Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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THE REFLECTOR That the hitch-hikers were learning is shown by the fact that on the third day out 315 miles were covered by one lift between Paoli and New Kensington, Pennsylvania, which is a manufacturing town a little north of Pittsburgh. The trip was made in a Pontiac coupe driven by a genial old engineer traveling from North Carolina to Minnesota. (This is not an avdertisement for the Pontiac people.) About 3 5 cents was spent on food and 50 cents for a bed in a Y. M. C. A. The following day 132 miles were covered and the goal reached. Thus approximately 68 5 miles were covered in four days. To reach this place $3.50 was spent. After three days in Cambridge Springs our hitch-hikers again take up their shoes, and strike out for Buffalo after having earned about six dollars on the golf links and rested their tired dogs”. They had a total of $9.50 for their return journey. The eighth day Buffalo and the Niagara were viewed and the night was spent in Williamsville, New York. This was the worst night of all for Williamsville is so small a town that no rooms could be found. A cold but sleepless night was spent in a box car. The next stopping place was Fayettsville which will ever be remem- bered for doughnuts which melted in one’s mouth and were purchased at 20 cents a half dozen. The following nightfall caught our wanderers marooned on the roadside five miles from the nearest town. A supperless night was spent in a hay barn. I say hay barn because today few barns hold hay. An inspection of most barns shows an old Ford and some out of date farm implements. Also, sleeping in the hay is not what some people think it is. The stiff hay pricks the skin and in the morning an hour must be spent picking hay from one’s clothes. The latter part of the journey took our travelers through the pic- turesque Mohawk Trail. The eleventh night was spent in an Albany Y. M. C. A. and the following night our travelers turned in at their own homes. All this time the weather was fine. The men who gave lifts were kind; many times offering meals and suggestions. Many were going long distances and were glad of companionship. A distance of approximately 1,187 miles was covered in nine days of real hitch-hiking. This averaged 132 miles a day which is hard in any man’s country. Towns such as Trenton, Philadelphia, Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany were visited. In all it was a pleasant experience; making our youthful travelers more sophisticated by bringing them into contact with various kinds of people and showing them what they could do when forced to depend on their own resources. Yanowicz ’29. 15!

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THE REFLECTOR Tell me he died bravely, my Bob!” Awkward Tom Bryce patted the little woman’s shoulders and assured her Bob had been the bravest of soldiers. He assisted her into the kitchen, and when she recovered her poise she asked for an account of Bob’s deeds. At the close of a glowing narrative Tom took out the locket and chain. His last wish was that this was to be given to 'Her’,” he said reverently, and added, none of us knew that Bob had a sweetheart.” The old lady took the locket, looked at the picture, and said: Oh— bless his heart! I don’t wonder you didn’t recognize this; it is a picture of me forty years ago. Bob’s little mother died when he was a small boy, and so I took care of him. Instead of calling me grandmother he always called me his sweetheart and carried this old picture around with him.” Tom Bryce turned away with tears in his eyes as the little old lady kissed the locket and put it away in an old trunk with other things of long, long ago. Vincent Quinlan, June ’30. The Call of Summer ID you ever, during the warm summer days, have the desire to I J leave home and just tramp around until you got tired? For many this feeling is satisfied by a month or so at the mountains or seashore. Others go to work while a few answer the call. So it was that on a warm August day two boys from this end of the state (one, from C. H. S.) started on the first leg of their 1,200 mile jaunt. The two young travelers left with nine dollars between them and their objective was Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania; where lived an aunt and where were prospects of earning money for the return trip. The first day the young hitch-hikers reached Matawan, New Jersey by a couple of lifts, hitches and steps. It was only a six mile trip but the boys were as yet unexperienced and not hardy enough to stand much knocking while sitting on the tail end of a truck on a not too smooth New Jersey road. Moreover, at Matawan were prospects of a meal and a bed at the home of a friend. As the meal and bed were obtained (plus plenty of mosquitoes) the expenses for the day mounted to but 30c a piece, and this spent mostly on sodas. The next day was somewhat better in mileage. Our travelers went from Matawan to Trenton, then to Philadelphia and Paoli, Pennsylvania; which is about twenty-five miles westward out of Philadelphia on the Lincoln Highway. The day had been fairly good except that one of the travelers had had to cut a hole in his shoe to make way for a blister. About fifty cents was spent on eats” and a comfortable night was passed curled up on the soft seat of an idle Pennsylvania Railroad coach. 14

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THE REFLECTOR Rough Roads £ T USTY, Gypsy caravans trailed along the road, which hardly de- I J served to be called by that name, and halted. The leader, who had been before them during the whole of the day, had given the signal. They had stopped before a beautiful site. Flowers, green grass, giant trees, and the necessary spring brook were a welcome sight to this band which must ever move on. Starting across the carpet of green, each drew rein at a desirable spot and made ready for an indefinite stay—indefinite because this leader whom they all obeyed had not a definite plan. How many years they had followed him! How many years they had depended upon this, their man, whom they worshipped and honored as a god! And yet, when the other young men of the party cast their eyes upon him, or when they caught the eyes of their sweethearts leaping at the sight of him, they wondered;—wondered, how came he here, how old was he, and how had he got his grip upon their people. Gypsies were they, and gypsy he was not. His arrival in the party had been unobtrusive, and his leadership unquestioned. He was the friend of all. His tall, splendidly molded form, and well developed muscles attracted notice, as he went from one van to another inquiring as to their possible comfort. His face told of breeding and a character not to be shaken. And yet, at this moment as he strode back and forth, a shade of something crossed it, a shade and look, which Serveet, his right hand man had once remarked, reminded him of an animal seeking out a prey, which had eluded him. Serveet,” he commanded we remain here for several months.” This news created something like a panic among the people. What was his purpose? Why this spot to stay at? It was, it is true, an ideal spot in itself, but ’twas only a farming section and very few farms at that. Well—,” and so they all ended. Pleasant days went by. All began to whisper of the change in their leader. One night, Serveet, who had become suspicious and worried over the prospects of this great master, noticed Titone, as he had been named by these people, slip from camp under cover of darkness. Gliding after him, Serveet finally found himself in a village several miles from camp. Hiding under each dark shadow, he saw Titone enter the village inn. Why had the leader come here? Serveet boldly opened the door and entered. Through all the smoke he spied an unoccupied table, in a cor- ner. Seating himself he glanced around, noticed Titone busily talking with a questionable looking man, so decided he would await results. 16