Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 26 text:

RHYME OF THE FRANTIC SCHOOL-GIRL. 4 RHYME OF THE FRANTIC SCHOOL-GIRE. A UNA MULTARUM. It was a frantic school-girl. And she stoppeth one of three, “ By thy wild looks and distraight air, Now, wherefore stop’st thou me ? My dinner table waiteth now. And I am stayed for, see! My spouse, she sits behind the urn, They tarry all for me.” She holds him by her fevered hand, I Ic strives to break away ; She holds him by her piercing eye, He cannot choose but stay. He gives one agonized look, His friends have quit the room ; He gives one hungered thought of bread, And yields him to his doom. A well-thumbed book the damsel bore. She waved it o’er her head ; The man addressed, here bent his breast, And wished that he were dead. Then from a heart that brimmed o’er, The maiden thus began With hurried speech and trembling voice, “Speak up, an thou’rt a man. Oh why did Virgil write this stuff To puzzle my small wit ? Is’t not enough to learn those things Which in this age are writ ? What is this horse, this eqnns here, Who built it, and why? say! ” He rolled his eyes to the pitying skies, And muttered : “O go way.” She heedest not; but faster still Her questionings did come ; The fated man in silence stood, As one that’s stricken dumb. “ Then Danai, Graii, Argives, speak ! This sorely puzzles me ; Why call them forty different names? I like consistency. Minerva, too, here is a stick : Was Fallas' sister, she? Or is’t Athenia, I think of? They are confused, these three. Greeks, Trojans, Carthagenians, all Are mixed in my head ; Can’st thou not straight them?” [She looked up]— The soulless man had fled. And then a flood of bitter grief Her faint heart over-flows, Till she spies another learned face ; And after it straightway goes. And thus the story is renewed; She seeks aid near and far. And execrates base Helen, who Brought on this Trojan war. No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of folly. —Aristotle. Never marry but for love; but sec that thou lovest what is lovely. — Wtn. Penn.

Page 25 text:

MANUFACTURES. 13 new substances were operated upon, and certain portions of the community con- fined their labors to producing articles for exchange, and as a consequence soon ex- celled in the quality of their productions. Foremost among these were the Egypt- ians ; they were well clothed, and the ruins which still remain show that they must have possessed machinery of the most powerful character. The hieroglyphic inscriptions on their monuments represent instruments in use at the present day; such as the bal- ance, the chariot and the potter’s wheel. Manufactures arc at present carried on almost all over the world, but most exten- sively in Europe and the United States. Great progress has been made, especially in the last few years. The bow and arrow of the past has given place to the rifle of to-day; the torch has gradually developed into the tallow candle, and from that into the oil lamp, until now gas is generally used wherever artificial light is needed, and even this will probably in a few years be superseded by the electric light. Ag- ricultural implements have also been great- ly improved. Instead of reaping, mowing and threshing by hand, as was formerly done, these operations are now accom- plished by machinery, and the old-fash- ioned windmills have passed away to be replaced by those driven by steam. The old way of transmitting intelligence through messengers on horse is now among the things that were, and the telegraph encircles the earth and brings all parts of the world into instant communication. In consequence of the perfection to “The proper epic of this world is not now ‘ arms and the man ; ’ how much less ‘ shirt-frills and the man ; ’ no, it is now ‘ tools and the man : ’ that, henceforth to all time is now our epic.’ which manufactures have been brought, articles that took months of hard labor to produce, and which were therefore out of the reach of most people, are now made in a few hours by the aid of machinery, and the prices thereby reduced so as to bring them within the reach of all. Owing to the improvements that have been made in machinery, many articles of conveni- ence, that a few years ago were unthought of, are now in daily use. Apparent im- possibilities have been performed, and the arts and manufactures have impelled science to greater exertions to pave the way and render possible the completion of some of its projects. Luxuries, which heretofore were only possible to the rich, and in many cases even out of their reach, arc now the common possessions of the poor. The extent to which manufacturing is at present carried on, necessitates the em- ployment of a greater number of people than formerly. The different branches of manufacture arc now more numerous, and arc carried on on a larger scale than ever before, and in consequence of this the number of men employed must be pro- portionately larger. When the steam lo- comotive was first invented, it gave employment to thousands in building the roads, and to thousands more in building the engines and cars, while still greater numbers obtain constant employment driving the engines, loading and unloading the cars, keeping the roads and engines in repair, and in innumerable other branches 'of industry to which it has given rise. GOD the first garden made, the first city, Cain.—Cowley. THE fearful unbelief is unbelief in your- self.—Carlyle.

Page 27 text:

HIDE AND SEEK. «5 HIDE AND SEEK. BY IDA J. MORRISON. '80. The games of childhood arc often sug- gestive of the work which comes to the little ones in the later years. The free and joyous little boy calls for some one to play horse with him, that he may trot to Ban- bury Cross, and as he rides his wooden horse, he dreams of the day when he shall be a man, and rein a living steed ; while the little maiden, moved by the same in- stinct which in the mother’s nature causes her to have such tender solicitude for her little ones, chooses to tend her baby doll. When, however, hide and seek is pro- posed, even the dolly is left, and the jour- ney to that unknown village is never completed but the children with one glad cry, join heartily in this mirthful game. In the universal love displayed for this game, we see the dawning of the nature which will be developed more fully in later years. It is not strange that the children love it so, for has not Nature in her most win- ning ways taught it to them ? The stars set it in the deep blue of the heavens, ap- pear to be at this same joyous game. They shine down on us with their soft, silvery light, and then disappear for a little while, coming back to us again with the same merry twinkle, as if they had found a wonderful hiding-place in the depths of the blue atmosphere. In the Autumn, the earth hides all her foliage under a delicate garment of beautiful whiteness; but when the Spring-time comes, the sunbeams seek the flowers, and find them again. In their childhood days, the little ones hide from each other that they may be sought for again; but as the years pass on, and they come into school, things arc found which some one older has bidden them seek, and the game becomes more earnest. As a glad, triumphant express- ion flashes across the face of the child, who has sought and found a playmate, so the school-girl at work for the hidden re- sult of some difficult problem, may feel truly exultant when she has been success- ful in this truer game of hide and seek. When the school-days are over, still more earnest becomes the game. Men learn that things are hidden from them, which arc being searched for every day, and everywhere people are found working out this game that the children play, the seeking after hidden things. Long ago, in the unremembered ages, this great world was covered with a most luxuriant vegetation. In time all this beautiful growth hid itself in the earth’s dark bosom; there, untouched by the hand of any one, it underwent a marvel- ous transformation; and now the earth gives up its treasure, but the miners think not that they seek and find in this game which was begun centuries ago. And of its abundance, the earth yields other treasures from its dark caverns, to those who seek, gold and precious stones. Longfellow' says: • The sea hath its pearls. The heaven hath its stars; “ and there are those, w ho, from the bound- less territories of the turbulent sea, gather together rare and pure things; and they