Commerce High School - Commerce Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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Jfor tlje $onor of tfje jfecfjool TOM WHITE was just fourteen years old when he entered High School. He was naturally a bright young fellow, and the boys took very kindly to him. He was so friendly and so helpful. Whenever any of the boys wanted assistance in their work at home, such as cleaning up the yard, raking the leaves, or cutting the grass, they knew they could always depend upon Tom to help them. Thus in turn the boys were only too glad to return the favor when he had any extras to do and needed assistance. In this way he made many friends in his first year at High School. Tom’s mother and father, as you may know, were very proud of him, and as he was their only son they intended to send him through High School. Tom’s father was Secretary of a small Iron Manufacturing Company, and when Tom finished school he intended to secure a position in his father’s employment. Tom went in for athletics in his second year at school and although young, as he was very strong and rugged and of a determined nature, he landed a position as end on the second team in football. He played so splendidly in this capacity, that the boys elected him captain of the first team for the coming season. The football season being now over, Tom went in for basketball and played center, holding this position throughout the season. Next when the baseball season was on hand, Tom also played that game holding a position as pitcher. Thus he made a fine reputation in athletics throughout his second year. His father was so well pleased that he promised him a dollar for every winning game in which he played, during the coming season. The school vacation was new here, and Tom and a few of his boy friends went camping. These fellows were the very best type of Young America, for they knew when to work and they knew when to play, and that is why they succeeded so well. After camping for about two months, all wished that school would commence again, so that they could look upon the faces of their friends once more. Tom was now sixteen years old, and just full of fun. He was glad to go back to school for his third year and chuckled to himself when he thought of all the dollars his father would have to give him, for he intended to win every game in which he played. Because he had been elected captain of the football team he had about thirty young fellows to try out for the first team. After fully two weeks of rough “workouts,” he picked out the fellows he thought showed up well in practice, and later on as you may see, it was shown that he certainly had used good judgment. This football team went through the season, winning every game that they played and without being scored upon. After having beaten every High School in their own town, they defeated several out of town High School teams, and won the Senate Championship. Many of the boys were chosen on the All-Star-Scholastic Eleven, among them Tom White. ill

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£f)ougf)ts from £mers(on AFTER reading Emerson’s Self-Reliance, while one may not agree with him in every particular, yet he cannot help becoming imbued with his thoughts.. Emerson clearly shows that man too often has a weak character. He is afraid to exercise his own individuality by giving expression to his own thoughts and opinions, but he “appropriates” those of some individual who had brains enough to have some of his own. Thus, a man shrouds his personality in a cloak of others’ opinions; one cannot penetrate it and know the real man. He who upholds another’s opinion because he is too weak to express his own and stick to it, becomes a man whose very words and actions are not only partly false, but in fact, entirely so. “His every truth is not quite true, for somewhere in the foundation of this truth lies falsehood; and how can we know where to draw the line? His truth is so interwoven with falsehood that we cannot believe one word without at the same moment doubting it. So destructive is this attitude that the man becomes blindly submissive, not to his own will, but to the will of others. Furthermore, this policy stamps its trademark on his face and on his actions, and bowing his head in unwilling submission, he acknowledges himself the slave of his thought usurpers But, on the contrary, if he adheres to his own honest opinion, he strengthens and re-enforces his character. His personality then shines out clearly among the masses, and points to a man whose head is filled with brains instead of with sawdust. A man’s character, viewed from one angle or from another, still shows the same picture. His actions, disconnected and meaningless though they may seem from a narrow view, are, nevertheless, as the path of the great Mississippi—turning slightly here and there in its course, but still holding true to the main direction which leads onward to the sea. Therefore, if we express our own honest convictions of today, regardless of tomorrow or of yesterday, we shall find that unconsciously, they will blend together, and tend toward the same end. But man finds this difficult; he is afraid of being inconsistent. But, since one's honest thought is the result of “boiled down” conviction, is this inconsistency possible? Today's conviction cannot be a stranger to yesterday’s, for born of the same reasoning power the two will naturally blend together. But, somehow, man cannot get this into his head; he cannot dismiss from the present, thoughts of the future or of the past: they creep into it continually and close his eyes to the splendid opportunities which lie at his feet. Emerson’s advice is: Look not forward nor backward, but live and act in the present. If you live in the present now, you will do so in the future. 110 LILLIAN ZAK, 1911.

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The next sport was basket ball. Tom was not so good a basket ball player as Bill Sly, who was about eighteen years old, very fast on his feet, and very powerful for a young fellow of his age. Bill disliked Tom greatly, because the latter was liked so well by the other boys. As Bill was the best basket ball player in the school, naturally the boys chose him as their captain. He picked his team, and strange to say left Tom out. Tom felt put out over this, but when he told his parents of the disappointment, they said, “Well, Tom, just take a little rest and make the work of your teachers easier by doing your school work better, and in the end you will be just as well off.” Still this was a hard blow for Tom, not merely because he would miss so many of the dollars his father had promised him, but he would also miss the sport. However, Tom did as his mother and father suggested, and when the term was over his school record was excellent throughout. When he showed his father his report a surprise met him. “Here, Tom, take these ten dollars, and I’ll give you two dollars for every ‘Excellent’ you get next term,” said his father, glad of Tom’s high scholarship. Now Tom realized, that athletics was not the only thing that his father was interested in, but that he wanted him to know about books also. As Tom was walking home from school not long after, he heard someone behind him say, “Say, Tom, I heard the boys were going to elect you captain of the baseball team this year, because you did so well last season. Don’t forget your ‘Dutch Uncle.’” “All right Jim, I’ll see that you get on the team, but you will certainly have to hustle, for the boys are anxious to show their skill this year.”. Thus ended a short chat between Tow White and Jim Brown. Tom had a job on hand now to pick players for his baseball team, but he finally picked all but a right fielder. “Bill Sly is a fine right fielder,” said Frank Smith. Willie Winsome said, “Bill’s a good player, but he did a mean trick to Tom by leaving him out of the basket ball five, and Tom ought to forget about him.” Then George Smith said, John Lowell is a pretty good player Tom, why not pick him for right field, and let Bill Sly out? Bill is no friend of yours anyway.” So Tom gave way to his feeling of revenge, and took Lowell instead of Sly for right field, although he seemed to feel he was doing the school and Bill Sly a wrong. The season was passing pretty luckily for Tom’s team, and they managed to win three games and tie one. A few days later one of the boys came up to Tom after practice and said, “What is the matter with you Tom, every fellow in the school is talking about the way the team has been playing, every game so far has been won by luck, and the boys say the fielders are punk. The boys say that you have a grudge against Bill Sly, and that is why he is not playing on the baseball team. They also said that the season would soon be over, and if the team did not play better ball, that the school would lose the Championship.” 112