The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-11-06
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

s%E :. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
SKovadays Education, Stands at tho Head
OF All Required Gifts.
In olden times education was not val
ued as it is now. It, was realized that
An educated man was in some sense SUI
perior to ignorant people. but he was re-
garded as cffcminato for wasting his
time in poring over mpsty parchments
apd missals, and otherwise looked upon
papt*y much as people nowadays re-
81 AIhan trying to discover perpetual
/ motion. ..
Nowadays, says Golden Days, educa-,
tion has been exaltcd to its proper place,
at tho head of all acquired gifts. 49,.
An uneducated adult is an object of
pity. and frequently Of contempt, and
the very first step boy, makes toward
future greatness is to acquire an eduoa-
ton. .... ,
Ho must be a stupid boy, Indeed, who
does not value an education and realize
that ho can not become great without it.
are illiterate, but these arc. accidents Of
-8SzbeBNADO18O3
faft to them, may have discovered .
mine, or may have boarded up money
like miser. But: these. arc exceptions
tho rule is that education is the only,
ladder to fame.
But then arises tho qucstion-what
constitutes an education? Tho Wabash
railway has issued positive order that
NO boy shall be employed in any Of its
shops or other departments, for tho
purpose of learning any trade or skilled
work, unless ho brings certificate
from his instructors stating that he has
completed his studies up to the second
class Of the grammar school. This would
include a knowledge of arithmetic up
to mensuration. reading, writing.
spelling, elementary geography and
grammar, somo history, etymology and
natural history, and may be taken as
= fair standard of common-school edu-
cation.
- If boy has the means and can afford
tho time, he should not stop hero. lie
should 90 through tho high school and
gineering--civil, mining or electrical
chemistry, physics, or any one or more
OF tho numerous useful branches now
open to bright, energetic boys. But il
he must stop at common-school educa-
tion, or even if he goes through college,
he must not step learning if no wishes
to become great
Textbooks do not contain all the in
formation with which boys should ac-
quaint themselves. They are but tho
foundation stones of knowledge. A boy
should study current events, tho history
OF tho world which is always happening.
Here is where books, magazines and
newspapers have their greatest value.
lie must read books of travel if he
would know about tho geography Of tho
world; as, for instance, Stanlcy's de-
scription of Africa in the light of re-
cent discovery.
:. Almost every day tho bright boy may
read of some now discovery in science,
history, botany or chemistry, and add to
his education by just that much. The
knowledge thus acquired is always q
source of pleasure and frequently of
profit: And It is pecu]iarity Of learn
ing that tho moro you study tho castor
it is to study.
Tho man who has learned two Ian
guagcs can moro easily learn third;
ono study acts as Il prop to another, and
50 it is in every branch. Tho civil On
ginecr could easily master electrical en-
gineering, and tho boy who roads his
tory understandingly imbibes geography
with scarcely an effort.
In tho case above quoted tho railway
company has found that boys who have
completed tho English branches OF
study learn skilled work moro" easily
than those who have not.
The reason is quito apparent. Skilled
! work requires tho exercise of the reason
! ing powers; tho worker must under
stand tho why and wherefore of his
work; he is not mere machine set 60
ing. A boy with an education will
think while he works; he will study
and contrivo tho very best way of doing
any thing; his brain has been drilled to
reason and it docs reason.
Such boy is twice as valuable to his
employer as an unthinking, ignorant
boy, however obedicnt and willing he
may be, and tho employer is bound to
| appreciate his services at their proper
worth. Such boy is bound to rise out
of the everyday rut; he will master his
trade in half tho time an ignorant lad
would consume.
These are prizes worth striving for,
and they arc within tho reach of any
boy of ordinary ability who will study
with diligence after he leaves school.
If he doesn't bother with learning
any thing now," as some boys are fond
of boasting, tho chances are that be
will stand all his life at tho foot of the
ladder; if ho wishes to climb he must
study, and before he has grown out OF
young manhood he will be glad to admit
that ''knowledge is power"