Evening journal., 1902-06-07
BillParSOn'S 'SCOlumn
Published Now and Then.
Dorothea Gets Her Diploma

I.
Few homes will be without their
decoration of fancy-lettered diplomas,
written in chaste Latin, which all will
pretend TO understand, but which few
will attempt to translate lest they pro-
fame the name of a language long since
dead.
The motto of God bless our home, 4"
the product OF the skill and learning Of
another generation has been taken
down, and only when we spend a night
IN the spare-room may it be seen.
Dorothea has graduated and that
fact is attested by the imposing docu-
ment which now hangs on the wall be-
tween the crayon portraits of her plain
mother, and yet palmer father. A
number OF learned professors. who are
regarded with awe, save in their own
households, have set their names
there; there is a yellow seal and half
a yard of ribbon, therefore nobody will
dare to question its legitimacy.
IL must not be understood that
Dorothea has encompassed the sum Of
human knowledge. Such would not be
a fair inference, but it lis clearly evil
dent that she knows more than her
parents, her brothers and sisters. and
than her friends who are diplomaless.
Nom and Pop" now changed to
father and mother, have only reflect
ed glory but they are content For
this day of consummation they have
been laboring for years. 1t has cost
|self-denial. but, OH, what JOY there
was in il. Dorothea was to be edu-
Gated, and to have a diploma in the
end.
Even the brothers and sisters have
had to suffer. but under the exterior
protest was a submission that would
have made a regulation martyr turn
green with envy. They have submit
ted to having their speech corrected
and no longer indulge in such intuitive
expressions as 1T is me-" and you
don't know"
Now, the probem of Dorothea's fu-
ture becomes a crushing load that these
self-sacriiicing parents have to bear.
She has been educated outofone sphere
into another For generations the
women of her race have drudged in the
household, and in the desert of their
lives there has been only an occasional
oasis of a picnic or a churcr festival.
They knew how to cook and sew, and
had mastered mathematics to keep the
grocer's account straight. but that was
all. The men had lived to demonstrate
the sweat of the brow theory, and
have been released from toll only by
fatal case of pneumonia or q gem
eral breakdown.
But this proud scion, grated on the
old stock has been nurtured
TO something higher and bet
ter She has sphere, although its
boundaries are somewhat vague in the
minds OF those stupid parents. But
III has dawned on them that their
days of servitude and self-abnegation
are not yet over; as they have toiled to
set up an idol, they must toll to main
tain it.
For them the whole social fabric has
been broken up. The sweet little gro
GERS child around the corner who used
TO be her companion in the doll-age,
now gets a stiff nod at best And the
bakers boy who in a former period,
made moon-eyes at her as she passed,
and was rewarded by a SHY glance, no
longer receives even a look Of recogni-
ton.
She talks now Of "the best people, 50
of cultured persons" and has lean
ingH towards BOhemians who represent
her idea of art. 1t must be confessed
that DOrothea's aunts, uncles and cou-
sins regard her as unsufferable, but
relatives. unless they are near, are al
ways unjust
But what are her ideals of life? Per
haps we may gather an idea from that
graduation essay which She read in a
well-modulated voice before THAT vast
audience. who admire femininity in
fluffy garments with a diploma in
hand. Here is a paragraph;
To-day we launch the tiny barQues
which we have been so long building
and which we have fashioned with un.
limited pains, upon the ocean Of life
Before us stretches the vista OF the un-
known, and our fragile craft will plow
the sullen waters that have borne many
a white winged feet before us"
But let us embark with hearts in
spired with courage, and a purpose tC
reach the harbor of success, for Oul
pilot is knowledge, and our compass il
Truth. We must congratulate our
selves, dear fellow pupils-pupils M
Longer, but actors in the great drami
lof life-that we are living IN an al
vanced age. We have been freed from
the thraldom of the superstition ant
prejudice of the by-gone centuries, AM
Ihave been allowed to drink deep at tn
fountains of knowledge, and are re
freshed for the noble battle of life
@ @ O
All this Dorothea utters, and NOR
of the same tenor; and we may gathe
from the mass of verbiage which con
ceals the poverty OF ideas, that sh
fondly imagines that her education
complete, and that She is set apart fo
higher things than the ordinary run {
r imortals She expects some few din
culties, of course, but these are to .
met and conquered as matter of eXel
= else and pastime. just as she woul
play tennis with one who was h'
( match.
L And for her to be disillusioned woul
be crime, for she has acquired a stol
n lOf confidence and courage on whiC
i she will be compelled to draw mar
o times ere 'iher barque reaches the IA
! lther stand" 1t would be cruel to te