Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-06
Sunday Morning Talk
STOP THE WASTE.

If a man wishes to bring single
! useful ideal down out of the clouds of
sentiment and make it practicable for
the year 1917, why not fasten on the
one above? For the next II months
let him resolve to put an end to waste
in his own life.
The personal problem is not unlike
that of mechanics. Your modern en-
gineer strives to get from a lump OF
goal more of the heat and power that
Used to go up the chimney. He de-
v;ses methods to stop the friction, the
everlasting grinding and grating in
Wheel and bearing that slows down
tie machine Each one of us, like
wise should study to get the most
and best out of the particular human
machine he is in charge of. We should
reduce the friction and stop the
waste.
Thousands of people, in the first
place, are spendthrifts in the mat
ter of health. They squander their
physical patrimony as a prof1igate
scUanders dollars. Young people, es-
pecialIy, confident in their Astounding
physical vigor, make extravagantly
heavy demands on the bank of ma
ture. They are reckless and wasteful.
II heriting clean blood and iron nerves
from simple living ancestors they
make no effort to conserve that
mighty heritage.
Thrift is as necessary with health
as with money Here, too, one should
live within his income. Stevenson
said that one way of duty and happi-
Eess was to earn a little and spend
a little less" The rule is a good one,
however interpreted. Many a youth
starting life with fine physical equip
nIent has ended it as an invalid;
while many a youthful weakling has
come into robust and comfortable old
age. 1t is because one has wasted his
substance and the other. by right man
agement, has increased it.
Money is another human good that
people waste. 1t is not the invest
rents we make in the staple necessi-
ties of life, but the coins FILTERED
away that leave US poor. If that
sounds like the hackneyed moralities
OF the copy book, it is nevertheless
true. Small leakages will empty
reservoir as surely as larger ones
even if less rapidly. A dime for the
movies, or for a cigar or a soda is
three years would buy share of gilt
edged railroad stock paying per
cent. year.
IF you want to know whether you
are going to be a success or failure"
said the late James J. Hill, you can
easily find out. The test is simple and
invaluable. Are you able to save
money? If not, drop out; you will
lose. You may not think it, but you
will lose as sure as you live. The
er we agree with the railroad king or
not, his dictum is worth considering.
If it be true, some of us must buy
nickel bank and begin.
Are you wasting time? If so, you
are one of an uncounted multitude of
your fellow mortals guilty of the same
folly. At evening of an average day
think over it's hours and estimate how
much time you have spent in mere
dawdling. Rest recreation, sane
amusement must not be confused with
dawdling. These, on occasions, may
represent the best possible expendi-
lures of time. But the hours of vapid,
purposeless talk, the times when we
just hang around" the periods when
we simply kill time"-an these are
the Sheerest waste.
In almost any American village be-
tween the two oceans a larger or
smaller number of youths and men
may be found evening after evening,
at some gathering place or other, just
Hanging around" They are doing
nothing positively wrong: they are do
ing nothing at all. Assmal1 proper
ton of these utterly useless hours en-
ployed in some line of self-improve-
ment or education would yield the
richest returns in character and in
years from youth to age in the same
fashion. Could there be a less intel
ligent waste of time?
The worst waste of all is, perhaps,
the nerve force spent in fretting and
Tuning over the unavoidable incon-
veniences and disappofntments that
each day brings. Half the energy thus
squandered might accomplish some
thing useful Worry is waste of a
black sort Anger is like a hot box
or a car. 1t clamps the brakes
against progress. Explosions of tenn
per are like the steam let off into the
air-power that never runs anything.
People who want to be 100 per cent.
efficient, instead of 80 or rs per cent,
will guard against the constant, small
Ieakages of power. They will heed
fundamental Gospel principle =
Gather up the fragments that moth
ing. be lost" 1t is an ideal worth