Immaculata Academy - Lilium Convallium Yearbook (Portland, OR)

Page 29 text:

LILIUM CONVALLIUM 21 Class Prophecy As I picked up the June, 1940, number of the Portland Journal, I was attracted by the headlines: GREAT MAGICIAN TO PAY VISIT TO CITY. Naturally I was interested, and upon reading further, I learned to my astonish- ment, that this was the renowned inventor of radio-vision and that she was none other than my old classmate, Adeline Vanderbeck. Three days after her arrival I had the honor of enjoying an interview with her. After recalling many happy memories of our school days, she began to discuss her invention. For thirteen years, she said, she had labored strenuously until she had perfected a machine called radio-vision, which accurately portrays distant events. Last year she had been especially requested to travel from city to city to demonstrate this marvelous machine to the public. This ac- counted for her visit to Portland, where she had an appointment to demonstate at the City Auditorium that evening. The construction of the machine, she added, was very complex, but the basic force was electric waves. You surely don't mean, Adeline, I asked, that this machine can produce pictures of distant happenings, do you? That's just what it doesf' replied Adeline. Come, I'll demonstrate it to you right away. I did not hesitate to accept her kind offer. Together we hastened to the City Auditorium, where she took me into a large room, the walls of which were covered with electric wires, all meeting in a round shaped instrument in the center of the room. She turned on a switch and instantly I saw a flash on the white scren on the opposite wall. Then there appeared a dim picture which gradually became clearer. From this corner of the temporary laboratory, I saw the magnificent Liberty Theater of New York. In inexpressible awe, I beheld Loretta Mc- Cormick, the great opera prima donna, singing to a large appreciative audience. The next scene showed Josephine McGinley, a prim little nurse in St. Vincent's Hospital, Portland. Her cheerful smile was a source of much joy to her sick patients. I'll bet I know who this is going to be, I commented as I perceived a tall figure becoming clearer. Yes, and I think you're right, too, replied Adeline. Sure enough, it was Mary Williams, America's greatest orator, delivering one of her famous orations in the Municipal Auditorium of Jersey City. After this I beheld Immaculata's gym star, Mary Barnes, teaching in the gymnasium of Berkeley University. Wliy, Adeline, what a marvelous invention! I exclaimed. just a minute now, she replied, and we'll see some more. As the next picture became more vivid, I saw a musician sitting at a piano, her fingers gliding over the keys. It was Mary Jane Kane playing her masterpiece, I-Iumoresquef' The secene shifted and I perceived an artist sketching Mt. Hood. It Was Mary Niehueser. Of all wonders this is the most wonderful I ever witnessedf' I burst out again. Adeline only smiled in answer. In the next picture I saw a throng of people waving hats and handker- chiefs and frantically cheering Lucille McGoorty as she completed her speech in which she nominated XVilma Bechtold to fill the office of governor of New York.

Page 28 text:

20 LILIUM CONVALLIUM Experiment the Latest Object: To study the process of changing a Freshie to a Graduate. Apparatus and materials: A high school, several teachers, many books, numerous lessons, a few parties: pupils of higher classes, twenty-two freshmen. Method: Put the freshmen into the high school. Place several teachers in various parts of this container. Add five or six books fseven if they are smallj at intervals of one year, for four years. From these books many lessons are to be extracted fthe hard ones are, perhaps, best, even though it is noticed that the soft,' ones have more attraction for the studentsj. After a period of forty weeks give the atoms an airing for twelve weeks: then repeat the process three times. Result: The first day the freshmen are puffed up considerably from the process of eighth-grade graduation which all go through in being manu- factured, but the upper classmen, together with the difficult lessons, act upon them to such an extent that by the end of the first week the little green things are considerably shrunken in knowledge and importance. Their green grass color gradually, though very slowly, becomes lighter, until by the end of the first year the green tinge is not nearly so noticeable. During the second year the tendency of the ions shows a strong in- clination to athletics and secrecy. The former are practiced chiefly on the second floor during noon hour, the most popular form being that of dashing madly about, squealing at the top of their voices, in hot pursuit of some other Soph. The secrecy is noticeable in the many girls who, in this wild scramble, hide in the lockers in the typewriting room, while some of the others race from one room to the other, broadcasting to all for blocks around that they can't find so-and-so. By the beginning of the third year the students have abandoned these undignified pastimes and are more interested in quieter, subdued activities, such as cross-word puzzles. They have also changed from the innocent little girls they were to silly young things, who talk about going to the show with this one, dancing with such a one, and Wliat I said to him. If closely observed, they can be seen to titter, laugh shyly, and wink knowingly at one another upon the mention of certain persons, places, or things. At the opening of the senior year, the girls are very much impressed with their own importance and knowledge. At last there will be no one of upper classes to put them into their places when they overstep their boundaries! How stately, how dignified they are! Until, sad fate-the Charleston tempts them to give up dignity and succumb to its swift steps and jazzy movements. This is the first fall. Then when English essays, exams, stories, chemistry ex- periments, and Spanish verbs, sentences and translations, civic questions, history dates, facts, speed tests, Latin conjugations and orations, bookkeeping posting, balance sheets, financial statements, cash books and notes follow in rapid succession, their unlimited knowledge seems to fall before the torrent of blows and, for the first time the truth of their own unlearnedness dawns upon them. However, we finally see them all come out of the high school container, gowned in flowing white robes, with a sheepskin in their hands, and on their heads a square cap, under which there is now considerably more knowledge both of life and of books than there was when those same heads wore long braids and a bright green ribbon. -MARY WILLIAMS, 'z6.

Page 30 text:

22 LILIUM CONVALLIUM In the large office of an Eastern firm I beheld Madonna Enright, who was head typist. She had won great distinction on account of her rare speed. Again the scene changed to a court room in Chicago. Dorothy Concannon was successfully defending her client. I then saw a beautiful farm in Minnesota and on the gate was the sign: Phoebe Wright. Phoebe has reason to be proud of that lovely farm, Adeline remarked happily. The next scene showed an audience spell-bound while a violinist was playing with the soul of a true artist. It was Margaret Srnith. I then had a chance to observe Bernice Noonan, a professor in Willaniette University. She was explaining to her class the value of speaking correct English. Well of all people! I exclaimed as I saw Margaret Miller seated in a rocker surrounded by many little children. She had founded an Orphan's Home in Oregon City. The following scene showed the eighty-third Session of Congress with Dolores Posvar, as Republican floor leader of the Senate. At the Capitol, Margaret Walsh was busy filling the position of Secretary of State. Mary Curran, I saw, was teaching in a little white schoolhouse in southern California. She had been offered a position in the city but she could not resist the call of the country. Mary hasn't changed a bit, has she? said Adeline. I hardly heard what Aedline asked as I was straining every nerve trying to see what Clara Bechtold was doing. Slowly the scene became clearer and I saw her as a surgeon operating on a bee to remove its sting. And lastly, Mildred Corcoran was peering anxiously through a telescope. As a distinguished astronomer, she was gathering facts to prove that Mars IS inhabited. The inventor turned the switch, and all was over. Why, Adeline, I exclaimed, ucongratulations! Of all the marvelous in- ventions, this is the newest and greatest in the history of the world. Surely, Immaculata has every reason to be proud of you, the renowned inventor of radio-vision. Congratulationslv -MARIE KLUGE, 'z6. At dawn of day The little birds say, Come out to play, Be happy and gay. -MARIE KLUGE, 'z6.