Nixon Township High School - Nixonia Yearbook (Weldon, IL)

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tlial you have a fine .-onccrtion of women. Your classmates have not been blessed with the knowledge you have displayed in your choice of a soulmate. Again, 1 say, you are to be complimented upon your taste which is so conspicuous among the other men of your class because of its absence. The other person, besides being are all around ladies’ man is a singer. His voice is of such a lccp, melodious and divine nature that when lie sings it is hard to discern whether it is tiie voice of a human or the braying of ar. animal nearby. Last v «eek he received a letter troni a prominent farmer who offered him as high as a dollar a day to call the hogs, horses, cows and chickens at feeding time. I do believe this is your chance; accept the position and I believe with actual experience which you would gain this summer, the next year you may come hack and pour such melodious notes as only befits a Senior. lias not this experiment proved successful in the class of ’l8. Look at our own Senioi who has spent all his holidays among those domestics and is now considered one of the best singers that ever left this school. And so 1 charge you, because of your membership in the Class of ’19 to look well to this piece of advice which has been handed to you. Take the position offered you and I am sure that if you apply yourself in the light manner, that you will attain that position in the musical world which I have already mentioned now belongs to a member of the Class of T8. But these young men are not the only ones who have not been blessed with the dignity that is so preminent in the Class of T8. You have several who still act as they did when Freshmen, but as it would be impossible for me to enumerate the many instances of unseemly conduct among you I shall state onfly a few of the worst as an example so the rest may profit by their mistakes There are two young ladies whom I believe everyone in the school has noticed, in fact, it would he impossible to enter the building without having these two creatures attract your eve. They conic as early as they are nermitted and take fifteen minutes for lunch, returning at 12:20. Why? To prance up and down the halls and stairways watching for an opportunity to talk with ♦lie young men wdio happen to arrive early. Next year you girls will be Seniors, perhaps. Are you going to continue in this undignified manner? Let us hope not. If you know’ not the hearing which becomes Senior girls, look at the girls of 18 Notice how they enter the assembly, how they walk about the balls and notice in particular the dignified manner in which they hold conversation with the young men of the School. Do not put jour feet upon the desk in front or 0 the side of von. Do not giggle at every little silly thing that occurs during the dav. ’Twtill he hard to do at first, hut try hard and by degrees you will assume that dignity so prominent among the girls of T8 and which has earned for them the name of being the most sensible class of girls that has ever left this School- 'Poo much cannot be said in praise of th Senior class of T8. for it was enlirelj' through their untiring efforts that thcNixon Township High School was placed on t • e accredited list of the University of lUinois. When the inspector came on the first dav of iast month his first request was to sec the Seniors. You all know the result. When be gazed unon those beaming and intelligent faces, he was speechless. But we could read in his face those words: “It is enough. I am satisfied.” Wi1! the representative of the lunior Class please come up here on the platform? And so. Juniors, it is with no small amount of pride and tenderness that I hand to von this gavel which represents to us all that is near and dear to our Alma Mater, and I charge you. Juniors, to maintain the lofty and serene position which our School has attained and which is here so fittingly represented. It is with you, entirely, whether or not this School will retain this position. And now friends of the Class of T9 I hope you have marked well these words of advice that I have gi en you this afternoon. I hope that you will profit by the many mistakes you have made this vear. Of course. I have named only a few of the greater errors, because it would be impossible to bring to mind the many unsurmisable defects which stood out so strong in your class this year. But by those which I have mentioned I sincerely hope you will profit. And when the time conies next year I believe you will have assumed that dignity, becoming to Seniors, which was nothing short of perfect Throughout the class of this year- Cultivate some literary ability in your class If you do not know how to start doing this, ask the several members of the Class of T8. who have starred on the lit-crarv platform during the past two or three years. The only literary work ever done in this School has been done, by the Class of TR Is it not enough to show their superiority along this line? Could you look to a better example? And so it is ('lass of T9. It would require much time to point out your deficiencies and it would require an equal amount of time to enumerate the good and worthy deeds of the Class of T8. which were necessary because of the fact that it re-

