Mansfield University - Carontawan Yearbook (Mansfield, PA)

Page 18 text:

THE SPIRIT OF 1918. One of O. Henry ' s finest stories is ' Roads of Destiny. ' The central thought is that but one conclusion is reached from given conditions, no matter if one follows different routes. Try as one will, if he pursues his inclinations he is sure to come to the same end. How many realize the inexorable laws of life? How much is left to chance? One will be what he has prepared himself to be, if he pursues his inclinations. Some students do not realize the value of the preparatory period spent in school. They asseit, with an air of unconcern, that they will later make up the time wasted; but they cannot. They would sow pleasures now — butterfly pleasures — and reap profits; but they do not. They would leave to others the cares that now appear as burdens, and arise on the morrow to find that these same cares have become the responsibilities that develop men and women of character. I recall, from boyhood ' s memories, the chorus of an old temperance campaign song, which runs something like this: Oh, you pumpkin head, that ' s what the people said; Oh, you pumpkin head, yes you are! You sowed a field of pumpkin seed; yes you did. You planted it and ' tended it; ' deed you did. Then down upon your marrow bones, night and morn, You prayed both late and early for a field of corn. Do you know what he reaped? Even a city boy can answer that. Of what use were all the prayers of the farmer? Even God himself could not grow corn from pumpkin seed. And yet boys and girls still try to grow a successful life out of a dissipated preparation. These are the times that call for the best in us in order to preserve ourselves, our traditions, our faith, our future. The class of 1918 finds itself presenting its individual talents to the professional and business world at the critical period of our National history when some of America ' s best talent, drawn from the industries of peace and trained anew for the business of war, is being sacrificed (not in vain) on the battlefields of Europe. Have you fittingly prepared yourselves to meet the test? The successful completion of this class book — the first of its kind in the history of the school — is an indication of your spirit of enterprise. You can, with loyalty and confidence, point to this book as a perpetual memorial to the spirit of your class. It is more than a book. It is an ideal, an achievement, a sign-post on the road of destiny. — W. R. Straughn.

Page 20 text:

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort. Cpeed en your way. Nor stay To note the critic ' s frown, To heed the flatterer ' s sn But if in some sad heart Thou canst smite sorrow Then tarry there awhile. Jj Qfe $ baffled to fight better, sleep man! thou who art honored above all othe creatures with Image. w;th Intellect, and study to merit this d:stinction by strivtm Us daily approval of thy living.