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

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rfection ite pur- on each l which 2 strict io sym- t neces- storate. ar light io abso- tagnant ,li drops of this .lone in suggest- of 'his .f'05. AND ogether on the Saman- :rsation Josiah seemed what to yellow hiskers, deeply. , good- ord for ogether ly, with knot at is, fidg- Le. AH Nas not 1 as to Josiah It was THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 21 not his nature to be sudden. He looked up at Samantha and said, with a slow drawl: aSay, Simantliy, we've been married just thirty-two years to-day? Right ye air, J osiah, right ye air, and wejve-lived right here on this old farm ever since, and we ive been right happy, too. C4That is right, we have, Simanthy 3 but donft you think it 's about time we ire going on a wedding-trip? You know we-D GA wedding-trip! the very idee! To go away an' leave this farm to go to rack an' ruin an, have our children a-running wild without no mother-why, Josiah Hodunk, who is gone an' put such a notion in yer head ?', uNow, Simanthy, there ain't no use in yer flaring up like thet. We 've got plenty of money and that we didn't have when we got married, ani I think it is about time wejre a-goin, somewhere, so let's pack our duds an' go up to New York fer a couple of weeks? They had to argue about so long, o-f course, before they came to- a conclusion 5 then Saman- tha, who was longing to go but thought it her duty to stay home, said, after thinking a short time: Well, Josiah, since ye hev set yer mind on going, I 'spect I 'll hev to go 'long with ye to take ca.re of ye. There is no telling what you 'd do when ye get up there with that crowd? 'fNow, S'manthy, yer talkin' sense, now-'F f'Well, ye needn't git so 'lated over it that ye hev to tangle my yarn all upfi C'Say, Simanthy, I reckon ye hain't never been out of this little vill-D Why, Josiah Hodunk, hainit ye got no memory? Didnit I go up to J akersville thir- teen years ago, an, that 's eighteen miles from hercfi So ye did, I'd ,most forgotten about it, but ye know it ainit a big place-7' Not a big place? Why, Josiah, it is got three grocery stores? Samantha leaned back satisfied. HWcll, S'manthy, ye hainit never been to New York, ani I hey twice. Ye know the first. time I went I got kind of broke in ter the ter- rible crowds always in the streets. The next time, ye remember, I took Uncle Hiram with me. He ain't never been there before? Here Josiah chuckled softly to himself and began to stroke his whiskers meditatively. When we got down town on the main streets .the usual crowd was there chasing back and for'ards, and Uncle Hiram, he walked on just bewildered for awhile. He ainit never seen such crowds before 3 but suddenly he gasped for breath -Josiah stopped again to chuckle more a.udibly this time-athen he just sort of plant- ed himself and said: :Ye look here, Josiah Hodunk, I may be a big fool, but I hain't a-goin, to take a nuther step till this procession gits byfi' Here Josiah let out two or three guffaws and went out to tell Bill and Maria, the head farm-hands, about the coming trip. Just one week later Samantha a.nd Josiah found themselves on a train going at full speed. Samantha was quite nervous and did not at- tempt to hide it, but Josiah sat beside her with the air of a man who owned the whole railroad. He had been to New York twice. c'Say, Josiah, see tha.t ,ere cloud yonder? That looks like rain. I wonder if Maria will remember to shut the chickens up in the north coop, the other one is leaky, and I 'm sure Bill 's goin? to forget to 'give that medicine to the sick cow, and, oh-'P N ow, Simantha, whatis the use in a-wor- riing over things that can't be helped now, if- ' Josiah Hodunk, hev you gone an' lost my sky blue umbrellar that I've had ever since Mary Susan died ? I Well, S'manthy, I put it here in the cor- ner of this here seat, but I don't- Oh, here it is I said Josiah, with a sigh of relief. It7s slipped under the seat-I 'll fish her out , come on, come on-Gosh I here she is. NI hope Maria wonit put Sammy's best shoes on every day. I hev told her not to, but she 's- Oh, dear! where's my campfire bot- tle? Josiah, hev ye gone an' lost that? That bottle 's been in our family over fifty years. After some time Josiah found it and all

