Central High School - Interlude Yearbook (South Bend, IN)

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THE INTERLUDE 9 CONTINUATION OF SENATOR GORDON'S SPEECH lThis manuscript is an imagined continuation of Senator Gordon's speech-original with the exception of thc indented paragraphj .X few weeks ago I listened to an old gray- haired Senator delivering his first and last speech before the United States Senate. He had been chosen to fill a vacancy caused by a deadlock in the senatorial election in his home state. The- Senate chamber had been a scene of confusion. Men representing the private in- terests of the country had been pitted against true statesmen in the battle over a national measure. There were Senators who were sac- rificing their honor and their reputation to ob- tain the cherished legislation. There were other Senators who loved their country and their people, and were fighting for a righteous cause. The battle had waged hot and heavy and during a lull in the fight the great, slender six- foot man rose and addressed the chair: Mr. President, I have been informed that the deadlock in the senatorial election in my honle state has been broken, and that I must soon allow my successor to take my place in this body. As I am about to retire from the Senate, I wish to express my feelings, my pro- found convictions, gained from my brief ex- periencc here. I come to you to talk of friend- ship and of love for one another. My religion is the eleventh commandment of Christ, when he said, 'A new commandment I give unto vou, that ye love one another'. That is what I should like to bring about here. That is my object in standing here to-day to talk to you as I am going to. I want to implant in you, just as it is in my heart. a growing love for the country in which I live and the people I live with. I :un from the South, but I live with you all. You are not divided from me by Mason and Dixon's line. or any other lines. I want to wipe out all lines. I want to see Mason and Dixou's line obliterated from the map of the United States and in its place the words, 'Our country'. These words uttered by the Senator touched a sympathetic chord in the hearts of those present and evoked a responsive thrill, a senti- ment such as had not existed since the days of the Civil XVar. Men began to note with ex- treme interest the existing situation. Then the Senator continued: VVhen the first white man set foot on American soil, he was not restricted by any lines or boundaries other than those of nature. The country from the Arctic to the Gulf and from the Atlantic to the Pacific was solidly one and was not div- ided by any lines of distinction or separation. Since then matters have changed wonderful- ly. Generation after generation has seen prob- lems loom up before it anfl others have seen them solved. I have a series of pictures in mind. The first is a scene of the early settlers of this country as they felled the trees, hewed the rough logs, and builded for themselves homes there within the sound of the Atlantic surf. In the second I see their sons and daugh- ters with their axes on their shoulders toiling their way across the Appalachians into the broad Mississippi vallev. The third and final presents a long train of emigrant wagons winding slowly downward from the mountains into the beautiful valley of California. It is a splendid scene not alone mingled with joy and sadness as, pausing for a moment, those sturdy pioneers behold that fruitful valley which lies before them, and the golden sun as it sinks into the depths of the Pacific. Each of these generations had its problems, and so has the present one, Today We are facing a problem that is as old as the human race. a problem with which the first of the human species battled, and one that has ever since confronted man. And that is the prob- lem of integrity, the struggle of human right against corporate privilege. If every American could realize that integ- rity is an essential factor in governing, this nation could be handed down to posterity with the confidence that it would remain a world power for generations to come. And what a splendid thing that would be to have every man take a conscientious share in the preservation of our father-land! In this strenuous and progressive age we are likely to think too much of the remun- erative ends of life and sacrifice those splendid qualities which are attributes of man alone. I cannot but associate with integrity the names and characters of some of the nation's eminent men. And first among these I should name the father of our country, George W'ash- ington. Ifis character was a composite of truth, courage, and virtue-of honor which throughout his life he never compromised. Then later in history we find Abraham Lin- coln, who stood before the nation at the crisis with beliefs supported by strong moral convic- tions. Passing on to the present age, which is of perhaps more interest, I point with enthusiasm to the name of Theodore Roosevelt, a man who stands before the world and allows only his conscience to dictate his actions. These are examples of men who have stood for the right. I could name many more, but these are foremost. Now, Senators, I wish to press upon you the need of conscientiousness in this honored place. Think of the millions of homes and of

