West High School - Occident Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

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24 THE OCCIDENT struction over the Falls. They had temporarily lost control. Do your own thinking. Think for thyself, for one thot, but known to be thine own, is better than a thousand gleaned from iields by others sown. Make your own decisions, and having made them adhere to them. Learn that your own ideas are just as good as those of another unless the other convinces you that you are wrong. ' Do not, however, cultivate material success exclusively at the cost of the better things of life. Help your fellow- man, for in helping him you but aid yourself. Cultivate a cheerful disposi- tion and, as the poet scout has said: When a bit of sunshine hits you after passin' of a cloud, When a fit of laughter gits you and yer spine's a feelin' proud, Don't forgit to up and sling it at some soul that's feelin' blue For the minute that you sling it, it's a boomerang to you. M Q M Uhr CEn1h illlakrr BRUCK FLEMING, '16 There is a monotony about blazing sunshine and cypress groves in Florida that inclines a man to bloodshed, and I had escaped from the boredom of a yachting party to wander into the in- terior with a gasoline launch, tired with the ambition to murder alligators. Tho a professor of biology, I had no im- mediate use for alligatorsg but since it was correct to go after them in the dark with a torch, and shoot at the glint of their eyes, their assassination seemed more of a sporting proposition than the meaningless slaughter with which men fight ennui. I did not in fact kill any alligators, because I met Rollins. The sound of a vigorously wielded ax attracted me to his clearing, in the hope of a cup of coffee and a rest in the shade. There was little or nothing of the old Rollins, '10, of the New York College of Science, in the man who swung the ax, and the face he turned to me was heavily bearded. Hello. there! I shouted. Well! he cried. If it isn't Car- ney'. And we engaged in a bout of hand- shaking and a line of talk about the smallness of the earth's surface that the occasion naturally suggested. I told him how I happened there. Alligators, man! said Rollins, in a great voice that bore only the faintest resemblance to the boyish falsetto of college days. Why, there isn't the tail of one within a hundred miles of here, and at that it's in a glass case in a gro- cery store. But come inside. I've got something a hundred times better than alligatorsf' He was in a state of suppressed ex- citement, and as he bent to pull the ax out of the tree I saw the muscles quiver under his shirt. Inside the shack-it was little more-he had a stove, a camp bed, and two or three chairs. The rest of the interior was mainly laboratory, with the big electric furnace and its at- tendant lamps as a centerpiece. On shelves along the wall there was ar- ranged an infinite number of bottles and jars. 'tYou know, it would be funny if it weren't so splendid, I said when he had made some coffee. You of all the peo- ple on earth, to be living in this spot. The doomed consumptive, that his friends despaired of blowing out of Manhattan with anything less than dynamite. And now you look like an Apollo. Who on earth taught you to wield a two handed ax that way ? Florida's the answer to it all, he replied, laughing. I've been down

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THE. OCCIDENT 23 what HENRY S. This month there will go out from the high schools of the United States many thousands of graduates, and the question that each will be called upon to answer is What Next? Each graduate has spent about twelve years in the public schools, where he has had the counsel and guidance of his teach- ers and has had little if any personal responsibility for the course he has been pursuing. With graduation, quite a change occurs and tne individual graduate faces the problem of his fu- ture career. What shall it be? This question he must answer primarily for himself, altho he may be aided by his parents, teachers, and friends. What- ever decision the graduate may make as to his future, perhaps a few obser- vations may not be amiss but it is hoped may prove helpful. With this thot in mind, permit me to suggest: First: Come to some definite con- clusion as to what you desire your fu- ture to be. Whether you are to follow the practice of some profession, manu- facturing or commercial business, agri- culture or home-making, do not decide hastily or without proper considera- tion. Look yourself squarely in the face. Take stock of your attainments and abilities and then determine what you are best suited to do. Having done this, do your bestg for with most of us our best is none too good. Again, having made your decision, aim high. Hitch your wagon to a star, said Emerson, and altho you may not reach lofty heights, yet when your course is run, you will be higher than if you had kept your eyes fastened upon the earth. Cultivate endurance and the power to surmount obstacles. When General Grant assumed command of the army of the Potomac he said: I intend to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. The surrender of Lee at Ap- pomattox was the result. Do not become impatient if you do not immediately achieve success. Neither Next BALLARD Rome nor the Panama Canal was built in a day, yet both changed the history of the world. No success was ever at- tained without some disappointments and defeats, and every defeat honor- ably sustained should be but an im- petus to further and better efforts. Do not become discouraged because you may make mistakes. Bob Ingersoll once wrote a book about the mistakes of Moses, and yet history records Moses as one of the greatest law-givers the world has ever seen. Of course you will make mistakes, but never make the same mistake twice. Reparation for damage caused by mistakes gives but added power for further efforts. Make the most of your opportunities, however limited they may be. Most people fail, not because of lack of op- portunities but because of failure to embrace them. One of the most suc- cessful teachers I ever knew went bare- foot until he was fourteen years old, learned to read and write when he was seventeen, and yet, at twenty-five he was a teacher in a high school. Be practical, and yet cultivate an im- agination. The greatest artists, sculp- tors, inventors and business men were those with the greatest imaginations, but they cultivated their imaginations so that something practical resulted. Have an honest enthusiasm for the thing which you are called upon to do. Like begets like is an old adage and yet true. If you are interested in the thing which you are doing, others will become interested in you. Don't drift. Some years ago two young men were spending their vaca- tion at Niagara Falls and, securing a boat, put forth a few miles above the Falls. Allowing the boat to drift along with the slow moving current, without warning they were carried to a point in the stream where, despite all efforts made by them, they were unable to bring their boat to the shore and both boat and occupants were dashed to de-

