The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-06-14

taught to countless others the lesson
of achievement.
And once upon a time certain
man fell among thieves and was hurt
and left half dead. And certain TEL
lows coming along the way saw MN,
hut pretended otherwise ana passed
by on the other side; they saw no
service to be given poor Fellow
member of the society. They saw no.
thing in an act to an unfortunate fell
low that would write the first page of
newer and better history. But
another fellow did. You know the
story. Heed it. Find in 1t a larger
meaning than you have ever read in
tn II before. Know we'll that the man
who did good to the unfortunate pos
sessed the same achievement that lies
this moment in your own hearts.
Tonight, with the near-completion
of your secondary school work, you
are determining upon your place In
life, you are deciding whether to go
forward with your work possessed
with this spirit Of achievement, of
spirit that shall make you great be-
cause 1t will make you useful; or whe-
Their you will go forward possessed
with the spirit of the drifter who
shifts with the tides, who sees no OPP
portunity to serve other members of
the society, content to follow in the
old moss-grown paths Of sluggish in
difference, Indifference to the call of
duty. May the right decision be
made; may you decide to live greatly
because ambitiously and heroicly.
You have no moral right, If you
would repay society what society has
already done for you, to live other
wise.
Now for the third question: Can
life be we'll lived anywhere? Have
you from a training In your school
an equal chance in the race?
In what I have said thus far have
pointed you to great heights of in
spiration. That is oftentimes dan
ger In baccalaureate addresses.
know how appealing are the greater
deeds of man. The life of Edison
to which l have referred a man who
has over 400 patents to his credit,
and whose life history reads like a
romance know appealing these
greater life deeds are. And know,
too that just as Edison's life appeals
to the average young man, so the life
story of Jane Adams appeals to the
imagination of young women.
And know, too, how alluring are
the great cities and the richer states
with the larger fields of activity and
opportunity And know, too, that
when we set our eyes in their direc-
ton we fail all too frequently in see-
ing important fields of labor directly
at our feet.
May tell you In few sentence that
familiar story of Ali Hated, the Per-
sian Prince? It's a good story to
keep in mind, because there are many,
many Ali Hafed's in this and all other
communities. One dry he heard of
lands far away, lands that teemed with
marvellous wealth. So he called to
him his servant, and said, 81 am going
into far country In search OF great
wealth, and | offer you the purchase
of these barren fields. Live here
and cultivate as best you can these
sterile acres" So the servant bought
and paid for the farm and the Prince
betook himself to greener fields. Not
long after. the servant. digging In the
white sand near the banks Of stream
that ran through the barren fields,
discovered rare gems which later led
to the discovery of the great Colconda
mines. Well, years later All Hated
returned in rags only to find his emp
ty acres yielding the gems which he
had sought in distant fields.
Search for the answer l want to
make to the question.
A woman, suddenly hurled from a
fast moving train, was taken to the
hospital. In the days of recovery
when her time of usefulness seemed
at lowest ebb, she found ways to en-
terrain her less fortunate ward COM
panions. Every morning they watch
cd and waited for her chair to be
wheeled into their midst. Crippled
and sick, she still found ways of do
ing Gods service. She did not wait
for days of health; she did not put
off her deeds of goodness for larger
opportunities.
Another woman hears of Carne-
gle donating libraries to scores of
towns and cities, and she forthwith
begins to bewail her lot because she
hasn't millions to give away. And
curiously enough. It happened that
this woman lived not over thousand
miles from --.-----whose public lib
rary Is suffering for few paHry hun
dred dollars that it may fill a larger
need in the community.
And this man reads of great civic
associations that are cleaning up
streets and bitches and planting trees
and shrubbery to beautiful the cities;
and he means pitlfully that he could
mt be the charter member of the
association and sit on the very front
seat of notorietv. And this same man
had door yard that had accumulated
all the odds and ends of a century
You couldn't see the door-yard for
the rubbish.
We are forever looking beyond the
Immediately present to its utter neg
lect, always seeing and ever enlarging
duty the farther our vision carries us.
You members of the graduating class
have passed through that experience.