The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-06-09
all these people. and the splendid fac
ulty Of dear old X. H. 8.
Class Grafton
John Herbert Bowen.

4
John Bowen. He said:
Four years have passed and the
class of 1915 puts forth in all her
youthful strength and courage on the
field hitherto unaccomplished.
Today we commence. we strike out
] for ourselves-we, enter a world CT
petition-legitimat and illeS!ti-
(, mate.
| We look to great names and to
/ glowing biographies for inspiration,
and find it there; nothing stirs us
more than great achievement In
the exploits of others, we feel our
own possibilities revealed.
| 1t has been said: kerosene, gas
and electricity giving bright light at
night and contributing to unlimited
reading and study, in the hour after
supper, along with quick and cheap
communication and transportation,
afford the boy OF fifteen today wider
vision and broader knowledge OF
world affairs than his grandfather
could attain at fifty"
| And this is called the period of the
young man. But it is well to remem-
Der that almost every age in history
has been the period Of the young man.
Jesus ended His work in His cruel
lAlOH at. Cnlrty-tnTee.
| At thirty-three Napoleon was EN-.
peror of France, Wolfe scaled the
Heights of Abraham at Quebec, and
/ Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declare
ton of Independence!
At thirty-two Reubens painted his
Descent From the Cross" and Story
became chief justice of the United
States supreme court!
thirty 70 ri ono had made
himself master of the French and
| German empires, and Cortez had con-
quered Mexico
At twenty-eight, Raphael painted
"The Sistine Madonna At twenty
seven, Whitney invented the cotton
gin; Howe invented the sewing ma
chine, and Hannibal had attained COM
mand of the Carthegenian army!
At twenty-one, Alexander was at
the head of his army. At nineteen,
George Washington was major. AT
eighteen, Mendelssohn had produced
his Midsummer Nights Dream" and
Bryant "Thanatopsis."
These are but few shining In
stances that it had always been the
day of young men.
And are not our possibilities Won
derful, are they not of most pleasing
outline?
We are citizens of the greatest hui
man force in existence-the United
States of America, which is accom-
plishing the most stupendous, the
most unselflsh, the most epoch-mak-
ing task performed since man began
to take thought, that he and his fel-
low might live better lives.
The present is the age of huge &C
complishments. Man individually and
man in all sorts of groups is doing
bigger things than ever before since
the world began.
The development of knowledge, Of
organization Of machinery is making
this possible.
Actual Accomplishment of teday
out-rivals the most fantastic imagin.
ings Of a generation ago-oceans
have been joined by steel rails, the
earth disembowled for it's buried
treasure, dizzying skyscrapers have
been built, tumbling waterfalls har-
messed and to cap the climax our
government of the United States has
cut two continents apart at Panama.
The digging of the canal is thing
so definite and tangible, that its
magnificent proportions may be seen
at glance. ....
1t has been called "the overlapping
accomplishment Of the age that
stands superbiy alone"
Yet during the decade of its build.
ing, the federal government has had
under way a score of tasks as I'M
portant and many of which may de-
mand of the historian Of the future as
thoughtful attention
For like young Hercules among
nations, she has gone forth and crap
pied successfully with the dragons OF
disease that have stalked devour1ng-
ly about the world for ten thousand
years!
She has stretched forth her hand
and lifted the pail of tyranny and ig-
norance and disease and isolation
from eight million people In the
orient.
She has issued commands to the I'll
tanic floods of the Mississippi and
they have obeyed her
She has sought to better the condi-
ton of her most valuable asset, the
mother on the farm. and much has
been accomplished.
She has reclaimed deserts, con-
served forests, blanketted the world
with wireless.
And as education promotes the en-
iightenment of the world, so will
more and greater problems arise de-
handing the attention of the genera
lions respectively following.
And we, the class of rs. are hence
forth to prove our ability in taking
advantage of these opportunities.
To carry through the task once be-
gun, to push forward in spite of OBJ
stacles, to turn hindrances and even
seeming defeats. and to make gains
out of losses are the hard conditions
which have beset most lives that
have ever accomplished anything
worth while.
These things sum up the story OF
all the worlds heroes in war or peace.
he nil rnfnrmprS and in