Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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T HE K E F L E C T () R C L I F T O N H I G If S C II () O L FEBRUARY 1926 HINTS DO YOU KNOW THAT WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION: A standard college will not enroll you as a student ? Your ambition to be a teacher can never be realized ? You cannot study law in a law school of re- cognized standing? Reputable schools of medicine will bar you as a student? Class “A” dental schools will not allow you to take their courses? Schools of engineering will not enroll you in courses leading to a degree? You are barred from entrance exams for West Point Military Academy? The U. S. Naval Academy will not allow you to take its examinations? You cannot secure a position of standing in the newspaper world? Radio engineering schools will not accept your registration fee? Nurse’s training schools will not consider your application for entrance? The possibility of ever becoming a private secretary is remote? Charles Pink el, June ’26. LIFE SPOIiTS Have you begun the mastery of some sport that you may enjoy throughout your life? If you haven’t, start now. Basketball, football, baseball, track, and such strenuous games arc fine, but you need more. You can count on your fingers the number of middle aged gentlemen who still cling to these four sports, for they are few. Of course, if you intend to become a fatty or a chair-ridden bookworm when you have passed the forty year mark, get under the covers, but if not, choose your game now, so you may en- joy it the rest of your days. Golf, tennis, hand- ball, swimming, hiking and bowling are all fine sports. Become proficient in one of them. The average middle aged man dislikes to take up a new sport at his time of life for fear he will be a duffer and will take a long time learning. 15ut if at that age you have already become ex- pert in some sport, ten chances to one you will play the game because you enjoy it.—Don’t forget, someday you will be middle aged, and if you would rather be fit than fat, at that time, choose your life sport now. F. E. N., Feb. '26. THE LANDING AT THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL The waves of hope dashed high On the Clifton High School site, While the trees against the sunny sky Tossed their branches in delight; The September day was fair. Blue, cloudless, was the sky, When a band of students cast their lot In the brand new “Clifton High.” Not as the slothful come With slow, indifferent step; They sauntered up, gay as could be, They were just full of “pep.” Not as the sad do come With countenance sad and drear; Their faces beamed with joy and light, They radiated cheer. Aye, ’twas a wonderous sight— The landing at “Clifton High,” And it will be sung in verse and song As the months and years roll by. Many more will be sheltered there, Many a seer or bard. For they’ve left untouched what there they found— Freedom to study hard. Dorothy Ridsdale, June ’26. PAGE ELEVEN

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THE REFLECTOR CLIFTON HIGH SCHOOL FEBRUARY 1926 FAILURE?—NO, SUCCESS. Friends, Classmates, and Fellow-students, Lend me your eyes: I come not to praise our Reflector, but to Bury it. The good work that you do often lives After you In the solid, indestructible substance of A School Book. But you have said that you could not Get Ads,— And you are honorable students. Thus Let it he. How can I infringe upon your honesty And say it is untrue? For you are honorable students and To he trusted. You say that you did your best to Help our Cause, And that you failed through no fault Of your own— And you are honorable students— How thankful we are that the above has been proved untrue. Yet up until a very short time before the Reflector was printed, this thought, or the equivalent, occurred to each member of the staff. Each one had practically lost faith in the numerous pupils of the High School; had lost hope of ever getting their support. But at the critical moment you came to our aid and thanks be to you for it! As a result, the Reflector. Don’t you feel compensated? (By the way, 1 thank you for the loan of your eyes). M. V. H., Feb. '27. THE HONOR ROLL Sometimes honors upon honors are heaped upon students through no efforts of their own, but has it ever occurred to you that an honor for which you have worked hard and diligently is twice as sweet as one which was thrust upon you ? This year an Honor Roll has been started in our High School. An average of eight in every subject is all that is required for membership. So why not try for a position among the elite of the students next term? A little more con- centration and diligence will have their effect, and you will And that instead of just managing to squeeze through you will rise above your previous attainments. Your standard, with the standards of other students, makes up the rat- ing of our school, and with a new Clifton High to work for, why not do our best? W. Geyer, Feb. '26. THE FUTURE The completion of our new institution of learning marks