P

There is an Indian legend of a good spirit who, wishing to benefit a young princess, led her into a ripe and golden corn-field. “See these ears of corn, my daughter; if thou wilt pluck them diligently, they will turn to precious jewels; the richer the ear of corn, the brighter the gem. But thou mayest only once pass through this corn-field, and canst not return the same way.” The maiden gladly accepted the offer. As she went on, many ripe and full ears of corn she found in her path, but she did not pluck them, always hoping to find better ones farther on. But presently the stems grew thinner, the ears poorer, with scarcely any grains of wheat on them; further on they were blighted, and she did not think them worth picking. Sorrowfully she stood at the end of the field, for she could not go back the same way, regretting the loss of the golden ears she had overlooked and lost.

To each of us are golden opportunities offered; life speeds on to the goal from which there is no return; let us redeem the time, for fields are white to harvest.—Illustrated Missionary News.

(2259)

Opportunity, American—SeeAmerican Opportunity.

Opportunity, Business—SeeBusiness Chances.

OPPORTUNITY IN THE ORIENT

Let me remind you of that great painting called “Anno Domini,” which perhaps some of you have seen, and which vividly illustrates the unprecedented opportunity to-day in the extreme Orient. It represents an Egyptian temple from whose spacious courts a brilliant procession of soldiers, statesmen, philosophers, artists, musicians, and priests is advancing in triumphal march, bearing a huge idol, the challenge and the boast of heathenism. Across the pathway of the procession is an ass, whose bridle is held by a reverent-looking man, and upon whose back is a fair young mother with her infant child. It is Jesus entering Egypt in flight from the wrath of Herod, and thus crossing the path of aggressive heathenism. The clock strikes and the Christian era begins.—Arthur Judson Brown, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.

(2260)

OPPORTUNITY LOST

Everybody knows now of the telephone and its large usefulness. It was not so, however, back in the seventies. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell had hard work to arouse interest, and harder yet to enlist capital, in his invention. In an account of the struggles of those early days, the following incident appears:

He resolved on a desperate move, and he went to Chauncey M. Depew and offered him a one-sixth interest in the company if he would loan $10,000 to put the company on its feet. Depew took a week to consider the proposition. At the end of the week he wrote back that the incident might be considered closed. The telephone was a clever idea, but it was utterly lacking in commercial possibilities, and $10,000 was far too big a sum to risk in marketing an instrument that at best could never be more than a source of amusement.Thus Depew let slip an opportunity to acquire for $10,000 an interest that to-day could not be bought for less than $25,000,000.

Thus Depew let slip an opportunity to acquire for $10,000 an interest that to-day could not be bought for less than $25,000,000.

(2261)

The New YorkSunis authority for the following story:

A Provincetown man, out on his first trip as captain of a whaling-vessel, about thirtyyears ago, stopt at one of the West India Islands on his way home. One of the natives offered him five small lumps of a dirty-looking substance which the native asserted was good for something. The native further informed the captain that he had got these pieces from a dead whale which was ashore on a certain beach and that there was plenty more in the carcass.Did the captain hoist all sail and get to that dead whale as fast as the winds of Providence would permit? Not a bit of it. He had been made captain for the purpose of going after sperm oil, and he concluded that he’d better stick to his job. So he gave the native a pair of blue overalls and a jumper for the five dirty lumps and went on his way.After he had made port he showed the five lumps to Mr. Stull, and when the latter gave him $700 for them he almost had a fit. Still that shock was nothing to what he got a little later, for he learned that another captain had heard of the dead whale, had got what ambergris still remained in the carcass and had sold it in New York for $30,000. It was estimated that this whale must have contained in all at least $50,000 worth of ambergris.

Did the captain hoist all sail and get to that dead whale as fast as the winds of Providence would permit? Not a bit of it. He had been made captain for the purpose of going after sperm oil, and he concluded that he’d better stick to his job. So he gave the native a pair of blue overalls and a jumper for the five dirty lumps and went on his way.

After he had made port he showed the five lumps to Mr. Stull, and when the latter gave him $700 for them he almost had a fit. Still that shock was nothing to what he got a little later, for he learned that another captain had heard of the dead whale, had got what ambergris still remained in the carcass and had sold it in New York for $30,000. It was estimated that this whale must have contained in all at least $50,000 worth of ambergris.

(2262)

Opportunity Seized—SeeSupply and Demand.

OPPOSITION

Ornithologists assure us that the eagle, the condor of the Andes, the albatross of the Pacific, and even the swiftly-flying little dove, like many other birds that are strong on the wing, can fly more swiftly against a wind than in a gentle breeze. It may be that this is because they are thus stimulated to exert the muscular strength of their pinions. But, however this may be, it is a fact that the fires of a steamship burn much more fiercely under the boilers when the vessel is going against a head-wind.

Christian effort of the right kind is at its best when opposition is faced, for this very condition brings us into contact with the divine resources which are ever on our side.

