Peace College - Lotus Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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She started out bravely, but alas I she deserted her charges and, as her poet friend prophecied, went a-gliding down the pike with Johnnie. Well, to make a long story short, she is happy, and from what I hear, he is too. They have been married a long time now, tlierefore dear old Helen ' s girlhood fear of being an old maid is lost forever. Here is an old report of Nora ' s. I ' 11 just see what the lady made: Deport- ment mark, twenty-three ; my I even old Whit could get seventy-five when she tried. Room mark, seventeen ; but hurrah I for chemistry, loo ; that ' s not strange — her fondness for Al Oj, furnished the inspiration for that. And no girl can be expected to keep her room clean when she has as many letters to read and write as Nora had. But she has been married these many years, and, since the wrinkles and gray hair have come, recalls forcibly the appearance she pre- sented as Old Gobbo in the Senior play. Opening a Y. W. C. A. pamphlet, I found a slip of paper : Please announce that Annie Land has lost her trunk key ; it has a white string tied to it. Oh ! the numerous mornings we had to listen to that same little notice. If she did lose her trunk key, she never lost her heart. Although more than one poor fellow thought he had the prize, yet, when he was most certain, she would playfully tell him she was only joking, then turn and smile at his broken heart. But our gentle Annie found one who would not take her refusal and, though both are advanced in years, he is still playmg the devoted ; and, from what I can learn, our Annie shows some signs of capitulation. A letter from Stone Printing Company, addressed to Minnie Lou. Minnie Lou, who was always bearing others ' burdens. Through her long years at Peace she was constantly toiling over the Annual, and since that time has given her life to the wayward Bessie. X is still waiting, but our classmate has vowed to remain single until Bessie is married. And, you know, Bessie has no fondness for men. They tell me Minnie Lou grows sweeter and more unselfish ; but that, to me, is as incomprehensible as some of the propositions in Butler ' s Analogy. A little picture of Lila — dear old Lila — the sweetest among us. From her babyhood she has heard only of her Scotch ancestry ; and, having received fresh impulse from Miss Nannie ' s glorious description of the old world, she went abroad determined to remain until she had located the home of her forefathers. But falling in love with a bonny Scotch lad, she remained. Bessie, her heavenly twin, after much correspondence, finally got her promise to return just as soon as she had found the name and located a seventeenth cousin of her father ' s great-uncle, the only one now missing from the family tree. Bessie, in the meantime, has gained an enviable position as a club woman. She has done North Carolina a great good in the work for the Betterment of Public Schools. I heard her make a fine speech a few years ago, advocating the Need of Discipline in our Southern schools. I was surprised, for she

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An Stttrg from tljp Starg of tijp rnpl Pt of (ElaBa 1904. DECEMBER 21, 1936. YESTERDAY, rummaging about in the attic, I came across the little packing trunk I had at Peace thirty odd years ago. In a flash it brought back so many pleasant memories that I could not resist the impulse to lift the lid. My ! what confusion ! ' T was nearly as bad as our top bureau-drawer at Peace used to be. One of the first things I came across was an old French exercise-book of Daisy ' s. I laughed as I thought of the many times she had tried to skip dictation. I suppose to keep out of the draught, for she always jumped into the closet when the door was opened. I have seen her only once since then ; she moves in a circle of society too high for me — newspapers speak of her as the most brilliant woman that has shone in New York society for many years. But with it all, she carries the simple grace and dignity that characterized our Class president. Here is a pin-cushion made from a scrap of Katie Lee ' s old blue silk skirt, with a hole burnt in the corner, reminding me so forcibly of the night she tried to burn us out — -to be in style and get a diploma without standing examinations. Contrary to her youthful ambitions, she is a typical old maid, worn out with constant teaching and an effort to keep pace at the same time with the gay whirl of society. If she had only taken Miss Poyster ' s advice and studied more about Pestalozzi and his method, she might have been a successful teacher. But, just as of old, she thought she knew, and now what is the result? An old maid beyond all hopes. Why, what is this? The belt to little Lucy ' s old blouse. I remember the very day she made such a stir about its being lost. How could it have gotten here ? ' T is scarcely fifteen inches, how ridiculous I Only yesterday I had a letter from her asking me to suggest some anti-fat. She says that from the day she commenced taking the massage treatment recommended by Mrs. Buckner, for which recommendation, by the way, she has never forgiven her, she has grown so stout that navigation is difficult, which state greatly interferes with her business — shopping for out-of-town friends. Next I found Helen ' s old book of notes on Pedagogy, the leaves all dis- figured with curious little monkeys, drawn when she should have been practicing vertical writing ; and still she was voted the most dignified ! ' T is true she was quiet, scarce deigning to open her lips, save in a friendly quarrel with her sister — that poor little sister, who always bore it smilingly, with never a retort. In those davs she had loftv ambitions to be a missionary to the Indians.

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was the one who used to oppose it so hotlj-. Slie was a determined httle creature, always asserting her rights, which, I think, were scarcely as many as she imag- ined. I couldn ' t help smiling at her statement that when she was at school she never had the desire to break or criticise a regulation. Ah ! then she did not know that I was there. But she has gained new opinions and experiences since those days, and we are all justly proud of our Bessie. A lock of Whit ' s hair! Such beautiful redundant hair! ' T is gray now, I hear, and her once smiling face, the joy of Mr. Stockard ' s ninth period, is all wrinkled. She will tell you life is not a Summer ' s day. And what is re- sponsible for this? Why, Sissy ' s little boy, of course! She neglected Mr. Din- widdle ' s many warnings and Solomon ' s wise injunction and, consequently, the little dear was so spoiled he made life a burden for the devoted auntie. But now, since he has grown to be a man, Whit, worn out with care and crippled with rheumatism, has gone back to Peace to teach and beg the girls to profit by her mistake, and accept Mr. Dinwiddle ' s good advice: When in doubt, follow the cows. And here, too, is a picture of Stella. I remember the night she left it in the library for me, and how she laughed aloud when she read my note of thanks during roll-call — I suppose she must have been amused at my orthography, for I was not the fine speller in those days that I am now. It is useless to write of her ; she is too well known. Truly, she wsls the Star of our Class, the only one of the whole dozen to win fame. Her books are known and read all over the land ; they have been translated into every language. Well did we vote her the brightest among us. I am not surprised, when I think of that great stack of manuscript of hers on file in The Lotus office, for on the top of each one she handed in Mr. Stockard wrote Pass on to the editors. How proud she has made Buddie, Mamma, and Papa, the family! They were all familiar characters to us, for Stella dis- coursed upon them at breakfast, dinner, and supper. Well, well, here last of all is the Class group of 1904 Too sad to look upon, too sweet to lay aside ! The years at dear old Peace, what pleasant memo- ries they bring — happiest days of our lives! But I can not think of the Class alone. There comes before me each dear teacher, our President, whose whole life was given to our advancement. Our interests all became his. I love to think of him as ever pointing us to a nobler and more beautiful life. And our gentle adviser: how well I remember the day we elected her! Unanimously, did I say? I think every girl must have nominated her — she who entered with zeal into all our frolics — a sympathetic friend in our schoolgirl trials, and above all, a beautiful example of a pure, noble, unselfish womanhood, ever shedding its sweet influence over our lives. Such was the atmosphere breathed by the Class of 1904. Prophet. 13