Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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THE ORACLE: 2s A cruel wound is sapping at his life, Sore tempted he to leave the doubtful fight, To snatch a single hope in coward flight,— But still he presses onward in the strife. Nay, now, my gentle Knight, thou sure must cease ; Another thrust, and thou art pale and still; Thou seem’st with buoyant life no more to thrill; Thou wert a noble Knight: mayst sleep in peace. Up to the castle gate they bear him. Yea! The door is opened. Steps the Master down. “My noble Knight! receive thy victor’s crown!” And in His arms the drooping Knight they lay. —ELIZABETH CRANE WINTER. Senior History AVING undertaken the somewhat stupendous task of narrating the glorious achievements of the class of 1906, the historian begs a few moments of your time and attention, and craves your indulgence toward anything which may seem incredulous to you. Do you remember, classmates, the feeling of awe which we felt upon entering the old High School building and gazing with unspoken admiration at the Seniors of that year? How high and mighty we felt as Freshmen, and would it be possible that we should some day reach the position of a Senior? With the expectancy of some day being upperclassmen, we toiled on through four years of school life, and we are here tonight with no apologies for our class, and nothing but feelings of pride for old 1906. After we had become used to the run of things at the school, we decided, as Freshmen, to make a name for ourselves. In our first year we made a reputation in scholarship and—but who can blame us? We had to relieve the monotony of deep study—a characteristic of 1906. We were dubbed “slow” by other classes then in the school, and so we have been living to vindicate that accusation. Whether or not we have succeeded the historian leaves to those members of the faculty who had an acquaintance with us. At Christmas of the year 1902, we were remembered by the Sophs with little beds on which were pasted some little verses. The verse read: “Early to bed and early to rise Makes the young Freshie good-natured and wise.”

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YEAR BOOK --- CLASS of 1906 Chairman, BENJAMIN. E. HERMAN. Committee, GERTRUDE L. HunvtER, ARTHUR S. WHITNEY. Senior Class Day Class Poem P, gentle Knight, gird on thy shining sword; Thy vigil thou hast watched ; forth to the fray! Thy mettle in thy Master’s cause display, Thy valor in the service of thy Lord.” The King hath spoken; low his -servant bends, And hastes to do the thing his Lord commands. His gleaming arms he dons with eager hands, And gayly from the castle gate descends. Before him stretch the tender fields of spring, Warmed by the climbing sun of early day; And louder, as he hurries on his way, The echoes backward sounds of tumult fling. Straight through the struggling host of friend and foe, With sword unsheathed, and helmet proudly high, His hand untired, undimmed his ardent eye, The Knight, full brave in youthful strength, doth go. And some they staunchly stand, and some they fall, Unnoted, while the battle stills roars on; Here these. have lost, there those the conflict won ; The day wears on in ceaseless strife for all. His helmet gone, his arms no longer bright, The Knight yet plies his sword with weary thrust: His garment all befouled with blood and dust, No pageantries to battle now incite.

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24 THE ORACLE. Probably the Sophs were sorry they had not received a reminder of the same sort, so they could have possessed that last virtue, and were taking pains to see that we should not suffer that deprivation. Our Sophomore year was the first one of vindication of the aforemen- tioned accusation. We resolved to live so that-by our fruits they should know us, and I think that we are quite well known. We are the first class to give three highly successful plays, and the first to give a play in our Sophomore year. Our notable production was, “The Ruggles in the Rear,” and this work foreshadowed our great dramatic powers. The “Amen Cor- ner’ in Miss Lovell’s Latin room was the work of a pupil of 1906. There it remains to this day. The Junior year of our school existence was a continuance of our dignified example to the other classes. But one class remained who dubbed us slow, and I imagine that they thought otherwise after we had been there three years. Who pinched nearly all of the Seniors’ feed on the night of the Seniors’ banquet? 1906. We were gradually nearing that goal now growing distinct—Seniors. Our dramatic powers were further exemplified in this year by our successful production of Tennyson’s “The Princess.” This play was the hardest thing ever attempted in the dramatics of the school, and was remarkable for its elaborate staging and dignified acting. The success of this production is due to our coach, Mr. S. B. Howe, Jr. Something hap- pened in this year which startled that very sedate class of 1905. Those unconquerable Seniors were conquered for once. They had planned to have a big banquet and had borrowed a front door key (to the school.) About six o’clock that slow, sleepy class of 1906 got into the building and securely fastened every entrance. About seven o’clock, after we had securely wired the front door, a step was heard coming up the front steps, a key turned in the lock, and there was a vigorous pull followed by an exultant cry of “Stung” from within and a yell of rage from without. After being made the butt of many taunts and other things—water included—they begged to be let in. We agreed on condition that they go down town and get a lot of extra feed. This they did and a general jollification followed. A pleasant event of this year was our strawride, followed by a spread and dance. Christmas rolled around and we went calmly to the platform to receive our roasts and in return for the shameful way we were treated, we gave the Seniors an elaborate banquet. The way some of them ate was terrible. They looked as if they had never had a square meal before. And now we are Seniors, almost an unbroken class, with a couple of additions to our number. One of these additions is from “Johnny Bull” land, and you may be certain he faithfully carries out all the traits of a loyal