Mason High School - Anchora Yearbook (Mason, MI)

Page 33 text:

but we hastened on through rocks, rocks, acres and acres, whole sections of them, not a shrub or patch of ground was to be seen. At last we reached the summit, rested, ate our lunch and then started on the down- ward trip. We reached the bottom safely about four o'clock, having been gone twenty-one hours, but just as we reached the bottom we noticed the approach of an areoplane, in which two men were riding. N. H.-Say girls, I believe that's Rot. Girls-Who is with him? Two men step out of the machine, and with surprised faces we greet- ed Lawrence Lyon and james Avery. N. H.-So James, you are the candidate for our next president, are you? j. A.-Yes. I will speak at Colorado Springs this evening, come and hear me. N. H.-I'll do that. F. T.-How happy Lawrence looks, don't he? J. A.-fWhispersJ No wonder, didn't you know that he is a million- aire? Made a fortune out of that machine. E. B.-Then LaWrence's wish has been fulfilled. Girls--We must leave and prepare to return home. N. H.-Well, good-bye girls, words cannot express the joy that I have had tonight in being in your company and talking over the past. Girls-It certainly has been a pleasure to us also, good-bye Nelson, our best wishes go with you. Boys-Good-bye girls and good luck. Girls-Same to you and three Rahs for the Class of 1910. ETHEL Bunmzss. VALEDICTORY One of the expressions most common to a student's mind is Com- mencement, We first heard it uttered as a splendid reward for our duty in attending school against our rather independent wills, something which was to happen in the far-away, distant future. It was the zenith of our small ambitions. With that aim in view we have toiled steadily onward, resisting all opportunities leading us aside from our goal. Each june as we have seen the pleasant importance the seniors caused and created, we longed for our turn to come, the end seemingly of the toil and drudgery of study. We have looked with envy at the ceremony which transformed, in so little time, our high school classmates, whether friends or foes, into alumni, most of whom were no more to know the pleasures arising from hard study of a difficult problem. At commencement we are seniors for the last time. The ties which have held us together for the past twelve years are severed, the ties by which we felt ourselves bound are broken, yes even our standards are changed, for unconsciously, up to this time events have been thought of, and referred to in connection with school life. It is not until at this time that we realize what an important step this is, it is the finish, the end of the preparatory period of our lives. We look over the past and see what inexplicable pleasures we have enjoyed. But where is that feeling of exultation we expected would

Page 32 text:

our lunch baskets and with coffee boiling hot, partook of our mountain side banquet, at the hour of midnight, listening to the beating rain and talking over old times. The first thing that come to our minds was the whereabouts of the class of 1910. Florence Taylor promptly produced a Detroit News, and with the light of the candle we were able to make out some of the news. F. T.-Listen Ethel! Miss Lillian Coe will sing at the cathedral this evening, she is one of the most talented vocalists the world has ever known, every evening an enraptured congregation listens to the beauti- ful melodies she sends forth. E. B.- Isn't that fine, I wonder if she would sing Adam for her old classmates if she should meet us all again. F. T .-QReadsj The Philleo Gilleo Club gave the first number on the lecture course at the opera house last evening, the company is composed of six young ladies and Mr. Gillett, the leader, there was a large num- ber in attendance and the club has been highly praised. N. H.-I wonder if that is Orla and Helen, sure enough, there are their pictures. E. B.-Awfully distinguished looking, are they not? N. H.-This reminds me I received a letter from Walter Dolbee today, and he is getting along finely, he owns a 120-acre farm east of Mason, with fine buildirgs and all the latest improvements. He also spoke of john Shaffer fformerly known as Toadj as being chief of police over at Holt and still a great lover of Pussies. QAll laugh.J F. T.-just last week I had the pleasure of attending a play over in Arizona, in which Ivah Godfrey was leading lady, she is called the star of the troop, and rightly called too, I talked with her a few minutes after the play and she told me she had engagements for every night until Feb. 25th. E. B.-I fear Ivah is working too hard, but how often I yearn to hear her good, old, hearty laugh once more. N. H.-Do either of you girls know where Smithy is? E. B.-Yes, I do, I saw him just last week, he is at Seattle, Wash., he conducts an art studio in that place and seems to be coining money. F. T.-There are some others of whom we have not mentioned, who are they? N. H.-Florence Jewett is one, and Oh! yes, Lennagene Bordner, too. F. T.-They say Florence has a Jewell for a husband and conducts a hennery way down on the farm. E. B.--I always predicted a rosy future for Florence. N. H.-I used to receive a letter from Lennagene occasionally, and in her last letter she said she was head nurse in one of the hospitals of New York, but I guess she can't write to me any more. E. B.-Why not? N. H.-Because she is married now. , Girls-Bright boy. F. T.-Hasn't this been delightful talking over old times up here in the mountains? , E. B. and N. H.-It certainly has. N. H.-It is growing light and we must hasten on our journey. He hurried us into our saddles, and tried to hurry the burros on their way through the rocks, along torturous, narrow, precipitous paths, toward the top of the Peak, to see the sunrise, but we were unable to make the top. Nevertheless we were far above timber line and the clouds of the valley, as the sun shone clear and bright upon the vast sea of heaving, rolling clouds beneath our feet and turned it all to one vast mass of golden cloud. It was beautiful, a sight never to be forgotten,

