Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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THE REFLECTOR julius Caesar M W ULIUS CAESAR came, Alexander the Great came, Maximi- 765 lian came-all three rulers of man left, but all three came to life together-and what a catastrophe their unified ar- 'Wmm rival caused! In a certain section of Germany, known as the Wupperthal, all the people-or nearly all-have their own chickens. The Holbein family had such a miniature chicken farm, as did the Reiters. The fence separ- ating the two yards had furnished the setting for many a brawl between the boys of the two families. One day in the summer of 1888, the Holbeins purchased some more chicks. Among them was one rooster of special interest to the boys, Hermann and Franz. Though only one year old, he was a good fighter, which opinion they had received from watching his first fight. The struggle lasted three minutes, in which time the one-year-old creature had conquered. 'lListen, Hermann, Fritz and Hans Reiter have a rooster they are mighty proud of. They call him a champion fighter. This rooster of ours is only one year old, but he just licked one three years older than himself, so I think we can train him and then send him against Alexander, Reiter's fighting rooster! Fine, Franz! assented the other Holbein. Now the training began. The first thing to do was to make the feathered fighter ill-tempered. If this was done, he would be so en- raged at the other roosters that he would pick a fight and, finding himself good, he'd continue until he was King of the Coop! This plan was followed. The feeding was left to the boys-that gave them a chance to give the rooster a bad temper! The first day after school in the temper-developingv season, Julius Caesar, as the fighting fowl was named, was put alone. The other barn- yard boys and girls' were fed as usual. When the food dish was sur- rounded, the Roman general was let loose. An old hen was the feathered creature between him and the dish. He leaped for the dish and landed on her back, slid off, and fell against a rooster, who was engaged in an eating free-for-allf' of which he was getting the better. Not liking Caesar's intrusion, the eater began peck- ing at the general. Such actions were not to the Roman,s liking, and consequently he got up and leaned back. His opponent understood and walked to an uunpopulated area. Caesar rushed out at the other crower and began flying at the helpless rooster and pecking at him until the boys considered it a day and separated the two. That was one rooster that would keep out of Caesar's way. As the days went by, Caesar's opponents for the 'QKing of the Coopv title became fewer, till finally they were reduced to one-Max- Twenty-three

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THE REFLECTOR ty-t Morning From a Momffain Top Morning- Glorious, golden morning! Rebirth of life, Rebirth of Day, child of the Night. Awakening and stirring Of Woodland creatures. Sweet call of each bird for its mate. The deep green And dampness of the mossy forest- Pinnacles of achievement and beauty On which no improvement is to be made. Nature, Light and soft calls! Darkness brightens into soft gray, Gray glows forth into pale, rosy mauveg Then deepens into glowing, golden orange. A burning rim appears over the distant peak. Now, The sky is an ocean of golden maize, Shading out from the blaze of the sun. Insignificant man beholds Nature. Hidden forces Incomparable, stand out and touch his soul. On earth, Green forest harmony spattered with golden light, Sprinkled with globules of dew, Catching and reflecting Golden rays. Mountain brood- Silver liquid, Cool and clear, - Bubbles gaily forth from moss-covered rocks. Harmony- Of color, soul and life- Nature's serenade! DOROTHY BURK, June 1932

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THE REFLECTOR imilian, the king for the last two years. The German Emperor was the type that let his opponent get the better of him, and then suddenly landed a blow or two that named him winner. Since the boys wanted to be sure that the German was opponent, they placed the dish before the champion and held Caesar directly behind the emperor. The German was not hungry and merely peeked the food once and walked away. When Caesar was let loose, he won as usual. The battle was, therefore, not of much interest to the boys. After a daily repetition of Maximilian's actions for four days, it was clear that another plan had to be devised to start a fight between the Roman and the German. One day Franz got an idea! He explained it to his brother, who enthusiastically agreed to try the plan. Two boxes were built, each having room for only one chicken. The boxes had sliding door fronts made of staves. Next, a small dish was made out of wood. It was one inch long and one and a half inches wide, so that only one chicken could eat from it at a time. Now all was ready! The two desired roosters were caught and one put in each box. The coops were put into the large coop, opposite each other. The regular large food dish was placed between them, and they had to look on while the other chickens ate to their hearts' content. After their meal, the non-participants in the fight were locked up in the hen-house, clearing the yard for the battle. The specially-made dish replaced the large one. When the boys assumed that both roosters had sufficient appetite, they were let loose. Maximilian was the first to reach the dish and began to eat hoggishly. Caesar desired some food, too, so he made his desires known by pecking the food-indulger's head. The German looked up, clucked, and then resumed his food partaking. Caesar was enraged by such impudent actions and peeked at the champion,s head several times. Maxie peeked back and began eating again. His scheduled opponent peeked again, and the Emperor looked up and reared. The feeling between the two was mutual-a Hght must settle the dispute! Caesar wasted no time but leaped at the suspecting German and landed on his opponentis back. Maximilian rolled away and Caesar was thrown off balance. ' The champion's honor had been abused, and now he was ready to defend it! Caesar leaped at his opponent several times and each time landed a good blow. The Emperor was getting ready for his favorite attack, and as the Roman leaped again, landed it! Right in the center of Caesar's throat! The General rolled over but picked himself up and flew at the champion again. Maximilian tried to land another such blow, but Caesar peeked the championis wing and thus disabled him. The squelched fighter slunk into a corner as the new champion flew on to a cross-bar and let out a triumphant crow! Twenty-four