Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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BEES ORs CER: a, The Class of 1908 on Mars Glimpses Thru the Telescope by Sara Louise Sanderson Arrived there on the George H. Fisher, Jr., airship; located on Best Island. What's that elaborate elevation? No, it’s not the new Singer building— only Ray Dutcher. Look out! It might move—Ray may wake up some day. What a large crowd over there! What can be the matter? Ah, I see; Madamoiselle Knowlton, the famous pianist of Best Island is now giving a concert. Well, well, Elsie has stopped giggling long enough to gain a repu- tation for herself. Is that—? Oh, no, it’s not Fluffy Ruffles,—just our own little Laura Baker. Between writing excuses for absences Laura has found time to complete a course in fashion designing. My sight fails me—something so dazzling stands before me—but my vision clears, and I see—it’s only Carola; Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed thus. She is busy, she notices no one—I understand; an expert accountant, after inflicting her vocation on every ordinary thing, she has at last started to count the stars in the Milky Way. Silent, dignified, yet graceful, comes Marjorie Harris down the Appian Way, gowned in her Roman toga as we have seen her before in dear old P. H. S., delivering her prologue to—Julius Czesar—small wonder that she holds herself aloof from the others; her fame is assured since the pub- lication of her wonderful thesis, entitled, “Resolved, That with any other visible means of support, marriage is beneath the dignity of any sensible woman.” But here’s another member of ’08, one of our most popular girls— Elsa Mae Cook. She hasn’t changed much; still serving Sunday night supper to an admiring group of ex-’08 chaps. Watch her as she daintily strawberries, raspberries, and Lounsburys, the serves all sorts of berries latter of which are most ungratefully received by the enterprising young lawyer on her right. Ice cream and candy—Miss Van Tuyl—well, what a glorious outlet for Eleanor’s sweetness! Her heart always with the class of ’07, Eleanor waits in this attractive little store until another WILL come. Augustus C. Nash, lawyer. Well, Gus finished a course in N. Y. U., but he never recovered from the shock when he discovered that he could not keep a COOK.

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16 TELE MORK Gis, changed to admiration, as the operators watched this wonder from the West handle the message as easily and rapidly as the most expert man in the office. Occasionally Edison stopped to sharpen his pencil again, and finally he telegraphed to New York: “Say, young fellow, change off and send with your other foot awhile.” This was too much for the dispatcher, and he retired in honorable defeat. While in the Boston office Edison increased his knowledge of teleg- raphy until he knew more of the subject than any other employee. One day a break occurred in the wire. As was the custom, the company was about to send out men on horseback to locate it, when Edison casually re- marked, “I can tell you where that break is without stepping outside this office.” They laughed at him. His experiments had already taught him the amount of electricty necessary to charge one mile of telegraph wire. He charged the wire to the break with electricty, computed the length of wire necessary to hold the charge given, and told them how far away the break was. This was Edison’s first great invention, and his method is still constantly employed by the telegraph company. As Edison has grown older, he has perfected the inventions of his younger years, and has created new marvels, not for the profit that he might make, except as he needed the money to continue his investigations, but because of his genuine love for his work. The thirty thousand dollars that he received for his invention of the method of sending four messages at once on a single wire, he immediately spent in trying to send six. Mr. Edison’s inventions are various as well as numerous; he has invented the duplex and quadruplex system in telegraphy, the phonograph, the micro- phone, the fluoroscope, the kinetoscope, and a cure for the gout. He has even thought of writing a novel. He has taken out more patents than other man in the world. Edison believes that every man has a certain amount of genius. Some inventors are born, he says, but a greater number are made. A man entirely lacking in ideas is generally the man who is too lazy to cultivate them. The art of inventing is, in his judgment, a profession that may successfully be learned. The man who wishes to rise to the heights in this profession, as in any other, must love his work more than ease, he must face obstacles unwearied and undismayed; he must master details at any cost of time and effort. When asked one time wherein his genius really lay, Mr. Edison replied, “Young man, my genius is five percent inspiration, ninety-five percent per- spiration.”

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18 THE ORACLE, Again my eyes are dazzled. I can hardly stand it; what is that which approaches? Yes, it’s small, but it’s very brilliant. It comes closer; why, it’s none other than our valedictorian, little Esther Crampton; and the dazzling light? oh, yes, that’s the reflection of her insignia, P. H. S. ’o6, Cornell 11; he Gav—ett to her back in the old school days and she wears it constantly. Esther went to Wellesley and, after finishing her course, turned out to be a very good prize fighter; until now, using her six foot husband for a ball, she fairly outdoes the ancient Hercules in slinging people and things around. But why does everyone rush down the street as tho he had been shot ? ah, ves! I see; there’s CHauncey Murphey at the other end of it—and he’s singing! Well, Chauncey tried a great many things—College, politics, banking—but nobody would lend him any money—and ash carting—but the latter was too hard on his sensitive nature, until finally he settled down to only two —prize fighting and girls; with these he has succeeded, so that with the great 400 pound lady-love he develops himself to meet the demands of his strenuous occupation. Who is that tall, slender, rakish looking fellow, standing gazing at the tall building? Walter Caldwell, by jove! We have heard that he is a mechanical engineer; can it ke that he’s inspecting that structure? No, it seems to be complete; why no, he must have forgotten something. See how vigorously he mops his heated brow, on which there rests a white felt hat with purple band. We have it—his wife has sent him shopping. He seems to mutter,—‘ A Pound,—a Pound,—a Pound,—” but we can delay no longer. Walter, will you never cultivate a memory? But an airship has fallen into the public square, and with it, George Fisher! Just a moment, and George will unravel his facial decoration from the complicated machinery. No college was thoro enough for George; so after a complete course of electricity in his own boudoir he has made a reputation for himself along those lines. Ah, but he looks careworn and tired; no wonder, George is still working on a system for the proper ring- ing of bells in P. H. 5: Walter Hammond—and as usual with a girl—yes, he finished a course at Stevens while she perfected herself in art. Since then they have been married and Walter with her little pin and bow for inspiration has become a valuable assistant to the science departments on Mars. The Whitall school of silence and learning. Following his theory that the two go together, Roy is the founder of that sehool to the right, which