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

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Elma and Delma came in as gloomy as a barometer. They took their seats and looked moodily around at the rest of the twenty-nine. Everyone seemed to be staring at them and every once in a while one of the boys would laugh and say “Good work, El or Del,” as the case might be. I could not see why their work was good, for that morning | felt it my duty to call upon them, having neglected to do so for some time. They knew nothing whatever about the lesson, which happened to be on electrolytes, electrodes and the rest of the Chapter twenty-eight in Practical Physics, Carhart and Chute. After I had called on several pupils of the same sex with no better results | decided to have an impromptu laboratory after school. Elma and Delma began to brighten and they whispered excitedly. I thought that they were glad to find such an opportunity to clear the muddle of electricity in their minds. They seemed so elated that I decided to have laboratory right away and not wait until after school, thereby keeping them from their innocent play (as | suppose they must play even at the sedate age of eighteen). I soon had jars, batteries, coils and all necessary appara- tus out and everything was going smoothly, with Elma and Delma at different tables. Then suddenly there came to my nostrils the smell of burning rubber. | immediately admon- ished them to be careful not to burn any more and Elma, or the twin of Elma, piped up in her innocent young voice that it was only John’s neck and that she had extinguished it. | thought nothing of it except to note that she was feeling a little more like her usual self and | had not the heart to forbid her little pleasures. Things kept happening to disturb the class, such as doors slamming, bells ringing and footsteps echoing in the hall. It seemed to amuse the class greatly. I was in the midst of one of my best loved electrical experiments when | received a shock, presumably from my machine, and yet it seemed to start in my ankles and send disturbing thrills through my whole body. I still felt this sensation after | had dropped the wire, but per- haps it was my imagination. However, I received another shock a few minutes later when I was touching nothing. It too came from my pedal extremities. | investigated and found a battery near my feet with wires attached. | suspected that someone had done it to injure me, but | never thought of the twins. I had not the faintest idea that they of all people would be able to connect up a Leclanche cell and work it! I looked about the classroom to ascertain if all were in their places. Elma was in her proper place, but when I looked toward Delma I distinctly saw Elma slip into her place. Delma was gone! I asked where she had gone and was told that she must have felt ill for she had been gone several minutes. Page Twenty-six

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As I gaze on rough old Grayback, When the sun’s low o'er the sea. When the sun is low at setting, And the sky seems dripping fire! Tis then the bards would sing it With sweet voice and golden lyre. They would sing of all the beauty And the legends long untold. When the canyons of old Grayback Are crimsoned with sunset gold. —tTracy Pierce, °22. Those Poor Teachers I am a poor unbeguiling bachelor of sixty years and have a scientific turn of mind. My chief joy is Physics, which | teach in a small California town’s Union High School. I have always had a great love for the young life of our nation and I still do to some extent, although my admiration for their animal spirits has diminished in some respects, enough one might say, to have made me constantly fear their outbreak- ings. I have a deep instinct which | must tell you about. [ call it an instinct yet it cannot be classed as such entirely. One might call it a belief, a realization. It is that feminine minds are too frivolously inclined to understand and appreciate so deep a cubject as Physics. Physics is made for the masculine mind and only the masculine mind. It should not be mixed with femininity! My opinion is solidly set since last year. I have set myself the task of writing th’s story to warn other Physics teachers, especially the younger ones, against this prevailing evil. It happened this way. We have twins in our school. Yes, they are twins and live up to the traditions concerning twins. They look, talk and act exactly alike. My class meets just before luncheon every dey. This is most trying for my young students. Their appetites grow with the minutes. These twins seem to have a double portion of appetite. Their usually sunny countenances always held a hunted look after about the first half period. Indeed, | was so touched by theiy pathetic looks that at times | refrained from calling on them to recite, at least during the last half of the period. And as their last name began with W (Walters) I could not be ex- pected to call on them early in the period. But I am wandering from my tale. One gloomy day, Page Twenty-five

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The boys began to laugh and whisper “Good work” again. 1 could not imagine why. Just then there came to my ears a smothered shriek from the supply closet and | rushed to find the cause. There stood Delma, a piece of burning rubber in one hand and a strong battery in the other. Her dress was draggled and dirty and looked as if she had been on the oiled floor. She dropped the battery as | entered and wailed, ‘For Pat’s sake, get some- thing for my hand and then get something for me to eat, or I'll die.” The poor, dear child was in such a state that I hastily cbeyed her commands and she revived enough before leav- ing to thank me kindly and ask my pardon for any trouble she had caused. I was so touched by her evident sincerity that I refrained from reporting her. However, my opinion is firmly fixed—-Femininity and Physics cannot be satisfactorily mixed. [| hereby warn every teacher to take the best care of the feminine part of their Physics classes that they may remain unhurt and safe. Never look to them for a thorough understanding of the subject and appreciate the work they do manage to accomplish in the: extensive field of Physics. Marie Lehman ’22. AN ESSAY This is an essay. It would never have been written except for the fact that there is a four on my card and the four must be made up. This essay will be modeled after Hazlitt’s style, rambling around, saying nothing, taking up much space, and keeping as far away as possible from anything even remotely related to the title. The name will be put in after the essay is written, so there is no need to worry about that—yet. Since this paper to be an essay must contain two hundred words, something has to be selected to talk upon. Because there is no title given, any- thing may be ured as a subject. It will not be necessary to write much on it because one hundred and twenty-five words have been used already. The rambling is losing speed, the more it slows the farther away I get from Hazlitt’s method. There still are sixty words to go, but the four must be made up. I will continue. After the expenditure of much time, energy and thought, and due deliberation, I find that there is nothing more to write upon. This being the case the essay is finished. Now nothing remains but to select a title. In doing this two requirements must be filled, first, the title must in no way concern the subject of the essay, and second, it should Page Twenty-seven