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8 THE INTERLUDE our own United States. It is broad but not vul- gar, impersonal and therefore kind. The con- versation between the slangy miner and an orthodox minister in Buck' Fanshattfs Funeral is especially appreciated by Americans who are fam- ous or infamous for their slang. The miner is so thoroughly educated in it as almost to have become a foreigner to English-speaking people: 'Well, you've got the bulge on me. Or may- be we've both got the bulge, somehow. You don't smoke me and I don't smoke you. You see one of the boys has passed in his checks, and we want to give him a good send-off, and so the thing I'm on now is to rout out somebody to jerk a little chin-music for us and waltz him through handsomef 'My friend, I seem to grow more and more bewildered. Your observations are wholly in- comprehensible to me. Cannot you simplify them some way? At first I thought perhaps I under- stood you, but now I grope. Would it not expe- dite manners if you restricted yourself to cate- gorical statements of fact unincumbered with ob- structing accumulations of metaphor and alle- ?Y J! Equally amusing is the charming conceit of the American Specimenu. Americans are not the most modest people in the world, but we be- lieve few have quite the sang froid of the Speci- men with his breezy self-complacency which is the adolescent's idea of the well bred ease of the man of the world.liiHe had all the look of an American who would be likely to begin his signature with an initial and spell his middle name outf' We are overpowered by the gracious condescension of his address: Very glad to make your acquaintance, 'm sureg very glad indeed, assure you. I've read all your little efforts and greatly admired them, and when I heard you were here, I ---.' And the irony of the closing remark: It is a great and solemn thing to have a grandfather. We have all met the woman who is afraid of lightning. O yes! The woman who wrings her hands and emits feeble little groans during the refreshing thunder-storm that we have been wish- ing for for days is, unhappily, only too familiar to us, but Mrs. McWilliams', leads not only the band of these women but her husband as well. On being told he ought to be ashamed for sleeping through a storm, Mr. McWilliams ex- claims: 'Wl1y, how can one be ashamed when he is asleep? It is unreasonableg- a man cau't be ashamed when he is asleep, Evangeline ?' 'You never try, Mortimer-you know very well you never try,' sobs Evangeline from the wardrobe whither she has taken refuge from thc lightning. And again, 'VVhat is that, Mortiine-r?' 'The cat.' 'The cat! Ch, destruction! Catch her, and shut her up in the washstand. Do be quick, love: cats are full of electricity. I just know my hair will turn white with this night's awful perils.' The awful perils turn out to be the booming of a cannon and the flashes of light emitted from it. So for once at least fears of a thunder-storm were groundless. The comical distress of the European guide over the seeming stolidness of the Americans is delightfully humorous : 'Ah, genteelmen, you come wis us! I show you beautiful, oh, magnificent bust Christopher Colombo! Splendid, grand, magnificent P' He brought us before the beautiful bust,-for it was beautiful,-and sprung back and struck an attitude. 'Ah, look, genteelmen l-beautiful, grand,- bust Christopher Colombo !-beautiful bust, beau- tiful pedestall' The doctor put up his eye-glass,-procured for such occasions. 'Ah,-what did you say this gentleman's name was P' 'Christopher Colombo! Ze great Christopher Colombol' 'Well, what did he do ?' 'Discover America l-discover America !-Oh, ze diable !' 'Discover America? No, that statement will hardly wash. We are just from America our- selves. Christopher Colombo !-pleasant name, -is-is he dead F' 'Oh, corpo di Baccho!-tree hundred yearl' 'What did he die of?' I do not know. I cannot tell.' Small-pox, think P' I do not know, genteelmen, I do not know what he die of.' 'Measles, likely P' 'Maybe-maybe. I do not know,-I think he die of something' 'Parents living ?' 'I m- posscebl e I' This is the true type of American humor as expressed in Mark Twain, that will make anyone laugh. And let us not smother our laughter or draw our faces to prodigious lengths. There is such a thing as taking life too seriously, and in this strenuous age of strikes and race struggles and panics we need to laugh much, for there's a true philosophy in cheering ha, ha, ha. INIYRTLE M. MCCORRISTKBN, '10. 4 A l :. -4: an-05414: yu i.. Zyl ,Q XQK ,Z remiss N TT' -W?i-fwsbie'

