Granite City High School - Warrior Yearbook (Granite City, IL)

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THE DIMENSIONS OF LIFE. Edgar Lewis. In the land of the blind the one-eyed are kings and remain so even though the vision of that eye to a large extent, be subnormal. But this is not a land of the blind, this is not a habitation of weak, undeveloped defective vision nor of undersized, degenerate, mentality. It is not a land of mere humanity floundering hither and thither in the field of nothingness, amidst the non-advancements of no where. This land of ours is the habitation of keen, highly developed, eccentric vision, and the home of strong purpose and foresight. It is over-flowing with people who step only upon those places which tend to a greater advance to a more economic state of life and to all the higher planes of civilization. These inhabitants of our land allow themselves to be led only by those who are above them in the scale of progress. Their leaders must be men of strong personalty, highly educated, of strong will, as well as possessors of clear unblemished foresight and good judgment. Therefore, if we would be the leaders of tomorrow we cannot spend our time in idleness. We cannot chase long, thru the enticing garden of momentary happiness, after the butterfly of wanton pleasure; nor can we occupy ourselves extensively in doubtful undertakings. We must concentrate our every effort upon the building of character, upon the cultivation of determination and will-power. We mu it plant at once, that seed which in the days of our leadership will bloom forth into that pompous acquisition; clear foresight; as well as into the magnifi- cent property; good judgment. Have you ever had the opportunity of standing upon the banks of a stream and dwelling with as much concentration of vision as possible upon the chaos of a school of fish? As you outline their movements you notice them as they start out upon one path then turn abruptly upon another seemingly forgetting or entirely dismissing their primary intentions, or else abandoning tue quest merely because some small obstacle hindered its completion. Or mayhap you notice them turn suddenly to follow one leader only to desert him to follow another and then instantly strike out blindly each for himself. Economically speaking, imagine the energy ruthlessly spent, and then fancy that energy purposely spent. Oh, what an accomplishment would be theirs! Nevertheless, in spite of the clearness and truth of this simile, a vast number of American citizens spend their lives in just this fashion. Innumerable are tne quests that have been forsaken simply be- TWEN1Y

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10. The faculty for learning Virgil held by Muriel Morgan we do devise and bequeath to Tom Hall, hoping he will make a success of it next year when taking the Virgil encore. 11. To Minnie Champion we do will, devise and bequeath the quiet dispositions of Carrie Kogel and Edna Ead, so Minnie upon entering her Senior year will be more reserved and quiet in her manner. 12. A good example of friendship has been set by two Senior girls namely: Mildred Ryrie and Zella Handy. This friendship we bequeath to Mary Maxey and Byrdie Boyd hoping they shall retain their friendship as long as Zella and Mildred have. 13. To Kenneth Wilson we do devise and bequeath Gertrude Fleishman’s faculty of getting through High in th ree years, so Kenneth will not have to stay in one class for three years. 14. To Carl Lomax we devise Holland Vaughn’s liking for girls in the lower classes so that Carl when he is a Se nior will have some one to escort to the Senior parties. 15. To Mary Lohmann we will the superfluous height of Everett Holdinghaus so when Mary’s courting days begin it will not be so difficult for the “He” to court. 16. Martha Evans’ smile we will and bequeath to Imoe Trueblood hoping when she becomes a Senior she will be the “life” of the class. 17 To Alvin Schleekte we will and devise Max Bramer’s wonderful ability in chemical laboratory and hope Alvin will gain a reputation as a scientist! 18. Erma Smith’s wonderful debating we bequeath to George Wilderman so George will become the star debater in the Argonaut society next year. 19. To Mabel Philips we bequeath Mae Rhoades silver looking glass so Mabel can use this for primp- ing instead of going to the cloak room between classes. In witness hereof, we have hereunto subscribed our name and affixed our seal, the 25th day of May in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and of the independence of the U. S. the one hundred and fortieth. Witnessed by John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie. A Signed, Senior Class. NINETEEN

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cause some small obstacle lay in the path to success. Incalculable is that energy ruthlessly spent with- out purpose in forethought and determination in the carrying out of those purposes. Are they then, in principle, differentiated in a large measure from the chaos of the school of fish? But the day has arrived when chaos no longer rules system is the predominating factor while concentra- tion and economy are first lieutenants in American business. Not only is this true but the overcoming of obstacles in the path to success is now enumerated as the main constituent of that feeling which goes to make success desirable. Of what value is success unless you overcome some perplexity in order to succeed. However, the impression should not be made that in no case would a change of course be advisable; in fact, one of the greatest steps in Lincoln’s Life was his change from the country grocery store to the study of Law. There is nevertheless a vast difference between an earnest effort followed by a serious change of course, and the nervous, dissatisfied, grass hopper form of life as followed by some people whose dispositions generally are so selfcentered and narrow that they cannot conclusively agree with them- selves. The opportunity of choosing our own path to success or failure has been left entirely to our own dis- cretion. There was a time when the son had no choice but to follow in the steps of his father. Now the invalidity of this having been brought to light, we have not only the right to chcose our own vocation but we are assisted in every conceivable manner to obtain a higher standard in that vocation. Our opportunities are boundless; success is thrust within our reach at every turn. The dimensions of cur life are as a sliding scale set by our hand alone, with no resistance to that setting, except our own shallowness and debauchery.. We are as the mighty warring winds, as the powerful sandstorm of the desert, as the billowing seething waves of the ocean bound only by those planes which we set for our- selves; bound only by our debased consciousness, our deceit, our distrust of fellow men, and our every adulteration. Yes, we are as the mighty ocean wave capable under debased conditions of rising, arising higher than our fellow men. But then as a result of lacking purposed concentration to slowly fall, causing only a ripple of laughter among them, or on the other hand we may in accordance with our developed founda- tion, rise higher and higher to the utmost elevation, and then crash against the breakwater, degredation that obstacle in the path of the brotherhood of men, making that bulwark tremble in its unrightousness and with the roar of a work well done pass into the realms of the Great Beyond at the feet of Him who is judge of us all.