Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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ZEITVERGE UDUNG. '7 it with light, it gives forth the sweetest ideal of a perfect manhood inspires him, music; and so, man, standing alone in he looks above and cries in tones of joy,— nature, is cold and silent, but when the “ Thou Infinite and All-powerful Mind.” Z EI TV ERG EU DUNG. EDWIN J. STEWART, ’89, COM. DEPT. German Commencement Essay. T AS ist Zeitvergeudung? Im eigent- Y Y lichen Sinne des Wortes giebt es nichts derartiges wie eine Vergeu- dung dcr Zeit. So zum Beispiel scheint dcr Schlaf Zeit vergeudung; allein, wenn wir schlafen, mht dcr Koerper und das Gehirn. so dass wir dann wieder besser befaehigt sind, zu arl eiten. Aber wenn wir zu lange schlafen,—das heisst, schla- fen, wenn wir wachen sollten,—dann ist die Zeit vergeudet und wir werden da- durch traege. Ferner, wenn wir lesen, erweitern wir unsern Verstand; wir gewinnen mehr Kenntniss ueber das, was vergangen ist und das, was um uns her geschieht. Wenn wir jedoch dicse billigen oder fuenf Cents Novellcn lesen, dann waere es vielleicht besser fuer uns, wenn wir nichts laesen. So koennten viele Beispiele angegeben werden. Wir muessen eben immer etwas thun; entweder wir essen, oder lesen, oder schrciben, oder denken, oder thuen irgend etwas anderes; und so lange wir unscrc Zeit verstaendig gebrauchen, so verwuesten wir dieselbe nicht. Dagegen vergeuden wir alle Zeit, welche wir nicht fuer unser eigenes Wohl oder das Wohl unserer Nebenmenschen an wen- den. “ Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund” sagt ein altes deutsches Sprichwort, und es ist wahr. Sicherlich ist kein Mensch in der Welt zu grossem Ansehen gckom- men, der seine fruehen ind besten Stunden des Tages verschlafen hat. Ungluecklicherwei.se giebt es vielleicht Niemanden, der so viel Zeit verwuestet als die Schueler in den Schulen. Sie ver- gessen die Wahrheit des Wortes, dass Zeit nicht mit Gold zu bezahlen ist. Zu spaet lemt der Schueler, wie unschaetzbar die Zeit war, welche er vergeudet hat. Dann natuerlich ist er traurig ueber die verlore- nen und vergeudeten Stunden. Manchcr wuerde mit Freuden irgend einen Preis bezahlen, wenn er die vergeudeten Stunden noch einmal zurueckmfen koennte. Allein sie kehren nicht wieder, und nur zu bald sieht er es dann ein, wenn er zum Beispiel ein Examen zu machen hat und nichts weiss. Er hat eben scin eigenes Wohl auser Acht gelassen und aueh das seiner Mitmenschen. Wahrlich dcr hat seine Zeit verwuestet. Doch giebt es natuerlich auch wieder viele Schueler und viele Personen, welche ihre Zeit nuetzlich anwenden, und welche einsehen, dass sie keine Zeit zu verwuesten haben. Wie viel besser waere es, wenn wir alle in der Zeit einsehen lernten, dass jeder Augenblick des Lebens zweckmacssig angewandt werden sollte. Und nun, meine lieben Freunde, ob ihr wieder zur Schule geht oder in ein Geschaeft, gedenket meiner Warnung, lernet durch die Erfahruhg eines Andern und vergeudet keine Zeit.

