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Show ON PLEASURES AND AMUSEMENTS. The natural season of vacation and recreation is now approaching, yes, almost here. There have been many changes in the habits and customs of civilized people and especially among Americans, during the last decade or so, but in no line of action has this change been more pronounced or noticeable than our indulgence in pleasures and amusements. We can remember when there was not so great a ,. variety of amusements and entertainments as now ; we can rcmem- I ber when we seemed to be satisfied with simpler and fewer pleas- f ures ; we remember when vacations, holidays and outings were much farther apart than they are now, and in contrasting the difference between be-tween then and now we really believe that the former custom was the most satisfactory. Many people of to-day seem to have reached a point where pleasure and amusement is the sole end of all effort, they work hard and long that they may obtain the means and ability to indulge in some pleasure. They are keen to find some new and exciting form of amusement, they indulge in that and then begin casting about for a different form of artificial joy. With many people pleasure seems to be the objective point of all endeavor, whereas we can remember a day when all physical pleasure and amusement was chiefly indulged in-dulged in in order to make us stronger, abler and better qualified to perform our r'-Uy work and labor. Nowaday many of us who take a vacation come back to our work more wc "n out and exhausted by the indulgence in amusements and pleasures than we possibly could be by any manner of work. We are not pessimists but real optimists and merely make these suggestions with the object in view of calling attention to the temporary tem-porary condition that prevails and to make a plea for a return to the saner, simpler, safer methods of enjoying our recreations and amusc-ments. amusc-ments. Amusement and pleasure should not be and cannot be the chief goal of human achievement, these things must merely be aids to help us perform in a truer and better manner the real, actual ' duties of life. Pleasure should not be the objective point, it should ' merely be a means of helping us to greater achievement. |
