The Chemawa American, January 01, 1915, Page 26, Image 26

22
THE
CHKMAWA
AM ERICAN
TH E TACTFUL M AX
As the wise heron from the stream will rise
On nimble foot that never stirs the mud,
Nor breaks the silence by an ill-timed thud,
As, unperceived by foes, she upward flies,
So he who can avoid calamities
By skillful tact, which rouses no man’s blood,
Leaves on each mind a pleasing sense of good,
The while he walks in calm, unruffled guise.
Within his circle perfect order reigns,
No jarring sounds come from his quietude,
No adversaries try to steal his gains,
No enemies on his preserves intrude;
Laws of his sphere conspire to bless his pains,
And extricate him from all forms of feud.
—Jean Cameron Smith.
M Y ID E A O F C U L T U R E
Since reading Huxley’s ideas on Science and Culture, I have found
myself attempting to discover just what is meant by the word “ culture.”
Looking back over my past acquaintances, I find that I instinctively
think of a few as cultured and others, no doubt just as good citizens and
neighbors, as lacking the qualities which, it seems to me, belong to a
cultivated person.
During the last few days I have been much interested in watching
the members of Reed College in the effort to discover what the qualities
might be which distinguish some as cultured and others as non-cultured.
Seeing that people with the same intellectual capabilities and amount of
knowledge, in identical or in different subjects, do not fall in the same
class, I have come to the conclusion that cultnre is not a matter of ed­
ucation along either classical or scientific lines, but must depend upon
some other fundamental qualities. What these qualities may beislargelv
a matter of personal opinion.
We once had a neighbor who has always seemed to me the personifica­
tion of all that is opposite to culture, for his ignorance, laziness, selfish­
ness and narrowness resulted in a character which was more synonymous
in the town with all that is undesirable and unrefined. This is perhaps an
extreme example, but there is the case of a woman with whom I was in­
timately associated for a few months. She was well educated, courteous