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SENIORS' CHARGE Hoar yc—all under classmen and students who arc about to enter High School —listen, all yc Juniors to that advice which I am about to impart to the class of 1919. It is not my idea this evening, member of the class of 1919, to make startling statements about you nor is it my purpose to hand you any bouquets, but what 1 have planned to do is to give to you those words which you have made necessary because of the fact that you have failed to show that initiative and good judgment which should characterize third year students. A little over a month ago the Junior class secured the services of our Local Hand and immediately advertised that a Junior I lay was going to be given. Look you, they said ‘’Juniors” when over half of those appeared duiing the evening were Seniors. Sophomores or Freshmen. And when 1 say this I do not include the Hand. And Juniors, you do not know how my heart bled for you when you willfully misrepresented the goods you were displaying. I charge you, never again lie to anyone—even the most harmless of the insects will one day point an accusing finger at you, if you do. Do you know' what happens to iittlc folks who stories” to their mammas and especially to Seniors: There is one among you who must be admired for her beauty and splendid physique. Some day the class of 19 will be greatly honored by this young lady. She is going to be commander-in-Chicf of the Temperance forces of the United States, and in latci years 1 am sure that when you read of her shooting up Sony main thorough-fare ot some town or knocking off the head of some policeman, you will say with no little amount of pride: “She was a member of my class in High School.” And then when she becomes real excited and her wonderful temper, of which she is so proud, gains control of her. she will be thrown into the city dungeon. Will that not be a great day for the class of '19? To think that one of your foremost classmates is in Sing-Sing or Joliet on such a disreputable charge. Therefore. I charge you Juniors. Talk to this young lady. Show her the foflly of such a career, whicn she seems intent upon following; point out to her the great dishonor and unasked for notoriety that she will bring upon those who once believed her to possess such intelligence and good judgment as to belong to the class of ’19. And now as to your musical ability and the prospects for the ensuing year. Juniors, it is with much pride that 1 speak of the class of ’18 in regard to its musicians. Has any class leaving this school ever taken with it the number of musicians which the class of ’f8 is so honored? And when I say musicians 1 mean they are proficient along e er line, musicians who make other classes, and in fact the whole community sit up and take notice. In 19 6 Miss Kerr ganizcd the Hoy’s Glee club. Six of the eight members were Seniors and in the two succeeding years the membership has remained the same. Upon these six Seniors has fallen all of the work and responsibility of furnishing the talent. Do you think you will ever be able to appear before the public again in a musical entertainment? In saying this 1 do it not in the spirit of bragging but to bring before you the high standard these me of ’18 have set foi the other classes especially you Juniors. There have been many instances this year, class of 19. in whicn you have proved yourself incapable of bearing the name of Junior, but there is one which stands out among the rest. This occasion has given way to much comment throughout the Other classes and among outside people who are interested in the welfare of the school. The matter to which I refer was the choosing of a vocation by one of the members of ti e Class of 19. Everyone stood amazed and aghast when they saw him standing over a young man whom he was in the act of shaving. Thing ot it ali you who know’ the many horrible gashes which he inflicted upon the poor victim in the chair. Think how: narrowly the class of ’19 escaped having a murderer among its number. Hereafter, you amateur barber, never try to shave anyone except with a safety razor because you must never disgrace your class again. Du.- men have always played a conspicuous part on the Basket Hall Team. They have carried Jne responsibility of the team. When two of our Seniors w'crc removed from the Hasket Hall Team because they moved away, the team was practically broken up. bor a long time it remained in this crippled state, so long that one of our Seniors who had never played basket ball before came to the rescue and starred ai center. It is said there is no person or collection of pcrson but what then is some good trait about them This can be said of the Class of 19. There are two persons worthy of mention. The first has shown that lie is just a trifle above the average member of bis class by winning and holding the love of our distinguished President. You are to he highly complimented on vour choice. You have undoubtedly shown

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quircd something of the sort to offset your deficiencies and childish attitude to keep the School in its high standard. Are you going to take advantage of these high motives, Class of ’iq? Are you going to accept this knowledge which the noble class of ’i8 has so tendered to you and which they have acquired through no little sacrifice of their own? It will remain to he seen next year. And it. closing, my dear schoolmates of the Class of ’iq, I would like to make one more charge. !f at any time, in the next year ou arc doubtful about some little projcci, if you are 'not quite certain about the next move, think of the Class of ’18. Recall to mind the wonderful manner in which they succeeded in every large undertaking, how unique every little detail was worked out; recall to mind their brilliant achievements along the lines of literary work, music, athlcticcs and general school work and that if you follow their footsteps, if you accept their plan of attack of the difficult problems which will confront you; then, I am sure. Class of ’iq. you w'ill leave behind you a name; a name that will go down in history; a name which people will say was excelled by only one class befoie, and that was the work-loving and self- ? I . (I % V I k • • « f % • • ( « • 4 ■ • . V 1 didn’t get that far. 1 guess I studied the wrong lesson. I didn't understand that part of the lesson. ! brought the wrong paper to class. I didn’t understand the assignment. I didn't have time to get over quite all of the lesson. I’ve lost my paper. I don’t recall. I don’t know'. I tranlated all hut that. Was that our lesson for today. sacrificing Class of ’18. CLARENCE KEEL ’i8. FAMOUS STALLS Why docs Willie like “Summers ?