Le Roy Central School - O At Kan Yearbook (Le Roy, NY)

Page 20 text:

Page Eighteen TH E R E D A N D B L A C K Commencement Number Beauty It is satisfying to feel that in this materialistic twentieth century, we have true worshipers of beauty in the highest sense,-the artist, the sculptor, the poet. Each brings out the excellence of the art of his choosing. The artist, by painting, can gladden the eyes of millions yet unborn and raise the mind on high by some scene that caught his fancy: the sculptor can make grace and loveliness live for a thousand ycarsg the poet, by his words can give to airy nothingness a local habitation and a nameg the musician, by a single strain, caught from the eternal harmonies, can recreate the dust of buried emotions and make us kin to the immortals. They all develop our feeling for the beauti- ful and raise our thoughts from sordldnessg they give us pcacc and joy and gloryg they carry us to heights from which we must bring back the natural out growth of beauty,-goodness. -Erma McColl Hom c There are certain elements that must go into the making of a home, and fthe greatest of these is love, a house in which love has no abode is but a pile of wood and stone, be it ever so splendid and elaborately con- structed. The poorest house, on the other hand, if love dwell there, is a home. Another element in homemaking is patience, although people may truly love and respect the members of their family, they are likely to be intolerant of their faults. Is it because we see them every day, that every defect in character is so exaggerated? To keep family life pleasant and homelike, it is better to be patient and stop to think, before we break the harmony by a sharp word or unkind action. Forbearance will go a long way to keep any establishment running smoothly. Another im- portant element is courtesy. It is easy to be polite to strangers, but the real test of manners is how one conducts himself at home. If people acted as courteously toward their relatives as toward strangers, many a place, now only an abode, would be a home. -Catherine Wilcox. Practical Forestry We can scarcely realize the importance of the develop- ment of our forests. Ninety-five per cent of our uses of wood are deemed absolute necessities for the present day civilization. From the cradle to the grave, we never live a single second, nor draw a breath, without owing our com- fort, safety, and welfare to the forest products. Because of the need for constructing larger buildings, bridges, and steamships, many old uses of wood have passed. 'I'here has been a gradual substitution which is simply a change in wood use. Formerly, goods were packed in wooden crates: now, they use pulpwood boxes. But great industries have created new uses for wood. The manufacturers of auto- mobiles, insignihcant twenty years ago, now demand enor- mous quantities of oak and maple. By investigating the nature of wood, chemists have opened entirely unexplored fields. In wood is found the cheapest source of several chemical compounds. I defy you to name a single object in your home that is not made of wood itself or in which wood has not played an important part in the making. -Ellsworth Wilson. The Humor of Faith The fashion of this world passeth away --they, alone, who know this are the truly light-hearted of the world. St. Lawrence, directing the roasting of his own body, with the nicety of a cookg the Irish peasant who says, Thanks be to God Me rheumatism is much worse today -these are some instances of the humor of faith. In its fulness, per- haps, only the saints have it, those serene beings, beneath whose calmness flows and undisturbed ripple of laughter at thc follies and pettinesses that surrounded themg whom no adversity disheartensg whose eyes are bright with eternal merriment looking upon the fashion of this life which pass- eth away. In the latin words. Quid hac ad aeterni-tatem, the great saint, Aloysius Gonzaga, was want to consider the thousand and one minutal of daily life- How does this look in the light of eternity? We can imagine the boy saint as he passed quietly unassumingly through the streets of Rome on his way to and from school' perchance arousing the mind of some passerby the thought: There goes another example of gloomy a fanatic, looking at life in a warped, crabbed manner. Yet, the passerby would be the fanatic the narrow minded many Aloysius the ham- orist. For if the spectator expressed his scorn in words, the boy would have said, Quigd ad aeternitatem and gone on boy would have said, Quid hae acternitatem and gone on -Marguerite Hoy. The Le Roy Roller Mill During the years following the Civil War, the mill was the best known in Western New York. The best brand, the celebrated Genesee Flour, commanded a higher price than any other product of its kind manufactured in this country. Even in Europe the Genesee Brand was honored by a special quotation and annually hundreds of barrels were shipped over-seas. On one occasion the Lathrops sent six barrels of the Genesee Brand, the barrels sand paper- ed, polished, and embellished with flags of the United States and Great Britain, to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. It was acknowledged by the Lord Chamberlain of England in a letter to the delighted miller. But, the old order changeth giving way to new, and the mill is no more. The development of the vast wheat areas of Canada and the United States has changed the location and character of the milling industry and gradually the business at LeRoy declined and llnallv ceased to op- erate in 1923. We fancy that some of the old inhabitants of Le Roy, as they gaze on the broken walls and the grass grown scars of the site of the old mill, once Le Roy's most important industry, must sadly sigh for youth and the days that are no more. -Gertrude Graney.