(2263)

OPPOSITION TO MISSIONARY WORK

I heard a little while ago of a member of one of our churches in Pennsylvania whose son graduated from a theological seminary and sent word home to his father that he had decided to be a missionary, and asking him for his approval; and the father sat down in a towering rage and wrote back to him something like this: “This is absolutely the saddest message I have ever received from you. I could have wished that you had died in infancy, as your brother did, rather than that things should come to such a pass as this. You never will get my consent to do such a rash and foolish thing. I will cut you entirely off from any share in my inheritance, unless you give up this idea forever; and I do not care to see your face again until you have given it up.” Imagine that kind of an answer from a professing Christian! In spite of it, the man is in Japan as a missionary to-day. Would it not be far more Christlike to take the attitude that my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Paton did over at Pittsburg three years ago, when their only child, a beautiful, clever, tender girl, came to them one day and said she wanted to be a missionary out in Africa? And they were so much in sympathy with Christ that they said, “We shall be very glad to have you go.” Then, as they thought and prayed over it for a few days, they decided that they could not let anybody else support their daughter, and so they sent word to the mission board that they wanted to have the privilege for the rest of their lives of paying their daughter’s salary while she worked over yonder in Africa. And when one and another of their friends came to them, protesting against this madness in sending their only child away off to bury her life in the heart of Africa, their simple answer to these critics was in words like these, “Our Lord has given His best to us, and our best is not too good for Him.”—J. Campbell White, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.

(2264)

OPTIMISM

The following verses are by M. A. Kidder:

There is many a rest in the road of life,If we only would stop to take it,And many a tone from the better land,If the querulous heart would wake it.To the sunny soul that is full of hope,And whose beautiful trust ne’er faileth,The grass is green and the flowers are bright,Tho the wintry storm prevaileth.There is ever a gem in the path of life,Which we pass in our idle pleasure,That is richer far than the jeweled crown,Or the miser’s hoarded treasure.It may be the love of a little child;Or a mother’s prayers to heaven;Or only a beggar’s grateful thanksFor a cup of water given.Better to weave in the web of lifeA bright and golden filling,And to do God’s will with a ready heartAnd hands that are swift and willing,Than to snap the delicate, slender threadsOf our curious lives asunder.And then blame heaven for the tangled ends,And sit, and grieve, and wonder.

There is many a rest in the road of life,

If we only would stop to take it,

And many a tone from the better land,

If the querulous heart would wake it.

To the sunny soul that is full of hope,

And whose beautiful trust ne’er faileth,

The grass is green and the flowers are bright,

Tho the wintry storm prevaileth.

There is ever a gem in the path of life,Which we pass in our idle pleasure,That is richer far than the jeweled crown,Or the miser’s hoarded treasure.It may be the love of a little child;Or a mother’s prayers to heaven;Or only a beggar’s grateful thanksFor a cup of water given.

There is ever a gem in the path of life,

Which we pass in our idle pleasure,

That is richer far than the jeweled crown,

Or the miser’s hoarded treasure.

It may be the love of a little child;

Or a mother’s prayers to heaven;

Or only a beggar’s grateful thanks

For a cup of water given.

Better to weave in the web of lifeA bright and golden filling,And to do God’s will with a ready heartAnd hands that are swift and willing,Than to snap the delicate, slender threadsOf our curious lives asunder.And then blame heaven for the tangled ends,And sit, and grieve, and wonder.

Better to weave in the web of life

A bright and golden filling,

And to do God’s will with a ready heart

And hands that are swift and willing,

Than to snap the delicate, slender threads

Of our curious lives asunder.

And then blame heaven for the tangled ends,

And sit, and grieve, and wonder.

(2265)

Kate Sanborn tells of an old lady of her acquaintance, eighty-three years of age, who is famous among all who know her for her happy cheerfulness. One day when she was choked by a bread-crumb at the table, she said to the frightened waiter as soon as she could regain her breath: “Never mind if that did go down the wrong way. A great many good things have gone down the right way this winter.” (Text.)—Louis Albert Banks.

(2266)

In answer to the question, “What is optimism?” this humorous instance was recently given:

A man lost his balance and fell from the fortieth story of the Singer Building, Broadway, New York. As he passed each story going down he said to himself, “It is all right so far.” That was optimism.

(2267)

Once I got hard up and went down and sold the best suit I had to get bread, and I had my shoes half-soled, and that night some fellow stole my shoes, and the next morning the snow was ten inches deep, and I got up, and looked out of the window, and I said, “I would rather have feet and no shoes than shoes with no feet.” I like the fellow that goes along without growling.—“Popular Lectures of Sam P. Jones.”

(2268)

Dr. A. E. Winship tells this story:

It was eleven o’clock on as disagreeable a night as Chicago knew last winter that I ordered a cab to take me to the Northwestern Station. Carriages were scarce, and I was asked to ride with another man.“A good night this!”“Humph,” I replied, “if anybody likes this kind, I don’t.”“It is just the tonic I need for my eighty-two years. It blows the blues all out of a man if he ever had them, which I never do.”“Do you often ride nights at your time of life?”“Nearly every night; it does me good.”“Oh, I beg your pardon. This is Doctor Willetts.”“Certainly, and I would have been nursing old age twenty years ago if I had ever found anything bad in life. A night like this! Why, to growl about it, it would take a year off my life.”Thanks to Doctor Willetts I have not seen bad weather since, and I never shall.

“A good night this!”

“Humph,” I replied, “if anybody likes this kind, I don’t.”

“It is just the tonic I need for my eighty-two years. It blows the blues all out of a man if he ever had them, which I never do.”

“Do you often ride nights at your time of life?”

“Nearly every night; it does me good.”

