PA G E 4
T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
ABOUT SUCCESS A N D F A IL U R E
(C o n tin u ed from page 1)
has robbed them of th eir own. T hey did not rely
upon th at inborn ability w hich is given to th e w eak
est as well as the strongest, and neglected th e little o p
portunities w hich were all around them anti would
have brought them to th e ir goal.
No m atter w hat the accidents of b irth , or fortune,
or w hat our neighbors have th a t we m ay lack, there
is nothing beyond our attain m en t. T h ere is absolutely
no question but each one of us can be w hat we w ant
— w hat we really will— to be. T h e world looks up to
a determ ined m an, or boy. You get w hat you pay
for, in character, in w ork and in energy. T h ere are
few really good th in g s w hich you cannot get if you
are w illing to pay the price by stick in g to your job
and w orking hard enough; to prepare th o ro u g h ly
enough in order to be able to accom plish yo u r desire.
N o th in g comes th ro u g h lu ck . Success or failure
do not come th ro u g h accident. You choose ol them
for yourselves. Success of the rig h t kind is alw ays
in the stu d en t who w ins success. N ot in conditions.
H e m akes the conditions.
Practically all of the men holding im portant posi
tions in the business world today started near the
g rou n d , and, in th e course of years, th ro u g h hard
work and the display of ability, round by ro u n d ,
climbed to th eir present places of power and responsi
bility. S tu d en ts and readers, you will never reach
above yo u r habitual th o u g h ts, nor will you go very far
tow ard success by a co n stan t desire to change your
occupation; you will have to stick to some one thing
and m aster it.
SIG N A LED YEGG PA L S W ITH FLASH LIG H T
A New Y orker aw oke partially one n ig h t, turned
over in bed and was ju st settlin g him self foi sleep
again when he cau g h t a m om entary flash of light on
the wall of his room. T horoughly aroused now , he
saw another flash, then an other and an o th er, in rapid
succession. L eaping o u t of bed, he looked o u t of
the window and saw a y o ung woman sta n d in g in the
shadow of the neighboring house.
T h e flashes w hich proceeded from an electric flash
light in her hand continued and the sta rtled onlooker
who understood telegraphy q u ick ly discovered th a t
they were being used to spell o u t w ords in the Morse
code. H e got two or three w ords w hich were u n
intelligible, doubtless because th ey w ere th e last of a
sentence. T h en , as th e sound of footsteps told of
th e approach of som eone fa rth e r down th e street, the
flashes began; giving th is w arning, “ L ie low. Be
c a re fu l.”
W hen the belated pedestrian had passed and th e
sound of his footsteps indicated th at he w as a safe
distance aw ay, the w om an fleshed forth this s ig n a l;
All rig h t. Go a h e a d .”
By th is tim e th e observer at the w indow , p u ttin g
tw o and two to g eth er, had concluded th at a burglar
was at w ork som ew here in the vicinity, perhaps tr y
ing to break into his ow n house. H e h u rried to the
telephone and called up the police station b u t a p
p arently his m ovem ents were detected by the girl
sentry or so m ething else had w arned her of danger
for she signaled: “ All off; R u n ,” and at once dis
appeared dow n the street.
CAT A N D LION F R IE N D S
A Los A ngeles w om an cam e into possession of the
lion “ T aw ny P e rs in g .” by nam e, when it was a cub.
A t th e same tim e she got a fluffy bit of a k itten and
bro u g h t the tw o up tog eth er. Cat and lion are now
loyal friends and allies but th ere is no tellin g when
th ere will be a breach in these relations, as lions and cats
are n atu rally a little irascible and unstable o f tem per.
It is w onderful w hat propinquity and tra in in g in
dom esticity will do to overcom e inborn fear and a n ti
pathy and establish real friendships between anim als
th a t are n atu ral enem ies to each other. A rabbit
fancier th at we know has an intelligent dog th a t has
grow n up and lived its three years w ith his rabbits.
H e th in k s n o th in g of perm ittin g th e dog to go into
the pens w ith th e rabbits for it never m olests them ,
despite the fact th a t rabbits are am ong the n atu ral
prey of the canine fam ily. T h e rabbits evidently
u n d erstand and have lost th eir in stinctive dog fear in
the case of th is p artic u lar anim al for they never show
any sign o f uneasiness w hen it is near.
SOME HUM OR
T h e portly gentlem an strolled up to one of the seats
in the park, and, hav in g seated him self com fortably,
was soon absorbed in his new spaper. A fter a w hile
he began to be annoyed by a sm all boy who persisted
in steadily sta rin g at him , and at last he could bear it
no longer. “ W h at are you looking at, little boy?”
he in q u ired . “ Is there an y th in g funny about me?”
Not Y e t,” replied the y o u n g ster, “ but th e re ’s
g o i n g to be when you get up.
T hem seats have ju st
been p a in te d .”
G en. G ordon of the C onfederate arm y was one day
sittin g by the roadside, according to a story he was
w ont to tell, w hen a delapidated “ R e b ” soldier came
tram p in g along in the boiling heat of th e su n . T he
m a n ’s clothing was ragged and tattered , one shoe was
gone, one arm w as in a sling and his head was tied
u p in a bandage. “ I love my c o u n try ,” he m u ttered
to him self. “ I ’d fight for my co u n try . I ’d starve and
go th irsty for my co u n try . I ’d die for my co u n try .
But if ever th is war is over I ’ll never love an o th er
c o u n try .”