East High School - Quill Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

Page 33 text:

GTI-IE quu. Almost immediately the girls organized into knitting groups and the boys into military training classes. 'Several of our classmates had gone to the colors, Tony Comito, Loren Taylor, Earl Walters, Perry Johnson. Our work had a new seriousness. We bought Liberty Bonds, sub- scribed to the Junior Red Cross, had old clothe-s drives and did what little we could to help in the World War. Then came the visit of the Belgium soldiers. Such a gala day! Seven assemblies! We will never forget those brave, bronzed lighters whom we were privileged -to wel- come that day. Again to break the monotony of the school routine came the visits of two poets, Edmund Vance Cooke and Vachel Lindsay. l'll wager you can remember your astonishment yet when we were told that we Juniors were to have a class meeting and then informed that we might have a class party. Vile were allowed to dance, too. In the midst of the Virginia Reel when Shrimp and Marjorie C. were iirst couple, as she advanced gracefully toward him, hands out- stretched, her foot slipped and she did the Banana Peel Glide across the polished floor. lt was done very unwillingly, I'1l admit. I-Iaven't we had grand assemblies? Will anyone forget Dr. Medbury's talks, especially the one, Lincoln, the Mann? What enthusiastic pep meetings! Remember when Grayden Myers and Earl Walters as- tonished us by their staying power in an oratorical contestq tThey were talking for a cake.J Moving Day was an all-school picnic. The French surely have the right idea of good eats if Monsieur Constant is an example. One day the Seniors summoned us by bugle call and the ruffle of drums to help in the ceremony of planting a tree in honor of Miss Goodrell. She was leaving us that June and so it was in her honor that the Seniors dedicated their tree. We as Juniors looked on at the Seniors' festivities with content, knowing-that next year we would -be in their envied position. So an another milestone was passed. We entered upon our Senior year with dignity and decorum, as be- htted such a staid, important class of students. We were the oldest body in school and we fully appreciated ,the responsibility of our posi- tion. We must set a good example that the rest of the school might follow it. I tear this responsibility rested lightly on the shoulders of some of our classmates, as their record of punctuality is not enviableg for instance, Paul F., Margaret R. and Marjorie B. The calm course of our academic lite was broken November 11 by the great news that the armistice had been signed. Didn't we have an assembly and didn't we parade afterwards! That day was a wild, crazy, hilarious one. After that-the flu-and vacation. Then came .the day of the annual football battle between West and East. We beat them 21-7, the first time since this class had been in East High. O, Glorious! We paraded home. We had a bonfire. In

Page 32 text:

'JTHE ,QUIL keep her face grave. However, the incident served to quiet a certain bunch of irrepressible youngsters who sat in the balcony the third hour. Hostilities of a like nature ceased, and all was quiet along the Potomac. I wonder if Marjory and Evelyn remember. O don't you remember our Freshman-Senior party! How the Seniors played all the games-and we watched-and they had a grand march and passed out stick candy and apples! Didn't you resolve that when you were a Senior you wouldn't give the Freshman stick candy? O yes, you must remember. Well, we've had our party for the Freshies, and we didn't give them stick candy. They had ice cream and cake! Score one for our class! Of course, dancing isn't good for infants so we couldn't allow, that but we let them .play with us. Dost happen to recall those days spent in the cafeteria? I am speak- ing to the girls, the incessant chatterers. Their punishment was soli- tary confinement, Mrs. B-- as jailoress and-not bread and water- but appetizing odors of the lunch hour to tantalize. O blissful days! No assemblies, either. We weakened. Remember the Shakespearean pageant and our Midsummer Nigl1t's Dream. Osie made a pretty Titania, didn't she? Kenneth Bl was Puck. It takes a wise man to play the fool, n'estce aps? The pageant brought to a close our Freshman days. We passed our first milestone. O happy care-free Sophomore days! The bloom of innocence was gone, and we were more or less sophisticated but in a childish way that was charming. We loved to air our views and opinions on the World to anyone that would listen. Next to that we liked to ask questions. George Tl asked more in a minute than could be answered in an hour. He was one of these deep thinkers and liked to propound such weighty questions as would startle the teacher into giving him an E for the intelligence he showed. Ransom, at this early age, showed symptoms of literary ability by getting some of his efforts published in the Quill. Now l1e's editor. One must not let his work interfere with his school life, so this year we had several parties. Miss M--'s English classes had a gym romp one afternoon. Baseball n'everything. And weren't the doughnuts and chocolate good! Then the history party! Shades of George W. fyou knowb Betsy Ross, Julius Caesar, etc. They all came to life. Never was such a distinguished company brought together before. And say, remember The Worsted Man? Don't you know at the party we had for our parents, and they-unravelled him! Poor Ted. Lowell Ki was some hightlutin' colahed gemmenf' Another milestone was passed. We were half through our high school course. We came back in the fall as Juniors, self-satisfied and conceited. We held an important place in the school but did not have the sadness that a Senior has in knowing it is his last year.

Page 34 text:

QTHE quit our pep meeting before the game we determined to get West Highs goat fdid you see it?J and We got it. What did North do to us? O, We've forgotten. Time passed. The mid-year class held the center of the stage for awhile and then yielded place to us. We elected our class oihcers and at last became an organized body. What an original and obstinate body we were. The School Board decreed uniform pins, and we decided our rights as free and inde- pendent citizens Were being infringed and vehemently objected. Can anyone ever forget Crayke S.'s impassioned plea for a united resist- ance to the School Board's ultimatum? I think not. It will stand by the side of Patrick Henry's Give me liberty or give me death! We have been fortunate in having two great men visit us this year, Edwin Markham and ex-President Taft-didn't he' have a delicious little gurgling laugh? Another ripple in the calmness of our life was the Victory Loan con- test. East High took first honors, of course. Didst hear Wilber Bfs speech, or perchance Elmer O.'s? If you did not, you were blessed of men. Such blood and thunder eloquence, fine language, and such forceful gestures! It is a shame that they are not known to the World at large. They seem wasted on such unappreciative listeners as we are, for we do confess ourselves unappreciative. The Class of 1919 is not without its great men and women. We have our hall of fame. Some of tl1e greatness is real, some fancied. Carl D., our track captain and president, and beside him Bob and Ned, are three celebrities. Ned's a busy man. They need l1i1n in track and in the band, and to ofllciate in Carl's absence. Marjorie Bfs oriental fads and fashions have surely not escaped your notice. She is our Lucile and dares to costume herself in attire that most of us only dream of. Our little Hugh is the original hot air supply. Always spouting and, I believe, thinks he's clever. lrrepressible. He was like that as a Freshman and the habit has grown on him. We're truly proud of our sailor lads, Perry and Loren, and we put a gold frame around their pictures in our hall of fame. Kathryn K., Gladys R. and Wilma P. ably uphold the honor of the class in the terpsichorean artg they're there! Annette Kellerman has nothing on us. Watch Margaret R. in the pool sometime. She's a fish. In the histrionic art we exhibit Vic and Lorna-fine actresses both. Remember Green Stockings. Anyone who has heard Margaret M. play will not dis- pute her claim to a place in our hall of fame. Hail to the feminine Paderewski! And Howard, our ragtime artist. Appearances are de- ceitful. If you know Edith W. you know something of her love affairs. She confide-s in everyone. They do say she's engaged. Now don't tell. That's only gossip. And Emma N. Are her curls worn for Uvamping' purposes? They do give her a childish ingeniousness that is compell- ing and attracting. l've heard she's quite a il- but you hear lots of things. And say, if you ever have occasion to open a difficult lock 1