Goshen High School - Crimson Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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1910 THE CRIMSON 25 CLASS ORATION— The Elements of Success ' BY FORREST FUNK O EVERY young man the time will come when he must assume the re- sponsibilities of the management of his own affairs ; the time when he, 0 and he alone, will be responsible for v ll IT H j,js Q n welfare. Advice may be showered upon him; instructions, sought and unsought, may be given him, he may have the advantages of tips, pulls, inside tracks, etc., but the initiative that seizes every oppor- tunity, the energy that follows it up and the de- termination that overcomes every obstacle, all of these qualities — so necessary to success — will have to be forthcoming from him. He himself must be the mainspring, his character and his personality must be the power behind every suc- cessful action. The world into which he is to make his ad- vent is an ever-changing one. Just as the earth is whirling through space with the speed of eighteen miles per second so the worlds of science, useful arts, discovery and invention, — are whirling along at an astonishing rate. Every movement is irresistible and inevitable. The restless impatience of hurrying thousands ac- celerates every motion The twentieth century skill adds momentarily to the al- ready great velocity of twentieth century progress. How great this speed really is and how rapidly it is increasing may be seen by a comparison of the past and the present. Elec- tricity, unknown a century and a half ago, now flashes messages around the world in four sec- onds, furnishes light for whole cities and cures innumerable diseases. Steam transports people from New York City to San Francisco in four days and from New York to Liverpool in five days, men fly, and radium promises to revolu- tionize all the theories of the composition of mat- ter. But rapid as the progress of science may seem, wonderful as the accomplishments of the present day may be to us, this progress and these accomplishments will melt into petty insignifi- cance when illuminated by the searchlight of the future. The direct result of all this haste and impatience is a competition so keen that all busi- ness life is indeed a struggle for existence. When a young man starts in life today, he throws himself into a crowd of competitors; thousands are in the same field before him, thousands v«ll crowd after him. Every friend is a competitor and every associate, a rival. The natural result of this competition is intensive rather than ex- tensive work. The business man of today must be able to get a maximum profit from a small investment rather than to derive a medium profit from a large one. The sun ' s rays admitted ' through a circular aperture two feet in diameter will sufficiently light a good sized room but the same rays focused on one point for one second would set the whole house on fire. A person of rare ability may exert an influence in various fields, he may be a good lawyer, a pretty good doctor and a fair electrician; he may, in other words, be a talented Jack of all Trades but this is not what the world demands; the man who actually accomplishes something is the man who by focusing all of his energies and concen- trating all of his attention on one thing sets himself and those about him on fire with the vigor and enthusiasm which he puts into his work. William George Jordan in his book entitled, The Kingship of Selfcontrol says that every man has two creators — his God and himself. By this he means that each man is directly re- sponsible for the kind of life he leads or, in other words, his life is what he makes it. The talents of different men may be different, but that is no reason why one man should succeed and another fail. It is not what we have, but how we use what we have that determines the result of our lives. Rankin once said that a spiderweb run- ning on pulleys with the velocity of light would drive all the machinery in England. Let us use our talents honestly and diligently, however few and insignificant they may seem, realizing with Longfellow that Success is simply doing what we can do well, without a thought of fame and knowing that our true and ultimate success will be measured not by what we have but by what we are.

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24 THE CRIMSON June CLASS GRUMBLE BY VINCENT VALLETTE L ADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The election of the grumbler for the Class of 1910 was not only a difficult but a very interesting affair, as the choice lay among so many of sweet, mild, agreeable, complying, submissive, acquiescent disposition, but it was finally decided to choose a grumbler of absolute- ly harmless nature so that his grumbling would be attended by no fatal results or libel suits. Now grumbling for the present class is not an easy task since the class life runs along so smoothly and harmoniously. This you would readily understand if you could attend one of our class meetings, characterized, as they are, by perfect order, i. e. every one talking or argu- ing at once, if for no other reason than just to keep up with the rest, and, above this, the presi- dent shouting at the top of his voice for more order; finally as the din becomes deafening, the tall, dark fig e of our Principal looms through the door and the hubbub ebbs to a few whisper- ed complaints concerning the president such as, He is trying to run every thing , He doesn ' t give us a chance , I will not stand for it , etc. Really this is not far from the truth. Let me give you a few examples of our president ' s con- sideration for the views of others: The Seniors decided at one meeting to give a Christmas dance and, shortly afterwards, another meeting was called in which our honored president made the following remarks, Now we are going to have a Christmas dance and I have decided that it will not cost more to give a New Year ' s dance. I have engaged the orchestra and hall and now all I want is your consent. The hall and or- chestra having been engaged, there was no alter- native for the class so the grumbler grumbled and the dance was given. Another instance of his officious leadership is in the senate; you have doubtless heard of the senate of the Goshen High School. In this Senate our honored president, figuring under his political title of Senator Aldrich, a most fitting appellation, is floor leader of the republican party, and. at his bidding, the meek republicans vote