Galesburg Augusta High School - Rambler Yearbook (Galesburg, MI)

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I MAIN ST.. EAST. FROM GROVE ST. Photo by Joy a oration, a Harry Hunt. Speak Out in Acts, the Time for Words Has Passed. Life is not only mere living and the working out of a strange problem compounded of volition, necessity, accident, and fatality, but it is to each of us an ever changing panorama. The sights of yesterday are old today, the scences of the present are swiftly passing and the pictures of the twentieth century are new, bur¬ dened with better opportunities and greater responsi¬ bilities that will not only teach us ordinary lessons of industry and independence of character, but influence us to perform deeds al ove those conceived as possible by a mail of common training. We are reminded by the lives of great men that it requires deeds, not words, to meet these ever increasing responsibilities. Therefore as we are about to enter life’s struggle, with the determination of coming out conquerors, it is evident the time for words has past. Although our w ords are the pictures of our hearts and the wings of our actions, the time for them is past, because we are about to face the great problem of the ages and the burning question of the day, “How to Suc¬ ceed.” Success is development, expansion, and growth. Can it he attained by sudden flight? Emphatically No! “The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upw ard in the night.” The gaining of greath wealth or a large fortune is by no means cuccess, because a mere money making career will strangle all the finer instincts for the good, the true, and the beautiful, and crush out all that makes life strong. Read the words inscribed on the monu¬ ments reared to the heroes of the past. They do not

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the only gardener. And could a more perfect one be found? In our cultivated gardens, however, much de¬ pends on human aid. As the bud grows larger, the petals unfold little by little and we see its form and color more distinctly. At last its full beauty is revealed and we think of the com¬ ing fruitage which is the real purpose of the flower. These facts are very similar to the conditions in¬ fluencing our own lives. The influence of environment is recognized more and more as a careful study is made of the subject. The surroundings of our early life per¬ haps do more to shape our future than any thing else. Look at the life of Abraham Lincoln for exam ple. Per¬ haps you will say, his early surroundings were very poorly adapted for the making of a great and good man. But nature w as his teacher. There w ere: “Robins in the treetops. Blossoms in the grass. Green tilings agrowing Every where you pass.” Could he help learning the great lessons of life, espec¬ ially when aided by a loving, christain mother? In our early childhood we begin our school life, and, day by day, month by month, and year by year, we gather fruit from the tree of knowlege for the develop¬ ment of our intellectual being. The value of these school days cannot be overestimated. During these years mother, father, and teachers, stewards of the One great gardener, strive to keep from our minds impure harmful thoughts and plant there truth, love and help¬ ful knowledge. Just in proportion as these seeds of truth find lodgement in our minds, so will lie the fruits later when our lives are more mature. Thus slowiy but surely our natures unfold to duties around us. Day by day our characters are being form¬ ed, characters that are to make or mar our future lives. The four years in the High School pass all too quickly and commencement day arrives, commencement day in mail) ways. It is really the beginning of the unfold¬ ing. Before, the change was not so marked, but now, as we take our place in the great army of workers, our characters are more plainly seen and our inner life brought to light by our dealings with our fellow men Now the effects of our early training are seen and we become perfect or imperfect dowel ' s in Earth ' s great gar¬ den. If perfect, bearing rich fruit and brightening our little part of this great earth by our influence. If im¬ perfect, casting a shadow instead of imparting bright¬ ness. Which shall we, the class of 1901, become? Only He knows who knoweth all things. But let us remem¬ ber that, “Not enjoyment and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act that each to-morrow ' Find us farther than to-day.

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speak of honors bought or hours in leisure spent, hut of service done. How much wealth did Washington ac¬ cumulate? Very little. But being first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his country men, was worth more to him than Jay Gould’s millions. Did Lincoln, the type of noblest manhood, in the highest station attainable by man, accumulate a great fortune? He possessed the highest qualities of a statesman and great wisdom in plan and action. Therefore our suc¬ cess is measured by the good we do to benefit mankind and this good makes its impression on the hearts of the people by actions. The deeds of Edmund Burke make his name tower above all other statesmen of his age. The English nation will not let him die, he cannot die in the hearts and memories of man any more than Lin¬ coln, who with one stroke of the pen, dipped in the blood of his countrymen, wrote his name indelibly upon the hearts of the colored race. As our acts are the standard by which we are judged and the only efficient aids in attaining success and a noble character, the time for words has passed. As the hour comes to resume greater responsibili¬ ties speak out in acts lest you forge ; and go on building cunning little air castles with your words. Will our aims in life ever be attained if we do not put our know¬ ledge and being into action? Action involves the great re¬ sponsibilities of life. The great leaders of men, are those who take upon themselves the responsibilites of action, The world is always waiting for men to lead, men who are willing to select a course of action; take the risk, and start upon it. Such as Mr. Charles Schwab pres¬ ident of the billion dollar steel trust, who, when offered a salary by an English firm equal to that of the presi¬ dent of the United States, refused and, on being asked by Mr. Carnegie why he refused, replied with an exceedingly level head, “that he wanted to become a partner of the trust,” and a partner he became. Are not the men who forever stand estimating the disgrace of failure, cowards? Would there be any honor in achieving success if it were not for the diffi¬ culties we have to encounter? Do not the lives of self- made men of America prove that difficulties are aids to success? Therefore as all one takes out of life is what he puts into it and as what we are is the production of our acts, we should speak them out. After Columbus had been equipped with vessels to sail out from Span¬ ish hills across the western waves, the time for words had passed; had he failed to act would his name be hon¬ ored by every individual between Plymouth Rock and the Golden Gate. No! And possibly the world would yet be in the depth of superstition and darkness of his time. The words of the colonies at the time of the first Continental Congress were, “The whole country must be animated with one great soul, and all Americans must resolve to stand by one another, even unto death Had they not spoken out in actions would the United