River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-04-04
Where the Road Forks

Have you ever noticed that one
road leads into the we'll laid out and
prosperous country, d it keeps
getting better, and how one feels
the freedom and comfort of travel
ing under these conditions, and an
other road leads into a wilderness
and becomes mere unkept trail
where we spend all our time lodging
the rocks and straddling the ruts,
and how it takes away all the conf
dence and pleasure? These are ex-
periences we all have with our cars.
/ The roads that lead from the era
die to the grave that we all must
travel in our pursuit of health and
happiness, are just as varied. Some
lead out into the open where free
dom is felt and hope is inspired. We
see the the bright side of things and
life has real things worth living for.
We travel the high lands and can
look across the valleys w the
shadows creep along h uneven
ground. and enjoy the landscape as
far as the eye can reach, and we
say to ourselves, whata grand world
this is.
Years afterwards we meet our old
companion who started on this jour
ney with us, but took the other road
where it forked off into the lower
lands. He Travelled in the valley
where the sun rose later and sat
earlier. He travelled in the shad-
ows in the narrow valley where the
hills cut off the view leaving moth
ing but the cold sky above and the
narrow valley to make up the world
he has travelled in. The o d he
travelled was rutted and rough-it
gave worry instead Of enjoyment.
and he said to himself, what mis-
cradle world this is.
As'we stand on the mountain top
and take in the grandure of h e
world spread out below us, we feel
inspired by the fact that we are on
top and can see and understand our
surroundings. But when we visit
the canyon in the mountains we feel
| o,,r ;~cio0;H oopoo &c x1yo 1ool> M 70
the great heights that tower above
US. Just as we rise above the prob
lemsof life we feel our mastery over
them and as the problems of life
rise above us we feel our limitations
by them.
The journey of life is determined
largely by the start we make, and
the start is determined by the prep
aration we make for the start. The
responsibility of the start in life is
easily passed by without much con-
sideratiOn.
The responsibility of the start in
life that lies ahead of the boy or
girl rests with the parents, and this
responsibility cannot be shifted. We
cannot say to our boy or girl that
you must help in the shop or in the
house. and then say-that you may
prepare for start in the world for
yourself if you want to. We did not
intend to treat our boy or girl in
this way, but we did it because we
had never given the matter serious
consideration.
The hope of success for children
is about the same with all parents,
but we differ in view point of what
success is. Some place the value on
what the child is, and some, through
necessity or habit, place the value
on what the child is, and so m e,
through necessity or habit, place
the value on the dollars the child
gets, never realizing that the child
and the dollars cannot be equal, but
one must be inferior to the other.
The dollar rule limits the person to
the narrow trails that give a small
view of this big world, while the in
dividual rule gives the dollar and
the big world for the use of the per-
son.
Let US consider one phase Of doing
our duty by our boys and girls that
is within easy reach of all of US, to
give our children an equal chance in
the world with others, and at the
same time we will consider it as a
business proposition.
The most permanent and honor
able position in the world is the one
| that OiVaS education +o otharc TT iS