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Page 26 text:
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There have been six great events in the history of this world. The first was the appearance of Adam and Eve. The second was the rise of King Tut. The third was the death of Iulius Caesar. The fourth was the crossing of the Atlantic by Columbus. The fifth was the reign of lack Dempsey, and the sixth was the entrance of the Class of 1940 into Elizabethtown High School. Of these, the first five were of minor importance. Adam and Eve, I believe, are now dead, King Tut is in a museum. Iulius has been eclipsed by Mussolini, Columbus has moved to Ohio, and lack Dempsey is just a faded cauliflower, But the Class of l94O not only is history, but is still making history. On September 8th, l936, one hundred thirty-one frightened fresh- men crept hesitatingly through the portals of Elizabethtown High School, what instruments of torture might be awaiting us we did not know, the dungeon horrors of medieval England, to the guillotine of France, to the electric chair of modern America, we suspected and expected everything. We meek girls huddled into one group and the humble boys tthere was no chivalry in our class in those daysl huddled into another. Those stern, heartless teachers scared us by voicing nothing beyond ordinary directions. That pack of reprobates, the sophomores, also scared us by saying anything they could think of that might have a dampening effect on our ardor and to discourage our ambition to become educated so that we might all sometime be presidents of the United States, ln spite of all this, we prospered during that first year. Little by little our greenness wore off, and our true intelligent natures began to assert themselves. lt was during that year that several of our members fell by the wayside. 'With a truly generous spirit, they decided that there were enough of us to become great without their assistance, and that they would rather live happily in the bliss of ignorance than to wallow along in the sorrows of knowledge. Or per- haps, it was when they learned that Alexander Hamilton left school at nine years and finally became Secretary of the Treasury that they decided against the evils of further education. Those of us remain- ing. survived the various tasks set before us by those whose work was the creating geniuses, and came back in the fall of l937 with the rank of sophomore. During that second year it took the combined efforts of all our teachers, and the juniors and seniors to keep us properly squelched. ln our new wisdom we wanted to symbolize the revolt of modern youth. And in that revolt several more of our members decided that work was more profitable than school. lt was during that year that some of the boys in the class began to discover that the girls in the class
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Page 27 text:
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were human beings, and were interestingg and likewise, a few of the feminine members discovered that a little smile is a dangerous thing. But it was not until our junior years that there developed any really serious love affairs. And even by the end of our second year we had not entirely learned that serious study is both unnecessary and unbecoming to awell brought up high school youth. Our third year in Elizabethtown High School was one of great progress. By now, we were mental giants in wisdom. We learned how to recite Aupon various subjects without advance preparation. We learned many successful excuses for avoiding home study and others for not having completed it. We became practised in the art of finding reasons to be away from school and other equally good arguments in favor ot not making up the missing class work. We learned, also, that in union there is strength and that not more than one pupil should ever do a math lesson or complete a Latin transla- tion. So it was with the newly-chosen class colors of blue and gold flying, and an-inspiring motto of There are no Alps that in Iune of last year we stood upon the threshold of seniority. This year is all too recent and fresh in our memories to need historical reproduction. Rather, I believe it more in keeping to take account of stock and list the damages which have been wrought in our passage through the schools of Elizabethtown. Of damage to the school I dare not report. The less said about penciled books, initialed desks, battered lockers and alcohol essays the better. Of damage to our minds, there has been little. We learned to get along with a maximum of flowery speech and a minimum of brain-racking effort. Of physical wear I report the following: false teeth, sixp wooden legs, none, glass eyes, none, broken bones, five, fallen arches, none, and broken hearts, twenty. All in all, we, now eighty- eight in number, report to graduation in fair condition and with bright hopes for the future. The last four years have been happy ones. Our teachers and our principal have done everything that human beings possibly could do to make our time spent here both profitable and pleasant, even granting us at the Iunior-Senior banquet the great concession of dancing, an unwritten event heretofore in the annals of the Elizabeth- town High School. tWho says we are a back numberll Our associa- tions with one another have also been very pleasant, and fruitful of lasting friendships that will' continue for the remainder of our times. Whatever our success and future happiness, I am sure that each one of us will be able to look back on our days at Elizabethtown High School and say: Those were the four hflppiest years of my life. Virginia Boyd mr'
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