North Central High School - Tamarack Yearbook (Spokane, WA)

Page 32 text:

The Tamarack J a n u a r y , 19 3 3 My Visit to Ancient Greece I ' lKsi ' I ' rizk Story liji lli llii Hi ' is-icinijir Tlic other diiy I was lonely and time liunp heavily iii)on niy hands; so I looked around for a friendly hook; hut dear me, the only tiling at hand was A History of Ancient Greece. A mystery story would be so good just now, I thou);ht, for it was hepnnin to i)e ilusk; and a hrisk wind had suildenly come u]). The shutters were creaking, and the eaves of our old hou e were (rivinjj out the most eerie moans. ' •Oh well, I said aloud, At any rate I can improve my mind, and Mother never lets nie forget that a good hook now and then, (lo say the least, as she says), won ' t do me any harm. I settled myself comfortably, in our easiest chair, in fnmt of the fire-place and bravely set out upon a trip to ancient Greece. My book took me first to :i Spartan home where I saw tlie ladies of the household prei)aring the mid- day meal. I had plenty of leisure to mlniire tin- simiile hut graceful furnishings. I l(M ked into a cui hoard anil found the loveliest va.ses and dishes. Tlie.se people live in beauty ! I ex- claimed as 1 examined the carved figures on the elegant pottery. And what color! Kvcn the stools and benches are stained jiurple and dark red. Then I turned niy attention lo the ladies. I was really envious at first to .see their lovely dres.ses, pure white with graceful folds. They wore red and yelUnv sandals. Fortunately, ugly high heels hadn ' t been invented, so these ladies moved with natural quiet grace. -Vs I said, I was aclu.dly envious, hut then I thought of our own modern cities. No indeed, such white long gowns wouldn ' t do at all in the hustle and pace of our smoky cities. I wanted so much to stay at this home Cor dinner; but I couldn ' t spare the time, — I had so much yet to see and so little time. As 1 was leaving, I met the men coming home from the fields; and they kindly showed me the way to the Spartan schools. I .soon found that the Si)art.in boys siient their school-days (Uitdoors, and I couldn ' t hel]! comparing unfavorably our m Klern education with theirs. We sit for hours in stuffy da.ssrooms, I sighed, cntwding inlo tired heads a thinisand u.seless tilings, and these ])eoi le know how to hec mie strong and enjoy life. I sat down and watched the boys play a lively game. I s.iw them leap and run; they were laughing all the while, — Iheir white teeth gleaming and their eyes flashing. Suddenly one of the older hoys U ft the grouji and came over toward me. I could see his astonishment as he regarded my apparel. I must confess I was embaras.sed. I dug my high heels into the earth so at least he ccmldn ' t detect this atrocity. (ireetings, he exclaimeil, . ren ' t you a si ranger? es, 1 murmured, I am an .American. Because I realized he didn ' t compreheml, I added, I live across the ocean, two thousand years from now. Then he must have realized he lived in a hook, for he said, Of course, — Well, welcome. 1 was pleased .it this cli mce encounter, and I made up my mind to lraw him into comvit- sation. Won ' t you sit down? ' I asked, I soon must go l)a -k to my own einintry, and I would so iiuul ' . like to tell my friends that 1 have talked with a real Si)artan. Fair enough. he agreed, I have always wanted to find out what future peojile will, — I beg your jiardon -have done. But what shall we talk about? Oh football! Kveryone in America talks aliout football from grand))a down to the baby. In fact, we haven ' t talked about any- thing else for montlis. Do you play football here in Sparta? Yes, we play football. Oh. are you on the team? I cried. Why, of course. Everybody in Sjiarta is c.n one team or another. Isn ' t every American boy on a fiMitball team? No, I said with mi.sgivings, Oidy the big- gest, strongest boys are on the te.ims. Why, he exclaimed, are the biggest boys the only ones who need exercise? Well, you see it ' s this way, I began, Every school iiicks out the best players, and then they have a contest, and the t)est tram wins. Wins what? (( ' (iiitinucil on ii.-iKi ' 7:t) Piiiic Ivcnty riiihl

