The Washington bee., 1911-03-04

sacTlhces. and in making the sacri-
hces remember you are g-asping op-
pOrtunltles that may never present
themselves again. He who has been
stung knows the pain of a sting, and
he who has lost valuable opportunity
! knows the loss OF that opportunity.
A young man wanted to hear a
great orator of wOrld-renowned fame,
but every time the speaker came to
his town the young man was too busy
to attend the theater and listen to this
great mans elOquence. ooh! it is
time enough, he said to himself Il
will hear at some future time" The
orator came and delivered an Grafton
one week in the same town, but be-
fore as OF old the young man put off
hearing him, and on the Monday of
the following week, as he read the
columns of the evening paper, he was
thunder struck when he saw the
headline, He Is Dead" "Oh, is it
possible he murmured, that | have
let all those valuable opportunities of
| hearing this great and eloquent ora
tor slip by, and now he is dead" His
smitten conscience replied: ~ ca! he
is dead, and the opportunity TO hear
him is lost forever" | therefore plead
with you, students, not to postpone
the seizing of a good opportunity.
Strike the iron while it is hot" Hold
fast TO the opportunity when it comes
and the reward will be yours.
a little girl once said to me that it
was strange | never gave gold medals,
as did certain teacher in my town.
l replied, that I did not because /
did not believe it was necessary to pay
one to study and learn that which
they truly loved and desired to be-
come proficient therein" Again, !
said, you receive several gold medals
each season; as you must look upon
the many dollars tuition your parents
pay as gold medals; and that you
should grasp this youthful opportuni-
ty by doing your very best at all
times TO be a credit to your parents,
teacher and yourself" She calmly
smiled and said: II had not
thought of it in that light" Now l
want every music student who pom
ders over these lines, to take this les
son to heart and see the light before it
is extinguished. There are those gold
mines-the music journals-which
you can purchase for one dollar and
a half yearly, that will always yield
you interest thousand fold. Do you
subscribe for one? Do you read it
diligently, searching carefully for the
many choice nuggets that are surely
hidden here and there in the folds Of
these rich mines? II you do not you
are losing a valuable opportunity of
INN
lines upon which your teachers are
too busy to instruct you.
Then you have those many vents
from which to drink the many fine
compositions, that are to be discover
ed in each mine. What a grand op-
portunity for first sight reading, form,
analysis, etc, in both the vocal and
instrumental spheres. Then there is
also once in a while an extra fine
nugget that one should value above the
others to the extent of storing it away
permanently into their safe, the mind,
to be taken therefrom whenever we
may desire others to feel the warmth
of its fire and the brilliancy of its sur
face
MAKE it a practice to look into
things that surround you, and which !
you use daily; find out how they are
made; induce men to talk to you about !
the things that they know best; form |
the habit of studying that which comes |
in your way. He who forms this |
habit not only gains the power which J
knowledge always brings, but also
makes himself a very desirable COM |
panion. "-(Mabie) The habit of |
looking into things will assist you
in deciding upon the value of the op- |
pOrtunties that may come to you. |
What is one mans food is another |
mans poison" Use your brain, your
sight, your heart and you will detect i
many things of value that otherwise |
would have been undiscovered. Do /
not allow your teacher to call your
attention to that crescendo, bind, fin |
gering, dot, cleft or any other sign |
or word that had you been more OBJ |
serving you would have discovered |
for yourself. You lose time by such |
oversights and as you well know, time |
that IS lost is gone forever.
Did you buy that musical dictionary
that you might pronounce correctly /
the many musical terms. the names of |
composers, operas, etc? No. Another |
overlooked. Students. |
bestir yourselves and America will [
eventually awaken to the day and |
time that we will not only have stu
dents but student-scholars not only |
observers, but thinkers; and not only
lookers-on, but doers.
Does not that statue upon which !
you are gazing teach you a valuable |
lesson? There is the sculptor, who |
has spent years in preparation in or
der to be able to bring life out of |
marble. There stands the figure, |
grand, life-like, massive and COM
manding: but back of the sculptor's !
chisel was his brain, of which you !
have thought little Did it all appear
as by magic, in its completed. magnifi-
cent form? No; years seasoned the
sculptor's labors; and anxiety. thought, |
vexations and privations often rent |
his strong and brave heart Neverthe- !
less he seized this opportunity and |
worked upon his creation with high |
and noble ideals; now victory is his
and success has crowned his humble |
efforts. Labor has sure reward" |
Why are you discouraged because
you cannot interpret that Beethoven |
Sonata? Do you see the analogy? |
The sculptor labored for years to even
become able to begin his statue, then |
for several years on its final creation |
and you expect to interpret a great |