Plymouth High School - Mayflower Yearbook (Plymouth, IN)

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'PHE SENIOR ANNUAL labor in the service of men. Only that man can be great who serves the race. Genius, wealth, social standing, ancestors, heredity-all these things a man may possess and unless he vitalizes them with effort toward a certain aim, he will never hear his name tossed from the lips of an admiring multitude. And unless his labors yield their treasures for the good of man his statue will never rise in the Hall of Fame. , Class History. Ethel Zumbaugh, '10, Our eventful career began in the fall of 1906. September seventh dawned bright and clear, this was to be a great day in the history of the school, for the fates had decreed to send a most brilliant body of prodigies there. After meandering half-dazed through the iirst few days of our existence as Freshmen, we met and organized our class Without the aid of either faculty or Seniors-a most wonderful proceeding. Tom was chosen President and to this day he has been unable to sell, assign or give away this office. We began as most other classes, full of resolutions and high ambitiong therefore a constitution seemed necessary, so a committee was appointed to arrange one. After it was thrashed out and re- written several times it was adopted. Our President was very exact in requiring all measures to be strictly constitutional C 'IJ It would not be wise to relate the vicissitudes of Freshmen life. Our start, as that of other classes, was difficult. We gracefully ac- cepted the oppression of upper-elassmen and though we encountered bump-the-bump paths we were never down-hearted. We submitted with admirable self-control to the indignities heaped upon us from dancing on street corners for the amusement of our superiors to Wearing sleeves of a regulated length to English class. ln fact our success has been due to our cheerful acceptance of all over-whelming antagonism. It was with an immeasurable amount of dignity that we newly graduated Freshmen entered the assembly room as Sophomores. This fall we returned more matured in stature and hardened by the ex- periences of the first year, no longer unworthy beings to be scorned but the most prominent member of the student body. We found a body of new-arrivals who needed our immediate care so we proceeded to help smooth the first weeks for them. Our numerous class-meetings gave us the distinction of having a great number of business-like students in our class, but the ties of union too strong to permit us to attend a class meeting when called by the man at the desk. lt was not long until furious canning began in earnest. Irene, Marie, and Kate all took active part in this diversion. As the year rolled on the class began to display much hidden talent The special honor of occupying the first row in history class was conferred upon Marc, Bert and Cyrel, while ambitious Mac held down the coveted front seat in geometry. VVe had able representation in all enterprises of the sf-hool and

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THE SENIOR ANNUAL life-purpose-a product of toil, forged under the stress and strain of work. To the lazy man a great name never comes. There is no good thing for him in earth or heaven. Nature whips him and stings him all his life through. But the commonest man who really aspires to serve his fellowmen, the man Who possesses only the simplest qual- ities, far from brilliant in any element of his character, can take these common talents and before his life ends do signal service on behalfof the race. The road to success is as common as the road to market, said Horace Greeley, and many attain it who bring no other price but faithful toil. A young man friend of Thomas A. Edison said to him one day Mr, Edison, I Wish I had been given genius like yourself. Genius, -Mr. Edison answered, genius, my young friend, is nine-tenths hard Work. The famous wizard has found the secret of all true greatness-the talisman that opens the treasurehouse of unusual success. It is just plain work. This is what makes the dif- ference between the great inventor and the thousands of other men who like to tinker with electricity. Edison doesn't tinker at it, he works with it. He picks up a stray idea that saunters alongside some one of his experiments, harnasses it up, and drives it like mad till it fetches him up at the portal of some marvelous discovery. The rest of us are too lazy to do that. Edison is called greatg we remain on the lower levels of the common lot. But we could be Edisons if we Would. As a general principle we may lay it down that the human mind is capable of anything, providing we will drive it hard enough. Labor is the coin of the realm in the Kingdom of Greatness. No other coin will pass current, whatever its stamp. Every great man who has given to the world the causes for his greatness, has some- where paid his tribute to the virtues of toil. There is gold for every man if he Will use the iron spade of labor. Napoleon purchased his fame at the price of prodigious labors. The shining jewels in his crown of success-Lodi, Austerlitz, Jena. Rivoli, and Marengo were purchased with the gold of unusual and striking labors. He was an anomoly in Continental Warfare, he be- came the terror of Europe. He was almost omnipresent, he was continually surprising the enemy by appearing suddenly before them in battle array, When, by all the rules of marching he must have been, in their calculations, far away beyond striking distance. He will not undertake the almost impossible task of crossing the Alps to attack us said the Italians. But Napoleon did the impossible thing, crossed the Uimpassable Alps, surprised the enemy, defeated them, and set his brother upon the throne. He was almost constantly in the saddle. In fact he often slept in his saddle except when too much worn to keep his seat, when he would fling himself to the ground beside a common soldier's camp-fire and snatch two or three hours of repose. Then he would arise to inspect the enemy 's lines, not entrusting this to subordinates, lest the enemy change his position in the night and thus interfere with his own plans for to- morrow 's battle. So it came about that all Europe trembled before him. Plenty of people could be found who gave him supernatural powers, for how else, said they, can you explain his rapid move- ments and his unfailing success? So it has been with all the great men of the past. They- have purchased greatness with the coin of

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THE SENIOR ANNUAL stood out as a Willing body of workers to help in all activities of lhe school. Altogether we feel that our second year was fairly successful and do not conceive how the school could have gotten along without us. For the third time this body of students entered the house ol' knowledge. Though peacefully disposed, we soon showed the Sopho- mores their place- After a few days of un-oliicial hair-cutting at which the boys displayed much talent as barbers, the class arranged itself in battle array, chose the colors you now see before you and stoutly defended our banner. As to how long the defense lasted, we do not furnish information but there was no lack of bravery on the part of the Junior boys-hence enough said. It is said that there is not a year in the whole school course quite so satisfying as the Junior year. We are not so sure of this. But it is doubtful if ever another Junior class has had the absolute success enjoyed by this one, for did we not tightly put down the lid on the whole detective force. Class spirit we had in plenty but the characteristic Senior dig- nity did not enter our ranks for we were determined to be joyful up to the last. And now the Senior! VVe returned after a short vacation know- ing that one more year would end our residence here. With a mix- ture of awe and joy we found ourselves in the chief places looking forward to the pleasures of Seniorhood. Our dignity was real. After some delay the class was organized. Then the campaign began. The next thing that brought the class together was the mo- mentous question of class-pin. After arduous work in which Tom displayed much knowledge of parliamentary law, after selections, re-selections, quarrels and bickenings, a pin was finally chosen. But all is now calm as a summer day, the fair ones have forgiven and forgotten. It is as Seniors that the class has done its best in the matter of class spirit. We can point with pride to the records made in the field, and time does not permit us to tell of the good times had at the parties and social gatherings. Our class is the first to have class- day. Its success is due to the fact that it was instituted by the present Seniors. So the time has come when we must cease to be and, while we cannot pose as an example for future classes, we advise all pros- pective chemistry students to become well informed in the mys- teries of Domestic Science and lvlercie suggests that you never at- tempt to demonstrate the chemical properties of rubber in class. David Lineberry took the leadership in all experiment work and after studying deep into the hidden mysteries of carbon, made the brilliant discovery that a diamond could be purchased for a dollar. However, the girls saved the day proving that better car- bons that diamonds could be manufactured when the art of candy- making is understood, and Davie could do nothing more than bother. While we are not an extraordinary class, our standard of schol- arship has been as high generally as prescribed mathematics and science would permit. We had our successes and our reverses. but we have too much modesty to permit the former and too much pride to speak of the latter. Let it suffice to say that after passing