Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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12 THE ORBIT. ir. W. (£. (graliam. V A V A V V V V V V V V V vy v v v v v v v v v v v V V V y v v v vy v v v v v v v v V iJrutist. Columbian Work. %nth JJlumrn. iCanraatrr. (Dlmi. A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A -:- ++ -:• -:- - -:• j; 4 Reform Thai Reforms. 4 :j: v 5 •: The American people of today are living in a period that shall he re- corded in history as the epoch in which the moral and social condition of their nation met a crisis. Opportunities ar,e mere cross roads in the lives of men and of nations; the opportunities do not make men and nations but reveal them. As a nation thinketli in its heart so it is, and the highest ideals of a nation are the ideals of its individual leaders. We must look to them for the progres- sion or retrogression of our national morals. As a nation, for thirty years or more America was growing more and more enamored of gross riches: with our national ideals we associated the lust o' commerce. The unwholesome sys- tem of money-bought government, money-bought churches, and money- bought schools was as surely made from the commercial malice in our own hearts as was the golden calf set up in the wilderness the God of the Israelites. We found there was too much vari- ance between real and ideal stand- ards in commercial, political, and mor- al life. In days gone by people could be led by declarations of reform; in the days almost within our own re- membrance reform movements were the mere spasms of zealots and fa- natics. The consciences of the people smote them when the great preval- ence of corruption and immorality was brought to their notice, and then en- sued a crusade of reform with great clatter and ostentation. The party out of power would declare itself in favor of reform and with the hope that it was in good faith the voters would rally to that party and elect its can- didates. These officers elected for re- form would make a semblance of tul- fllling their campaign promises. The public ardor would gradually cool and the reform movement would die un- perceived and unwept. For instance of such reform we may he cited to the I.exow Committee ap- pointed a few years ago to investigate the police and their methods in New York City, also to a similar movement in Cincinnati. Hut the people of to- day are anxiously waiting to accept tin leadership of the man who does things; they turn with scorn from the man of words without deeds. The great mass of the people have awak- ened to the fact that the time has come for each person to be governed by his own conscience and higher ideals and have ceased to be inllu- enced by the prevalent spirit of those whose selfish motives have led them to unscrupulous methods of accom- plishing their ends. People are al- ways with the man who fights on the moral side of an issue and does not cloud It with his too obvious dcslro for personal triumph. When the German monk standing before the Kmperor at Worms said. I ran not do otherwise. It was consci- ence shining through that made Luth- er’s face luminous ns It had made the face of Moses before him. reveal- ing an obedience to the behest of con- science that has always formed char- acter and yielded happiness. The tendency of our forefathers to follow an established rule was manifested by their persecution of Roger Williams, who openly and fearlessly taught what was in his own heart. The prin- ciples advanced by him are today the very flesh and blood of our national institutions. Schools have made readers; read- ing has made thinkers and thinking has made truth soek'rs. Never before in the history of mankind were the gates of custom and tradition so eas- ily captured by an idea as now. Nev- ertheless many people are much more concerned with reputation than with character: a fact that is shown by their attitude when any revelation of wrongdoing is made. They reason that lest the public mind should be poisoned, lest confidence should be destroyed, it would have been better if the change had been made out of pub- lic sight. Although every revelation of wrongdoing excites the public mind, destroys confidence and often deals unfairly with innocent people, it is impossible to avoid such revelations. If wrong courses could be altered sim- ply bv warning the people who are pursuing them a great expenditure of labor and money could be avoided. Great abuses have rarely been re- moved except as the result of long processes of agitation. The old reg- ime of France was notified again and again that the day of Judgment was approaching: it was given ample time for reformation, but it remained for the most part deaf, dumb and blind. The Russian Autocracy has had the opportunity of reading the handwriting on the wall for two decades or more; all the rest of the world has seen it; the autocrats have either refused to see it or have been unable to under- stand. Corporations in this country which have violated tb.e law cannot, if they have read the newspapers or kept in touch in any way with public opinion, have failed to be aware of the rising tide of indignation on the part of the American people. The real disaster has not been the disclos- ure of corruption of character: noth- ing is more disastrous for a man or a community than the prosperity of evil courses hidden away from public sight. People should not be led astray by cries that the prosperity of the country is imperiled or diminished because of investigation and exposure. The misfortune more to be feared is the immunity allowed to certain male- factors for the testimony they can give against their associates who are no more guilty than they, and the con- donement of the corruption brought to light by investigation through fear of political effect. The American peo- ple will no longer listen to the man who assures them that there Is no peril and that there is no need of re- form; hut they will listen to the man who defines the peril and proposes a remedy. In this great struggle for reform the national administration has been greatly aided bv popular sympathy; there was a moral awakening among the people and the hands of the gov- ernment were held up in its battle for right. The Issue presents itself variously in different localities; nevertheless it is the same reform and the same bat- tle on the same field of action, evolu- tion. It is true that there are very great differences between these issues as they are presented in different lo- calities. In St. Louis and Philadelphia the reformers have attacked flagrant

