Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

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THE 1919 SENIOR ANNUAL ln memory of the former students of R. F. A. who were fighting in France that we at home might enjoy the blessings of peace, we, as juniors of the Academy, decided not to have a Junior Prom, but rather to increase our purchases of W. S. S., again giving what little aid we could to our country in her need. As a result our class became a contributor of the largest amount. During the recent W. S. S. drive we, as Seniors, again came out in the lead, being the first l 00 per cent class in the school. Upon the last day of school, I9 l 8, the Seniors saw fit to dedicate to us, as the most fitting class in school, their right to occupy the most distinguished and coveted seats of the school. We had long looked forward to our last year with hopes and aims high, and felt that the honor they bestowed upon us was well merited. Little did we anticipate that our entrance upon our fourth year would be a sad one. The first day of school was given over to a memorial service for our respected and beloved former principal, Mr. l-larris, whose splendid life had so suddenly been terminated. A former professor of the school, Mr. Campbell, came to assume the duties of principalship. After a short period of unrest we were able to settle down to work under the new regime. Our Senior year can well be called a year of perfection. The associations formed all during our high school career were further developed and unified. Believing strongly in the policy that organization is the keynote to success, the Seniors worked hard to put through the constitution of the Rome Stu- dents' Association. One of our members was elected to act as president of the association. Four other members of our class were representatives upon the Advisory Board. ln the Slingerland contest we were ably represented, and one member brought back to us laurels of which we are proud. ln athletics our class has always shone and we have been able to claim allegiance with several of the most noted stars of football and baseball teams. Our high school career has not wholly been taken up with laborious duties, for we gave the Senior sleighride and dance at Westernville, enjoyed the Junior Prom at Easter-time, and are eagerly looking forward to our class banquet and dance. And with the closing of Commencement Week comes also the closing of our high school career. We all look back upon our four years with utmost pleasure and feel that they fbrrn an epoch in our lives never to be forgotten. But before we start out upon the diverging paths of life we are gladly stopping a moment to bid each other farewell and to sing songs of praise to R. F. A. . M.L.H.,'I9.. 28

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THE 1919 SENIOR ANNUAL CLASS HISTORY, 1919 It was in September, l9l5, that our contingent under the command of Corporal Barnard left the preparatory schools of Mr. Barringer and Mr. l..owerre for the officers' training camp of R. F. A. At the first sound of the bugle each squad immediately fell into line, and file after file marched in review before the stand where sat our commander-in- chief, Mr. Harris. From the lieutenants and higher officers of the camp we received scarcely a glance, but from the new sergeants fslangily called Sophsl we received heartiest applause. These sergeants were extremely anxious to exercise the privileges of their recently acquired offices, and as we passed before them they stared unceasingly in our ranks for recruits for their awkward squad. Their blazing, snappy eyes, their haughty glances, and turned-up noses, convinced us that we had exhibited none of the desired elements, but that our polished appearance had smitten them to the core. The inspection completed, we were assigned to our barracks, to which we retreated with almost uncontrollable haste. Here under the direction of our colonels we studied long and hard to master the rudiments of camp life and did not halt until just before Christmas. We then decorated the Study Hall in a most artistic and tempting manner. It was remarked afterward that the abundance of holly and mistletoe brought so much Christmas cheer that only the order of the commander-in-chief prevented its being carried bodily away from our barracks to officers' headquarters. All too soon came our june Regents', but none too soon came our summer vacation. Yet happy were we to return in the fall to receive our promotion, The day had at last arrived when we might expose our ability in training the fresh rookies. However, during our Sophomore year we were so laden with work that we paid little attention to anything, but winged fleeting time, and soon we were again charging into Regents', to come out crowned with the laurels of victory. Our Junior year was a year which will long be remembered, not only by the members of our class, but by the peoples of the world. It is the year our country entered into the great world war. Our hopes for this year were of the highest. We had planned many a school activity, but the spirit of patriotism so thrilled us that we turned our attention to war and entered into Red Cross work with vigor, to be of some service to our country. Those were the days when every girl came to school with her knitting bag on her arm, and felt aggrieved if any of the generalissimo's aides- de-camp ordered all needles of industry into the kit 1 out of sight. 27

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THE 1919 SENIOR ANNUAL THE PROPHECY OF THE CLASS OF 1919 Nineteen hundred and twenty-nine had rolled around and the old June moon stopped in his course to peer into the window of a sumptuously furnished apartment in New York. Here a prima donna of world-wide fame was reclin- ing on her divan watching the moonbeams dance with the shadows on the wall. The telehone rang impatiently. It was the usual end of her musings. It was probably the manager of the theater with some trivial question or a newspaper reporter wanting to know the date of her last appearance. With a sigh she rose, drew the curtains, shutting out the moon's bright rays, and turned on the light. This is Countess Aresa, greeted the actress, lifting up the receiver. Well, Priscilla! I knew it was you! exclaimed a deep voice at the other end of the wire. May I come up and see you? Why-er-yes. Who is it? stammered the Countess, a bit overcome with surprise. Ha-ha! Your voice sounded so natural I half forgot we hadn't seen each other in ten years, and l supposed you would know 1 why, l'm Lynn Kelley of Class ' I9 -- remember? Rememberl l should say I do! Sure, come right up.. Be careful when you land, there are two other triplanes on the roof. Good-bye. And Countess Aresa, otherwise known as Priscilla Beach, hung up the receiver. Five minutes later there was a knock at the ceiling and the classmate of former days descended to the room. The greetings over, there was a silence in which each marveled at the change which ten years had made in the other. The airman was the first to break the spell. He glanced around the room, his gaze resting on a picture of a general in full uniform. Why, that face looks so familiar to me - and yet I am not acquainted with any generals. Ohl That is Gen. Elden Shue, who has made a shining record with the army of occupation. l met him in Paris and he gave me his picture, answered the Countess. ln Paris? Yes. Come and sit down. It was in France that I made up my mind to try the stage. I had always had a desire to and encouraged by some success there I determined to continue for a while over here. I sailed immediately after leaving college and made the trip in thirty-live minutes in Vincent Raffauf's famous seaplane 'The E.thyl'l Hynes and l-Iertel were the pilots and they changed their course only to escape colliding with a reckless star rover, 'The Allison,' which was carrying Karllotta Heyne home from her honeymoon. Upon my arrival I summoned a limousine to take me to my destination, and it was my surprise to find the driver to be my old classmate, Lura Kirk. She informed me that the proprietor of the hotel to which I was going was Marjorie Dunning, and that Odelia Plunkett was her assistant. She after- wards mentioned that Mabel Quackenbush was clerk. I soon decided that the hotel must be run on the American plan. 29