Page 31 text:

The Tamarack January I 933 licnt that hajjpened at high school that fired his aniliition or assured him of victory along a particuhir line. Of course people do not say when they see certain students, There ' s an ambitious boy, or That girl has been suc- cessful, but somehow, a i)erson who does things, whetlier he be scholastic, executive or along the line of sports, is marked for a certain length of time by those about him. How long this i eriod of time is rests upon his will to work and desire for accomplishment. Four years is a long time. The rest of one ' s life is longer still. If high sch ool years are the best years of a person ' s life, they should be a fair indication of w ' hat sort of a success he will be later on. That does not necessarily mean that because one is popular in his own school clique he will proceed smoothly through a business life with the same success. It means that if one has done one thing well, no matter how snifill, lie will, in all events, do something well again. And so, during these last few weeks, when we hear the words success, victory, ambition and accomplishment, we look back four long or short years, as the case may be, and wonder if they can be a| | lied to any action of ours while at North Central. Fortunate indeed are those whose records bear evidence of achieve- ments not only in their own minds but in the thoughts of others, for after all, it is our rela tions with the rest of the world that deter- mine the course of our lives. UNEMPLOYMKNT AND GRADUATION Undoubtedly there are many seniors who are going to attend some college or university in the fall. On the other hand, there are un- doubtedly just as many who have no inten- tion or means with which to obtain further schooling. For those who are obliged to wait a year or tw(» before going on, the problem of what to do with oneself in the meantime is important. A job in other times would have been the aj)- parent answer, but under present circumstan- ces, only a very few will be able to get posi- tions. Persons with time on their hands might come back to high school for a post-graduate course or take a business college course, which will always prove u.seful in whatever line of education they inteml to pursue later. If neither of these ap] eal, there are extension classes from the state college in night scIkmiI. College credits may be earne l there which can be ap- plied to one ' s freshman standing when he goes to college. If none of these methods of obtaining higher learning at a small cost are practicable, there arc always public libraries where one can spend hours absorbing the best literature of the ages. At any rate, whether one goes to business of the world, even if he is not doing what he keeping his mind active and open to progress of the world, even f he is not doing what he had lu j)ed to do. .Ml over the country there are hundreds of high school graduates leaving school this win- ter, and civic authorities are taking steps to provide some means of occupation, whether I)bysical or mental, to keep bodies fit and minds alert. The seriousness of this i)robletn has been recognized by jiarents and leaders in i)ol- itics. It is now for us, the .senior classes of thousands of cities in the United States, also to .see the necessity for coojierating with them hy not merely drifting idly after being cut loose from our moorings of the last four years. CHOOSE REAL FRIENDS One who has been here at school for a few .semesters can readily notice the variims bunches, mobs, or in more polite language, cliques, that are i)art of the sc1hk)1 life. An incoming freshie or .sophomore would do well to consider carefully the lyiK- of peo))le he would like to run around with before he finds himself making a blunder and losing some friends he has. The oldsters might stoj) and analyze themselves — see what g H)d their present a.s.sociates are doing and the advisa- bility of a change. S ime are in .such a dee)) rut with their social obligations that studies are II queer activity to be feared and bated. If one gets into activities that do what he likes to do and that contain the people he wants to associate with, he enjoys life here and learns a little about group behavior. So get in with the right crowd and prepare for contacts you will liave to make with i)eople in later life. (joing with a crowd that is out of one ' s class one way or the other is just t K) ba l. It makes misfits. Join a wortlUess group and you ' re sure to ab.sorb some of its habits. Look around school and notice people frequently slijjping be- cause of their assiK ' iaf ions with a cheap crowd. The moral to it all is this: If you ' re going to meet i)eople all your life, get some experience now. When you are about to join something, .see if you get training and character from it. Page twcuty-scz ' t ' n

Page 33 text:

