Commerce High School - Commerce Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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Clje Srribal NEVER in the history of the High School of Commerce had there been so much hustle and chatter as there was on this particular morning, Friday, Feb. 4, 1910. Mr. Skygack from Mars sauntered lazily down the street with his head buried in his note-book. He chanced to look up, and his eager eyes caught sight of the throng of people entering this one house. His curiosity at once mastered him. He would find out the particulars of this “new-old” building. He stopped before the edifice and wrote the following in his note book: “Saw parade of girls and boys evidently meeting to celebrate some great event. They entered a large building from a queer looking house situated on long iron bars in middle of highway. Evidently this house is abiding place of all these earth beings, old and dilapidated is the exterior, but the inner portion appeareth new.” This last statement he made in regard to the large building which the many young people were entering. Shutting his book, he entered the building under the arm of the last person who was just entering the door. When the door closed a great noise, as of the roaring “Martian Geckrym,” “wind of the six directions,” fell on his ear. He thought that here would be a chance to use his detective abilities. He was sure that by finding the source of the noise he would also find the reason , for the “parade.” Two girls came hurriedly forward greeting a third just entering with, “They have come Marie, they have come!” “What has come, girls?” questioned the last arrival and upon hearing her question they clasped her by the arm and whisked her off to show her in reality the answer to her question. Our curious visitor from Mars stood with open note book in hand, his eager face buried in his book ready to jot down the answer to Marie’s question. Hearing no sound he looked up and to his astonishment found himself alone. Unabashed he made this note: “Two eager looking earth-beings announce the arrival of some mysterious object to a third party and evidently this new arrival is the cause of a great earth distubancc.” Suddenly a bell rang and for a time the uproar subsided. Soon he heard a single stroke, then a quick double stroke of the bell. This was followed by a whirring sound of voices and people marching in all directions. Bound to gain information he fell in step behind a number of young girls and played the part of eaves-dropper to perfection. “Why Esther, I just simply cannot get my hat in such a small space, can you?” asked one of the party. “No Mabel I cannot and I think they ought to have made the space in proportion to the style of headgear,” answered Esther. “Well anyhow Esther I am glad that they are here because the boys did 109

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Jfatfjer’s Cooking experiment OLIVER,” said his father, “let’s have something tasty, I’m getting pretty tired of eating bacon and eggs for breakfast and eggs and bacon for dinner, let’s have a little wider variety.” This part of the conversation took place at the end of the first week of mother’s vacation when the stock in the pantry was beginning to run low, not through any fault of mother’s, for she had left the pantry well stocked. There had been a generous supply of mince pies and pumpkin pies, a whole row of freshly baked bread, three frosted cakes, a jar of cookies, and a plate of doughnuts. These, mother had insisted upon leaving, much to the disgust of father’s dignity although not to his appetite. For father thinks himself an excellent cook and able to get on by himself. But even mother’s supply gradually disappeared, owing to the regular ravages of father, his two healthy sons and an over voracious hired man. “I’m going to show mother that I can cook just as well as she! most of the hotel cooks are men, so of course men know more about cooking than women.” “That’s what I say,” answered Oliver, “let’s begin right away.” Whereupon Oliver and his father organized a search through the pantry for something worthy a man’s efforts to cook. They were rewarded at length by finding a sack of rice, presumably five pounds. “Now watch me closely,” said Oliver’s father, “so that some day you will be able to cook a good meal of rice. I remember when I was a boy I watched my mother cook it and so that is why I know how to do it.” Father emptied the rice into a dish, poured plenty of water over it and soon had it boiling. In his enthusiasm he said to Oliver. “I believe I’ll roast some chickens tomorrow; we’ll have royal fare until mother comes back.” Soon father’s face had a troubled look. “This isn’t the way the rice that mother used to cook acted. I don’t believe it’s any good.” Father’s rice seemed to have miraculously increased and kept on increasing, so fast that father had to empty some of it into another dish but they both overflowed so rapidly that father was kept busy using both hands to empty the rice into new dishes which Oliver brought to him. At last, becoming angry with the rice, he sent Oliver for a larger dish and while he was searching, he heard father in his desperation yell, “For goodness’ sake bring me a dishpan, a tub, or a wash boiler, the stuff’s running all over the stove.” ELSIE MEAD, 1911. ios

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so delight in teasing us by knocking our hats out onto the floor,” finished Mabel. The girls entered a room where other young people were already seated working at their typewriters and thus ended this conversation.. He now inserted in his note book: “The mysterious arrival is evidently responsible for the undue noise. Saw queer-looking earth-beings exercising muscles of fingers before strange boxes with these letters on ‘TYPEWRITER.’ Evidently these people are preparing their fingers for future use.” He had sauntered on while making this note and upon looking up he saw a number of young men before him carrying on an earnest conversation. He at once assumed his usual part of eavesdropper. “We are better off than the girls, because our hats will always fit into them but I pity the girls. They thought that they would be able to hide their hats, but they can’t do this with those yard wide brims.” The boys suddenly disappeared, as Earth boys have a way of doing, leaving Mr. Sky-gack again in the lurch. Soon he observed men pushing around and directing heavy blows at large queer boxes. He eyed these men in wonder, angry at himself for having been so deeply engrossed in his note-book as not to have noticed them at work before. Satisfied that now he had obtained the meaning of the noise and queer conversation, he recorded in his note-book the following: “Queer looking earth beings striking with great force at odd-shaped boxes. These evidently are models for millinery as they were referred to as a place for headgear. Evidently these boxes arc new arrivals, and this building is a place where both males and females are taught to use these models for millinery. Young people working at queer shaped boxes were learning to exercise their fingers so as to be able to use the needles required of them in using these models. GERTRUDE COLBERG, 1911. 9 Sunset on ILafef Cric ON the banks of old Lake Erie, I sat one evening, idly gazing at the sun, in its downward journey in the west. Fanned by a cool breeze, from the lake, and seated on nature’s soft velvet carpet, I felt that life could never be sweeter, or more filled with content. Here and there, beautiful sail boats, with reefed sail and flying streamers, glided lazily by. Sometimes, a soft peal of childish laughter rose and floated in the air, mingling harmoniously with the rippling of the waves, and soft sighing of the breeze. The big fiery disc seemed to be slipping downward 110