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A Difficult Subject for the Hypnotist.-By J. Campbell Cary in "Harper's Weekly."

You have to Work

"Remember, my son, you have to work," says Bob Burdette. "Whether you handle pick or wheelbarrow or a set of books, digging ditches or editing a newspaper, ringing an auc tion bell or writing funny things, you must work. Don't be afraid of killing yourself by overworking on the sunny side of thirty. Men die sometimes, but it is because they quit at 9 p. m. but don't go home until 2 a. m. It's the intervals that kill, my son. The work gives you appetite for your meals; it lends solidity to your slumber; it gives you a perfect appreciation of a holiday. There are young men who do not work, but the country is not proud of them. It does not even know their names, it only speaks of them as old So and So's boys. Nobody likes them, the great busy world doesn't know they are here. So find out what you want to be and do. Take off your coat and make dust in the world. The busier you are the less harm you are apt to get into, the sweeter will be your sleep, the brighter your holidays, and the better satisfied the whole world will be with you."-Exchange.

In the Morning of Life
William J. Lampton.

Oh, youth of the rising dawn of work,
Be glad that to-dav you have met it;
The world is full of the possible,
But you've got to reach to get it.

Let your soul be filled with the morning air,
Turn your head and your hand loose in it;
The world is full of the possible,
But you've got to fight to win it.

Stand fast on the faith in your own true self,
All effort is yours to choose it;

The world is full of the possible, For you to gain or lose it.

Oh, youth of the rising dawn of work,
The evening will be what you make it;
The world is full of the possible,
And it's "up to you" to take it.

"In order to do great things, one must be enthusiastic." -Saint Simon.

GRASPING AT TOO MANY THINGS

WILLIAM MATTHEWS

One of the most frequent causes of failure in life is excessive ambition,-that greediness which leads a man to grasp at too many of its prizes. There are some things the acquisition of which is incompatible with that of others, and the sooner that truth is acted upon the better for an aspirant. Much material good must be resigned, if one would attain to the highest degree of moral excellence, and many spiritual joys must be foregone, if he would win great material advantages. To strive for a high professional position, and yet expect to enjoy all the delights of social intercourse or of leisure; to toil after great riches, and yet to ask for freedom from anxiety and care; to live luxuriously, and yet to demand health and strength; to live for self exclusively, and yet to expect the love and esteem of one's fellow beings, or the delights of generosity and selfsacrifice to do these things is to seek for contradictory and mutually destructive advantages; in short, for impossibilities. The world is a market, where everything is marked at an invariable price. Choose whatever good you deem most desirable-wealth, knowledge, fame, ease, or the promotion of other men's happiness; but, having made a choice, stand by it, and make the most of it-extract from it all the satisfaction you can-and not, like a pettish child, fret and complain because, when you have purchased one thing, you do not possess something entirely different from it, which can not coexist with it.

It has been justly said that a great deal of a man's wisdom is shown to-day in leaving things unknown, and a great deal of his practical sense in leaving things undone. The horizon of knowledge has so widened, and such. vast territories, unknown before, have been discovered in the domain of mind, that the attempt at universality has become futile. A man must dare to be ignorant of many things, to avoid the disgrace of not really knowing anything. The press is deluging the world with

It is said that in London the stores have a rule that if a clerk has a prospective customer and fails to sell him any goods, he-the clerk-must pay a fine. The result of this is that the individual who enters a London store finds that the clerks are the most persistent as well as the most polite that he has ever run up against.-Mer

books and periodicals, and they are so cheap to-day that thousands of persons, by trying to cope with too many branches of knowledge, master none. They do not seem to recognize that, as the famous physician, Dr. John Abernethy, said of himself, "there may be a point of starvation in the mind, where, if one takes into it more than it can hold, the only effect will be to push something else out." It was finely said of the literary universalist, Edouard Fournier: "Cet homme-la sait tout; il ne sait que cela; mais ille sait bien;* yet how many persons, today, are familiar with his writings?

