Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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g..--- - . - YQ' f gi ge A ' 31 - . - '1.,1.Y. Y -5 'f'y- 7'- 55? '17- Tlie Third Interscholasfic Debate ATRIOTISM was the key note of the day,-or, I shouldsay uinefgf evening, for the time was 8:00 p. m., March 24, place, the Central auditoriumg event, Interscholastic Debate,.Soldan vs. Centralg participants, six debaters who were hoarse and two who weren't. National patriotism came first. From the stage and the balcony hung a number of American flags, a most appropriate setting for one of the most important national questions of the day: Resolved, that the United States should abandon the Monroe Doctrine . School patriotism came next. The lowerlloor and part of the balcony were filled with enthusiastic supporters of their schools. The majority upheld the Soldan team, composed of: Mar- tin Frisch, Edward Selden and Walter B. Wolf. Although the Cen- tral contingent was slightly smaller, it was just as loyal to the mem- bers of the team: Edgar A. Flory, jack Ruel, and Herbert Koeneke. I forgot to mention that the two debaters who were not hoarse were the two alternates, Herbert Stainton of Central and William Penaat of Sol- dan. Being an alternate is about as exciting as learning the difference between a hendiadys and an anaphora. The alternate has to work as hard as the regular debaters and then doesn't get a chance to talk: ' I have said that the gathering was patriotic. It was also good-na- tured. A couple of the reigning nabobs of the Forum had decided to work up a little spectacular enthusiasm: so just before the debaters. took the platform, Harry Freedman and an assistant mounted the stage,'said assistant carrying a mysterious roll under his arm. Freedman gently lifted a chair to the rear wall of the platform, carefully placed a piece of paper upon it, and ascended. He then pierced the corner of the roll with thumb tacks and let it unroll. However, the wood at Central has ua hardness all its own and the tacks didn't stick. As the beautifuliForum pennant unfolded, it suddenly fell to the floor, the applause stopped short and laughter began. That's a bad omen for Soldan's team, said the pessimistic assistant. A fall always cometh before victory, aptly quoted Harry. A However, the main attraction of the evening was not centered on such inconsequential occurrences. It was an intellectual audience, as- sembled to hear a decidedly worth while discussion. So when the gath- ering was called to order eighteen minutes late, it was more than ready to absorb something worth hearing. Mr. Powell, the chairman, after making the necessary announce- ments, introduced the Central Glee Club, which opened the program with a song. The debate was begun for the afhrmative by Martin Frisch, Sol- dan's first speaker. Unfortunately he had not timed his speech as he 73

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Yii, ' , ' Y Q' ,1-H aw- -- -. - V '1.,g,,,, i V '-J 'T-7 - Y . ,K N , ,, J, , ' ii A, W-L, ly - , p N Q - U F ff l f! .Ft gin, we-J-3 1 -ezr iialvl nuts for some little time and found that he was fond of burying the nuts he was given to store them for the winter to come. We also found that he did not have pockets in his trousers as boys have, but has a capacity of two or three nuts in his cheeks. He has quite forgotten his inherent dread for man in his all-important quest for food for the winter, and if you hold your Est loosely clenched he seems to think that there must be a nut hidden somewhere in that cavern and before you notice it about one-half of his body is hidden from view. The next reel was chiefly of the salmon fisheries and illustrated in a very interesting way the differences between the Indians' methods of catching salmon and those of the white man. Bird Life on the Three Arch Reserve was the title of the next series Of pictures. The gull, the murre, the horned owl, the monkey-faced owl, and several other birds of Oregon were shown in their natural sur- roundings. Mrl Finley next gave some illustrations of the desert animals. The kangaroo rat, 'an animal with a very small body and a long tail with a bushy end, proved to be the most interesting. It happened that the photographer secured a picture of the rat as he was washing his faceg it was then that we found that the brush on the end of his tail was his towel. ' The Yellowstone Park and the animals of that reserve were shown in the fifth and last reel. The bears, antelopes, deer, and many of the birds were shown in their natural surroundings. The lecture was closed with pictures of the Yellowstone canyon and the falls of the Yellowstone. Those few people who braved the disagreeable weather to hear Mr. Finley left the hall with a feeling that they had been amply repaid for their trouble. -Ernest E. Thiemeyer, 8. A Palriolic Meeting of Girls T the patriotic mass meeting of the girls, Monday, April 2, Miss jones gave a very inspiring talk. She told us of the xii H work that women must do, if this country becomes active in the world-war. She told us the feelings of foreigners at A, ' the sight of the Statue of Liberty, and of the thoughts of Americans returning to that Statue and to the country it symbolizes. Not a girl of us but felt, when she had ended, that we would be ready to answer any call that our country could make upon us. E f 1 x,,1 -E. A. W. '12

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e 'es wife 'A' -- effx-1?- Y 4 - ..--flex 4 51 r as JM should have done and time was called before he concluded. Frisch's voice was excellent. He was able to get just the right pitch and em- phasis to lead his remarks to a forceful climax. His ease on the plat- form also attested to his three years of conscientious work in the Forum. Edgar A. Flory, who opened the negative for Central, was already known to many Forum members. Before the present debating league was organized a year ago, he had been a member of the team which de- feated the Forum's representation in a so-called first interscholastic debate. Flory spoke forcefully, but his delivery was excitable and rather piercing. Can we afford to abolish a principle which excludes European influence from the Western Hemisphere? he asked. He of- fered Taft's and Wilson's indorsement of the Monroe Doctrine and the fact that it prevents colonization in South America as his main points. The bell sounded just as he concluded. Edward Selden was the next speaker to advance S0ldan's argu- ments. The manner in which he presented his arguments gave his audi- ence the impression that they had been arrived at only after serious thought and deliberation. His delivery was slow and unimpassioned. He seemed to prefer to skillfully reason his way through a point rather than to drive it home by any elocutionary effort. The cause of the negative was continued by jack Ruel. He spoke in a frank and convincing manner, although somewhat jerkily. He cited Cleveland's message to Congress in 1895, and the fact that both the democratic and republican parties upheld the Doctrine in their 1916 platforms as two big reasons why we should not abandon the Monroe Doctrine, asserting that our safety is assured as long as the European powers are three thousand miles distant. Walter B. Wolf now came forward to close the aFfirmative's direct proof. His usual free and easy delivery was greatly hampered by hoarseness and a cold. Herbert Koeneke spoke last hoping to turn the tide of argument toward Central. The excitement of the moment and his evident earn- estness carried him somewhat beyond the bounds of propitious debating until his oratory waxed so hot that it became a source of amusement. The Soldan team offered the following arguments: The Monroe Doctrine is an assumption on the part of the United States to act in the role of protector and guardian of the Western Hemisphere. It was written at a definite time to meet a specific object: that is, The Holy Alliance, a league composed of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France, with the purpose of suppressing all forms of republican govern- ment. The Monroe Doctrine is now useless because all its salient points 74