Frankfort High School - Cauldron Yearbook (Frankfort, IN)

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T11 E CAULDRON The first tent in the whole bright-lighted row. Behind the ticket window, in a chair, Sat Edna Bertram selling tickets there. The crowd was great; I passed unrecognized; And when the film was shown 1 was surprised To find that Mary Flora was the star, Whose stage name was of note both near and far. The second number of the program proved To be a man the public dearly loved. ’Twas Hobert Campbell, famous tra-la-la; He sang his touching solo, Tchee-chi-tcha. The show was done. 1 listened to the band, Then tried to find a nice refreshment stand. 1 spied a dazzling place quite near, And heard a voice 1 was amazed to hear, For Cyril Douglas shouted all the time, “Right here, five cents, a nickle, half a dime.” There leaning o’er the kettle, farther back. Was Leland Wainscott making crackerjack, While Cyril Flanagan took in the cash, Though letting him do this was very rash. 1 introduced myself and asked them where I’d find the owner of this wondrous fair. They pointed out to me a gaudy tent. 1 thanked them kindly and to this I went. On entering I soon became aware Merle Stephens was the owner of the fair. I happened to remark that I had seen So many of the old class of ’sixteen. Miss Stephens told me that I'd be amazed To find how much that same class had been praised. “To keep the class together had been tried, But this could not be done until they died. A certain cemetery was, alas! For the exclusive use of our old class. So when the awful judgment day does come, We all will march together to our doom.” Our talk was interrupted from outside; A crowd was gathered which in unison cried, “O classmate, take us to the home of the crazy, Where we can sit around all day and be lazy, For insanity and laziness, we fear, Were points which chiefly marked our school career.” Alas, I realized it was too true; Tw ent y•nine

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T II E C A U L D Ii 0 N I told ray woeful talo, likewise did he. “I came of honest stock,” his tale began, “My youth was sweet, but when I came a man I entered politics and lost ray roll Because I couldn’t fool a single sold. I served as secretary to the one Who found the substitute for chewing gum. Ruth Tedford was her name. I soon was fired Because 1 talked so much my jaws got tired. To journalism next niv efforts went; The service of my able pen I lent To Anna Thurman, noted suffragette, Who wouldn’t hold an office on a Bet. My secretaryship brought me much wealth, And so, because of my declining health, I quit my job and bought this fine estate. On mathematics I now concentrate. To square a circle's my ambition now.” I gazed again upon his troubled brow. I realized my duty; ’twas a shame To lead him to the place from which 1 came. But Robert then invited me to dine With him that night, and 1 could not decline. We walked into the sitting room, and there 1 spied tin daily paper on the chair. I took it up; a title caught my eye. It was the column of “Who’s Who and Why”. Julia Davis’s name was printed large Alongside Helen Bartron’s with the charge That they owned chickens which they claimed would lay As many as two eggs on every day. I really couldn’t see just what they meant By putting such a common thing in print. My grandma had a fleet of twenty hens, High class ones, which she kept in whitewashed pens. I used to hunt the eggs, and frequently Returned displaying the goodly number three. Just after dinner Robert Lucas hade Me change my bughouse clothes for some he had. When thus arrayed 1 ventured out of doors To see the sights while Robert did the chores. I saw a carnaval not far away, And went there, wondering what I’d have to pay To see a certain moving picture show, T w e v t y -1 i g Ii I

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THE CAULDRON The outlook for us certainly was blue. We classmates marched together to the place From which 1 had been gone so brief a space. Each was assigned a cell wherein to rave, And I was led to my accustomed cave. Confined within this cell against my will, 1 stay among the lunatics until 1 manage to convince the warden here I'm not so crazy as they seem to fear. My protests all are laid upon the shelf; Indeed, I’m not so sure I’m sane myself. My tale is done and 1 lay down my pen. Heaven have mercy on our class. Amen. (The above manuscript aroused my curiosity as to what had become of the other members of that class. The information about the members of the class of 1916 that are not mentioned in the above manuscript was more difficult to find. But after a thorough perusal of my manuscripts, and of the remains of certain specimens of literature of the time known as newspapers, I have been able to gather together scattered information about the other barbarians on the aforementioned list; a brief resume of this information 1 print below.) One of the members of the class, who was very famous in his day, was Robert Keene; lie made an immense fortune imitating Charlie Chaplin, lie traveled on a vaudeville circuit with Walter Spencer and Ralph Van Eaton, whose vaudeville names were Maximum and Minimum. Six members of the class obtained leading parts with the Boston Grand Opera Company; Robert Milne, C harlotte Beall, Martha Yount, Lula Cue, Mary Martin, and Vera Seaman A great war was fought among the barbarians of the continent of Europe during the twentieth century. During this conflict Carrol Shaw managed a corps of Red Cross nurses, among whom were Dorothy Ross, Lorene Cowdin, Florence Miller, and Margaret Williams. Herbert Boulden, George Stonebraker, Blanche Berryman, and Edna .Johnson went to Africa as missionaries, becoming, it is said, very choice desert for a cannibal king. While studying their 12A English, some of the class became interested in the Brook Farm experiment. Concluding that it had been ahead of its time, several members of the class decided to try it again. These were Paul Kern. Joe Stafford, Fred Harland, Mary Laverty, Mary Shanklin, Mildred Brant, Elizabeth Goodwin, and Lida Gray. The attempt proved unsuccessful, and it is not definitely known what became of them, but since the manuscript I have printed makes no mention of them, 1 conclude that there must have been more than one insane asylum during the twentieth century. Thirty