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THE. OCCIDENT 25 here for two years, and I've got more than just looks. It was an inspiration in the college lab that made me make up my mind to go on living. I thot this was the best place to pull off my little stunt. What do you think of this joker? He stretched a long arm to a shelf above his head, and tossed over a small bright object that fell into my hand with astonishing weight for its bulk. It proved to be a tiny ingot of yellow metal. I weighed it wonderingly in my palm. It might be gold, I said. There's nothing else just that weight and color. He grinned. Remarkably like gold, isn't it? Take the acids and test it for yourself. There are the balances on the floor behind you. You know enuf to get the specific gravity. Cut it up, beat it out to a tissue, anything you please. Then ask yourself, if it isn't gold, what in the name of miracles it is. Wait a minute and I'll show you what Uncle Sam has to say about it. He reached for a small valise near the camp bed, and presently handed me a sealed document. It was a certificate of the United States Assay Office to the effect that certain ingots, nuggets, and metallic dust submitted to its experts by Harry Rollins, of Cedar Lake, Flor- ida, were found to consist of pure gold, with only the slightest traces of copper and barium. Fancy finding gold in Florida! I exclaimed. Why, the place is nothing but a burning sandpit except where it's swamps. I didn't find it, answered Rollins, quietly. I made it. He stood there grinning in utter sat- isfaction at the finished exposition of gaping incredulity that I doubtless gave him. Oh, I'm quite Well, he said. You shall watch me make some more before you begin to question my sanity. In fact I never felt better in my life. This clearing's pretty good for a consump- tive. It's larger than I wanted it, but I just keep on yanking stumps from the pure joy of living. But to say that you make gold- I began. Rollins only laughed and waved aside all argument with a sweep of his hand. You shall see. And then you'll cease to wonder why I came out into this wilderness. Of course at first-it was horrible. I'm all alone except when a colored man brings my supplies from the settlement, about once a week. As it happens, you're the first white man I've seen in six weeks. I held out the bar of gold toward him, but he waved it away contemptu- ously. Keep it. There's plenty more where I got that. Have it made into a brace- let for some girl, or hang it on your watch chain. Artificial gold! It'll have a certain historic value some day, he said whimsically. You could lend it to the Museum of Natural Science, for instance. 'Kindly lent by Professor Theodore Carney,' eh? Ready made im- portance for you. But, I can't take it, you know, I protested. The thing must be worth a couple of hundred dollars-if it is gold. Bet your life it is, he replied laugh- ing. Better than a certified check. But, if it were the last thing I had in the world, I'd have given it to see a friendly face. Of course there's my man, Janvrin, but, as I said, he comes only once a week. The rest of the time I'm alone with poor Buster here. He went again to the corner by the bed, and for the first time, I noticed a dog lying on a bed of grass. Rollins patted the dog's head affectionately, but it did not stir in response. Poor old pal. he's got distemper, hasn't he? said Rollins with a note of tenderness in his voice. I've tied him up so he won't forget himself and run out into the sun. He's only a yellow pup, but at that he can guard gold better than most human beings. And he believes in me. Don't you, old boy ? The creature's tail quivered in reply. I reverted to the subject of the ingot. Of course, I said, if I were sure that you could make some more when- ever you pleased- Hang it, man, haven't I said so? But-I'm going to make some more to- night and I'll let you turn on the cur- rent. Then perhaps you'll be more