East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-05-27


you came? All, but one glance and in
retrospect you again recall how what
seems to be so long, long ago, when
you stood. hands clasped and hearts
filled with doubt, gazing upward, up
ward, ever upward along the narrow,
crooked stony path and way out and
over and up and beyond and almost
hidden behind the last rocky turn,
you could see, written in figures and
letters oh, so small, the words, "Grad-
uating Glass 1870" So small, yes
so small may be some one must point
them out to you maybe once, maybe
several times before you could dis
Germ their full import. 1 can almost
hear your words again as you stand
at the foot of that winding twisted
pathway. hesitating, discussing the
vicisstudes of what then seemed to
you so great an undertaking. / can
again hear Edith say, "Oh, it seems
too far; the road Is so long" and
Leila is saying, There are so many
bad places to get over" and Maud:
See, the cliffs block the path" and
Annie Is saying 'The bouiders. the
rocks and the brambles;" and Edna,
-Four years! Will we ever, ever get
up there?" and Sadie closes the dis
discussion by reaching out helping
hand and a CHEEKY Come on" And
then began the days and days and
long days of work, but always and
each day, and just as the sun seemed
almost to stop in its course, you
would look up and out and there in
the west the Turing letters still shone
out; and don't you remember now
how each day they grew just little,
just a little easier to read, just a lit
tie nearer to you. and, strange to
say just little more fascinating and
| alluring? Day by day, week by
week month by month and year by
! year, the long road shortened. Hand
in hand you crossed the bad places.
and All, let's not forget the cliffs and
boulders and the rocks and the bram-
bles, for midst all these, guiding,
| helping, rescuing hands were near
and needed. The strong arms and
willing hands of Pendleton academy
have reached down and lifted you step
! by step up the walls of the cliffs. the
/ thorns and the brambles have been
smoothed by other hands that you
might not be torn by them. Loving
mothers watching every step of your
progress have carried blossoms while
you slept, and covered over the bad
places so that you might tread over
without even knowing of the marshy
places in the road. And tonight, sur
rounded by friends who love you,
clasping the hands Of those who help
ed you along the stony path of en-
deavor, almost lost in the glamor of
plaudits and praise, you at last rest
on the sunlit plateau of success.
How beautiful this plateau of sue
: cess. your little world, is tonight. A
: mountain garden, If you please, ever
blooming with highland flowers, the
D wild syringa, azalias and columbine.
Myriads of sweet songed birds, Choir
| used by the murmur of rippling
/, brooks, make music here, alone for
{ you tonight A valley Of verdure
: carpeted with leaves Of wild roses
upon which none but you may tread
: Adorned and hedged all about with
r fringe of monarch evergreens thai
8 nod and bow in the breeze for only
| you And the heavens! In the grand
' eur Of sunset, changing from gold tc
, crimson, and anon to shining blue
t How beautiful! Yes. even heaven re.
r members you tonight, for behold, In
the east the angels in rainbow color:
t have bulded a jeweled arch over the
r pathway of your entrance here. And
t see! They have painted upon 1t the
| colors of your own Alma Mater. Be-
meath this jeweled arch others may
enter here, but none will ever return
l Over and beyond, rising even ye
above the fringe of evergreen mon
archs, are snow-peaked mountains
;, majestic in their towering loftiness
Y and some say that this winding path
j way somewhere broadens into high
= way of universal knowledge, ant
( knows no ending save at the apex
= on yonder cloud-capped peak of fame
e And it is told that others less brave
i than you have attained its heights and
n dwell there as oracles of wisdom
and why not you?
a But for that some other day-fol
: tonight we rest in this Arcadia-ant
e as the sunset glory begins to fade
Y you are happy, for yet gathered abou
e you, but just little removed, yo'
g still feel the protecting influence ant