Johnson St Paris High School - Parisian Yearbook (Saint Paris, OH)

Page 37 text:

The Class of ’26 Just thirty-four of us assembled in the Freshman room September eighth to start on our stormy and fearsome High School career, beset by the terrors of Algebra, Latin, etc. However we are now progressing rapidly, thanks to the help of our splendid teachers. Of course the Sophomores tried to initiate us, but owing to their blunders most of us escaped. Early in the year we elected the following as officers: President, Randolph Berry; Vice President, John Middleton; Secretary and Treasurer, Ruth Tomlin. Our class colors, Scarlet and Gold; our flowers, Pink Rose Buds; and our motto, Onward and Upward. On September we met at the home of Hilda Pence, and spent a very enjoyable evening, in spite of the fact that we went in the chicken truck. Owing to an epidemic of sick- ness, we have had only a few class meetings, but the quality more than made up for the quantity. To peep in our class room one wouldn’t think we were such a talented class, but looks are deceiving. We have every trade and profession even down to actors. Of course this is only our Freshman year, but the one to toot the horn of fame will be Class ’26. DONNA McINTURFF.

Page 36 text:

ft rartsian S£ cue rs TosT nS -D£ W£ Ttl Lock i GfctfflNIWlS VtfOtf PetL.cV ?

Page 38 text:

The 500-Mile Race Indianapolis Speedway, 1919 If you once see a five-hundred-mile race you will always remember it. Two days before the race the tickets were all sold. That is a sure sign that there is going to be a good crowd, for the grandstand holds one hun dred and seventy-five thousand people besides the number that can be accommodated in the inner- circle with the automobiles. We will now skip over a period of two days. It is the day of the race. We get up about 4 o’clock in the morning, eat an early breakfast and start, for we have fifteen miles to drive through a great crowd of human beings and traffic of all sorts. When about five miles from the Speedway we run into what is called the speedway crowd, where you can only move an inch or two at a time. With the purr of high-powered cars and rattle of flivvers and shouting of people on the street cars rushing by there is quite a racket. At last we get there, but we look like we had traveled for a month or two along dusty roads. We park in the space which has the same number as we have on a little ticket. Then we get tangled in such a crowd of humans (or rather animals, for some of them act like that) we almost get crushed to death. If you could be above the crowd and look down, it would look like the ocean on a stormy day. We finally get to our seats; then we have a little more room to move in.i It is now 9 o’clock, and the race starts at 10. We are right in front of the pits, or the place where the racing cars are parked. The little slip of paper which was handed us as we came in has all the racers’ names, cars’ names and numbers on it. So we all get busy and pick out our favorites. When we look up, the racers are going around to their places. Each one goes clear around the track by himself to show off before he gets in line. Ralph DePalma makes the best showing, doing many grandstand stunts. At last they are all around in line. Thirty-three of them all looking very neat in their place. How soon will it be before those good-looking cars be- coming rushing demons? How long have some of these men to live? It was a bad day for a race. The sun beat down as if to melt everything and you could see the heat waves rising from the track and sweat was stand- ing out on everybody. The band marches around the track, playing a great many cheerful songs. Then the drivers take their places in the cars and the mecanicians at the cranks. Then a silence like death. Suddenly the silence is shattered into a million pieces by the report of a cannon. The mechanicians whirl the cranks and all the machines leap forward with their cutouts booming. They’re off!! Everybody jumps to their feet and the shout- ing they pour forth can be heard for miles. The great race is on. You can see them all the way around the track; first one ahead, then another. Then they round the south curve and pass our grandstand again. “DePalma! DePalma!” shrieks the crowd. Yes, the little yellow car with the big black four on its side is ahead by a car’s length, with the others stringing out behind. One hun- dred miles per hour is the speed. After standing for about an hour we sat down. The only thing that breaks the silence is the shout- ing as a favorite passes with the roar of an ex- haust. DePalma is five laps ahead of the rest. Then he has to come in for gas and loses two laps. Suddenly, everybody rises to their feet. A tremor of horror shakes the crowd. One of the racers had gone too high on a curve and had rolled down, set- ting his machine on fire. He and his mechanic were being burned to death under the flaming car. (Note—Leecoke and his mechanic were both burned to death in that race.) The other racers were coming toward the burning car, but the flames were shooting so far over the track that they would have to go through them or stop. DePalma was in the lead and so close to the flames that he couldn’t stop. So he went right through. The others man- aged to stop in time. After about a minute’s de- lay everything was going as before. They have now gone 250 miles. DePalma had to drop out for a time on account of a broken steering knuckle. Thurston is in the lead and Tom Alley is pressing him close. Then something else happened. Thur- ston broke his steering knuckle and ran into Tom Alley, knocking Tom’s car off the track and throw- ing himself against a wall, splitting his head open. (Note—Tom Alley and his mechanic didn’t get any serious injuries, but Thurston was killed on the spot and his mechanic died shortly afterward.) That made Louis Chevrolet in the lead with Gaston Chevrolet (his brother) a close second. After a while DePalma gets in again 15 laps behind. He speeds up to 125 miles an hour and soon is ahead again. Nobody had been watching Wilcox in his little Purico, but now he began passing everybody, and was soon next to DePalma. DePalma had only five more laps to go; he would be winner, making the second time he had won on a 500-mile race, but fate was against him, for just as he was rounding the north curve a wheel went bouncing over the track, leaving him with but three wheels to run on. He managed to get to the pits, but by the time he had another wheel on. Wilcox had crossed the line and was winner. DePalma getting into the race again did just make fourth place, passing Louis Chevrolet on the last lap. The first ten men to come in were as follows: Wilcox, Boyer, Gaston Chevrolet, DePalma, Louis Chevrolet, Cooper, Smith, Jacoby, Chandler and Duer. After it was over everybody made a rush for street cars, trains and automobi'es. Wc finally got to our car after a hard fight. We then had to wait half an hour for other cars around us to pull out. Then we hit a back trail where there wasn’t much traffic and were soon home.