THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 89 



of pharmacy ; we have excellent books published from time to time 

 and any graduate of this College who keeps up his profession should 

 not fail to secure this literature in order to keep up to the times. You 

 have learned a great deal in two years, but what you have learned 

 bears a very minute ratio to what there is to be learned, and that you 

 must learn by continued study. My students have often come to me 

 and asked: "What do you consider to be the most important element 

 toward success in life?" and I have thought over the matter a great 

 deal. Of course industry is very important and honesty is absolutely 

 necessary, but without the ability to distinguish the essential from the 

 non-essential, no matter how industrious a man is, the chances are he 

 will not make a success. He will not do the right thing. He will not 

 have the necessary judgment to decide what it is worth while to do. 

 I have many acquaintances who started out in life as thoroughly 

 equipped as you are for the work they expected to carry out. but 

 somehow or other, they never succeeded. Although they were per- 

 fectly honest, very industrious, they always managed to do the wrong 

 thing. Some one speaks of it as "drawing buckets out of empty wells." 

 The English have a sporty way of emphasizing it. They say : "He is 

 always betting on the wrong horse." 



People have often applied to me for chemists, or engineers and 1 

 would call in some of our graduates and say : "T think I have positions 

 for you." Some of them were inclined to ask as a first question, 

 "What is the salary?" Then I am always discouraged. The first 

 question to ask is: "Is the work that goes with the position worth 

 doing?" but the last question to ask is: "What is the remuneration?" 

 If it is worth doing, take the position, make what you can out of it, 

 but do it well, and regard it as a stepping stone for something better. 

 Ask yourself whether you are going to fit yourself for more responsi- 

 ble work. Never mind what you get in the beginning, provided you 

 have enough to keep body and soul together. 



Now I hope you will Maintain a high degree of honor among your- 

 selves and the public. I think one of the great advantages of going 

 through College is the fact that you belong to a class. You, as 'long 

 as you live, will be members of the Class of 1912. Someone has said: 

 "It is better to have gone and failed than never to have gone at all," 

 on account of the associations and fellowships that a man makes in 

 college. Now, in your business affairs, in your handling of the drugs 

 and chemicals which come in your way, always give good honest meas- 



