TH E CHEMAWA AMERICAN
W H E N G EN ER A L P E R SH IN G W A S A BOY
“ John made a business of getting his lessons. If
he was a trifle short on brilliance, he was very long on
backbone. Farther, he carried with him such an air
of self-determination, self-propulsion, self-conviction
as made him a leader at an early age. His teachers
liked him because he was studious and contentions;
his parents liked him because he was obedient and
thoughtful; the boys liked him because he was fearless
and independent, the girls liked him because he was
courteous and gentle; everybody liked him because he
was truthlul and clean. Do not conclude from this re
cital that young John was a pale, precise, goody-goody
boy of the sissy or mollycoddle type. Par from it.
This description is of the boy John J. Pershing, gen
eral and leader of the first American army in France.
As told by Edward Earl Purinton in The Independent,
his story is full of suggestion for the preparation for
leadership that every boy ought to have.
In the first place, backbone is better than brilliancy.
The other day one of the experienced men in a state
reform school for boys said to me, as the five hundred
boys filed out, “ Notice the boys who stand straight.
Their backs have straightened. That is when we be
gin to io have hope of them, just as soon as they
straighten up."
John Pershing was studious and conscientious. The
average American boy does not exalt these qualities in
theory or in fact as in the marks of manhood. The
average boy does not want to study much. He wants
to get by. He wants to put something over on the
teacher.
John Pershing was obedient and thoughtful. Most
boys, in America at least, are short on discipline and
respect for authority. One of the big jobs of the
American army is to “ lick the men into shape,’’ as
they say, which means to bring them down to disci
pline, so they act and fight together.
While he was studious and obedient, he was fearless
and independent. These things can go together and
ought to. The well-disciplined mind and life is a pre
paration for conviction and courage to stand up for
conviction. A boy can be a good student and an obedi
ent son and a fearless fighter at the same time. Once
more, he was courteous and gentle; in the best sense
of the word, he was a gentleman as a boy. Courtesy
ought to go with courage. It is always the mark of
a real officer. Courage that is brutal is not manly.
Lastly, was truthful and clean. The first duty of a
soldier, as taught at West Point, is to tell the truth at
any price, not to lie at any cost. Further, if a man
does not live straight, he cannot shoot straight,’’ said
the young officer. If a boy is not clean, he cannot be
fit and strong,
All eyes are turned to General John J. Pershing,
not only in America, but in Europe. Back of the
general, back of the man is the boy John. His boy
hood is speaking to you today.—Wellspring,
GET B U S Y
A mixture of optimism and common sense is a
factor of first importance in everything pertaining to
industry and progress. From an exchange we glean
the following:
Cheer up; you’ve been having a hard time of course,
but things are now taking a new turn. Owing to the
eccentricity of our system of time, the mornings don’t
begin to grow longer till the middle of January, though
the afternoons start lengthening about the middle of
December. We have now reached the point in the
year when the daylight is increasing at both ends.
The seed advertisements have already put in an appear
ance and the other harbingers of spring will soon be
multiplying. We can now begin to look forward, in
stead of being absorbed altogether by the present and
the past. Let the dead bury their dead. There are more
things now waiting to be done in the world than ever
before and W’e must all spit on our hands—to use a poet
ic expression—and get ready to do ourshare. Don’t
use up your energy complaining; get busy and keep
busy.
M AY GET TH ER E
The Aero Club of America has planned to send an
expedition to the north polar regions to suivey the
north pole by airplane. It is proposed to raise $250,-
000 to finance the undertaking and provide the most
complete equipment ever sent out.
The expedition which, according to the plans, is to
be led by Capt. R. A. Bartlett, an experienced explorer,
commander of one of the ships that went with Peary
on his north polar expeditions, will “ explore, survey
and photograph the unexplored parts of the arctic
regions and establish the existence or non-existence
of land or lands in that region’’ and also “ explore,
the upper air and the bottom of the polar basin. It
is hoped that much valuable work of a scientific nature
will be accomplished, particularly in the polar basin.
The plans call for a ship to go to Etah, about 600
miles from the pole, next June when the ice will be
broken up enough for the ship to cross Melville bay.
A large seaplane or land airplane is to be carried by
the ship for the flight over the pole and for exploration
over long distances.
After establishing a base at Etah seaplanes are to fly
on northward to Cape Columbia and there establish a
base for the large plane. Both large and small flying
machines will be put into service in earnest during the
six weeks after the middle of July when weather
conditions normally are best and it is expected that
during this period the most important work of the ex
pedition will be done.