pays, too, in the long
run or the short. But il is sometimes
hard to carry out. Temptation is ever
present, and mostly in Elusive form.
The thought that avoidance or neglect OF
duty will permit OF greater pleasure and
less labor or responsibility constantly oh.
trudes. The consequence il that too
many OF us seek show to get by" rather
than devote our energies and time TO the
known and recognized demands of duty.
The feeling that duty is a taskmaster.
that 1t requires more than is necessary.
Is difficult, under some circumstances. 10
shake off All experience, however, goes
| to prove that the man who does his dutv
at all times has at least more placid
conscience than he who does not.
Keep your eyes and ears open and
your mouth shut" Not only is this rule
a safeguard against physical peril and
the invitation to trouble, but its observ.
ance is OF positive advantage. How can
you see your opportunity if you close
your eyes? How will you hear Oppor-
tunity's knock if you close your ears?
As to needless and unnecessary speech.
the folly and danger of it are proverbial.
The gabby man is not especially welcome
anywhere. A loose tongue has proved
many ones undoing. And unless your
eyes and ears are open in the sense here
implied you are not likely to do your iulI
duty, while it is morally certain you will
never develop your full usefulness.
Keep away from booze!" This il be-
coming more and more the rule of our
business, industrial and official life. Ont
oil the trials OF centuries has grown the
conviction, even among drinking men.
that he who refrains is the better off, the
safer, the more reliable and efficient. and
the surer and more stable in all his
processes. That many OF the most bril-
liant men of history and achievement did
not keep away from booze" in no de-
gree vitiates the rule or argues in favor
OF its revocation. Liquor never brought
greater than temporary triumph to any
man, nor larger than transitory pleasure.
IL has never made poor man rich, but
has made thousands of rich men poor.
IL never made any home happy, but it
has made millions wretched. 1t is the
most insidous of all influences for evil
to the individual.
be gentlemen at all timcs!" Pre-
cisely what constitutes a gentleman is a
disputed question. 1t is not always easy
TO tell. Yet few men are so dense, ON
the other hand, az to be unable to deter
mine when they are not gentlemen
Hence the test is easy. II it appears TO
you that what you are about TO do is not
gentlemanlY, don't do it. To that ex-
tent therefore, you will be gentleman.
And as you form the habit of self.inquiry
on points OF conduct and on ethical stan
dards you will approximate the qualities
oil gentleman. Money, clothes, en-.
Vlronment, position, power-these do
not make a gentleman Manners, de-
pertinent, the attitude of consideration
Tor others, thoughtfulness in all of one =
relations, courtesy and the graces Of real
manliness-these are what count.
Sergeant Wilson, in brief, out of the
iullness OF his observation, has evolved
Tour good, sound, homely rules for the
making of a man.-Huntington Adver-
tiser.