Central High School - Centralian Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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, THE CENTRRLIHN ' r I Hzsfomf - I-IEN one reads this, the seventh volume of THE CENTRALIAN, he naturally wonders about the history of this book. Vfhen the first CEN- TRALIAN was published, in what form it was, who its former editors were, and by what steps it has developed. The first CENTRALIAN was published in 1899. It was a thin little book, six by nine law-'T inches in size. The paper was not very good and the pictures would look exceedingly poor to us today. They were necessarily small because of the size of the book, but even then twfo pictures, such as the Senior and Junior officers, were often put on the same page. Yet the book well represented all the interests of the school, and is exceedingly interesting. James Gibson was the editor of this volume, and Buford Scruggs was his assistant. , The next two years THE CENTRALIAN retained almost the same form. In 1900 the editor and assistant were Chandler'Warren Watson and Ray Merrill, and the follow- ing year Will Hogsett and Joe Ellis. In 1902, however, THE .CENTRALIAN took a step forward. It was made larger, seven by nine inches, and so was able to give better pictures of the societies and different organizations. The editor and associate editor were Clifford Jones and Helen Mahr. Two years ago, however, was published a CENTRALIAN that showed how much room for improvement there had been. It was nine by twelve inches in size, the paper was of the best quality, the pictures were large and clear and in every way the book proved how,excellent THE CENTRALIAN could be made. The editor and associate editor were Dell Dut- ton and Ruth Weelzs and they will long be envied by THE CENTRALIAN editors, for it seems almost impossible to sur- pass their work. Last year, 1904, Hyden Eaton and Joyce NVelsh were the editors and upheld the standard that had I gre as been set the year before. The book was slightly different in shape, but in size, quality, material, etc., it differed very little from the preceding one. 'When the old GENTRALIANS are examined we can see that there have been many changes in the methods of pro- ducing THE CENTRALIAN, but that the aim has always been the same-to publish a book that will be of interest to every pupil in Central. At first the staff was chosen by their predecessors. Then in 1902 they were nominated by the teachers and elected by the school, and a faculty adviser was added to the staff. That year, too, the editor-in-chief of THE LUMINAEY was retained as editor of THE CEN- TRALIAN. This seemed wise, the greatest experience is needed to publish the ANNUAL. In studying the history of THE CENTRALIAN one studies also the history of Central. Every change that has taken place there is at least hinted at in THE CENTRALIAN. In the 1900 book we find that open sessions have been forbidden and that strenuous efforts are being madeto re- gain them. VVe see, too, organizations that have since dis- appeared-the Anti-Cigarette League, the Cadets, and the Girls College Club.' This year we noticed the first ap- pearance of the Aristonians and Wfebsters. This CEN- TEALIAN seemed to show. that Central was wide-awake, for that year the first glee and mandolin clubs were formed, THE CENTRALIAN had language and science departments for the first time, and the four literary societies gave their an- nual Christmas play. In 1903 we miss this feature and some of us are reminded of the struggle the old societies made against admitting the new ones. Last year we mourned the absence of the three oldest literary societies. lVhen we study the history of THE CEN'r1mi.IixN and see in what close touch with the school life it has always been, we realize that THE CENTRALIAN has been what it evei hopes to be-a true representative of the life at Central. LEE CAMPBELL, '05.

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EDITORIAL- Continued aroused our highest interest and were a credit to any high school. The Websters were our first entertainers. 'iWeb- ster Day was celebrated by a one-act farce which showed hard and conscientious study on the part of the actors. The school looked forward with much curiosity to the Aris- tonian program, for 'twas heard in and about that 'troasts were to be numerous. They quite exceeded our expectations in every sense of the word, for there were roasts galore, strong and weak. The S. L. H. surprised us next with their original ideas as to how John Kendrick Bangs' book, 'tThe House Boat on the Styx, should be read to the best advantage. In this, the oldest society now in existence in Old Central nobly upheld the high standard of their society forefathers. Two weeks later found the Central Shakespeare Club making their initial appearance upon our stage. Through their teaching the school at large was permitted a view of the modern Hamlet, intermixed and interwoven with a revised version of Romeo -and Juliet. Later in the year the Del- phians and the Glee Club gave very interesting and cred- itable performances. In Athletics, Central has fulfilled entirely the tra- ditions of her past victorious record. On the gridiron her battles were lost and won, it is true, but even though the defeats had been in majority, the scales would have been balanced by her overwhelming victory over our friends across the way. Again in the indoor track meet at Convention Hall, Manual met defeat through the glorious victory of our team. When Central defeated Manua.l at basket ball, the victory was taken as a matter of course and was not given the praise which was due it. Constant success becomes monotonous, nevertheless the school is looking forward to the time when the base ball and track team trophies will be added to our collection ofnwinning cups. To add school spirit and more interest to athletics, the faculty have al- lowed the organization of the different classes for the pur- pose of inter-class meets. Through this privilege, our ath- letic instructors are enabled not only to provoke more in- terest in track and field work, but are greatly aided in choosing promising material for our next yearls team, especially in the Sophomore and Freshman classes. . But though victorious time and -again within our own school, victory would go without the true meaning if we were compelled to win only at home. If this be true, Cen- tral well knows the meaning, for not only in our own schoolpbut in outside fields, Central students have flaunted the flag of defeat in her opponents' faces. Honors in the Chicago declamation contest have 'become looked upon as common place, and perhaps, for this reason alone, it is well for Central to have taken only the one prize through Miss Beulah Robinsonls reading instead of the usual two. Again, in the annual essay competition conducted by the Sons of the' Revolution, Central stood well up in the rank of honor. To this we are indebted to Mr. Earle Bowers, who won the silver medal and Miss Elizabeth Moise, who received hon- orable men-tion. The twentieth volume of THE LUMINARY can be said truthfully to have been equal it not a trifle better than its predecessors. Some eighty of the most prominent schools have been visited by our school paper each month, and dur- ing the year THE LUMINARY has been favorably commented upon in the exchange columns of nearly every one of these. No college or university, with the exception of the larger institutions of the East, can boast of a better school mag- azine than TITE LUMINARY. The Seniors have finished. Their high school career will be ended when the last of the school events comes -their Class Day and Commencement, which complete their course in secondary schools forever. School has ended and the Juniors are prepared for the ordeal of Seniorship. But All's well that ends well, so this year is well.

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