Southold High School - Snuffbox Yearbook (Southold, NY)

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The Amerlcan Leglon ratorlcal Contest URING the month of March the Amerlcan Leglon sponsored lts fourth annual Oratorlcal Contest The HV6 contestants who partlclpated lh the local com petltlon were Dorothy Hunter, who presented her essay, My Defense of Democracy, ln the local contest and ln the dlstrlct contest held ln Rlverhead She won flrst and second prlzes, respectlvely She also competed ln the county contest held ln Port efferson but falled to quallfy Anlta Bedell dellvered her paper, entltled The Constltutlon Its Rlghts and Du 165 Marlon My Defense We, ln Amerlca, are rlghtful helrs to a prlceless herltage of freedom granted to us by the framers of the constltutlon Because thls herltage 15 so closely assocl ated wlth our everyday CXISICUCC, we are very apt to take II for granted and not to reallze IES lntrlnslc value We treat llghtly those guarantees of the Blll of Rlghts whlch glV8 us free speech, free press, freedom of wor shlp and trlal by Jury, because we do not reallze what It would be llke to llve ln a country that has lost them When challenged ln debate we boast of our constltu t1onal form of government w1th IIS l6glSl3t1VC, executlve and JUd1C1al branches, IES system of checks and bal ances, and we proclalm th1s lnstrument of government as perfect, for by IFS very flexlblllty, lf has adapted ltself to changlng condltlons and survlved the many trlals w1th whlch lt has been beset We llkewlse profess our bellef ln our electoral system by whlch the average cltlzen may partlclpate ln government, but thls bellef assumes a PHSSIVC rather than an actlve form Boastlng of the merlts of democracy does no harm does no harm unless we conslder boastlng a substltute for defense We are perfectly aware that totalltarlan governments ln Europe have destroyed every V8SI1g8 of democratlc freedom there We also know that they have made SCFIOUS accusatlons agalnst democracy ln an effort to undermlne the vltal structure of government here Slnce thls 15 so, let us cease to boast, let us begln to defend, let us dlsclose the fallacles of the totalltarlan arguments In an effort to prove thelr superlorlty and effectlve ness autocratlc natlons declare that democracles are slow and bungllng as well as hopelessly lnelflclent To refute th1s argument we have only to look at the record of a country, whlch has, ln a perlod of one hundred and flfty years, advanced from a young and lnexperlenced natlon to one of the foremost powers of the world, made so by a free thlnklng and free actlng people Exper lence has shown that when an emergency HFISCS, Amertca can be resolute and qUlCk Dld we not prove thls ln 1917 when, under the pressure of war, we set lnto oper atlon those wheels of machlnery wh1ch, ln a very short space of tlme, forged the sword whlch defeated the enemy? ezghteen Dlckerson gave her talk The Blll of Rlghts, Our Guarantee for Survlval, and won second prlze ln the local contest Carol Waller presented an essay, The Constltutlon, Our Guardlan of Llberty, and LEWIS Blodgett spoke on The Growth of Presldentlal Power These contests have proved to be an outstandlng success and have provlded valuable experlence for thelr contestants It lS hoped that these contests wlll be con tlnued ln years to come and that contestants wlll beneht to an even greater extent by thelr efforts of Democracy On the other hand, lf CHTCICHCY, as the totalltarlans seem to dehne lt, means the bulldlng of a huge war machlne at the expense of food and culture and re llglon, ln short the subjugatlon of all the rlghts of free men perhaps lt IS better that we lack It There are also the HCCUSHIIOUS that polltlcs has destroyed democracy, that there 15 no FCPFESCDIBIIVC government, that the voters are lgnorant and that self lnterested pressure groups dOm1n3t6 the scene For these charges there may be sllght basls for argument, but only sllght Under our Constltutlonal system we do have party r1valr1es and party compet1t1on, but are we not governed by the rule of the IIISJOIIIY? Under our constltutlonal system our voters are all the people, lgnorant as well as lnfelllgenf, but IS not a referendum allowlng a free cholce between candldates and POl1C1ES preferable to a ballot wh1ch allows no alternat1ve'7 Our constltutlonal system may permlt lobbles of questlonable value, but publlc oplnlon fully aroused has defeated them before Can If not do so agaln? Democracy IS the best form of government, for lt 15 predlcated upon freedom that prlceless freedom embodled ln the Blll of R1ghtS of the C0hSt1CUtl0H Democracy must prevall over the tyrannles of the pres ent as If has prevalled over the tyrannles of the past, for lf must keep falth w1th the framers of the Con stltutlon and contlnue to guarantee the blesslngs of llberty to ourselves and our posterlty Words, words, words' They scatter from my head When I get up before the class I w1sh that I were dead Why lS a chalr a chalr, Lord, And why IS a crown a crown Why do I have red halr, Lord, When everyone else has brown? The robln Wlped hls beak And preened a velvet wlng, For he had been appolnted Ambassador of sprmg' 0 s o . . A ,, . . 7 . . . ,, . . . . . ,, . . I . . . . ,, , Q! 33 ' QQ ' ' 77 re ' ' , - - an - - . I . . . . . ' ' ' Q! ' . - - ' ' 77

