Importance of Being Punctual.

HON. CYRUS G. LUCE, Ex-Governor of Michigan.

HERE is no teacher so wise as the Creator of the universe. There is no model so perfect. There is no other example that can be so safely and profitably followed. In every movement of the entire universe, the importance of punctuality is taught. He who knows all things, and controls all things, is so observant of its necessity that the sun, moon, stars, as well as the earth, move on, each in its own orbit, for thousands of years, without once being behind time for a single moment. So punctual and accurate is nature's machinery, so prompt is the engineer, that astronomers can determine the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the eclipses that will occur, for centuries to come. But none can calculate the consequences of a failure on the part of any of the heavenly bodies to be on time.

Reliability and punctuality furnish the foundation upon which the whole structure of creation rests. So far as the plans of the Creator relate to the world in which we live, they are centered in the population that have in the past, do now, ' and shall in the future inhabit the earth. In order to accomplish the highest purposes of life, rules must be adopted for the guidance of conduct, and when good rules are once adopted they must be adhered to with religious fidelity.

While the duties that fall to the lot of any one individual are so small when compared to those which affect the whole creation that they are scarcely discernible by the naked eye, yet every vne, no matter how humble, has functions to perform that affect not only one's self, but one's associates. Punctuality on the

part of a boy or girl when first attending school adds materially to the comfort and profit of all who attend in the same room. The laggard who enters the schoolroom late not only suffers a personal loss, but inflicts a wrong upon the teacher and entire school. This is just as true as it would be if some little star should be tardy in its movements, thus throwing the entire universe at least into temporary confusion. Very early in life we form habits good or bad which go with us to the end. The habit of being behind time in entering the schoolroom, unless broken off by a determined purpose and firm will, will affect life's work all along the years. There is no line of life work where punctuality is not a necessity. However lofty may be the aims and aspirations of individuals, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred they cannot be realized without this cardinal virtue. The men whose names adorn and honor the pages of history have been renowned for the possession of this one trait of character as much as or more than for any other. On time, on time, has been their motto from the beginning to the end of their career. But we need not look alone to the lives of the distinguished. Perhaps it is wiser not to do so, for but very few live the lives of the distinguished, and even these few need no prompting; they understand the importance of punctuality. In everyday life it is just as essential. The clerk in the store, bank, or commission office will never rise or become a necessity to his employers unless he is in season and out of season.

On time on time! This must become a part of his very life. Unless he does this, upon him neither his employers nor their customers can rely. And the rule that applies to the employee must be well learned and practiced by the employer. The bank whose doors do not open promptly at the accustomed hour is heralded as a broken bank. A minute late casts suspicions; five minutes late and a bank failure is announced, and all of its attendant evils afflict the community.

The same rule, to a greater or less extent, though not so forcibly illustrated, applies to all the callings in which men are engaged. The farmer sometimes acts as if he thought that his

calling was exempt from an application of this unerring rule that applies to all things in heaven and on earth, but no greater mistake ever entered the head of mortal man. The farmer is engaged in the most important occupation known to the head or hand of man. Upon the products of the soil all rely for their anticipated prosperity. If the farmer does not lay broad and deep the foundation, other structures beside his own must crumble and fall, and to fill the demands that are properly made upon him, he, like the great stars, must be punctual in the orbit allotted to him in nature's economy. He must plow, plant, and cultivate on time, or the burdens imposed upon him at harvest time will be light indeed, and thus will be destroyed one of the main pillars of the edifice that sustains commerce, manufactures, and trade throughout the world. No more important lesson can be taught to the farmer's boy than is found in the everyday life of the successful, practical farmer. Every hour presents an object lesson. Every year many of these are presented to the mind of the close observer, and the central idea of all these is found in the two words, thoroughness and punctuality. Without this virtue, a high permanent success seldom comes to the tiller of the soil. Hence farmers and farmers' sons can learn that they and their business prove to be no exception to the general rule that affects men in all other legitimate occupations. Punctuality for them means not only greater prosperity, but lighter labors, and more leisure, more frequent opportunities for social enjoyments, and intellectual improvement, fewer failures, heavier crops, and frequently better prices.

