Chicago School of Medicine and Surgery - Medicos Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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,- . f.,??i75f . y . A Q ,.,.,fs,, .r l - SENIORS and over and over, to become as it Were, the architects of their own destiny. They were consumed with the fires of a noble ambition, but from the dead ashes of their former selves sprang, the new men, the lofty men, the immortals to whom the world will always pay homage. , The lives of these great men prove the tremendous power of a worthy aspiration. Without it, talent can accomplish very little. The world has never yet refused to make a beaten path to his door who can take the crude materials of his make up and fashion them into a rare and beautiful product. Picture in your imagination a pair of scales. A pound of gold is balanced against a pound of iron. The owner of the gold is satisfied for it is beautiful to look upon. He spends his time in idly sifting the glistening metal through his fingers. The one who owns the iron is not satisfied. He sees that this dull posses- sion of his is no match for the other's treasure. The trophy of his neighbor gnaws and gnaws at his heart. Unable to rest any longer, he seizes his lowly iron and carries it to the furnaces. He plunges it into a raging bath of incandescent flames. He hammers it out with measured blows. Shaped by the all magic hand of a master craftsman the distorted mass begins to take a new form. Little does the toiler reck of the passing hours or months or years, his whole mind and soul are focused upon the glowing metal before him. But a day of triumph comes at last. The magic of labor and patience has transformed the coarse iron into a heap of watch springs. The toiler holds in his hands a treasure worth ten times the neighbor's gold. He has eclipsed the wildest dreams of an alchemist. The college graduate stands today upon the threshold of a new existence. His alone is the powerto dictate what part, he shall play in the drama of tomorrow. The doctor is a servant of humanity and allays pains or prolongs life. ln' the still- ness of the night and the solitude of the storms he toils and strains and worships with an endeavor to be regarded as a worthy member of his profession and an honor to the community whose confidence rests in him He toils not for himself but for those about him Home is his shrine the golden rule is his creed his conscience is his guide he loves those about him and happiness without them cannot exist The toga of leadership falls naturally on the shoulder of today s college gradu ate and 1t1s his sacred duty to prepare himself to bear it with honor and distinction The world demands of its leaders the best that there is in them and no man can reach the height of his power without an intelligent discontent with his present self and a worthy ambition by which to shape his future self The romantic story of yesterday is filled with thousands of deeds of famous men The wonderful realm of tomorrow is bright enough and rich enough to give to every yearning soul an hour of victory, the goal or ideal to every testless climber who can cry out llke the noted doctor The noble beginnings of the masters will no let me rest ' J A HUBBELL Pagf 109 E If .X n ' . . n . I . ni 7. I- - f if Y . . . . . 7 . . 7 . ' 7 7 ' 1 ' P - li , . . . . . .. D. . . . ' I T . , . . . . . 7 . . E Y . . - . - . . . . ,- t 7 7 I U , I , I I , . I 1 ' ' l . ! Y-L4 i - .,, t .. I r l l l

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SENIORS themselves into blissful slumber he paced up and down in the darkness. ,The desire for something better than the common lot had seized his soul, the thrill of discovery quivered in his veins, he was the first mortal who felt that indesirable yearning which comes only to him whose reach exceeds his grasp. Slowly his dawning intelligence shaped itself into an idea. He impulsively seized in his hands a fallen bough and behold, he had invented the worldis first weapon. It is to him and his kind that we owe our magnificent civilization. Worthy discontent is the motive power of progress. It is the soul of improvement and growth. It is the forerunner of every noble aspiration and the motive behind every step in the advancement of mankind. He who is contented has long since ceased to grow, he has stopped dead in his tracks, if he ever moves again it will be backward. Such is the inexorable law of evolution. Individual and nation must pay alike the penalty of self-satisfaction and that is decay. Where are the mighty empires of yesterday, Egypt, Persia, Arabia, Macedonia? They grew and flourished up to that fatal hour when their men and women became complacent and satisfied and bowed themselves down to the false idol of supine contentment. Today we search in vain for their dust. It may seem that the story of Koch or the rise and fall of nations is an episode of the forgotten past, yet the emotions that stir the human breast have never changed since time began. Alas for him who does not feel in his heart the desire to emulate anotherfs achievements or to eclipse his trophy. Call it discontent if you will, but it is a noble discontentmentl Call it envy if you must, butitis a noble envy! The gnawing envy that will not let a man sleep until he has surpassed his neighbor is far grander than the tame willingness to admit that he can never be his equal. The discontentment that makes one strive for better and higher things is far more sublime than that indolent contentment that