Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-01-15

of Georges greatness. He thinks he
can become great the same way.
Therefore the first time he does
something wrong he denies himself
the pleasure of lying aboutit, which
is one of the chief joys of childhood.
But it dosen't work-for if he isn't
licked for that particular ofense he
is soon hereafter trounced for what
someone else did and the illusion is
dispelled. 1 remember the first, last
and only time I ever tried to play
reward of merit" act on my parent.
had been promised drubbing and
in order to buy the old man off
split kindling wood one hot afternoon
unasked, while he sat up town and
swapped lies with the boys. When
he came home at night he sized up
the pile of kindling wood and then
seized me by the collar and with a
stick of kindling selected from that
he beat tattoo on the rear OF my
clothes that can almost feel it yet
MY ambition to become great was
hammered fiat and it never rose
again. But I did not reproach him.
When he let up went out and
gathered up that kindling wood and
sold it to neighbor for quarter.
I was cured Of playing the George
Washing ton act.
Some of my acquaintance at
school tried to become great by the
Ben Franklin route. Ben was a
great printer and great electrician
in his day but now it would take a
very large book with covers embel
lished in three colors, to tell what
Ben didn't know about electricity
and printing. The devil in country
print shop could spot Ben three balls
and then beat him out on knowledge
of the art preservative. And as to
electricity Ben didn't even know
what to do with it after it slid down
his kite string into his hands. He
didn't know for several minutes
whether to drop it or let someone
else hold it. But he was a great man.
It didn't take so much to make a
man great in those days. He didn't
have to compete with monopoly and
Carrie Nation and Grover Cleveland
and Mrs. Colt and a lot of other
bald faced realities that the young
men of today rub up against. But
when then the college boys read
Ben's autobiography they did not
stop to figure out the cause of his
greatness. They concluded that be-
cause Ben kept 'bach" in a garnet
and lived on oatmeal porridge and
afterward became great that this
was the secret Of his greatness.
They made the mistake of taking
the effect of greatness for the. cause
thereof. They thought that self
denial made him great and would
make them great SO they ate oat-
meal till their stomachs swelled out
like the digestive economy of hand
raised calf. They, cooked and ate
and slept and studied in one room
and emerged into ''sassiety'' with
potato peeling in their hair and oat-
meal under their finger nails and
they looked very studious and wise.
But they never became great-ex-
cept in odOr.
The story book and the Sunday
papers fill many boys head full
of ideas which his first brush with
the world dispels. He is lead to be-
live that the world is yearning to
pat the good little boy on the head
and give him boost. But the world
is doing very little yearning nova
days. He is lead to believe that a
good little boy always becomes a
great man and that all great men
were once good little boys. This is
wrong. Just look at Belva Lock
wood and DR.. Mary Walker and
Susan B. Anthony, for instance.
They were not good little boys and
yet they become great men. And
look at Mark Twain! He was a good
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