The daily Alaskan., 1905-10-09
At Commencement
LCrlglnaLl

7
 and were still young. At the banquet, held at q place where other class din ners were In progress at the same time, we exchanged experiences, and it came out that every man had been at least reasonably successful.
 When had had enough of the speak ing, in order to escape the heat and air laden with tobacco smoke l went out on to a balcony. The only seat was by a window opening Into a small room where sat four venerable men at din ner. l coulG not help Overhearlng what they said and soon became deeply interested. made out that they were graduates celebrating the tlftieth an niversary of their graduation. It was not long before I had all their names. They were Alcott. Bates, Oviatt and Wells. They were telling their experi- ences.
 "AIy life" said Alcott, "has been one succession of failures. AS you all re member, l was graduated one of the lowest men in our class
 That's because you wouldn't study. You might have been one of the first" said Bates.
 At any rate, stood low. I found a job at reporting and slaved along. try Ing to make a decent living and rise to something better. But whenever a man was wanted fOr a first class posi- ton some one else was chosen. l did some scrlbbllng and occasionally hit off something that pleased my friends, but not the public or the publishers, which brings the same result. In my old age I am still scribbllng and for small pay"
 The next mans experience was that of Bates. q was a good man at talk Ing in a crowd while in college and, as you remember, was the orator on class day. Soon after getting out Into the world l drIfted Into politics. Most of my life has been spent In congress. I was supposed to represent the people of my district. That was all bosh. l represented the political boss. There were certain pcrquIsItes to my office that enabled me to accumulate some money, but I was obliged to divide with the boss, and be finally wanted the lions share Then l announced that would retire I went out of of flee with fine send oT. should have been sent to-but I'm getting too con- fdentlal. wish, Tom Alcott. I had your record. It is at least clean"
 Come, doctor" said Wells, its your turn next"
 "My record" said the doctor, "is worse than Bates. On graduating l chose medicine for a profession. At that time we doctors knew very little, comparatively, and worked in the dark. I had streak of bad luck that would have consigned me to expulsion from the profession had it not been for a plausible, sympathetic way l had with me that especially caught the wo- men. By dint of oyercharging the rich I managed to make @ few fees every year that gave me a living, but it's only lately since some new discoveries in medicine have been made that I can say my fees have been honestly earned"
 Well, boys" said Wells, q suppose it's up to me to give you the worst failure of the lot. have no right to be here, for, as you know, was rustlcat- ed three times and shortly before grad uation was fired by the faculty for general Cussedness. If 1 had known these confessions would be in order l would have stayed away. However, mean as I am, I'm not mean enough to let you fellows do all the confess ing. I made up my mind to get rich, | and have got rich. And how have l done 1t? It would take q volume to tell all of the mean things I've done. I began by trying to get things for less than they were worth and to sell them for more than they were worth. l jewed everybody down to starvation prices for what I bought, irrespective of their necessities or the value Of their wares. By this means l rose steadily until organized my own company to do business and elected myself president I soon saw that if l didn't kill of competition, competition would kill me. The consequence Is that I've ruined everybody that has sought to succeed In my line except Q few who are now with me in the trust. That's my record, and if you can find a meaner one I'd like to know 1t.
 Soon after the confessions were all in the old men broke up from their last class meeting, and went back to the banquet room of my own class in a very thoughtful condition. Commence ment took place the next day, and among the oldest graduates l found q man who was in college with the men whose confessions had overheard, and asked him If he knew them.
 "Know them! Of course I do! I knew them in college, and know them now. Bates represented his district in congress for thirty years and was an honor to his country. Dr. Oyiatt stands very high in his profession and would have been rich had he not spent the most of his time attending the poor with no pay. Wells is one of the most