Petaluma High School - Trojans Yearbook (Petaluma, CA)

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HISTORY OF CLASS OF ’0 9 T was a fine August morning on the fifth day of the twentieth century. We had been sailing delightfully along on the sea of Va¬ cation for some hours and it was this voyage that made us able to start on our pilgrimage through the thick¬ ly wooded fields of High School to Gradua¬ tion Hill. There were other people going on the same pilgrimage but they had started ahead of us and were organized into companies, each company having enlisted in it those who had been travelling about the same length of time. Those who had been there the longest thought they were pretty smart, were called Seniors, and the company next to them in experience were Juniors. I guess that the last company had a desire to be kind to us. I don’t know; but, anyway they told us that WE would have to organize into a company and that they would help us do it. Oh dear! Oh dear! We all went into a cave (we sat down in the back and they had front seats) and maybe you think we wern’t scared. They told us to nominate and elect officers and at 1-a-s-t we did get it done. Then they said we had to have a name so they called us Freshmen. What a name for us!, for I can assure you that we didn’t feel a bit fresh after we had left that meeting. In fact, we felt droopier than we had ever before felt—and I guess our own conceit has kept us from feeling that way since. However, I think the effect of the meeting was a good one for us, be¬ cause it made us try to be like the bigger bugs ahead of us. (The boys even began to threw aside their knicker-bockers and don long trousers.) But. woe, alas! After we began trying to reform, some of the company thought that we were a little too priggish, so they drop¬ ped out of the ranks and left us to journey on if we would. It was hard trying to be grown up all at once, but the Sophomores (those people be¬ longing to the company between us and the Juniors) seemed to realize this, for they fix¬ ed up a pretty little place on a green and asked us to “Come and trip it as ye go, On the light fantastic toe ” . We went and tripped it, but I don’t know, About the ‘light fantastic toe.’ After the dance nothing much happened, excepting a vacation, and during the first day we had two of these which were very much enjoyed by all. After we were once started the day did. not seem long in passing and when night came we found that the Seniors had reached the top of Graduation Hill and that they were going to leave us. Although we were a long way down the hill, we could see how pretty and how very wise they looked, and made a little resolution to ourselves that we would stick it out and that some day WE would march onto the tcp-tip-top of the hill and very sedately keep our places on the lawn while members of disbanded compan¬ ies, who had gone before our little bunch came and talked to us and gave us passports which would admit us into the world of men and women, (these were called diplomas) and then when this was all done we would be met by our friends w r ho would shake hands with us and say how glad they were that we had reached the end of our journey without having anything serious happen to us. This was an exceedingly pleasant little dream, and we determined to make it come true. After the Commencement Exercises (so the Seniors called them) the departing com¬ pany ' had a dance given them by the Juniors and then when the dance was over the end of the first day had come and we were all ready for a good night’s rest and a dream of what we would do the next day. When we awakened on the following morning, we found that a good fairy had touched us with her wand during the night, and had made us Sophomores and more than that, she had made us able to organize our company our¬ selves on this second day. But, one trouble gone, another is sure to appear. Imagine our surprise, when, on 29

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GOLIATH- STUNG NDAY calm settled up¬ on the house, Sunday wickedness upon the twins, Sunday despair upon Aunt Sue. That lady concluded the story of Joseph and his wicked brethren, of painfully personal in¬ terest, for had not Sidney that very morning cajoled the unsuspecting Sissy into the cis¬ tern and left her there in her anguish and despair? Then she began to read of the valiant David, who slew Goliath with his sling-shot and the twins painfully settled themselves with a sigh of resignation apiece. This duly finished. Aunt Sue gladly dismiss¬ ed Sid and Sissy with copious instructions as to what they should not do and the oft- repeated “if you must play, it should be something suited to the day.” Once out of the house the twins under¬ went a great transformation. Their pious demeanor changed to—something very dif¬ ferent. They were evidently bent upon mis¬ chief, but, dutifully followed their aunt’s instructions; chose something, as they thought, “suited to the day.” Sidney, per¬ sonating David, made short work of the cat and all the chickens in the neighborhood with ' his slingshot. Now the time had arrived for the ad¬ vent of Aunt Sue’s weekly caller. This per¬ son, known by all as “The Colonel” and very important in his own estimation, greatly bored Aunt Sue by his continuous visits al¬ though that gentle lady would not for the world let him know it. From t ' he extreme newness of his attire, the radience of his boots and visage, and the nervousness of his manner it was evident ito the twins, (who had sprung into quick attenlion behind, the hedge when they heard the tap of his cane on the walk,) that some¬ thing unusual was doing. As ' he neared the veranda Aunt Sue rose smiling to meet him. He advanced rapidly and, after greeting her, cleared his throat with a violence that betokened that some terrible effort was about to be made. “ Madam,” he began, “Long, long have I thought—er—cogitated with what feeling of joy you—I should con¬ template the—the moment—that is—what happiness would be mine when the—the— oh, well, what I mean is that I have decided that I cannot live—” “Bet you can’t” said Sid, as a pebble hit the colonel, with a considerable force, in the ear, (for Sid, otherwise David, had at once recognized in the massive form of “the “Colonel” his enemy Goliath.) The ejaculation of that gentleman is pur¬ posely omitted. Aunt Sue with a gasp of shocked surprise sank back in her chair. The Colonel, howling with rage and pain, clapped his hand over the injured eye, shrieking, ‘ What the—the dickens was that?” Turning to her for sympathy he saw her, with a handkerchief before her eyes, trembling with the intensity of her emotion. As he approached her reassuringly a mistalc- able giggle from behind the handkerchief caused him to straighten up with a snort of anger and with one withering glance he left her never to return, and she joyfully dried her eyes. Vhen the re-pentent hero of the occasion came before her with hanging head and dis¬ mal mein he was met with much unmerited kindness, for which he could never guess the reason, and could only thank the Fates that he had escaped a well-deserved, licking. 28 EMMA SALINE.

