Marston School - Howler Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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To the VI Class, 1918 You have imposed on me a task which is always one of mingled pain and pleasure. Pain, that the time has come for me to say good- bye to you as boys of the school-that the relations we have had with each other for so many years have come to an end. Pleasure, that I am sending you out to begin your real education in your prepara- tion for the battle of life-that I am giving to the world still more boys to take their places i11 its work, with the full confidence that you will fill your places in the same honest creditable way that so many ol' your predecessors have done. And yet it is with a new feeling of responsibility that I let you go. You have to prepare for life under conditions very different from any I have seen face those who have gone before you. It may well be, though Heaven grant that it will not, that you will have to offer your lives for the salvation of your country before it is saved from the ruin and desolation that is being brought upon the whole civilized world by the race of barbarians which, since at least Caesar's time, has been the exemplification of all that is deceitful, cruel and bar- barous. lf this is your lot, l know that there is 11ot one among you who will falter in giving and giving cheerfully with all your hearts, your all to your country and to the righteous cause it has taken up At the best, even when the beast is conquered, you will be niet by tremendous changes not only in the social and commercial, but in the moral conditions of the world. A new leaven is working, and it is only our belief in God's goodness that enables us to look ahead without fear to the future that is before us. You and the 1ne11 of your generation will be tried in a. furnace such as it is not often the for- tune of men to be tried in, and it will be only the metal that is made purer by the fire of trial that will survive. And I am happy to say from all l' have seen of you in all the time we have been together, in

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HI suppose--, but lDale's sentience was cut short by the entrance of the club porter. The1-els a boy' from the villawe outside who wants to see von, Mr. . B ., , l-larding, sir, announced the man. Come with me, Dale. Maybe he's from the stiationf, suggested Harrlingz All l'lQili',,' answered llale, and together they went out to sce the boX'. Harding was right. The boy was from the station and he told Harding that' a large article was waiting for hiln. Instantly both Dale and llarding were oil' in the direction of the village at top speed, and leftz the bewildered boy standing alone on the steps. Arriv- ing at the station they found that the article, as they had anticipated, was a large box whose appearance clearly indicated that it contained a piano. lVhere'll we take H? panteal llarding. Up to the Clllbil0llSl'.,, All right! A teanister was soon found who, for a consideration. agreed to haul the piano to the frat house. and within half an honr Harding and Dale were busy opening the box and removing the packing. Well done up, isn't it?', said Dale between blows of this hatchet. Yes, it's got Clltillglfll of that excelsior stntf in it, anywayf' replied Harding. Fil't'een minlltes later, amid a chaos ot' wood, nails, ex- celsior stull ' and blood fl'0lll lJale's linger, the piano stood revealed. Qlt, was a fair specimen of its kind, that beaut'it'nl, upright pianof' lt was nicely tinished with red paint: it: had, in all seven keys and was upright to the extent of a foot and a half. -D. QI. Mcll.

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the time I have come to know you so well and to care so much for you, I have a perfect trust that there is not 0110 of you who will be found wanting. I wish I could write in a lighter vein, but to me these occasions are always serious ones, and now I cannot tind it in my heart to speak otherwise than l have done. Let me say that l hope you are taking away with you pleasant recollections of me and the school-that you will realize that my chastisements have been born of love and affec- tio11 a11d forget them. Let me also say that l know you will, in the IIGW life you are entering upon, have the same kind of honesty and straightforwardness of purpose that you have had as boys--that you will never forget what Veritas means. 'l'1-nth, truth to God, truth to your country, truth to your fellowmen and to yourselves. And re' member there is no sharp line between truth and its opposite. Be- tween them there is a No Man's Land which is dangerous. You can not e11ter it without risking more than your lives. Let me say again t.hat l send you forth with full. confidence that you will face your fortunes with courage and will conquer them whatever they may be with credit to yourselves and to all who have had any- thing to do with starting you on your way. Summa cum amicitia, Valete. WV. S. BIARSTON.