Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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I2 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. ESSAY. OUR NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS. STELLA onoss. Nature has endowed this country with such an excess of vitality in her people that all the nations of the world find within an American some characteristic that is to be found no where else. This may perhaps be due to his compositeancestry, for from his French ance.stor he getshis wit and vivacity, from the Celt, his nimble brain and keen rel- ish for fun 5 from the Dutch, his cleanliness and honesty, from the Spaniard, his dark complexion, from the Scandinavian, his golden hair and blue eyes 5 and to his Eng- lish ancestor he owes his sturdiness and strength of character. The blending of all these qualities gives him as his natural char- acteristics, quickness of understanding and keenness of perception. It was the Pilgim of Massachusetts, the Dutchman of New York, the Quaker of Pennsylvania, the Swede of Delaware, and the Cavalier of Virginia, who united in building up the individuality and in contrib- uting to the greatness and the unexampled progress of this magnificent country. The peculiarities of our population, which some have th-ought misfortunes, are in reality the happiest circumstances attending the settle- ment of this broad land. The American is such an interesting per- son. He reads a great d-eal and can talk easily on any question. He takes a broad view of the worldps events. Perhaps this is due to the commingling of so many people of all nationalities, and in order to appear as fully conversant with national and interna- tional affairs as those with whom he asso- ciates, he keeps up with all the news of the day. Foreigners have often been heard to say: The Amerie'an's view of life is so wholesome and frank, his originality is so marked, his flashes of wit are so genuine and bright that his talk is like a tonic? He seems like a bit of fine metal easily bent, but unbreakable, readily turned, twisted and -vm. ,,...-- - wrought into any form or shape and yet re- taining all the inherent qualities. It is this power of adapting himself to all or any conditions which makes him a constant surprise to the observer of other nations, and an enigma to the slower, duller minds of foreign lands. If he has a fault it is no doubt that of a too great exuberance both of under- standing and of perception. He see.s too quickly, he concludes too readily. This very richness in intellect is shared also by his sis- ter. She is at once the wonder and delight of all who meet her, true, she sometimes causes an uplifting of the brows, but if, as is predicted in London, the girl of the twen- tieth century is to resume the manners of the seventeenth century models, then with this toning down, the girl of America may hope to become the ideal of femininity. We Americans have taken a stand among the nations of the earth and have success- fully asserted our claim to political equality. We possess an enviable elevation so far as con- cerns the structure of our government and the energy of our institutions-those institu- tions which established by our forefathers, we hold in trust for all mankind. It is this assurance that all men possess of their right to a nationality in America that is gradually spreading over the face of the earth the spirit of independence, once our only inherit- ance 5 and to Americanize the world may ,not in future generations be so chimerical an idea as it now appears. It is not to be wondered at, that brea-thing always in this independent atmosphere the American should be self-assertive as com- pared with the polished nations of the old world, but is it undesirable to be so stamped? He recognizes no difference in caste, and his aggressiveness creates a fric- tion whicd grinds to a powder the barriers raised between men, and his breath blows it away. These barriers broken down between him and his fellowmen he learns to love his kind and with that greater love- for man there comes a greater love for God. In Puritan days where his forefathers bowed in duty to a king they were God-fearing men, but now

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her . of ieir .Ta- rts 5 ors ian ing en- ads ad- but ap- ely JPY t to the ly 5 the led her out ity ely om ex- ind ied ind Ldy ful to ly 5 1 a of hat of rho Lse, To to om ry. THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. II ln Virginia, she and everybody else have enough trials and tribulations to punish her for her naughtiness, but then, she gains hap- piness in the end. Not always did th-e runaways run away for love, but often out of pure kindness of heart. Her beautiful friendship for her cousin, Rosalind, led Celia, when the former was condemned to exile, to l-eave the palace, their home, to go to the woods with Rosalind. Such an unselfish spirit, must, of course, be rewarded, as it is, and the story leaves both Celia and Rosalind with a husband as a re- ward of merit. But one author severely criticises the time honored runaway plot. We behold,', he says, young ladies traveling over the coun- try without a change of wardrobe or a penny in their pockets. He finds fault generally with the misguided damsels, and ends with: Why not let them stay at home where they belong and b-e happy? Evidently this au- thor cannot understand the sympathy which we feel for the timid maiden who dares so much, whatever the cause. We have a pe- culiarly keen interest in her from the time she makes her resolution, until the time when, her plans completed in spite of threat- ening dangers, she stands wrapped in her dark, hooded cloak tremblingly awaiting the sound of gravel against her window pane, which is the necessary signal that all is ready for her flight. We do not approve of her-oh, no! far from it, and we are con- scious of some pity for her sorrowing parents -for the runaway has probably left con- sternation in her wake, yet our compunc- tions are not unmixed with censure for the severity which forced the maiden out into the cold world. If she is going to meet her lover, we hope all may be well, but if she go from an uniselfish motive, we are indeed im- patient with wicked fortune-or a perverse writer-if misfortune befall her. Women runaways have caused the most dreadful calamities. Possibly Helen of Troy, whose story has furnished us with one of our most useful and familiar bits of lit- erature, little dreamed of the immense up- heaval which would follow her flight-for I have always believed it was flight, not theft -yet her elopement caused a war between two nations. She was a woman, not an im- pulsive girl, and so we cannot condone her offense as we can and do, the runaways of the charming but mischievious maidens' who lacked the age and experience which would have caused them to think more seriously before following the bent of their own sweet wills. - Jessica possibly claims our indulgence more than she would otherwise, because the father she deserted was a cruel and unnatural parent. Poor old man! He is doubly be- reaved as he bemoans his loss on th-e streets of Venice. 