Creston High School - Annual Yearbook (Creston, OH)

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PAGE 12 ' ' ' Growth of Liberty. Little Victories. By Pearl Scltlegel Whenever we think ofa victory in a general way, the first thought that comes to us is the defeat of an enemy in battle and the gaining of superiority in sotne great struggle or conquest. And perhaps we are reminded of some great triumph, such as Char- lemagne celebrated when he restored the laws and institutions of the ancient Romans. And indeed we may rightlycall his victories great, for the battles which he was able to gain by his great military experience and commanding ability, has rendered the period in which he lived an epoch in universal history, and his deeds alone, have changed the whole history of Europe. These deeds should be carefully studied, and are well worthy of occupying a place in our memories. For they have immortalized the names of men, and caused the pages of history to glow with an unset- ting light. But the danger here, is that of putting too much stress on their greatness. 'F Many of our great inventions have been presented to us, not thru the analyzing of complex problems of philosophy, but by the study of trifles. The little boy, James Watt, while waiting for his supper, sat thoughtfully meditating on the steam that arose from the tea-kettleg and to him the world is indebted for the discovery of the power there is :kit- iu steam. Were it not for this, what would become ot our railroads and steam-ships? Every wheel driven by this wonderfu' power would stop, and thousands of people would he thrown out of eznplo- ment. This invention proves again, that small things be- Come great ifour min-'s are great enough to see them. Charles Dickens was once asked the question, What is a genius? Ile replied: UA being who pays attention to triflesf' The History of many failures have been brought about by carelessness and inattention to little things. if 'if il' Words are very little things and it does not re- qui'e much effort on our part to speak them,and we never know how far reaching their results tnay be. For, A word spoken in due season, how good is it? + if if V Longfellow in his poem: The Arrow and the Song, tells of shooting an arrow, and breathing a song into the air, not knowing where either of them fell, but long afterward he found the arrow in an oak and the song in the heart of a friend. We may not see the result of our little deeds, but sometime. if we have been faithful over a few things, we will have the privilege of being made ruler over many things, and we will realizejust how much depends on our Little Victories. We call him great who does some deed That echo bears from shore to shore- Does that, and then does nothing more, Yet would his work earn richer meed, When brought before the King of King's, Were he but great in little things. By Walter Edis. We, as a people, enjoy many privileges which many other nations do not have, chief among these are civil and religious liberty. But in secur- ing it.a large amount of money has been spent and the lives of many thousands of true patriots have been lost, and now we hold this heritage in our own keeping and it is ours to enjoy, preserve and trans- mit these blessings to others less fortunate than we, and the generations which are to come will hold us responsibe for this sacred trust. But how did we procure this liberty? Our fore- fathers had to rebel against the mother country and then organizea new governmentg but many dark years were seen between the time that our country rebelled and the procuring of liberty. We can never pay the debt which we owe them. And do we appreciate these blessings? In sotne ways we do, and in some ways we do not. XVe show it in allow- ing people from foreign counteries to come here, and they are coming in almost every ship that crosses the seas. They have left behind them pov- erty, ignorance and the unjust laws of oppression. Here in this country the foreigner sees new concep- tions of life. But since this liberty has been won for us by our forefathers, we must cherish it, and there remains for us the duty of defending and pre- serving our liberty. We can only do this when each and every state and person remains loyal to the union. It has been the same with other countries as with our own. Switzerland, for many centuries enjoyed their own freedom, but finally the King of Austria began his oppression and tried to subdue them, but they resisted with all the power that was in them and finally showed the invaders that they could defend their liberties which they loved and cherished. Austria was defeated and the Swiss people remained free. And so we see that the spirit of liberty was in man in the past, and it is growing stronger every day, and the people of our country and of other countries are enjoying privileges which our and their ancestors never thought of. And so, dear friends, let us do as Webster tells us: To acknowledge the blessings of liberty,let us feel il deeply and powerfully, let us cherish a strong affection for it,and resolve to maintain and perpetu- ate it. The blood ofour fathers, let it not have been sited in vaingthe great hope of posterity, let this one word, Liberty, never be blasted. Rf

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l PAGE ll Tunneling the Mountains. By Mariorie Zelmer HE art of tunneling has heen known to man since very early times. The first tunnels of which there are any existing records, were those constructed hy the Assyrians. Only hand work was em- ployed hy these ancient people in their construction. Research has shown, that among the Egyptians, the art of quarring tunnels was highly developed, hut the Romans should doubtless rank as the great- est tunnel huilders ofantiquity, in the numher, magnitude, and the use- ful character of their works. The construction of the Mount Cenis tun- nel in liurope and the Hoosac tunnel in America has excitedthe whole world in the magnitude of their importance to commercial activity.t!'.'ft!c Thus these great harriers of nature have heen successfully overcome hy science and the persistent efforts of man. Mountains are no hin- drance now in the path ofthe engineer, who has made up his mind to run his line in a certain direction. There was a time, however, when the surveyor came to a mountain, sat down hefore it, looking up discourag- ingly at its summit, and then turned away to seek another path. Now they set their instruments pointing straight ahead regardless of oh- stacles. tl' fl' 'l' In planning the tunnel the engineer studies every point with the greatest care. He is exact as to every detail hecause the mistake of an inch would mean a great variation in the correctness of the construc- tion. tl' 'Hi But the tunnel that especially concerns us is the great tun- nel of life. There are rocks in the pathway of every man, WOIHHIT, and child, and if they could see that they are there for some purpose they would all try harder to dig thru them. Difticulties are the things that show what we are and they will confront ns as mountains. When we meet them we should stand hefore them only long' enough to summon up our courage and determination and then plunge straight onward as did Hannihal when he name to the mighty Alps. We should never turn hack discouraged. Was it not that grand old sailor, Lord Nelson, who in time ofa hard naval fight, when a signal for retreat had heen given, closed one eye, the only good one he had, and said: I cannot see that signal to retreat! lsee only my own and that says advance! We will follow that, my men! And they did follow it to victory. We, like this hero, should fail to see the signal for retreat, although our path at times he very dark and we can see no light ahead, hut when that diliicnlty has heen tunneled how much stronger is our determina- tion for other conquests and how n1ucl1 more confidence we have in ourselves for greater victories 'l' 'lt 'lf When we meet ohstacles in our way, we should not stop defeated, hutsllould he strongerthan the rocks that lie in our paths and surmount them. We should work always with a resolution that never waivers and with an unconquerahle will for: There is no chance, no destiny, no fate Can circumvent, or hinder, or control The firm resolve ofa determined soul. Gift counts for little, will alone is great, All things give way hefore it soon or late. What obstacle can stay the mighty force Of the sea seeking river in its course, Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait? Let the fool prate of Luck! The fortunate Is he whose earliest purpose never swerves, Whose slightest action or inaction serves The one great aim. Why, even death stands still, And waits an hour, sometimes, for such a willf'

