The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1930-02-20


S which there are
N' '-.s' some twenty-five
million more or less in this land of
ours).
Above everything else Bob was
never-ending array of questions.
No sooner would Dad have his din
ner and get comfortably settled
with his paper than Bob would ap-
pear, after twelve hours of busy
activity, as fresh as lily and
loaded with q new perpleXing
query for Dad.
1t got to be regular game at
the SmithhOughs, this question and
answer matter, until Dad Smith
hOugh often found himself wonder
ing through the day or as he re-
Taxed a bit on the way home, what
fool question Bob would have con.
cocted for him that day. -,..
His dad had always been too
busy for questions and he often re-
called as he pondered some of the
''staggerers" his Bob handed him,
how different he might have been
If his father had only talked things
over with him!
So, after Bob SmithhOugh had
floored his dad q few times with
queries that were too deep for the
old gentleman, he began to prepare
himself.
Tonight, obviously, something was
wrong. Bob was quiet, almost mel
ancholy and noticeably irritable.
Something had gone wrong! In
due time it would come out and 1t
did. When both gravitated to the
living room. without much ado and
no introduction to the subject, Bob
seated himself half dejectedly and
asked his question by way of an
ultimatum.
"Pop, I'm going to quit school
and 60 to work"
"That So" said Dad, without
looking up. "Been elected presi
dent of an oil company or director
of the United States Steel corpora
ton? Congratulations, my boy.
/ didn't suppose you had sufficient
~ trained yonr mind as yet for so
great responsibility. Now If you
had said you were going to work
on a road gang or had job deliv-
ering milk. l would have under
stood"
There WIS q friendly wrinkle in
Dads eye and humorous tone in
his voice. "When l was your age.
Bob, I'd have given anything l pos
sessed Ito have gone to school and
I didn't have any modern univer-
sity like your new school to go to,
either, but / had to work to help
the old folks make ends meet. The
thing which knew best was that
didn't know much. l read a good
deal and was just sort of half con-
sciouS of q great marvellous world
about me, and l was hungry to
learn. / didn't want to live in my
little world always. l wanted 10
know about science and invention
and travel. l was hungry to be in
the midst Of the big things of the
world. was earning twenty dol
lars a month and my room and
board, and lived twenty miles from
nowhere. / longed to be in the
midst of things; to be somebody
and do something besides hard
manual labor all the time. had
to fight for my chance, Bob. Yours
came without fight, that's why 1t
seems worthless to you.
"What's wrong-teacher ridden
you a bit, perhaps bawled you out?
Perhaps you bluffed and got
caught! Yes-well, take your med
icine like a man, my boy, but
listen, remember you're a Smith
hough-the only male descendant.
Dads counting on you to do at
least some of the things he wanted
TO do and dreamed about, but never
could. Quit school? Nonsense |!
Listen, the only thing In the world
they give away today Is an educa-
ton. A regular boy who means
business can have all of It he'll
take. Think of it, all the educa-
ton that you'll accept, free; high
school, college, and then on and on
If you desire. It's simply up to
you. The big stick of modern
achievement is in your head, boy.
See that little stubby red volume
there on the shelf. That's the latest
who's Who in America, Bob.
There are about thirty thousand
brief biographies Of American men
and women Of accomplishment in
that book-the folks who have led
out in every single realm Of con-
structive thought and action-only
twenty-seven of them stopped
school in the eighth grade.
'The other day / saw very In
esting query. When is man ed
ucatedY and the answer was,
when he can look into q mudpud-
die and see more there than mere
mudr Bob, education Is the
knowledge of how to use the whole
of ones self, and no boy in the
eighth ,rade has ever approached
that point.
"Its true college doesn't make
fools, it just develops them. II
you're dumbbell you haven't much
chance, but Bob. you're no dumb
bell. You have the physique and
the mind In the making, but it
takes effort and struggle. Now get
at your lessons. Know little more
history than your teacher tomor-
row! r.
And Bob did!