Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

Page 15 text:

OAK, LILY AND IVY. C3 Another source of possible danger in idealism, is that one may neglect the real things of life while dreaming of the deeds of others, but if we keep in mind the fact that “heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight,” our admiration for those who have succeeded, cannot but have a wholesome effect upon our minds and hearts. ’15. School IRotes. Rhetoricals. The class in rhetoric under direction of Miss Mary B. Ford, gave this pro¬ gram at the High school Dec. 12 : “The American War,” Lord Chatham, George Grayson ; “A Singer’s Climax,” Fanny Fern, Gertrude Kirby; “Two Brothers,” J. W. Calverly, Evelyn Macuen; “Hope of the South,” Jefferson Davis, Ray Howard; “Lucy Gray,” Wm. Words¬ worth, Lorena Hogan; “Enoch Arden at the Window,” Alfred I ennyson, Mary Hickey ; “Roderick Dhu and James Fitz James,” Sir Walter Scott, Marion Gaffney; “The Character of Garfield,” Fuller, Allen Kennedy; “Sunrise in Stillwater,” T. B. Aldrich, Helen Edmands; “My First Singing Lesson,” C. S. Brown, Grace Keany; “Enemies Meet at Death’s Door,” J. E. Dawson, Lorana Henderson; “Chariot Race from ‘Ben Hur,’ ” Wallace, Alfred Coppinger. At the High School, Dec. 19, Miss Helen J. Gilmore’s second class in rhe¬ toricals gave the following program: “Wolsey’s Farewell Address,” Shakespeare, Francis Wilder, T2; “The Elf Child,” James Whitcomb Riley, Hazel Dalrymple, ’13 ; “How Girls Study,” Marion Gilman, Agnes Cahill, T3; “Old Ironsides,” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Emma Rus- sen, ’13; “Grand Army Address,” Gen. Grant, Ralph Coombs, ’12; “A Dilatory Scholar,” Breckenbridge, Marie Curley, T3; “The Liberty Bell,” J. 1. Hadley, Carl Kennedy, T2; “Drummer Boy at Waterloo,” Acton, Luigi Sanclemente, ’13; “Hamlet’s Soliloquy on Death,” Shakespeare, Ethel Griffith, T3. Miss Inez L. Gay’s second class in rhetoricals gave the following program at the High school Jan 9 : “Assassination of Lincoln,” Beaconsfield, John Allen; “Wreck of the Hesper¬ us,” Longfellow, Mary Brown; “How He Saved St. Michael’s,” Stansbury, Gladys Goulding; “Somebody’s Mother,” Lawrence, Lina Hamilton; “The National Ban¬ ner,” Everett, Ernest Hilton; “On the Other Train,” Martindale, Lillian Moloney; “The Auctioneer’s Gift,” Foss, Lena Hutchings; “A Touching Incident,” Gough, May O’Connell; “Lincoln’s Humanity,” Watterson, John Conway. The program of rhetoricals Jan. 16, under the direction of Miss Edith A. Nichols of the English department, was as follows: “Liberty and Union,” Webster, Joseph Lang; “Soldier’s Song from ‘Lady of the Lake,’ ” Sir Walter Scott, Mary Kimball; “The Grandfather,” Eastman, Helen Birmingham; “Men Who Never Die,” Everett, Walter King; “Apostrophe to Ni¬ agara,” Chateaubriand, Lena Vitalini; “What the Little Girl Said,” Lady Grey, Ethel Robinson; “Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson, Eben Baker; “Eulogy