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P. H. S. ENTERPRISE ’09 looking back of us we saw a whole new company following in our footsteps. They had even taken our old name and left us with no choice but to go on with our new name. These Freshmen were our next trouble and I think it rather babyish of you to ask if our own recent experiences did not cause us to sympathize with them. Of course not, for, to begin with, we were never as green as they were and., anyway it would not become us to sympathize with them be¬ cause they should be taught to light thei? own battles. That’s the way we had to do. But you know there is an end to all things and our former somewhat severe mood soon began to change and we came at length to sympathize with our new friends to such an extent that we decided to entertain them so we laid aside our cares for a time and gave them a little dance. But ' lo and behold’ They were so amiable and sweet at this party that we could not help liking them and we even remembered (very faintly, though ) how ' we felt when w r e were little— and young(?) At the close of the second and third days whole companies completed their pilgrim¬ ages and started, out into the world and every morning our name was changed and a new company began on its separate journey. The third day passed for us about as it does for every other company and I have told you the most important event of this day but sometimes the companies have to march a trifle faster on this than on the first and second days because they want to have time for a dance in the evening and must make this time during the day. But on the fourth day the world wanted to know what we were doing in this somewhat obscure place and so we had to hunt up some bark and write out some account of our doings. This little Enterprise took some of our time and. made the fourth day seem almost like a fleeting moment, and be¬ sides the pleasant part of the work, we now have a chronicle of the events of this day which, sometime, maybe a thousand years from now will go to make up a vast work in history. (?) At last the end of the fourth day came and we arrived at Graduation Hill in the same condition, I suppose, as all other gradu¬ ates, somewhat puffed up with an idea of our own merits, but perhaps you will pardon this feeling when you remember the old say¬ ing, “A Senior is one who knows and knows that he knows.” (Of course there is no con¬ ceit in that.) But if you think that you can survive 1 will not stop just yet but will tell you how cur pilgrims appeared when looked upon individually. Rowena Benson travelled, with us all four days. She was a small but very industrious little girl and Oh, how much she knew! She was always ready to help where e’er she could and now her friends are many and her duties are still numer ous. Another lass who journeyed with us all the time was a girl named Kitty Connelly, but she was nearly always called Kitty. A dark-haired child, she was, with her eyes, of heaven’s own blue. In hard book-learn¬ ing she put little faith for she said, ’Tis; healthier far to play at basket ball.” Still the maiden was not devoid of a serious, strain. Then there was a tall and stately lad. who worked much but still had time for play. This fellow placed but little faith in the al¬ chemist’s theory for he was glad (ys) all the day and believed well that true Go(u)ld could not be found, in clay. He was called Charles Denman. Near to the above lad there marched an athlete who believed much in fun. His hair was black as the raven’s wing and curled as if it had been pressed in irons. This pilgrim was named Oliver Banta and o’er his heart was pinned a Pearl. Anna Burleigh was a studious child, but no, she did not study very much—she never seemed to need to, but somehow she always knew her lessons well. She thought but lit¬ tle on the world, still if you spoke to her, quite pleasantly, she would chat. Another member of the company who travelled with us during the four days, was Genevieve Farrell. She was a musician and entertained us with her music. Her heart was large and there was room for many lads in it. There was also a belle with us who knew the art of entertainment quite well, for she could sing and speak and also play, and SO