Bacone College - Warrior Yearbook (Muskogee, OK)

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THE BACONE CHIEF 31 whistle of the M., O. Sz G. train bound for Wagoner, which had stopped because an old gray mule was placidly nubbing the tall grass between the rails- PAUL PHILPIN, '14, BECOMING A MAN. The Youth finds in passing into manhood that the time has come in his life, when he undergoes a change. The boy, growing up has his days of sorrow and glad- ness, of sunshine and rain, yet he grows on day after day, becoming stronger and wiser, still he is a boy. But at the age when he merges into manhood, he is not a boy, nor yet a man. iVhat, it is hard to say, not even he knows, yet he often has opinions of himself which, un- fortunately, do not always fit. At this age he thinks that he has thoughts that no one else has ever thought be- fore. XVllQ11 he is disagreed with, he thinks he is misun- derstood, but he has confidence that he will soon be known. Varied are his ideas, and of course he gets just criticism. His air castles are undreamed of by older men. As time passes, each, being built upon sand, is jostled, then it totters, and a dream is broken. But he still dreams on. VVhen from him is grasped a cherished object, he builds on some other hope. He fights man- fully for his principles, is stubborn and reluctantly relin- quishes his ideas. He lacks not energy and determination but he needs power that shall help him solve his practical problems, power that shall help him realize a high individual life, that shall make him, not only for tl1e moment, but throughout his allotted time, to act out boldly all he has seen in vision and all he has learned from the good about him. Surround him with friends, who work for his in- terests, who themselves are noble, and he will step from this period a man ready to battle for justice. He who is noble in character and is a friend of the youth has an un- surpassed influence. His power for influence goes forth without his distinct volition. Neither does the youth al- ways know it and it is a critical period for him for merg- ing into manhood, he can no longer lean on strong arms. He has himself and God to rely uopn. He comes from behind this screen of his own value, which he has placed

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30 THE BACONE CHIEF Wllen I have departed from Bacone, I will not re- member as the most beautiful spot the President's office, which I swept every morning-for if it is true that a per- son gets a pound of dirt a day, then I was twice blessed. Nor was it in the chicken yard, where I studied the art of chicken culture. Neither was it in the dining room, where three times a day I fed my material engine with the practical bread of existence. Far from it were the different class rooms, where Prof. Steel's cold gaze was fixed on my embarrassed counte- nance, or where Prof. Cave met my ignorant stare with a VVhy? Prove itgl' or where Miss Eckert's pleasant words of Going on, Paul, broke the silence. Following the cowpath from the Bacone campus, a person arrives on the sandy banks of the Arkansas river. Following this oft trodden path through a corn field, a sudden descent through the thickly-wooded bank, and one beholds a beautiful spring of fresh, pure water, running from the depths of Mother Earth. Magnificent trees loom upon all sides, while wild-grape vines and poison ivy gracefully deck the topmost limbs of the Sylvan giants. In one direction the eye can see the overhanging rocks, which can be rightly termed Infant Cliffs. Many times have tired pedestrians stopped on their dusty way to spread their lunches upon these natural tables. In the opposite direction two long smoke-colored railway bridges are visible, where trains pass by, giving the secluded spot its only sign of civilization. One sunny spring day I sauntered down the old cow trail, until I came to the beautiful little spring. After refreshing my sun-baked throat, I sought a little shel- tered spot where I could gaze without ceasing at the beauty of the scenery. Mother Nature played a trick on me, and I was soon asleep, dreaming of beautiful foun- tains, erystal waters, and the glassy seas, where the golden fishes swim, fearing neither the urchin's hook, nor the fisherman's seine. Suddenly in my dream I heard Neptune, that fierce God of the Sea, give forth a mighty shriek, which awak- ened me. Looking toward the railroad, I soon realized that it was not the angered God of the Sea, but was the

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32 THE BACONE CHIEF upon himself, and of this period of uncertainty, either a man of worth to his fellow men, or he will be one, who will distribute among all an air of hopelessness, gloom and depression. In this stage then he should be prayed for and given every possible help. He is on a balance and is soon by either the weight of right or wrong to be drawn to the beginning of a life of noble usefulness or a lief of wandering, searching for somethingg that it cannot find. On this decision hinges his own welfare and that of those with whom he is connected. The boy begins by a mixture of ambitions. He dreams and dreams. During that short period of uncertainty, that period when the material of his character, whether an alloy or pure element, having been molded slowly, a finished product is suddenly thrown on its own resources, his visions and air castles are torn from him one by one, until, when he merges into that man reliant upon himself, and his life work definitely before him, he is despondent because he could not grasp every opportunity, he could not be it all. He has tried many things and lost. Great things have fled from him and inaterialization of his many dreams eludes his path. He must have an awak- ening. He must lose time after time and rise at last seemingly deserted by his many ambitions, but a sober and wise man. He sees his failures but understands that it had to be so, he had to lose something. He realizes the truth of Goethe's statement, when he said: Everything cries out to us that we must renounce. Thou must go without, go without! That is the everlasting song, which every hour, all our life through, hoarsely sings to us, die and come to life, for so long as this is not accomplished thou art but a troubled guest upon an earth of gloom. W. A. Hoisnnfrson, '14, HINDIAN SUPERSTITIONSW There are a great many superstitious among the Choc- taw Indians. I had the pleasure of hearing several of these one night, while a crowd of Indians were sitting around the fire- In telling these tales the Choctaws call it Shok-ha-an-no-pah- Hog Talk. Here are two of the most interesting of the superstitious signs of how to