The Pittsburgh Academy - Eagle Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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rl!! THE EAGLE DAYBREAK last january, while traveling through the sticks of West.Virginia. by the 9'-?sm'T? grace ol God, I was permitted to gaze upon one of the most glorious performances T ol nature. E 5 I have seen many, but never a more beautifully bewildering sunrise. It has left an indelible impression on my mind, jogging along in a train at 6:30 that morning I was suddenly roused out of my hall' dozing by the realization that nature was producing a spectacle of magnificent grandeur. From the bottom of the deep narrow valley we were in. could be seen only jet blackness, above and on either side. Craning my neck upwards to the crests of the mountains, the blackness suddenly cracked open and a deep purplish hue filled the void, Then it changel to a purplish blue indicating the approach of dawn. Rapidly in the next few moments the hues lightened, first with more blue, then a dab of gray, a little red, some orange and some yellow, gradually softening and blending into a nne white, and day had arrived. The mountains took on a gloomy aspect for shame, at being thus exposed. Bleak. barren, un' covered, naked ol trees and foliage, they seemed to cry aloud for cover and shelter, and kindly clouds settled over them and lent an atmosphere of peace and contentment. Beneath the grinding wheels, and seeming to shout at man for thus intruding into nature's sanctuary, tumbled a turbulent mountain stream. In its descent to meet a larger stream, it cavorted carelessly down its self-made gully, sweeping everything before it and leaping over rocks and minature precipices. These small Niagras, imbued with the spirit of mischief, un' successfully seemed to try to break past the bounds of their ice'hemmed edges. The ice: white and clear in all majestic and fantastic shapes, in varifsized cakes and contours, rushed along with the stream and tumbled recklessly over the falls, seeming not to care whether it survived or not. Tiny recesses of calm water along the banks took on a cobwebby glaze and gradually thick' ened pallor. and nature had performed another marvel. Ice! cold, cold, ice, And to myself, mentally, ice! Frigid cold. benumbingg it seemed to drive the warmth from my body, heart and soul. Something seemed to coagulate and thicken within me. In this depressed, frozen, state of mind, I was suddenly jarred back to my senses and my terrestrial existence by hearing the trainman's shout of all aboard . Hastily, gathering up my bag and coat, I dashed frantically down the aisle and leaped to the station platform, just as the train got under way, there to face the grinning populace who, coming to greet the morning train, had found entertainment in my predicament. -H. A. WEINBERGER SOYEZ CONTENT Pourquoi vous plaignezfvous parce que vous avez moins bonheur qu'un autre? La nature n'a pas l'intention que tout le monde soit satisfait, Combien de progres feraft-il ce monde, si tout le monde serait content? Estfcefque la satisfaction creerait le competition? Estfce-que la vie serait interessante sans lui? je penge que non. Le raison que nous n'avons pas recu les portions egales de la fortune dans ce monde est parce que la nature desire nous donner d l'ambition. Quel plaisir pouvait etre meilleur que la realisation des ses ambitions, Observez autour de vous les peines des autres. probable' ment de vos amis et alors vous comprendrez combien vous avez de la fortune. Ainsi vous moquez vos petites peines et soyez content. -F. L. MCWRIGHT. THE PITTSBURGH ACADEMY Sixty seven

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THE EAGLE Q 4 ' Q Z .5 , t, , THE GAME OE LIEE Nigga lliE-just linur letters tn enmprise a word with a greater meaning than all the letters 9, in the world can explain, Lile at its lacst. is a very uncertain thing-and lor each P and every individual lille hnlds a dltlerent meaning. For some, lile's meaning is a . ' id line: hut lnr fathers, life is a great, wunderlul toy, full tml hidden possibilities 7 st-id - l In lW VX' ye e discovered. Whn can deline lile7 No, it is indefinalale-intangible, as it ere-a thing whose trieks and turns we must all drseuver lur ourselves, And yet, we may suggest general rules, which will help everyone to play the game of lille as it shtruld he played. First ul' all, we must lace life squarely. There is a sayinggwfhey onl v the viet-:rv win, whn have lnuvht the lmud lirhtf' Yes. it is true! New matter how hi h , , l-. t- L g i glial we set lnr nurselves, il' we reach that gual thrnugh ignorninious plays, then we have nut luught the grind lightgand the vletnry is vtrid. XVe shnuld set lur nurselves a wnrthf mal, tnward whieh we must alwafs strive. But l ls l thnugh we strive tn win, yet we must remember that viettrry is not the stile aim ul the light. lt's nut the quarry but the chase. not the laurel hut the race. One nl the lnremnst athletic euaehes nl the country, Bn lvlehflillen of Geneva College. has won lame. nut heeause he trains teams to win, but because he trains men. It is a wunderlul example lur all In lnlluw. Let us nut think nnly ol securing a vietnry, which when wnn may IH can little: hut let us strive tu make nurselves true men and wnmen. Anfrther rule lu lnllnw in playing the game nl life is tn keep smiling. YVhich athlete is the more pnpular4the one whn seuwls when trouhle arises or the one whu smiles even in lfll nes ol' adversity? Ella Vxfheeler Vvfilet-x has written a very littrng verse to explain this thought: It is easy enuugh tu he pleasant, Wlxeim lile fluws hy like a sung, But the man worth while is the man wht, will smile Vwfhen everything gives dead wrung. For the test nl the heart is truuhle, l And it always comes with the years, And the smile that is worth the praises nl earth, ls the smile that shines through tears. ll we enuld unly liulluw this inspiring verse, how much inure pleasant this wnrld would be. ln lille as in fames, nn one admires the underhanded, deceitful player who takes ad- l l- . . vantage ul' all deleets and laults nl' his lellnw players. Let us play a clean, lurward, helping eame. Play it not with the determinatiun tn win, hut with the determination to win lairly ind hnnestly. As in athletics, sn in the game til lile, the seure is kept. Then let us rememher that Vx7hen the game nf lilve is Mer, And the Great Seurekeeper pens yuur name, He writes nut il' yuu won or lust, But how you played the game. -MARGARET M. RENKIN THE PITTSBURGH ACADEMY , N Sixty-51x ffl

