Reserved Power

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Sep 14, 1905

It is not wise to work constantly up to the highest rate of which we are capable. If the engineer of the railroad were to keep the speed of his train up to the highest rate he could attain with his engine, it would soon be used up. If a horse is driven at the top of his speed for any length of time, he is ruined. It is well enough to try the power occasionally of a horse or an engine, by putting on all the speed they will bear, but not continuously. All machinists construct their engines so that there shall be a reserve force. If the power required is four-horse, then they make a six-horse power. In this case it works easily and lasts longer. A man who has strength enough to do twelve honest hours of labor in twenty-four, and no more, should do but nine or ten hours’ work. The reserve power keeps the body in repair. It rounds out the frame to full proportions. It keeps the mind cheerful, hopeful, happy. The person who has no reserve force, is always incapable of taking on any more responsibility than he already has. A little exertion puts him out of breath. He can not increase his work for an hour without danger of an explosion. Such are generally pale, dyspeptic, bloodless, nervous, irritable, despondent, gloomy. We all pity them. The great source of power in the individual is the blood. It runs the machinery of life, and upon it depends our health and strength.

A mill on a stream where water is scanty, can be worked but a portion of the time. So a man with little good blood can do but little good work. The reserve power must be stored up in this fluid. It is an old saying among stock-raisers that “blood tells.” It is equally true that blood tells in the sense in which we use the word. If it is only good blood, then the more of it the better. When the reserve power of an individual runs low, it is an indication that a change is necessary, and that it is best to stop expending and go to accumulating, just as the miller does when the water gets low in the pond. Such a course would save many a person from physical bankruptcy.—Herald of Health.