Tennessee Wesleyan College - Nocatula Yearbook (Athens, TN)

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A PLAY IN ONE HALF AN ACT Time — When Knighthood was withering. Scene — Ye Royale Golf Course in the front yard of King Macintosh ' s castle. Two knights are arrived at ye golf course to joust with golf clubs, and decide who is to be champion of the Royal Realm. A motley aggregation of Royalty, pages, servants, knights, foot soldiers, and booze hounds, are making merry, rooting for their favorite, wav- ing banners, throwing coca cola bottles and sounding Ford horns. The first knight (a favorite of the crowd), i.= seated on a diminutive brown mule. This knight is long, tall and thin, his legs drag the ground as he rides- He struts up and down before the crowd like a plucked pea fowl. The second knight is strikingly the opposite. He is very short, inclined to chubbiness. He is seated on an enormous black mule whose droop- ing head and large, loosely flapping ears speak of extreme age. The second knight ' s round cherub face is wreathed in baby-like smiles as he rides up and down before the crowd. A few minutes of this parading and they dismount, their caddies stepping forward with drivers, offering one to each. First knight, in preparing to tee off. taunts second knight. Ah! Opponent! If I might call thee such! Art optimistic today? Second knight beams and smiles blandly in reply. First knight to his caddie — Varlet! Stand not like the dumb swine thou art, out with the golf balls and on with the show. I must keep a tryst at evening tide. His caddie, quaking with fright, forms a small mound, places a ball on the top and shrinks out of the way. First knight struts up to the ball, brandish- ing his club like a halo. He pirouettes about, all the while making cows eyes at the fair damsels on the side line while getting his form. He pauses, raises his club slowly and de- terminedly. The crowd is silent in open mouth suspense. Wham! He hits the ball squarely! It is a beautiful drive, three hundred yards down the turf. He steps grandly back, smirks and bows to the crowd, which applauds him loudly. The second knight steps up and places his own ball on the mound. He proceeds to get a semblance of form. It seems, though he is so short and fat, he cannot use the driver with freedom. He finally pauses, and slowly raises his club. The crowd jeers him loudly. Wham! The white sphere rizes high in the air. The crowd almost faints. The ball gains a good altitude, then heads for the cup like a homing carrier pigeon. A hole in one ! ! ! ! The first knight cannot believe his own eyes. He stands in a daze until his caddie slips up to him and whispers, Fie! My Lord ' Be nonchalant! Light a Murad! — Jo-An. CURTAIN TO OUR PRESIDENT James L. We liken him to a strong, dependable guide who, by knowing the road over which we are traveling, will not let us miss the finest points of interest along the way. Sometimes the road has branched off into new and more inviting directions; roads that slope downward ; that we do not have to put forth much effort to traverse. Our guide has always, through his knowl- edge and e.xperience, sensed these periods when we have faltered, and, by appealing to us, perhaps through a short chapel talk, or an occa- Robb sional word privately spoken, has given us new courage, new incentives, and renewed hope. We cannot fully appreciate the good that is the ultimate result of the interest he has had in our welfare here at Wesleyan, but when he has shown us the way to the top of the hill that borders the rugged Valley of Life ; and when we have parted with him there, then we may fully realize just what he has meant to us. He is a MAN in the finest sense of the word, physically, morally and mentally. We, the Freshmen of 1930, deem it an honor to have reasons for calling this man our friend. Page Twelve

