Lincoln High School - Lincolnian Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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8 Til K L I KCO I. N I A N THE NECESSITY OF DOING OUR BEST (By Corinne Davis, ’ll.) Now I get me up to work, I pray the Lord I may not shirk, if l should •lie before the night, 1 pray the Lord my work’s all right.” There are two ideas to be derived from this quota- tion. The first is making preparations, for facing the proceedings of each day, and the other is seeing that we i our best in all undertakings. The last idea is the one that I shall endeavor to expand. I think this subject is important be- cause too many of us never do our best if we can get out of it. Some of us think if we can just get through or obtain what we want without mak- ing any sacrifices, why that ' s the prop- er thing, but ii we have to deprive our- selves very much, we lose interest in the desire that takes this power to at- tain it. If a person has a job, and doesn’t care particularly whether he does his work well or not, he is likely to lose his position, and by his poor service he is not likely to get another one be- cause he can’t get references, and they are very essental in this present cen- tury. On the other hand, a person who is quiet and quick, always on the go, and does everything properly will always find it an easy task to get a place any time he wants one. Why? Because he is the person that the world is looking for. Thus we can see that the fellow who does his best is the one who has the best chances. Some times we are asked to do a few very small tasks. Well, we don’t think so much of them, but after a while when we meet them on a higher plane we can’t do anything with them, while if we had mastered them at first we would not have had trouble in performing them on a higher scale. The person who always tries to do good and helps others out of dif- ficulties is the one who usually gets along best in this world. One writer has said, Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.” Success lies open to a person of this kind and also to one who has an amiable disposition and alertness, and who is always ready to improve the community in which he lives and those around him. Everyone has habits, but what kind are they? Those that help or those that hinder? For instance, here is an example of a habit that hinders: We have a girl who goes very untidy about the house; she desires to visit a friend for a week or two. Well, the first two or three days she is very care- ful in arranging her toilet, but the re- maining days she gets tired of being so neat and clean, (because she hasn’t been used to it), so she is very un- comfortable the. remainder of her stay. So we can see how one bad habit can s| oil a great deal of pleasure. So let us look our best as well as do our best daily. Therefore, it is very necessary that we do our best because it leads us to success and favor, helps others to imi- tate us in order that they may better themselves, and by doing the little things well we are enabled to tackle the larger ones, and it also makes us brighter and more intelligent. So that when we lie down to rest we may say, Now I lay me down to rest, 1 pray the Lord my soul to bless, For 1 have done my very best. o HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY, MO. In order to appreciate our city of today fully we should have some idea of its history. . Probably the first white man that came to the present site of Kansas City, Mo., was Col. Daniel Boone. This was in 1787, and he spent twelve winters here trapping beavers on the banks of the Blue. About the year of 1832 a Frenchman who had escaped from the Canadas, sailed down the Mississippi with a few comrades,

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4 10 T 111 ' : UNCOLNI A N mounted the bluff, sailed his cap in the air and shouted “La Libertie!” and from that first hurrah from the Kansas City bluffs his comrades gave him the name of “La Libertie.” The tendency that suggested the idea of a town where Kansas City now stands was the establishment of a fur trade on the account of its great trans- portation facilities. There were many different opinions about the prospects of the new town. Independence and Westport nicknamed it ‘Westport 1 anding” in derision, and on the ac- count of its developing so slowly for many years it became generally known by this name, but Thomas Benton des- tined it to become the greatest com- mercial center west of the Mississippi. The town grew and in 1860 it was the most prosperous and thriving city on the west border and ten years later it had a population of over 30,000. Perhaps there is nothing else that has contributed so much to the growth of Kansas City as the building of the great railroad and turn bridge over the Missouri river. After this was ac- complished, Kansas City became the money center of this region and the depot of its merchandise. During the few years following the civil war the little city grew slowly but solidly, and in 1880 its population was 60,000. It was about this time that Mr. Jay Gould became interested in the railroad system. About this same time, also, through the efforts of the Committee of Commerce, the govern- ment sent commissioners to locate a customs house and a post office, and the corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets was selected. The purchase price was $8,500 and the constructing of the building was begun at once. In 1880 the post office business grew from $98,948 to $123,953.09. ' flic cost of the building erected was about $2,200,000. The record of Kansas City has been one of continual progress; population increased and naturally more houses were built. In 1886 the number of houses built was 4,054, costing $10,- 393,207. The school system had been com- pletely destroyed bv the war, and the people were slow to reorganize, but in 1845 the legislature passed laws for the organization of schools. On the 1 5th and 18th of March, 1866, the leg- i skit are enacted laws providing for the establishment of schools in cities: towns and villages. The board of edu- cation was organized August 1, 1887. The first schools were in old base- ments and such places as could be found. The number of school children at that time wa s 2,150, and sixteen teachers were employed during the year. w Thus we are able to note from this brief history the steps by which this great city of ours reached its high point of progress. Gertrude M. B. Wheeler, ’ll. o- i LINES TO THE JUNIORS 1 . There is something to learn at every turn, Something you do not know. There is something to hear wijh an open ear That will make volt wiser grow. 2 . There is something to see, if watchful you’ll be That you never saw before. There is much to lay in your mind away To keep for future store. 3. There is something to spurn that you need not learn, That will give you nothing but pain. There is much to leave, that you should not receive Into vour eyes or brain. 4. There is something to learn at every turn, Something of good or ill. But the one who can choose, and also refuse, Is the one that climbs the hill. 5. There is something to learn, dear Juni- ors, Follow in our path and see If you study four years, and meet with cheers, O, what men and women you’ll be. J. ' C. W. r i x