Germantown Academy - Ye Primer Yearbook (Fort Washington, PA)

Page 57 text:

'U x , ' X, s 1. , , M ' if h B F ' . 3 -1 4 a-1 M. 1 . Q! 13,91 . . V , ,,, . ,-, I T l AL4-+L.:L4-Age-L41 ,Q - I fvy Oration Friends and Fellow Classmates: Q 1 ,, HE time has come to plant the ivy and dedicate the stone in commemoration of our days spent here. Henceforth we shall no longer be united as a group. The Class of '27 will take its place with those that have gone 'ax' eli' ki before it. Though we be scattered to the four corners of the earth, this i 4 stone and this ivy will be mementos of our stay at this school. As the years pass our successes become part of the common history of 'the school and are merged with the achievements of others. That is only just. In such an institution as this, the works of the individual are to be considered only for the common welfare. That is acknowledged, but everyone desires to be remem- bered and therefore for over forty years classes have carried on the custom we follow today. In so doing we obligate ourselves to be worthy alumni of the school. When we have gone into the world we must remember our debt to our Alma Mater and achieve success worthy of her name. That is all. Words are vain when compared with deeds and with the latter we must answer the challenge of our predecessors. Let this ivy and this stone, which we now unveil, stand as signs of our acceptance of that challenge. CLINTON HANCOCK MILLER, JR. 51

Page 56 text:

f TF , ' Y. 'Q . .l 's. A Ar-tai-4-+44-4414-4+ Censorfv Speech Ladies and Gentlemen: HE poetry of earth, Keats tells us, is never dead. Possibly, but some , X of these modern poets ought to be dead anyway. Need I say that I refer to the pitiable, maudlin exhibition given in the name of poetry by the fair- haired bard, who, his eye in fine frenzy rolling, has tried to impose upon ' 1 ' your credulity with a lot of mush, masquerading as a class poem. Right here I want to emphasize that the class entirely disclaims any responsibility for this crime against the Muses. He, alone, must bear the stigma. Unfortunately the class cannot express its indignation by violence. There are cerain conventions that we must observe. As O. Henry has said in one of his stories, It is not good form to kill the bridegroom on his weddingldayf' In the same way, shooting a classmate on Class Night is not approved by the best books of etiquette. Thus you can see what a tax is imposed on our forbearance. Now let me tell you, Bard, of the Falls of Schuylkill and Queen Lane, what's 1 . . . . if IN I W f-rj is the matter Wlfh your verse In the Hrst place I would advise you to see 1 foot specia ist, for your halting metre has trouble with its feet. The haunting melody of your lines reminds me of an explosive Ford doing the daily fifty-seven dead rattles on a bumpy detour. You should surely have a license for operating as a poet before broadcasting anything of the nature we have had to bear this evening. As a parting bit of advice, do not continue in the ways of verse, or you will surely become versed in the ways of the wild. Wait! Do you know why your future wasn't revealed upon the silver screen? You don't, well, I'll tell you. You haven't any! I Now as to you, United Prophets, Incorporated, kindly lock-step forward and allow this intelligent audience to view your uintelligenti' faces. You remind me very much of a composition, so-called, which I read the other day in which the brilliant author told the world that he liked to read the UBIOLOGIESH of great men. That's the trouble, I fear, with your group-the Triple Threat of Blaag you have studied so much that the bugs and insects of biology have entered your brain, and you have become like the grooms in Shakespeare with the receipt of reason a limbec only.', Imagine the absurdity of talking to people twenty-five years hence by such a crazy contraption as that. Where did you get that Keely's Motor anyway? It must be the only one in captivity. Perhaps you meant twenty- five years ago, but surely not twenty-five years hence. You're not profits fprophetsj, you're total losses and no insurance at that. I need no television to forecast your future. I do not need to turn off the lights to tell-your-vision. I see you cast upon the silver screen of my imagination. A scene, from that famous word picture of Shakespeare in the background of. Macbeth fAct I, Scene IJ, reminds me of you very much indeed. It is entitled When shall we three meet again. Instead, however, of the three prophetic witches whom you have tried to emulate, I see three long-eared quadrupeds, whose intelligence quotient is zero minus. When shall you three meet again in thunder, lightning or in rain? NEVER, if I have my gun, and if I don't, I'll dial the operator and ask for a cop, an ambu- lance, the fire department, the state police and the League of Nations. THOS. H. SKIRM. 50

Page 58 text:

,lo 'Af KV A d I AXX4 MQW 'Q 5 fb -- '- lr., L. 1 fl? my A' X ull! pil' I all lk WEE BS Um f f lx '- iff x I gl. ,l X'-il Q sl vii JM, Nl 4 ff.. me s N Q. 1:41 iq 137.141 -571 wg , 1 , 4, Qq.,,ii,.Z1fTijT-H'-1 3'x IN BJ' , , Q - ,1gx,'.'L ,f-gvllw, X bm , .,,.,2 4 by ', 'JW'-+1--Ji-.-cf' , .R ff- Sm. -3 1? Q 4'f 'Lf- - A ' , ' 11 pw! fi lgff 'Q 1 33 K. s s fx, ' f - ' ff, 3:1 5532.8 J -M -nf +66 Z2f'jZiiLiFF5?5f? s fi ' fff QQQQ Q, , V: V1- ,, Clive-den, the Old Chew House. This house was the scene of the most important incident of the Battle of Germantown.