Authors, as well as readers, often make the mistake of attempting too much. "There are writers," says Macaulay, in one of his letters, "who can carry on twenty books at a time. Southey would write the 'History of Brazil' before breakfast, an ode after breakfast, then the 'History of the Peninsular War' till dinner, and an article for the Quarterly Review in the evening; but I am of a different temper. I never write to please myself until my subject has driven every other out of my head." What is the result? Macaulay's works still delight, and will long continue to delight, thousands; but who now reads the ambitious histories and ponderous epics of the many-tomed historian, biographer, essayist, reviewer, and poet of Keswick?

Sir Joshua Reynolds used to say that a painter should sew up his mouth. Why? Because he must not try to shine as a talker, if he would excel in his art.

Guard, therefore, young man, against cultivating too many talents; only one can you hope to bring to perfection. Be “a whole man" at one thing, and not split into two or three middling ones. Thus, and thus only, may you hope to succeed in an age of merciless competition, when success taxes all one's powers. -Success.

**That man knows everything: true, he knows only that, but he knows it well."

Many seek experience for the mere novelty of the thing; this is a great mistake; always when passing through experience get the best, the richest and the most wholesome there is in it. The proper kind of experience is as necessary to success as food is necessary to sustain the

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING HOW TO DO ONE THING WELL

By JAMES J. SANDERSON

In this age of specializing it is of the greatest importance to know how to do one thing well. When a man or a woman goes into a business house in search of a position the person in charge invariably will ask the applicant what he can do. "What can you do?" is the prevailing question to-day in the business world. Like the Missourian "you've got to show the goods." If you have not been trained along one particular line, trained to know one thing from A to Izzard you travel under a big handicap. In all likelihood the position is given the other man.

In all walks of life it is the trained man of woman, whose knowledge of business tactics and commercial acumen compels, at regular intervals, an increase in salary, while the drudge or laggard sits upon the same high stool, drawing the same pay, year in and year out, until forced to make way for incoming young blood

There is no more pitiable sight than the untrained worker thrown upon his own resources for sustenance. For instance, I might cite the case of a man, who by reason of years of employment in one place reached the wage of $18.00 a week. This man was no specialist, but a jack of all trades. He was entirely devoid of individual effort, depending upon those about him to pull him out of tight corners.

When the depression in business settled its unwelcome mantle upon the works where this man drew his pay envelope many of his coworkers got the blue slip. The man of whom I speak, however, was retained three days a week because of a sick wife and two small children. This action cut his pay in half. The firm kept him on until there were absolutely no new orders coming in, when he was compelled to follow in the tracks of the other employees. Now this man is out of employment and walking shoes thin searching for work. At

"Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry." -Henry Ward Beecher.

HIS CHOICE. "Now, Patsy, if it should come to a real issue which would you rather lose your money or your life?"

"Me loife, begorra. Oi'm savin' me money for me ould age."

each place he applies the question is put "what is your specialty?" "What can you do?" The man is helpless, being absolutely ignorant of money bringing knowledge. As he ambles out of the various offices, crestfallen and discouraged, he passes the man "who knows" hanging up his hat.

If you would have some reserve force, some tangible thing to fall back upon in times of stress, some money-gathering ability to prop you up on your weakened legs, become a specialist. Give your leisure hours to the study of some special branch of learning. It will not only safeguard your present position, out be a stepping stone to higher and better things in life.

There is no surer way to knowledge than by a course in one of the many correspondence schools. Such institutions are making young men and women self-reliant, important, independent. Also, they are raising the standard. of workmanship to a height never before attained. Such training should be a Doon to any intelligent man or woman.

The young man, who, in preference to spending his evenings on the street corner, in the skating rink, or running about with questionable companions, devotes his leisure hours to some branch of study that particularly appeals to him is building a foundation and shaping his character in such a way that it must redound to his credit sooner or later. His talent is bound to assert itself and stamp his individuality upon the world's business chart.