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41- a. Wi' if .fry iq ',...wi . vf v, t w . sr. ...i-rm, ,iif V THE E GLE GYPSY IMPRESSIONS Qu, 'gg OIVIANCE, color. ekultant. carefree life: reckless moods. beauty, love and tinkling E 'aug PI- laughter. Ivfost of us ordinary mortals have formed such impressions of these V, 'fy' colorful Romani from fiction and tradition. You and I have perhaps gathered to' ...Q -.fy g A Q ,Q . , If ffglu gethei scattered threads of knowledge of this fascinating race and have woven them into the warp and woof of pageantry, We have had a glimpse, mayhap, of a gypsy camp surrounded by tall. stately trees, whose leaves, stirred by the evening breeze, compose a weird. haunting melody beneath a clear. pale sky. The stars seem to twinkle with some secret irrepressible merriment at the happy drama being enacted beneath. The brightly painted wagons are drawn into a circle and. with their tiny windows, back door and steps, form a continuous chain of small. colorful homes, In the center of this circle a huge loghre is built. It sends its red and orange-hued reflections darting here and there, be' yond the wagons and deeper and deeper amongst the trees. The shadows flee before the ad' vance of these ribbon-rays of color. Vvfild. timid creatures of the woods scamper to cover, momentarily frightened by the cheery. sharp crackle of the logs. Perhaps even the sweet scent of pine pervades the air. Handsome people are they. with their flashing eyes, brilliant with the mere joy of living. dark swarthy faces from which peer the flash of virgin'white teeth. The flickering lights from the fire play upon their faces as they dance to the wild. weird tunes from strange instruments. Almost the entire gamut of human emotions plays over the face of the gypsy. The hour is late. One by one they drift towards their various abodes. The chill night air descends upon this nomadic company. The logs still crackle, The fingers of flame grow shorter. The vision fades as we watch. Such a picture we might readily paint from impressions of the Romani , In the next des- cription, I will try to bring to you the stark reality of gypsy life as I have observed it. A phantom, lacy. veil of dust seems like a pall spread by some unseen. ghostly hand, by way of mitigating. in some manner. the hard. unflinching glare of stark reality that has become an inseparable part of gypsy life fwhether from tradition. habit or mere sluggishness of the will necessary to vary. even in the slightest degree. the custom of generations. it is impossible to sayl. But reality must ever prepare to meet the counter attack of the deftly spun cloth of dreams. surrounded by its shining. golden aura of idealism. A thin, scraggly spiral of road dust rises: but even piercing its uncertain structure. the casual onlooker may perceive a long, seemingly endless line of rickety. creaking. illfused wagons from which the brilliant shades of coloring have long since been eradicated-perhaps by some wind' browned gypsy lad who. having almost nothing to do. and the whole of God's circuit of hours in which to accomplish it, pelts the weatherfbeaten, nearly unresisting side of the most conf venient wagon with lumps of ooze. indolently picked up by slender, grimy hands: which lumps. upon drying, adhere to the indifferent sides against which they were thrown, with the seemingly intent purpose of clinging there forever. Again, perhaps, the accumulative dust of months of travel on roads as generally untraveled as possible, aids in hiding the original magnificence of the hues that had first adorned these traveling homes of the Romani . Each of these vehicles is drawn by an aesthetic appearing beast that had once owned the name of horse , having been kept in peace and plenty on the farm of some prosperous man of the soil. until inadvertentlv transferred to the service of this nomadic company, These wandering. ever-restless people, seen at close range. impress one as being dark, viva' cious and handsome during their youth: becoming fat, indolent and ugly of feature very early in life. They are soiled, unkempt. even ragged in appearance. although it is by their apparel. which is of cheap. coarsely woven cloth, that one is enabled to perceive their love of, or better, their passion for. gaudy. flashing. flaming. wildly harmonizing colors, which, in themselves. are expressive of every phase, every angle of their varied existcnces. They subsist, for the most part, on the fruit of other peoples labors, or by preying upon the gullibility of those innocent souls with whom they come in contact, by proffering their aid in determining what mysterious and irresistible influences are destined to enter, for good or ill. into the heretofore unknown future of these gullible subjects , They have been known to drive up in front of a village store, offer for sale their pilfered wares. in competition with the well established emporium. and, in the process of making a sale, go into the store itself to borrow a quart measure. Ofttimes. too. they add to their ranks by making captive a number of white children, some of whom are raised in the belief that they are of the Romani , and must remain loyal to the gypsy creed, while still others are resold to their people for large ransoins. The gypsy marriage, too, proclaims them to be an untamed, halffcivilized race. The ceremony, itself, performed over the tongs . is famed in fiction and its various stages are marked by a certain barbaric splendor and pageantry-pageantry merely when weird music, abandoned. color' ful dancing, and scintillating hrehght and starlight grasp hands in a fearless endeavor to hide from any prying eyes, the fact that shiftless vagabonds the gypsies shall ever remain despite the colorful pictures painted by mad fiction. -E. B. DRAKE. THE PITTSBURGH ACADEMY Sixty eight N aa...-s L .J L