Lincoln High School - Quill Yearbook (Jersey City, NJ)

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his business manager, hit upon an excellent idea for stopping these heavy demands: the failure of Petroleum Amalgamated has reduced Mr. Bruce to penury, he claims. The curtain falls on the Hrst act. In the second act, Mr. Bruce, having carried out his ruse sucessfully and having lent such a helping hand about the hotel, is engaged as its new manager. Meanwhile Nora is used as a means of distracting Mrs. Barrett's attention from Claudia's infatuation for the artist. by pretending an interest in the youth. Mr. Bruce is dumbfounded for he has found Nora more than likeable. He reioices, however, in the fact, that he has found the true character of all these persons, for his loss of wealth has only caused them to be kinder to him. He determines to reward his friends and is especially successful in the case of Benny Ketcham by having his friends, in his own name, buy out the cemetery lots on Strawberry Hill. Ten days later we find Hotel Mullet a successful summer resort under the efficient management of John Bruce. It is celebrating with a dance. John Bruce celebrates by rewarding Tommy with the ten thousand dollar contract. Whereupon Tommy and Claudia elope, leaving a note behind. The note is discovered by Bruce, who immediately thinks it means Nora and Tommy. He breaks the news gently to Mrs. Mullet, who is heartbroken that her daughter's career should be so ruined. But it is Mrs. Barrett who becomes heartbroken that her daughter should elope with a poor artist. Nora and John are both made gloriously happy by finding their love for one another. It was indeed a Lucky Break for all concerned. Prominent in the cast, if not in the story, is Elmine Ludine fEvelyn Eyrey, the comic maid at the hotel. C'X9Q!5 To the End of the Trail At the Memorial Day celebration last term the january 1934 Class, under the supervision of Mr. Wright, presented a one-act play, To the End of the Trail , by Stephen O'Higgins. The scene was laid in the home of john Crabb flrving Honigbergj, a farmer in Bound Brook, New jersey, in 1777. The action represented the efforts of an American spy, William Somers fBurnett VanDeusenj, to help his country while hiding at the farmhouse of John Crabb, to whose daughter Marion fEleanor Benettej he is engaged. The home is raided by Captain Smithson QCharles Briggsj, a Grenadier Guard of George III of England, and the spy is discovered. Knowing of the plot against the post at Martinsville, little Jeanne QMary Kusyj, the daughter of John Crabb, is sent to warn the men. She delivers the news and returns to her home with some of the soldiers. The British soldier, Captain Smithson, is put in irons and the romance between Marion and the American spy is cul- minated by their marriage. Other characters in the cast were played by Abner Raymond and Gertrude Grimley. 95

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- 1 A Lucky Break On Saturday evening, December sixteenth. the Class of january, 1934 presented A Lucky Break , a farce-comedy in three acts by Zelda Sears. If the after remarks by the audience may be considered a criterion, the per- formance was one of the finest ever produced in Lincoln High School. The entire action of the drama transpires in the lobby of the Hotel Mullet in a small Connecticut town. The expected arrival of john Bruce fCharles Briggsj, a former resident, after twenty years of successful business experiences in New York, throws the hotel management and its guests into a turmoil. Indirectly, each person expects to benefit by this prosperous business man's appearance. Mrs. Mullet fMary Rinaldij, owner and manager of the hotel, hopes to obtain funds to launch her sweet talented daughter, Nora QNina I-Iillj, on a musical career, Mrs. Barrett QAnne Kaminskyj , high-brow society dame, desires to marry her vivacious debutante daughter, Claudia cB.lI'bLlYL1 Evansj, to a person of wealthg Mr. Bruce is eligible. However, Claudia and a struggling young artist, Tommy Lansing fRobert Williilnisj, who too looks to john Bruce for aid, hoping to win a ten thousand dollar contract-are in love. Living at the hotel without cost are Abner Ketcham fAbner Raymondj, mortgage owner on nearly all the houses in Matasquam including the hotel, and Benny Ketchum CNathan Epsteinj, his nephew, endeavoring unsuccessfully to sell cemetery lots. Bella McWatt fMae Tannenbaumj, an extremely loud, newly rich New Yorker, is interested in Mr. Bruce from a purely money-seeking standpoint. The arrival of Mr. Bruce is enlivened by the entrance of his chauffeur fHenry Sierackij, straightway mistaken for that illustrious gentleman. Immediately Bruce is conscious of the desires of all these persons. Charles' Martin fWilliam Kanej, 94

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ReeeeeeeefeefeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeggA ma it iaefeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeaeeeb Reason It was the Chinese philosopher Confucius who said, Let our reason, and not our senses, be the rule of our conduct, for reason will teach us to think wisely, to speak prudently, and to behave worthily. To us who are about to leave this school, these words should have a special meaning. We are in a world of many different currents and undercurrents of opinion, and' we are in danger of being caught in treacherous eddies of thought and feeling. So much unscrupulous propaganda is circulated and so many base means are undertaken to impress opinions upon the masses that it is essential that we have some principle by which to guide ourselves. Reason should be that principle, for if a person can subordinate passion and emotion to his reason, if he does not allow prejudice, jealousy, or hate to influence his actions, if he can always seek truth and can recognize it when he sees it, he will find intellectual and spiritual enlightment. Moreover, he will become independent of other people, he will not, because of lack of vision, become the instrument of evil-doersg and he will create for himself a sense of security and responsibility. Such a person, since he is properly equipped, is always prepared to face any crisis. His mind has been trained to recognize the problem of any given situation and to solve it. Thus it becomes apparent that the qualities of leadership can exist in a man only if he is endowed with reason. It also becomes evident that even a race, if it desires to retain and protect its traditions, its individuality, and its initiative, must be rational in all it does and must impress upon the minds of its youth the value of this attitude. Otherwise, intellectual stagna- tion results, and, in time, out of an open sky the demagogue will swoop down and with his talons seize the people in their stupor. The tyrant will smite them mercilessly with his iron list, crushing them. There have been men who have fought to the bitter end the battle of the human intellect, attacking the superstitutions and false traditions of law and religion, and proclaiming the supremacy of the mind. Those men held this standard high above all other authority. Perhaps their dream is too bright for immediate realization, but surely it is a worthy ideal for which we must strive ceaselessly. 96