“Oh, I beg your pardon. This is Doctor Willetts.”

“Certainly, and I would have been nursing old age twenty years ago if I had ever found anything bad in life. A night like this! Why, to growl about it, it would take a year off my life.”

Thanks to Doctor Willetts I have not seen bad weather since, and I never shall.

(2269)

SeeProphecy.

Optimists, The, and the Pessimists—SeeLoads, Balking Under.

ORATORY

There are men in legislative assemblies who speak often, but are never masters of any situation. They have great powers of utterance, but nothing to say. The orator whose burning sentences become the very proverbs of freedom is not he who consumes the most time and employs the selectest paragraphs. I have seen men in Congress often on their legs and buzzing about like able-bodied darning-needles, but they never managed, even by accident, to sting anybody into attention.—James T. Fields.

(2270)

Order—SeeSystem in Labor.

Order, The Natural—SeePlan in Nature.

ORGANIZATION, INDUSTRIAL

The farmer who tills his own soil, the man in the shop who is his own employer, the proprietor of the small factory, as well as the manager of the greatest manufacturing corporation and his subordinates, are each concerned with the problems of organization in their special work.Thousands of farmers to-day are eking out a scanty subsistence because of a lack of intelligence in the proper organization of the activities of farm life. Thousands of manufacturing establishments are upon the verge of bankruptcy or are reducing dividends for the same reason. Industrial educationconfined to the production of skilled workmen might prolong the agony, but would not avert the final disaster, because of lack of intelligence in the organization of means to ends in the particular productive enterprise. Thousands of firms concerned with the distribution of products fail annually, not because of lack of interest on the part of those who are managing them, but because of lack of skilful organization of the various forces whose action is necessary to success.The schools do not exist to-day which undertake to give instruction in these particular fields. Even the body of knowledge which would form the proper field of study has not been organized and put into teachable form. Even the beginnings have hardly been made toward industrial education in this particular field.—Lorenzo D. Harvey, “Proceedings of the National Education Association,” 1909.

Thousands of farmers to-day are eking out a scanty subsistence because of a lack of intelligence in the proper organization of the activities of farm life. Thousands of manufacturing establishments are upon the verge of bankruptcy or are reducing dividends for the same reason. Industrial educationconfined to the production of skilled workmen might prolong the agony, but would not avert the final disaster, because of lack of intelligence in the organization of means to ends in the particular productive enterprise. Thousands of firms concerned with the distribution of products fail annually, not because of lack of interest on the part of those who are managing them, but because of lack of skilful organization of the various forces whose action is necessary to success.

The schools do not exist to-day which undertake to give instruction in these particular fields. Even the body of knowledge which would form the proper field of study has not been organized and put into teachable form. Even the beginnings have hardly been made toward industrial education in this particular field.—Lorenzo D. Harvey, “Proceedings of the National Education Association,” 1909.

(2271)

ORGANIZING FOR WORK

The difference between a locomotive engine and a pile of scrap-iron is that the one is organized and the other is not. In the case of the engine machinery, side arms, driving-wheels and whistle—all have their place and part. So have driver and stoker. And it is the organized power and effort that bring results.

Many men have enough good moral material for a fine character, but have not yet put it in effective order, and so can not bring it to bear. (Text.)

(2272)

Orient, The, and Opportunity—SeeOpportunity in the Orient.

Original Sin—SeeSin, Original.

ORIGINAL SOURCES

The history of the Christian religion might conceivably be written as was this history named below:

Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet found the histories of the American Revolution so full of errors that, in his disgust, he resolved to make some history that could not lie. The result was the unique folios now in the keeping of the Lenox library, in which the author has never written a word, but has told the story by the assembling of original documents and letters. He never allowed himself to insert a copy, no matter how many hundred dollars the original document might cost him.

(2273)

ORIGINALITY

A really fertile creative mind has got to produce—wheat and tares, flowers and weeds—all springing from a rich soil. Contrary to the general belief, there is nothing so deadly to the writer of creative power as a too early development of the critical faculty. That is why the young man who is always conscious of Lowell and Emerson looking over his shoulder never is original.—Robert Bridges,Collier’s Weekly.

(2274)

As Plutarch tells us, “it is well to go for a light to another man’s fire, but not to tarry by it, instead of kindling a torch of one’s own.” A torch of one’s own!—that is a possession worth having, whether it be a flaming beacon on the hilltop or a tiny taper in the window. We can not tell how far a little candle throws its beams, nor who is laying his course by its flickering light. The most that we can do—and it is also the least we should do—is to tend the flame carefully and to keep it steady.—Brander Matthews.

(2275)

SeeNewness of Each Soul.

ORIGINALITY OF MAN

If we mean by individuality differences in character and disposition, then is there a fair measure of individuality among the animals. No two animals are just alike, any more than any two trees are just alike. But if we mean the possession of striking original traits, unique powers and capacities, as among men, then there is very little. Animals do not differ in the degree that men differ. What one does all of its kind will sooner or later do. Anything you can learn of one bird or beast that is not true of every member of its species is unimportant.I, myself, like to dwell upon what seems like individual differences in the manners and characters of the birds and the mammals. We all love the specific and characteristic; but we are aware of these differences mainly because we have a few birds or mammals under observation and not the whole class. Some day we shall observe the same trait or habit in another of the same class. We see something in the eye or the face of a member of one’s own family and think it peculiar and original; then, in the face of an Eskimo or a Cossack, we see the same look.—John Burroughs,The Independent.

