Nappanee High School - Napanet Yearbook (Nappanee, IN)

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 TER ARY V .

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JFrpahman (HIshb 1 T Jk li f l '. r. t ¥ w t r . r T CLASS ROLL Elmer Thompson, Harold Price, Harley Geyer, David Parks, Wilma Sheets, Cleta Frevert, Mary Price, Lulu Parcel, Lawrence Branson, Cliloe Stillson, Ituth Kilian, Eva Browning, Elva Schrock, Ruth Truex, Mary Mutschler, Beatrice Doswell, Alice Nold, Dorothy Stoops, Mildred Freese, Delphia Callendar, Bernard Uline, Merle Strauss, Lloyd Hoover, Anna Welty, Donald Anglin. The Eighteenth

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(Eriflrs BERTHA WELTY k all admire the great things accomplished in life, but how many of us have ever thought that, these are made possible only by many little things which led up to the great accomplishment. Great lives are made up of the trifles which gather around them in their youth. A strong character is not made in a day or by one great leap and bound, it is built by overcoming the trifling temptations which rise before us while young. Many people seem to think that it matters little what they do or say, when they are at work with their fellow men or when in their own homes. They think that by doing little things here, which they would not think of doing elsewhere, does them no particular harm. But how often we find that the man or woman who is careless in his habits at home, is the same carelass person away from home. If a man is careless in the trifling things of life you will find him the same when it comes to matters of greater importance. One writer has said: “Trifles discover character more than actions of seeming importance.” In regard to the former the man is off his guard and does not deem it necessary to use disguise. Men’s destinies and characters are often determined by the trifles which lead them through life. There are trifles which lead men down as well as up. We should be able to judge to which goal the trifle leads; to perfection or to destruction. Many a man has become a drunkard, because he drank the first small glass of sparkling wine. On the other side of the question many men had gone toward perfection, because they put under foot the first trifling temptation which they met. Do we find anything in nature which does not consist of many small parts put together? It is the drops of water that makes our great lakes and oceans. Each grass blade must play its part to make a meadow; each grain of wheat play its part in producing a harvest: each pebble takes its place on the sandy beach. In the study of Botany we find that the beautiful flowers which we see growing about us are all divided into distinct and separate parts, put together in Nature’s own way. A small plant just springing up appears to be very insignificant and can easily be crushed under foot without any special attention. Have you ever seen these small plants do things which human hands could not do? There was once an infidel duchess, who gave the orders when she was dying that her grave should be covered with a solid slab of granite, and around it square blocks of stone. These were to be fastened together by clamps. On the stone these words were cut: “This burial place purchased to all eternity, must never be opened.” A little seed sprouted under the covering and the tiny shoot found its way through, between two of the slabs and grew there until it burst the clamps asunder and lifted the great rocks. Not all trifles in nature work for good: a great tire is often caused by a very small beginning. Doubtless the woman in Chicago little thought that the great Chicago fire would be caused by her cow kicking the lantern and breaking it. No doubt such a thought did not even enter the minds of those who saw the first small blaze. All the Dutch people in Holland know the worth of “one small leak in the dike.” Any loyal Hollander will leave everything else to attend to the smallest leak he may discover, for he knows that it will take but a few hours for the mighty ocean to force open a greater space and rush in to destroy their lands. How many great business men are there today who have not had a small beginning? I o we not find that it is those men, who have climbed the ladder of fortune, round by round, that are today transacting the business of the world; while many of those who had every advantage when starting in life are now going backward, if not already bankrupt and have nothing left to encourage them. The business man who does not know the worth of little things, is often found in the latter class. It is these trifling little things which often keep the proprietor at his desk until late in the night. He may say: “Well what have 1 really accomplished since closing hours?” We w ould answer: “Nothing w hich really counts for much at present.” But yet tomorrow’s work might have gone entirely wrong, had these duties been left undone. The business man, who does not attend to the trifling affairs of his establishment is also liable to lose financially. How many men are there who make their money by the hundred or thousand dollars at a time: especially the merchants owning dry-goods, grocery stores, etc. He buys his material by the yard and sells it at a few cents gain. If he is not interested in seeing that he gets as many yards out as he bought, will he not lose financially? When looking at the massive foundation of a factory engine you see its enormous wheels running the many different machines of a large factory with great steadiness. But the smooth-