Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1921-06-23
Something to
Think Ab0uf
EDUCATION.
b. r. II. WALKER

THOMAS2 EDISON. whose ability
/ L 10 get space on the first page OF
he newspapers has of late been thor
oughly demonstrated. announces that
the modern college graduate has no
education AT all and that there is no
place in his organization for the ig-
norant.
The trouble with Mr. Edison Is that
I he has confused education and knowl-
edge. They are entirely different
things.
You can educate horse or dog.
/ but nobody has Yet succeeded in Civ
/ ing them knowledge.
! Mr.. Ford, who is a warm friend of
Mr.. Edison, has very little education.
as he proved when questioned under
oath on matters literary anu historical,
and yet no one would deny that he
has knowledge.
Ar. Edison based his judgment of
the college graduate of today ON the
answers submitted in response to a
QUESTIONABLE which he prepared as a
test for young men seeking employ
ment with him.
Those same young men, even il they
were only average college men. could
have off-hand prepared QUESTIONABLE
in answering which Mr.. Edison would
Lave made miserable failure.
Ii would be no trick at all for any
well-informed man to write ten ques-
lions to which Mr.. Edison could not
furnish 30 per cent technically cor
rect answers.
If you do not believe it, or if Mr..
Edison does not believe it, try to write
down without consultation of any
books or seeking information from any
outside source the answers to these:
Who was Pilpay?
What and where is the medula OBJ
longata?
What point on the earth has neither
latitude nor Longitude? ase.
OF what nationality WAS Columbus?
Which is the oldest of modern re
igions? -
How many teeth mas a dog?
How much does cubic foot Of air
weigh?
Were is the island Of Philae2
How many nations has the earth?
What three noted men were contein-
poraries of Voltaires
H.
OF course as wrote down these ques-
lions l naturally chose queries to
which | knew the answers and yet !
am not, even as the author of the
queries, certain as to the accurate an
swers 10 two of them.
To be able to answer all Of those
ten questions correctly. ofHand, would
Indicate education. but ii would prove
knowledge.
The mind of the college graduate
when he leaves his alma mater is in.
much the same condition as the palate
of a man who has tasted in rapid sue
cession several varieties of spices.
He is unable to make prompt and
accurate use of what he really pos
sesses.
To the spice faster all the spices
temporarily taste alike. rg
TO the graduate his information is
a conglomerate mass out of which he.
with great difficulty, picks the fact
which he requires.
Time will restore the accuracy to
the palate.
Time and application of the knowl-
edge will enable the college man to
arrange his mental storehouse so that
| he knows where things are and how
to use them.
Mr. Edison does the college gradu-
ates an injustice when he says they
are uneducated. They are in most
| cases educated, but they are I'M
| trained.
Education you can get in part from
books. Training comes only with ex-
perience and practice, in applying edu-
cation.
! st. Bernard. who was one Of the
| greatest of ecclesiastics, writing TO a
! friend. said: Truss TO one who has
had experience. Stones and trees Will
teach you what you will never learn
/ from the masters"
And Shakespeare. who had perhaps
read what ST. Bernard wrote. put
these lines in As You Like It."
"And this our life, exempt from
public haunt.
Finds tongues in trees. books in the
running brooks,
Sermons i'm stones. and good in every
thing"