I, myself, like to dwell upon what seems like individual differences in the manners and characters of the birds and the mammals. We all love the specific and characteristic; but we are aware of these differences mainly because we have a few birds or mammals under observation and not the whole class. Some day we shall observe the same trait or habit in another of the same class. We see something in the eye or the face of a member of one’s own family and think it peculiar and original; then, in the face of an Eskimo or a Cossack, we see the same look.—John Burroughs,The Independent.

(2276)

Origins, Unknown—SeeUnknown Realities.

OSSIFICATION

The LondonMailreports this sad case:

An honored guest at most of the London hospitals is a tall, slim man, with a thin face, who has to move about with extreme care, because if he happened to fall down he might break in several places.He is literally a fragile man, who has to walk with something of the stiffness of “La Poupée.” A violent fall would be disastrous to him. He is suffering from a rare and painless disease which, in the words of one of the doctors who has seen him, turns him into “a porcelain man.” Alban Rushbrook, aged thirty-five, has for seven years been suffering frommyositis ossificans; his muscles are turning into bone. He can walk, but he can not sit in a chair, and it is difficult for him to turn his head far to the right or left. The muscles of his chest, back and thighs are all turning to bone. He lies flat in bed. When he desires to rise he is shifted to the edge of the bed, and his rigid body is tipped up till his feet touch the floor. A stick is placed in his hand, and he can then make his way in a straight line ahead.

An honored guest at most of the London hospitals is a tall, slim man, with a thin face, who has to move about with extreme care, because if he happened to fall down he might break in several places.

He is literally a fragile man, who has to walk with something of the stiffness of “La Poupée.” A violent fall would be disastrous to him. He is suffering from a rare and painless disease which, in the words of one of the doctors who has seen him, turns him into “a porcelain man.” Alban Rushbrook, aged thirty-five, has for seven years been suffering frommyositis ossificans; his muscles are turning into bone. He can walk, but he can not sit in a chair, and it is difficult for him to turn his head far to the right or left. The muscles of his chest, back and thighs are all turning to bone. He lies flat in bed. When he desires to rise he is shifted to the edge of the bed, and his rigid body is tipped up till his feet touch the floor. A stick is placed in his hand, and he can then make his way in a straight line ahead.

(2277)

OSTENTATION

The boxes in the temple treasury were shaped like trumpets. Jesus said, “Do not make a trumpet of the box; it looks like one, but do not use it for the purpose of calling attention to what you are about to put into it.” (Text.)

(2278)

OSTENTATION, SNOBBISH

Occasionally great wealth publishes itself in an unbecoming and distasteful manner, as the following suggests:

The son of the New York millionaire, John W. Gates, dislikes to have bills of such small denomination as $100 littering up his pockets, says the PhiladelphiaPress.The last time Mr. and Mrs. Gates came to this city in their automobile they stopt at the Bellevue-Stratford. When he asked for his bill he found it amounted to a paltry $70. Opening a huge wallet, he handed out a thousand-dollar note. This was fondly laid away and the cashier began to count hundred-dollar bills in change.“My word,” said Mr. Gates, dropping into the vernacular of the metropolis, “I can’t carry that truck around with me. Send my bill to New York and I will mail you a check.”Calling hundred-dollar bills “truck” was more than the porters who heard it could stand. If they had not been so well trained they would have forgotten to carry Mr. Gates’ dress-suit case out to his automobile.

The son of the New York millionaire, John W. Gates, dislikes to have bills of such small denomination as $100 littering up his pockets, says the PhiladelphiaPress.

The last time Mr. and Mrs. Gates came to this city in their automobile they stopt at the Bellevue-Stratford. When he asked for his bill he found it amounted to a paltry $70. Opening a huge wallet, he handed out a thousand-dollar note. This was fondly laid away and the cashier began to count hundred-dollar bills in change.

“My word,” said Mr. Gates, dropping into the vernacular of the metropolis, “I can’t carry that truck around with me. Send my bill to New York and I will mail you a check.”

Calling hundred-dollar bills “truck” was more than the porters who heard it could stand. If they had not been so well trained they would have forgotten to carry Mr. Gates’ dress-suit case out to his automobile.

(2279)

