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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1926)
1 2 1926 3 MAY a The Chemawa American Printed at Chemawa, Oregon, and Devoted to the Interests of Indian Education Vol. XXVII Wednesday, April 7, 1926 SOMETHING TO REFLECT UPON At the conclusion of our chapel on the evening of March 28th we asked Mr. Iliff for a copy of the splen did talk which he gave those assembled for the exercises. The talk was given with conviction and carried a message for all. We are pleased to publish it, as follows: An old man traveling a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm, deep and wide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, For the sullen stream held no fear for him, For he turned when he reached the other side, And builded a bridge to span the tide. “Old man,” cried a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting your strength in building here, Your journey ends with the ending day And you never again will pass this way; You have crossed the chasm deep and wide, Why build a bridge at eventide?” And the builder raised his old gray head, “Good friend, on the path I have come,” he said; “There followeth after me today, A youth whose feet will pass this way. This stream, which was naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfail be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim. Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.” We are all traveling the highway of life. Though we are in company with many others, yet we travel alone. Alone? Yes. Each of us is alone because he cannot have another decide for him which route he will follow, which turning he will take, or which of the obstructions he will go over or around. Those who have traveled this highway before our time have re moved many of the obstructions, graded the highway and mapped the most direct route. Ours is the responsibility as to choice of following them and profiting by their experience, or through our inexperience and conceit, attempting to select a better route and a more easily followed grade. So each of us must travel alone, although surrounded by friends who are anxious to advise and assist. This highway, as described by the poem, brings us to a chasm deep and wide through which flows a sul len stream. The chasm is the chasm of ignorance and the stream at its bottom is the sullen stream of failure. The chasm is dangerous for many reasons and the No. 28 crossing of the stream at the time of the arrival of the old man of the poem could only be accomplished by fording. You will remember that the old man crossed in the twilight dim for the sullen stream held no fear for him. Why? Because he had been able to ford this stream of failure through knowledge and experience, and pos sibly a meager amount of education. However, he negotiated it, and seeing the danger to those that were to follow who lacked his experience, he set about build ing a bridge to span the tide. We must remember that the students and employes of earlier days had no TNT to blast out stumps and help clear the land. They used a mattock, shovel and axe, and every foot of land put under cultivation by them was won at a cost of sweat and effort. They put a great deal into it. They have taken a full meas ure from it. I well remember the derisive remarks of some sup posedly wise people a number of years ago, concerning Indian Education. They were loud in their condem nation of such effort. They croaked about wasting the taxpayers’ money. They said it could never be carried out. ‘ ‘The Indians will never accept it, ’ ’ was the cry. I would like for that crowd to see this stu dent body tonight. The sight of you and the knowledge of progress would make an argument strong enough to convince the greatest skeptic among them. “lam building this bridge for him.” That has been the spirit of all the workers, both students and employes, in the past and at the present, who are concerned with the building of our bridge. Immediately there arose a great outcry from those near by: “You are wasting your strength. Your work is useless. You are old. Since you have passed safely over why worry about those who are to follow? You will not profit by this work; let it go.” Then the old man, named SERVICE, reasoned with the bystanders who were trying to persuade him to leave the younger generation to their fate. He point ed out to them that while he might not gain anything for himself he would make sure of a safe passage of (Continued on page 4)