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i6 THE POWER OF MIND. The German poet Schiller, Wordsworth and Coleridge, Franklin and Hugh Miller, and Sir Walter Scott, all live because they have left behind them a noble record of mind. All men honor Wilber force and our own Whittier—the one so instrumental in freeing the slaves of Africa—the other in breaking the chains that bound the slaves of America. Notice now a few of the great minds which have expressed themselves in deeds and spoken words. Savonarola lived in an age when unblushing wickedness and degrading vice prevailed throughout Italy, an age of social corruption. Against these evils he raised his voice, sounding a warn- ing cry in tones that were heard from one end of that fair land to the other. Savon- arola has long since passed away, but the influence he exerted can never be lost. At about the same time the German monk, Luther, appeared. This genius did not come like a meteor, whose glare is soon to be extinguished; but like the light of the morning, struggling at first through opposing mists, but at length shining in the unclouded splendor of the noon-day sun. Following Luther’s guiding influence, men once more began to think and feel; to understand their rights, and appreciate the blessings of freedom. The spirit of liberty once aroused, went from nation to nation, preparing the way for the English revolution, and, were it necessary, there would be little difficulty in tracing dis- tinctly the settlements and revolution in America to the same fruitful source. And who can question the influence of that revolution and consequent independence? Hut our country has produced men of mind whose record we may point to with pride, and whose influence we still feel. Such a man was Alexander Hamilton; one of the great leaders of our revolution; to him we are in a great measure indebted for our Constitution. Another such man was Daniel Webster; the greatest of our American statesmen and orators. His early advantages were limited; but by diligent application to study he rose step by step, until he be- came the representative man of America. Webster’s dying words were, “I still live.” And how true! He does still live in the hearts of men, and in the words of counsel and advice which he bequeathed to the world. As we realize the influence exerted by the powerful and fully developed intellect, what is it that makes our own hearts beat so rapidly? Is it not a feeling that we, t x . have within us a spark of that flame which bums a central heat in the moral world? that long after we have passed away, we, too, may exert an influence to ennoble and refine? Let us then cultivate our intellects and attain such a greatness of mind its becomes wise and virtuous men. Where the love of knowledge has found a resting place in man, such love will stir into active energy every element of his being. He will learn to blend his honest efforts for the good of others with his own highest improvement. Let us not do as we see many doing,—let us not chase that gilded bauble,—wealth, as if thereon depended our eternal happiness. When this passion has taken full possession of a man, it eradi- cates alike every sentiment of honor, and every desire for intellectual culture. May we be brave enough to sacrifice worldly gain, if need be, in order that “ Wc may to our own selves be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, We cannot, then, be false to any man. Near the ancient city of Thebes, stands the colossal “Statue of Memmon.” During the night, this statue stands cold and silent, but when the morning sun covers

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i8 NORMAL ECHOES. NORMAL ECHOES. We heartily respond to your invitation. We deem it an honor once more to blend our echoes with the familiar strains which rise in Christmas song from our revered Alma Mater. If the echoes prove but feeble, please attribute it to the fact that we are pioneers in this department of literary work. Time has wrought great changes among us since we departed in that blaze of glory, that transport of rapture—Commence- ment! The brilliant constellation which illumined the literary firmament of ’89 has undergone a marked change. Our first magnitude star, which attained its maximum brilliancy June 17, has changed its position and now sheds the effulgence of its rays in the constellation known as Packer’s. Another,which, on June 17 shone as a first magnitude star, has disappeared from our firmament, but will doubtless in later years startle the world by suddenly reappearing with increased brilliancy. We also note the disappearance of a few of our “lesser lights, caused by their near approach to the Son. And so in our musical world. The full, rich tones of our dark-eyed contralto thrill no more the quiet air of the school room. We miss from our number our bonny blue-eyed musician and artist who carried away the mathematical honors of ’89. Our classmate who so wildly and vividly portrayed our future careers no longer terrifies us with her supernatural vision. Of the five gifted Seniors whose “sage unique effusion but one short year ago graced the opening pages of this time honored Annual, three have sailed away “To their work beyond the school room, to the great world that awaits them.” As yet we have hardly become accli- mated to the atmosphere of the Normal School. The change has been too sudden. We find ourselves precipitated from the dignity of seniorship with its offices of emolument and honor, its astronomical researches, its studies in the intricacies of Trigonometry and the sublimity of Virgil, its critical analyses of character and of fiction, its discussions, in fact from the very Parnassus of literary attainment, to the lowly position of Junior and to the role of Primary School Ma’am with its monotonous A, B, C, “Once upon a time, 1, 2, 3, etc.’’ Since we made our pedagogical debut, novel indeed have l een our experiences: our firm grasp of the governmental reins, the awful din, the almost wild despair, and all those feelings inexpressible which come to us, as careworn and weary, with locks dishevelled and spirits depressed we wend our homeward way. The converging lights of our many lines of investigation brought to bear upon the sciences have pierced the enshrouding mysteries, and revealed to our startled mental gaze many remarkable facts. The most noteworthy of these, the bold claim of a young enthusiast, is that political economy is the science of the human soul (sole?). The star-gazers of ’90 would be inter- I ested in our “break-neck endeavors,” although conducted in a somewhat dif- ferent line. Exciting it must be to trace the erratic wanderings of our (we forbear to say heavenly) bodies as they shoot through the gymnasium’s airy dome. We wish the rising Seniors a year as replete with happiness as that which I crowned our High School days—when we I proudly bore the title of “ Jack-o-lantcm-1 light-uns! ’’ With hearts filled with loving memories of “Auld Lang Syne, and thanking you for your kind interest in our welfare, we unite in wishing you, each and all, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year