St Johns College - Ozanam Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

Page 78 text:

60 THE OZANAM give his readers any more of the post-schol- astic adventures here for fear that his book will not have the sale that it should. It is his observation that books of the day, in order to be placed in that literary Olympus known as the realms of best sellers, must keep the essence of the message they intend to convey to the public a secret as long as possible. He knows of more than one instance in which the messages of wisdom are as much of a mystery after the hook has been read as they were before. So much has been given, however, to the Ozanam's readers, as to pay tribute to the greatest of all created beings, The Graduate. And Now, Good-by Long, indeed, is the road which has no ending and as this column goes to press, the editor is already gathering up his papers, and wiping his pen, turning for but one fleeting instant to wave his good-by forever, be- fore walking slowly down the street of for- gotten writers. For sad it is but surer still that many come and many go, but few go on forever. How true the adage, The old mill never grinds with the water that has passed : gone, you are soon forgotten, an- other takes your place and the wheels begin to move as smoothly as before. Thus it is in the game of life, in whatever sphere you are, by your presence you're re- membered, by your absence you're forgotten. Few men can boast of deeds so worthy at their making, that the ironic hand of time cannot smother shortly after, or the long, long years to dwindle into ludicrous insigniticance. Small wonder then, that men despair, when having done their best, they End their best not good enough and no more lasting than the least: still there's a certain satisfaction when you've done the best you can, of hav- ing done your duty: to you it is a master- piece, while behind your back, the unrelent- ing world gives way to heartless laughter. But laughter hurts you not, for in your heart you know, that you yourself are satisfied, and. after all, there's a limit to man's powers and a difference in man's talents and far more content is he whose earnest labors are inferior, than he whose slightest efforts bring results. And so if his work has caused but a few sparsely scattered comments. the ghostly out- line of a smile, the editor is happy: and as the wheels of fate keep moving, he gathers up his papers, puts aside his pen, and is slowly tuming 'round again to wave to all Good-by.

Page 77 text:

THE .OZANAM 59 Yes, graduates, like the proverbial poor, we have always with us. And like the poor, they have become a problem with which so- ciety has to cope. i While sociologists for the most part have been spending their time on the subject of the eternal poor, devising a modus operandi whereby equal or at least proportionate dis- tribution of wealth can be brought about without even a local anesthetic, the writer of these paragraphs has been burning the mid- night kilowatts on a book regarding our grad- uates: what to do with them now that prohi- bition, the panacea for all crime, has made our penal institutions hang out the S. R. O. sign. A few excerpts from the book are here- with reprinted through the courtesy of the Hurst-us Publishing Company. They should serve as an excellent guide for the young bachelors about to enter upon a career in the world. The Erst thing, my dear graduates, a chapter begins, which will enter upon your consciousness, once that faculty is regained after graduation, is the necessity of getting a lucrative means of employment. In some few cases known to pathological science, this fact has occurred to students several weeks prior to exams: however, the instances of this phe- nomenon are so rare as to render them negli- gible. ln most cases the sad realization is brought about by some well-worded sugges- tion from the paternal member of the family. as: 'Boy, after next Saturday your weekly allowance will be completely discontinued. Now digl' In other cases Cupid has some- thing to do with the decision. But these latter instances, together with their causes and effects, will be treated at greater length in another chapter. Let us suppose that the decision, in some way or other, has been made. The book continues: The graduate has now reached the stage at which he will condescend to accept a posi- tion. He feels that the Standard Oil Com- pany, the American Steel Corporation, and a few other possibly less important mercantile organizations must certainly have been watch- ing his scholastic work during the last four years-especially in athletics-and every time the telephone rings he is possessed with the idea that it is one of these institutions of the business world attempting to get into touch with him in regard to the position of president, secretary or financial advisor. This stage of the game lasts sometimes a month or more, after which time the second phase comes into existence under which the erstwhile candidate for mercantile supremacy decides he really wants the position. He even has spells, from time to time, when he is tempted to put in his application for one of the offices referred to above, although he fully appreciates that such a procedure is decidedly beneath the dignity of a college graduate who, perchance, has even been captain of the track team. For some reason or other, possibly the flood of social engagements that comes upon a young man at that point in his career and prevents his participation in the less important duties in life, the applications are either not formulated or, if they are, they remain un- posted in some out-of-the-way pigeon hole of his desk. After a while-the length of which de- pends greatly upon the personal equasion of the youth himself, and the frugality with which he has used the final paternal allow- ance-he reaches the third stage, in which he looks for a job. This again, according to the book, is di- vided into its sub-eras, starting with the ap- plication to some influential friend and ending with the answering of blind ads in the daily newspapers with the result of a situa- tion as office-boy in a retail grocery store. But we sha'n't go into intricate and scientific detail. In fact, the writer is extremely loathe to

Page 79 text:

as-aT:--RTI!-ll llfzlxlciua-011111: Yniuiuiuu--a:i:xi:l1nn C'omplz'ment.v gf The Henry Spieker Company