10 THE ACORN prepare; and suppose he begin at six o'clock and study till ten, and then again from six in the morning to eight. With the one study period during the day, he will have seven hours, ample time in which to prepare his lessons well if he follow a system. One lesson may be easy for him and another hard. There may be times when he can do harder work than at others. If he plan the hard study when he can do hard work; he can master it, especially if he devote the same time every day to his difficult task. The benefits of such system are readily seen when we consider that the mind grasps clearly defined and systematized ideas more easily than confused masses. Along with system and closely associated with it is order. Where there is no order there can be no system. Then the necessity of order in study is plainly seen. Habits of order, or disorder, are formed in school that will follow the student through life. Aside from the loss he sustains by wasting his own time in making a noise, there is a loss to others, who may value their opportunities better than he does. In the study-hall we should be very careful not to disturb others, because their time may be limited and they wish to use it to the best advantage. Few people ever get the power of concentration of a Newton sufficient to hold them at work whatever is going on around them. If each student by his efforts can aid in making the study-hall a place of system and order, he may do others some good if not himself. SOCIETIES. Besides mathematics, history, science, language, literature, and art, there is something necessary in the development of the mind. In the daily routine of study little chance is given to develop a knowledge of parlimentary law, and methods of procedure in business meetings. There is a prevailing tendency among students this year to spend all the time in study and athletics. For the last two years one night every week has been spent in society meetings. Debates have been given, and the study of poets, artists, and musicians taken up. The development in a few hours thus spent cannot be over estimated. It gave students an opportunity to express their thoughts while standing before an audience; it made them acquainted with parlimentary rules; it gave them practice in developing their point in face of opposition. The great amount of good received in one hour of this practice work, could not be obtained in two or three hours of theoretical study. Besides this, subjects never met in the lessons, were discussed and debated. Living questions of the world were considered. The lack of these societies is felt in every department of the school. Boys, arising to express their thoughts, stammer for lack THE ACORN 11 of words. Girls, arising before the school, are so overtaken with fear that they are much confused. Boys organize the Olympian! Girls, meet in Edina. DEATH OF MARCUS A. HANNA. The end came at 6:40 p. m. Monday, Feb. 15, 1904; and as the soul of Senator Hanna "passed from earth to Eternity" the suppressed sorrow of his loved ones burst its bonds only in grief. The funeral services in the Senate chamber were simple, and so impressive that even strong men shed tears and sobbed during the ceremonies. The last rites were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Ohio. During this solemn occasion traffic in every city and town of Ohio was suspended for five minutes, 1:00 to 1:05, in honor of the great man. As the clock in a nearby steeple was striking the hour of two the funeral cortege passed from the church to the last resting place of one of our greatest men. While the Senator's sickness was of the worst type of typhoid, little doubt for his recovery was held, and hopes were given until fourteen hours before his death. Then the flickering spark of life was kept aglow only by the use of most powerful scientific agencies. Marcus Hanna was born of humble parents, Sept. 24, 1837, at Lisbon, Ohio. His education was of limited form. He gained re- nown not only as a scholar but as a thinker. Leaving school at the age of nineteen he commenced life with a lowly position in a wholesale house. By his high integrity, his inflexible and dauntless purpose, and his true tender heart, he won the respect and friendship of all with whom he came in contact. After serving the State of Ohio for several years he was elected Senator from that State. In this office he has made many friends by his great personalty and character. In public life as well as in Republican affairs he took the lead. Although a Republican in politics, he desired to use-his partisan relationship for the benefit of all. One writer has said of his character, "Although the arrows fly swiftly, yet do they fall from such a shield harmlessly, and the champion sustained by his integrity stands forth unscathed and triumpant at last By his death the people lost a man honored by his nation and respected by the world. One lesson that can be drawn from the many of his life is this: A humble birth is no hindrance to greatness: "The lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time." "Man wants but little here below, That used to be the roar; But now the earth ain't big enough, He wants the golden shore."