Therefore, do not be content with mediocrity; awake to the realization of your usefulness; let the world know you know something; be somebody.

Learn how to do one thing well, and you are treading the right road to success and happi

ness.

Have you ever wondered why the top edge of your books are sometimes gilded and the other edges left plain? The explanation of this is very simple. When a volume is placed on the shelf of a bookcase the top is obviously more exposed to the dust than the others. The object of the gilding therefore is to save the pages from being soiled, for were it not present the dust would cling to this top edge and the appearance of the book would to a great extent be spoiled.

WOULD I CHANGE MY WORK?

By Edwin Markham, in Success Magazine

The thought comes to me sometimeswould I change my life-work, my choice of letters as a vocation, if I had my life to live again. Certainly I would not, not, for the literary life seems to afford a spacious and exhilarating field for the work of a man who wishes to think and grow. Moreover, litera

ture to me has been, not a preference, but a passion.

That I have been able to follow the choice of my heart places me among the fortunate few, for how many are forced, by the tyranny of circumstance, into lines distasteful to their sentiments! And, no doubt, this misfit of environment and this misdirection of energy are the causes of much of the dilatory and imperfect work of the world. It seems an unfailing truth that the best work, like nest-building and honey-making, must be done in joy. Everyone should be as free, at least, as the artist to select his career and to work out his ideals.

I began life as a shepherd boy, and even in those early years I felt the lure of poesy. Many a time I ,stretched out on a rock, my sheep scattered about me on the hillside, and spent hours poring over Byron's "Cain" and "Childe Harold," dreaming delicious dreams of a rosy future when I should have nothing. to do but to read books and to write them.

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Since that hour of boyish vision I have been man-of-all-work, a cattle ranger, farmer, editor and teacher. But never once did I forget my boyish hope or waver from it-never once did my purpose flag or my interest falter. Into all these paths of life I went with my whole heart; and each task was good for me, for it broadened the horizon of experience-made me know life.

I would recommend to every young man to set his heart upon some wise, central purpose, and to cleave to it to the end. Yet, if he is forced into uncongenial work, let him not sulk and sorrow, but be up and at it with conscience-care, knowing that the first duty of a man is to be manly, and knowing, also, that some day he may need the enrichment and enlargement of this very experience to fit him for the work of his heart's desire.

My boyish dream, as I said, was for an Arabian palace of the good Haroun al Raschid, where I should have nothing to do but to read books and to write them. later, graybeard wisdom tells me that I saw

But my

not the perfect joy. My vision lacked something-variety.

It is the monotony of our lives that hardens and deadens the tissues of mind and body. Monotony is a short-cut to the grave. Every man needs the creative in his life no more than he needs the re-creative. The maker needs to be re-made.

So, if I were shaping my life anew, I should add to my chosen vocation a colateral employment as a recreation; for it is not idleness alone that tests one: it is change of attitude as well-change in the direction of one's forces.

Such a collateral employment for my spare hours would help to keep me out of ruts-help to square my thought with the multiform world about me. I happen to know a learned jurist who adds a delicate joy to his life in the practice of music and modeling. He is more of a man for keeping these skylights open to the upper air.

Such side lines need not obstruct the major pursuit of life. This is an important fact, for the gravitation of events is forcing us all to be specialists. The day has gone or the man has gone when a Leonardo or an Angelo could be equally apt in several arts.

In an ideal order, I fancy that each man would pursue both an art and a craft-one to "exceed his reach” and lure him on; the other to wreak his strength upon, sure of mastery. With these two outlets-one for his imagination and one for his physical force-a man ought to be on the high road to happiness. These counter occupations would afford the rational rest for his faculties.

