Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. 15 civilized nations. ‘There is no legal power be- hind them to give them force and complete obedience. They therefore lack the dis- tinguishing quality of law. However, some of these rules are so precise, so certain and so universally accepted that they cannot be dis- tinguished from positive laws, except by the absence of a determinate legislative source. Such rules as ‘‘The rules relating to blockades and the treatment of embassadors’’ are very positive, and no civilized nation would think of violating them. Other rules, such as those relating to ‘What should be Contraband in War’ are very vague aud unsettled. A question of the highest im- portance arises when a portion of an existing State rises in rebellion and claims inde- pendence. It is the duty and the right of every nation, if the rebels have succeeded in establishing a government, to recognize them. Every nation must judge for itself whether the time for recognition has come or not. A too hasty recognition would be a violation of the rules of non-intervention. It is the duty of every nation when it issues a declaration of war to inform all neutral na- tions through its embassadors of such an ac- tion. Unless such a formal notification is made a disinterested government could not be held responsible for any breach of the laws of nations. ‘The neutral nation is to be regarded as the friend of both belligerents and is bound to treat them alike. Neutral States are en- titled to prohibit all belligerent operations in their country, using that phrase in the en- larged sense it bears in international law. They may prevent the passage of fleets or armies through those portions of the sea or land over which their jurisdiction extends. A neutral State must use due diligence to pre- vent the fitting out, within its jurisdiction, of any vessel which it has reasonable grounds to believe is intended to carry on war against either belligerent, and also to prevent either of them from making any of its ports a base of naval operations, or for the purpose of renewal of supplies or the recruitment of men. ‘There- fore it is necessary that hostile nations pur- chase their necessary equipments abroad before the first gun is fired. Some nations have been so cautious as to entirely close their ports to two nations at war. If no such rule is laid down a man-of-war of either nation might enter the port and take such supplies as might save her from distress or take aboard sufficient coal to enable her to sail to the nearest port of her country. Prisoners of war must be carefully handled ; only such restraint must be put on them as will prevent their escape. ‘hey must be fed and clothed by the country detaining them. Ifan army should surrender, the newspaper reporters, guides, contractors and messengers with the army or assisting it, may be taken as prisoners of war. All spies must be strictly volunteers and a soldier in uniform could not be executed as a spy serving the enemy, since a spy is necessarily a pers on in disguise, acting under false pretenses. All things which make warfare unnecessarily cruel are regarded as illegal, such as redhot shot, chain shot and hollow shot, and projectiles weighing less than fourteen ounces if filled with inflammable sub- stances. Poison is also prohibited as a weapon of warfare. (Ency. Brit.) (Co (Gey “See Alumni Notes. ae To the Class of ’97. If, Don't you remember the Seniors, my friend, The Seniors who left ws last year, Who sighed with delight when they bade ws farewell, And left behind not a tear? The school roon has not fallen to pieces, my friend, The rafters have not tumbled in, But a quiet which crawls round the walls as you list, Has followed the olden din. JEN, There’s a change in the things that you loved, old friends, Yow have left your old home for the new, But I feelin the depths of my spirit the truth, There never was change in you. Twelve months, ’98, has come, dear friends, Since you were the High School pride; But we send you greeting and wish you well, ‘97, whatever betide.

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14 HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. the States in 1789, provided a few amendments should be added. So we see that the growth of government in the United States was not sudden but gradual, » every time changing for the better. Coe Wi 98: ee Irrigation. ae The success of agriculture in an arid or a sub-arid region depends largely upon irriga- tion. culture in Madera County has in the past de- pended upon the water which could be ob- tained from the Fresno river, about thirteen or fourteen miles east of town. From this point the canal company has a ditch con- structed. About a mile from town it divides, part carrying water to land south of town, while the other branch conveys water to the west. During the summer and fall of 1897, the canal company increased the size of their ditch and started another to tap several mountain streams. For some reason they failed to secure the mountain water, and Madera people have still to depend upon valley water. The scarcity of rain this year led to an almost total failure of the grain crop, and gave very little Had the company secured a sufficient supply, a great many would have irrigated their grain. People with alfalfa got only a small portion of The success of alfalfa raising and fruit large water to be distributed for irrigation. the water they wished, while some got none at all. If the canal company had sufficient storage capacity at the dam so as to hold the water till needed, usually there would be sufficient for all. As it is, when people do not need the water the ditches are full, and when they need it most, the ditches are nearly empty. ‘These failures to supply water have led to the at- tempt to pump from an underground source. This plan has been tried in ‘Tulare County and found successful. It ought to work just as successfully in Madera County. It is being tried on A. L,. Sayre’s ranch, about three miles south of Madera. ‘The plan is to dig a large hole in the