OTHER SIDE, THE

“There’s another side,” said the minister’s wife softly.“How do you know?” asked the visitor who had told the discreditable little tale strictly in confidence, as she herself had learned it in the bosom of the Wednesday afternoon sewing circle. The minister’s wife had not been present, and it was only right that she should be put right about this family of newcomers in the parish. “Some things had come to the ears of the sewing circle that were not—well, not exactly—”“There’s another side!” repeated the minister’s wife, not so softly this time. In fact, there was a noticeable little ring of indignation in her tone, which died out in a sort of wondering pity as she noticed the challenging look of her caller. “You’re glad there is another side, aren’t you? Why, of course you are. And, you see, I know all about it.”“You weren’t at the meeting,” said the other stiffly. “If you had been, you—”“No, I was there—at the house. And I saw—I saw—oh, Mrs. Babbitt, if you could have seen what I saw.”“I saw, too—with my own eyes! That daughter of theirs is an opium—”“She isn’t their daughter—not any relation; not even a friend or a friend’s daughter, just a poor girl who had been sick so long and suffered so terribly that the doctors themselves had made her a victim of the opium habit. And they have undertaken to try to cure her. They have given up their home—their very lives—to it. They don’t say a word about it. I just found it out—with the help of the doctor.”The visitor rose suddenly, almost unceremoniously. For a moment the hostess looked troubled and aghast. Had she spoken too sharply, discourteously, even? Her mind fled back over the interview as she faltered: “You are not going yet? You—oh, you aren’t offended at anything I’ve said?”“Yes, I’m going. Offended—I? I’m going round to see all our ladies, every single one of them!”“And tell them?—”The minister’s wife held her breath forthe answer. One may be very bold, but it sometimes means a great deal to offend “the ladies.”“And tell them,” said the caller, gathering her wraps about her, “that beautiful ‘other side!’”“Oh!” breathed the minister’s wife gratefully. “And tell them, won’t you, that there always is another side, always, always! And it is our Christian business to try and find it.”—Anna Burnham Bryant,Zion’s Herald.

“There’s another side,” said the minister’s wife softly.

“How do you know?” asked the visitor who had told the discreditable little tale strictly in confidence, as she herself had learned it in the bosom of the Wednesday afternoon sewing circle. The minister’s wife had not been present, and it was only right that she should be put right about this family of newcomers in the parish. “Some things had come to the ears of the sewing circle that were not—well, not exactly—”

“There’s another side!” repeated the minister’s wife, not so softly this time. In fact, there was a noticeable little ring of indignation in her tone, which died out in a sort of wondering pity as she noticed the challenging look of her caller. “You’re glad there is another side, aren’t you? Why, of course you are. And, you see, I know all about it.”

“You weren’t at the meeting,” said the other stiffly. “If you had been, you—”

“No, I was there—at the house. And I saw—I saw—oh, Mrs. Babbitt, if you could have seen what I saw.”

“I saw, too—with my own eyes! That daughter of theirs is an opium—”

“She isn’t their daughter—not any relation; not even a friend or a friend’s daughter, just a poor girl who had been sick so long and suffered so terribly that the doctors themselves had made her a victim of the opium habit. And they have undertaken to try to cure her. They have given up their home—their very lives—to it. They don’t say a word about it. I just found it out—with the help of the doctor.”

The visitor rose suddenly, almost unceremoniously. For a moment the hostess looked troubled and aghast. Had she spoken too sharply, discourteously, even? Her mind fled back over the interview as she faltered: “You are not going yet? You—oh, you aren’t offended at anything I’ve said?”

“Yes, I’m going. Offended—I? I’m going round to see all our ladies, every single one of them!”

“And tell them?—”

The minister’s wife held her breath forthe answer. One may be very bold, but it sometimes means a great deal to offend “the ladies.”

“And tell them,” said the caller, gathering her wraps about her, “that beautiful ‘other side!’”

“Oh!” breathed the minister’s wife gratefully. “And tell them, won’t you, that there always is another side, always, always! And it is our Christian business to try and find it.”—Anna Burnham Bryant,Zion’s Herald.

(2280)

OTHERS, CONSIDERATION FOR

Among the regular announcements printed each week in the calendar of the Temple Baptist Church, Los Angeles, Cal., when the Rev. Robert J. Burdette was pastor, was the following:

Out of Christian consideration for others, the women will please remove their hats before the beginning of the sermon.There was general conformity with a request so courteous and so Christian. In a large audience of several thousand there will, of course, be occasional transgressors. When the number of transgressors was exasperatingly large, the startled ears of the offenders were in danger of being greeted with a pronunciamento from the pastor, ordinarily the gentlest of men, usually in this spoken form:“If the lady with the becoming hat will kindly notice how hard the man behind her is dodging, trying to see the preacher, she will undoubtedly be obliging enough to take down her millinery, postpone her halo, and conform to the customs of this church.” The effect is generally satisfactory to the audience, and the wearer’s self-respect is preserved in a trying episode. (Text.)

Out of Christian consideration for others, the women will please remove their hats before the beginning of the sermon.

There was general conformity with a request so courteous and so Christian. In a large audience of several thousand there will, of course, be occasional transgressors. When the number of transgressors was exasperatingly large, the startled ears of the offenders were in danger of being greeted with a pronunciamento from the pastor, ordinarily the gentlest of men, usually in this spoken form:

“If the lady with the becoming hat will kindly notice how hard the man behind her is dodging, trying to see the preacher, she will undoubtedly be obliging enough to take down her millinery, postpone her halo, and conform to the customs of this church.” The effect is generally satisfactory to the audience, and the wearer’s self-respect is preserved in a trying episode. (Text.)

(2281)

Outcome—SeeDirection.

Outlawry—SeeLawlessness.

Outstripping Danger—SeeAhead of Circumstances.

Overcoming Obstacles—SeeEnergy, Indomitable.

Overdoing—SeeComparisons, Apt.

