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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1916)
Our Women and Children Conducted by Lucille Skagge Edwards. WHY YOU GO TO SCHOOL (So seldom do we find an article by Dr. Frank Crane that is not copy righted, that we consider ourselves fortunate to print for our boys and girls this excellent thought on “Why You Go to School,” written for the Pictorial Review by Dr. Frank Crane.) Everybody is put into this world to get from it all the happiness he can, in the worthiest sense of the term. In order to be happy, you need to express freely your personality, to give all your faculties full scope. Hap piness consists in making the most of what is in you. You go to school to learn how to do that. First. You go to school to learn to use the past. You are not Adam. You are not the first man. There have been millions before you. The world has been a vast laboratory, where infinite experiments in happiness and achieve ment have been made. The result is in Books. There is no sense in your wasting time in endless tasks which have all been done before you and the conclusions set down for your benefit. Every bee makes the same kind of honeycomb his parents made. Every beaver builds a dam just like his great-great-grandfather. Every ani mal begins where his father began. Hence there is no progress. Animal life simply goes round and round in the same circle. But a human being begins where his father left off. Each generation stands on the preceeding generation’s shoulders. So mankind makes progress, while brutedom stands still. It is in school that the Past is avail able. Those who study it have great advantage over those who do not; even more than a millionaire’s son has the advantage over a penniless boy. For the real inheritance of the world the real endowment of men, is the the world’s accumulated information. And it is free to all. Those who get it, easily outdo those who neglect it. And whoever refuses to take it is a fool. Second. You go to school to learn how to use your fellow creatures. You are not alone. You are a thread in the social fabric, a brick in the so cial wall, a link in the social chain. What you get out of life depends quite as much on how you utilize other people as on what you do your self. You go to school to learn organ ization. You become a member of a class. You become duly pigeon-holed, find out your place, become coordi nated. So your offensive egotisms are rub bed off. The thoughts and feelings that isolate you are cured, and you develop a group-consciousness that in creases both your contentment and your efficiency. You learn team-play. As the great fortunes are made by combinations in business, by trusts, so the heights of character are reached only by the in telligent use of our relations with our fellows. You amount to nothing until you can keep step. Outside the school is competition. Inside is cooperation. And the prizes of life are for those who understand how to cooperate. The slaves of blind competition work for the kings of co operation. You go to school to escape the serfdom of individualism and to learn the royal secret, the socialization of lifej the kingship of coordination. Third. You go to school to learn about yourself. The advantage of culture is self revelation. The ignoramus is fettered by a hundred delusions. The ignorant .nind is not a blank; it is as full as the ^ rained mind; only its contents are all wrong and poisonous. You go to school to get rid of a mass of misin formation. It is a common fancy that the unlet tered savage is free and that the gen tleman and scholar is bound. The con trary is true. The savage is a help less slave to superstition, frightened by the forces of nature and living only in destructive relations with his fel low men. The scholar’s is the un bounded mind. The gentleman’s is the free existence. At school you find the Masters. Their realm is Books. You learn to love them, and only then do you find out what is worth loving in yourself. You imitate them and only so do you discover your own originality. For the true Master sets you free, makes you conscious of what is in you. A young painter looking upon the work of a great genius, burst into tears and exclaimed: “I, too, am an artist!” In the Master he found him self. The young musician, who imi tates Beethoven, the young writer who patterns after Shakespeare, are much more likely to develop original genius than those who consult only their own fancies. What the greatest of Masters said of Himself, is true to a degree of all Masters, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Fourth. You go to school to get the one thing without which any life is loose and weak—Discipline. Discipline means that your intelli gence controls your feeling, and desire does not lead your intellect. So you learn tastes. You learn that you can change your tastes, mold them, and make them minister to your wholesome happiness and not drag you down. You learn to think. There is no thought that is of any value that is not disciplined. Thoughts are things; they make and unmake you. And you learn to herd them, govern them, drive them as you choose, and not helplessly follow them. And you learn to use your Will. A tough and hard Will is the surest guarantee of a happy and forceful career. At school there is constant appeal to your Will. You must com pel yourself to do this, you must re strain yourself from doing that. Thus you come to Self-mastery. That is why you go to school. You enter the schoolhouse to find yourself. A LIVE LITTLE PAPER The Bulletin, a four page race paper from Portland, Oregon, has just reached us and it a little gem. Its news is fresh, its spirit is helpful, and its design is excellent. We are proud to have it as an exchange and are sure that it has a most brilliant future. The feature that sets it in a class separate from all other Colored papers is that its staff is composed entirely of women. Ladies, you have the hearty congratulations ofl The Monitor for your successful and aus picious beginning. The Co-Operator, a little paper pub lished by the Robert Hungerford Nor mal and Industrial School, reports that the public school education of Colored children is sadly neglected in the state of Florida. SHIPP’S Optical Watch 'and Shop i 11 Highest Quality Lowest Prices 518 S. 16th St., Opp. Rome Hotel ARE* YOU SATISFIED " * ’ * * ’] with your Dry Cleaner? If not, try the ROYAL DRY CLEANERS BEST WORK AND SERVICE NONE BETTER Call Us First PHONE DOUGLAS 1811 24th St., 1 block north of Cuming Street Buy a Sweet-Toned Schmoller & Mueller Piano or Piano Player at Factory to Home Price, saving the middle man’s profit, which means $75 to $100 Our Schmoller & Mueller Pianos are noted for their fine tone and durability, in fact, are guaranteed for 25 years. We have several different styles to select from. A visit of inspec tion does not obligate a purchase. TERMS, $5.00 PER MONTH; 3 YEARS TIME TO PAY. Schmoller & Mueller Piano Co. 1311-13 Farnam St., Omaha, Neb. ASK FOR AND GET SKINNER'S THE HIGHEST QUALITY EGG NOODLES 36 PAGE RECIPE BOOK FREE SKINNER MFG. CO., OMAHA, U.S.A. LARGEST MACARONI FACTORY IN AMERICA Now’s the Time TO PLANT BULBS Tulip Hyacinth Narcissus Crocus Lily For Winter and Spring Bloom Stewart’s Seed Store 119 North 16th Street (Opposite Post Office) « i You can always save 20 to 30 per cent by buying from BONOFFS N. Y. SAMPLE STORE Full Assortment of New Fall Cloaks, .Suits, Dresses and Furs. A Small Deposit Will Hold Your Fall Garment Till You are Ready. Watch for Our Special Sales Every Saturday. Bonoff’s N. Y. SAMPLE STORE 206 North 16th Street. AUTUMN Is Here Off with the old, and on with the new! Months in advance of demand we must provide for your needs. We are all ready with new stocKs and receive fresh arrivals daily— whether by the yard or ready-to wear. A safe place to trade at is Thomas Kilpatrick & Co. PLEATING BUTTONS HEMSTITCHING EMBROIDERING BRAIDING and BEADING BUTTONHOLES 11 Ideal Buttons Pleating Co Douglas 1936 OMAHA, NEB. 107-109-111 S. 16th St.