The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-06-22

land who are to be crowned four
days hence have. Some young peo-
pie do and some do not. Some do not
open up their lives to the zephyrs OF
usefulness, of inspiration, OF opportu-
nifty. Let your outlook eastward spell
life's work, life's problems, life's OPP
portunity and Hfe's triumph.
IMPORTANCE OF THE MONOTON-
Gus COMMONPLACE.
The young king Joash fred an ar
row. He reached to his culver,
placed 1t upon the bow and fired 1t.
1t was not much to do. Hundreds of
other men in Israel could do equally
we'll. 1t was doing the same thing
over and over again. He reached to
his culver the third time. He pulled
out an arrow. He placed 1t upon the
string of his bow, pulled the cord
back and with twang or the bow the
arrow sped out of the window east
ward. For all that each arrow SYM
bolized victory over the Syrians,
the king fired no more. The prophet
Elisha was angered at him. But the
monotonous common place tired him
as it has countless other young peo-
pie. Do not think thing is so COM
mon place that 1t Is not worth doing
we'll. Do not give up thing because
of the monotony of your work.
called to see college classmate
who Is wholesale grocer. He took
me over the large building. Down in
the cellar some workmen were pick
ing over and sprouting potatoes. He
called my attention to young man
In hA IL NolI that hn
was a recent graduate of Brown uni
versity. He added. He'll not have to
work on potatoes very long"
The difference In men is not In the
size of the job, its surrounding, its
results. 1t Is what he can find In the
job. Some one once said in the pres
ence of some common place duty, Il
believe there is more here than ap-
pears" Future developments some
times lift the common place into the
realm of the marvellous. The young
king should have been content to fire
arrows till his culver was empty. 1t
was common place but it was his
place to fill just then.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's squirrel
got the better of the mountain in the
quarrel when the mountain disdain-
fully called the squirrel "a little prig.
The squirrel rejoined;
II think it is no disgrace
To occupy my place,
If | am not as large as you;
You are not as small as |;
If | can not carry a forest on my back,
Neither can you nut crack"
PUT YOUR FULL EQUIPMENT INTO
YOUR LIES WORK.
The young king had a culver of ar
rows. He used only three. Elisha
was disappointed, impatient with the
young man. He wanted to place in
the young kings hands the work of
utterly paralyzing the Syrians He
wanted him to fire every arrow. The
prophet longed for the complete de-
liyerance of Israel from the Syrian
power. Why did not the king fire ev-
cry arrow? l do not know. Do you?
Was it listlessness? This king did just
as young people are doing in 1911, he
brought fraction of his equipment
to fraction of a task. Members of
the graduating class | would like to
write this indelibly upon the tables
of your young hearts. Do not bring
a fraction of your life to a fraction
of a task, but the whole of life to
whole task.
A so-called faultless painter, An
drea Del Sarto, was an artist of the
greatest talents. Michael Angelo told
that Del Sarto could make
sweat drops stand on Raphael's brow.
pr ha did 10 hod
ability but toyed with it. His soul
was always an invalid. He had
spasms of greatness. Del Sarto, the
refined gentleman, the lady's man,
brought fraction of life to frac
ton Of a task. He did not open up
his window and make his bow twang
with every arrow in his CULVER. A
mighty contrast between such one
as he and the whole hearted Paul or
Abraham Lincoln. These men seem
to have open windows all around
their souls.
We have read in past months of the
great ocean "grayhounds' crawling
into port. The reason given is that
one engine had broken down leaving
only one twin screw in commission.
She is running on half speed" or with
half power. 1t is picture of too
many lives. Some people limp through
life. Some are unsymmetrically de-
We grow one-sided. One
trait is overgrown. Here is one
who says: Il am business man." He
eats, sleeps, drinks, walks, lives and
dreams business. Such powers as
lend themselves to business are re-
fined and polished to the highest de-
gree. But beyond this be is as bleak
and barren as Patagonia. AS a hus-
band he is a Liliputian; as a father
he is a dwarf; as a citizen he is
financial and commercial machine. AS
a church member, we'll all the space
he takes is the line on which his name
Is written on the church book He does
not open his window eastward and
become thrilled by the possibilities of
life. His life Is meagre, skimped, sell
fish. When l was boy | learned in
Mother Goose melodies of a charac-
ter of whom it was said: "All the
tune that he could play was over the
hills and far away" Just one song
only could he sing. A great steam
ship Is not fitted to meet the wild
winds and tossing waves of the mid
Atlantic with one engine out of COM
We have heard of the ship
which found herself. Many young
man needs to find himself. He is
keen on food, keen on fun, keen on
athletics. but dead as the bulrushes