'fMy daughter, O, my ducatsl Justice find the girl, She hath the stones upon her, and the ducatsf' He seems equally divided be-tween sorrow for loss o-f his daughter and anger at the loss of his moneys, and one wonders if he does not wi.sh his daughter back simply that he may regain his moneys. Then, too, there arises a doubt in my mind as to whether Lorenzo himself was as entirely indifferent to those ducats as he might have been. We are inclined, perhaps, to be blinded to such a possibility by the pretty love making of the romantic J ewess and the gallant young Venetian, but nevertheless the thought of filthy lucre seems to run quite frequently through the latteris mind, 'for even in the stars he finds a suggestion of wealth as he calls upon Jessica in the midst of a love scene to Look how the floor of heaven ls thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. Now, I would advise young ladies to re- main at home under their parent's protect- ing wing, else they may come to the sad and lamentable end of Desdemona, who fell Vic- tim to the jealousy of the very man for whom she disobeyed her father, and left her home. Runaway heroines are all very well in books, very interesting and very enter- taining, but in real life we would better have the obedient girl.

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e re- ? to him rver gma zign that der- too fery sis- ight mes , as ren- the this rope on g ess- ity. zon- and itu- ers, this ight ally the arit- ,not an ring the om- old so ' in 'ric- iers 's it 'een his rere ltan J to iow f I THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. I3 when he acknowledges no allegiance to any but God, if he is not a God fearing man he is a. God-loving one. T-ime will no doubt effect for the bet- ter many changes in him, but in this year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and two, the sum of all the excellenees that na- ture has transmitted to him, more than bal- ance the deficiencies that the too rapid growth and too ea.sy rise consequent upon his environment have given him. It is, however, a pleasure and a glory to be one with him for he is after all the best, the noblest, the truest type of man to us-an American. A? 2? ORATION. THE CONCERN OF EVERY MAN. FRANK H. EYMAN. On the 14th day of February, 1776, Thom- as Paine closed the introdfuction to his pamphlet, 'fflommon Sensef, with these words: alt is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feel- ing? This assertion, though somewhat sweeping in its character, aroused men to a higher comprehension of their duty, and if those were troublous times as compared with these of today, now, even as then, the wel- fare of his country should be the concern of every man. We have been accustomed to place upon the general government all re- sponsibility for its future welfare, but this responsibility lies not only with the govern- ment. but with each individual, and in no way can he better fulfill his obligations than by a careful attention to his duties as a citizen. The popular idea that a man's accountabil- ity ceases with the casting of his vote, has proved a hindrance to the best development of good citizenship. This is the greatest fal- lacy that has taken possession of our people and has done much to shift the burden from the shoulders o-f the individual, where it properly belongs. The government, it is true. has its own part to perform, but every true citizen should deem it his part to pro- mote not only in himself, but also in his fe-l- lowmen, a high order of citizenship. p The duty of a man to his fellow citizens begins at home. A good municipal citizen is always a go-od national citizen, for he who earnestly considers the small affairs of his city will be proportionately earnest in his consideration of the larger ones of the na- tion. One of the greatest detriments to good cit- izenship is the unjust accummulation and improper use of vast wealth. Anyone- who obtains great riches for himself by depriving his fellow citizens of the necessaries and com- forts of life, violates one of the first princi- ples o-f good citizenship. When a number of persons band themselves together for such purposes the law now attempts to regulate their movements, but the inadequacy of the law in such eases has been shown so often that if there is -to be any change for the better it must come through the effo-rts of the individaul himself . Great riches after their accummulation cannot be distributed without injustice. It would seem that the proper plan for the ap- portionment of wealth would be in the gath- ering. This idea has been taken up by the modern co-operative societies, which have formulated and in some instances success- fully carried out plans, the chief objects of which are the proper distribution of wealth, and the advancement of good citizenship. Then, too, a very important function which these societies perform, is to weaken the de- structive force of trusts. These by their avaricious business meth- ods cause much strife and ill feeling. And the individual being unable to compete with their combined money interests finds him- self out of harmony with his fellowmen, whereas, it should be the concern of every man to see that peace and good will exist at all times. This last assertion applies in small aiairs, as well as in large ones. A man's obligation to the locality in which he lives, should be no less than it is to the nation in which he lives. A due regard for the concerns of his neighbor will readily teach him that noth-