Park City High School - Kalendar Yearbook (Knoxville, TN)

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W1 A A Journey of Forty Miles UR high school was recently honored by a lecture by Prof. Wilsoli, president of Maryville College. His ex- cellent talk was based on the proverb, ln a journey of forty miles, when the thirty-ninth mile has been finished, the journey is only half completed. He compared this proverb to a Chinese puzzle. We ha.ve all seen one' I'm sure, you think you have solved the puzzle by removing the box, but another box remains, you remove this one and there is still another. This proverb is in a box of meanings. Let us remove the boxes and find some. Taking out the first box we find that some of us when we have gone thirty-nine miles on a forty mile job, lose interest and think we have done our share and the task will do just as well if nearly finished. Did you ever see a quitter? Their job remains unfinished. They might as well have stopped at the twentieth mile. No one can take up their work and complete it according to the plan on which it was started. They had better stopped at the twentieth mile and let this other some- body Weave in their ideas earlier. The chair a pupil started in the manual training department can best be finished by the one who started it. Frequently pupils get tired of studying and stop at the top of the last page. They started out all right, with the intention of getting every point in the lesson. They got tired though a.nd stopped at the thirty-ninth mile. They consoled themselves bv saying, T never missed any- thing much by not studying the rest, or I'll get that to- morrow. When in truth the last page was the most impor- tant, a summary of the lesson probably. Their task is only half finished. Let us take out the second box, here we find sometimes the last mile is the hardest. When one has gone thirty-nine miles they are tired and think they will never get through. This 53

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if He started out loaded with his many articles and passed proudly by the gossipers. On his way home,-he began to be frightened. What had he done? But he was glad-he was glad he had done it. Mother listened to the constant rumbling of packages as they were placed on the kitchen table and wondered Why that salt pork, and cream of tarter made so much noise. Suddenly father appeared in the doorway and explained what he had done. It was agreed that they should make their preparations just as on other Thanksgiving seasons and pre- tend to all the neighbors that John, his wife and baby had come. While father went to the depot in the old wagon, mother brought John's high chair from the attic for little John, and placed it very near the window. She had also brought some baby clothes to hang on the clothes line next morning. But she did not have to do this, as father was seen com- ing with the desired guests. So mother had the privilege of hanging out The real baby clothes. A. E. R., '15, ET 57 M4 nv' it svhdwegmra, 4 S M2 - Wifi' .L gif-1 269' G52 ' ' 1ifgQ1 ?a-,Q .gg SJ LJ 1 ev Q1 52

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last mile is hard and requires lots of thought. The last prob- lem in the lesson is always the hardest. The others lead up to it. Several principles are involved in the last problem. If you do not work this one, you have lost half the lesson. You are no more efficient at the thirty-ninth mile in that lesson than you were at the twentieth mile. Many people have started great enterprises, but stopped just when they were on the verge of success. Michael Angelo, the Greek sculptor, worked a long time on his master-piece. He had it almost completed when he died. It remains unfin- ished to this day. No one has been able to finish it. The last mile consisted of the finishing touches, expression, etc. lt was the hardest mile and no one but Michael Angelo could finish the journey. The piece of sculture was just as beautiful at the twentieth mile as at the thirty-ninth. The most important feature was lacking. Taking out the last box we find that when difficulties arise we are prone to give up. Did you ever see anyone, bubbling over with ambition, start out to do things, and when difficulties came up, he would stop? That isn't the kind of ambition that counts. lt it the steady stick-to-it fellow that does things. Some people wa.nt honors, but won't work for them. One will find difficulties to overcome in all walks of life. If one would get up he must struggle up. Take a certain young man studying to be a book-keeper. He started in business college very ambitious, he was going to finish his course right away and go to work. Well. his lessons were hard for him, he didn't have as much money to spend as he wished for, and he did not like to study. But he went on till he was nearly through. He went thirty-nine miles but not the forty. Finally he just quit, he had neglected his lessons till he was behind. Now what good will his book-keeping course do to' ward holding a book-keeper's position? He had better stop- ped at the twentieth mile and not wasted his time. Several years later he was still clerk in a shoe store. Take another young man, he was the son of a poor farmer. He had a fairly good education, and high ambitions: he also had the ability to stick to his job. One hot sunnner's day he was in a field near his honie, with a dull axe, cutting down 54 . .1-,,... :- Mu'