The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-04-14
Something to
Think Ab0ut
MOUSE
By F. II. WALKER

r n A SOMEWHAT aimless after-din-
i ner walk the other evening was
attracted To a crowd which had gath
cred in front of the window of a deal
er in house pets.
AS the crowd next to the window
satisfied its curiosity and moved on
| gradually came TO see that fifteen Or
twenty human beings Of which | was
about to become one had been watch
ing he activities of a small white
mouse which was the temporary resi-
dent of a new and shiny cage.
At the top of the cage was a sort of
nest attached to the wires and filled
with bits of cotton. Below in the floor
of the cage was a feeding box and in
front of that a fiat tin disk, some six
inches in diameter. so tilted upon a
pivot axle--that If you placed any
weight upon any part of it that part
which bore the weight would immedi-
ately turn so that it would be the low
est part of the disk. In other words,
if a living object attempted to climb
up the disk it would turn as fast as
the object assembled and the object it
self would always be travelling uphill
and getting nowhere.
The white nous pursued a program
about after this plan: He would rest
for q few minutes in his nest. Then
he would climb down the side of the
cage to the food box, nibble for a min
ute and then running around to the
front of the floor of the cage he would
jump down upon the disk and as he
did so the disk would begin to revolve.
The faster he ran. in his attempt to
climb, the faster the disk would re-
volye, with the mouse always at the
bottom.
For three or -four minutes at a time
the mouse would run as fast as he
could. A human being running as
fast as that mouse, In proportion to
his size and weight, would have gone
ten or twelve miles at a marvellous
rate of speed.
After his period Of running the
mouse would suddenly stop, the disk
would cease to revolve. he would go to
the feed box, nibble for a minute and
then climb TO his nest for a short rest,
only to repeat the whole performance
over again.
The mouse during the time that he
was running appeared to be putting
forth every physical effort Of which
he was possessed. He was doing
everything that he could so far as
running was concerned. BUT HE
WAS GETTING NOWHERE.
He landed right where he began at
the bottom Of the disk.
He had burned out his mouse
energy. exhausted his mouse condition
and the result was NOTHING.
/ %vOndered as | stood there how
many of the men and women who had
stopped to watch him had learned any
lesson from that Gagged mouse and his
fruitless endeavors.
| wondered how many of them were
running around on a disk, striving.
exhausting themselves with
efforts which would end by leaving
them right where they started.
The mouse demonstrated a good les
He taught those who watched
him-if they thought at all about the
thing they were looking at-that every
man and woman ought every little
take a look around and see il
are going ahead, if they are adj
vancing, If they are adding something,
however little, TO what life and its eff
forts should accumulate in wealth. ex-
.perience and wisdom.
The merchant who never takes ac-
count of stock, who keeps no books.
who has no way of checking his busf-
ness, is pretty much at sea as TO
whether he Is a success or a failure,
whether he IS making money or losing.
The man who goes through life
Without checking up his efficiency,
.aking account of his accomplishments
)r balancing his efforts against his ac-
emulation cannot have any very de-
)endable idea of what his efforts are
mounting to.
There are too many of us who, like
he mouse, let our lives consist of
working, eating and sleeping. without
moving definitely what we are ac-
omplishing.
If the mouse had the intelligence to
now that his great effort in running
N the tin disk really amounted TO
in results he would devote
imself to something more worthwhile.
Perhaps if we made an honest esti-
late of what we are doing and what
he results are we would stop being
polish and turn to something more
Productive and more to our credit.
The thing for us to do is to make an
Onest estimate of what WI are doing
what it truly amounts TO and
LII - E.- ---.-l III