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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1907)
tnnvfu, u7 The Commoner. 13 all right. It all depends upon the point of view. You wore a son then you are a father iiow. And so you worry a lot over what seemed foolishness to you twenty or more years ago, and you can not under stand why your children should be just liko you were when you were their age. m i-Hb XwSvJaB L - -jl- m . tfMKlav, wt tt Don't Worry "When the sun is blazing hot, Don't worry! "When the breezes, bloweth not, Don't worry! Think how it affects the corn; Bumper crop, as sure's you're born Get up smiling every morn. Don't worry. iWhen the iceman brings his bill, Don't worry! Keep your tongue and temper still. Don't worry! Pay his huge outrageous toll, For they've jgot you in a hole- If not ice, Jhen it's for coal Don't worry! Things look bad the country through? Don't worry! Can't help things by looking blue. Don't worry! Smile and just keep on your way, . Things will work out right some day, So let nothing you dismay Don't worry. Every dark cloud in your, sight ' Don't worry I Has a silver lining bright. Don't worry! Don't let trouble trouble you; Just refuse to fret and stew; To your own good sense prove true Don't worry! Hot, of course; but what of that?. Don't worry! It will make the harvest ,fat. 'Don't worry! Toil today tomorrow rest; Brace your nerves to stand each test, For'whatever is, is best Don't worry! Provided "What you need," "said the emi nent specialist, "is more exercise physical exercise." "That advice Is worthless," moaned the great financier. "Have I not been dodging the process serv ers for three weeks?" Thoughts on a Variety of Things Of course you "feel just, as young as ever," and you "never expect to grow old.'" That's all right, too ;just the thing. "As a man thlnketh so is he." But, just the same, there are a few things we can not get away from, and they convey the unwelcome in formation that the years are accumu lating. When we descend from a street ar and have to cross the track to reach our destination we take a lot more care than we used to." We instinctively recognize the fact tbat we can hot dodge as deftly as. of yore. - When we had to mount the ladder last spring to fasten in the upper screens we went up much more de liberately than we did of yore but we ielt as young as ever, just the same. And when we descended the ladder we were yery sure that the right foot was on the round below before we. let loose with the hands and shifted the left foot further down. And in the morning we do not turn a handspring to get out of bed. It is further from the bed to the floor than it used to be. But just the same the sun shines as "bright as in the old days. The birds sing just as tunefully, the grass is just, asgreen-and,- the shade, im proves with1 age. i i r When w go to a.balj game we can hout .as loud as the youngest .of them, and we can stamp our feet and clap our hands equal to the best of them' but when the game is over we are not jumping any fences or hurdling the crowd in order to reach the first car. We feel plenty young enough to do it, of course, but we are not in such a hurry to get back to town as we were a few years ago. The eldest son and Tieir rigged up a parallel bar in the back yard the other day, and proceeded to go through a lot of stunts learned in the gymnasium. The Pater used to be something of an expert on the bar the parallel bar in the old days, and he proceeded to show the youngster a few things. But that extra sixty pounds of flesh accumu lated during the last twenty or twenty-five years was too much of a load to lift, and the first attempt at "chinning the bar" was a rank fail ure. The "Indian leap," which was so simple a few years ago now looked like a circus feat, and the distance from the bar to the ground seemed to have increased something like a quarter of a mile. Only a few days ago, seemingly, it was easy to per form the feat of "grinding the mus cle," but on this occasion it was im possible to summon up enough cour age to even try for position. But we were confident we could do It if we wanted to, for we felt just as young and as capable as ever. But, after all, it was easier and more pleasant, as well as safer, to sit in the shade. and instruct the son and heir in matters "techin on an' appertalnin' to' the old-time feats on the bar. And it was something of a shock, too, the other evening, when a stal wart young man, clad in his best, called at the house and the oldest daughter met him at the' door with a smile and ushered him into the front room. It set the Pater