makes one stay where he is and keep in the lowly channel which destiny seems to have cut out for him. How many an obscure man or woman has been scourged and driven to the heights of fame by the lash of a noble discontent. The rational mind has always been fascinated with the attempt to analyze genius. To ind out just why it is that one man is unknown in his own community while another's name is spoken familiarly in every corner of the globe. Guided by the antiquated dictum of Horace, many have faithfully believed, like him, that all great men are born, not made. They owe their greatness entirely to some strange intangible power called genius-a rare gift which nature alone can lavish upon her chosen few. It is a narrow theory, at the best and the investigation of an enlightened age has dampened the ardor of its advocates. We believe today that every normal man is born at least with a possibility of greatness and that genius is not merely the creature of fickle fortune but the definite and merited reward of persistent effort, the goal of an untiring ambition, the culmination of a sublime discontent. In our admiration for the genius of Darwin we forget that he had to labor over a period of fifty years in order to write one single book on earthworms. We cannot believe that Edison survived the hardships of fifteen thousand failures before he wove out of the fabric of his dreams the wonderful light of today. What if Ben- jamin Franklin had believed that fate ordained him to be a printer? What if Abraham Lincoln had been perfectly happy with his life as a poor river man on the Mississippi? Was it that same printer boy who became America's great philoso- pher? Was it that same awkward rail-splitter who guided a stricken nation through the hurricane of civil war? A thousand times, nol These men were dis- satisfied with themselves and their lot. Each seemed to have the motto Semper Discipuli, always- a student. They were determined to build themselves over Page I08

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SENIORSW Salutatnrp Zlhhress Mr. P7E5ldE7lZ, .Members of the Faculty, Fellow Clezffmatef and Frienclf: In behalf of the class of 1917 I extend to you a most cordial welcome. Today we are assembled for the solemn purpose of receiving our commissions as mission- aries in the field of science. We stand at the threshold of our future's doorway, yesterday is past, tomorrow yet to come, but today, with its promise of life's golden treasure, is ours. Let us use it! Gur roads shall separate and whether we attain our goal over the trial beset path or whether fortune shall discriminat- ingly open wide her portals, we know not. But Nlan to lVIan, all will give to the world, the highest and best that each has to offer. As individuals, we are about to gather in the threads of our learning and weave the pattern of our dreams and desires. lVIay this life's tapestry be brightened as well as strengthened by the golden strands gleaned from the personalities and the influence of our most worthy professors. The loving encouragement, and the immortal faith of our home-folks will pervade the warp and Woof with a roseate hue just as it has surrounded us in the past as a protecting buffer against our child- hoodls world for time, like an everflowing stream, bears us onward from the shallows of our youthls experiences into the eddying whirlpools-the bottomless depths of ambition's temptations. Nlay the fabric of our lifeis work reflect in its sheen and delicacy of thought, a purity of motive, and a conscientiousness toward all. I In taking up this medical course we must have recognized the right the public has to demand a sterling character, when it entrusts its health and health means success, in the hands of the physician. We shall in a measure become mediators between life and death. just as the Vestral Virgins cherished the fires of the hearth, so shall we protect and guard that spark of life, as long as it shall. flicker. Hope must be our watchword. Let us shudder to be delinquent in our duty. The responsibility that we assume is overwhelming in its proportions, and demands the level head and clear judgment of a straight and honorable life. Earth gets its price for what earth gives us! The potterls skill produces the vessel of perfect contour, the Artist wields his brush and lo! a moment of emotion is protrayed on the canvass-the Musician woos the muse of the soul's language, music-and the world is grateful for the golden chords of harmony that calm our fevered desires and carry into unexplored realms, our most jadded imaginations. But most precious of all is life and the physician ever seeking ways of prolonging, beautifying by health that Life, must feel a multiple reward when he strives to follow in the footsteps of that 'cGreatest of all Scientistsl' who promised that the sick be healed, the blind shall see, and the crooked be made straightf, ' Let us wear a smile of hope and strength, For with noble purpose and honesty, A faith in I-Tim who rules on high, The Victors we shall be at length. We measure the world by its progress. VVe trace NIan's development from the barely intelligent cave dweller to the master minds who solve Life problems. We behold the enormous results of lVIan, the sublime works of Art, or the Scientific Page IIO 1- 4.1.-.42-:z:'.a:n'::..e -.e.4,1,x,,.., .. 1.1-if -F-.nn-ns:-vw uv-w..f--1-any-gwxfsyeffvna-1a-nvrv.-. '--v .fm s-fnwxsxvvnfsv-w-vw-an-fm.,-f,,,u,.a-. -1 a-, ..-,-...a,.,..,..1,,.,,,..T,,,,,..,,m,,m,.,.g3,,,,,,.,!- Q i