The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-01-17
TAKES 20 YEARS TO ENTER
RACE.

| RACE.
New York.-This world seems n
| place where nearly every one gets his
| deserts, according to Professor Al
fred G. Compton, who has Just retir-
ed from his professorship in City
! College. after fifty-eight years spent
In its halls as a teacher, and sixty
two years including his own college
course there. During these fifty
eight years about 5000 students
have passed through the classrooms
OF Professor Compton and their af-
! ter course in life has been noted by
him. or the entire 5000 the man
who will be 76 February l remem-
bers personally about half.
" have watched their careers in
the world" said he recently in his
home at 40 West One Hundred and
| Twenty-sixth street, al and find that
class takes about twenty years to
establish itself in the race. During
the first twenty years that they are
out OF college they may fail two or
three times, but the end OF the twen-
ty years finds them in the work and
places in which they are to succeed.
During the second twenty years they
gain their power, come to their fame
and ultimate position and then van
lsh from the stage OF affairs.
Some Students a Surprise.
There have been some surprises.
Some of the boys who were very dull
in college have turned out brilliantly
in the world, but they are compare
lively few. | have found in looking
over the list OF alumni that the boys
who were the good students were
! the most successful"
Who of the entire 5000 gave
you the most trouble?" the reporter
asked.
None OF them," was the reply,
and | couldn't say who was the
best student OF all my students.
have never been able to determine
between exceptionally brilliant stu
drnts. had case once where two
students seemed to me to show equal
progress in their written examina-
ton for medal. / then examined
them orally and l couldn't decide
then. Finally l was obliged to give
them medal each"
" Are you satisfied with your
life?' was asked.
Absolutely" Professor Compton
said, | have never regretted that l
did not go into civil engineering, as
| had at one time planned. / have
had OF late years the feeling OF the
architect when he looks up at the
great buildings he has first imagined
and then created"
The old professor turned over the
pages OF the catalog of the alumni.
" There are many famous men
CnfI h.
full and successful men and | have
had a share in their development.
1t is a work upon which l can look
back with the deepest satisfaction"
" What is the highest aim that a
young man can have upon leaving
college?'
Must Work to Succeed.
THE student some times in col
lege has his head filled with all sorts
of nonsense and wants to put great
ideas into effect in the world, but
usually by the time he is prepared
for his work he is intensely selfish
and rightly so. The thing that he
should aim to do is to succeed, since
he is member OF society and will
in due course marry and have a
family. He can best serve society
by getting a good living for his po-
tential family and a good place in
the world Then when he has done
that he can give some of his time
to reforming the world"
Professor Compton does not think
that the great Capitalization of in
dustry has made success any more
difficult than it was in the days OF
his youth.
believe now that the valedicto-
rian OF the class" he said, will be
found at the head of the big corpor-
alton and the poorer students work.
ing under him in subordinate places.
This world is a pretty good place for
the man who is willing to work and
who is not burdened with a big fam
lily of dependents and who has good
blood and health. | have no use for
the idealists OF undergraduate days.
| have usually found that they van
ish into thin air or get into very evil
courses"
What were your amusements as
an undergraduate" was asked.
Studying" was the reply.