T h Tamarack January, 1933 Big Bill ' s Santa Claus Joke Stx ' oNu 1 ' kizi; SniHV liy LiicUe Adnms It w.is Christinas Kvc. Soft ft-athery flakes i)f snow were twirlinfr past tlie (jriniy win- dows of tht l)ack room of Tlu mi)soirs Hotel. Inside, the tiny room was filled with stale eiftarette smoke. A smoky oil lam) burned fit- fully from a shelf, eastinft weird shadows that wavered to and fro as they made their way across the floor and UJ) the walls toward the eeilint;. Around ;i battered table in the eenter fo the r(M m sat three rough looking young men, playing eards. Dis sittin around ' s gettin on my nerves. said Shorty, grinding a eigarette stub into the floor. Well, we ' ve done everything but kill .some- one, and the cops won ' t .stand for that. e. - elaimed Freckles with a laugh. Hig I$ill had been silent for some time, and now he sjioke. Say, he muttered, Isn ' t there a Santa Claus act to be i)ulled off at dat church up on th ' next corner? Sure! exclaimed Freckles gleefully, lA ' t ' s go up an ' put it on de blink. Naw. declared Big Bill. Ix-t em have de show. I ' ll tell you what, I ' ll play Sandy Claus here in de alley. I beared dem Kelly kids a talkin ' to their ma alxmt dis bein de night Sandy was due. Huh! Now what ' s de m.itter WMt ' me bein ' Sandy, an ' breakin ' in dere an ' loading ' em up wit ' presents? What would you Io for presents? asked Shorty disgustedly. Oh, gadder up bottles an ' cans, and jiMik. Bill said. Well it ' s Iwtter ' n sittin here, Freckles put in, but where you goin ' to get the Sandy Claus outfit? If you go walkin ' in there with out one, you ' re liable to get jilugged. Don ' t ya remember la.st ye.ir when ,Ierry McCarty i)layed Sandy at the fireman ' s ball? He just lives around de corner. You fellas wait here for me. I ' ll see if I can borry the suit. Big Bill wa.s back in a few moments with a wrinkled, but unmistakeable red and white Santa Claus suit over his arm. Help me into this rig, you fellows. ex- claimed Bill. With the help of the two. Bill was into the suit in a little while. Now you guys come wit me. We ' ll raid dat ash can down de alley. said Bill as he opened the hack door, and stepped out (mto the .soft white carpet of snow which covered everything. The three made their way down the dark alley-way to .i large battered oil barrel filled with cans, a.shes, bottles and other repulsive articles. Lifting the lid from the container, the three Ix-gan diligently U, fill the Santa Claui i)ack. When not another can could be placed in the bag. Bill with the hel)) of the two placed it m his back, and all started in the direction of the Kelly hou.se. Now you guys keep still. said Bill, as the three came to a halt at the foot of a dilai)ida- ted stairway. The two men stomi .still, silently watching their companion slowly ascend the creaking stairway. Bill reached the porch and stopi e l, listening for a sound to tell him that the oc- cuiiants of the house had heard him. As no noise came from within. Bill reache l for the knob and began to slowly open the door. He quickly stepped inside and closed it noiselessly behind him. He stoml by the door a m »ment until his eyes became accustomed to the dark- ness. Don ' t want to go knocking anything over. he growled to himself as he stejiped carefully across the kitchen fl(M)r. He reached the door to the front room and slowly pulled it open. A street lamp threw a soft mellow glow over the room, as it sh me through the frost encrus- ted windows. The bare nxrni was without a car- pet. Three small children were huddled in a bed in a far corner. Over the back of a chair in the middle of the room, hung three little stock- ings. Pinned to me of them was a larg«- no;e with the words, To Santa Claus scrawled across the top. Bill was about to stuff the st K-king; but when he read the note, he turned. Tip- toeing over to the bed, he looked down at the three faces. The two little boys were sleep- ing i)eacefully, but (Ui Uosalie ' s jiale cheeks were streaks that told of tears. In her little fist she clutched the stub of a jwncil with which she had scrawled the note which Big Bill had reail. .Muttering something under his breath. Bill |)icke l up his sack, crossed the room and went out into the night. When he reached the alley. Page twcnty-iiinc