From the Washington Standard, July 11, 1913. Start the day right. When the sun comes to greet you Give it a smile for each ray that it sends. Shake off the worries that long to defeat you, Strengthen your faith in yourself and your friends. Yesterday’s ghost will be striving to haunt you; Yesterday’s errors may come to your brain. Throw off the worries that trouble and taunt you. Start the day right; begin over again. What a brief span is the longest existence, One flashing journey from nothing to night! Show while you may the old Roman resistance— Off with your drowsiness—into the fight! Never an empire was won by the laggard; Never a prize was obtained but by worth. Heed not the sneers of the misanthropes haggard. Start the day right and they’ll know you’re on earth. Start the day right and you’ll find as it passes Something to live for and something to love. View not the future through indigo glasses. Note the bright streams and the blue skies above. Failure may mock you through years of endeavor, Fame and success may not come at your will, But nothing can baffle a climber forever. Start the day right and you’re half up the hill.
Category: Washington Standard
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Start the Day Right
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The Indian Rancher
From the Washington Standard, February 7, 1913. My fathers roamed the prairie In the days when men were free, But a hundred and sixty acres Is the home that must do for me; I must master the plow and reaper, Nor look at the winding trails, And thousands there are to jeer me In case the red rancher fails. My fathers dwelt in the open, But I have a stifling shack; I dream of the shining tepees, But the morn brings sharply back The fences that clip one’s freedom— The ranch and the toil that waits— And I say farewell to my fathers When I open the barnyard gates. But visions still overwhelm me In spite of my will to win And the fences and buildings vanish And the village comes trooping in; The tepees gleam in the meadow The children shout by the stream But I wake at the clank of the harness— ’Tis only a red man’s dream!