Abington High School - Oracle Yearbook (Abington, PA)

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firient to weather the approaching storm of “finals.” The winds blew and the floods came only too quickly. It is true that many were submerged, but a sufficient number survived to enjoy a last good time as “Jolly Sophomores” at a picnic at Neshaminy balls. Some picnic! The main feature of the day was the heroic work of “Bill” Wooley. who thought much money could be secured by jumping into the Neshaminy. Why he thought so is not for me to try to explain; 1 leave that to our wonder detective, “Neverfail Hale. At last, tired but happy, we parted for another vacation. In the fall of nineteen seventeen the class again joined hands. To our sadly diminished band we welcomed Elsie Mitchell and “Perce” Rieder, who have done their “bit” most gallantly as members of the class of Nineteen Nineteen. In was in this year that we elected as our President. “lien Smith, who had so quickly grown up in our midst. From short pants to “long jeens” had been accomplished in short order after his arrival as a Freshman at Abington, and he is today the “big” man of the class. Under his leadership the class steadily forged ahead in all activities. In Athletics. s:x men received their “A” for brilliant work in football, tennis and baseball, making a total of seven 1919 men in the Alpha at the end of our third year. In the inter-class debate with the Seniors we were defeated but not discouraged with the prospects of the “Monroe Doctrine and Its Present Value.” In December we gave another class dance, which was pronounced the most delightful one ever given in A. H. S. up to that time. A few months later we entertained the Seniors at an informal reception, the success of which justified our lavish expenditure of time, m ney and labor. By continuing the good work well begun we at last reached our Senior vear. which has pr veil to be the hardest year of all. As a Freshman, I thought of the Senior year as a year of peaceful and carefree life. but. alas, my deluded mind has been rudely shaken and. in these last few days. I have often wondered just how we ever managed to get away with it at all. But such is the power of concentrated effort. We just had to do it—and we did. The first month of our work this year was terribly broken up by the influenza epidemic, so that we did not get settled until nearly November. From •lie very beginning we had trouble, and each succeeding day brought more of it. ()ur sturdy president. Jairus Chase, has often uttered a groan which has been prolonged by the audible agonies of the Class I reasurer and the Oracle Editor. They have all had their troubles, and. had it not been for the energy and teamwork of the “Fighting Nineteenth.” we must long since have perished from the face of the earth. During these strenuous days our hands were upheld by the courage and buoyancy of two new members. Clarence Shelmire and Mary Yerkes. At the trying moment when we most needed good cheer, it came in the form of a reception by the juniors. The memories of this reception will remain with 11s as a souvenir of lasting friendship which was then and there established between the two classes. 11

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teen hundred and nineteen during the last four years. It was September, in the vear 1915. that we entered Abing- —----------—5 ton High School as a full- ----------------------------------- fledged Freshman class. In that year we encountered many obstacles, of which the most annoying were our old enemy “studies,” and a new enemy, the upper classmen. From the very first day perplexities continually interrupted each other in trying to rout us, and, had it not been for our own perseverance and the kind help of the faculty, few of us would have survived the hostilities of the period. Although little of importance happened, the difficulty we had in holding our own as students caused us to heave a sigh of relief when we, at last, left for two months of vacation. In the following September we again gathered together for a roll call, where we discovered that many of our friends of the previous year had left us. To fill in these open ranks came “Dot” Langdon and Fred Oliver, whom we soon found to be the “right sort.” At our first class meeting as Sophomores we elected a President. Vice-President. Secretary and Treasurer to lead the “Fighting Nineteenth” “over the top” in our second year. And. indeed, it proved to be a decidedly interesting and prosperous year. No longer did we need to obey commands of “upper classmen” nor did we think of worrying over lessons, for, we bore consciously our wisdom as Sophomores. Needless to say, such a class became one of the strong pillars of “Old Abing-ton.” All went well till the month of May, when many members had the “spring fever” and, to facilitate their convalescence, we decided to give a Spring Dance on the second of June. What a success it proved to be! We all went home after that delightful evening with confidence and strength suf- 10

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Under the direction of Mrs. Wyatt, the Senior play. “Engaged by Wednesday,” was sufficiently rehearsed, and a marvelously successful first and second night was enjoyed by large audiences on the second and third of May. According to rumors whispered here and there, the very “atmosphere” cf this romantic play has seriously affected two of the players—but enough in that direction. The greatest experience of our lives came to us during this past year when suddenly without warning came the greatest news the world has ever heard. Amidst the ringing of bells and the shrieking of whistles we were informed of the signing of the armistice. The world war was at an end. At last “Peace on earth and good will towards man” was again approaching reality. In the celebration of this glorious event, we. the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen, joined, sparing neither voice nor lungs in our wild ecstacy of feeling as we paraded the streets amidst the happy throngs of rejoicing America. All those critics of our worthy class who have so frequently and so openly referred to our inability and so loudly commiserated our lack of talent must bow their heads in shame this evening before this record of the achievement of the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen. ARNO FARENWALD. 12