The Monitor-register., 1896-09-18

course OF instruction in our public schools.
Our public school system is the cradle
of American patriotism. We want our
youth to become citizens of the United
States of America, and there is no other
place wherein that spirit is SO we'll fos.
tered as it is in our public schools. Our
best patriots, now are the men and
women who impart to the rising genera
tion the true spirit of our Revolutionary
f%orefathers.
If we were all endowed with the gift
of genius we should not be so apt to make
the mistake of choosing the wrong voca,
ton. The majority of us are not so
endowed, and for the average intellect to
make a mistake in the beginning is a
grave error. To select ~judiciously, and
h hold fast, means success to the youth
not afraid of hard work. Continued
effort is the important element in every
successful PERSONS career.
A young girl at the age of sixteen
started life as a teacher. Her scholar
ship was poor. She was not properly
qualified as an instructor. The time, the
place and the people demanded no better
The building in which she taught this
first school was an old log schoolhouse,
Out of a salary of $50 a month she must
pay her board. This was an opportunity.
Always conscientious, she did the best
that she could, and success crowned hel
efforts. The next five years were passed
in teaching and attending school; sup.
porting and educating herself. At the END
of this'period she had completed the third
year at high school but not finished the
courseof study, which was f%ouryears. Now
her scholarship enabled her to hold a
first-grade teachers certificate. A year
later her salary was $40 a month, and
she was teaching in a graded school
Sad to relate, discomfort had been creep
ing upon her, not so much with her work
as with her condition. She fully realized
that a course of study at some higher
institution of learning was necessary to
place her in the front ranks of her pro
fession. The Impotence of youth and
ADVICE caused this young to make
a mistake.
We may imagine we possess much wis
dom at twenty-five, but at thirty we know
better. She was advised to study medi-
cine. The advice was meant kindly and
for the best; but its being from an enthu-
siast may account for the lack of judg-
ment on the part of the adviser. He was
a physician, forty years of age. His
acquaintance with the family was not of
long standing; had it been he must have
discovered tendencies pointing elsewhere.
The medical profession is a noble work,
a grand life for those adapted to it. No
other calling demands so much of the
individual, so much of nobility, SO much
of character. At the same time it is one
of the most perfect cloaks for the unscru.
pulouS man or m to assume and
flourish under. 1t is a life that has great
fascination for the uninitiated; and this
young woman, knowing absolutely
nothing about it, thought she would like
to be a "doctor."
From where was the money TO come
for the three years at college? She had
to carr it. To do this she took a step dis
tasteful to her, but necessary to a physi-
clan. She entered a school for nurses so
as to place herself in a position to get
the needed funds in the shortest time
possible. While there she discovered
that she had mistaken her calling, and
wisely gave up the idea Of becoming a
physician. She, however, continued
nursing uatil compelled by ill-health to
give it up. So, in her thirtieth year, we
leave her, not exactly a failure, but far
from a success. She is still young; but
life is too short and there is too much in
it to trife with any of the callings.
In contrast to the above, a youth,
whose object in life was to become a ply
sician, began teaching when he was
seventeen years of age. He had a little
money, but not enough for the needed
course of instruction. By working iu the
harvest field and teaching, he managed
to earn sufficient, with what he had, to
graduate at one of our Western universi-
ties, Their enter a medical college, where
he spent four years graduating with
honors. He then entered a large hospi-
tai, where he served eighteen months as
inferno. Now he is in Europe, preparing
to enter the first ranks of his chosen pro-
fession. What this young man, not yet
thirty, has done, was accomplished by
hard work. In the first place, he had a
definite object; he kept it in view, max
ing everything else serve to aid him to
accomplish his purpose. Soon his long
years of patient toiling will bear fruit,
mere than repaying him for sacrificing
the ordinary pleasures of youth.
What about his wild oats? He never
sowed them, nor found any pleasure in
frivolous persons society. Our best men
never find time for wild oats; and the
youth who has the mistaken idea that
such grain is needed to round out man
hood, will be likely to land somewhere in
the gutter.
Another youth was educated until he
was twenty ia a boys college located in
the East. He then entered a law school,
took his degree, was taken into a promi-
nent law off ce to finish his studies and
prepare for the bar. Prior to this time
be had never known what it meant to
earn a ce nt-everything had been given
to him. He was, however, studious,
bright and an upright youth, but very
sensitive. This is not a fault unless it
stunts the individuality of the youth. In
this case it kept the boy q youth too long.
The father, not satisfied with his sons
induced him to give up his