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THE ORBI T. 11 The wretched and suffering will find in Elizabeth Spaun their best friend. She. as a Red Cross nurse, will dis- tribute sunshine and cheer as well as Butler's Purity Spring Water wher- ever duty calls her. Russell Driver will excel as a teach- er of oratory, elocution and physical training, including the art of dancing. He will introduce as a specialty the famous barn dance.” Henrietta Gromme through her ef- forts in school to convince the teach- ers she is always right, will become the first female lawyer to compete with Jerome in the New York courts. In order to entirely accomplish this, she will only need a little special study in law. Oral Myers, by his exemplary ideas of justice, will become Chief Justice of the United States. He will then seek Ethel Shumaker with whom he was associated in the oratorical con- test of 190S. and they will unite their interests for life. After a stormy mar- ried life of six weeks’ duration, the divorce courts will grant to each a divorce. To Oral, on the plea of Ethel’s bad cooking, and to Ethel, on the plea of Oral's loud snoring. Edythe Everett, on finding the tele- phone a most unsatisfactory means of courting, will devote many years of her life to the perfecting of an instru- ment. able to convey all the delicate, sensitive, and satisfying yum yums. so essential to blissful courtship. Be- cause she has so studiously devoted herself to this end so great a length of time, her gentlemen friends will have lost all interest in her. She will therefore be condemned to spend the balance of her life as a lonely old maid. Ix uis Boving, although small in stature, will be known throughout the world. His caricatures of the latest fads and devises drawn for the New York World will win him great fame. Through her diligent study of astro- nomy. Estella Danison will discover the secret of the Fountain of Youth.” Thus in 1965 she will be found the same rosv-cheeked. laughing-eyed, sunny-haired maiden, the ever-glowing light of the class of 1908. The last leaf I picked up was so dimly written, that I was only able to read the letters W. E. M.” Know- ing this must be mine. I turned to the Sibyl to ask concerning my future. Just as she was about to speak. I awoke and found myself sitting in the same place in which I had been earlier in the evening. W. E. M.. '08. SENIOR CLASS SONG. We are happy to be seniors. We're the class of 1908. But we’ll never meet together When once we separate. We have reached the mighty cross- road Where we know we must decide. Some go one wa .some another, O. let judgment be our guide. 0) 0 Oh! the glorious hour of school life. There are none so bright and gay; We are happy Wfe at e Seniors, We regret to go aVqy. , ( We are glad that w,e are members Of the class of 1908.- ’• ■ —.a We are Seniors, we are jSenlOrk; We're the class that's never late. Four long years have we assen b{td But the time has quickly passe . And no year have we enjoyed As we have this year, our last. Would that we had four more years yet To improve the time we've lost For. of all the time we've wasted We will soon find out the cost. Fare thee well, thou glorious High School. May thy days be long and bright. For we leave you now to scatter In the thickest of the fight. We will never more assemble. We're prepared to meet our fate. We are Seniors, we are Seniors. And this year we graduate. ORAL H. MYERS. 'OS. V K V V V Copyright iooo . STChN SOf NtW YORK V V V V The High School” Mill they say, grinds fine. The system is all right. But The Top” Mill also's in line; Its styles are a delight. If Snyder’s clothes and hats and ties Don’t make the people stare The fashion hand-book surely lies And folks are blind, for fair. The Top” Mill will your outfit grind, Coat, pants and furnishings, More stylish clothes you’ll never find Than Toppy” Snyder’s things. The price is right, the goods are too, They’re always up to snuff. We'll make a fashion plate of you, This is no bluff. Our reputation in this line’s not equalled on the street. We have the shop that’s really up-to-date. Come order now, and bloom out neat. Don’t wait till it’s too late. if if if A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A S A A A A A A A A A A A A A

