Evening star., 1925-09-13
Why Is It That the Worlds Great Men
Decide They Must Be Busy All the Time?

Early though was our arrival at
the wharf at Pingo, my wife and /
were at once carried by the natives in
a rick to the bung of the headchief or
yam. We were told that the yam had
left orders that he wished to see US on
the very moment of our arrival. We
found the yam already up and al
work on the spacious piazza of his
bung.
He is a man Of commanding ap-
pearance and was dressed in an enor-
nous pancake hat with half a red
jacket and a soda water bottle on
wire round his waist. He was busily
engaged in working on a typewriter
which he can work, so he told u.s.
either with his hands or his feet.
making as much noise either way. The
chief is a man of European culture.
having four books and a radio appa-
ratus which he uses for cooking. He
is a man of intense energy. When not
cooking on his radio or eating his
books, he likes nothing better than
to throw boomerangs in all directions
among his subjects.
THE yam is a man of intense re
ligiouS conviction and sacrifices one
or two of his subjects every week.
When I spoke to him of the mission
of conversion on which my wife and
l had come to Pingo the yam said
that If / would sell my wife he would
convert me a hundred Pinganos that
morning"
Only too clearly somebody had
brought work and energy and dy
manic restlessness into the quiet life
of this yam and spoiled it.
A ND SO it goes all over the world.
Il Everywhere we have brought the
r1o 9 ..l- IN hn OF
depths of the tropical forest where
the native used to lie dreaming
among the crocodiles, In the SHOWS Of
the Arctic where once the Eskimo sat
giggling in his igloo. in all the lost
corners of the world we have intro
duced our mad passion for work.
Quite as mad as any of the cases
above is the lot of a scientist or an
inventor. Compare the following iii
tie extracts describing the daily
habits of one or two of the most
illustrious of them:
Thomas A. Stedison never sleeps.
1t is his custom TO stand up all night
and work. If drowsiness threatens
to overcome him, he shuts one eve.
If tired, he stands on one leg. BY
this means Mr.. Stedison claims that
he gets over 80 per cent of efficiency
out of himself"
Mr. Sparconi never eats. If hun
ger begins to affect him, he has a
bowl of hot onion soup placed in the
room next to him. When his work
is over the great inventor looks at a
beefsteak fXedly till his working
power is restored"
Or-lumping a few others to-
gether--
Henry Pord never sits down.
Floyd George never laughs
IN. Moincaire never coughs.
All through the whole scale there
appears the same terrible record of
effort and abstinence and efficiency
and work. The thing has gone too
far. How much more comfortable
this old world would be if we were
assured that the President never got
up till 10 o'clock, and generally went
fishing till noon; if we understood
that Sparconi played penochle every
morning, and that Stedison coHs,-
hardly keep awake after dinner. That
would give the rest of US a chance.
AS it is, we are being distorted
out of our natural selves by the ter
rible example of the strenuous peo-
pie. Can we do something about IT.
Let us get back to the first prin-
ciples. The only time to work Is
when you have to. The time to quit
is when you want to. Eat all you can
on you Never think till you have to.
these would make the world a hap
pier place. Come, let us make lazy
Winter of it.
DOWNRIGHT 1po5)