The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-12-07


ing phrases about perseverance and
courage, with very little concerning
the snags and the pitfalls. and moth
Ing at all tO say of the balm TO use
for stumped purposes and broken
limbs of resolution.
| am young, and | awake carly rc-
peating TO myself again and again:
II will make this day of great
things" And on that. 81 wilr' stop
the trivial buttonlng of my waist 10
crush my hand in determination: my
chin uncOnsclouSly take on n John J..
Sullivan angle, ana my mouth goes
rigid. Let him oppose who darcsl
Then 20 on buttoning my waist and
The button rolls of just the same. TAX
ing with it large lump of my deter
mination. And all day long buttons
keep rolling Off. Qiguratiycly, | has
ten TO add until by night. perhaps.
there is not single one left. and my
determination, detached, has slipped
off.
| 20 out alone at twilight for n
thoughtful walk Success germs are
literally swnrmlng all over me. I say
TO myself softly, Il will ssccccd.
Others have so will l." Again the
hand clinchcs ana something within
me swclls. 81 will!' | say again to
the sunset, and then to some fancicd
obstacle, You shall not daunt met" in
such tone that any but the rudest
obstacle would surely scuttle scared
away.
Ny idea OF success Is rather dim.
but it puffs me mp and makes me feel
airy and apart from the world. The
horizon of my dreams looks rose
colorcd and far away-lt is a great
big, world-encompasSing dream that
take with me on my twilight walk
read sketch after sketch of lives of
great men In the magazines, in the
papers, everywhere. On all sides
meet with these little biographies of
success. They stir me and stimulate
me. So | say, "rhey did; will. |
will work hard as they worked hard,
and |, too. will succeed. | will per-
severe without ceaslng; will make
sacrifices to my work, worship always
Mt its shrine; and then will do things
that shall make the world stop in its
course and wonder"
One thing ranklcs n little. ALWAYS
in the biographies there were pretty
tales of the hero's determination.
Noverty bound though his youth was,
!" go to college; and just as sure as
dis path was Uttered with difficulties.
so sure was he to trample them down
and pass on trlumphantly to the open
doors OF the college. Now, /, in my
very young days, hugged to myself n
dream OF college life. 1t pillowed me
to sleep many night. Not that there
seemed the slightest probability of its
fulfillment, indeed. there was every
reason to suppose 1t could not possibly
come to pass, but what mattered that
% my dream? Indeed. would dream
le dream. all pumped up with pro-
babilityO So I cherished it none the
less and felt perfectly certain that
jpuld not possibly be cheated of my
rightful heritage. saw pleading
Jhilanthropists trooping forward to
help in such a good cause. But the
Say of graduation came to hand and
/e expected phllanthropists had for
gotten their cue and failed to appear
upon the stage of my we'll ordered
dreams. The stupid problem OF work
presented itself to me with the same
harshness that 1t would to any ordi-
nary non-heroine being. 1t was my
unmistakable part to pitch in and help
the family finances-it might sound
well in books and biographies, but in
real life it was prosalc, deadly dull
and inevitable.
OF course, l might have chucked
duty, borrowed money Of some
abundantly provided friend and gone
on to college. leaving the family to
shoe the wolf away without my help.
And / admit that If had been truly
great / could have managed to get my
college education and still have kept
the family going with the proceeds of
chocolate fudge or Welsh rareblt con-
coctcd at odd hours for classmates.
But my greatness was not that great,
Nnu Suiptu uOWH with II HuTu SWui-
low my college dream and delved into
work-some small newspaper position,
in which l chose to see large possi-
bilities. My eyes are of the kind that
naturally adjust themselves to magni-
flying glasses.
And SO my career began. 1t was
hard. cruelty hard. with snags and
tumbles unnumbered during that first
year. But it could be only a little
while. I though, before some brilliant
future would open up to me. l worked
hard so hard that sometimes there
came tears of bitterness that blurred
The magnlfying glasses for moment
1t was work SO dstasteful, so unlike
my dreams had pictured. But. ther
my thoughts reverted to the blogra
phles. All great people had been SC
bampered. took comfort. resorted t9