Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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8 THE SPECTATOR this to go beyond. That is the plain and natural order. Most people try to think of and do too many things at one and the same time. The result of so strange a confusion of duties is that many people employ their time in all sorts of affairs except those in which they have a right to demand it. Each is occupied with some- thing else than what concerns him. That is what com- plicates life. Existing civilization with its feverish haste, the multitudes of sensations which it imparts to us, the emotions which it continually excites, and the rehne- ments of pleasure which it procures, has had a fatal influence on our nervous systems. Life, such as it has become, excites the sensibilities, strains the nerves to the utmost, and breaks down energy. Our food helps to produce this result. Rich food and strong drink are everywhere in demand. An artificial life has been devel- oped. The large cities have absorbed the most genuine intelligence and energy of all nations. Simplicity is a matter'of education. Where do we find the lack of simplicity more in evidence than among the uneducated? Wastefulness, extravagance, and vulgar show are usually marks ,of the uneducated person. This education for simplicity must begin in childhood. Let us strive to concentrate our time and energy to the matter which demands our attention for the moment, not worrying ourselves about the mistakes which we have already made or contemplating tooi seriously what difhculties we shall meet in the future. lf we would serve our generation well we must reserve our powers and not burn our candles at both ends. l would not advocate indolence, but there are times when the body requires rest and it should have it. You will work much better after it. There is a limit to all things and over- work finally ends in stupefaction. Professor - What three words seem easiest for this school to speak P Pupil- 1 don't know. Professor - You've hit it exactly. - Ex.

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THE SPECTATOR 7 you possibly can in favor of ambition and gain. Then think of the characters in history, past and current, that you admire, the characters that are looked to as you long to be regarded. Were these not all simple, plain, contented people? Would you rather go down in history as Demosthenes, St. Paul, Dante, Emerson, Whittier, or as Napoleon, Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, or Rhodes? What afnnity to the Rough Rider have the leaders of social reform, literature, and religion? All of men's agitations for greater justice and more light have been movements toward a simpler life. What is the quiet life? may be asked just as the Romans inquired, What is truth? By a quiet life we do not mean a retiring from active life, but rather to find our sphere of usefulness and devote our energy to doing well what we have to do. Just as one need not exhaust a spring to quench his thirst, so we need not know everything to live. lt is not to waste life but to make it bear fruit. Nlodern life is so full of opportunity for activity that unless we are constantly on the watch, we are almost certain to dissipate our energy upon matters of only passing importance. He who would simplify his life must look at this life in the long run and decide what is worth while and essential. Simplicity is a state of mind. A man is simple when his chief care is the wish to be what he ought to be, that is, honestly and naturally human when he aspires to quiet living. That means when he aspires to fulfil the highest human destiny. The simplicity of olden times in manners, arts, and ideas still -keeps its incomparable value only because it achieved the setting forth in high relief of certain essential sentiments and certain permanent truths. The question arises, Is the world growing too compli- cated? lf we would follow all the avenues of thought and action which open before us, it certainly would be, but 'if we conine ourselves within reasonable bounds to that which we can do well, we can solve some of the complex problems of this life. No person can hope to solve them all. First be of your own country, city, home, and workshopg then, if you can, set out from

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THE SPECTATOR 9 A Triumphant Dafh QREAT EXCITENIENT was rife in the little town of Walden. The Independents, an athletic club of the place, had challenged the High School to a field meet to decide which was the champion of the city. The High School had accepted the challenge, and the business men of the city had put up prizes for every event, as well as a cup for the winner of the meet. Among the members of the High School was a ju- nior, Charles Larston by name, whose greatest ambition was to obtain a place on the basketball team, but, as his parents were poor and he was unable to train in a gymnasium, he was unable to obtain the desired place. One of the events of the meet was a mile race. Now, as Charles was long-winded, he resolved to enter the race in the hope of winning the prize of five dollars which would enable him to enter the gym for a year. He trained faithfully until the day of the meet, which found him in fine condition. When the afternoon of the race arrived Walden was a blaze of color, the purple and white of the Independents mingling with the gold and blue of the High School. Claresnote park, where the meet was to be held, was thronged with spectators. In the judge's stand were the mayor of the town and sev- eral prominent business men, while other patrons of the meet sat in the grand stand. As the meet was declared open, the air rang with the cheers of the opposing sides. The opening events were pulled off in rapid succession, the winner of each event earning three points for his side, the second man two, and the third, one. High School won the hammer- throw, the hundred-yard dash, and the pole-vault. The Independents won the high jump, the shot-put and the fence-vault, and when the time came for the two-mile bicycle race they were five points in the lead. In this race the High School men set such a terrific pace that the Independents were outclassed and High School won Hrst and second places, thus lowering the lead of the Independents to one point.