Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-05-20

one of the educational fetiches or our
college life. Such, on n broader scale,
are the fetiches in reference to the ed
ucatlon Of the average young man or
woman Of today.
Let us take the average young man
on commencement day. College or
school days are over. The foundations
of the educational towers have been
laid. young man, what can you DOR
asks the hard headed world. Are you
an expert In any one line? Are you a
capable mining engineer? Are you
first class advertising agent? Can you
sell goods? Are you an authority as
real estate man? What can you DOR
Nothing" says the young man. Il
am willing to do anything, but do not
know n trade. have not become pro-
ficient in any one line of work. But
am willing to do what am told to do.
"That is not enough. To be willing Is
not necessarily to be capable. what
can you dof"
The wheel of Fortune.
The wheel of fortune turns. The
daughters brought up in luxury, nave
10 90 out and make living. Can you
cook? Are you an expert stenogra-
pher? Have you papers when SIGNIFY
that YOU are we'll trained nurse or
schoolteacher or dresSmakerT Are
YOU enough Of an authority on French
TO become Il translator, or are you
proofreader, master hand as mu-
sician or capable artist2 The ques-
tions which face you, o woman, are
these: what can you do thoroughly ana
well? On what subject can you speak
as an AL authority" Half built towers
are uninhabitable houses. Hair Duilt
ships are absolutely useless to brave
the tornadoes of the Atlantic ocean.
What can you do? What can you DO!
What one thing can you do as well as
IL not better than any one elsef
But the half built educational Tow
ers are not to be condemned nearly as
much as the deserted, half built enter
prises of life which we see everywhere
around us. 1t was only here and there
that a man or woman In the past had
an opportunity to get a complete edu-
cation. The higher schools Of our IA
theirs and mothers were few and far
between. Besides that, even II there
were fine schools In the past all chill
dren were not able to go to them. Per-
hans YOU were like my grandfather.
| He was the oldest of large family or
| children. He had to stay at home ana
help work the farm that the younger
members of the family might nave
enough bread to eat and enough cloth
ing to wear. Thus the only education
YOU received outside Of the three ks
was out of the university OF Hard
Knocks" But In spite of this handicap
my friend, you have a good mind' a
good body and you have had a good
many of the essential capabilities OF
success. Now, why have you been
such n failure? Why is your life In It's
uselessness to be likened unto that hall
huIlt tower which PLATE, the governor
erected and toward which Christ point
ed when he spoke the words OF my
text? l will tell the reason. You wen'
n work and worked hard. You de
yeloped yourself along one line. You
laid your foundations; you partly com
pleted your walls, but just when you
were about to complete your work ano
win success you deserted the line OF
work YOU were following and went tC
dig in some other field to build another
kind OF tower.
Did Not stick to II.
Is not this emphatically true witt
you In business? What are you doing
today? "Oh," you answer, Il am In th'
mining business. Some of my friehu'
and myself have a dozen claims up II
the new gold fields. am bound soon Z
he rich. There is no doubt about IL
We are within quarter of mile o.
one mine where they have taken ou
81 600. 900 in one year. We are on th'
same vein or line of ore. We are boun'
to get rich. VIII you take some stocl
In our mine? You can get rich TOO.
No. | thank you. In the first place.
have no money to invest; In the sec
ond II had I would not invest l
in your mine. You are almost certain
TO make O failure out Of 1t. If there !
no gold there, then, of course, you can
not get "blood out Of a turnip." l
there is any gold there you Will let g
of It before you develop that min
nroperly. Some one else will get tn
profits. How do l know? Why, tina
has been your record for twenty-hv
years In the last quarter OF centur
YOU have dabbled in at least ten dinel
ent businesses, at any one Of which 20
could have made success If you ma
only stuck to 1t. For Ave years 20
: worked q ranch or farm. After thos
five years you said: There is no nee
l of me burying my talents here. mus
l get out into some other business wher
t I can make some money" You got ou
g How Is 1t with the man who bougf
r your place? He has made success o
I YOUR farm because he put his brain
0 into 1t and developed 1t and ran
a along the lines 1t could pay. After 20
: left the farm you went into the rel
r estate business. Then what was IL
y matterf ."Oh,' you say, there was I
I money In the real estate business.
o got out Of that very SOON"
C Yes, you speak the truth. There WI
o no money in the real estate busine'
:. for you. You are sure of making
failure at everything. But there WI
a money and there is money In the re
b estate business for the man who too
e your offices. he had no more capit
to start with than you had, but l
= hung on until at last the financial TIC
= turned his way. Today he Is one OF q
wealthy men of this city. Then yC
= failed as a life insurance agent. Ne
= = you failed as a book publisher. The
!, YOU failed as q commercial trayele