as one. Now have not I, being of the Pro-, hibition party, a right to grumble at the estab- lished order of things? At the republicans in power and the democratic floor leader in cahoot with them? But nevertheless the prohibitionists are ever loyal to the main plank in their plat- form, Down with liquor, one way or another. But just here I should like to call your atten- tion to some of the attractive points of our school building. By entering the north front door, going up several flights of stairs, you wrill find yourself just beneath the roof in a seldom used room called the gymnas- ium. Basket ball practice is allowed here but no games may be played in the gym for fear the visiting teams will throw the ball through the skylight; at least I suppose that is the reason for I can find no other. Now would it not make you grumble to practice all winter and have no games? As for the dumbbells, Indian clubs, cind such apparatus in the gym., I couldn ' t im- agine what they are for. However the gymnas- ium has two good uses, as a place to send lost freshmen, and a place for the rehearsals of the clciss play. The latter occur twice a week, gen- erally however with only half the cast present. There is a noticeable need of another room in the High School for the vivesection of cats and, wliile I mention the needs of the High School, I might suggest an adjoining parlor for the recu- peration of systems easily shocked. Furthermore I think it very inconsiderate of the school board to force Dorothy Stutz to use a seat over which she can not see, and which is too high for her to write on and then expect Otis Kercher to sit in the same sized seat. I would suggest further that there should be some method of tagging the the student body and faculty so as to distinguis ' i the visiting g;rade children from some of the freshmen, and some of the students from at least one of the members of the faculty. But after all why grumble and complain after we have toiled four or five years, or longer as the case may be. Every class has had a grum- bler and every class probably will have. So let us wish the Goshen High School spirit to last forever. May it survive the imperfections of all the giants, dwarves, faculties, class presidents, and grumblers.

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26 THE CRIMSON June CLASS WILL BY HARRY WHITMER E, the 1910 graduating class of the Goshen High School, of the county of Elkhart, in the state of Indiana, being of sound mind and disposing memory (we hope after a protracted number of years in our beloved High School), do hereby revoke, annul, and declare void all former wills by us at any time made. Amen. Item I. It is our will, and we now direct, that immediately on our demise our lawyers file a petition in bankruptcy for us, after which we direct that all our just debts — financial and other- wise — shall first be paid, and, inasmuch as our liabilities are approximately ninety dollars ($90.00), we do hereby authorize our lawyers as executors of this our last Will and Testament, to reimburse our creditors by paying each a half- cent (YzC.) on the dollar. Item II. We hereby give, devise, and bequeath to any who are foolish enough to ac- cept them, all our claims to school books, school buildings, school work, faculty, and other mis- cellaneous objects, and do hereby wish, direct, and we may also add, authorize that said trash shall be dealt with as is seen fit by said foolish person or persons accepting same ; by this, mean- ing that we renounce all claims to any thing at any time attached to us, that in any way pertains to school, school life, or school work. Item III. We also bequeath to the inferior classes of the High School our und3dng love for that aforesaid mausoleum, as well as our long- waning regard for our esteemed and illustrious faculty; said faculty being a conglomerated museum of things, including confirmed old maids, hen-pecked husbands, etc., said con- firmed old maids and hen-pecked husbands hav- ing been cared for and supported by the only charitable institution in the city of Goshen. To the Class of 1911 we bequeath the bond of fellowship and brotherly love which has bound us together as a class, undaunted in purpose, un- divided in thought, underrated in studies and we sincerely trust that said bond of fellowship and brotherly love may be useful in making their class meetings as sweet, as mild, and as pleats- ant as were all of our enjoyable melees. Item IV. Sec. A. To the Right Reverend Donald Abraham Lincoln Sarbaugh, Bishop of the Thirteenth Diocese of Elkhartshire, we be- queath one (1) book entitled, How to Become Famous, for ten cents, and an English transla- tion of Cicero ' s Orations. Sec. B. To Sarah Banta, general pessimist, we bequeath the honorary title of Class Char- acter , and suggest that some worthy individual find a suitable position for Sary in order that he may put his much talked of business training and ability into practical use. Furthermore, we do willingly bequeath to Mully Grub , better known as Sash , all un- settled questions of a weighty character, inas- much as he is of the type best suited to compete with such questions as described above. Sec. C. To Miss Pickels Pickering we ex- tend our heartfelt thanks for all the joys and pleasures she has afforded us throughout her high school life. Also, permit us to humbly sug- gest, Miriam, dear, that you cease your practice of heart breaking and devote more of your time to HIM. Item V. To Henry Weinstein, who, in con- junction with another member of this year ' s Physics class, name ■withheld, was the shining light of said Physics class, we do unrelentingly bequeath the title of shining light for next year, if it becomes necessary that said Hennery should for any cause, or for any unseen reason, be compelled to again decorate the front seat in the Physics class another year. We also bequeath to Hank the privilege of being the last one dressed in the cage during football season, inasmuch as that honor was hotly contested for, and finally wrung from Henry ' s grasp last season by the same person who so successfully competed with him for the title of shining light of last year ' s Physics class. Item VI. Although we acknowledge Miss Sherwin ' s authority in the Class Will of 1909 for bringing into prominence the Abbott family, parts of which have been and will be in our be- loved High School for all time, we wish to call attention to the fact that after a lapse of a few months we again have another constituent of