Downingtown High School - Our Year Cuckoo Yearbook (Downingtown, PA)

Page 29 text:

| THE CUCKOO| wound up with a balance of only thirty-two dollars in the treasury at the end of the year. As this history reaches the final year, it is expedient that we mention here the feeling of dignity and importance with which we were endowed for the first two or three weeks of our Senior year. This has more or less worn off, though, in this later day. A Hallowe’en Party, which proved to he nothing more than an even break in pecuniary terms, was the first social event of the year. A little later we held a bake, which was quite a profitable venture. In December, the first Senior play, “Ann’s Little Affair’’, was presented anti merited the success which it achieved. The sale of Christmas Cards until Christmas, and the sequent sale of candy, have netted the class remarkable profits. The last bake held was a decided failure. In general, all efforts along this line have been futile, simply because the articles were not supplied in sufficient quantities. We might do well to ment on the purchase of class pennants here, blue letters on a red back-ground have been chosen. Before concluding the narrative, it is only proper to mention the remarkable participation in the year’s athletics, by the Senior boys. The Manager of the Varsity football team, and five of the players were Seniors. In the Basketball team, three of the players as well as the Manager were of the Senior Class. Baseball claims a Manager and four players from the ranks of the 1929 Senior Class. At the time of this writing we are preparing for the coming play, “Mr. Lazarus , to be presented in May. Commencement and the trip to Washington are still in the future. These events will mark the termination of our four years of High School life. “MR. LAZARUS” THE last Senior play, given on June 4th was a very enjoyable presentation . taking the place of a Class Day program. The fact that the theme of the play was a little bit unusual, served to heighten the interest of the audience. On the whole, the cast was well selected, the leading part, that of Mr. Lazarus, being taken by DeWitt Essick, who fulfilled the requirements for a quiet, unobtrusive, middle-aged man. Dr. Sylvester, who might be classed as the villain of the play, a vain, grasping and lazy man, John Hadfield. The Artist, William Booth, was no other than Charles Ax. “Pud” showed himself to be an artist in playing this part. Mrs. Sylvester, as emulated by Clara Guie, indicated that she was a nervous, harassed, worried woman. Dr. Sylvester’s behavior has been the cause. Patricia Molloy, played by .Margaret Wray, was an admirable opposite for Booth, being a daughter of Mrs. Sylvester by her first husband. Edith Sylvester was portrayed by Clara Shaw as a girl much like her father vain and self-centered. Page Twenty-three

Page 28 text:

 |[ THE) CUCKOO ]} —............................ ■ SENIOR CLASS HISTORY THE year Nineteen Twenty-five A. D. in the minds of forty graduates of the eighth grade, was a most eventful year for Downingtown High School. Yes—we were here to prove to the teachers just how little we knew. We did, and the result was that about thirty-five per cent fell by the wayside at the end of the school year. As we assembled in Room nine, under the never-sleeping eye of Miss Evelyn Naylor, we saw many new faces, the greater per cent being from the country. Our class at that time resembled an apparently dormant volcano. At last the eruption came in the form of a fisticuff between Norman Algiers and Elbe Brown, who at the present time is at work in Philadelphia. This marked the first social event of our High School career Very few events arose during our first year in Downingtown High School, because of the fact that the green-eyed monsters, the upper classmen, would not permit us to organize. We had now made one step upward on the ladder toward our goal. We had been recorded as Sophomores in Downingtown High School. The first and most trying, yet important, item on our agenda for the school year, was organization. Who, in our class, can ever forget that eventful night in September when the class of Nineteen Twenty-nine established for itself a government? Alidst shouts of dissension and riotous balloting the following officers came to the surface: Charles Ax, President; Norman Algier, Vice-President; Margaret Wray, Secretary; and DeWitt Essick, Treasurer. These classmen had been chosen to guide our course during the second year in high school. In November of Nineteen Twenty-six our class, along with the entire high school and many townspeople, visited the Sesqui-Centennial in Philadelphia. The good time we had can never leave our memory. As days went by our government was becoming more and more stable, and so we made our first social venture as an organized group. An Easter Party was held in the Spring of Nineteen Twenty-seven under the auspices of the Class of ’29. Never, throughout our entire high school days have we had any better success with such an undertaking. When the Sophomore year ended, an account of our financial situation was taken and it was found that the sum of thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents was in the treasury. We had gained prestige. We were on the road to success. The Junior year was ushered in with the reelection of officers, and the revelation of the fact that some money must certainly be made, as the treasurers’ report was far from favorable. About this time we purchased our rings. The design selected was pretty and all seemed well pleased with theirs. In view of the fact that general dissension and lack of cooperation seemed to be the prevailing spirit among the class members during the Junior year, it was not surprising that after the year’s activities, being mainly, a party by which we lost money; a bake yielding fair returns; and the Junior and Senior Reception, that we Page Twenty-two

Page 30 text:

-------------------- | THE) CUCKOO J=------------------------------------= •■ CLASS PROPHECY BY A most fortunate twist of fate, I one day chanced to meet a most accomplished medium, who had positive control over the revelations of future happenings. Seating myself comfortably with a pencil and several sheets of paper (for I knew the magnitude of my task) I set out diligently to copy with the utmost care the events as they were revealed to me in the crystal. I was not surprised at the portrayal of the future of Norman Algiers. He was married and was known widely for his cave-man characteristics. Charles Ax had entered upon a career behind the footlights, which had thus far proven very successful. Cordelia Burgess had achieved considerable repute in the business world as a stenographer. Cora Brown, likewise was a stenographer of no mean ability. Dewitt Essick was the owner of a growing taxi business. I remember that he was eminently qualified for that occupation. In his High School days he had begun the career with his car, oftentimes loaded to capacity. Anna Donato had achieved distinction in the realm of the light fantastic”, as a renowned dancer. Albert Fitzgerald, one of the deep thinkers of the school was, naturally enough a noted scientist and one of America’s heartiest exponents of Socialism. Irwin Pollock was doing remarkable work in the field of construction and engineering. Thomas Pollock was rounding corners in the old role of taxi driver, now working for Essick, and eligible for promotion. Clara Guie, always a would-be flapper, had tried for some time to crash the movies, but always with the same result, failure. Margaret Wray, in addition to her duties as a housewife, managed to play opposite Charles Ax in all his productions. Jack Hamlin was doing noteworthy work in the field of mechanical Engineering. Lorna Dunn’s debut into society had been followed up by a series of social happenings. Eddie Watson had developed into a powerful preacher of the shouting Methodist variety. Eddie’s delivery was forceful, convincing, altogether straightforward. John Hadfield who was still the hard worker of former years had achieved success as a printer and publisher. Howard Moore still possessed that fluency of speech, and ability to convince which distinguished him in bygone days. As a criminal lawyer he had a tremendous cliental. Margaret Eppehimer was in her element, teaching commercial subjects in the new and bigger D. H. S. Clara Shaw fulfilled all the requirements of a Cinderella. Margaret Shoemaker was private secretary to one of our former class-mates, Walter Touch ton, appears next in this account. Walter Touchton was the chief executive of one of the great chain stores of the country Page Twenty-four