Clifton Springs High School - Cliftonian Yearbook (Clifton Springs, NY)

Page 5 text:

THE CLIFTONIAN 3 have. In one sense every nation has a rise, a golden age, and a decline, but Lincoln states that if our political institutions and standards fall, it will not be from any outside power, but will spring up amongst us—that as a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. And there was at that time, Lincoln said, an ill-omen amongst them which was the increasing disregard for law. Not only was this evil prevalent in any one part of the country but was common all over the nation. The mobs were practically ruling certain districts at that time. They would murder, hang and torture people as they saw fit. In Mississippi they hung gamblers, not content with this they brutally hung poor innocent negroes, then from negroes to white men and strangers. In St. Louis they took a mulatto, innocent and minding his own business, hung him to a tree and burned his body. These lynchings were almost as commonplace as Spanish moss on a tree. Were these acts important in the light of the perpetuation of our political institutions? Lincoln’s idea was that if men take it into their heads to hang gamblers and torture murderers they will in turn murder people that are neither gamblers nor murderers. Such would be the result of the rule of mobocracy, and in time our standards would be trodden to the earth. The strict observance of all laws is the best way to guard against the evil event of national suicide. Lincoln admits that there may be some bad laws, but, he nevertheless urges us to religiously observe thfcm while working for their repeal. Lincoln states that in nearly every generation some genius will rise up seeking glory. He cannot find this in the field of establishing a permanent government, because this field of glory has been harvested. He would therefore seek to find it in tearing down the American political institutions and substituting something new. Again the passion, that came as a result of the American Revolution and bound us to the nation must die in the future as the vividness of those days grows dim. He concludes by saying that reason—cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason— must furnish all the materials for our future support and defense. “Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, as the rock of its basis, and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution” the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. I have reviewed this speech to show how the circumstances of almost a hundred years ago parallel those of today. Lincoln, no doubt, little realized that what he said in 1837 would apply to 1929. Conditions are so much the same today, disregard for law so prevalent, that President Hoover has spoken on the crime wave and has made a plea for respect of law, which in this day amounts to the same thing as Lincoln's impressive speech of 1837. Instead of condemning mob rule Hoover spoke of our national crime wave, robbery, embezzlement, forgery, murder, and blackmail, which is lowering our morale as a republic. Let me conclude with the words of Lincoln himself, and those quoted by Mr. Hoover in his plea for law obedience: “Let Reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in the legislative halls, and enforced in the courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation, and let the young and old, the rich and poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and conditions sacrifice increasingly upon its altar.” So, we, the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Nine, start out in life to do our duty, better citizens for the educational opportunities we have enjoyed. ELVA G. LANNON ’29. St. Peter—Who’s there? Voice Without—It is I. St. Peter—Get out of here. We don’t want any more school teachers!

Page 4 text:

 THE CLIFTONTAN ALBERT BOSSHART Main Street “DEL” I’m right; you’re wrong; so don’t argue! President of Senior Class (4); Prize Speaking Contest (3); Won Prize Speaking Contest (4); Manager Basketball (4); Baseball (3, 4); Cast Senior Play; Chairman Debate. Elgin College. OLIVE GRIFFITHS VanVranken Ave. “DUD” I love to play, I love t’ dance, But most of all, I love romance. Cast Senior Play (4); Debate (4); Prize Speaking Contest (4); Glee Club (2) ; Dramatic Club (3); Manager Basketball (2); Basketball (1,2,3,4); Editor of School News (4). Undecided. HERMAN MARK Crane Street “HUNCE” Herman is quiet, Herman is short, Herman is every inch a sport. Cast Senior Play (4); Debate (4); Basketball (2, 3, 4); Captain Basketball (3, 4); Baseball (3, 4); Captain Baseball (3) ; Wearer of C. P. G. MARY ROBYN Bunker Hill “MARY” Another reason why women aren’t the weaker sex. Editor of School News (4); Stage Manager Senior Play. Geneseo Normal. WAYNE COWELL Teft Avenue “O! WAYNE” A blower of many horns, Who doesn’t blow his own. Orchestra (1, 2, 3, 4); Property Manager Senior Play; Baseball (3, 4); Wearer of C. Undecided. DOROTHY WALTERS Broad Street “DOT” A Dot with a Dash to it! Dot is pretty Dot is neat Dot is witty And quite petite! Editor of School News (4); Glee Club (2); Dramatic Club (3); Manager Basketball (4); Captain Basketball (1); Basketball (1, 2, 4); Business Manager Senior Play (4); Debate (4); Wearer of C. P. G. Salutatory: Reverence for Law To the Board of Education, to the Faculty, and the friends here assembled, I bring the greetings of the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Nine. We are glad to have so many friends with us on this glorious occasion. Lincoln has been eulogized as a national hero by great orators; he has been heralded as a genius by great statesmen, but I, in my humble way, wish to speak of Lincoln as a man of great foresight. As children we learned the Gettysburg address, beautiful for its simplicity and sincerity, we read his letter to Horace Greeley as an example of astounding logic, and I wish to review for you, tonight, the address given before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springsfield, Illinois, January the twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, called by him “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions.” This speech, like Lincoln’s other speeches, is simple but impressive and comes from the soul of the man. Given before a group of young men he tries to impress upon them their duty to their country. The speech was given at the time of the slavery agitation, when in the North the Fugitive Slave Law was being disobeyed and in the South mobs were taking the law into their own hands. He says that America is the fairest portion of the earth in regard to extent of territory, fertility of soil and climate, and that in this fair land of ours we have religious and civil liberties, not what we ourselves have toiled and labored for, but legacies which were bequeathed to us by a hardy, brave and patriotic race of ancestors. Nobly they performed their task and it is our just duty to carry it out the way they themselves would

