Philadelphia High School for Girls - Milestone Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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1 was passed from table to table in rather an unceremonious manner by means of the wireless telegraphy, and not uncommonly a piece would land among the flowers on Miss O's desk! There was still another room in which our unbridled madness had its full sway. This was the room in which we learned how Hawthorne pokes fun. In this room we generally had The same lesson for tomorrow because we knew it so perfectly. This was the regicn of shapes and shadows-we often saw strange sights in the upper right-hand corner of the room, between the wall and the ceiling, At such times we would all gaze intently at the same spot, untilour teacher would ask in a somewhat emphatic manner, Miss Schilpp, what are you looking at, up in that corner? Miss Reilly, stop laughing this minute, or go to the office, I see nothing to laugh at. Then there was the room where we used to translate about Caesar flying across the Rubicon. V In that room we made Caesar do many an outlandish thing-sometimes he sent a company of troops around in front of the enemy's ranks in order to surprise them in the rear, and one time, Having defeated the Nervii, Caesar turned and fled! But by this time we had ceased to be Sophomores, and had become juniors. Now we began to feel the responsibility incurred by the superiority of our standing. But there was one room where we always reverted to our second childhood -this was on the fourth floor. In this region the happy delusions of our infancy were swept away, and we learned with sighs and tears that there was really no man in the moon after all, and that the earth is made of common elements, and the rainbow is made ,of water, and that birds have descended or ascended from frogs, and worst of all, that Elsie Maier and Emily Patman are bad, disorderly girls l , This naturally leads us to the Zoology room, where some of the mysteriesof life were unveiled to us. We counted the number of scales on the butterfly's wing, we drew the appendages of the crayiish and the brains of the earth-worm. Here we 'always amused our- selves by ruthlessly slaying dead frogs and frozen clams-the occupation always gave us an excellent appetite for our luncheon. ' ' h 1 1

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Algebra, and Ancient IjIistory,our views of life became broader, and ideas less conservative. We' became wiser in all things-our felt school bags were discarded for straps and rubber bands, our dresses suddenly dropped to our shoe tops, we adopted the large hair-ribbon, and learned to put our hair up in pompadour style. As we became better acquainted with our school and our teachers, the first-inspired awe passed away, and we began more thoroughly to enjoy life. Then the lectures began! Every lesson had its prelude each day, in which the necessities of absolute attention and the dangers of trifling were expounded to us, we were exhorted to think more seriously, and not to 'allow ourselves to be led away by the frivolities of life. But all such sermons were given to the winds, for we felt that the world Was created for us to enjoy and we were bound to enjoy it. . How we survived that first year I can hardly tell you. Each day had its own joy, and we felt that it was glorious to come to school. Feasts at noon-time were -common occurrences, d t an no uncommonly, though under moderate restraint, they were continued into the after- noon. Having now arrived at a riper age we look back at those early days with a feelin , , 8 of silent wonder, not unmixed with gratitude, for the incomprehensible forbearance of the t h . . . . eac ers whose task it was to sow in our infant memories the seeds of wisdom and under- standing. - But I must hurry on to the Sophomore year. How proud we then became, and how we lorded it over the poor bewildered Freshmen! Now, one might think that, with the advanced dignity of our position, there would be a change in our character. Not so, alas! not so. We became w'ld th 1 er an ever. F easts became more frequent. The botany room was the favorite place for their occurrence, because the sweet odor of the flowers hel ed to do aw 'th th . p ay wi e less desirable odor of pickles. And besides, each girl had a large drawer of her own, which Wa' 't bl ' ' ' ' ' s a sul a e place for hiding the remains of the banquet-such as olives salted peanuts, Nabisco wafers, and fudge enough to last the rest of the afternoon O h ' , . n suc occasions poor. Miss O. found it utterly impossible to teach the lesson. When her back was turned, fudge A 10

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'04 Gf all the studies of the junior year, I think History was the most interesting., We again learned that Betsy Ross made the first American flag, and that George Washington never told a lie. The lesson did not merely consist of question and answer-but many heated arguments arose, during which both teacher and scholars forgot the lesson, and all felt that we were actually striking for the cause of liberty! .- We ended this happy year by having a little class-day on the banks of the Wissahickon. Miss Harjes and Miss Evans accompanied us, and we had a most delightful day together. After ,luncheon we seated ourselves on a cool rock by the water and had our class-day exer- cises. When these were over, we went for a walk, and had our photographs taken on the little bridge that spans the river. By this time it had grown late, so we bade each other a fond farewell and returned to our homes. A We entered at last upon the Senior year, and it is needless to say that we had now become young ladies. The great, final, earnest, struggle now began-but with all our seriousness, we have enjoyed this year better than, any former one. We adopted a different method toward our teachers-and instead of having good times at their expense, we had good times that they could enjoy with us, and I think it made us happier. i All the studies had their interesting points :-The passionate German love-stories always had a .great fascination for us. ' They have left with us the impressive picture of a broad expanse of water with a white lily floating serenely on the dark surface, and a passionate youth striving in vain toipluck the white blossom-- Youth beware of false affection, 'Tis apainful recollection, when it loses its attraction, youth, beware of false affection! The mathematics department was quite attractive, too, for here we learned a good deal more than mathematics. Our teacher was full of wit and humor, and she gave us many and many a hearty laugh. One day we had an interesting discussion about a cup of tea .12