Boys on the farm, be punctual, and prosperous and happy as a result. A good lesson in punctuality is taught to all men by the news gatherers for daily papers. The fierce competition between publishers, and their keen anxiety to be the first to promulgate and scatter broadcast important events, induce them to employ none as reporters but the most prompt and punctual men in the market. These men will chase a phantom as well as a reality. They will face the winter's cold, and the summer's heat. If a burglary is committed, they are there. If rumors of a murder

reach their ears, no night is so dark, no danger so great, as to deter them from a punctual appearance on the spot, and, as a reward to the one who shall first reach any scene of disaster, a rise in salary is a certainty, while the laggard loses his place. These men in the prosecution of their calling teach lessons that should be indelibly impressed upon the minds of all. Their success as well as failures ought to stimulate to activity all young men everywhere. With them punctuality is an absolute necessity. But how to be punctual is a question that confronts all, and torments many. In response to chiding or prompting, the most common reply or excuse is, "I had no time." The close observer of men and things is impressed with the fact that it is those who perform the greatest tasks who are the most punctual, and it is they who do the least who the most frequently disregard all rules relating to punctuality. The men who do the most seem to have more time to assume new duties. The hardest worker of the present century was Horace Greeley. From 1840 to 1870 he was the great editor of the greatest newspaper of the times. He wrote longer and stronger editorials than any other writer during all these years. Still he was, or always seemed to be, ready to do an unlimited amount of outside work. He traveled abroad, and he compassed our own continent from ocean to ocean. He lectured in scores of places, at home and abroad. He wrote and published a large volume on "What I know about farming," and later he wrote and published two large volumes upon the "American Conflict." All this time. he was discharging the exacting duties that devolved upon the editor of a great metropolitan daily and weekly newspaper. How did he perform all of these herculean tasks is a question that comes home to all of us. The answer is found largely in the fact that he was always punctual. He not only practiced this virtue, but enforced it upon his employees, and others with whom he was associated. Again, he was methodical; this is a twin brother to punctuality. Without this men cannot achieve great victories over obstacles, nor climb high on the ladder of fame, fortune, and honor. In order to be

punctual, one must be methodical. Just so much time must be allotted to a discharge of the various duties assumed. Failure is stamped upon the brow of him who permits his work to chase him during the hours, days, weeks, months, and years of a lifetime. This is especially true of one who undertakes to do much in the world. Just a little may be accomplished without method. We should all be possessed of an ambition to do much, not a little, with life's opportunities. The misfortunes which arise through want of method and punctuality are recorded on almost every page of the world's history. For the want of it, battles have been lost, and national banners have trailed in the dust. Both history and observation bring to our attention the awful results of being a moment too late. The opportunity comes and passes by, never to return. We may grieve over the fatal consequences that flow from our want of punctuality. We reflect upon the failure of darling objects, but are, when too late, powerless to avert the disaster. Of all the men on earth who should in season and out of season be punctual in the discharge of every duty, it is the men who run the trains over the bands of steel that checker this whole country from ocean. to ocean, and from the lakes to the gulf. The remorse and anguish which often follow as a result of being one moment too late in the performance of a duty as engineer on a railroad locomotive are fearful to contemplate. As these words are penned, there comes back to us fresh recollections of fearful disasters that recently occurred in Michigan and Indiana. It was during the height of travel to and from the Exposition at Chicago, that a train heavily loaded with excursionists from the fair was standing on the main track at Jackson, Mich., when another equally heavily loaded train overtook the first section, wrecked two cars, and killed fourteen human beings. The engineer applied the brakes one moment too late. A fast express was hurrying to Chicago over the Wabash road. A freight train was side tracked at a small station in Indiana. The brakeman was thirty seconds too late in turning the switch. The rapidly moving passenger train crashed into the freight,