Page 19 text:

Commencement Number TH E R E D A N D B L A C K Page Seventeen S3333 QiidQiiidQQKWQWQ 3 NDR ESSAY 0 ELQDQQDEQEWQQWQQQQWQQQQKQQQQQQKQQQQQQQQQE Chivalry In various forms, have come down to us the noble practices that made chivalry the greatest ideal of olden days. But what are we, the youth of 1927, doing to per- petuate the fine arts of life? Apparently, chivalry is dy- ing out among us. Filial obedience and respect are gradu- ally becoming extinct, or if still alive, are so twisted out of their ordinary shape as to be quite unrecognizable. Everyday acts of courtesy are falling into disuse. The rights and privileges of others no longer are considered, chivalrous self-sacrifice is becoming a thing of the past, a virtue to be respected, but not acquired. It is gradually surrendering its famed place to the twentieth century motto, Every man For Himself. Unless a modern Renaissance is developed by the youth of today, things that make life fine will suc- cumb to the great onrush of materialism. It is, of course, necessary that we prepare ourselves to fight the battle of life, that we enter the ranks of those pushing forward to secure place, and power, and wealth. But it is infinitely more necessary that we be truthful, sin- cere, courteous, and self-sacrificing if we are to preserve that chivalry which animated the glorious past of our ancestors and which alone can make our descendants and the future of America fine, beautiful, and worthwhile. --Edward Murray. College and Health Who is there who does not want to be healthy? In olden days, it was quite the thing to be dainty narcissus but today the healthy, vigorous girl is the type that is admired: The regular training in the gymnasium, the boats on lake and river, the tennis courts, the golf links, the basket ball, the long walk through the woods in search of botanical and geological specimens, all have a rightful place in the well-ordered day. A statistical in- vestigation in this country shows that the standard of health is higher among women, holding college degrees, than among any other class. This formula was once noticed in a college freshman's room, Sickness is careless- ness, carelessness is selfishness, and selfishness is sin. -Lucille O'Shea. It,s Up to Us Because the world is overcrowded with a number of easily earned positions, the average mind is content to A depend on one-third of its natural intellectual ability. Yet, the nation calls for men. And the best educated men of today were not made so because of their natural ability fphsychologist not with standingb. There are in the world all kinds of people, big and little, dull and brilliant, honest and dishonest, capable and inefficient, industrious and lazy, enthusiastic and discouraged, selfish and unselfish, who occupy space. Does the type of mind determine the eventual position? Decidedly not! Men sometimes are masters of their fates. The fault is not in our 'stars' But in ourselves that we are underlingsf' -Roy M. Bater. A Tree Many a tree is found in the wood, And every tree for its use is good: Some for the strength of the grounded root, Some for the sweetness of flower or fruit: Some for the shelter against the storm, And some to keep the hearth-stone warmg Some for the roof, and some for the beam, And some for a boat to breast the stream. Whenever we look at a tree, we should think that it has gifts for us. If they are not wood or food, shade or shelter, they may be one of a long list of other good things we need in our every day life. Trees are such common place things that we often overlook their full service to us. Trees make a great contribution to the world's beauty. They pay beauty dividends every day, no place is complete without them. A home without trees is charmlessg a road without trees is shadelessg a park without trees is purpose- lessg a. town without trees is cheerlessg a country without trees is hopeless. Trees give us shade and shelter. Beneath their friendly branches, man finds refuge from the scorching sun and angry winds. Today, as in past ages, man seeks the shade of friendly trees to Write and enjoy what others have written. Some of the worlds' greatest thoughts were born in the soft shade of friendly trees. Whenever I see trees shading occupants of benches in our city parks, as they shelter the lambs that gather at their feet in pastures, I think of their friendliness. -Mildred Hefler.

