Spel, 14.
Most of us know the disap-' pointing sensation of arriving at some important point to find ourselves just five minutes too late. We were so nearly in time and could, with only a little exertion, have ' been punctual, but the boat has sailed, the train gone and our important business cannot now be attended to. It is all the more vexatious because of the difficulty of making reasonable explanation. ' If we so, nearly kept our promise why ruin so much for the gratification of so little? And life may never be the same henceforth because of these few minutes of laxness. For our dereliction' rarely is confined to our own discomfiture in disastrous results, A certain gentleman' escorted several ladies to London vid Siberia. He was an experienced traveller and they' confided to him their handbags containing tickets, passports and purses, The train pulled up at a station en route and he in-spend at this junction. He was informed that the train would resume its journey at twenty minutes past num—Consulting his watch he found that ae had more than half a1 nour! to avait and determined to snatch a glimpse at the little town. Sauntering back with dfteen minutes to spare he-was inform-jed-that the train-had gone five minutes previously. Puiling'o his timepiece he pointed ined against the imbecility of starting a train fifteen minutes before its time, But the official pointed to the station clock which showed that. it was. already twenty five minutes. past twelve. Chronometers are retulated by zones on the Siberian' railway and-he had neglected to take this into account.
Older readers may remember ithe thrill that went through England in' January 1885 when it was learned that the expedi-[tion which had been sent to the relief of "Chinese" Gordon in Khartoum had, after the most heroic exertions in foreing its way across the desert arrived at abie destination just two days too late. The hero had fallen and the agonizing toil of the army only saved his diary which revealed the soul of one of the greatest men our nation ever produced. The story of the Battle of Jutland is still shrouded in some uncertainty in spite of the fact that it is a matter of yesterday, but one thing seems to stand out clear. Jellicoe's battleship division arrived just too late to give their assistance to Beatty's hard pressed cruiser squadron. Had they been just!
little earlier the doubtful victory might have showed the Nelson touch.
A few weeks ago we same hesitancy in China, Pei-fu and Marshal Chang Ts: lin's troops pressed the Kuomintang forces back upon Peking. A rapid movement might have cut off their retreat but the a vance of what is known as the allied" armies was just too late and Lu Chung-lin was able to fortify the Nankow Pa: evacuate his army in good order jand delay his enemies for long' weeks while his Southern allies were preparing their drive for the north. We are expressing no desire for the victory of either the North or South but! simply pointing out that the fate of nations often depends on a very little thing—depends on the precious five minutes that is so easily frittered away at the beginning of an enterprise and so impossible to recover near its end. Still later there were the many days when the intentions of Sun Chuan-fang hung in the balance. A diversion by his troops threatening the flank of the Cantonese army would, so many military critics told' u: have saved Wuchang with Har kow and Hanyang from falling to the southern arms. His declaration of war, however was delayed and now the situation, from the point of view of the north, is much more difficult than it would have been had his powerful aid been thrown into the scale earlier.
To be sure we are arm chair rities. We know very little of what could have been done; we can only see what has been missed. We are not further concerned in the strife than as on-lookers. We do not know that the success of one side is more to be desired than that of the other. We do know that what this distracted country needs is peace and we see no hope for that blessing being achieved by the success or failure of either side in the present struggle. It would almost seem as though peace itself were sure to come to China just, too late to save the country from ruin. And yet a lucky turn of Fortune's wheel sometimes changes apparent disaster into joy. There is the story of the quired how much time they were]'American bagman who arrived on the pierhead "just as his steamer had put several feet of water between him and his goal.
was, like most of his tribe, 'a hustler so he threw his bag aboard and ran back to get an impetus for a flying leap which landed him on the deck. Not without some loss for his feet slipped under him and he came down heavily on his back and jay_stunned: for.a_ breathing' spell. When he staggered to his yards from the pier. A broad grin wreathed his features and pointing to the distant shore he cried ecstatically to the crowd standing around" Jehosaphat! what a jump." Some such astonishing feat may Jand China on solid ground some day.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.