Hallowell High School - Venture Yearbook (Hallowell, ME)

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The VENTURE 9 To the young man or woman, shorthand offers a great opportunity either as a career or as a stepping stone. Many of our most prominent public men and women owe their positions to the start shorthand gave them. Among these, to mention only a few, are: Charles Dickens, Frank Vanderlip, Edward Bok, Irvin Cobb and Samuel Insull. That stenography requires appli- cation and hard study, anyone who has taken it will not deny. Quoting from that inimitable author, Charles Dickens, who gave in David Copper- field something of the struggle he himself had with shorthand symbols, we learn its difiiculty: I bought an approved scheme of the noble art and mystery of stenog- raphy and plunged into a sea of per- plexity that brought me in a few weeks, to the confines of distraction. The changes that were rung upon dots, which in such a position meant such a thing, and in such another position something else, entirely dif- ferent, the wonderful vagaries that were played by circles, the unac- countable consequences that resulted from marks like flies' legs, the tre- mendous effect of a curved line in the wrong place 3 not only troubled my waking hours, but appeared in my sleep. When I had groped my way, blindly, through these difficulties, and had mastered the alphabet, which was an Egyptian Temple in itself, there appeared a procession of new horrors, called arbitrary char- acters, the most despotic characters I have ever known. When I had fixed these wretches in my mind, I found that they had driven every- thing else out of it, and thus the struggle went on. But success crowned his efforts, and his knowledge of shorthand be- came a stepping stone to fame. Such it may become to some of us, to all of us it is a definite aid to economic independence. Lyndon M ayers. PRESENTATION OF GIFTS I have no apologies for my appear- ance here today. My classmates have seen fit to invite me to disclose to an interested world their intimate characteristics, and I have accepted their invitation. Very likely, it is my reputation for truth-telling that has influenced them to select me to perform this difficult task. My mod- esty forbids me to believe that jus- tice prompted them to choose me, as the only one who approached abso- lute perfection, and so was in no need of friendly admonition myself. Perhaps they fancy that my grati- tude for the honor that they have conferred upon me will induce me to close my eyes to the more flagrant of their faults, or, at least, to smooth over their rough edges before pre- senting them to the laughter of the public. Such is not my purpose, however, for, while I have the great- est desire to retain their friendship, I have also the highest appreciation of my duty, and feel myself bound to delineate as accurately as possible their peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. Iva, your reputation among your classmates is that of a person who delights in the profuse use of words, big and little, mostly big. As a re- minder of your high school days, I have chosen some particularly long ones for you. Use them to good ad- vantage. Elizabeth, for you I have selected a most appropriate gift. We all know of your fondness for letter-writing, especially to those of the opposite sex. This stationery is sure to please any young man. We have fashion well represented in our class in the person of Olive. Her dresses are the envy of the school, at least of the feminine por- tion, but in this style book, I know she will find some patterns that will go far ahead of any that she has yet rie .