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Hocus Focus HE Great Day had arrived at last The time was at hand It was now or never shmed my shoes last night borrovsed my Dads best shlrt shav d twice this mormng got a haxrcut yesterday Th se vsere among the many sayings that one heard on a certain afternoon a fem weeks back I fact there were more notlces etc flooding the halls that afternoon than there are radrcals rn Union Square Havent you guessed it yet? No? Well thls mas the partrcular afternoon that the students of the umor Class were to have their pictures taken At last it seemed as though everyone was assembled Everyone posed prettily Then rt happened' Hold lf cried the photographer that genxal little man from Cutchogue Steady now' Stop' A shrill voice from the rear called out ack So and so isnt here' A quxet plop echoed throughout the stillness and the inert form of Mrs Dxller was stretched out on the cold concrete of the main steps Thls last had been too much and our overburden d adviser had simply passed out When Mrs Dlller was revived a discussron arose as to where the missing rndxvidual mrght be Immedi ately three volunteers were dispatched in order to find the culprit Which they dxd after a hectrc search from floor to floor and from room to room Finally the entire group was ready The ace pho tographer pressed the button The picture for the Yearbook had b en taken Oh' Success at last' Two days later there appeared the following notxce on the Bulletin Board All members of the umor Class please report for pictur at 3 00 P M tomorrow The film for the first plcture failed to develop properly Bl be Do you want to go to the unior Prom? Ken I sure do' Blythe Well Im selling txckets Paul I suppose I-Ierman is studying as usual9' Charlze Yep Paul Then wake him up wlll you Helen This dance floor is certainly slippery' Fred It isnt the danc floor I just had my shoes shtned Gzbby fspeakmg on the telephone Will you please put Mary on the wlre? Mrs Iazl What do you think my daughter IS tight rope walker? ' Charlie Do fishes grow fast Lewle? Lewze Some of them do My father caught one last year that grows an mch every time he talks about it twenty My First Formal Y FIRST formal brought me evcitement ID more ssays than one After much coaxlng I was per mrtted to attend my first dance a formal affair There, I can truly say I was the feature attraction of the evening Xvhen my escort and I arrived the crowd had alr ady gathered therefore I decided to make a grace ful and striking entrance or at least as graceful as one can mth a size snr foot 1n a slze Hve shoe All went vxell until I tried to hold my head up yery high then it happened' My head seemed to poss ss the same magnetic power over my feet as a magnet has over a ne dle for they came up in Jack knife form The Jack knife may make a pretty dive but tts not pretty when you land on somethmg more solid than water After completing this wonderful EXlllb1Cl0h of bow not to enter gracefully I gathered myself up and laugh mgly replied to my friends queries as to my bemg hurt wrth a brtght Not at all while xt seemed as though twen y fou orummers were beatmg out the Beer Barrel Polka on my splnal column To COVCI' my 6I11lJ3I'l'3SSITlPI'lI El friend asked protested at such an indlgnity However I dragged them along much against their will with the result that one of my heels caught in the bottom of my gown and caus d a bad tear By this trme my partners shoes were b gmnmg to look sorled Now my feet kept insisting that I go home but my head continued to say Stay just a lrttle while longer Once again I listened to my head with dxre results and this 15 what happened While I was in a complete daze someone shoved a cold glass of punch under my nose I grasped the glass and stepped back in order to admit others to the punch bowl The result of that step back was the crowmng event of my evening as I finished tearlng off the re maining part of the bottom of my gown and also suc ceeded in spilling punch on everyone withm ten feet of m By this time my escort was completely embarrassed and he insisted lh no uncertain terms that I go home Thus I resolutely gathered myself together removed the offending shoes and started across the floor wrth feet chanting madly I told you so I told you so and an escort angrily mutterrng about crazy dames and the1r darn fe t Yes my first formal was ended' Laundry A fringe of vari colored madness Wrth changeable design Like rainbows dipped and sudsed and squeezed And flung across a line' . .- T A ,A A A M A A . . ' . 'A . ' - HI , V . .,, . V V V , V MI . V ' ' vw V V - UI e A ' A . A . I A MI - V 'Vw V I . V 7 0 V V re v- va . . V . K 3 S 7 - ' . n ' ' 1 v '1 ' ' ' A T, ' .y , - - , , - S 5 ' ' . ,' - - , ' . ' e . . . . , ' - , SO rr - as ' - ' , Q! :, cw . A . . . me sr - ' ' :cj ' s aa , - . . . . . . , . . ' ff 77 ' , ' ' KK 77 7 ' ' , . 7 . , - Y 1 I Y ' ee U . ' 77 ' , e A A . - 9 ' . . . . me to dance. I willingly complied, but my feet loudly A . , , , . 7 . .- i I A . , r - s v 9 1 r ' ' . 0 . , . , V V v . . . V ' ' :Q A - - D 7 'M . . I . . ,, . . . . - , fe J ' , A I I , U 8 . . . . A ' A ' v I I ,, F s 4 yt - I ' - ' , , A A me an . 1 l , lu a - - aa ' ' - , ' . . . . . C. -ee - - a V V - lu an V ' 9 re - - Qu ' 1 , l 7 7 M . . . . ,, - te aa l o 7 7 7 in - 9 D ' ' ' ' 7' A e . l' ' , . . . J-N . - as ---l V j -ie: - ' ia ' - 7 - lu - 77 ' -- . in 7 . . ' 7 . ,, .