| Show the most useful information is that which you discover for yourself j history of a boy s cane mr james you know that cane aou ou let father have a ell it Is a little short foi for him now and you said you wanted it back when he was through with it do you wish to take it with you now nowa 9 I 1 am mr james and mrs hart who ed me this question lived with her father the old gentleman had just enjoyed his ninety eighth birth day and I 1 had called to enjoy a few minutes chat with him this man had an atmosphere of hearty good cheer and I 1 have often gone out of my way to visit a little while with him it was a real pleas ure to me to let him take the heavy cane I 1 had used when a boy because I 1 enjoyed pleasing the old gentleman and because I 1 had longed to have that cane give some el lely le ly man enjoyment it was a wholesome looking article my father made it tor for me during the philadelphia centennial while I 1 waa was walking with crutches in a little town hundreds of miles away from the great show of the nations it Is one kind of imprisonment for a boy to walk with a cane but it Is 1 also one kind of liberty tor for a boy to hang up his crutches and be able to walk with a cane the compensations of nature enable us to get pleasure where it would seem at first glance there could be nothing but sorrow the osage orange fences grew near us and good material for canes could be had with little effort except when land Is useless a neglected osage orange tenca fence Is used only tor for canes it Is good for little canes and big ones the polished knots can be made as bright as bird s eyes I 1 had a great variety of walking sticks and made them to give away to sell one succeeds in making a success of a work he thoroughly under stands I 1 was not thorough in the cane business because while I 1 knew how to make them I 1 lacked commer cial information necessary to produce sales had I 1 known a boy in the city some boy with business sense I 1 could have sent him canei he could have sold thema them and we might have grown an industry that would support both of us the real reason for this record Is one of regret one day while I 1 was using the cane I 1 came home from school and found my grandfather had come for a visit he was the only one of my grandparents living and we thought more of each other than I 1 then realized during the last nearly score of years I 1 have seen myself many times as I 1 stood in the kitchen door and refused to give or sell him that cane he admired it very much it was better proportioned for him than for me and I 1 have wished more times than I 1 am years old that I 1 had given it to him he teased me to sell it to him and I 1 refused several times in on keeping it it is a mastery to me why such dis cords are possible in this world I 1 never enjoyed that cane a particle after grandfather left he gave me a dollar and said goodbye good bye and I 1 never thought for a moment of giving him the cane A few months later my father and I 1 attended his funeral and since then I 1 have had a love loe tor for elderly men it may be that my selfishness over the cane has been a blessing to others by the reaction of my emotions I 1 am forced by my lack of wisdom in the past to tudy the comfort and pleas ure of elderly men it may be that my grandfather never cared as much for that cane as I 1 thought he did and that providence permitted me to be painfully selfish tor for a moment in order that I 1 might be more thoughtful ever after some time ago a man wrote that ho he now wished he had spent less time in his den under the stairs trying to be a modern lespeare and more time getting acquainted with his father and mother sisters and brothers since I 1 have learned more about the hearts of others I 1 am able to lecog nize the lost opportunities |