OVERDOING DANGEROUS

On all sides we may see that the stern laws which are necessary to our development may become exhaustive and destructive, passing beyond a given limit, as in athletics a man may be overtrained. And all this is just as true of our moral as it is of our physical and intellectual nature. A fair share of hardship develops heroic qualities, but when existence becomes too hard it breaks the spirit; the child cruelly treated becomes cowed; men and women bred in misfortune’s school become timid, nervous, cowardly. So, if heaven did not temper life, the finer qualities could never be developed in us. Burdens too heavy to be borne would break our heart; temptations too fiery, or protracted, wear out our patience; sorrows too acute drink up our spirit. Overborne by unmitigated pressure, we should lose all faith, courage, hope; nothing would be left to us but atheism, cynicism, despair.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(2282)

OVERLOADING

A horse drawing a load of freight was going down the grade on Seneca Street (Buffalo). The weight of the load sent it forward on the animal’s heels. The driver pulled up the horse to steady him. The load slid forward still faster—the horse slipt and fell.A little crowd gathered. The horse was unhitched as it lay panting on its side with its fore-legs skinned from the knee down from contact with the ice. The animal struggled to rise, but could not gain a foothold. Then some one placed a folded blanket under the horse’s fore-feet, and he got up and stood shivering from the strain.Just a common street scene.But it has a moral in the opinion of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is, “don’t overload.”“I do wish that teamsters and owners of work-horses could be brought to understand that it does not pay to overload their wagons,” said Miss Jessie C. Hall, office secretary of the society.“Just now the overloading of wagons is causing no end of trouble and complaints are pouring in every day. If drivers would take smaller loads it would pay in the end. Only this morning an agent of the society was called to Broadway and Gibson Street where a horse had fallen down. It was so badly hurt that it had to be destroyed.”

A little crowd gathered. The horse was unhitched as it lay panting on its side with its fore-legs skinned from the knee down from contact with the ice. The animal struggled to rise, but could not gain a foothold. Then some one placed a folded blanket under the horse’s fore-feet, and he got up and stood shivering from the strain.

Just a common street scene.

But it has a moral in the opinion of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is, “don’t overload.”

“I do wish that teamsters and owners of work-horses could be brought to understand that it does not pay to overload their wagons,” said Miss Jessie C. Hall, office secretary of the society.

“Just now the overloading of wagons is causing no end of trouble and complaints are pouring in every day. If drivers would take smaller loads it would pay in the end. Only this morning an agent of the society was called to Broadway and Gibson Street where a horse had fallen down. It was so badly hurt that it had to be destroyed.”

(2283)

OVERPLUS OF DUTY

This testimony by an expert should interest particularly those just starting in life:

Andrew Carnegie, in a recent address before a graduating class in New York, said:“There are several classes of young men. There are those who do not do all their duty, there are those who profess to do their duty, and there is a third class, far better than the other two, that do their duty and a little more.“There are many great pianists, but Paderewski is at the head because he does a little more than the others. There are hundreds of race-horses, but it is those who go a few seconds faster than the others that acquire renown. So it is in the sailing of yachts. It is the little more that wins. So it is with the young and old men who do a little more than their duty. Do your duty and a little more, and the future will take care of itself.” (Text.)

Andrew Carnegie, in a recent address before a graduating class in New York, said:

“There are several classes of young men. There are those who do not do all their duty, there are those who profess to do their duty, and there is a third class, far better than the other two, that do their duty and a little more.

“There are many great pianists, but Paderewski is at the head because he does a little more than the others. There are hundreds of race-horses, but it is those who go a few seconds faster than the others that acquire renown. So it is in the sailing of yachts. It is the little more that wins. So it is with the young and old men who do a little more than their duty. Do your duty and a little more, and the future will take care of itself.” (Text.)

(2284)

Overproduction in Nature—SeeDestruction Necessary.

Overshadowed—SeeLiving in the Shadow.

OVERSIGHT

Many a good plan has failed through oversight of some forgotten or neglected factor.

Two years after Mr. Cassatt became general manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Robert Garrett walked into the office of George B. Roberts, then president, and exclaimed gleefully: “Mr. Roberts, we have secured control of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. We are not disposed, however, to disturb your relations with the property, and you need not give yourself any uneasiness on that score.”This road, owned by New England capitalists, extended from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and had been operated in the interests of the Pennsylvania. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, always on the lookout for an open path to New York, coveted the small but important stretch of track and resented the Pennsylvania’s control of it.President Roberts was amazed and not a little discomfited by the easy assurance of Mr. Garrett. As soon as the exultant Baltimore and Ohio man had gone there was a conference between President Roberts and Mr. Cassatt.“Garrett says they’ve got the P. W. & B.,” said Mr. Roberts.“Oh, no, they haven’t,” replied the general manager.That night there was a meeting of Pennsylvania Railroad directors in New York. Mr. Cassatt was the presiding genius. He told them where he could lay his hands on a block of P. W. & B. stock that would put the control forever in the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Before the directors rose from their chairs a check was drawn for $14,949,052.20. It hangs in a frame now on the walls of the treasury of the Pennsylvania Railroad, canceled to show that the money was there waiting when it was presented. At the time it was written, it was the largest check ever recorded. The Garretts were completely routed. They couldn’t understand how they had come to overlook that block of stock, and they were equally at a loss to know how Cassatt had discovered it and negotiated the purchase over night.

This road, owned by New England capitalists, extended from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and had been operated in the interests of the Pennsylvania. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, always on the lookout for an open path to New York, coveted the small but important stretch of track and resented the Pennsylvania’s control of it.

