Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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20 MIRAGE in tbe National Congress was a very feast for one who could enjoy a good joke cleverly turned. The grim humor of that old reprobate, whom Carrie Nation said should apologize for being out of the fn- forno, with one thumb in his vest sarcastically proclaiming himself the “Beelzebub of Congress,” is but one of many sublimo—rediculous situations in the Insurgent struggle. Also while we paid $100,000 to Cook for the Pole, nevertheless, he indirectly furnished gratis a volume of mirth that has greatly added to our length of days. When big affairs like those are lacking to woo us from our morbid selves, the professional Joke-man turns to the things of nature and endows animals and insects writh personalities and speech. To illustrate—two flies lit on a man's head. The man was not very bald, but yet he hadn’t the hair he used to have. And as the two flies walked side by side down the part, the daddy fly said to his grandson: “My boy, I remember when this avenue was only a foot path.” Lack of time forbids my continuing this analysis. If the world is a vale of tears, it is our own fault. The Omnipotent surely never meant it to be so. Humor—good and wholesome—should not be a thing set apart. Like art, it should be a part of our every day's activity. The humor, however, must be clean; it must net be at the expense of an aged person or of sacred things, nor must it hold up to ridicule a physical deformity or misfortune of another. No one loves a grouch. He can’t be trusted, for he is dishonest with himself when he cheats himself of the joy of living. The sour view is defective; the comic view is perfect because it impales the inevitable on a smile. So let’s smile our way through this world. A laugh will force the failure to his feet, will make the growler grin, so says the god of happiness, his name is Billiken.

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MIRAGE 19 is mixed a generous portion of humor that no circumstance, however tragic, completely overthrows their balance. It is mirth that keeps us sane and suicide is temporary insanity. The Irish know how to impale the inevitable on a smile. This story the authenticity of which I cannot vouch for, will serve as an illustration. A Frenchman took his Irish mechanic along one day for a trial flight in an aeroplane. At the height of about four thousand feet a wing broke and the machine and its occupants started for the earth at a rapidly increas- ing rate. After va'nly clutching lever after lever in an attempt to stop the mad flight, the operator turned to the mechanic and asked hopelessly: “Pat, do you think the Lord is with us?” The ready answer came back. “Well, if he is he’s goin’ some.” The pun has been called the cheapest form of wit, yet it is in common use, even the immortal Shakespeare has recourse to it when he has the Porter say to the Tailor: “Come in Tailor, here you may roast your goose!” A young fellow had received a diamond ring for Christmas and was being teased about it , his friends saying the stone was not gen- uine, that it was only paste. “Well, I don’t care. If it is paste I’m not stuck—it didn’t cost me anything,” was the prompt retore. City folks have always felt the divine right as it were, of poking fun at the ruralite. Whether justly so or not is a matter of some question. In our own high school, where we have a fair representation of both, an impartial judge would find great difficulty in awarding the Stupidity Prize to the up-country folk. Somehow or other, when note books are called for, the rural precincts are first heard from, the Hooker Station themes show more coherence, and the Sugar Grove problem is driven to a more prompt and logical solution. The country boy comes to the city and makes good, while Archibald stands on the corner rolling a fresh cigarette and takes an extra turn in the bottom of his trousers, wondering how it all happened. As a flare-back to the time when conoitions were not thus, let me quote a news item from a nearby paper: “Jack Binks took the sheet iron thunderstorm from the Amandy Opery House to fix the boiler on his saw mill and the drama has received quite a set-back in these parts.” Humor, you see, is often a matter of viewpoint. Time and chance have produced the great men of all ages, so does the occasion bring out its ridiculous side. A political campaign is seasoned with fun to molify the unreasonableness of a struggle of strong men. The North Pole discovery (?) was almost all farce. The suffragette agitation is not so funny—at times. Cannon’s fignt

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MIRAGE 21 i CHILDREN OF LABOR | + ------------------------------------------------------------------------- t By HELEN BENNER. t 4 4 • 4 4 5 5,,§ $ 4 5 $ 5 »W 4 5» M 5 5 ‘i $ S $ $ M M 5, $'‘$,4 $ i,4 i 4, 5 ,§» i 4 4 5 4‘ S S YEARS ago, the women of Rome were invited to display their jewels before a large audience. When these assembled brilliantly arrayed, and exhibited their jewels and precious stones, the people stared in wild-eyed astonishment. Presently one woman stepped forth, wearing no jewels, but placing her two sons before her, presented them to the audience saying, “these are my jewels.” Now should we wonder that in after years these two boys became the two great men who led the Roman empire? Thought- fully and intelligently they were reared, educated and cared for by their mother until they were fit to take up the cares and responsi- bilities of life and the nation. Thus must a nation educate, uplift and protect its children if it hopes to obtain a firm basis in the future. Children are one of the potent elements of happiness in the world today. Page after page of history is devoted to the children of the past. Poetry of the past and present time deals with the prattle and songs of child-hood. Even the great teacher of men, when he walked on earth, did not forget the little child at his feet. “For of such is the kingdom of heaven.” What would the home be today without the child? Take the child from literature and from the home and what is left? Now let us learn to appreciate their value and not ruin their young lives by pushing them into the noisy, busy world of industry and labor. Child-labor of the past and the present are twro different problems. In the first instance the child is sent into the mills the mines ani the factories for the purpose of learning a trade. For then the mach- inery was more simple and conditions not so bad. And the boy when he had gained sufficient knowledge of his books was placed in a shop along with several older men, from whom he was to learn their trade. People passing the shop looked and exchanged a friendly greeting or stopped to chat by the door. Work was not so pressing as to demand constant attention and never ceasing labor. Nowadays this same child is sent into the hives of industry to become an integral part of the machine and as such, is looked upon with no personal regard whatever, beyond what his productive capacity will bring forth.