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COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF THE OZARK HIGH SCHOOL,
OZARK, MISSOURI, HELD IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
March 24 And 25, 1892.
Christian County Republican Job Print
[Transcribed from original 6” X 9” 6 page, double column pamphlet in the Christian
County Library]
OZARK HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES,
HELD THURSDAY & FRIDAY NIGHTS, MARCH 24 & 25, 1892
From the Christian County Republican, Extra Edition, Friday, April 8th, 1892
On account of our pressure for room, we have not given the Commencement
exercises at the Ozark High School that notice which its importance to this and
surrounding communities demands, and we have yet not room to do the subject proper
justice, for time and space will not permit the extended notices which each deserves. To
say that all did well is to put the matter very mildly. The recitations were good, the music
was good, and a large and appreciative audience were highly pleased with the
performances.
The Salutatory by Miss Lonie Chapman and the orations by the graduating class
are highly spoken of by all who had the pleasure of hearing them. The programs as
published in our issue of the 23rd was fully carried out, except “The Burning of
Chicago”, by Miss Mabel Collier was, on account of Mabel having a severe headache,
deferred until the second night.
We give below, in the order in which they were delivered, the Oration of Fitzhugh
Aven and the Oration and Valedictory of W. N. Collier, followed by the address of Judge
Collier in delivering the Diplomas.
ORATION
“Ambition” - Fitzhugh Aven
Ambition is an eager desire for some particular thing. Looking about us, we see it
working everywhere. We see it manifested in the student who is constantly studying over
some deep question, who is not content to sit still while the golden moments of time glide
by on feet of lightning swiftness, but who is constantly improving with each passing day.
We go into the school room and see one bright sturdy lad bending over a dry dull book
and carefully scanning its pages, while his next neighbor on mischief is intent. We ask
what is the difference between the two? Were they not both endowed with the power of
reasoning by him who doeth all things well? Are not both surrounded by the same
advantages? Then why this vast divergence of their characters? The only answer to this
question is, that one is ambitious for the future, the other is not. The one desires to have
his name inscribed high on the roll of honor, the other is content to fill the position he
now occupies, without improving the talents bestowed upon him by nature. The one
desires to mount to the highest round of the ladder of success, and will spare no pains to
accomplish his purpose, while the other whispers to himself , soul take thy ease, and sits
idly by with folded hands and trusts to dame fortune for all. The one wishes to raise the
standard of excellence, the other cares nothing for his fellow man but all for self. And
were we empowered with the gift of prophecy that the future might pass before us as a
scroll, we would see that the future of the lads is different; their paths lay in different
directions; as far as the east is from the west so far is the way of the one from the other.
When the former shall have passed off the stage of action, it will be said of him by his
fellow, he hath done what he could for the advancement and the upbuilding of the race,
while of the latter it will be said, another cumberer of the ground hath been cut off.
Another instance in which ambition appears in it best light is the case of the
pioneer, who leaving the house of his youth and the land of his birth resolves to cast his
fortune in a more congenial clime, and being ambitious he turns his face toward the
Mecca of his mind’s eye and resolutely presses forward and reaching his destination he
finds one vast forest stretched out before him with no sign of human habitation, But he is
ambitious to make of it a home with all that a home means, and laying his axe at the foot
of each mighty oak he levels it to the ground, and within five years from the time he
came we find the forest turned into a blossoming Eden by his hand, and all that gave him
strength for this undertaking with all its perils and hardships, was his ambition for the
future of himself and his posterity. Looking back through the annals of history we find
there was once upon a time when American people were the most downtrodden people in
existence. The inhabitants were but few in number, and on one hand were threatened by
starvation, on another were menaced by the fear of the red man, and last but not least
were burdened by the galling yoke of foreign oppression, and yet the fire of their
ambition never abated, and by their struggles they drove the gaunt wolf from the door,
vanquished the Indians and conquered the Englishman, thereby transmitting to their
posterity a country which every loyal heart is so justly proud. And today our nation is the
most prosperous the sun shines on and teems with myriads of the happiest people that
breathe God’s free air. Yet all these grand results were through the agency of a noble
ambition, directed in the proper channel.
