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Show The Lesson Of Columbus By RUTH TAYLOR "Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind, the Gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of shores; Before him only shoreless seas." So begins Joaquin Miller's great ; poem on Columbus a poem for 1 all those who are facing a time ' of danger. Columbus had only a ' belief by which to sail. He set out into an unknown ocean, which E the fears of more timid men had peopled with fabulous monsters and half-hinted perils. His ships were small, his crew mutinous, his seconds in command envious that this "foreigner" should be placed over them. All he had was an idea a plan which was new, and which wise men swore could never be carried out. But he did it. He set his course straight ahead, and stuck to it. The monsters did not appear ap-pear but unforseen hardships did. The ships were becalmed for days in the Doldrums that patch of ocean where the wind seldom blows. The provisions and water ' ran low, and the ocean was wider than his wildest calculations. But still he went on. What he faced, we face today. We face the difficulties of curtailment cur-tailment of what we deem necessities. neces-sities. We will need the extra energies en-ergies of men to pull us through the inaction of the Doldrums. We will have to meet with and handle mutinous subersive forces and envious, self-seeking leaders. But where Columbus had the idea of a new road to the Indies, we have the ideal of a new worjd, where democracy will have an opportunity to progress, and where all men will be free. If we steer straight ahead, along the course we know to be right, with our faith in the sanctity of the individual and in the inborn right of all men to be free and equal, as our 'guiding star, we will reach our goal. But we must handle mutinous subservice forces meaning we must follow through. "The good mate said: "Now must we pray For lo! the very stars are gone, Brave Admiral speak; what shall I say?" "Why say: 'Sail on! Sail on! And on'!" Then pale and worn, he paced his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then a speck A light! A light! At last a light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world, he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "On! Sail on!" |