Straubenmuller Textile High School - Loom Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 12 text:

CEN TEN N IAL The word that gold had been discovered in California started one of the most colorful eras i11 our history. Gold! Gold! The magic of that small word made men from every walk of life willing to give up their jobs and relative security in an attempt to make a fortune for themselves and their families. Excitement was rampant and the whole hemisphere seemed to be flooding the trails to California. Everyone had the gold-fever. It was 1849 and the gold rush was on! Some traveled cross-country on horseback and in uprairie schoonersf' their journeys beset with the dangers inherent in the little trodden, sparsely inhabited territory. Others took a boat around South America but their voyages also were perilous because the ships were unsanitary and decent food and water were scarce during the long and tiresome trip. Many did not reach the gold fields they had set out for. Not everyone found the gold that had lured him to California. Many satisfied themselves with success in a lesser degree by starting stores, building farms, ranches, and shipping businesses, not so glamorous or exciting as digging gold but, in most cases, just as profitable. Now, a century later, we, the modern youth of 1949, are also setting out to seek our fortunes. Despite our inexperience in handling the complex problems of our industrial world, we are better equipped, both spiritually and materially, to fulfill our ambitions tl1a11 were the forty-niners who went out in quest of gold. We are assured of a great deal of security and comfort which will make ours an easier and more clear path to success. Not o11ly have we the physical comforts of adequate food. clothing and shelter as well as many forms of recreation, but we are also rich in gold. Our gold, however, is infinitely more lasting and precious because ours is the wealth of knowledge we have obtained through our modern schools and other educational institutions. Knowledge is our tool as were the shovels carried by the prospectors. There is no force 011 this earth that can take away. steal. or, in any way, separate our gold and us. It is this quality that makes it so inestimably valuable. Like those of one hundred years ago, we forty- niners want more gold. 8

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Dear Seniors, As you prepare to graduate to 11ew fields, it would be wise to glance back briefly over tl1e last four years, not i11 vain regret or smug satisfaction, but i11 search of a final summary of your own experi- ences and observations. Summed up as a principle, clearly recog- nized and honestly accepted, tl1is might well become an important basis of your future success Elllfl happiness. How does the Bible put it? uGive and it shall be given llllt0 yous, good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over. Wlhether you have given freely of yourself in earnest study, in dramatics, i11 school service, team membership, club work, or music, you have reaped rich rewards i11 knowledge, skill, or personal adjust- 111e11t. Some of these are already apparent to you, some will appear later, but i11 any case, though we always receive more tllall we give, it is essential that we shall give. All acceptance of this conclusion is a real measure of your intellectual and spiritual maturity. I know that your teachers join me in wishing all of you the happiness that you earn and merit. Sincerely yours, J ON B. LEDER Principal 1 I

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