Rockford High School - RHS Yearbook (Rockford, IL)

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:the VVinnebagoes. n i 1 awakening of feeling among the Sophs. We organized and like many other classes just out of their short clothes, adopted for our motto Populi Sumus which is English for the Latin expression we are the people. From that time forth Ninety-two was an important factor in the school and lead in the gym meeting, on the play ground or wherever enthusiasm and numbers counted for anything. In the royal game of foot ball the Ninety- two men held the field time after time against' the com- bined assaults of' the other three classes and it was sel- dom indeed that a Sophomore did not succeed in getting behind the line with the ball, oftentimes bruised and torn in body and garment but triumphant nevertheless. It was clearly evident that we were favored by the gods for Botany day came.and went and no rain came with it, a circumstance which has not happened before within the memory of recent man, nay not within the mem- ory of Jan Keeler who has ruled long in the land of VVhen another- September came 'round we were 'juniors-I pause that the casual reader, who perhaps has never been a junior may realize the magnitude of our situation 3-we were on equal footing with the Seniors and could iight them Qif Prof. wasn't lookingj in their own halls. How far ourreign of triumph would have extended if Field Day had not occurred no one dares to predict. But Field Day did come and with it defeat and humiliation for Ninety-two. Although nobly cheered on by the girls, Senior beef and muscle prevailed over Junior skill. Not long, however, for the next night two venturesome Barbarians scaled the classic walls of 'the Senior room and taking down the emblems of Senior -is

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As I sit down to write this, the obituary it almost seems, of dear old Ninety-two, strangely enough my heart is not filled with sadness nor is my spirit oppressed with the funereal trappings which surround me 5 my thoughts turn to the remembrances of some mischievous prank of our rollicking Junior days, rather than to any exemplary feat of studiousness upon which one might pronounce an eulogium. But why should we speak in this way? Ninety- two is not dead. Ninety-two is proud of old Rockford and Rockford is proud of Ninety-two, and so long as such conditions exist Ninety-two will never die. But to my history :-Wie entered some sixty strong and it always seemed to me providential that we were no stronger, else that august tribunal and generous giver of Field Days, the school board, would have been com- pelled to build for us a Temple nobler than the last. Shutting' us from liffaven with a dome more vast in which our rapidly expanding brains might grow on unhampered. Most of our experiences as Freshmen were exceedingly pleasant, most of them I said, for sometimes in my dreams memories of a Fishy Zoological smell haunt me, and even now it urges me to pass on to our Sopho- more year. Here an incident, the forcible ejection of one of our band from the 'tgymw by a hated Senior caused a sudden is

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victory, planted in every nook and cranny the glowing colors of the XYorld's Fair class. The Juniors were ahead now and remained so, for despite the frantic efforts of the Seniors the Crimson and Creamll floated peacefully over their heads till the last. Autumn and winter sped swiftly by, and with winter went Pete Rundquist and Elmer Hollem, he of many neckties and much patienceg also many of the girls. The year was ended quietly and in earnest preparation for the work to come in the fall. XVhen Ninety-two stepped into the Senior shoes she at once set about to put in practice the principles she had advocated during the three years previous-the abolishment of class feeling and the union of every per- son, regardless of class or clique for the general good of the school. She threw aside the customary Senior egotism and went to work with a will, and for the re- sult Ninety-two points with a proud heart to a record in every department, Literary and Athletic, which has not been excelled in the R. H. S. lfVhile naturally enough she takes a kind of maternal pride in the record, she claims it not for herselfg it belongs to the school and to the school let all honor be given. And now I come to the closing chapter of a book which has been all too short. The time is not far distant when we as Seniors, shall pass for the last time up the Chapel stairs. There is atouch of pathos in doing even the simplest thing for the last time. The actor who steps before the footlights for the last timeg the singer who, making way for fresher voices receives for the last time the plaudits of the multitudeg the minister who stands for the last time before a people whom he has guided long and faithfullyg they all know the hidden ' 11'