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

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20 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. CLASS HISTORY. The history of the Class of 1921, bounded by the four walls of the Milford High School, is indeed insignificant in comparison with the chronicle of world events which have occurred during the same period. Yet to the forty members of that Class it is of great importance, for their active participation in High School life will after to-night exist only in that history. Our history is of interest, also, to the people of the town of Milford for they know that a High school education makes better and more useful citizens of those who receive its benefits, that for four years we have been receiving the best education that this town affords, and that many of us will soon take up our future work in this town and help to carry on its affairs. While in the Milford High School, the Class of 1921 has been under the supervision of two principals, Mr. Christopher A. FitzGerald and Mr. Thomas J. Quirk, our present principal. Mr. FitzGerald’s stay with us was an interrupted one of two years, he having nobly answered the call for patriotic service when the w ' ar first broke out. Mr. FitzGerald resigned last year from his position as prin¬ cipal of the school and, while sincerely regretting his departure, we were more than pleased to learn that Mr. Quirk, who had guided us through the greater part of our Freshman year, was to lead us through our last year to graduation. It was, therefore, no stranger whom we welcomed as principal on the departure of Mr. FitzGerald, but one with whose methods we were thoroughly acquainted and one who had won our endearment and respect through our former association with him. To Mr. Quirk the Class of 1921 owes a debt of which it will be ever mind¬ ful, for it was largely through his untiring zeal and generous co-operation that we were able to make our Senior year activities what they were. He instilled in us the desire to accomplish things really big and worthwhile and he served as an in¬ spiration to us by the success he had made after leaving the Milford High School, he being the only alumnus of the school to return as its principal. During the first three years of High School life the class of 1921, as is the case with every other class, remained in the social background of school life, not being called upon to distinguish itself as a unit. Although these years brought no distinction to our class, we realize now that they were among the most important ones of our lives, for during that period we were being prepared 1 for the activi¬ ties of our Senior year and were laying the foundations of our future lives. In our Senior year, however, we assumed the initiative in the social life of the school and we believe that we have upheld the social prestige that this school has always maintained. We organized a dramatic club to promote the production of plays, which was known as the “Milford High School Dramatic Society.” This society, composed of all the members of our class, staged three plays, one of them in the Milford Opera House, all of which were successful from every standpoint and which re¬ flected credit on our class and on the school. To Miss Ruby Sutherland, teacher of Oratory in the High School, belongs a great part of the praise which these plays drew forth and we hope that many dramatic societies in the future will have the benefit of her instruction. These plays together with our dances and other activities enabled the School to outfit our football team as it had never been equipped before in the past ten or fifteen years and made possible our contribution of $150 toward a bronze honor roll commemorating the students of this school who served in the war. All our social successes are of minor importance, however, in comparison with the practical education we have received at the Milford High School. The

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19 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. Take up our quarrel with the foe! To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high! If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields.” One of the most promising of young English poets was Rupert Brooke, who met his death bravely while with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force less than a year after his entrance into the war as a volunteer. In his poem “The Dead” he voices the debt owed to those who, pouring out “the red sweet wine of youth,” made their country “rarer gifts than gold.” “Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth, Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain. Honour has come back, as a king, to earth, And paid his subjects with a royal wage; And Nobleness walks in our ways again; And we have come into our heritage.” Another poet whose works are especially moving is Robert W. Service, who speaking as a Red Cross man was able to see and understand! the struggles of the soldier of to-day and to interpret them. His admiration for the men who died willingly in the cause of glory and his tender sympathy for the soldiers maimed and shattered in the great war are realized after reading the group of his poems entitled the “Rhymes of a Red Cross Man.” In his poem “Wounded” he reveals to us the effect of war upon a man’s soul. “Ay, War, they say, is hell; it’s heaven too, It lets a man discover what he’s worth. It takes his measure, shows what he can do, Gives him a joy like nothing else on earth. It fires in him a flame that otherwise Would flicker out, these drab, discordant days. It teaches him in pain and sacrifice, Faith, fortitude, grim courage past all praise.” Robert Service’s last lines in his ow n collection of poems will make an alto¬ gether fitting conclusion to this brief review of the poetry of the war and contains the explanation of the high courage which can be found under the surface of all true poetry. From “L’Envoi” : “Oh spacious days of glory and of grieving! Oh sounding hours of lustre and of loss! Let us be glad we lived you, still believing The God who gave the cannon gave the Cross. Let us be sure amid these seething passions, The lusts of blood and hate our souls abhor: The Power that Order out of Chaos fashions Smites fiercest in the wrath-red forge of War. Have faith ! Fight on ! Amid the battle-hell Love triumphs, Freedom beacons, all is well.” Marion Huff, ’21.

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 21 success of this education has been and will continue to be in the hands of the teach¬ ers, and this class deems itself fortunate in having the competent instructors from whose training it has benefited. If this country is to maintain the high grade of excellence in its teachers, however, more adequate salaries must be paid to them for the teachers of our public schools have always been the most underpaid work¬ ers in the world, although required to be the most highly educated. Many teachers are leaving the ranks to accept positions where they will be adequately compensated for their services, and the Class of 1921 wishes to extend its appreciation to the School Committee of the town of Milford for its efforts to secure an appropriation from the town to meet the demands of the teachers for an increase in their salaries. We sincerely trust that whenever a question arises of the expenditure of a few dollars for an increase in the salaries of our school teachers the people of this town will not hesitate to submit to the payment of a few per cent, on their tax rate in order that the high standard of education which we enjoy at the present time will not be lowered, and so that in the future every graduation class will be able to realize, as we do, that their course in the Milford High School has success¬ fully prepared them to meet the problems of the future. Francis H. Hannigan, ’21. AFTER MANY YEARS—THE CLASS OF 1921. One bright morning in September, 1941, I stepped from the door of Sing Sing Prison into the outer world, a free man once more. The warden came to the door with me and gave me a hearty handshake and his best wishes for my future, togeth¬ er with the small sum of money I had with me when I first donned prison stripes, twenty years previous. Perhaps you are wondering how I came to the misfortune of being sent to this institution against my own will. I will tell you. I was graduated from High School at about the same time the radical change in the personnel of the Milford Town Government took place. As you will probably remember, many new and stringent measures were put into effect at this time, and among them was a new set of traffic laws. In my High School days I was accustomed to ride a bicycle to some extent (a very unfortunate practice as it proved to be), and was sometimes apt to be forgetful of our Town Fathers’ parking regulations. On one particular occasion I left the vehicle standing in a doorway, the rear wheel projecting about four inches from the building onto the sidewalk. One of our worthy officers while promenading down Main street, walking close to the building as was his custom, with his eyes alert for trouble, brushed against the wheel and was violently thrown on the sidewalk. After picking himself up, he quickly regained his senses and placed a tag on the wheel, requesting the owner to call on the Chief of Police. To make a long story short, my trial came up soon after and as a result of other officers testifying against me, it was decided that I was to be made an example of, and the past twenty years of my life were spent as I have stated. Upon my release, my first thought was for my classmates at Milford High. I planned to go directly back to Milford but while in New York I saw a game ad¬ vertised between the Red Sox and the Yankees and decided to stay and take it in, it was so long since I had seen one. Among the many changes noticeable was the fact that lady umpires were as numerous as men. Just as I found my seat, the umpire behind the catcher began to call the batteries. Something about the man¬ ner of that umpire was familiar to me and I asked the man sitting next to me who