the beginning of what seems to be a great step in the future of Clifton. It paves the way for a factor that is a vital neces- sity in a city with a widely spread population and a large, irregular territory. This factor is a civic center, a place for education, recreation, and also for the carrying on of the work of the city government. The large tract of land in the immediate vicinity of the High School is an ideal place for a park, an athletic field and stadium, as well as for a library and municipal building. It must come, it will come; and where the student of to-day thinks he is attending a school in the center of an open lot, the student of to-morrow will see—I do not know, I only imagine, and that is what you must do. Im- agine the vast change that the future holds for our old Race Track. H. Reuter, Feb. '26. SENIOR EGOTISM The Senior of 1926 has made his entrance. He has strutted with great pride, for not only is he a senior, but the first senior of a new. sumptuous high school. Therefore lie has pro- ceeded to act with great confidence the part of the Senior. But alas! the results have been fatal to his egotism. He, upon taking the short- est route to class, has been unceremoniously herded in place by a most conscientious patrol; he has been compelled to ask the lowly Fresh- man, who carries a floor plan, where such and such a room is; he has been forced to abandon his slow indifferent pace, for the automatic clock and bell system is an undisputed authori- ty; he has carried his head high only at the peril of having it well bumped on some tempo- rary scaffolding, thereby having the “knowing look” replaced by one of pain; in short, he has been stripped of all his Senior airs. He has probably made the wise discrimina- tion that too much self-confidence is egotism, and just enough is self-respect (which distinguishes the vagabond from the poor man); and has come to the sober conclusion that it is not airs but deeds, that make the Senior. E. Stursburg, June ’26. PAGE TEN

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THE REFLECTOR CLIFTON HIGH SCHOOL F E B R C A R Y 9 2 6 ON A MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE The U. S. S. President Arthur left the port of New York at the stroke of mid-night on July 15, 1925, and began her cruise to the Medi- terranean and ports thereon. Down below, in its crew quarters, I was sleeping soundly, un- aware that I had begun a trip on which I was to see the most interesting sights that I had ever witnessed. The weather going over was variable, and the ship made good time—until a few deceptive boilers gave way beneath the great pressure placed upon them. New sights were numerous and we kept on the deck as much as our busi- ness permitted, and that means that we did not miss a thing. At two o’clock on the morning of July 29, Cape St. Vincent was sighted, and the next evening we passed through the famous Strait of Gibraltar, just as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful sight. The outline of the huge rock, impregnable against all forces, was commandingly standing out against the back- ground of the gray heavens. As we came along broadside to the fortress, we were asked for our credentials by the international code flashed from the depths of a huge searchlight. A few' minutes afterwards we entered the Mediter- ranean, with the porpoises swimming alongside our bow. From the Rock of Gibraltar to the Bay of Naples we encountered many scenes of beauty. Cape Gata, with its rocky shores upon which thunderous waves crashed and battled continu- ously, was a sight that excited us to admiration. Sardinia, with its coast of miles and miles of bays, peninsulas, and tiny roekv islands, which reflected the sun’s rays and broke them up in- to vivid colors, also held our attention. On August the second we steamed into the port of Naples and viewed with awe the well known crater of Vesuvius. At times the volcano grum- bled and puffed in spasms, and every now and then it emitted jets of brown steam which ex- ploded with a muffled roar into a volume of gorgeous and beautiful incandescent vapor, the color of old gold, that ascended in rich creamy rolls against blue sky. A small boy, probably American born but liv- ing in Naples, strolled aboard our ship and sur- prised us by his knowledge of our own country. Here was his version. “New Knglind is divided into three parts: Boston, Plymouth Rock, and down-in-Maine. The Capital is New York. Bos- ton is famous for its baked beans with Emerson sauce, served at all tea parties. As soon as little girls and boys are old enough to see they put them into spectacles and send them to slide down Bunker Hill, which is very famous be- cause King George’s red coats fought a resolu- tion never to use any word with an “r” in it. The Bostons won the penant and now they don’t have to use ‘V. But I’m glad I’m not a Bos- tonian because I like oysters. New York is the great white way because it is on a road of an- thracite. It is a big city and extends from the Statue of Liberty to the Statue of Tammanv, New Y—.” PAGE TWELVE