The Washington herald., 1916-06-12
A Vacation Where Power Dwells
By oRIsON SWEET MARD

BY ORIsON SWEET MARDEN.
Sometimes l am worried by the thought Of
the effect that life in the city will have on
coming generations" said John Burroughs in a
recent interview Living in the city is dis
cordant thing, an unnatural thing. The city is
d place to which goes to do business; it
is place where men overreach each other in
the fight for money. But it is not place in
which live"
When Daniel Webster was visiting in the
West ranchman who boasted of the immense
wheat and fields in that section inquired
Of his guest, What do you raise on the rocky
acres OF your New England farms" Men,
was Websters reply.
No matter what comforts and conveniences
mans skill and ingenuity provide for modern
city dwellers, know that power dwells in
the country nowhere else. The very stability,
the observation-disclosures the sound judgment, the
vigorous initiative, the genius for leadership
which enable men to accomplish the marvels
that surround in the city, largely physical,
and mans physique attans its maximum of de-
velopment and power i'll the open country, not
under the artificial conditions of city life.
Out Of recent list Of one hundred leading
men at the head OF great enterprises in New
York city it found that ninety were
country bred.
ana OF some ntty c!lllnently SuCCeSSlul men
interviewed in different centuries, nearly forty
OF them were from the country, and most OF
the remainder were born and reared in small
villages. Similar conditions exist in the great
cities of Europe.
The vigor that docs things, stamina, force
fulness and virility. are generated close to the
soil. Nature gives life draught that the
city cannot brew. The city could no more
supply the demand for strength, for vigorous,
stalwart men, than hothouses could supply the
food Of the world. The sun-kissed fields and
the wind-purihed hills must always be relied
on for men and bread The farm has ever been
the worlds greatest gymnasium. the greatest
manual training school in the world.
Masterfufhess, physical and mental vigor, grit,
pluck, persistence-thesc are the forces that move
the world, and these are the qualities we are all
ambitious to acquire. Yet in spite OF the fact
that the men who. rule, possess them in the
highest degree, nine-tenths Of the men who do
the great things in life-our statesmen, our lead
ing business and fnancers, the heads OF
Immense manufacturing interests-laid the foun-
daton of their in the country, multitudes
OF people to think that they can acquire
these very qualities under the artificial condi-
tions OF the city, which is practically man made.
We seem to forget that we ourselves came
chemical elements in our bodies came from
mature and that nature alone can heal and re-
new those bodies replenish their strength.
How often | hear business men in the city
wish for the robust health, the physical vigor
and Stamina OF former days. when they lived in
the country. Now, my friend if you really want
to get that physical vigor and stamina the loss
OF Which you bemoan, you must go where they
are generated, in natures vast laboratory.
The place to find the man you once were is
the same place where you found him in your
young manhood-in the woods, the pastures,
climbing hills, mountains wading streams, fish
ing in brooks, working at chores on the farm.
Here is where stamina is bred here is where
brain force is generated, here is where nature
builds
Now is the time for those OF US who must
live and work in the city to leave it for while
and get back to Mother Earth. A vacation in
the country will help Us to find ourselves again.
The pure air, the sunshine, the exercise in the
open country, the beautiful landscape the new
environment which eyes, ears and mind will
feed upon natures healing balm for all our
ills.
Just as specialists restore valuable faded.
soiIed and illegible manuscripts or legal docu-
ments with certain chemicals, which bring out
the dim lines and make the words and figures
stand out clearly the page, 50 a vacation
in the country restores failing vigor, brings
back lost enthusiasm, ,eburnishes jaded brain
cells, and makes faded mental manuscripts.
which have become egible through WEAKNESS
and fatigue, stand out with renewed freshness
and vlvdness. The the woman you
once were will come back. You will be born
again.
Copyright E6J