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£'5 4' vast vf. a w.2 vtzs izzt % n %■ ft x. %. « C. W. WOODIN CO. % % % % % % DRY GOODS NOTIONS CARPETS MILLINERY 123-125 West Main Street Lancaster, Ohio % % and overt knavery: in New York they are attacking political machines or- ganized to co-operate with the great corporations for the benefit which they derived from the corruption of the public works: in Missouri the at- tack has been against high handed boodlers; in Montana and Illinois it has been against open bribery: the year 1907 was notable for the progress made In temperance not only in the United States, but the world round. It was the year of the Chinese Imper- ial edict against opium. Prohibition made great strides In the South, gain- ing the whole of Alabama and Geor- gia and a hundred counties in Ken- tucky: Oklahoma entered the Union with a law forbidding the manufac- ture and sale of intoxicating liquors: the attack over the entire nation has been centered against gambling dens and violators of the liquor laws with such a degree of success that the pro- moters of these evils have received due punishment: their business has been ruined and they themselves are becoming panic stricken. We can see in all these concerted movements an increasing spirit of al- truism. The sun of morality is shed- ding its rays with greater splendor, with a force that will invigorate the ethical health of our nation. Ia t us congratulate ourselves that we have such meh as Judges Lindsay and Black. Governors Folk and Hanley, and may we have many more of such men. The people of our country have been waiting for such leaders, the peo- ple knew their condition, they knew they were morally and politically ill. they only awaited these leaders of worth and power. We cannot fail to see in the work of these men and in the incidents of reforms previously mentioned a lasting influence. We have good reason to be optimists re- garding the future: but it depends up- on the American people, individually, whether this country shall continue to grow and 1 rosper and maintain her high moral standing among the na- tions: whether she shall stand in the eyes of the world as a land imbued with the spirit of justice and Chris- tianity. If each loyal American will stand by the movement and encourage its leaders, the wave which is now sweep- ing over this country will soon be- come a tideless sea. Upon its bosom a newer, greater ship of state will proudly sail, forgetful of the slime that lines its ocean bed forgetful, too. of the wrecks and derilicts that sunk before its mighty ] ower. Only he shall be remembered in those days, who believing in the prin- ciples of right and equity, became a reformer that reformed. ORAL H. MYERS. 08. •h-5--h •{•+•}••!• 4--h-J-h-h-h 5» -h-V | CHAPEL NOTES. | + + + • •{•-b ■{••K -b-b+•++ -5—b+• b++•W 4 •fr 4 The chapel exercises throughout the year have been of ever increasing in- terest and value. In addition to the devotional services conducted by the different teachers in turn, many other features have been introduced. It happens that there are in» the student body at this time several persons of marked musical ability, and they have added greatly to the pleasure of the time spent in the chapel each morn- ing. It has been our privilege as well to entertain several men prominent in school affairs. Lincoln's birthday was celebrated appropriately in an address to the school by Rev. E. H. Gelvin. pastori or the First Presbyterian church. The following is a partial reproduction: Every nation is known by its great men. The Greeks are remembered by such men as Plato-and Homer: the Romans by men like Cicero and Cae- sar. They stand out as solitary monu- ments of the past. Five thousand years hence little of what we now term U. S. History will be known oth- er than that which is grouped about such names as Washington and Lin- coln. Great men must necessarily have good character. No man can be truly great without it. It overbalances every other quality—wealth, environ- ment. intellect. Lincoln's internation- al popularity is directly due to his magnificent personality. In him were combined the two great elements nec- essary to goodness, which are seldom found combined in one man: a sound heart, and a sound brain. Lincoln was wiser than Solomon. Solomon's wisdom was of the world: he left for his monument a broken and scattered nation—the result of his vices. Lincoln's wisdom combined with goodness, is more to be coveted than mere wisdom. He left for his monument a reunited nation, and a freed race. One of Lincoln's greatest and most pronounced characteristics was his simplicity. Because of this trait he was most widely known and loved Angular of frame and unattractive of countenance, he had 'within him a. soul white as the lilies in' heaven. Truly the Creator spent little time in polish- ing the casket which held'the jewel. In a. short autobiography which he once wrote for the Senate Journal, he stated that he was deficient in educa- tion-. He had something more prec- ious than mere intellectual training: he had an educated heart. Many anec- dotes are extant which speak plainly of his loving and tender heart. Lincoln was at one time a skeptic. Few men. however, enter into the study of law who do not become skep- tics. Yet there is absolutely nothing in the entire range of the study of law but what points to the fact that there is a God and that all the laws of the nation are founded on His laws. How- ever. when the nation honored Lin- coln so much as to elect him chief executive, the awful responsibility In- volved in bolding such an office made him feel the need of Christ: and from that time on he was His devoted fol- lower. When the crisis of the war had come and Lincoln was to decide whether or not the vafiant blood was to have been shed in vain, he travelled all the way to Brooklyn in disguise, to talk and pray with Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. It Is said that they wrestled with God until dawn, and Lincoln went as he came, but with the calm assurance that he would be doing the right thing by issuing the proclamation to eman- cipate the slaves. We cannot yet fully appreciate Lin- coln. and only the coming years will tell how much they will add to the love and reverence borne to him by our nation. Besides Mr. Gelvin. several other pastors of this city and neighborhood