Alton High School - Tatler Yearbook (Alton, IL)

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cation between America and Europe,—an achievement which ranks second in importance only to the discovery of our continent. It was a terrific struggle which lasted for thirteen years, a period of anxious watching and ceaseless toil. 1 hink what that enthusiast must have suffered, as he paced anxiously back and forth upon the deck of the ship, in the heating rain and high gale. I hink what he endured from public ridicule, while the unbelievers sneered at his project, and called the telegraph a stupendous hoax, because the first cable that was laid ceased to act. Think of the courage that could hear the terrible disappointment, when the second cable snapped in two. after twelve hundred miles of it had been laid. Surely, this great undertaking could never have been accomplished without an enthusiastic leader. John Bosco. was a social enthusiast, who perceived a divine idea and proclaimed it to his countrymen. Although they laughed at his ideas, and called him a madman, he worked on. and with the labor of his hands, he established a home for little street waifs. In the fervor of enthusiasm he d-ew pictures of a great system of schools and hospitals which wee to spread over the continent, and he lived to see these great things accomplished,—the result of his never-ending interest and untiring energy. When I Iauy offered to teach the blind to read, he was confronted by “practical men who laughed at his folly and called him “foolhut no opposition or ridicule could discourage the man who was laboring to free the suffering prisoners of darkness. Consequently he achieved this seeming impossibility, and proved to his countrymen that his “absurd enthusiasm was not mere folly after all. Thus the enthusiast accelerates the progress of the world, while the conservative keeps the world at a standstill. No indifferent, apathetic man ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to discover unknown lands, or opened the eyes of the heathen. The majority of the world's greatest philosophers, reformers, arid men of action and achievement have been enthusiasts. 1 rue. enthusiasm is by no means the only element in successful effort, but it is an indespensihle element. As common sense is the rudder and genuine effort the engine of the human craft, so is enthusiasm its propeller. As the lesser enthusiasms fade and die, one should take stronger hold of the higher ones, for it is then that one sees in better perspective the things that need doing. It is thus possible to grow old as a grand old man like Gladstone or our own Mark 1 wain. Grand old men are those who have been grand young men. and carry still a young heart beneath old shoulders. hen the heart is full it shows itself in action as well as in speech ; when the heart is empty and one has no ideal in life, life is no longer worth living. 1 herefore. let 18

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A Plea for Enthusiasm Victor Cherbuliez, the French novelist, has put into the mouth of one of his characters, the sentiment: “My son, we must lay up a stock of enthusiasms in our youth, or else we shall reach the end of our journey with an empty heart, for we lose a great many of them hy the wayside.” And truly, enthusiasm is the one trait in which youth is superior to age; it is the only characteristic which we are more likely to lose than to develop as we grow older. Youth is inferior to age in knowledge, capability, judgment, skill; hut, in enthusiasm, youth stands supreme. The child is by nature an enthusiast, and any training which tends to repress or crush this quality, does irreparable mischief. Why is it that the young man finds a hundred doors of opportunity open before him, while to his elder brother those doors are locked and barred? Because the youth is hopeful, energetic, unafraid; because he is interested in his work, proud of his importance “sublimely confident of his own ability to advance it, because—in a word—he is enthusiastic. 1 he word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word “entheos,” “God in us, and originally meant direct inspiration from a god. It is an excitement of the mind, and an engrossment of the feelings in devotion to a belief, or in pursuit of an object; it means an ecstacy of mind, an energetic endeavor impelled by strong belief in the possibility of the ideal, and based on confidence in one's own ability to reach the goal. The man without enthusiasm is like a piece of driftwood, in the rushing course of a great river; he must depend upon stray currents for his destination. No matter how dull, or how wise, or how mean, or how noble a man is, if the spark of enthusiasm enters into his soul, he can accomplish things otherwise impossible for him. Faint-Heart and Little-Faith would gladly win the wreath of victory, but shrink from the dangers of the conflict. Behold what the enthusiast does! He looks beyond the daily routine, and sees raging before him the great battle of life. He makes his breastplate secure, through faith in God and humanity, and plunges into the midst of the struggle. His efforts are victorious. Why? Because he is protected by the armor of enthusiasm. Take away enthusiasm and you cut out the very heart of human possibilities. Enthusiasm is the essence of success. “At the root of all success, whether it be spiritual or material, of all progress, whether it be up or down, of all wealth, be it fairly or falsely won, is enthusiasm.” Every great leader has been thus inspired. Therefore he keeps on hoping, believing and enduring, until he sees his work accomplished. Such a man was Cyrus Field, who first established electric commun- 17

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us fill our souls with noble ideals of knowledge, of art, and of action, and let us “lay up a stock of enthusiasms in our youth, lest we reach the end of our journey with an empty heart.” MAYME E. COLEMON. i' A Senior Prank. One day not very long ago. Some Seniors made a plan just so; And when the Juniors left that day. These Seniors did behind them stay. And when the room was very still. And they could do their work at will, They posted “ ’08 everywhere; On boards and pictures and a chair. But when next morn these Seniors came. They found that all their work was vain; For the janitor had, in the night, Removed all posters from their si ght. They gnashed their teeth in silent wrath. At this unlooked for aftermath; And also felt some cold, cold chills, When B. C. lectured on POST NO BILLS. J. W.. 10. Ye Freshmen. I stood upon a mountain; I gazed down on the plain; I saw a lot of green stuff That looked like waving grain. I took another look at it, I thought it must be grass; But goodness, to my horror, It was the Freshman Class ! ! 19