Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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150 THE ORACLE semblage, and swiftly descending through the air, leave her upon the earth to dwell there forever. Full of meaning as was this story for the ancient Greeks, has it, then, no significance for us? Like Pandora, we, too, have been presented with gifts. We have been surrounded all our lives by influences which have helped to make us what we are. The chief of these gifts has come to us in our homes. There, our fathers and mothers have watched and guided us with unceasing care, and no small part of our pleasure to-night lies in the fact that this occasion gives great pleasure to them. Next in importance to the influence of the home has been that of the schools, and especially that of the High School in which we have spent so much of our time during the past four years. It is to the citizens of Plainfield that we owe these schools. To these citizens, then, we owe a debt of gratitude for the many gifts which have come to us through these schools. To the members of the Board of Education, and to the Superintendent we extend our greetings to-night. We wish to thank them for their special thought and labor to make these gifts of the most value to us. We appreciate the efforts they have put forth to secure for us a more com- modious building. We are sorry that their plans could not have been ac- complished during our course in school, but we are glad that in the near future, their efforts promise to meet with the success which they so greatly deserve. The gifts which are included in this school life are threefold. First, the help and guidance of our teachers, next, the comradeship of our school- mates, and lastly, perhaps the most permanent gift of all, that of the in- spiration of books. Our principal and teachers we have come to look upon not only as directors of our intellectual development but as our sympathetic friends. Not only for their guidance, but also for their sympathy and friendship, we are deeply grateful. Now that our school life is over, we realize how great has been that second gift, the influence and joys of comradeship. Day after day, we have come into contact with many earnest workers, all having the same interests in study and all striving for the same goal. We have entered into each other’s lives, we have sympathized with each other’s failures and triumphs. Can we ever forget how we toiled together over Burke’s Conciliation ; how by the flickering light of the midnight oil, we danced with “the three weird

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YEAR BOOK --- CLASS of 1904 Managing Editor, VAN Wyck Brooks. Cummenucemenut Speaker of the Evening, REV. ROBERT S. MacARTHUR, D. D., of New York. Salutatorian, ANNA CORIELL RANDALL. Valedictorian, ANNA FRANCES BRODNAX. DALUTATORY ADDRESS GREAT many years ago the world consisted entirely of men. But as, day after day, from his high Olympus, Jupiter ob- served his handicap, he noticed how incomplete the race ap- peared, and how desolate and discontented man seemed. One day, as he was making his customary observations, an idea occurred to him. He would create a woman, and send her to earth as a companion for man. Immediately he set to work, and finally the new being was finished. Then the father of the gods sent word to all his children that, on a certain day, he would give a birthday party for this new child, and all were invited. At last the time for the long-looked-for event arrives, and in great excitement, the divinities assemble at the appointed grove. In the midst, on his high throne, sits Jupiter with Juno at his side, and before them stands the wonderful being in whose honor the festival is given. When all have assembled, Jupiter gives a signal, and the gods and goddesses ap- proach. First comes Venus with her gift of beauty. She is followed by Apollo who bestows the faculty of music. Thus, one by one, they advance, each bringing a gift. And last come Minerva with her priceless gift of wis- dom. When all have laid down their offerings, Jupiter arises, and an- nounces that the name of this new being is Pandora, “the gift of all the gods.” Then at a sign from him, two goddesses approach, and, lifting Pandora in their arms, fly with her above the heads of the gathered as-

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THE ORACLE 151 sisters” in “Macbeth;” how we labored night and day to impress the visi- tors at the St. Louis Exposition with the great worth of the Plainfield High School? More than all, can we ever forget those bonds which linked us closer than all else, those little boards, six inches by ten, by means of which all could find seats in chapel ? Our third gift has been in my opinion the most far-reaching of all. This is the gift of books. Of course the world always has been and always will be full of books, but they can mean nothing to us unless we learn to enjoy them. Our training in the High School has taught us how to get this enjoyment. “Except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book—a message to us from the dead—from human souls whom we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away, and yet these, on those little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, vivify us, teach us, com- fort us, open their hearts to us as brothers.” Thus we, like Pandora, have been showered with gifts. But unlike Pandora, our creation is not instantaneous, nor are we passive in its pro- cess. These gifts do not end with our school life. As we go forth from this place to-night, whether we enter into higher fields of learning or go out into the busy life of the world, more and more shall we realize the great- ness of the gifts we have received, and learn to grasp with more resolute hand the new gifts as they come. ANNA CORIELL RANDALL. ESSAY CAND VALED IC LORY ITHIN the last few years great progress has been made in the development of hand industry. Many years ago, before man’s ingenuity had fashioned the great inventions which we have to-day, much of the work now performed by machines was done by hand. But after the inventions came into use, hand industry glided into the background and became of second- ary importance. Now the work of the hand is assuming its place decreed by nature. Now men are beginning to see the value of the hand arts. If we try to trace the revival of hand industry to its source, we shall find that there are various causes which have led to this great movement. There are a few, however, which seem to stand pre- dominant. First, a wide-spread interest is now being manifested in the