Mondovi High School - Mirror Yearbook (Mondovi, WI)

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London. London is the center of England for government, architecture, politics, learning and influence. It is situated on both banks of the River Thames and is connected by numerous bridges, the largest of which is the famous London Bridge. The city is very dirty and a pall of black smoke hangs over it all the time. One day I visited St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is a great structure, built in the form of a cross. It is in the heart of London, and if one goes up in the dome, he can see all over the city. Probably the most famous building in London is Westminster Abbey, in which the great men of England are buried and the kings and queens crowned. There are small chapels built into the main building; some of them are very beautiful and cost large sums of money. There are memorial inscriptions and tablets by the score. These are about men who took part in all the great enterprises of England, and carry one back to all the landmarks of English history. Near the Abbey stand the Houses of Parliament. They correspond to our Senate and House of Representatives and contain a large number of rooms, lobbies, porches, etc. In another part of London stands the Tower, built by William the Conqueror to overawe the Saxons after the conquest. It has probably witnessed more scenes of cruelty than any prison in England. Most of the political prisoners were kept there. It is now used mainly as a store-house, the crown jewels and valuables of the king are kept there; also firearms, ammunition, etc. The British Museum is another place I visited. In it is a great collection of curios and valuables gathered from all parts of the world, and it is said that a person could not even glance at them all in a year. The h brary connected with it is the largestin the world. It contains over a million books. Some of the original manuscripts of the greatest English writers are shown there, and a constant stream of people go there to avail themselves of the books and treasures. People may talk of the slums of our cities, but the conditions I saw in London were simply unbelievable. I was told that conditions were being bettered, but I never saw such utterly wretched and degraded humanity. The people are crowded together in dirty, unlighted houses. They have not a thing to call their own. Their earnings are insufficient to maintain life, and, as a result, they have to beg for a living. This probably accounts for the great number of beggars and paupers in England. I went to Birmingham to see the great manufacturing works of the town; there are a great number of factories that manufacture mostly iron, steel and brass goods. The town hall is very beautiful, as are also the University and the Cathedral. There are many statues and quite a few large public parks. But the thing that impressed me most in England was the great distinction existing between the nobility and the common people. In our own

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years since he left and I have neither worshipped this airy creature We heard nor seen anything of him since,soon became friends and talked un-but am patiently waiting for his re-restrainedly. turn. I have come to this lonely place I could no longer contain my ieel-to be near all that is left of the onlyings but told her of my love for her. one who ever loved me.” I saw her lips move but could not hear As she spoke the tears came to what she said and then she seemed to those large dark beautiful eyes. The fade away. I awoke and found it was more I looked upon her the more Ibut a dream. LETTERS OF A TRAVELER Holy Head, England, June 8, 19 .... Dear Joe: Maybe you’ll regret when you receive these letters, that you ever had me promise to write you the story of my journey through Europe, but I will try to give you a good account of things as I see them. I took passage on one of the smaller liners. They are not as speedy as the large ships and are not so crowded. By the end of the first day out I was horribly sea-sick, but as the weather was nice I soon got over it and enjoyed the remainder of the voyage hugely. One morning the steward told me we could see land, and sure enough, away off in the blue ahead of us we could distinguish a black mass that proved to be the shores of England. Everyone was then in as much of a hurry to get off as they had been to get on, and the scene was quite confused for a time. When we finally dropped anchor at Liverpool, we bid our new-made friends good-bye and then had our baggage overhauled by the custom-house officials. Liverpool is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, one of the busiest rivers in England. There is more shipping dene here than in all the other ports of England combined, and it is only surpassed by New York. The city is very beautiful. The tall warehouses, the great docks filled with ocean-liners, and fine streets and dwellings make it a very interesting place. Soap, iron, guns, boilers and many other things are manufactured here. In the morning I took the train for London. There are three classes of cars. The first class cars are fitted up very luxuriously. The word depot is not used, they speak of them as stations and seem to take great pride in them and, as a rule, they are much neater and far less noisy than our American depots. After a half-day of riding through very pretty country I arrived in U

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country, where the greatest president we ever had came from a rude log cabin, we see none of this servility to worthless titles. There is a change for the better, however; but it will be a long time before the nobility and peasantry meet on a common footing ; when the only distinction will be the abilities and inherent qualities ot men. You will probably not hear from me again until I am ready to start for the Continent. I intend to go through Ireland very leisurely, as it seems to attract me more than any country I am going to visit. YOUR OLD FRIEND. S. F„ ’13. THE HIGH SCHOOL OF TO-DAY While the taxpayers generously appropriate large sums of money at annual meetings for the maintenance of their public school systems, and ■■specially of their high schools, a feeling of dissatisfaction with the present day high schol is often manifested by them. Have they a reason for this dissatisfaction? It is my intention in this shoit article to view the situation from the practical standpoint instead of from the side of the high school principal. Our children,, after spending eight years in the grades, and after receiving instruction in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, English, both oral and written, Geography, History, Spelling, and other common school branches, enter the high school. Here they spend four of the best years of their lives, as well as the four most important as regards their future position in the world. During these four years they take up Latin, Algebra, Physics, El. Science, History, Ancient, Modern, Mediaeval and United States, German, English in all four years, Geometry, Plane and Solid, Botany, a little Arithmetic, and eighteen whole weeks of Bookkeeping. Commencement day approaches with its class activities, class play, etc. The day finally arrives and amid happy scenes the diplomas are awarded. Then what? What can our high school graduate, both boy and girl, do for a living? How much better is he equipped now, bai’ring of course his four added years of life, than he was at the end cf the eighth grade? It is true that he can enter the state university or other higher institution of learning .vith the credits he made at high school. But is it fair to the 90 per cent If,