Steele High School - Annual Yearbook (Dayton, OH)

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STEELE MAGNET - Page Twenty-One mending. Altogether, they managed to get along, but there was very little for extras in the way of birthday celebrations, and to-night Mary longed for some of those extras. She finished her mending, however, and then took up her knitting. Jim came home and went to bed early. It was evident that the shadow had not lifted. The girls talked for awhile, and finally they went to bed. Jim always set his alarm and called Mary on his way down stairs to build the kitchen fire. But on the morning of her birthday, Mary slept long and late. When she Hnally awoke, she saw tha.t it was half-past seven. She was amazed and wondered what could be the matter with Jim. She hurried to her brother's room, but his bed was empty. When she rushed through the hall again, she found that Rose had wakened and was as much puzzled as she. They dressed hurriedly and ran down into the kitchen. The kitchen was warm and comfortable. There was a pot of coffee on the back of the stove, a dish of oatmeal keeping warm, and some eggs ready to be cooked. The table was set for breakfast, however, a little more awkwardly than Mary set it. But Mary's attention was attracted to the floorg it had been scrubbed and was even whiter than Mary ever had made it. When Mary turned over her plate, she found a note with her name on it in Jim's handwriting: DEAR SISTER MARY: I started to come downstairs for something last night and couldn't help hearing what you said to Rose. It hurt me because I wanted to do so much, but felt helpless. But your words made me think of something I could do, so I got up early and did it. I hadn't realized before how unpleasant it must have been for you. The cleaning and the breakfast, as far as I could get it, are my birthday gift to you. Don't fret about me. I have gone to work with a good break- fast if I did get it myself. uJIM. ' This made Mary feel unworthy of either of the other two, but yet that it was worth while living for both. DJ ALONG THE JAMES C. L. L. IGHMOND, Va., is a name which occurs very frequently in our nation's history. It was the center of the struggle in nearly every war in which the United States has been concerned. Even at this late day, its citizens can point to living descendants of Poca- hontas, and the museums of the city are filled with relics as old as the nation and as recent as the Civil War, full of interest to every patriotic son of the soil.

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Page Twenty STEELE MAGNET well, and yet give it no expression. It must be felt by him himself in order to give the true meaning. Then in doing the greatest thing of all, in giving the work to others, he must give this impression as he feels it. He never thinks of those who are listening. He is in the land of wonder. He is the great central figure of it. He understands the pain and sorrow or the joy of it all. He sees all the beauties of nature, all the Wonders of creation. His hearers feel and see as he does. They do not know he is singing or playing. They are wandering with him through it all. When the music ceases, it seems as though they have passed through a dream. The artist is conscious of this when he has finished and he feels proud to think he has done so much for them. He may have turned some Wayward one's thoughts, or he may have brought joy to the hearts of some sorrow- 1ng. In order, then, to make a musical production successful, the spirit of it must be reflected. This is accomplished by a thorough study of the composer's life, also by a study of the time during which the composition was Written. The Work is now only half completed. The production must be applied to the artist's life, and if he sympathizes with the theme, and understands, then he ca.n give to others by execution a something which will be appreciated. In this way, the aim of all song is accom- plished. Q JIM S GIFT INEZ R. SHEPHERD O-MORROW is Ma.ry's birthday, said Rose. Jim did not reply, and Ma.ry thought perhaps he had not heard, but when she saw his face she knew he had heard. Jimi looked up as Mary dropped her spool of thread, and, gazing at her, he said, I wish I could give you eighteen beautiful diamonds, one for every year of your life. At this he slipped out of the room. Jim was twenty-one and Rose was sixteen, but somehow Mary had been the head of the family ever since their mother died, three years before. Mary almost wished Rose hadn't mentioned her birthday, because she knew it troubled Jim to think he had no money to remember birth- days. If mother and father had lived, everything would have been so different. She would have been a girl among girls and celebrating her birthday in a girlish fashion. Now she seemed only a housekeeper, who had to shoulder the duties of a woman. She had to plan their food very economically and often lost her appetite in the planning. Jim had to work hard from morning till night to earn enough to support the three of them, and Rose must be kept in school until she could graduate and start teaching. Rose was studying now and Mary was doing the family

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Page Twenty-Two STEELE MAGNET Here, crossing the James River, is the ledge of limestone which causes the Falls, and checked the northward progress of the Jamestown settlers and established the settlement of Richmond as the head of navi- gation. Even though traders might portage around these rapids, still all cargoes must be transferred there, and this emptying and reloading of boats made business. Anything tha.t makes business soon collects men and starts a settlement, a.nd, if this is permanent, the settlement becomes a village, then a town, and nnally a city. Richmond to-day is about as large as Dayton. The James is the most southern of four rivers that flow into Chesa- peake Bay from the west. Between its mouth and the Falls existed about all the civiliza.tion and culture of America for nearly a. century. This was a long time longer than the reader or I have lived or will live. The interest begins at Capes Charles and Henry, away down at the mouth of the bay, then Old Point Comfort, as it is still called. These three capes are still there and one can imagine he sees that forlorn band of first settlers moving up the bay looking out a.nxiously for a comfortable and safe resting place. Then there is Jamestown, a tangle of underbrush with the lone, old chimney whose picture adorns our geographies and histories. There is the region of the first Indian massacre, which nearly destroyed every hope of those colonists. Williamsburg still exists, it was the seat of government for years, also the seat of learning. Here was and is the college where Washington a.nd Jefferson and John Randolph were educated. Some of their names may be deciphered, cut in the long pine benches. The college still does its work, supported by the State and presided over by a son of President Tyler. The old mansion or palace of the royal governors and the powder magazine are points of great interest, especially the little English church where royalty and the gentry came to worship. Here you may sit in Washington's pew, and see the silver baptismal service presented by the queen of England, and look over the registry and read the autograph signatures of many illustrious names famous in our history. I could linger about that church and its little cluster of tombstones for days. Nearly every stone has a. name or a date that is full of historical significance. Only a few miles away is Yorktown, where Cornwallis surrendered-the lines of his earthworks still show,- a.nd Appomattox on the creek of that name where the Confederate general, Lee, surrendered to General Grant and ended the Civil War. Then a.t Petersburg is the huge crater where Grant blew up the Confederate camp by undermining it, causing a terrible slaughter of men on both sides both by the explosion and the subsequent fighting. It was the capture of Peters- burg by Grant that caused Lee to send a dispatch to Jeff Davis that he must evacuate Richmond. Davis received this dispatch in church on Sunday and immediately interrupted the service by rapidly leaving They point out his pew and show you his course as he made his rapid exit. Another church in Richmond is famous as the place where Patrick Henry said, Give me liberty or give me death g the pew is there yet and the very spot where he stood is marked on the floor. Think of that little St. John's Episcopal Church standing all these years, well preserved and untouched by the battle-marks of war, as a memorial of