Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-05-23


The international Sunday School y
:. Lesson For May q Is, "Joseph =
8 lnterprets Dreams" Gen.. Xl. =.
BY William r. Ellis. =
"Kicked upstairs into the presidency"
Is the way certain New York politicians
spoke of their efforts to get rid of Gov
ernor Roosevelt by making him vice pres
ident of the United States. The road to
the highest powe. usually lies through
the valley &c obscurity. Adversely has
often been a route to prosperity. When
Joseph. the favorite son of Jacob. was
sent up to Egypt by his unnatural broth
ers. they We're forwarding him to the best
school of life. where he could be trained
In the Egyptian civilization. That appar-
ent disaster linked the Jews with Egypt
and profoundly the affected all the future
history OF the world. Every active life has
had somewhat similar experiences, when
good came out of apparent evil.
The story is one for our W times. for
II paints In true colors the career OF a
young man away from home. This one
kept his nag flying and never lost heart in
the darkest hours. He was the victim of
sore misfortune. but his spirit was never
broken. and his SOU was never con-
quered.
1T matters not how straight the gate.
How charged with punishment the scroll;
am the master Of my fate.
L am the captain of my soul"
Worse than any particular hardships
Which this youth had to endure was the
CALLING fact that he was a slave. His
proud head had to bow beneath the yoke
of servitude. He was sold as a chattel
and treated as a bit of property. Never
theless, his soul was not %enslaved. He
L KnQW hin1aovf for ON hntr NH fpnnNnrn h. q
prince among men. After all,
Stone walls do not a prison make.
Nor iron bars a cage"
The Officer In OveraIIs.
1.-THE best way to get out of a distaste-
full position" said Thomas Jefferson, lis
To become consptcuOusly effective In IT.
The story of Joseph Is a study in eff
cheney. He made good wherever he was
put. He was u first class man in an in
ferior place; therefore he either exalted
the place or rose out of i. A meaner sort
of man would a " whimpered and wept
and rebelled. Joseph respected himself,
and therefore others came to respect him.
At the recent naval maneuvers and tar
get practice at Hampton Roads. when
several members of the cabinet accom-
panied Secretary of the Navy Daniels, the
visitors were shown down into the engine
room and f1re-room of the Wyoming. They
saw a man in 0veralls. begrimmed beyond
recognition, who seemed to be directing
the men. He conducted the party about
this section of the ship, all
questions. and made explanations SO clear.
ly that some visitor remarked, THAT man
must be some sort of petty officer, he
knows what he is talking about. What is
his grader The eyes ofstheir conductor
twtnkled as ne replied, '.If you had been
attending the reception at the White
House last week, you would have seen
that roupN1an1ort In cold 1ona rnntfrn
as naval aide to the president of the
United States Tn incident illustrates
this story of efficiency. True ability and
dignity fills its own place well wherever
duty may lie for the moment. Joseph AS
a slave and as a prisoner was as efficient
q man as Joseph as an Overseer of Egypt.
He did with his might what he found to
do. That way came promotion and eman-
cipation. There are hundreds of second
rate hOusekeepers, clerks and workmen
in the world who are signing for a liter
airy career, not knowing that by their very
ineffectiveness in their present work they
prove themselves nft for larger work.
AS a motto on the nursery wall has 1t,
The boy who does little things well IL
fitting himself to do big things better
When Woman Tsmpts Man.
The most dramatic incident Of Joseph 8
career was his experience with Potfphar's
wife. We can wish the episode were not
VucTt, YET III ~ tIue W lie. Lie lued IL q
startling one to a ~chivalrOus youth that u
woman can be a temptress and that a
young man should be on his guard against
her. That is contrary to all the teachings
and ideas of his early training. Neverthe-
less. every young mar must learn some
how or other tina all women are not as
his own mother.
Indeed, one is inclined to say, az he
looks about city life at the present time,
that perhaps never since Rome collapsed
by the weight of it's own immortality. has
Potiphar's wife been so brazenly abroad
in tn. Lane as at present. By the styles
of dress tkat prevail. by the dances of
the young people. by performances at the
theAterA by much current literature, and
by not a little Of the loose talk Of the
time. woman's enticement to mans baser
nature Is manifest to an appalling extent.
This is a phase OF the woman question
which is of profound concern to the world.
for 1t certainly misrepresents the vast
majority of Yet 1t is a prob
lem that only woman can solve.
The Young Mans Refuge.
There il a discernible tendency abroad
at present to take refuge In hygienic. eco
nomic and social reasons for personal pur-
ity. This is. the teaching that one hears
on every side. 1t should alarm the church
for these are no adequate defenses for
the morality OF society. The fact that
various disabilities. physical. economic,
Industrial. social and legal. follow in the
train of impurity, are quite insufficient to
safeguard the race.
Joseph's way was better. His course
was in c~Ons0nance with the highest
knowledge OF our own time. A noble char
acter inspired by highest ideals is the best
armor against the besetments of sin. Jo-