Character 
Lessons to 
Train Youth 
By JAMES TERR« WHITE. 
(Copyright, 1909, by the Character Devel- 
opment league. ] 
XXVI1.—Habits. 
N “Pilgrim’s 
Progress” there 
is a story of a 
man who had built 
an iron cage about 
himself in which 
he was obliged to 
spend the rest of 
his life. As a boy 
he dawdled until 
he had put a bar of 
sidleness before him 
iwhich prevented 
his accomplishing 
anything great in 
the world. He had 
neglected his dress 
until he had built up a bar of untidi- 
ness which kept refined and cultivated 
people from him. He was so conceit- 
ed, overbearing and discourteous that 
he had placed a bar of disagreeable- 
ness between himself and his fellows. 
He was so dishonest and distrustful 
that bars of distrust had been riveted 
about him, which kept him from up- 
right people. He had so yielded to his 
appetites that he had placed around 
him bars of gluttony and intemper- 
ance, which made him incapable of any 
mental or physical accomplishment. 
And so ‘unconsciously he had built 
up bar after bar until he had made 
himself completely a prisoner and had 
become utterly incapable of doing any- 
thing useful in the world. Every act 
in life drives a rivet into character and 
raises some sort of building about us. 
Shall it be a cage or a palace? 
Every man is prone to imitate those 
about him; but, most of all, he is in- 
clined to imitate himself. The doing 
of anything makes it easier to do it 
again in the same way, and the repeti- 
tion becomes a habit which it is al- 
most impossible to change. When the 
habit is fixed the thing is done while 
the mind is engaged upon something 
else. By habit, which has become an 
instinct, the trained fingers play the 
piano without the attention of the 
mind. ; 
Virtue is simply firmly established 
good habits. Vice is confirmed wicked 
habits. The domination of habit often 
steals over men unnoticed. No one in. 
tends to become a liar, a thief or a 
drunkard, but one act leads to another 
until the evil is fastened on the man. 
“We weave day by day a thread into 
the cable of habit until it becomes so 
——— -- 25s —e “24 08 ma. «1 
JAMES T. WHITE. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
way to avoid bad habits is by the care- 
ful cultivation of good ones. This is 
particularly necessary in the formation 
of habits of cleanliness, self control, 
good temper, punctuality, ete. 
A man’s deeds are recorded to even 
the smallest detail. The recording an- 
gel is no myth. It is found in our- 
selves. It is the law of habit. A 
man’s life is spent writing his own 
biography. If he indulges in vicious 
courses and forms habits of inefficien- 
cy and idleness he experiences a loss 
which no subsequent effort can re- 
trieve. Rip Van Winkle excused each 
fresh relapse from swearing off by “I 
won’t count this.” But down in nerve 
cells the molecules are counting it, reg- 
istering it and storing it up to be used 
when the next temptation comes 
In the conduct of life habits count 
for more than precepts, because habit 
is a living precept. To reform one’s 
preaching is nothing; it is no more 
than changing the title of a book To 
learn new habits is the vital thing, for 
this is to reach the substance of life. 
Life is but a tissue of habits. There 
are certain habits having a determin- 
ing effect upon character, like accura- 
ey, punctuality. which are phases of 
faithfulness. 
Many an extraordinary man has been 
made out of a boy of ordinary quali- 
ties. But it is necessary to have four 
habits — punctuality, without which 
time is wasted; accuracy, without 
which mistakes hurtful to us are made; 
steadiness, or nothing will be done 
well; dispatch, or opportunities will be 
lost which can’t be recalled. 
If we take care to form the right 
kind of habits during the first twenty 
years of vur life the habits formed will 
take care of us during the rest’of our 
lives. Practically all the achievements 
of the human race are the accomplish- 
ment of habits. 
Practice.—Let each boy determine 
with himself to root out evil habits 
right now and make a continued ef- 
fort to establish good habits. 
Literature. 
Sow an act and reap a habit; sow a 
habit and reap a character; sow a 
eharacter and reap a destiny.—Thack- 
eray. 
Each year one vicious habit rooted 
out, in time ought to make the worst 
man good.—Franklin. 
One conquers a bad habit more easi- 
ly today than tomorrow.—Confucius. 
The moving finger writes and, having writ, 
Moves on. Nor all your piety or wit 
Shall lure it back nor cancel half a line, 
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it. 
—Omar Khayyam 
Habit, like a rolling stone upon a moun- 
tain top, 
A child may first set off; a giant cannot 
stop 
—Trench. 
It is just as easy to form a good 
habit as it is a bad one. And it is just 
as hard to break a good habit as a bad 
one. So get the good ones and keep 
them.— William McKinley. 
Breeze Subscription $2.00 a year. 
Telephone 
Magnolia Wagonette Line 
A. J. ROWE, Prop. 
Carriages to Let by day, week or season 
Auto Garage Connection 
Norman Avenue, Magnolia 
FOREST WARDEN NOTICE 
This is to inform the public that I have 
been appointed Forest Warden for Man- 
chester by Mr. F. W. Rane, State Forester, 
and I have appointed the following as my 
deputies: 
M. E. GORMAN, 
NATHAN P. MELDRUM, 
JOSEPH P. LEARY, 
LORENZO BAKER, 
JAMES SALTER, 
JACOB H. KITFIELD, 
WM. YOUNG, 
FERED’K BURNHAM, Forest Warden. 
WOOD SAWED 
By Machinery. 
Work Done Promptly and at a Sav- 
ing from the Old-Fashioned Way. 
S. Albert Sinnicks 
Bennett St. = = Manchester 
Telephone 139-13 
Manchester Fire Alarm Boxes 
31. Electric Light Station. 
33. Telephone Exchange Office. 
34, Summer Street, P. H. Boyle’s Stable. 
41. Corner Bridge and Pine sts. 
43. Corner Harbor and Bridge sts. 
52. Fire Engine house, School st. 
54. Corner School and Lincoln sts. 
56. School st., opp. the grounds of the 
Essex County club. 
61. Sea st., H. S. Chase’s House. 
62. Corner Beach and Mosconomo. 
64. ‘Lobster Cove.’’ 
Two blasts, all out or under control. 
Three blasts, extra call. 
Directions for giving an alarm: Break 
the glass, turn the key and open the do--, 
pull the hook down once and let go. 
JAMES HOARE, Chief, 
GEORGE 8S. SINNICKS, 
CLARENCE W. MORGAN, 
Engineers of Fire Department. | 
Manchester Post Office 
SAMUEL L. WHEATON, Postmaster. 
MAILS 0i.0SE 
For Boston, North, East, West and 
South, 7.02 and 10.04 a. m., 1.05, 4.51 and 
7.55 p. m. 
For Gloucester and Rockport, 11.12 a. © 
m., 2.38, 5.24 and 8 p. m. For Magnolia, 
2.38, 5.24 and 8 p. m. 
MAILS DUE 
From Boston on trains due at 7.02, 9.13 
and 11.42 a. m., 3.08 and 5.54 p. m. 
From Gloucester and Rockport, 7.27 and 
10.34 a. m., 1.35 and 5.19 p. m. rom 
Magnolia, 7.27 a. m. and 1.35 p. m. 
SUNDAY MAIL arrives from Boston at 
9.07, closes for Boston at 9.50 a. m. 
The office will be open on holidays from 
7 to 10.05 a. m. Sundays from 9. 380 te 
10.30 a. m. 
