Nappanee High School - Napanet Yearbook (Nappanee, IN)

Page 29 text:

ness with which the engine runs and the power obtained from it largely depends upon the exactness with which the small fittings of the great engine are placed and adjusted. The engine and machinery may suddenly come to a standstill. On investigation it is found that a small rod controlling the valve, that admits the steam to the engine, is broken and as a result the monster is motionless. In our own town, some years ago, an engine was badly wrecked because a few small bolts became loosened and allowed the heavy parts to move from their places. The watch consists of many small parts and yet is quite an important factor in every day use. Each pivot must be exactly straight and brightly polished: each tiny wheel must be exactly true; every small jewel must be shaped and set just right. One day as the friend of a sculptor was looking at his work, he commented on a certain piece of work, saying that it looked so mucli better than formerly. The sculptor then told him what had been done to it since he last saw it. His friend listened to him and then said: “Oyou have just done the little things.” True the sculptor had not done a great work, but he knew that these trifies would make perfection and this by no means is a trifie. Destruction is often determined by the smallest of circumstances. For example some one may determine to live a reformed life. It may be they hear it on the street or in their own home—some little thing said, that may discourage them entirely and be the cause of them, never again trying to live an honorable life. Alpine guides sometimes come to places where vast avalanches lie above. These are often so exactly balanced that the echo and vibration of the air, produced by shouts and loud talking, are sufficient to break the last icicle t hat holds it, and down it comes. In passing such places, the guide does not permit a word to be spoken. Trains are often destroyed by the movement of aswitch no more than the tenth part of an inch. There are trifies which lead to bad as well as toward good and perfection. What appear as trifies today may only be preparation for future great accomplishments. The clerk in the store today is the future merchant. What we do now is the foundation for our future life. We must choose for ourselves the foundation on which we stand. It is made strong by trifies that are daily met. The smallest crust may save a human life; The smallest act may lead to human strife; The smallest touch may cause the body pain; The smallest spark may tire a field of gruiti ; The smallest deed may kill the truly brave; The smallest skill may serve a life to save; The smallest drop the thirsty may relieve; The slightest shock may wake a heart to grieve; Naught is so small that it may not contain The rose of pleasure or the thorn of pain. (EuUurr WILMA MILLER »y culture is meant the advancement or refinement of the intellect by study, application and attention. The word of ambition at the present day is culture. While all the world is in pursuit of power and of wealth, as the means of attaining great pow er, the theory of success is corrected by culture. Culture appeals to the rank of powers and places before man some ideal upon which to build Ids hopes and aspirations. It is as necessary to the mind as food to the body. Every person must start out in the world with a good determination and have before him some ideal upon which to base his goal. That person is only a well-made man w ho has a good determination. And the end of culture does not destroy this, but only tends to further his aim in life. Courage, perseverance and self-reliance bring success. In order to succeed a person must have great foresight, he must like- wise be a clear thinker and strive to overcome all difficult problems which he encounters. Culture tends to destroy all exaggeration and makes people see things as they really exist. It puts them among their equals and superiors. People are greatly influenced by their environment; education awakens them to the fact that they are not simply living in a small village or town but in the great world. Many people become interested in some certain line of work, and spend all their time and energy upon that certain work, neglecting everything else which would further the development of their minds. To be educated one should have a general knowledge of affairs so that he may appear to advantage in society or elsewhere, w henever called upon to converse on any topic. Pericles, Plato, Caesar, and Shakespeare were well-read, universally educated men. Their opinion w as regarded as important because they

Page 28 text:

(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-

Page 30 text:

were acquainted with both sides of whatever question they were called upon to discuss. Although a peron may attain a very high state of culture without the school, nevertheless the school is the most natural course taken by those striving for educational advantages. Many people are deprived of school education but Improve every opportunity to broaden their intellects by good reading and thus become self-educated. In fact, some of our most successful men, as Abraham Lincoln, have had few educational advantages. Men like Lincoln have succeeded only because they were determined to succeed and improved every moment by reading and studying all books which were at their disposal. That person who earns his own w'ay to high school or college is being educated for some purpose and is sure to succeed. On the other hand, the school aids the students by training them into the best ideals of integrity, interest and alertness. There are forms of conduct not found in books, butsimply acquired by contact with people, out of which come some of the best types of character. “Partial culture runs to the ornate; extreme culture to simplicity,” and Chas Eliot has said, just recently: “Nocapital earns so much interest on its investment as personal culture.” Perhaps one of the greatest means of culture is contact with people. Generally speaking, it is more advantageous to live in or near a large town, thus are gained both the advantage of the quiet and solitude of country life and, at the same time, contact with the various activities of city life. This is more noticeable in the manners of children. One can easily discern whether a child has been accustomed to much contact with people or not, or whether these people have education and refinement. But this is just as true of older persons, as such a great part of our education is sympathetic and social so you cannot have one cultured man or woman without a whole society of such. And in striving for culture, the true aim of culture must be kept in view. Thus, Harriet Beecher Stowe has said: “That is true cultivation which gives us sympathy with every form of human life and enables us to work most successfully for its advancement. Refinement that carries us away from our fellowmen is not God’s refinement.” We should come into a closer relation with all mankind and learn to love what is simple and beautiful and strive to add something to the well-being of men. Culture cannot begin too early as the life of the young boy or girl foretells what the life of the man or woman will be. One of the highest purposes of culture is to give a man a perfect knowledge and master of his ow n inner self. Extensive travel is another means of gaining a more perfect intellectual knowledge of affairs. Most of our university and college professors have spent part of their time abroad, studying or for the purpose of research in their particular line of work, but also primarily for purposes of general culture. Longfellow gained a broader knowledge by his tours abroad and thus had a w ider range of subjects from which to choose, gaining an advantage over Whittier, w hose education and experience was very limited. Likewise many of our writers have made tours abroad, thus coming in contact with various peoples. A person may learn more from travelling than in several years of schooling, as some tilings only seem real when they have actually been seen and not merely read of in books, which often makes them seem imaginative. Thus, experience is always found to be the greatest teacher. Great men like Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, who became such great factors in the political life of their time, have had a great influence on the affairs of our nation and likew ise, upon the minds of all mankind. These men are always more honored and esteemed when it is found they possessed intellectual tastes and skill. Ms Hlhrrr (tanlhtr ts IKtitg lester gentziiorx He automobile in a practical form is a comparatively new invention. The majority of us remember when we looked upon the first automobile as a great curiosity, and to-day even in the small towns people do not turn their heads as one whizzes by. It is now a very com- mon sight to see the farmers come to town in the latest type of car. What has made the automobile so common and the price so low that it is no longer a luxury for the rich only? The answer is: quantity manufacturing.