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OAK, LILY AND IVY. I 2 see your many faults, your mistakes, your failures reflected there but, too, you see the spirit of hope and endeavor and desire to mount above your old self, shining through the tragic look of discouragement, ' [ ' hat person must be lacking in all ambition, all ideals, who can let the new year pass without a solemn pledge to live up to the manhood in him more worthily than he has ever done. To the seniors, this New Year has a deeper significance than to the other mem¬ bers of the school. This year will mean actual assumption of manhood and woman¬ hood. The days of carefree, laughter-loving, mischief-making childhood will have gone forever, and the real seriousness of what life and its struggles mean will have succeeded. Some of the class will enter higher institutes of learning or perhaps will register in the vast school of life. And in the new fields of labor which this year will open before them, may they win success in its fullest meaning. However, the word “success” is frequently misunderstood. Success does not mean popularity, wealth or even honor; it means something far grander and nobler than that—it means the attaining of one’s own ideals. Because a man has gained the applause of his fellow mortals and fulfilled all their requirements it does not necessarily follow that he has succeeded. For if he has not fulfilled the requirements of his own heart as dictated by conscience he is not a success. Many a person has risen to the highest ranks of eminence of culture, refine¬ ment and accomplishments, but they have fallen short of their own ideals. Suc¬ cess, therefore, lies not in the world about, but down deep in one’s own soul. Emerson expressed it well when he said “Hitch your wagon to a star.” Seniors, are you going to live up to the goal set by yourselves, or are you going to fall far short of its attainment? Are you doing, as Seniors, what you expected to accomplish? Are you satisfied with yourselves and what you are doing? If so, success for you, both as the world counts it, and the small-world, the school, reckons it, will be lacking. Seniors, hitch your wagon to a star! Ideals—A l Freshman’s Conception, When first we started in school and began to study the complexities of the al¬ phabet, the third-graders seemed to us to be wonderful students, far advanced in education. When we reached the third grade, we yearned for the fifth, and High School seemed an Elysium ; and now, in the Freshman class of High, the Seniors seem to have reached the highest state of mortal perfection. I suppose that the admired Senior envies the college man, and so on, ad infinitum. I am sure that I have never known the time when I did not aspire to some position above me. In this way, we are all fulfilling the Law of the Ideal, and are keeping up to the pace set for us. As foolish as it may seem to us now, this worship of those above us gives us an additional incentive. We prepare algebra with more zeal, in expectation of geome¬ try; and our Latin is better prepared as we think of the coming joys ( ?) of French. All through the history course, we find the desire of those who later became famous was to copy the deeds of those who had already made their mark. Lincoln admired Washington, as he studied his life; the young Whittier strove to emulate the ac¬ complishments of Burns; and Wagner zealously studied Beethoven’s works. To be sure, many do not select the best model to be found, as for instance, the boyish hero-worship of the wonderful Jesse James leads to pernicious results unless coerced and guided into safe channels.

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OAK, LILY AND IVY [ 4 Glee Club of Lafayette,” Prentiss, Margaret Cochrane; “The Revolutionary Uprising,” Hale, Hazel Baker; “Our Heroes,” Andrews, Leslie Adams. Miss McNamara has organized a Glee Club, which meets every Tuesday af¬ ternoon in the Assembly Hall. Many have joined and the prospect looks bright for great success. Literary Club. The Literary Club held its last meeting at the home of Miss Marguerite Curtin. “As You Like It,” (Act I.) was read by the members. House of Representatives. A gold medal, of exquisite workmanship and design, has been presented to the Milford Lligh School Congress by a well-known alumnus of the school. The donor’s identity was at first withheld, but after the following correspondence, which explains itself, he has consented to the use of his name. Dr. George Hermann Derry, Principal of Milford High school, Milford, Mass. Milford, Mass., Jan. 1, 1912. Dear Dr. Derry: In a conversation with you some weeks ago I learned with lively interest of the establishment of a High school Congress for argumentation and debate, and for the practical illustration of principles taught in your classes of civics and oratorical composition. Reports of sessions held since, and the very evident enthusiasm of the members in their work have now lifted the venture beyond the trial stage. Allow me to congratulate you on this success. No form of mental discipline to which the pupils of our schools could be subjected will better fit them for intelli¬ gent citizenship, and prove of more constant service in any career, than just such preliminary training in the laws of logic and in the mastery of the tools of effective speech. The successful man today is he who has the facts and can present them in a convincing manner. What impresses me particularly is the stress you lay on the intimate relation of the Congress to the prescribed work of the school. Pupils must certainly study with keener relish and zest when they see how directly their daily lessons can be applied to the practical needs of life. It occurs to me that your efforts in behalf of the young men of your school merit special commendation. As a member of the alumni, I desire to express, in some concrete way, my appreciation of your work for the school, and if I would not be considered a trespasser on the proprieties of the occasion, I would suggest to you that I should be very glad to offer the members of your Congress a gold medal as a prize to be competed for, subject to any rules you may prescribe, at the public ses¬ sion of the Llouse, which, I am informed, you propose to hold before the close of the year. The only condition I would set to the offer is that you allow the donor to veil his identity under what is to him the sufficient title of “Alumnus of the M. H. S.” Very sincerely yours, John E. Swift. To the above, Dr. Derry replied: