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

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I2 THE INTERLUDE 1 1 CLASS HISTORY 1 1 E51 UTWARDLY it was a clear sunshiny E351 day-that wonderful day when we feyfail found ourselves through with grade work and ready to approach the goal of our ambition-High School. Inwardly, too, joy and excitement reigned: that is, before we reached the inside of the big building which was to be our school home, for what seemed then an interminable length of time-four years-though a few hours of our new home- life sufticed to dampen our high spirits, and to make every one of us long for the eighth grade and Mr. Byers. Such confusion as greeted us! Loud talking, lockers banging, students hurrying to and fro! How lonely we all felt! Groups of us stood here and there, dejectedly huddled together, talking in low tones and dreading the morning's ordeal. Then the great gong sounded. and tiniidly we approached the Assembly Hall. where, after all had seated themselves, Mrs. Dakin read off a long list of recitations, upon which most of us vainly attempted to take notes. Then Mr. Neff informed us a period of ten minutes would be spent in each recitation room, in which time we were to get the following day's assignment, the books to be used, etc. And it was with this part of the program that our troubles began. The upper classmen, especially the Sopho- mores and those who had so recently been very fresh Freshies, began their usual tac- tics. XVe were informed that the lockers were receiving vaults for Freshies and advised to beware of opening the same. Hair-raising tales were told us in a very tragic manner concerning the skeleton standing in Miss Montgomery's room, and one of us is even reported to have peeped cautiously at it through the door and wondered whether or not we ever looked like that. VVe were hailed generally as Fresh: called waving fields of green: advised to drink milk for our health: forced to run the gauntlet along the halls and stairways: directed to Mrs. Dakin's room as Miss Dunbar's room and made to act out all those one-act farces in which the majority of every Freshman class is forced, although not according to its own will, to take leading roles. But a few days of such torture, and our elders tired of their pranks and left us in peace. XVe began to breathe freely again, and to gain our old-time self-confidence. The work established itself in its given order, and we were feeling fully as important as any one else in the school fthough it is highlv probable we were the only ones who felt thusl. All of us had high ideals then. All of us were going to be valedictorians, winners of the Thrush- Fassett medal, and some of us-a very few of us-have attained those ideals: and others-well, others of us have fallen very far short of them. Little else was done that year other than acquainting ourselves with our teachers, learn- ing the ins and outs of High School life, and the holding of the single Freshman meeting for organization. Officers were elected at this time: Lawrence Romine, President: Ollie Kern, Vice-President: Allen Hack, Secretary: Tom Reed, Treasurer: James Reynolds, Nar- shall. Though this was our last meeting, we nevertheless felt more closely banded together. and had occasion demanded it, the world should have known that a loyal Freshman class existed. Our second year was, perhaps, the least eventful of all. We had safely passed our in- fant stage, and though most of us still re- garded the dignified Seniors with some degree of awe, we were also conscious of our rise to third place from top. XVe are especially proud of the fact that we were the first Sophomore class in the history of the school to give a hay- ride. Most of us remember that outing as a very lively one: for some of the Seniors and Juniors who did not deem it wise that such small children as the Sophs of 1910 be permit- ted to journey seven miles in the country alone, awaited our coming at a conveniently dark place along the road. where, at the psychologi- cal moment, they assailed us, and, failing to find seat room, followed in our wake upon shank's mare fpresumably to be in our delight- ful company, though it is very probable a de- sire for some of the good eats,' which they knew were aboard, was as good a reason as anyl. Nor are we willing to concede that hay- rides were the only things which interested the Sophs: for they proved their loyalty to class and school by entering everything in the shape of athletics, and in doing their share in boosting the societies and glee clubs of which they were members. Hut time Flies, and soon we had passed from that period of knowing not that we know not into that of knowing not that we know or that jolliest of all years-the Junior year. The class organized rather slowly that year: in fact, our class elections became a standing joke in the school, for it took three different sets of nominations to satisfy the Board of Control. Tint those finally chosen served us ably: Chancellor Moschell. Presi- dent: Bess Miller, Vice-President: Everett Carr, Secretary: Horace Russell, Treasurer, and Ambrose Strong, Marshal. Then came our hay-ride. We were royally entertained at the home of our classmate, Ar- zie Parett, five miles beyond Mishawaka. But a bare mention of this need be made. for who can forget the good time we had? Most of us were ashamed to look a pop-corn ball or a

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THE INTERLUDE ill manner become in every way that no lady of nobility ever entered the theater without a mask, although her rank was clearly betrayed by the profusion of jewelry which she wore, upon the quantity of which fashion had pre- scribed no limit. Nor were the men in that age more chary of splendor than their ladies. W'ide, embroidered collars, jewel-bedecked doublets, gold and silver shoe buckles, wide hats, and ample cloaks of the most expensive fashion, were everywhere in vogue. In direct contrast with all this social splen- dor was the rudeness and primitive aspect of the play-houses themselves. The stage, cov- ered with rushes and extending far out into the audience room, was but partly protected from the weather. A small alcove at the back, hidden from view by a scant curtain, was the only available doorway, and through this the actors were accustomed to make both their en- trance and exit. There were very few stage properties. A rude throne, a rough table, and a bench or two, were usually the best that could be had, although wooden animals were sometimes included among the other theatri- cal necessities, and some few mechanical de- vices were used, such as a pullev with which to raise the ghosts or gods to heaven,,' and a trap-door in the floor, which, when occasion re- quired, would serve either as an entrance for spirits or as a grave. Owing to the small di- mensions and limited facilities of the stage, whole armies were often represented by as few as six men, and prologues were introduced to give the audience a more concise idea of the progress and surroundings of the plot, such an insertion being especially necessary when ac- tion was complicated or change of scene fre- quent, since this prologue, or chorus as Shake- speare terms it, and a scroll displayed at one end of the platform were the sole means of an- nouncing the place of action. Any further background could be supplied only by the list- ener's imagination. The acting was almost as rude as the scenerv --little, if any, discrimination being used in the choice of costumes. The actor who recited the prologue usually wore a long black robe, and the garb of a comedian was even more fantas- tic than that of a modern clown. Even the more important characters were sometimes crudely represented. Brutus and Cassius ap- peared in the second scene of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with Spanish cloaks instead of Roman togas, and contrary to the Latin cus- tom of being unarmed within the capitol, car- ried their swords throughout the dialogue. No women were allowed on the stage. instead, when such a character as Juliet came in, the audience found themselves applauding an awk- ward, shambling boy in petticoats, who was embraced with the imminent hazard of brush- ing the brick-dust off his cheeks: the villain's moustache was a black streak made by burnt corkg while the knight had only to draw a sliirtover his coat and the gifted audience saw at once a suit of mail blazoned with some heraldic device. So versatile was their imag- ination that an actor besprinkled with plaster might represent a stone wall in one scene and by carrying a lantern, be received as the moon in the next. , Another unique and seemingly obstructive fashion of the time -was the presence of spec- tators on the stage. Nobles and distinguished courtiers were admitted to this privilege by every company and asserted their superiority again and again by interrupting the actors and criticising either their method of performing or the literary value of some especial scene. Imagine a present-day actor turning his back deliberately on one division of his audience, crowding past another, and hearing the oaths and wranglings of the third above his declama- tion, and you have at least a partial concep- tion of the inconvenience which the early drama tolerated. Men played cards on the stage as coolly as they would have done in a private tavern, decorum and attention were unknown terms, and the plan of the theater it- self was such as to give the spectators the least commodiogus point of view. In the midst of all these conditions the Elizabethan drama continued to thrive for years with no abatement of its intense and growing popularity. its appeal was made to rich and poor alike ,and there was scarcely an Englishman in the seventeenth century who was not the-,passionate devotee and patron of the London stage. So that in this the least fastidious age of history, the greatest dramas of the world were written. Having broken away from the old Greek and Roman custom of maintaining a single unity of time and place, there was nothing left which might re- tard dramatic growth. On the other hand. the demand made upon the imagination by poor scenery, with the consequent betterment of every play where words were compelled to do the duty which the modern canvas now nsurpsg the fact that every author of import- ance was an actor as well as a writer: and the very simplicity of the stage itself which could accommodate any amount of imagery, repre- senting the cliffs of Dover as veraciously as the English channel, or the Roman forum as truly as an linglish throne-room, made the drama one of intense emotion, spontaneity, and freedom, such as has been eqnaled in no late age. much less surpassed. TnUsA REAM, '10,

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THE INTERLUDE 13 piece of fudge in the face for days after the affair. The parties held at Vic Paxson's and Florence Cregier's with their respective stunts at the one, and the episode of the lim- burger cheese placed in Earl l.'rice's coat pocket by some wicked little boys at the other, are memorable occasions as well. Then the Ex -that affair to which every student from the time of his entry into school looks forward. The Ex of 1909 differed from all other Exes in previous history in the High School, for instead of representing the whole class upon the stage Qfor, indeed, either the class was too large or the Oliver stage too small to accommodate us allj, the class was represented as a whole and, indeed, very ably by the members of the cast of the play, The Elopement of Ellenf' And who of us will ever forget that! The rector, with his, I just came across through the garden, hoping I might be of service, the love tangles between Max and Dorothy, Ellen, the new maid, Bobbie and Mr. and Mrs. Sears, the newly married couple! It was the best Ex ever given fwe thinkj, though former Junior classes may not agree entirely with us upon that point. And lastly but not leastlv came the ban- quets. The night following the Junior Ex, we were entertained at an elaborate banquet telaborate both as to decorations and eatablesj by the Seniors of 1909, and ideal hosts they proved themselves to be, for those of us who went spent an enjoyable evening. We re- turned the compliment early in April, and even the Seniors had to admit, though very reluct- antly. that our menu beat theirs and that they had a splendid time. A few months intervened, and we came back to find ourselves the dignified Seniors, and to a realization that High School life would not be very much longer for us. Dig- nified Seniors! Yet how many of us really felt dignified? Most of us felt as care-free as we did in our Freshman days, though, perhaps, something of our responsibility as examples to under classmen did weigh upon us, and we began to realize in a measure how near we were and are to entering that larger school- Life. Still, we went into it with the zest and spirit that has ever characterized our class, with the idea of making it one of the best and jolliest of the four years, and, indeed, we have succeeded. We began with an early election of competent officers: Chancellor Moschell, President, lless Miller, Vice-President, Elinor Wolf, Secretary, Mar-k Duncan, Treasurer, and Marcell XValsh, Marshal. Soon the an- nual Senior disease, known as Pinitis, took violent hold upon us, almost threatening us with death. The pin doctor was unable to cure us entirely, at first, since the male sec- tion of the class positively refused to take the four-cornered pill- pretzel, as they preferred to call it-because they did not fancy the shape, mainly, however, because they liked to be stubborn, and wanted that which tickled their palate, rather than that which was best for them. In due time, however, and for va- rious reasons they swallowed it gracefully, though somewhat reluctantly, and the entire class recovered with marvelous rapidity. This dangerous point in our career having been passed, we began to look around for something of a lighter nature. The boys were the first to discover the something which was in the shape of a party at Melville Hall, given in honor of the girls. A few weeks later the girls returned the compliment, which par- took of the nature of a winter picnic. The markedly successful Junior-Senior masquer- ade, held for the purpose of better acquainting the members of each class with themselves and each other-the two banquets, remem- bered chieliy for the overwhelming number of girls in attendance-all followed in quick suc- cession, and are things still fresh in mind. And now we have come to Commencement time-our graduation. That great event for which we have been preparing for twelve long years is upon us. A few more days and the class of 1910 will be but school history. Yes, it brings a feeling of sadness as well, for school friends with whom we have been associated for so long must be broken away from and school life, for many of us, must give way to world life. Everything about the old school becomes suddenly dear, and we leave its threshold with hesitating steps, eager to go, yet hating to leave its infiuences and associa- tions behind. But the wrench must be made, sudden and painful though it may be. Things will never be, can never be, the same again, yet in future years we shall all look to this as one of the happiest periods of life, and old S. B. H. S. will alway have one of the warmest spots in our hearts. Nor as we pass do we forget those who have made our graduation possible. XVe realize that our misbehaviors-disturbing classes, causing annoyance generally, swiping banners ffly- ing them, tooj have been enough to turn their hair gray, yet they have been patient of and lenient with our shortcomings, and have at- tributed them to the superabundance of ani- mal spirit within us. We have learned and prof- ited by learning and our Alma Mater sends us out fairly well equipped to cope with the world. Two events yet remain, the class play, Ingo- mar, which we know will be the best ever pre- sented by any Senior class, and the Commence- ment exercises, when we shall receive our diplomas-then all will be over-and the his- tory of the class is made. Success and happi- ness to every member of the Class of 1910. May they never forget the friendships formed and the good times enjoyed in High School days! May their motto ever be, No strifeg no victory, remembering, meanwhile, that af- ter all it 'Tis the contest that delights us- not the victory, and thus prove themselves worthy graduates of the South Bend High School! SYDNIE G. CROSBY, '10,