St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-16
EDUCATION A GREAT HELP
TO Y0UNG MEN WHO DESIRE THE
FULLEST SUCCESS.
DIR. SMITHS PRACTICALTALK.
Men Best Equipped Mentally Con-
test Life's Battles Most Sue
cessfuliy - Physical Develop
ment Good for Mental Achieve
ments - College Bred Men
Mountaineering Facts.

Mountaineering Facts.
DR.. Samuel G. Smith delivered his
second lecture at the Peoples church
last evening on 1.-THE Conditions of
Youth Which Affect Successful After
Life" A week ago DIR. Smith discussed
''The Material Conditions;;" last night
he spoke of 1.-The EDUCATIONAL Cqndi-
tions." Like its predecessor, this dis
course proved exceedingly interesting.
Following is synopsis of the lecture:
Acts VIII, %. ''Moses was instructed
i'll all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and
he was mighty in his words and works."
There can be no doubt that there is
lurking distrust of the schools so wide
spread as TO amount to a public doubt.
1t is believed by many practical men
that the knowledge gained, as we'll as
the methods employed, in our public
education do not lend themselves to
StalwaTt development. This may be
accounted for by the fact that any hu-
man institutions are open to criticism.
and are capable of Improvement.
Neither church aor state nor school
ought to be too impatient under the
thrustS received, for 1.-The wounds of a
friend are better than the kisses of au
enemy" He is doubtless our truest
friend who, by creating noble dis
content, is able the most sturdily to
provoke us to good works.
''Our fifty successful men are most
of them past middle life. The majority
of them have lived in St. Paul for many
years. We are therefore studying men
who have COPIED with the primitive con-
ditions Of our life; conditions which
we have seen are most favorable to force
of body and force of will. But an
analysis of our biographies shows that
twenty of these men are college gradu-
ates; eighteen more received an AGA
demic training, while only twelve have
reached my roll of honor with only a
common school education. 1t is a cur
rent opinion that the old-faShioned
school kept in the little red school
house was much more useful than the
modern systems, This does not seem to
be the testimony of my correspondents
las | have said, twelve out OF my
fifty had limited opportunities to attend
school. But nearly all of them speak OF
strenuous efforts to make up for their
early deficiency. A number of those
who graduated from college paid part of
all of their expenses by their own labor.
They worked in the summer, taught
school in the winter and so pulled
through. What is known as
THE FRESH WATER COLLEGE,
that is, the small country college, with
few teachers and less apparatus, has
some noble representatives. Our lead
ing men have in the majority of cases
been not only active in commercial en-
terprises, but also earnest students of
books. The same energy that they have
put into business they have also ap-
piled to study. One says, l have sup
ported myself from the time | was thir-
teen; L worked at the trade of printing;
was educated in a country district
school until that time; at sixteen went
for year to small college in New
York state, setting type mornings. ev-
eningS ana Saturdays, and teaching, one
term; taught myself French. German
and Spanish when under twenty, and
later Italian.
1t is a fact too significant to be, lost
Sight of, that in frontier community
like ours, where probably not more than
one man IN fifty Is a college man, yet
out Of my selected number, three
fourthS graduated either from the col
eye or the academy. This seems to
set high practical value on what many
people would call impractical learning.
The large majority OF my college men
were born country boys. They took
the stalwart vigor which they inherited
from the hardy frames of a rustic paren-
tage. they projected the early lessons
OF self denial into the further toll and
prlvatiOu of college training and then
they brought their inherited vigor and
acquired skill of intellect to the prob
lens of urban life aud diStanced their
competitors.
SOME VERY INTERESTING FACTS
have lately come under my notice with
reference to the relation of physical de-
veiOpment to mental power. 1t is not
generally known. nor will the statement
at first be believed. that intellectual
power can be measured by the develop
ment of the body, yet such seems to be
the case. Successful school children
are taller and have larger chests than
the unsuccessful ones. DR.. Townsend
Porter, of st. Louis, made an elaborate
investigation with reference to the
physical condition of boys and girls in
that city, and he finds that in height,
weight and size of the chest the
bright pupils are above the aver
age, and the dull pupils are below
the average. The record of scholar
ship was furnished by the teachers,
conducted by himself. They furnish
an unanswerable argument in favor of
athleticism within the bounds of such
physical laws as coordinate with the
best mental development.
The educational study of our fifty
men brings US face to face with one of
the great problems of our city youth.
They are reared in the midst of busi-
ness activities. If they have influen-
tial friends, they early desire to use
them to secure some business situation.
There is
A FINE HEROISM
in the immediate sacrifice made by any
young man upon whom is dependant
mother or sister, and who feels that at
the earliest moment he must plunge into
the thick of the fight to help win their
bread. All honor to the brave boy thus
driven forward. But for that young
man who has only himself to consider,
who has the capital Of sound body and
the unmeaSured capital of all his future
years, | plead tonight for the best edu-
cation that he can possibly command.
The years spent in earnest preparation
for his life work will be an Investment
which shall bear the most fabulous in
terest. ri.
The world is driving ahead toward
more intense times than we have ever
seen. The sharpness of competition,
more than ever. is crowding down both
the weak and the unskilled. The age is
calling for men of vigorous bodies and
trained minds. Men who have let the
spade grow rusty with which they once
dug Greek roots have used continuously
the intellectual muscle that digging pro-
duced. When you master any branch
of learning, by so much as the mastery
is complete you have gained a grip
upon yourself. You have learned your
own resources; you have come to self
confidence;you have risen to power. The
greatest name in the old testament is
that of Moses, who was instructed in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, and so was
mighty in his words and works. The
greatest name in the New Testament,
after that of his master, was not Peter,
James. nor John, who were themselves
far better taught than is generally IN
darStOOd hnt the OrnatQst nopoa xuoc tho