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8 The VENTURE remembrance, and wish you every great and perfect gift in life. Again, we bid you welcome on this, our Commencement Day. Greetings to you, Undergraduates from the Class of 1928: At the beginning of another year, you will step into those places made vacant by our retirement, and stride forward in an effort to attain the goal which only comes to those who keep in step day by day, year by year. Friends, and schoolmates, do not marktirneg advance! - ,li.l.11-i SI-IQRTHAND AND ITS . 1. ADVANTAGES The ordinary long-hand script is utterly inadequate for the purpose of rapid writing. Not only is the outline of the letters needlessly long and complicated, but the letters are not sufficient in number to represent the English language phonetically. With only twenty-six letters, of which three are practically useless, we are required to write a language which contains more than forty ele- mentary sounds. So, as far back as 1787, and perhaps earlier, a method of shorthand was devised by the use of curved lines, dots and dashes which made possible the taking down of speeches as fast as they were ut- tered. Since that time there have been various systems of shorthand worked out, the best known perhaps being the Pitman, Graham, and Gregg methods. The Gregg text book is the one generally in use in Schools of Commerce and High Schools at the present time. The advantages of a study of short- hand are threefold: first, the mental discipline secured in the mastery and the application of its principles, sec- ond, the educational value of the writing and re-writing of the matter taken in shorthand, third, its prac- tical or commercial value. In the mental process there are the hearing and the comprehension of the words and the grasping of the thought of the speaker, the transla- tion of these words into soundsg the selection of the shorthand material from which they are to be con- structed into tangible form, then the manual execution of the forms. All these processes must be put through in the smallest fraction of a second. The close affiliation of shorthand with language gives to it, I think, one of its greatest educational ad- vantages. Nothing can so familiar- ize one with the wonders and beau- ties of the English language as does the constant practice of shorthand. It compels a study of the grammati- cal and rhetorical phases of language and gives an acquaintance with the details of it that could hardly be acquired so easily in any other way. The shorthand writer in his work is constantly brought in contact with what is brightest and best-where brains are the busiest. He is con- stantly copying the cultivated diction of eminent speakers, writing out the thoughts of great educators and pub- lic men. He is thus enabled to study, to absorb, to compare, to criticize, to enjoy, to broaden his general infor- mation, to familiarize himself with the work of the world. Shorthand is an indispensable art in commerce as is attested by the fact that hundreds of thousands, pro- ficient in it, are employed as stenog- raphers. In the courts and in the legislative halls of the state and national gov- ernments, the shorthand reporter makes an absolute record of the pro- ceedings, and thus the thoughts of statesmen, great teachers, and law- makers are preserved for the use of the world.

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10 The VENTURE There is one young man in our class who attracts much attention by his seemingly vain attempts to keep his locks in order. Bernard, after much deliberation, I finally decided upon this bottle of Slickum. Faith- fully applied, it will surely reward your labors. It is to be lamented that clocks are unknown in Hayes's part of the town, to all appearances. At least, he has never been on time at any occasion during his four years' career. Please accept this alarm clock, Jimmy, and never again be late. Lawrence, for you I have some- thing that I know you will often find useful. These foot-pads are guaran- teed to be perfectly silent when you are creeping into the house in the wee, small hours. Now for you, Mayers! I under- stand that, owing to your length of limb, you are obliged to sleep cross- wise in bed. Your parents have said that they are going to buy you a spe- cial bed, so that you may straighten out before it is too late. I will save them that trouble. Ludger has a soft spot in his heart for girls, and, in particular, for girls dressed in blue, but for some reason, to me unknown, his suit, so far, has not prospered. This sad fact I deep- ly deplore, and that he may not meet with further disappointment, I have secured for him this attractive little lady. Louise, there are those who seek honors and there are those who have honors thrust upon them, to the lat- ter class you belong. Realizing that your attainments through our four years of class associations at Hallo- well High have reached that state called perfection, on behalf of your classmates, I bestow upon you this medal. Raymond, you are one who never seemed to own a note-book, at least, you were always borrowing one of some kind-hearted classmate. I think it is time that you had one of your very own. Every class has its bashful youth or maiden, and we shall never know just what weighty wisdom has been lost to us through the retiring nature of one of our members. There is an old adage that if you do not blow your own horn, no one will blow it for you. The modern adaption is that if you do not crow for yourself, no one will crow for you. Charlotte, perceiving that you need help, I pre- sent to you this thoroughbred roos- ter. May his clarion notes be heard where your feeble tones would fail to penetrate. When a fellow will go without his supper for the sake of a bat, it's hard to have to share it with another boy who is considerably larger. Charlie, please accept this one for yourself, you have certainly earned it. Clarence, if you must indulge in week-end trips, you should be pre- pared. Now with this airplane at- tached to the top of your car, you will be able to fly home the next time you get stranded in the country, and will not have to spend two long days there, waiting for repairs to be made. Ella, for you I have a preparation that is a sure cure for blushes. I know that you suffer from this con- spicuous aifliction, but, if you will follow the directions enclosed, you will be saved from all further em- barrassment. Albion is famous for affairs of the heart. Notice that I use the plural, for he always has a new girl in tow. Perhaps this glue will enable him to stick to the last favorite a bit longer. I know that Ruth is fond of kisses. Just how I know, I will not say. Now there are different kinds of kisses, but for a young girl this variety, though perhaps not the sweetest, is certainly safest.