President Roberts was amazed and not a little discomfited by the easy assurance of Mr. Garrett. As soon as the exultant Baltimore and Ohio man had gone there was a conference between President Roberts and Mr. Cassatt.

“Garrett says they’ve got the P. W. & B.,” said Mr. Roberts.

“Oh, no, they haven’t,” replied the general manager.

That night there was a meeting of Pennsylvania Railroad directors in New York. Mr. Cassatt was the presiding genius. He told them where he could lay his hands on a block of P. W. & B. stock that would put the control forever in the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Before the directors rose from their chairs a check was drawn for $14,949,052.20. It hangs in a frame now on the walls of the treasury of the Pennsylvania Railroad, canceled to show that the money was there waiting when it was presented. At the time it was written, it was the largest check ever recorded. The Garretts were completely routed. They couldn’t understand how they had come to overlook that block of stock, and they were equally at a loss to know how Cassatt had discovered it and negotiated the purchase over night.

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Ownership Settled by Sheep—SeeTestimony, a Sheep’s.

OWNERSHIP, THE SOUL’S

Thomas Traherne, a poet whose works became known only after his death, wrote this verse:

My infancy no sooner opes its eyesBut straight the spacious earthAbounds with joy, peace, glory, mirth,And, being wise,The very skiesAnd stars do mine become.

My infancy no sooner opes its eyes

But straight the spacious earth

Abounds with joy, peace, glory, mirth,

And, being wise,

The very skies

And stars do mine become.

(2286)

Pace—SeeSlowness.

Pagan Conception of Death—SeeDeath, Christian View of.

Pagan Kindness—SeeGenerosity.

PAGAN THOUGHTS

On Stanley’s first trip through Africa he came to the King of Uganda, who most cordially asked, first of all, for the health of Queen Victoria and of the German Emperor. Then he somewhat disconcerted the great traveler by asking him, “What news do you bring me from above?” This heathen king had a perfect right to expect that his visitor was one in heart and idea with that greater explorer, David Livingstone. But as Stanley proceeded westward he could tell the character of those with whom the natives were acquainted. The first question put by the natives nearer the West Coast was, “Have you any gin?”

(2287)

PAIN

You eat the heart of life like some great beast,You blacken the sweet sky—that God made blue,You are the death’s-head set amid the feast,The desert breath that drinks up every dew.And no man lives but quails before thee, Pain!And no man lives that learns to love your rod;The white lip smiles—but ever and again,God’s image cries your horror unto God.And yet—oh, terrible! men grant you this:You work a mystery. When you are done,Lo! common living turns to heavenly bliss;Lo! the mere light is as the noonday sun!—Margaret Steble Anderson,The Century Magazine.

You eat the heart of life like some great beast,You blacken the sweet sky—that God made blue,You are the death’s-head set amid the feast,The desert breath that drinks up every dew.

You eat the heart of life like some great beast,

You blacken the sweet sky—that God made blue,

You are the death’s-head set amid the feast,

The desert breath that drinks up every dew.

And no man lives but quails before thee, Pain!And no man lives that learns to love your rod;The white lip smiles—but ever and again,God’s image cries your horror unto God.

And no man lives but quails before thee, Pain!

And no man lives that learns to love your rod;

The white lip smiles—but ever and again,

God’s image cries your horror unto God.

And yet—oh, terrible! men grant you this:You work a mystery. When you are done,Lo! common living turns to heavenly bliss;Lo! the mere light is as the noonday sun!—Margaret Steble Anderson,The Century Magazine.

And yet—oh, terrible! men grant you this:

You work a mystery. When you are done,

Lo! common living turns to heavenly bliss;

Lo! the mere light is as the noonday sun!

—Margaret Steble Anderson,The Century Magazine.

(2288)

Pain, Cry of—SeeBird Notes.

PAIN IN ANIMALS

In dealing with animals it is necessary to consider carefully what signs may be depended upon as proofs of their suffering. Certainly their struggles and cries are not always true indications. All wild animals struggle under restraint. With many, cries indicate fear rather than pain. A hare when shot rarely cries; when closely pursued by dogs it often does. Animals when trapped rarely cry until some one approaches the trap. Frogs will cry out loudly on the appearance of anything at all resembling a snake; when injured with stones or cut by the scythe in mowing they rarely do so. Every gamekeeper knows that it is a common thing for a rat or rabbit, when caught by the leg in one of the ordinary steel-traps, to gnaw off its limb and so escape, while other animals when kept short of food will readily eat their own tails. Another proof that animals are less sensitive to pain than man is their comparative freedom from shock after severe injuries. When a man meets with a severe injury of any kind, a train of symptoms follow which are collectively known by the name of shock. A striking pallor takes the place of the natural color, the skin becomes covered with a clammy moisture, the eye loses its natural luster, and the extremities become deadly cold, and while the ear may detect the fluttering action of the heart, the pulse at the wrist is often quite imperceptible. All these symptoms point to a great disturbance of the nervous system, whereas the lower animals often sustain the severest injuries without exhibiting any of the symptoms of shock.—W. Collier,Nineteenth Century.

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PAIN, LEARNING BY

The gipsies of Transylvania, according to a writer inBlackwood’s Magazine, teach young bears to dance by placing the animal on a sheet of heated iron, while the trainer plays on his fiddle a strongly accentuated piece of dance-music. The bear, lifting up its legs alternately to escape the heat, involuntarily observes the time marked by the violin. Later on the heated iron is supprest, when the animal has learned its lesson, and whenever the gipsy begins to play on the fiddle the young bear lifts its legs in regular time to the music.—Public Opinion.