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20 THEWESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. transcendentalism of the Orient. He presents always in his best essays an unique combination of the true and his individual version. That characteristic for which Emerson has been most severely criticised is his unsympa- thetic style, which grew directly out of one of the fundamental principles of his ethics-the belief that the present thought should always be expressed without ,regard for consistency or for consequences. Another point of criticism is his 'habit of co-mplacently waiving aside the cherished tenets of his fathers for those which he considered more important. He also culti- vated a petulant irreverence. But in all these he is natural, direct, and original. He seeks for no 'effects and, although his terse, trenehant sentences startle and electrify, the easy flow of his eloquence composes and satisfies. In- some respects Emerson is among the greatest of American poets, but as a philoso- pher he is at his best. A readingof his Rep- resentative Men will give a very clear under- standing of one phase of his philosophy. In it he coneeives. great men as the inspired instru- ments through which great ideas are expressed rather than as the originators of such ideas. The world is made up of the great Over So-ul, of which each human soul is a part 5 but in great men is centered a larger share, by which virtue they are able to comprehend and explain phenomena which might remain unheeded by the ordinary mind. He thinks the example of their lives rather than their actual deeds affects the tide of events. This book is characteristic 5 but in America it is not generally' conceded the best, although it won him fame in Europe. The American likes him best asthe clear expounder of the good and beautiful, as the candid judge, condemning all that is weak and foolish, praising all that is noble and pure, always founding his decisions on a clear under- standing of the principles that underlie condi- tions, and, although often harshly iconoclastic, he is at all times kindly disposed. As a theologian he found sympathy for the greater part of his life with the Unitarians. His ethics and his relieion he mingled verv . D C - closelv. He believed in the possible perfection of every man as he believed in the absolute pur- ity of Jesus, and held it incumbent upon each to seek to attain that development of soul which the Nazarene had attained. For the strict fo-rms of the Christian Church he had no sym- pathy, for which reason he had found it neces- sary to resign his Congregational pastorate. Relying upon the sufficiency of the inner light to direct proper actions, he recognized no abso- lute external authority. ' r When Emerson tried to purify the stagnant waters of Western thought by the crystal drops of Eastern mysticism, he failed 5 but out of this failure have come many benefits, not alone in his actual productions, but, too, in the suggest- iveness of his work and the contagion of his spirit. l A Alberta Cooke, 05. - THE BEGINNING OF SAMANTHA AND JOSIAH'S WEDDING TRIP. Samantha and Josiah were sitting together one evening after all the work was done on the farm, and they seemed unsually quiet. Saman- tha had been trying to carry on a 'conversation for seine time, but without success, as Josiah seemed lost in thought. I Josiah was a tall, lanky man, who seemed all arms and legs and who didnjt know' what to do with them. He had a thin crop of yellow hair and a sc-rawny bunch of sandy whiskers, which he a.lways stroked when thinking deeply. He was one of those happy-go-lucky, good- natured men who always have a good word for everyone and everything. Samantha, on the other hand, was altogether different. She was short, fat, and dumpy, with her dark hair drawn in a tight little knot at the back of her head. She was a nervous, fidg- ety little woman, who loved a good time. An occasional little spat with her husband was not distasteful to her, and it is a question as to who usually came out ahead. After thinking deeply for some time, Josiah seemed to have arrived at a conclusion. It was

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22 THEAWESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. wlcnt well until after they' had gone to bed in tliesleeping-car. Samantha wanted the win- dow open and Josiah wanted it shut. Saman- tha 'knew she would sutfocate if it was not opened, and Josiah knew lic would freeze to death if it was. -' N ow, Josiah, there hain't no use in talk- ing 5 it 's got to be opened. I canpt get my breathf' ' . J A Very well, ,hev yer own way, as usual. When ye bury me, you ,ll know it was just yer silly notions that sent me to my grave? The window was opened. -6'We-ll, that is something like it, how lovely that air islf' Samantha breathed a sigh of relief. ' Achoo lt' sneezed Josiah. 'CGoshl how cold it sis. It 's more expensive-achoo!-to bring a dead corpse back on the train than when it is alive-achool! ' . After all this talk they awoke next morning to behold to their surprise that the window was still shut, they had only opened the inner one. J osia.h looked' at Samantha and Samantha looked at Josiah, who drawled: Wall, S'manthy, I reckon we're a couple of old fools? About an hour later Samantha and Josiah started for the dining-car. Josiah was sure he knew the direction, so he led the Way through two cars, and when 'the third one was not the one they were in search of, Samantha sug- gested that he was going wrong. ' N ow, S'manthy, how could I go wrong- all you have to do is to follow yer nose? Then in this case I reckon yer nose is on the wrong side of yer head. I im sure the car is at the other end of the train-anyway, I ,rn going to ask. But, Simanthy, I saw--U began Josiah. 2ZSay, Mister, can you tell me the way to the eating-car C? asked Samantha. . 9'Why, yes, it 's four cars that way, said the stranger, pointing in the direction Saman- tha had wished to- go. Now see, Josiah,'J said Samantha, with a.n 'CI told you so nod of her head. Well, licre we are, said Josiah, as they entered lthe dining-car, 'fthat little walk just give us an appetite fer breakfast. You don't need to walk to iind yours,f' said Samantha, grimlyi I donit ever remember a time when ye had to hunt fer itf' Samantha ended her order by saying to the waiter: And bring me a biled pertater with- out the 'a la' on it. I 'im used to eatin, mine without. ' They .ordered a good breakfast, but when the bill came around, Samantha was scandalized. HA dollar an' a ha'f fer that little grub, she said, Nnever Ifd be fool enough ter pay thirty-five cents fer'a biled pertaterfv They went back to their car, and in a short time Samantha began to get nervous. C'AinJt we ,most to New York, Josiah P Yes, said Josiah, consulting his time- card, in about an hour. Air ye tired 'Pi' 4'Well, I'd sort of like to git my feet on firm ground fer awhile. They sat silent for seine time, then the brakeman came through the car, calling N ew York. Samantha and Josiah put on their things and got their grips down. Well, said Samantha, why don't they stop and let- us off 195' Q They will when we get to New York. 'fHe told us ten minutes ago that this was New York? Just then the porter came through the car and picked up their grips and started on. Say, look here, darkey, where air ye goin' with our things. We may be from the country, but ye canlt take our things right out from under our noses like thatj' Samantha said. f'Why, Sjmanthy, he 's just goin' ter take them out so we wontt have to carry fem. M ' Very well, let him go then, Josiah, but if that fellar steals 'em, donit ye blame me fer it, and remember that I warned ye. I never did trust them niggers anyhow. The train began to slow down, and when it stopped they got off. Samantha had never