During the struggles of the revolutionary war, the American ill clad and tortured
with sufferings as no pen can portray, were kept alive by their ambition for liberty, and
through its influence spurring them on to nobler existence they reached the goal. And
today we are a free people, and it matters not where a man may come from or how lowly
his station in life from the moment his foot touches American soil, his soul expands to its
native element, and he proudly proclaims himself a free man, subject to such laws as are
necessary for the protection of society, and all of this was accomplished by ambition. Ah,
who can tell how much ambition has accomplished for the human race? To it we owe
almost all the blessings we now enjoy, for had it not been for the ambition of inventors
we would not have the improved machinery with which we can accomplish such
prodigious results. Had it not been for the ambition of religious men, we would not have
the any churches today, but through their efforts inspired by a noble ambition, we see
church steeples rearing their lofty spires heavenward on every hand. Had it not been for
the ambition of our people, we would not have any schools at present, but through its
agency we may go to almost any city or town in the U. S. and hear the merry school-bells
ringing an unpleasant greeting to the lazy schoolboy.
Friends, not only can we look back upon the past and see the power of the one
word, ambition, as it inspired and filled the hearts of our forefathers, but we can daily see
its working among us. We see it in the young man who is ambitious to become a doctor, a
preacher, a teacher, etc, varying according to the taste of the man, but all are or should be
ambitious to achieve success in some line, and fellow schoolmates as we leave this
school-room this evening, with which are connected so many memories, both pleasant
and unpleasant, it is quite likely that some of us will never return to it again, and as we
step out into the stage of action, let us start out on the rugged sea of life with resolutions
for the future, yet let us not be disappointed, but let us recollect:
“Success is not reached by a single bound,
But we build the ladder by which we rise,
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies.
And mount to its summit round by round.”
And, thus remembering, let us make a noble ambition our guiding star, and then we will
be enabled to fulfill our destiny marked our for us by our Creator, and someday we will
be privileged to close the last door of the dark prophetic past and step out into the bright
light of the glorious realization.
Oration and Valedictory
“Why” W. N. Collier
Who can say what this question has done for the world, or what would have been
done without it? It is beyond the limits of human endeavor to even outline this vast
subject, but a few thoughts may be presented, tending to show the suggestiveness of this
one word, Why. It conveys the idea of a power that moves us to greater exertions, deeper
researches, and more scrutinizing observations. It carries with it an idea of curiosity and
mystery, from which it is inseparable. All nature resolves itself into an interrogation and
the Why will go ringing down the avenues of time until all things earthly shall end, and
the last man will stand and cry aloud, “Why all this?” It may briefly be said that all the
great truths and principles of our sciences have been discovered through the agency of
Why. It would be difficult indeed to picture the condition of the human race as it would
be now, if Why had never occurred to the mind of man. Had he been content to take
things as they were and ask no questions, we should have known comparatively nothing.
We would just simply exist. We would make no progress in either the arts and sciences or
education. But the mind of man was so constituted that he wanted to investigate, reason
and find out the “Why” and wherefore of things he did not understand. Every man has
this curiosity in the direct ratio of his cerebral power, and it will be found that the man
who has this faculty rightly developed will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom
of things. Without doubt, the first man who ever saw the heavenly bodies set in the blue
infinity of space and shining down serene and grand upon him, asked “What and why all
this?” Nor was he content with asking and wondering but set to work to find out, if
possible the truth of the matter, and only to satisfy his curiosity. He could have no other
reason. The old astronomers, a thousand years before the Christian Era, asked themselves
the question, sought the answers, and found exce4edingly ingenious theories about the
movements of the celestial spheres, even without telescopes. And so the question has
come down through the ages of the past.
“For I doubt not through the ages an increasing purpose runs
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the sun.”
until now we wonder at the result of the researches in the single but most noble
department of science.
The modern astronomers now trace the movements of the planets as certainly as
we trace the curves in a problem of geometry. The desire to ascertain “Why” stimulates
then to find the peculiarities of our Solar System and though millions of miles from us,
they are familiar with their course, conditions, size and climate. They tell us that the
moon will pass between the earth and the sun on a certain day, years to come, and
precisely at the predicted time, true to the hour and minute, the great orb of day is
eclipsed by the earth’s satellite. This has been done so often and so accurately that there
is no longer any room to doubt. And this is the result of asking, “Why”.
