Rawlins High School - Roundup Yearbook (Rawlins, WY)

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Senior Class Prophecy Jn 1936, after having traveled with minor circuses for several years, 1 was offered a very good position as an acrobat in Higley Nielson Circuses, Inc. This circus had grown in the last five years, until it was even greater than Ringling Bros., or Barnum Bailey’s. The owners of this circus were two of my former schoolmates, Charles Higley and Arnold Nielsen. Although I never came into direct contact with the owners, I heard a great deal about them. For example, 1 heard that Mr. Higley had conducted a soft (!) drink parlor for a couple of years before he organized the circus, lie had been arrested for some reason, and vowed that he would never again earn a dishonest living, so his circus was run on a strictly honest basis. On my travels through the world, I met some of my old friends. I shall here endeavor to tell of my meeting them, and of their various occupations. We started from Toledo, Ohio, one day in the early part of March. Our first stop was at Indianapolis, Indiana. We were informed that we wouldn’t have a very large crowd at our opening because one of the leading actresses of the day was in Indianapolis. I t was so long since I had seen anyone act outside of a circus, that I decided to see her as soon as my part in the circus was over. The name of the play which she appeared in was “Her Diamond Necklace.” The name sounded interesting. 1 was greatly surprised to recognize Hazel Burrell as the actress who had caused such a sensation. She had changed her name to Blondina Kristackus. After the play, I went to see Hazel. She was very glad to see me, as I was only the second school chum she had seen since she went on the stage. She told me that when the play was staged in Columbia, she had met Irving Draper. He was the professor of English at Hale University. We talked for a long time about Rawlins and our school days. Hazel informed me that she was very unhappy, even though she had become famous. When I left her, she told me that we should correspond with one another, because surely in our travels we would meet some of our old friends. We did write to one another for a couple of months, but Hazel married an old man for bis money, and he wouldn’t allow her to correspond with a common circus acrobat. After we left Indianapolis we went to Springfield, Illinois. Here a murder trial was in progress. As I had never been to a trial, I decided to go to this one. It semed to be causing a great sensation. I was greatly surprised t recognize Rapheal Lackey as the District Attorney. I was more surprised and grieved to see that Evelyn Startzell was the accused. She had murdered Mike McNiff. Evelyn was dressed very well, and sat there flirting with the judge. When she was asked to tell her motive in killing Mike, she said that he had simply aggravated her beyond endurance. When I left Springfield, the accused was being examined, in an attempt to prove that she was insane.

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Niff, and Charles Higley. Although our boys were unfortunate in basketball, our girls were successful. They won the coverted cup in the Inter-Class games. Among other things in which we were active during the year, was the Junior Prom. This was an event of which we were all proud. Then, toward the end of school, we had a picnic which nearly caused our entire class to be suspended from school. However, after careful consideration, the school board decided that ours was too good a class to lose. And so, after a glowing year, our third spoke was completed. Now to the fourth spoke. We had only twenty-five to help us mak this last spoke. The following people had left us: Alma Sanders, Gladys Tobias, Agnes Fitzgerald, Ruth Street, Everett Sanders, George AVeller, and Boyd Conley. These new people joined us: Alice Wallace, Elizabeth Hill, and Harold Johnson. Glenn liigbv started the year with us, but left at the end of the first semester.. During the early part o' the school year we gave a dance to start things moving. The Staffs of the “Exhaust” and the “Round-Up” were made up of Seniors. AYe gave a program in the assembly this year. The name of the one act play which we produced at this time was “The Filming of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The rest of the High School was fortunate in hearing several of the Seniors from tin Public Speaking Class speak at different times during the year. Two of the representatives from our High School in the Academic Contests at the State Tournament were Seniors, Marion Porter and Gordon Larson. We gave another dance at the last of school as our last activity in High School. Now our fourth spoke is finished and the wheel is completed. AAT sincerely hope and believe that this wheel will keep the High School moving at a rapid pace, in the years to come. MARION PORTER, ’26 1926 - - SENIORS - - 1926 CLASS COLORS—PURPLE AND GOLD CLASS FLOWER—YELLOW ROSE CLASS MOTTO—“PLAY THE GAME” CLASS MASCOT—AMERICAN EAGLE

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Our next big stop was at Chicago. From the depot, I could see a brilliantly lighted sign, which read: “Reducing Parlors—Steam Baths, Specialty.” Upon closer investigation 1 saw that Olive Keener was the proprietress. And Olive had always had such high ideals! I went in and talked to Hive for a while. She was a great advertisement for her shop, because she had gotten a very svlph-like figure. From Olive 1 learned very little, except that sin and Edna Murphy corresponded. Edna had become a missionary. Her present work kept her in China. Her manner of converting the Chinese was very effective. If they would not agree to become Christians she had them hanged. 1 got to talk to Olive for only a short time, because she was very busy. From Chicago we went to St. Louis, Missouri. After the first performance a very flapperish lady came back to see me. She was Mrs. Alice Wallace Smith Jones VanPelt Mayo. Alice had lost her last husband in a flood only two weeks before. I asked her if she wasn’t grieved over his death, and she said, “Oh, no, there’s plenty more where he came from.” Alice had a lovely home in the suburbs of St. Louis, where I visited her. From her 1 learned that Isabelle McNees, although married, and tin mother of four children, would not give up her career as an aesthetic dancer in the Sandwich Village Follies. Isabelle, for some reason, imagined that she was famous. Alice also told me that Adolph Nielsen was the editor of the leading newspaper of St. Louis. lien I was at Alice’s I couldn’t resist reading some of the literature she had in her library. One of the most sensational stories in “True Confessions” was written by our demure Elizabeth Hill. We took a hurried departure from St. Louis, because tin negroes were on a rampage, and we feared a race riot. We stopped at several small towns in Kansas. In one of these small towns was a girls’ school, the Dean of which was Ellen Michie. Ellen told me that she had been disappointed in love, so she had decided to make her life worth while, by helping to educate girls. Ellen said that she had just heard of Evelyn’s crime. Evelyn was the only person she had heard of since 1930. We arrived, about the middle of June, in Denver, Colorado. Here 1 met Charlie Bates. Charlie told me that he dare not talk to me very long, because his wife was furiously jealous of him, and she would scalp us both. I invited him to visit me the next day, and he said that lie would if he could possibly escape from his wife. He, in some way, managed to get away from her for a couple of hours. Charlie informed me that his marriage was not what he thought it would be. It seemed that he had successfully wooed Eleanor Rendle from Mike. Eleanor had never forgiven him. In the course of our conversation I learned from Charlie that Walter Olson was in South Africa trying to convert the savages. W alter would doubtless be successful if it were not for the detrimental work of Bea Espy. Bea was teaching the natives how to do the Charleston. This was, of course, more attractive than religion. Charlie thought that lie heard Eleanor’s voice so he left rather abruptly. In Salt Lake City, Utah, I met Harry McFarland. Harry hadn’t