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A TRIBUTE TO DEAN MILLER When school life at Tennessee Wesleyan is over, and the dooi ' s of this institution have swung to behind us, it will be a great pleasure to think back on the happy days we have spent here, and to think of the friendships we have formed. We feel sure that no boy or girl will go from this college who does not feel that he or she can be a bigger, a broader, a better citizen for having come in contact with the dean of this institution. All of us have been touched by his life — so serene, so calm, so splendid, so beautiful, so uplifting. Uncon- sciously he has influenced some of us — per- haps all of us — to live more helpful, more con- secrated lives. All unaware to him he has been wielding this influence over us. Ever since we have known him it has seemed to us that he is living a very consecrated life — a life that is in close touch with the master. Perhaps that is why he has been able to set an example that we, the freshmen of Tennessee Wesleyan are anxious to follow, and are trying in our weak way to do so. All the noble and manly virtues — truth, purity, honesty, chivalry, are wrapped up in his life. If we had to de- scribe him in one sentence, we would say, Ho is a christian gentleman. We think of him as our friend and as such we speak of him. We realize that he is by far our superior, but he always steps down to our level and discusses questions with us as though he were one of us. He seems to under- stand boys and girls better than most college professors. I suspect that is why we go to him with our cares and troubles, whether seri- ous or slight. After a while we will be able to appreciate even more than we do now the value of his work in instilling into our minds some of his own lofty ideals. Even now we feel a great debt of gratitude to him for all he has done for us during our short stay at Wesleyan. He has done everything in his power to make of us true American men and women. Words are inadequate to express how truly grateful we are for all he has done for us, and how glad we are that we have known him. We pray that God will let him continue his good work for many years, and that other girls and boys will come under his influence and will be touched by his life as we have been — and that they they may be made happy because of a sym- pathizing and understanding heart. CONFESSION The winds blew down through the pine thicket just above the house, and its mysterious whisperings seemed to have a strange effect on the little freckle-faced boy who sat beside a grim-faced old woman. A cricket chirped once, then again. He seemed to be experi- menting. He succeeded, suddenly he was joined by dozens of crickets from the cornfield, and from the meadow. A few lonely frogs croaked hoarsely. The little fellow moved nervously and turned to the woman beside him. Gramma, ' he said, I ' m cold. But the woman gave no heed; her face was set and hard, not with harshness, but rather with the hardness of one who has been forced to play life ' s game alone, and found it difficult. She was short but sturdily built, and her stubby hands were browned and hardened as any man ' s. She was past sixty, but her eyes still held a gleam of determination. The con- trast was striking: An old woman who had won life ' s fight alone, and a nervous whip of a lad whose every whim had been a sacred command to a doting father and mother. The wind increased slightly in force, and the soft whispering gave place to a slight whistle that somehow came just a second be- fore the little fellow shivered from cold. A tall pine by the side of the road that bordered the cornfield began to assume grotesque forms to timid blue eyes. A pair of long thin arms went upward and an attempted yawn almost failed as a quiver- ing voice said. Gramma, I ' m sleepy. The set face remained stonelike, and the old woman did not move. She was probably re- viewing the battles she had fought in life, and most of them alone. The wind came through the pines, and now the whistle was shrill. Each one brought fi ' om the small boy an involuntary shudder. The pine now took the shape of a terrible giant, and the youngster shrank into his chair. The cloud which had been so pretty at sunset was a dreadful dragon with a tail that swept far away and dissappeared behind old Cardell. The huge bullfrogs from the pond set up a howl that would rival a modern bombardment, and the little tree frogs joined in like the continu- ous dropping of rice on a hardwood floor. The voice of the boy broke into a wail as at last the truth came forth: Gramma, I ' m ' fraid. — Earl Henry. Page Eleven

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POETRY The Shrine of Nocatula Slightly swaying, whispering softly In the moon ' s fantastic glow, Nocatula and her lover Keep a tryst of long ago. Ghostly tryst in silvery splendor. Redolent of mystic air. Furtive shadows, mocking, weaving. Pause, and pay them homage there. Weird homage, reminiscent Of a sylvan happiness, Yesterday ' s dim echoes calling Phantom warriors slowly pass. Pass as furtive shadows weaving. From sidereal solitude Lonely wraiths emerge renascent, Phantom wraiths with love imbued. Proud obeisance to their Princess Nocatula, winsome, gay. Simulating wind and shadows. Trooping by in dim array. Worm ' s Utopia In ghoulish glee, we enter The Things that once had souls. All night and day we revel, As listless day enfolds Our gorging, greedy writhings, Life ' s cycle onward rolls. Death Death — what art thou — That men cringe at thy name — A lingering suffering — capped By a suffocating hole in the ground — Filled with Stygian darkness, And feasting worms? No — ' tis strangers think thee thus. I know — Thou ai ' t one ecstatic pain — Blissfully soothed by a feathery blackness- And then a bed in soft scented earth To make the violets bloom more lovely. To Samanthy The angels lost a radiance rare. They gave the lustre to your hair. Less bluer do the violets seem. They gave your eyes a brighter gleam. The wild rose lets the whole world know It gave your cheeks their lovely glow. Did Venus in her will construe To leave her daintiness to you? Ah ! Sweetheart, you were born to be My one desirable misery. Life A fragrant dawn. . A windy afternoon. A lonely sunset, All too soon. . . . And light is gone. FRESHMEN REVIEW BOYS Handsomest Robert Clayton Second Handsomest Holbart Wriglic Most Studious Neal Ensminger Second Most Studious Robert Clayton Most Popular John Earl Sims Second Most Popular Holbart Wright Best Dressed Charlie Mehaffey Second Best Dressed Condon Wasson Most Athletic Estill Mullins Second Most Athletic Carson Pyle Best Sport William Harriell Second Best Sport John Earl Sims Best All Round John Earl Sims Second Best All Round Charlie Mehaffey Most Conceited Sam Adkin Second Most Conceited Condon Wasson Grouchiest Ebert Simpson Second Grouchiest Herman Rogerson Biggest Sissy Sam Adkin Second Biggest Sissy Eugene Roberts GIRLS Best Looking Helen Lee Second Best Looking Mildred Armstrong Most Studious Marion Prior Second Most Studious Ollie Hooper Most Popular Gussie Rose Riddle Second Most Popular Helen McCay Best Dressed Mildred Armstrong Second Best Dressed Helen Lee Most Athletic Jessie Crowder Second Most Athletic Mildred Holbrook Best Sport Jessie Crowder Second Best Sport. Gussie Rose Riddle Best All Round Gussie Rose Riddle Second Best All Round Edith Finnell Most Conceited Lillie Cannon Second Most Conceited Marion Prior Grouchiest Fay Mauney Second Grouchiest Edna Hurlbert Biggest Tomboy Mary Ella Swanay Second Biggest Tomboy Carrie Lou Foster Page Thirteen