Banning High School - San Gorgonian Yearbook (Banning, CA)

Page 19 text:

The San Gorgonio Pass spe pass was once filled with many tribes of Indians. Over each tribe presided a chief. Sometimes thes e chiefs were warlike and sometimes peaceful. The most important of these chiefs were Cabazon and Juan Antonio, who was probably part Spanish. In those days this whole pass was covered with a rank growth of wild grasses, mesquite, yucca, cactus and many varie- ties of wild flowers. Herds of antelope roamed the plains unmo- lested. Grizzly bears and mountain lions frequently attacked the settlers’ stock. In 1855 the first government surveyors arrived in the pass and established boundary lines. After this many more settlers, attracted by the fine pasture lands, bringing with them herds of cattle and sheep, arrived. In 1861 a stage line was established from Los Angeles to Ehrenburg, Arizona. Later this stage line was operated by Gen- eral Banning, for whom this town was named. In 1862 an epidemic of smallpox swept the country, killing hundreds of Indians. Among those who died was Chief Juan An- tonio. After this the Indians were so few in number they were no longer troublesome. The Southern Pacific railroad was established in 1876. This made the country much more desirable for settlers. It made transportation easier and opened a way for the present industries. Gradually the once uncultivated pass grew into our thriving com- munity. MARIAN GILMAN, ’20. PAGE SIXTEEN

Page 18 text:

By means of a humorous old gravedigger he makes us laugh. “He buried generations of the poor, A countless host, and thought no more if it Than digging potatoes.” In his treatment of Shakespeare Noyes shows his greatest skill. The author’s choice of words brings out as vivid a picture as a painter with his crayons could do: Shakespeare, of “a bearded oval face, young with deep eyes.” He does not make him a prominent character but in spite of the fact he succeeds in making him appear the greatest charac- ter of all of the great characters. Shakespeare mingles sociably with them all in the Mermaid Inn, giving and returning jokes, having as good a time as any, loved and looked up to by the men, overawed by no one, not even by the pompous, haughty Bacon, seemingly one with the others; yet throughout the book it is no- ticeable that Shakespeare does not indulge so freely in wine, utter quite the same rough language or have quite the same philosophy as the others. So, having once read Noyes’ “Tales,” we can never again feel that these men are strange or remote, but rather must they be to us real, truly human friends. RUTH MULLEN, '17. To The Desert To you, most wonderful of spacious sands, To you, our California Desert wide,— Unequaled except in Sahara lands,— That stretches many miles from mountain side; To you my mesgger sonnet I address. On you, O luring sands and desert brush, At evening in your mystic purple dress, The brooding darkness falls with peaceful hush; Beneath the barren rocks you hold great wealth For man, when by the love of riches pressed. To bring back happiness and glowing health Your sands do offer us a place of rest. O, sands, wide stretching in gold and purple state, I cannot all your wonders half relate. MAY HARGRAVE, ’17. PAGE FIFTEEN

Page 20 text:

The Explosion at R»,avensdale ) RIESE is a little coal-mining town in the northwes- ern part of Washington. The population was fifteen hun- dred and the majority were men who worked in the mines. These mines were unusually dangerous for the reason that it seemed im possible to control the gases. No matter how hard the superin- tendent tried to enforce the safety rules the danger still prevailed. In spite of this fact they were unwilling to abandon it because of its richness. Every morning they dampened the mine down. This prevented to some extent the danger from black damp, or coal dust, which mixes with the gas and explodes. The workmen were naturally much interested in mine rescue work and after working-hours they drilled, always keeping in mind the fact that some day it might be the means of saving life. The day of the accident was like a hundred other winter days, cold, damp and misty. Every man on the day shift had left his home. The wash house was crowded with men from the . night shift, some still black with the grime of the mines. The mines had again settled down to their hum of toil. Suddenly a loud report rent the air. As if directed by one mind every man ran for the windows. Another explosion follow ed, then just the smoke pouring out of the shaft. Something had happened at the mines. All the men crowded to the doors; some one threw them open and they all ran pell-mell for the mouth of the mines. Fire was now spreading in great tongues. By this time the women and children crowded near, too. It was a rule of the company to try to give the men with families work on the day shift, in order that they might enjoy their homes at night. So it was the husbands and fathers who had been caught by the explosion. At the report the women and children had rushed down to the mines. Some of them were only partly dressed and they stood shivering with fear and cold at the mouth of the mines. Only one man seemed to know what to do. He was a little man whom every one had ridiculed when he gallantly offered to train the Mine Rescue Team. But he had been made captain over men twice his size and at this time proved his worth, I’m sure. He now called his men together, ordered them to buckle on their suits and start the rescue work. By this time guards had beeen placed at the entrance shaft to prevent the nearly fran. tic women from attemptins to enter the mines. PAGE SEVENTEEN ta