ground with scrapers till surface water is reached. Then a well two and one-half feet in diameter will be sunk until the next strata of water is struck. Inside of this well there will be seven-inch wells, making each one tap a dif- Then by putting on a bored three ferent layer of water. large centrifugal pump it is expected to get all the water necessary to irrigate. Mr. Sayre expects to irrigate all his ranch from this well. If this plan is successful, as everybody hopes it will be, there will be a large number of wells put in on the ranches around town and, in all probability, electricity will be brought from Fresno to furnish power for the pump- ing. These pumping plants are rather expensive, and consequently many cannot afford them. Butin every neighborhood ofsmall ranches there is always somebody who can afford to put in a plant. Let him put in the plant and then sell the water to his neighbors. It would be better still if all these people would combine and put in the works and bear the expenses in propor- tion to the amount of water they consume. Even if they are unable to put in these large affairs, each farmer could have a windmill and pond on his own place and thereby be inde- pendent of any canal company, and still have a large head of water to use even if he has only a small source. If these effect, another dry year comes, the people will not be caught With a water at their disposal no county in the State has a brighter outlook than Madera. We IR HES IK ye). plans are put into when large supply of napping. g Points in International Law. Re It is an impropriety to speak of the rules of international conduct as ‘‘laws.’’ ‘They are merely moral principles recognized by all

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16 HIGH SCHOOL ANN U AL. Three out of the seven of the class of ’97 remain in Madera, Lois Wilson, Maggie O’Mara and James O’Mara, who is in the em- ploy of Rosenthal Kutner. George Nicholson has been teaching school in Fresno County the past year. Merle Rush is living in Omaha, Nebraska, attending business college, and taking a course of stenography and typewriting. Irene Slaten is living in Oakland, Calif., at present. George Mordecai has taken his first year’s work at Stanford University this last year. af The Spirit of University Work. From the time a student enters college until he graduates he feels that he is working for himself, to perfect himself for the duties that would devolve upon him. The absence of anyone to goad him on and make him apply himself throws him on his own responsibility. He looks ahead of the present moment and sees and feels that every piece of work he does proves a valuable experience—strengthens him, makes him more able to seize upon and dea with difficult questions and adds to his store of useful information. The knowledge on the part of the student that a course of faithful study at a university will place him in a posi- tion which others have struggled half a life- time to attain, acts as a spur, sometimes too severely. Much to his surprise the student finds that he is quite willing to apply himself to the utmost. Asa general rule he does not view the work he undertakes as a task to be gotten through with as quickly as possible, but as a duty to be performed. Although much of the work is difficult and requires the closest application, it is extremely interesting and the main cause for this interest lies in thoroughness, and the ef- fort to reach the bottom of things. When aun able professor admits that ‘“‘he knows a little about some things in his own line’ one may begin to form an idea of this thoroughness which is the keynote to all uni- versity work. The student is expected to find out for him- self all that is known about a subject, and if possible, more besides. He is expected to spend time and labor sufficient to get the car- dinal points and principles of a subject and as, much detail as possible, and learn it thorough- ly. He is advised occasionally to concentrate his energies upon a few subjects rather than scatter them over many. A university seeks to turn out men who know what they know and know that they know it. A store of knowledge and of facts is held to be a valuable, but not the most valuable, ac- quisition a student has. The habit and ability of thinking for himself, the power of independ- eut research, the faculty of seizing upon the salient points of a problem and disposing of it in a logical way—these are some of the quali- ties a university seeks to instill. Er, No ING, “OF e eee A Student in the Worlds. How natural it is that a student in the last few months of his school career should have a wild desire to be in the busy whirl, and to be even a small part of the world’s machinery, It can be safely said that every boy or girl counts the hours which only too soon will end the happiest period of his life. Pythagorian theories, algebraic enigmas, scientific surmises, Latin conjugations seem to be the only problems to be solved. His ambi- tion is so great that in his imagination he sees himself at some future time the ‘‘observed of all observers.’’ However absurd this assertion may sound, nevertheless it is true. Now let us take our boy on his career and see the change. Taken away from his domi- cile, snatched from the circle of acquaintances, he is thrown in a world of strangers, where everyone is wrapt in his own affairs and sel- fishly considers himself alone. A month or two has elapsed, when his mind wanders back to the time when he was John Smith in the Seniors of the High School and he longs for the old-time feeling of sympathy and companionship. No matter how much the indif- ference and coldness of the worldis preached, the boys will still continue to desire a touch with the world. It is only when the doors of school life are closed behind him that he realizes the loneliness of his position among strangers. Thrown entirely on his own resources, he sometimes feels the need of assistance in meet- ing and overcoming the trials and tests that daily present themselves. While we look on the dark side there is of