Another example is found in the discovery of the planet Neptune. The outermost
planet of the Solar System at that time was Uranus, and its orbital movement was found
to be irregular, the only one that was so. Saturn came around from its thirty years journey
about the sun, true to the second, but Uranus defied arithmetic and refused to conform to
the time set for its return on the heavenly dial, and a young mathematician in England
asked, “Why?”. He stopped not at asking but began to find out. He took the hypothesis
that there was another planet beyond Uranus who attraction produced the variation
noticed. This was his problem: “Given the disturbances of Uranus to find and locate
another planet as the disturbing cause,” For two long, weary years he worked at this
problem, alternating between hope and despair; and at the end of that time he sent the
results of his calculations with the unknown planet shown on a chart where it should be if
his work was correct, to Lord Rosse, who immediately turned his monster telescope in
the required direction, and there, within one-half degree of the designated spot he found
the long lost wanderer of the skies. The planet has since been named Neptune who
attraction, though one billion one hundred and twenty million miles from Uranus, had
kept it from its course. All this from asking, “Why?” It was one of the grandest
achievements of intellect on record. Sir Isaac Newton sitting in his garden one day saw an
apple fall to the ground, and this single incident generated a Why in the mind of the
philosopher. Why did this apple fall to the ground when it was loosened from the tree?
Why did it not go up or sidewise? He reasoned that it was because the earth attracted it,
and pushing the question further still asked himself the question. Why does not the moon
attract the earth. Probably it did. Why does not the sun attract the earth? Why does not
every celestial body attract every other? were questions that followed in quick succession
in that active brain. Every reader knows the result to be the discovery of the law of
gravitation, that mysterious force so aptly described by the immortal bard as
“That very law that moulds a tear
and bids it trickle from its source
That law preserves the earth a sphere
And holds the planets in their course.”
If the chemist and the philosopher had never asked Why, what we have known in the
sciences? Very little. the chemist delving deep into his studies and experiments observes
something which he does not understand and asks Why and seldom does he fail to find
out. In this manner, all the great principles of chemistry have been discovered.
Edward Somerset saw the kettle lid lifted by the escaping steam and asked
himself “Why not use the steam as a motive power.” The ultimate result was to entirely
revolutionize the motive power in the civilized world, and now we see vast engines used
for driving ponderous machinery, and those used for locomotion running hither and
thither over this land, man’s willing slave that never tires, doing the work needed in the
progress of enlightenment that man’s unaided hands could never have done.
Calvin saw that by rubbing a glass tube it would attract small particles of paper
and he and others investigated the cause, and the final result is our present knowledge of
electricity, that has proven such a boon to the human race. And all because someone
asked Why. Not that we know what electricity is or that we fully comprehend its power.
Those deeply versed in electrical science like Faraday or Edison, are continually adding
to the store of knowledge. Only the unlearned believe that the limits of discovery and
improvement have been reached.
“A little learning is a dangerous thing
Drink deep, or touch not the Pierian spring;
These shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
But drinking largely sobers us again.”
Education consists partly of ascertaining how much there is in the world that will
never be known. We see a grain of corn put into the ground, see that it spreads and
becomes a living plant, and we ask Why. No scientist can answer that question. There is a
limit to human knowledge. We may go so far, we may live long and learn, but it is only a
step in the direction of progress. The philosopher may go down toward the sea of
knowledge and learn many things, but when he has gone so far he finds an ocean of
undiscovered truth spread out before him which seems to say “Thus far shalt thou go and
no further.” We ask Why. There is no answer. We see the earth swinging around the sun
century after century after century, never losing a second. We see the whole celestial
procession moving onward, onward through space, countless millions of miles yearly
around some undiscovered spot, in the infinite depths of space. We may glance with
prophetic vision, down the horoscope of cycles and note the time when our fertile mother
earth shall become a cold and lifeless planet, when the stellar fires shall have been
extinguished and the sun itself shall be a frozen orb, and out yearning souls, uplifted
toward the Infinite, asks Why. On Why! Though we can not comprehend, we may rest
assured that an undeviating purpose has existed, that nothing has been done in vain, and
that He who doeth all things well, comprehends perfectly and never asks Why.
And now to me belongs the pleasant duty of returning the earnest thanks of the
students of the Ozark High School to the Board of Education. Gentlemen, your work for
the interest of this school have been zealous and untiring. You have given us the
opportunity of education, you have enabled us to drink at the fount of knowledge, you
have permitted us to cull gems of learning more precious than the gold of Ophir.