(2290)

Pain Relieved—SeePatience.

PAIN STRENGTHENS

When the little girl told her music-teacher that it hurt her fingers to practise on thepiano, the teacher answered: “I know it hurts them, but it strengthens them, too.” Then the child packed the philosophy of the ages into her reply: “Teacher, it seems that everything which strengthens hurts.”—F. F. Shannon.

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PAIN, THE ANGEL OF

When Theodosius was put upon the rack he suffered very great torture at the first. Somebody asked him how he endured all that pain on the rack. He replied: “When I was first put upon the rack I suffered a great deal; but very soon a young man in white stood by my side, and with a soft and comfortable handkerchief he wiped the sweat from my brow, and my pains were relieved. It was a punishment for me to get from the rack, because when the pain was all gone the angel was gone.” (Text.)

(2292)

PAINSTAKING

In spite of his continual need of movement, his passionate love of sport in all its forms, and especially of motoring, his expansive, rather mad, but very attractive youthfulness, Alfonso XIII, even in his flying trips, never loses the occasion to improve his mind. He is very quick at seizing a point, possesses a remarkable power of assimilation, and, altho he does not read much, for he has no patience, he is remarkably well informed regarding the smallest details in matters that interest him. One day, for instance, he asked me, point-blank:“Do you know how many gendarmes there are in France?”I confess that I was greatly puzzled what to reply, for I have never cared much about statistics. I ventured to say, off-hand: “Ten thousand.”“Ten thousand! Come, M. Paoli, what are you thinking of? That’s the number we have in Spain. It’s more like twenty thousand.”This figure, as I afterward learned, was strictly accurate.As for business of State, I also noticed that the king devoted more time to it than his restless life would lead one to believe. Rising, winter and summer, at six o’clock, he stays indoors and works regularly during the early part of the morning, and often again at night. In this connection, one of his ministers said to me:“He never shows a sign of either weariness or boredom. The king’s ‘frivolity’ is a popular fallacy. On the contrary, he is terribly painstaking. Just like the queen mother, he insists upon clear and detailed explanations before he will sign the least document; and he knows quite well how to make his will felt. Besides, he is fond of work, and he can work anywhere—in a motor-car, in a boat, in a train, as well as in his study.”—Xavier Paoli,McClure’s.

“Do you know how many gendarmes there are in France?”

I confess that I was greatly puzzled what to reply, for I have never cared much about statistics. I ventured to say, off-hand: “Ten thousand.”

“Ten thousand! Come, M. Paoli, what are you thinking of? That’s the number we have in Spain. It’s more like twenty thousand.”

This figure, as I afterward learned, was strictly accurate.

As for business of State, I also noticed that the king devoted more time to it than his restless life would lead one to believe. Rising, winter and summer, at six o’clock, he stays indoors and works regularly during the early part of the morning, and often again at night. In this connection, one of his ministers said to me:

“He never shows a sign of either weariness or boredom. The king’s ‘frivolity’ is a popular fallacy. On the contrary, he is terribly painstaking. Just like the queen mother, he insists upon clear and detailed explanations before he will sign the least document; and he knows quite well how to make his will felt. Besides, he is fond of work, and he can work anywhere—in a motor-car, in a boat, in a train, as well as in his study.”—Xavier Paoli,McClure’s.

(2293)

Any one, says a writer inThe Atlantic Monthly, can hold out a dumb-bell for a few seconds; but in a few more seconds the arm sags; it is only the trained athlete who can endure even to the minute’s end.For Hawthorne to hold the people of “The Scarlet Letter” steadily in focus from November to February, to say nothing of six years’ preliminary brooding, is surely more of an artistic feat than to write a short story between Tuesday and Friday.The three years and nine months of unremitting labor devoted to “Middlemarch” does not in itself afford any criterion of the value of the book; but given George Eliot’s brain power and artistic instinct to begin with, and then concentrate them for that period upon a single theme, and it is no wonder that the result is a masterpiece.“Jan van Eyck was never in a hurry,” says Charles Reade of the great Flemish painter, in “The Cloister and the Hearth,” and therefore the world will not forget him in a hurry. (Text.)

For Hawthorne to hold the people of “The Scarlet Letter” steadily in focus from November to February, to say nothing of six years’ preliminary brooding, is surely more of an artistic feat than to write a short story between Tuesday and Friday.

The three years and nine months of unremitting labor devoted to “Middlemarch” does not in itself afford any criterion of the value of the book; but given George Eliot’s brain power and artistic instinct to begin with, and then concentrate them for that period upon a single theme, and it is no wonder that the result is a masterpiece.

“Jan van Eyck was never in a hurry,” says Charles Reade of the great Flemish painter, in “The Cloister and the Hearth,” and therefore the world will not forget him in a hurry. (Text.)

(2294)

Painting the Living—SeeMotive, Mercenary.

Palliatives—SeeMusic as an Anesthetic.

PALLIATIVES VERSUS PREVENTION

The principle indicated in the extract will some day be adopted by Christianity in its treatment of the moral life. Mere palliatives are insufficient:

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