to thinking. It seemed only yesterday that he togged out in his best, stuck a rose in the coat, gave his shoes a last surreptitious brush and started for the little cottage over on the oth er side of town. Only yesterday that a trim figured maiden with a becom ing blush met hlmjit the door and ushered him in and gave .him the most comfortable rocking chair. Only yesterday that he had trouble In properly and satisfactorily dispos ing of hands that seemed like hams and feet that looked as big as box cars. Only yesterday that his throat was so dry he couldn't talk' even about the weather without 'croaking like a frog. And now, he had to look at a grown girl of his own and see another young man enjoying the same pleasant agony of suspense. And when Pater,r after passing the time of day, took his evening paper and hied away to another room he realized that although he felt as young as ever he was in reality some thing like twenty years older than he was when he made a similar call on the biggest girl's mother. It was only yesterday, too, that you wondered why father and mother worried about you when you hap pened to be out a little late at night, or went with a crowd down to the swimminghole, or took a jaunt over to the lake for a boat ride. You were amply able to take care of yourself, and they were very foolish to worry about, 'you. You - really couldn't understand whythey-should worry. - ' " ' But you can understand it now. The man who grows too old to enjoy celebrating the Glorious Fourth ought to be Oslerized. Bless you, the young man 'of middle ago who engineers this department can get as much fun out of a bunch of firecrackers as ho ever could. As a matter of fact he gets moro, be cause he makes the shooting thereof contribute to the happiness of thrco little shavers who throw spaBins of delight every time a cracker lots go and cracks the surrounding atmos phere. There's a lot of fun in mak ing a noiso like a lively American on July Fourth, but a lot more in hearing the happy shouts of your own little ones as papa touches the glowing punk to the fuse and jumps back bofore the cracker explodes. A half a dollar Invested in compara tively harmless crackers and fiery plnwheels and shot off for the amuse ment of your own little ones pays about 3,000 per cent a mlnuto on the investment. But, really, wo wasted a lot of the last GloriouB Fourth wishing wo could enjoy another celebration like the ones they used to have In Wal nut Grove just east of the old home village. We'd give anything on earth, almost, to hear Amanda Pick erill read the Declaration of Inde pendence again, see the thirty-six village maidens arrayed In red, white and blue, impersonating the states, with one proud young beauty representing Columbia; to hear Hon. John Soandso orate with patriotic zeal and snatch enough feathers from the tail of the eagle to dim the lustre of the sun, and see once moro "the grandest display of fireworks ever shown in Macon county;" and to go home again so tired and sleepy that our eyes glued shut before we could unbutton our shirt collar just tumble over on the bed, half un dressed and dream of fireworks and patriotism and Declarations of Inde pendence and all that sort of thing. Gee whiz! Wouldn't you like to see a repetition of the time when Monroe Willard and John Maquire and Ed Holmes were deputized to shoot off the fireworks, let a rocket tip over and set the whole caboodle on fire!, That was the greatest cele bration ever! Fizz, bang, boom! Rockets shooting in every direction, roman candles spitting .fire to all points of the compass, red and, blue fire making the night like a dream of, paradise, and bombs going off like a park of artillery. My, how the girls and women screamed and tucked their skirts for a swift run to safety! O, It was glorious and the mem ory of it is worth more than all the gold old Solomon ever took from, his famous mines. Honestly, bow, wouldn't you give about all you have, or expect to have, to slip about thirty or thirty-five years from your shoulders and enjoy a repetition of that glorious event? ' And, saV, don't you Temember tlje time that you and & lot of the boys But what's the use? You are a lot older now, even -if you do feel as young as ever, and try as you will you can not forget the respon sibilities resting upon you respon sibilities as fathers and as citizens, So you sober down a little, but if you lose your siriile and your cheerful ness and your youthful disposition you are lost-. 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Andrea all Order te The Commoner LINCOLN, NEB. 1 it jV tSftr i 'Ifcfafc'V SjS. J t.