The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1909-08-05
What Are We Here Fort

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What Are We Here Fort
Dean J. H. Shepperd, N. D. A. C..
address before traction engineering
short course term closing exercises
July 2, 1908.
The question what are we here for
once made the 1uestioner notorious.
I believe we can ask ourselves 10
better question this afternoon and
apply i: to this Will >Self-preserva.
ton Is said to he the first law of
life. han. 9 our frs: business. But
you are not poor H,en, you have q
choice of what you will do today, to-
morrow, next week, next year, dur
ing the next ten year period, in fact,
what you will do during your life,
which the factory hand. the clerk,
and the bookkeeper frequently do
not have: Hard LUCK must logged
the trail of the most shiftless Of
you for a long time, TO make you
come to want. -.You-de not, have to
work every hour Of your time to get
enough money to eat; making liv-
ing then Is not your sole problem.
Two things place you in this splen-
did Independent position. First, op-
portunity-you are in rich devel-
oping new country, where business
are numerous and
where land prices are not too high
for young men without a fortune, to
secure enough of it to keep a fam
lily in comfortable circumstances and
supply them with many Of the lux
uries of life. Second, you have con-
siderable knowledge and skill. Dur
ing August, September and October,
your time will be worth twice that
of an able bodied man of your own
type, who does not have the cunning
which you have in your right hand.
What are you here for? To choose
what you will do with your life.
You can make livlng-you do not
worry over that-you can choose
your course in life. -
You can enjoy travel to some ex-
tent, you can attend fairs and ex-
positions and grow familiar with
new types of live stock, machinery,
art, or music If you
are gifted or inclined that way. You
can get the satisfaction and educa-
ton which comes from travel if you
set your minds to it. You can be
mechanic, you can be farmer,
you can be a grain merchant. you
can be dealer in machinery,
you can be a farmer manager, you
can be an expert or professional man
in one of these lines, if you set your
mind to it and prepare yourself thoro-
ly for such work.
What are you at the A. c. for?
presume most of you would answer
to get the theoretical phases of en-
CINE operation and their applications.
You want to understand an engine.
Some of you would say to review as
we'll as add to your knowledge of
steam and gas engines. You are in
The line of the new education, that is,
education applied to practical things.
You have chosen to come to an institu-
lion where applied useable education
Is the rule. You have learned, trust,
20 thresh grain as rapidly and as &C.
as it can be done. You
have probably learned how to deter
nine whether a boiler is safe or not.
You can rivet flues-you can move
and set in the minimum length of
:ime-you understand the sleeves, ad-
LISTING the wind, setting the con-
caves. In fact, you have had
chance to understand the traction en-
CINE and separator.
knowledge is lightly carried, If
you do not useit. 1t will not handi-
cap you in any other line of work.
The best man of your entire class
will not be the poorer teamster be-
cause he knows how to run an en-
CINE and care for separator. He
will be just as good feeder, train
er or Judge Of horses as he would be
if he knew nothing about engines
and threshers in fact, better, for he
knows how to study. Most of you are
young enough that you could take
an education. When a man grows
beyond the age of thirty-five, unless
he has constantly been studying, it is
hard for him to do much with books.
There is great satisfaction in getting
an education, that g in learning
things.
The words science and scientific
confuse people, bother
them. When you 60 home you will
be asked if you are now a scientific