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10 THE, INTERLUDE the lives in this country whose happiness is at stake with the character of the legislation that is here enacted. Wie should love this na- tion far too well to allow one jot or tittle to be abated from its sacred honor. Shall we crush to the earth and trample in the dust the faith that our forefathers over a century and a quar- ter ago established on this continent? Are we to flaunt in the faces of those serene dwellers in their orbs on high the ruins of the once cherished treasure for which they spent their fortunes, their talents, and their blood? I stand at sunset and I hear in the dust at my feet the slithering of countless serpents grovelling, with greedy, glittering eyes upon their prey. And then I look off to the distant mountain peaks and hear the cry of the eagle, that noble bird of freedom, as it soars to its nest among the rocks. That picture is before me now as I think of the men of this nation-those who are not true patriots, who would not sacrifice their lives in the glare of the cannon's mouth, men who love the dark and hate the light: men who sacrifice the nation's welfare for personal gain. They are all alike infamous. But there is the patriot who loves the nation and his peo- ple, who is full of honor, truth, and integrity, standing erect where freedom reigns supreme. Let us all strive to enlist ourselves in the ranks of the patriot citizens and set our ideals at a noble height toward which to aspire, keeping always in mind those manly virtues which have assisted in building nations and which have reared the walls of mighty people. I hope I have not encroached upon your time. I have made these remarks with malice toward no one. I believe I have pointed out the situation as it is. I hope that some of you will consider what I have said: and when I go from your midst I wish you all to remember this short talk I have made today. 1 want you all to love our nation: and in kindness and friendship to remove all lines of hatred and dis- sension. I thank you, Senators, for your attention. CHANci2Lr.oR IXIOSCIIELL, President of the Class of 1910. THE GLOBE THEATRE AND PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE'S TIME HEXAGONAL, tower-like building, 17'I,f,y surrounded by a muddy ditch fash- ioned after the mediaeval moat, and only partially covered by a shelf-like roof projecting inward along the top of the tower and leaving a huge six-sided hole in the center, through which the rain might stream at will, such was the theater in which Shake- speare acted and for which he wrote his plays. It stood outside the center of Ishndon in the midst of a scattered settlement of old-fashioned houses with straight fronts, peaked gables, and tiny square-paned windows. Thebroad pathway which wound up along the river bank among green meadows and scrubby trees. was almost picturesque, but the theater itself was wholly unattractive. As far up as the height of an ordinary house the walls were perfectly plain and bare, and even the two rows of windows beginning at that point only gave a rude and barbarous appearance to the whole edifice. From a lodge built on one of the six corners a red flag fluttered, and from here the blast of a trumpet, announcing the hour of performance, sounded almost every afternoon. Even a stranger unacquainted with London customs, soon found that the foulest weather had apparently no effect on the English play- goers. Through drizzling rain and scorch- ing heat, the long row-boats still darted to and fro along the Thames. Boatmen shouting out the direction of their intended course in such Dhrases as Westward, ho, or Northward, ho, thronged the waterways, while others, having drawn their boats up close to the shore, kept calling at the top of their voices, Pass- age for the Globe Theater, Passage for the lllackfriars Theater, and a dozen other cries, indistinguishable in the general din. Cour- tiers and nobles, resplendent in velvet cloaks and jeweled doublets, jostled good-humoredlv against the ragged apprentice or professional beggar in the general throng along the shore. Once inside the theater, however, the dis- tinction between rich and poor was more sharply drawn. The lower class invariably sought the pit, a rude floor several feet lower than the stage. and placed directly beneath the open portion of the roof, while the covered gal- leries, ranged along the back and sides of the stage, were occupied by the more artistocratic populace. In the pit there were neither benches nor stools and even in the galleries these commodities were a decided scarcity, al- though they might, with much persuasion, be obtained for an extra shilling or two. Under these circumstances, even the wealthier audi- ence followed the example of that in the pit. and flinging thmselves on the Hoor, plaved cards, drank, or swore with as much energy as any of their lesser countrymen. In fact. an ac- complished courtier's quarreling with the rab- ble in the pit was no unusual thing, and for want of better missiles, apples, nutshells, and even beer-cans were often flung at random by contending parties. llrawls among the listen- ers were common. If an actor displeased them, they interrupted his soliloquv to tell him so. and instances are recorded where a disgusted mob bore the unlucky dramatist to the nearest tavern, and there subjected him to' all man- ner of buffoonery. In fact, so rude had their