The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1921-07-18
WORK OF AGES ARE
HERITAGE OF TODAY,
SAYS DIR. DAVIDSON

Dr.. R. L. Davidson, pastor of the
Broadway Baptist church, delivered
the baccalaureate address at the gradu-
alton exercises in Convention Hall
Sunday morning. His subject was,
"Our inheritance" He said in part:
"A wise man, centuries ago eaid
TO his generation All things are yours
This could be repeated with equal
truthfulness to every generation. All
things are made for man. The earth
including both land and sea was made
for man. The beasts Of the field, the
fowl of the air and the fish of the
sea exist for man. Ali grain grows
and fruit ripens for man. Birds sing
their songs and flowers scatter their
fragrance for man. Coal and gas and
oil were deposited in the earth for
man. Gold and silver and precious
stones We're made for man. The sun
and moon and stars shine for him.
Man is the only creature on earth
that can profit by the past experiences
Of his fellow creatures. The swallow
builds its nest today just as the first
swallow built its nest. The beaver has
made no improvement upon its dam.
but this generation can profit not
only by the successes but also the
failures Of all the past. We inherit the
wisdom Of the past. Homer's Illiad,
Dante's Inferno, Shakespeare's trage>
dies are ours. The Venus of Milo the
Sistine Medona, and the Last Supper
of De Vinci are ours. All the inven.
tons Of the past, the plow, the drill,
the thresher, the flower mills, the To-
comotive engine, the electric railway,
the motor car, the steamship, the SUBJ
marine, the airplane, the cotton gin,
the carding mills, the steam loom, the
sewing machine, the electric light, the
vacuum cleaner the steam heater, the
telephone, the telegraph, the printing
press, the telescope, the microscope and
the camera are ours. Life is ours with
all Of its possibilities. Eternity is ours.
The bible is ours. Christ is ours. Heav-
en- is ours.
1.-The law of our inheritance re-
quires that we must possess ourselves
Of It before we can receive any bene-
4
pose unless we mine it. The fertility
Of the soil brings no blessing to us
unless we plow and plant and cult-
vate and harvest. A man may die in
want in the midst of all the wealth oi
nature unless he appropriates it. The
wisdom Of the past exists in vain fot
the boy or girl who will not study
and master it and make it their own.
Education is a short cut to the mastery
OF human experiences. 1t took the
world millenniums TO produce and per-
feet the arithmetic used in our schools
which can be mastered in one year by
q boy Of average intelligence. It took
the world ten thousand years to pro-
duce a flying machine. But a good
mechanic can now build one in 80
days. We are the inheritors Of all OF
the wisdom Of all the ages, but We
must appropriate it.
knowledge is power. The efficiency
of an illiterate people in competition
with an educated nation is as a crook
ed stick against a sulky plow; the
sickle against the reaper; the OK cart
against the express train, the ocean
greyhound and the aeroplane; the
pony messenger against the telephone,
the telegraph and the wireless; the in,
dividual harangue against the print
ing press, the newspaper, the library
the spinning wheel against the fac.
tory; the log hut against the steel