Page 21 text:

,e -i--.,,q,-,-.....-.v.,,......,..'w-., .... .. Commencement Number TPI E R E D A N D B L A C K Page Nineteen ' We Humans According to scientists today, we humans are as much animal as any of the well known inmates of the zoo. Yet, when we look at an animal and consider his capacities, we wonder if they ern be rlght. If this is true, why should one group of animals have advanced so far as to be able to travel from place to place by aeroplane, oz' hear a musical concert five hundred miles away over the radio, or see something that happened a year or so ago by means of the movie, while the rest of the animals are concerned merely with getting enough f Jed or with finding a sheltered place to sleep? What factor differentiates so widely two mem- bers of the same great family? Among other character- istics, this startling fact can be largely attributed to two that exist in the human mind but which are absent from all other animals. The first is a spirit of unrest, or dis- content, the second, a mixture of boldness, foresight and darlng. YVhen nature constructed the human mind she placed there a feeling of dissatisfaction. Because of this charac- teristic, men refused merely to hunt, eat, and sleep, calling that life. They desired to rise above the acivities common to all animals as the essential factors. So then, as they advanced, there developed a conjuctive spirit of daring as the natural outcome of their characteristics discontent. The combination of these two factors has made civilization progress more perhaps than anything else, they prompted men to make the last as well as the first step. -Richard White. What Afterwards One of the greatest vocations a woman may undertake is to me that of social service. This includes work in settle- ment houses and efforts for community betterment. To Americanize foreignersg to remedy home conditions averse to good health and morals: to educate children to more worthwhile living-seem the noblest services a girl can render to her country- and to humanity. Counselling the large numbers of girls working in factories and mills pre- sents a rare opportunity to those interested in welfare work. I have mentioned business, medicine, and social service as some of the fields a woman may seek. I have omitted many other positions which are just as alluring and valuable. So the girl of today need have no fear of being crowded out of the great world of action-for We talk about a woman's work As if it had a limit There's not a marriage, death, or birth There's not a service of true worth But has a woman in it. -Margaret Jones. Forget-Me-Nots Silently, one by one, In the note books of the teachers, Blossom little zeros, The forget-me-nots of the pupils. The Midnight Meeting The big town clock had just boomed out twelve great strokes when all the school clocks assembled in the olee. The meeting will now be called to order, said the Ofiice clock, as chairman. The first report will be given by the Study Hall Clock. The Study Hall clock began his report. Many amusing things happen in the Hall. Sometimes I have to put my hands over my face to keep from seeing them all. Of course, from my position, I can see all that goes on. When those Freshmen and Junior High people send notes to their best friends, they look rather fearful, yet innocent. The Juniors can send notes without Miss Connor's watchful, eye seeing them, but the Sophomores haven't learned the trick yet The Seniors, however, are the most daring of all. Lewie O'Shea can send a note as easily and innocently to its destination as he did the basketball to the basket. Notes are not the only things which fly arond Study Hall. Some- times B-B shot are felt if not seen. Although Miss Connor doesn't always see those who are so quiet during rollcall, I know who they are. Next it was the turn of the Gym clock to speak. I always supposed that students learned to march in gym, but that isn't true the Seventh Period on Mondays and Wednesdays. Most of them haven't even learned which is their right and which their left hand. And when they play baseball, my goodness! They hit at the ball so hard that they fall down, and when they do hit it, they forget to run. When Mr. Beebe plays short stop, there isn't even a chance of reaching first base. But I am not the only one who enjoys the game, for Mr. Shamp and Mr. Brandt often laugh so hard that they have to depend on the wall for support. After that, the Library clock spoke, They are usually sa busy in the Library that they don't have time to write notes. Many a time, however, there, are some with their nose in a story book, who should have it in a history book. If you want to have a good laugh, come into the Library the Seventh Period, when Lewie, Chuckie, Wart and Basso get together, it is enough to make anyone laugh. Since my hands tell me that it is getting rather 1ate, said the Oiiice clock, the remaining reports must be given another time. - . Radio I called my love by radio In hopes that she would hear, I asked her if she'd marry me, And closed it, Billy dear. Oh sad is my predicament,- Indeed a sorry mess: When I turned on my receiver, I heard forty answers, Yes, - Leonard Ingles. If we are to help others, what are the others here for? 1 F!9'