Page 6 text:

4 THE CLIFTONIAN HISTORY OF CLASS History repeats itself, so says a well known and oft-quoted adage, so do not be surprised if our history happens to be in some respects much like a great many other class chronicles you have heard. There is still enough difference to give us a personality. On September 4th, 1917, 23 small children wended their way toward school for the first time. Albert Boss-hart, Doris Case, Lillian Smith, Elva Lannon, Victor Anderson, Solomon Be-helfer, Francis Burke, Elman Cowell, Stanley Glacier, Maurice Joyce, Alfred Morphy, Joseph Nairy, Elwyn Richardson, Lawrence Walters, Joseph VanDen Busche, Edward Walters, Lawrence Ostrander, Eleanor Williams, Mary Smith, Bessie Schantz, Elizabeth Raines, Ruth Peisher and Jennie Frank made up the first grade which later was to become known as Class of ’29. Of these students, Albert Bosshart, Doris Case, Lillian Smith and Elva Lannon are the only ones who are being graduated. Elva Lannon dropped out in the second grade, but returned to us in the third. In the fourth grade Olive Griffiths was added to the ranks of '29 and so the class remained through the rest of the grades. Four years ago, on the morning of September 7th, the Class of 1929 assembled, namely, Doris Case, Celia Fish, Marian Fox, Olive Griffiths, Elva Lannon, Mary Robyn, Violet Lannon. Ruth Schantz, Lillian Smith, Lois Tolner, Eleanor Wright, Elizabeth Sanders, Albert Bosshart, Nevill Cowell, Robert Goodman, Howard Hickok, William Lake, Maurice Joyce, Joseph Nairy, Elwyn Richardson, Joseph Peisher, Edward Walters and Lawrence Ostrander. It was at this time that Mary Robyn officially joined our class. Some were so enthusiastic they nearly beat the janitor and were obliged to wait many a long minute on the High School steps. That their enthusiasm did not cool under this preliminary trial is shown by the fact that some of these early ones are with us tonight. We entered the building with the proper amount of Freshman humility; our hearts quaked with pleasure at speaking to a Senior, while the mere mention of Cicero and Geometry sent our respect soaring to the loftiest heights. Of course, the spell has long since been broken; the trials and tribulations of these subjects combined with problems of Physics and other subjects enumerated in the Course of Study, have had their disillusioning effects. At the beginning of our Sophomore year, our class numbered twenty, which included two new members, Dorothy Walters and Herman Mark. In our Junior year, on April 23rd, we organized our class. The following officers were elected: Albert Bosshart, president; Elva Lannon, vice-president; Lillian Smith, secretary; Doris Case, treasurer, and Miss Greeney was unanimously chosen class advisor. The first thing our class did was to have a benefit movie, which proved to be a successful start toward our Washington trip. How well we remember working on the “Junior Float” for many days in Kemp’s garage. It certainly was a gala day when “The Little-Old-Red-School-House” appeared in the “Big Parade” favoring a new school for Clifton Springs. Then for several days no one could see a Junior in sight without hearing. “Oh, have you seen our new Junior rings?” Of course we all thought that no preceding class had ever had rings quite as nice as ours, and I am afraid some of us still think just that. Our first social undertaking was the trip to Owasco, the latter part of June, with the Seniors as our guests. This proved a huge success and a good time was enjoyed by everyone. Then we left school, delightfully anticipating the vacation, and most of us looking forward to becoming dignified Seniors in the fall. When we returned to our duties in September of last year we ' ere a very