102 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



as any younger man, and usually better. 

 But he mnst believe that he is good, he 

 must feel confidence in himself. 



One good thing for a man of middle age 

 to do is to read the lives of successful men. 

 Read of Admiral Blake, who f saved Eng- 

 land's naval reputation, yet never went to 

 sea in command until past middle age. 

 Read of almost any of the world's great 

 successes. You will find that success 

 comes late. Of course it must come late 

 in the natural order of things. The man 

 who succeeds must surpass others. No 

 matter how able he may be he must first 

 learn what others know, and that takes 

 time. It usually takes about fifty years. 

 After spending about one-half of his in- 

 tellectual life getting even with other -men 

 of ability, acquiring his supply of knowl- 

 edge the successful man goes ahead and 

 beats his fellows in the race. 



The great thing is not to be discouraged 

 discouragement means failure inevita- 

 ble. 



Another very important thing is to re- 

 member that middle age is really youth, 

 or should be, therefore, let the man of 50 

 not be ashamed or hesitate to do at 50 

 the work that he w'ould do at 30 or 20. 



Let the middle aged man simply say to 

 himself: ''I am not old, and I'll prove it. 

 I'll take the work that comes. I'll succeed 

 in it better than the very young man be- 

 cause of my steadiness, and although I am 

 beginning now where I should have begun 

 ten years or more back, I'll not let that 

 fact discourage or handicap me. I'll suc- 

 ceed now and think of other things later 

 on." 



COLONIZING CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



Robinson Crusoe's island, Juan Fernan- 

 dez, is about to be turned into a colony. 



Robinson Crusoe, or rather a prototype 

 of Robinson Crucsoe, existed under the 

 name of Alaxander Selkirk. That Defoe 

 knew Selkirk's story there can be no doubt, 

 for he closely kept to the facts of Selkirk's 



existence on the island of Juan Fernandez. 



Even the story of Crusoe's man Friday 

 has a foundation of truth, for Selkirk res- 

 cued a stray Indian from death. 



Barren as the place seemed to Selkirk, it 

 contains many flourishing spots. The fruit 

 trees which he planted have reproduced 

 themselves, and peaches, quinces, pears 

 and grapes, are in abundance. A man who 

 had a stock farm on the island for some 

 reason abandoned the undertaking several 

 years ago and turned his live srock loose. 

 Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs are now found, 

 in a wild state, so that the colonists are 

 likely to have some good sport. 



The island, which is in the Pacific ocean, 

 has been occupied by a few German and 

 Chilian families, numbering about fifteen, 

 persons in all. It is now proposed by the 

 Chilian government to turn the island into 

 a colony, and about 150 hardy Chilians will 

 form the nucleus of the settlement, which 

 it is proposed to christen "Crusoe's Island." 

 The cottage which Selkirk built snd which 

 Defoe describes, still exists as a broken- 

 down shanty. 



WEIGHING THE BABY. 



The story is of a young and devoted 

 father. The baby was his first, and he 

 wanted to weigh it. 



"It's a bumper!" he exclaimed. "Where 

 are the scales?" 



The domestic hunted up an old-fashioned 

 pair, the proud father assuming charge of 

 the operation. 



"I'll try it at eight pounds/' he said 

 sliding the weight along the beam at that 

 figure. 



"It wont do. She weighs ever so much. 

 more than that." 



He slid the weight along several notches- 

 further. 



"By George!" he said. "She weighs 

 more than ten pounds-11-12-13-14! Is it 

 possible?" 



He sat the baby and the scales down, 

 and rested himself a moment. 