Moreover, this balance ought to help tranquilize a man's conscience; for, in the large view, each man should do a part of what Tolstoi calls "bread-labor," and thus help to equalize the immense burden of the world's physical toil, now resting wholly upon the over-worked millions. Only in some such way, perhaps, can the doors of opportunity ever be opened for all men and women to come into close contact with the refining power of the artistic life.

This idea of distributing bread-labor and honoring it with actual practice was present in the life of medieval Florence, in that golden hour when one, to be a nobleman, had first to learn some trade-when poet Dante became an apothecary's apprentice. It was this

idea, doubtless, that inspired Peter the Great to be a shipbuilder, and that today ordains. that each prince of the blood in England shall learn some trade. Pursuant to this idea King Edward VII. is a competent and finished shoemaker.

No; I should not wish to alter my choice. I wish only that I had been able to add to my life the art of music in some of its forms, together with a more persistent practice of some out-of-door 'abor, side by side with my literary endeavor.

Because the average man doesn't carry the

cares and worries of a business on his shoulders, he believes that successful men are lucky. Nothing is further from the fact-successful business men know that the element of chance never enters into the making of their fortunes.

The man who believes he can run a business successfully with "luck" as the principal asset will soon find himself stranded on the shoals of advertising. It requires brain power, and this is why some men are successful and others failures. If you are not a business man don't deceive yourself by hovering the idea. that your brain power is as strong as the man who has "looked a pay-roll in the face every week for ten years.'

Brain power is to business what electricity is to the motor-without electricity the motor is valueless, and business without brain iswell, no busines at all.

If you think this man or that man lucky, get into the game and try your own luck-see how soon the element of chance will make your fortune.

If the word "lucky" was eliminated from the English language, and if people would rely more upon common sense, this world would have fewer failures.

Circumstances

Harper's speaks of these intangibles as follows:

"There are a great many trite mottoes and sayings about circumstance, and we thoughtlessly endow them with more vitality and reality than they have. It is not really true that circumstances alter cases; it is the spirit that alters cases. Nor is it altogether true that man makes his circumstances or that his circumstances make him. Circumstances are, when all is said and done, no more than the things that stand about a man; and whoever

takes the trouble to change his circumstances often enough will soon be able to regard them as mere physical impedimenta, and allow his spirit to grow and to work unhindered, ay, and unhelped, by them.

"Sheer physical inertia urges a man to make a given place in the world, to establish a certain set of circumstances, and then to live in them; but the spirit of man is a living growth and refuses to become stationary, and unless it occasionally knocks down the barriers and jounts out into the open it will work in the other direction, and begin to shirk, and to let the barriers close in upon it, and, by close sheltering, enfeeble it. sheltering, enfeeble it. And so, in order to gain a wide swath and an alert sense of what life is, it is an excellent thing for the millionaire to become the beggar occasionally, and for the pauper to dine with the millionaire; for the secular man to make a religious pilgrimage, and the hermit to apply his ideas to the world's affairs; for the housed and sheltered to sleep alone on the mountain tops, and the woodsman to tread the city streets. The resulting disorder would not be half so chaotic as, for an instant, we may fancy. That man gains in knowledge and power who can both feast and starve, as the moment prompts; and that soul gains in universality that can put itself in the place of the simpleton and the philosopher, the thief and the saint."

No Chance for Loafers

It is a part of a clerk's business responsibility to take proper care of his health and morals outside of the business office. The reputation of any clerk is an important thing to his house. I have heard of one employer who makes it a rule to have any man shadowed for a week before he employs him, in order to learn what his personal habits are. A young man once applied to this employer for a position, and was rejected. He was of a good appearance and pleasing address, well qualified, apparently, to hold the position for which he had applied. When he desired to know why his appication had been refused, the employer said to him, "I pass by such and such a corner every noon when returning from my lunch. I invariably see you standing on that corner, loafing, and I am certain that any young man who has not a better place in which to spend his spare time will make a poor helper for me, in the long run.”

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