The Washington times., 1921-12-05
John Smith
0 His Mark

persons they encounter 1ChO, amen
asked to sign paper, say: II don't
ksoW nothin' about readin' or s0rit-
in,." These men haze someone else
sign their names. They must content
themselves With making cross
mark. So the signature stands:
John (X) Smith, his mark"
Talk With such men and you will
find they all tell the same story. 1t
is story of handicap in the Uork
of Life. Without exception they
haze an unsolicited promise on their
lips. 1t is that they aOiu not permit
their children to gr0W up aUithOut
education. This promise is Wruag
from them because of their daily real
ization of the loss of advantage
arising from absence of the knowL
edge which education imparts.
~ HIS is Education Week.
1t has the support of Presi-
= dent Harding. Such men as he,
who have attained the highest pin
nacles of worldly position, know
how much they owe to education.
They know that without this train
ing of the mind they would have been
left far behind in the race of life.
Education has many angles, but
each bears lesson. Jack Dempsey,
the worlds heavyweight champion,
owes his position no more to his
God-given Drawn and sinew than
to his mastery of the art of boxing,
which is branch of education.
Christopher Columbus discovered
a new world and fastened the de-
velopment Of our own great country
because he was educated.
Ignorant or partially educated
persons told him the world was flat,
but his own education was sufficient
to assure him that it was round, and
that, by sailing over the seas, he
would touch upon a new and rich
strand. He acquired this learnin'
from Calico, one of the best educa-
tors Of his age, and who, by the way
has a direct descendant living in
Washington in the person of the
Minister of Guatemala to the United
States, DR.. Julio Blanc chi.
The credit is given Christopher
Columbus for discovering America
because he was educated. Lief Erics-
son, the Norseman, probably sighted
the shores of this continent earle"
than Columbus, but he and his men
could not write. They could not pre-,
sent any but verbal reports, and
their claims have not lived to stand
against those of Columbus.
Education is the magic by which
ordinary things are transmitted ITO
immortal things. It is trite that the
pen is mightier than the sword, but
who ever would have heard of
Achilles, Ulysses, Hector or any
other great ancient hero of the Tro.
jan wars if Homer had not written
about them.
Two men rode from Boston to
warn the populace of the approach
of the British. One was Paul Revere.
He is known to every American man,
woman and child, because Longfel-
low, writer, immortalized him. The
other rider doubtless did as noble
service, but no one ever knows his
name, much less his whole story.
The power of education and its
ssTuits made Paul Revere great
man, and brought fame to the edu-
Gated writer who told his story. 1t
will do as much, in proportion, for
every one who uses its advantages,
which are open to all who will spend
a relatively brief time in study.
Examples of the value of education
range over a wide scale. They
range from the man who merely
can read and therefore is able to
peruse the "help wanted" adver-
tisements in a newspaper to the SUI
per-educated man who is able to
measure the distances between stars.