Gentlemen, from our hearts, we thank you. And to you, the teachers of this school, we
desire to extend our gratitude and most sincere thanks for your kindness, forbearance and
patience with which you have guided our footsteps up the hill of learning. You have
cheered us when we faltered, and have encouraged us to press onward and upward. By
your example and your precepts you have shown us how to learn and how to be useful
workers in the busy world. We thank you. May our future lives attest the value of your
teachings. We can never forget you. And you my schoolmates, joyous, happy, helpful
friends, what jolly games we have had, what knotty problems we have solved together,
how your wit has brightened and your criticisms pruned me. Never, never can I forget a
single one of you. For me, the school life is ended. I must enter upon the world’s school
of realities. Truly, this is my commencement. Short indeed seems the time that I have
been in school, but it has been fourteen years, and of the scores of students that were my
mates and friends then, none are hear. Their places are filled by others. My former mates
are either out fighting their way in the world, or they have gone to join the silent
majority. Of them and you I shall always entertain a loving recollection. I will close by
saying, cherish our Alma Mater, the Ozark School
ADDRESS OF JUDGE COLLIER
Members of the Graduating Class: it becomes my pleasant and agreeable duty to
present to you your certificates of graduation or Diplomas, and I feel that it is an honor to
me to have this privilege, and an honor to you to receive these Diplomas. These are the
first ever issued, as far as I know, from any school in Ozark. It may be that the school
taught in Ozark prior to the war in the old building which stood on the east side of the old
town of Ozark granted Diplomas, but if so I have not been able to learn of it. The school
in our town at the time I came to Ozark 19 years ago was being taught in the Court House
for want of any other suitable building, and was afterwards taught in this building.
Some 15 or 16 years ago, two rooms of the present building were erected, and
some years later the other two were built.
The schools of Ozark since I came here have been such as are now found in any
other good district of the County, until about six years ago the people of Ozark began to
ask “Why.” Why not have a better school? And they, like those of whom we have been
hearing in the Valedictory address did not stop with asking why, but went to work with a
will to secure a better and more efficient school in our midst. Enthusiastic meeting were
held: correspondence was had with, and replies came from educators in Massachusetts,
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, and I know not how many other places from persons
who saw in the accounts of the proceedings that the people of Ozark were in earnest in
their determination to have a good school. Suffice it to say that a graded school was
established; a course of study was adopted; and you, gentlemen of the graduating class,
are the first to complete the Course prescribed, and are entitled to receive from the Board
and the Principal of your school these certificates of graduation.
As I said before, it is a pleasure and an honor to me to be permitted to deliver
these first diplomas from the Ozark High School. And this occasion, this assembling of
your friends and neighbors here tonight does an honor to you. It tells to you that they are
interested in you and your future.
Speaking in the name of the Board of Directors, in the name of the people of
Ozark and of the entire school district, I wish you unbounded success in your vocations in
life. Be assured that our hearts are with you. We hope you may be able to delve to deeper
depths, to rise to higher heights, and to occupy broader fields than any of the able and
learned scholars who have occupied and who are now occupying the fields of science and
learning. You cannot possibly do better than your friends wish for you.
The occasion may be somewhat sad to you. It is to us. We know that we will have
you with us no more. The seats occupied by you for so many long years will now be
filled with others. The teachers who pointed out your “Onward and Upward” will miss
your well known faces. But there is a bright side to all this. We feel that as you have
conquered thus far it is an omen that you will go on “conquering and to conquest” until
every obstacle shall have been overcome, and our sorrow shall be turned to joy when we
shall see you, as we hope that we may see you, stand on the pinnacle of fame, and in the
language of that greatest Roman general exclaim, “veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I
conquered).
Let me then present you these diplomas with the wish of all your friends that you
may go onward and upward, and at the end of a long and useful life you may go down the
slope of time bearing the honors which we hope may be yours, and that at last you may
remember with pride and gratitude your Alma Mater - The Ozark High School, May God
bless you and crown you with the best of success in life.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, may I be permitted to express the hope that this
occasion, these Commencement exercises may be an inspiration to use to greater efforts
for the advancement of the school interest of Ozark. May I not hope that this is the
harbinger which ushers in the dawn of a better day for the Ozark High School. Let us put
forth every effort in our power to build up in our midst a school second to none in
Southwest Missouri and continue the effort until a building shall crown our hill which
will be the pride of generations to come, and be a school which shall be sought after by
students from all the surrounding counties of our part of the state.
And before I take my seat, I want to return these teachers of the Ozark High
School the thanks of the School Board and the patrons of the school for their very faithful
and efficient management of the school, and I express the hope that they will return to
their labors of the next term, after a season of rest and recuperation, with renewed vigor
and energy, determined to make the Ozark High School the best in the land.
