The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1911-09-15
ROAD TO SUCCESS IN LIFE
Late Dr.. s. A. Knapp Tells His Way
Of Bringing Up Boys and Girls
His Ideak OF Education.

EXtraclS from an eXtempOre ADDRESS
delivered by tho late DR.. S. A. Knapp
to the agents Of the Farmers Co.
operative Demonstration Work at
Macon, Ga:
I believe in making boy a manly
boy. believe lin his attending the
public schools. because one of the
great things for j man is to know how
to struggle with men and stand up for
his own opiniors and carry his own
points. In otherlWords, life is battle
and the man who hasn't met his
equals and overCome them when he
was boy IL q Neakling all his life.
l have seen narlby-pamby boys tied
to their mothers apron strings and
taught Latin and Greek. sent out into
the world. Pool little puny things!
Why. would rs1her take Z street boy
that can knql cray thsough the
crowd: ! would rather risk him IN the
battle Of lie than that namby-pamby
boy. We dont,let our boys and girls
learn how to manage. Let the boy
do. even II he makes mistakes. There
is great need Of farm managers today,
but men have not been trained to
manage the business side Of a farm.
There is need Of captains of industry
In every community. You can't make
them through books. Power Of the
brain depends Oh the hardness Of the
muscle. Softent1g Of the brain is the
result Of softenhg Of the muscles.
Teach the boys low to regulate their
forces, how to meet shocks, and have
supreme cousaSD to face the world
anywhere. Having learned to be a
farmer. he sholld know machinery.
The costliest animal IN the world is a
man or woman. they cost in treasure,
cost In care, cot In human anxiety.
Yet we shorten human life by neglect.
The average age or span Of life and
possible one Ire wide apart My
ideal Of education is that of practical
sense. leadership Get that sense into
boy and he Win take up farming,
and II he knows q few fundamental
principles he WI apply the rest.
Teach him the Importance Of know
Ing few thingd well, Of system and
thrift Education really means lead
Ing out; we MAXI It stuhing in. Try
to teach the child to lay by his knowl-
edge on certa4 shelf in the brain
ready for use. lot one person in a
Thousand has puthis thought or facts
IN a dennite brazil niche, so that when
he wants that kn1wledge he can reach
out and take thai knowledge and use
II Farmers mus be orderly. Farms
are simply an Onward indication Of
wnat OF brains th( farmer has. There
is no such thinRIas Door land. It is
poor brain Of q thoughtless man on
top Of the suppoiedly poor soil. No
matter how poorlthe land appears, It
can be made profitable If the farmer
knows how and las the will power to
carry 1t out Tn this system Of edu-
cation that make men as well as
farmers.
Reverting to lie colony that was
IN such poor coSdition. the first les
son ! gave Their was to raise corn
ana make molasoes, because negro
II he has corn alld molasses he can
i've. and you mult make him an indie
pendent liver bsiore you can make
MIN a good citissn. So we taught
tnem to make mohsses and grow corn.
II took with them and stuck. Like the
OLD lady that thanked the Lord for
everything. She had a. large family
ana they all did: she thanked the
Lord and said thsy were probably bet
yer on II that world than in this. She
nao q large property, which was lost
ana sne thanked the Lord. because
sos SAID It would probably have ruined
.nem 70 navs so much wealth. Sne
1Au . nne Get Of tech and lost the
most OF them: she thanked the Lord
.na. sne had two. and they hit The
nolasses mill hit5 / had some letters
.ust tne other day telling in glowine
.slms OF the success Of this practical
WIN % those people. Get down .
wne.e people can understand. touch
the bottom. and lit.
lou might think the object Of ou1
WolA Is TO increase / farmers income