Page 34 text:

arise in being- forever freed from books, examinations and teachers? Ah, it is gone, and in its place comes one whose fundamental quality is one tinged with regret. There was a time when we thought we would rejoice in our liberty, in not being compelled to come to school five days a weekg but now as we instinctively feel that we ourselves must look out for and plan for tomorrow, we wonder why such a thought ever entered our minds. But has it been worth while, this confinement to school and its de- mands? Did the poet speak truly when he said 'Tis education forms the common mind, Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined? If we stop to consider it a moment, we shall surely find that it is true. Those who have received little or no education in their youth are the ones who in middle life and old age must perform the menial duties, often side by side others having practically the same heritage and envi- ronment with the aid of education have risen to positions from whence they can command many of their former friends. There is a German proverb Jung gewhont, alt gethan, which means What is practiced in youth is completed in old age. In countries where popular education has not been permitted, the nations have been in the throes of revolution and revolt, until to protect their lives, the aristocrats and nobles have been forced to make large concessions. With learning, a person of poor, unlearned parents may rise to a very elevated position. Who is there not familiar with the story of Abraham Lincoln and his famous struggle against overwhelming odds? As we leave school are we fitted and prepared to enter our life strug- gles? Are we able to contend successfully with the institution known as the world. We should be, and I believe we are. What our education thus far has given us principally, is training, the preparation, the mere beginnings of things which are to aid us in our battles of life. One of the greatest aids we shall have is perseverance. The constant pushing ahead, using our faculties to their greatest extent, the alert watching for opportunities will be greatly demanded of us. If we can fulfill these demands our success is assured. The world is watching for, indeed it expects the young people of to- day to be ready and capable to shoulder the burdens which are cast upon them. Whether we rise or whether we fall, depends greatly on ourselves. The test of our training, our character, yes even ourselves is soon to come. Truly Every one is the smith of his own fortune. No longer have we the people about us in whom to place implicit confidence, we must take things as we find them, and draw our own conclusions. For in this way is the survival of the fittest determined. In the struggle, we all fondly hope our names may not be forgotteng and if we push steadily onward, keeping our motto bright and shining before us, surely in the end we will find ourselves on the roll of honor. Hail and farewell dear companions, Friends that we know to be true: The past with its rosy tomorrow, Days when our sorrows were few! Sweet be the lay of the songbird, Fragrant the Howers on our way, Lovely the dawn of the morning, Happy the hours of our dayg Crystal the skies bend above us, Perfumed the earth and the air- What can our friends tho' they love us Give us than school days more fair? FLORENCE TAYLOR.