Northeast High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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THE PRQWIFIECY gig-.l,, 'J ITI-I a single drop-of ink for a mirror Egyptian sorcerers undertake to 'H 1 'f reveal to any chance comer far-reaching visions of the past or future. J m e Q Wfith this drop of ink at the point of my pen I shall endeavor to , X 1 penetrate the future. S Q EW Silence! Silence! 'Tis the hour of the deepest hush of night, invisible, intangible. Clouds of sleep brood over the city. Sleep! XNhat is sleep ?!' Forgetfulness. Aye, it may be so, and perhaps this boon is granted to children and hard worked diggers of the soil. To most of us, however, the rest on our pillows is merely for form's sake, and we only doze and dream and think and Oh! the entanglements of perpetual thought. It seems years since I slept well, but what of that? No one sleeps well now-a- days, and as my tired eyelids refuse to perform their mission, I, like the rest, Think, Think, Think. But what of thoughts? Ah! They are busy with my classmates. VVe are about to pass out of school life into 1ife's school. And the future. infill I be able to foretell its successes and failures? But why speak of failure? Only success can attend the members of the Class of 1904. ' As I thus meditate I am conscious of a heavy whirring sound. It seems as though a mighty propeller is forging a great ocean Vessel to its port of destination. As I rush to the window to investigate the cause of this unusual sound, my eyes are almost blinded by an intense Hash of light which illuminates my room and which seems to pro- ceed from a great searchlight. As I peer through the semi-darkness, I discern the outline of a mighty airship that has anchored in the trees surrounding my home. A smaller vessel, cigar-shaped and resembling a huge shuttle, has left the side of the ship and is descending rapidly to ward me. In a few minutes it reaches my window, and a voice exclaims: I-Iasten, G Prophet! Wfe are to journey into the year 11130. Embark, and thou wilt find those with whom thy thoughts 'have held conversef' As I step into the shuttle-shaped car, my conductor smiles and says 2, You don't know me. I am Serguson -authority on shuttles, and this is my patented auto-shuttle car, warranted to weave more highly colored fan-- cies in the brain of him that rides in it than anything flying through space. 30

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Theres 'Wildemore and Ascough, who taught us while Fresh and green To make boxes, joints and tincups-Qh, no, sprinkling cans, I mean. Next those brave and doughty warriors, Messrs. Gumphert and Roselle, Taught us smithing, pattern making, and wood turningifor a spell. Mr. Gumphert is a hero of a most unusual sort, I-Iis language is a rainstorm, mixed with many a bark and snort. Doc Roselle, upon the other hand, is rarely heard to speak, But he's happy when he has a chew of baccy in his cheek. Then the boys! some come from Fishtown, Frankford also Sends a band: lack Homiller is a native of that wild and barb'rous land. Then theres tiny Teddy Bradbury, in his mortar board and gown, I-Ie's a product of that wondrous land, the land of Germantown. There is Kelsey Ritner Wfalling, who goes round the same wild parts I-Vith Dan Cupid as his partner, making hash of ladies, hearts, There are boys who deal inscience, electricity and stuff, Such as Dear Electric W'ilbraham, whos a rooster old and tough. There is Wfoods, the undertaker, with his sad and solemn face, And our dear friend Sammy Wfexler, the embodiment of grace. Let the people talk of bygone days and classes that were then, Did they have any heroes to compete with our great men? Did they have any warriors like Brummy or like Dill? Did any one but Fletcher ever speak with Fletchers trill? Did you ever see as fine a child as Baby Gouldy there? Did you ever see a shade of red like that in I-Iorner's hair? Wfere we ever anywhere where we weren't Iohnnies-on-the-spot? XVill there ever be a class like us again? VVelll I guess not. XNe're leaving North East now. Its walls will soon know us no more. One last whiff-whack forthe Red and Black,and the boys of naughty-four. 29

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Reaching the ship, I was conducted to a state-room. As it was only a few hours until daylight, I threw my- self upon the bed and wondered who the Captain of this great ship could be. I was soon to be enlightened. A knock sounded on the door and my guide of the night before appeared to conduct me to him. My surprise can be imagined when I recognized Lockhart, who informed me that he was captain, owner and navigator of the ves- sel and known as the Aerostatic Sportsman, although the ship was invented by Francis XVirth. Desiring to know what power propelled the ship,he informed me that it was the I-Iot Air generators, de- signed and built by Herst and Horn. who,-after many years of verbal efforts, had at last produced something practical. . I-Ie also told me that the unusual Flash of light sent into my room was procured by radium, now used ek- tensively for light and especially for heating purposes, the latter feature being a discovery of George Kays, who had experimented with it for Cold Feet. 'fThat is a very nne school building, I remarked. Yes, that is the Leon Scott Semi-Preparatory Institute, conducted by a corps of former brilliant students, Wfeldie, Xlfeinman, Soulas, Wiilcox, Cairns and Forney. They have evolved a remarkable system, I-Iow not to study or proving the whichness of the what. Noticing an immense factory, I learned that a substitute for soap was manufactured there. Believing soap unhealthy, the firm of XNeiss, Kimmelman, lfVexlar 81 Epstein had refused to use it, but the inexorable require- ments of nature had demanded a substitute. So after much experimenting and mental anxiety, they had pat- ented 'Dirtof' and were making a fortune. That great building you see over there is the home of the Cerebro Dynamic Expositor, the greatest daily newspaper in the country. The owner is Bertram, and the editor was once a lightning talker, but was persuaded by friends to write instead of talk, so Vandegrift editorials are quoted far and wide. They also have two very clever short-story writers, whose 710771 dv f1!111110s are U. R. Daffy and S. O. Ami. You no doubt recognized them as Clofme and Maurer. The cartoonist of the paper is Hyman IfVeiss, whose caricatures of the N. E. I3rofs.will ever be remembered. l'That great funnel that you notice on the roof of the building is intended to project. by compressed air, a copy of the paper to passing vessels. It is called the Aerophone, and is an invention of Horle and Hilton. Iwill signal for a copy by the new wireless telegraph. It is much superior to the Marconi system, and is the combined invention of Wfilbraham, Lentz and Albrecht, and is called the double action, non-talking signaling multi-polar wireless telegraphf' Immediately a paper drops at my feet. 31 l