Hudson High School - True Blue Yearbook (Hudson, WI)

Page 33 text:

golf. The latter is especially commendable—Golf, better than anjT medicine, will make over the poor tired body. But we cannot al- ways be out of doors for the weather may not permit, therefore, a gymnasium should be accessible. Basketball is one of the more vigorous games played in the gymnasium. One cannot watch a game of basketball without observing the will power, nerve control and general self-government the observance of the rules of the game cultivate. There «are people who say that athletics make the girl immodest and awkward. But is this so? Did you ever notice a girl who is truly an amateur athlete and observe the ease with which she car- ries herself and the gracefulness she displays. Why is it that the country boy so often outstrips those who have had better advantages? Is it not because of neglect of those physical laws on the part of the city boy, that go to build up a strong vigorous mind. Let a gymnasium be erected in every community, that all may indulge in the benetitting exercise afforded by it. Pour years of athletics will doagirl more good than forty years of Greek, Latin or even geometry. Value of the Study of History. By Ethel Lewis. History is the records of social relations of mankind. A his- torical education is a motive power as well as a guide. It consists of a good general knoweldge of the past, together with the ability to aid in bettering the present, and to guide the future by the ex- periences of those who have lived in the past. The study of his- tory is of use both in private and public life, from the fact that it furnishes us men and governments that serve as models for us to imitate. Perhaps no other study in our schools is so important and influential and broadening. The student’s mind is strength- ened by contemplating the wide diversions of the laws and customs of peoples. The careful and thoughtful searching out of causes and effects develop the power of thinking more than mathematics can. To us Americans, especially, is the study of history very important. One of the great questions with which we have to contend at pres- ent is the manner in which we shall govern our recently acquired

Page 32 text:

30 TRUE BLUE In the eighteenth and nineteenth century literature again flourished, when Dickens, Eliot, Thackery, Carlyle, Scott, McCauley and Tennyson were contemporaries. In Tennyson we have the best representative of the culture of the Victorian age, while in Scott we find the first great writer of modern historical fiction. In America, Hawthorne and Irving kept pace with English writers of their time. Our poets, Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Holmes and Emerson have contributed to the riches of English literature. In our present century with the accumulated treasures of the past in our public and private libraries, we have the richest funds of knowledge to draw from that ever people had. The evolution of the literature of the present has been the slow work of centuries. It has taken many writers to make our litera- ture what it is; but the ideas for which they strove were always, and are today the same. With the great advantage of their expe- rience before us, let us too strive, like Americans in literature, as in all else that is worth while, excel all others. Athletics for Girls. By Victoria Buell. Until recent years but little attention has been paid to the question of Athletics for girls. The view taken of this question by the ancient Greeks and Romans was different. While it was true that woman had no high social standing, but little as woman was esteemed, it was thought necessary to developeher physically. This twentieth century is an age of athletics. This was not true of the time of our grandparents. Women then prided themselves on the narrowness of waist and daintiness of appetite. The aver- age city girl is more like our grandmothers and gives little atten- tion to physical exercise. One of the best exercises recommended and one in which all classes can indulge, is walking. This exercise brings all of the muscles of the body into play, and the value of the long walks systematically taken cannot be overestimated. English women go in for athletics more than we do, and take pleasure in walking especially. They spend much more time out of doors than do the American or German girls. Among the out- door exercises which should appeal to girls are croquet, tennis and

Page 34 text:

TRUE BLUE 32 possessions. Only the experiences of other nations can be a trust- worthy guide. We must study the relations between other coun- tries and their colonies before we can decide what is best. Much enjoyment also may be derived from the study of his- tory. A person who is ignorantonthe topics of the day, be it a new book, an invention or some act of congress, has not the attractive power of one who is conversant with them. Who can understand Shakespeare, or enjoy the Crisis or Hugh Wynne, unless he knows something about the historical connections? Macauley says that the student of history, like the tourist, is transported into a new realm of society. He sees new fashions and hears new modes of expression. In fact he is obtaining a bet- ter and more profitable and useful education than he could get in any other way. Take Time by the Forelock. By Wendell P. Webster. The first allegory known to Greek art is to take time by the forelock. It was a statute executed by Lysiphus and repre- sented a youth beautiful in stature and mien. His face glowed with beauty and intellect. His feet were armed with wings to indicate fleetness, and he stood upon a globe,poised upon the tip of his toes to indicate readiness for flight, his hair was long and flowing in front, but behind there was none, and when once he passed in his rapid flight it was impossible to seize him. “Man, says Mathews, is to a great extent the child of oppor- tunity.” What a man does on any occasion depends upon what he is, and what he is depends upon his past discipline. Carnegie says: “One great cause of failure of young men in business is the lack of concentration.” Success has come to every man because he concentrated his efforts in one line. Men may be busy but not advance if they are diffusive in their efforts. In these days of concentration it is necessary for a man to be- come a specialist in this line to overcome competition. Life itself is opportunity, and to live is to have opportunity. The man who gives himself to one idea is to accomplish something, and if he has