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vw' l r l l l lf PAGE 13 Launching the Ship. By Harry Aby Before a ship starts on a voyage over the ocean, it is inspected very closely to ascertain whether the seams are tight, so that there is no danger of sink- ing, and that there is a sufficient amount of provis- ions aboard so as to make a sure and enjoyable trip. Then a thoroughly competent man is engag- ed as captain,and also a pilot-a man who holds the ship and all on board in his hands. He must know the dangers of our course and must be cau- tious so that he may steer clear of all shoals and rocks. As our boat glides down the channel our pros- pects look bright and we are eager and hopetulg then the channel grows wider and at last we can see the great ocean on which we are to sail. Now, if the steamer is not loaded beyond its ca- pacity, has an intelligent captain, a cautious pilot and all on board trust in God, a safe voyage may be assured. Let each one of us act as a ship whieh is just being launched. As there is only one of us, we must have capacity, caution and full trust in a kind Providence, then we may look forward to a safe voyage on the sea of life. We must freight ourselves according to our capacity, and we must be firm, for we will meet many dangers which are not visible at the begin- ning of our voyage. 'H 'kYet great uncertainty hangs over our fntureg but we may leave that in the hands of Providence. Let us make a good beginning and it will bea prom- ise ofa prosperous end. If we make a false step now, it is liable to wreck our entire life. Will we not escape much misery in our lives if we consult our own conscience in the matter of right and wrong? The Seas of human life are wide and there may be many hidden dangers and many a youth may have perished, but let that not keep ns from start- ing, for if we can put our knowledge to practice, we will steer clear of many of these perils and reach the port of safety and usefulness where many oth- ers have dropped anchor. We must not start on this voyage for the purpose of pursuing that which pleases us alone, or we will miss the true aim of life. But let us have in our mind that which is best for the world, our friends and that which pleases our Creator, Let us not make this voyage too short or our des- tination too easy to reach, or our aim in life will not be elevated enough, for, if we take a high ideal in life our character will be made strong and virtuous. Integrity, Intelligence and Industry are elements of character, and it has been said by men of exper- ience, that no man can be inferior if he has these. 'F 'l' 'l' We can not realize the task which is before us, for, we have not had the least experience and are de- pendent upon our present knowledge, the experience of old navigators,our courage, and the will of God to carry us on this raging sea, on which humanity exists. Influence of Ideals. By Claude Edis. An ideal is a mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection. Hardly two persons have the same ideal. They are continually striving to reach that goal with all their energy with the result that it shapes the courses of their whole lifes. A person works all the time that he may reach his coveted place. i' f' lt is sure to make a better and stronger man, because he will always be striving to that end,although he may have backsets and dis- couragements. If we have a high mark set as our ideal, our successes are sure to be sooner realized than those of one whohas a low mark. We will al- ways have our eyes set ou our ideal, striving to reach it and in which all our hopes of future years are placed. Without an ideal,we would be like an engine without steam or a ship without a rudder. ln the engine. everything is ready but the steam is lacking. Our ideal is what puts vitality into our action, causing us to forge ahead, Uur ideal is also the rudder that guides tis on the sea of life. With- out the rudder we may advance a little, but a light wind springing up against us will send us back. It is like a star always shining in the dark to show us our path. lf we wish to advance we must have an ideal, a target, a definite mark to aim at. Then we must keep one eye on it. Wir lf we wish to make a success of life, we must have a goal to reach, we must strive to reach it,and must work with all our powers for that pur- pose. 'H it The person who has no ideal in life will never be a successs. He will fail, not because he is not as well educated as others or has not the physi cal strength, but because he has no mark to aim at. His energy will be scattered. He cannot center it on onething. No young person. no matter what his circumstances are, can be deprived of an ideal. XVe have only to keep it in sight, press toward it, and it is ours. It makes no difference what a man can do, the question is, will he exert himself to do it? Great differences appear in men. Some svart in life with an object in view and are determined to win itg others live without an object and do not reach for the prize. The energies of the one are called into action and they rise to eminence, the other, taking life easy. falls into obscurity. There is an old proverb that says, He who aims at the sun, to be sure will not hit it, but his arrow will fly higher than if he aimed at an object on a level with himself. just so will our lives be, the higher we place our ideal, the higher we will go, though we may not reach it. MH' Soin selectingan ideal letus choose one that is well worth our effortsg one that will not only make us useful and happy in this life, but bring to us a glorious victory in the life to come. Qs