Toulon Township High School - Tolo Yearbook (Toulon, IL)

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Spring, Nineteen Thirty-two 11 ----------------------------------------------------------------—+ DifflOTraMninigis ©1! si FoauinittsiDm Fern ----- —.—.— --- —...-------------------------------------------- On first glance at me, a casual observer might think that I was just one more poor, old, common fountain pen. Well, I may be old, but I’m certainly not common. Why, let me tell you this, one of my ancestors came over on the Mayflower! Now don’t smile and tell me they didn’t have fountain pens in those days, because I know that. But, just the same, he was my ancestor, and that is probably more than you can say about yours. But, oh my, I feel a talking spell coming on, so if you will sit quietly, I’ll tell you about myself. Well, I can’t tell you anything about how I was made, for at that time I was too young to sit up and take notice. The first thing I knew, I found myself in a lovely box, lying on a soft, cotton bed. It was dark in the box, so I cautiously raised myself on one elbow and peered out. I seemed to be in a huge, barn-like place, all encased with glass, and all around me were boxes similar to mine. Jumping out, I ran over to the first one and looked in. Well, bless my soul! If there wasn’t another of my species, only this one looked as old as Methusaleh, and had whiskers clear down to his waist. “Hey!” I yelled, “Get up, Noah, and tell me about this place and what I’m doing in it.” “You young scoundrel!” said Noah. “If you ever wake me up like that again, I’ll pull your ears. Such ignorance! But you certainly asked the right fellow. I’ve lived here nigh on to twenty years, and I’ve seen pens come and go. You’re in a jewelry store, lad, and if you don’t watch out someone will soon come in and buy you!” With this he turned over and went to sleep again. It began to get lighter, and soon the clerk came in and began to arrange our boxes more artistically. Not long after some customers began to come in and look us over. One young man came rushing in, pulled a large bill out of his pocket, and said he was in a hurry and wanted to buy a gift for a friend. Well, in a few minutes, I was taken out, wrapped up, and off I went on my first adventure. Finally, I grew tired of being jiggled around in this man’s coat pocket and I tried to poke my head out of the box. My movement was just enough to make the box tip, and I landed in the gutter with a terrific thump. For a minute I just lay there, I felt so sick, and then I tried my best to get out of that box. It couldn’t be done, for the string was tied too securely. After waiting and waiting, I heard a voice say “My stars, what have we here?” and I was raised off the ground. My wrapping was torn off, the lid raised, and a wrinkled old face peered in at me. “For the land of mercy,” exclaimed the old woman. “God must have sent this for my poor Mary’s birthday!” I was so weary, I just dropped to sleep and when I next woke up, I

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10 Spring, Nineteen Thirty-two “Here, take that body out of the casket.” The huskies obeyed. “Now put this one in it!” Again they obeyed. Soon the stones were rattling on the casket containing, instead of Arnold Stephens Esq., his son, Arnold Jr. The moan of the trees served as his funeral dirge. A few minutes later Dr. Bones and his students carried the body of old Stephens away The next day the advanced surgical class cut it to pieces to see what it was made of. Of course, people wondered about Arnold Jr. For months they looked for him, but the search seemed hopeless from the start. Finally the heirs erected a monument over the grave of the elder Stephens. Dr. Bones was highly interested in this fund for the monument. In fact he was one of the chief contributors. After the monument was erected he went to the cemetery to see it. This was the lettering on it: “Here lies Arnold Stephens. He did of a strange disease.” On the other side was this lettering: “In memory of Arnold Stephens who mysteriously disappeared. Where, no one knows, shortly after the death of his father. He has never been heard from since.” “Such is life,” he laughed, “you can’t even trust a tombstone!” —D. Fickling. THOUGHTS OF ONE ILL. Have you ever had to miss school on account of sickness? If not, perhaps you cannot realize the thoughts of one who is ill. When one is sick he has nothing to do except to lie in bed and allow his mind to wander. Probably a good many thoughts of a student are based upon his school work and activities. The student will ask himself such questions as these: When will I be able to return to school? Will I ever get my work made up? What is the excitement, if any, at school? I wonder who failed to get his lesson for today? Every day that one misses school, no doubt he thinks of all of these things. When ill, one usually enjoys receiving letters better than any other time. It is an excellent plan to write to one who is sick and to tell him all the school news. Besides giving the sick person enjoyment, it will also relieve his mind and keep him from worrying about his lessons. If one doesn’t worry so much, he will recover more rapidly and be able to return to school much more rested than when he left. —B. Brady. THE GIRLS’ LEAGUE. The Girls’ League is composed of all the girls in high school. At the close of the year a banquet is given for all girls who are eligible to attend. They must have a specified number of points to attain elegibility.

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12 Spring, Nineteen Thirty-two was being held in the tiniest hand, by the sweetest little girl! She wasn’t dressed very nicely and something was wrong with one of her legs, but I fell in love with her, right away. She and I started out right then to compose a theme, and we have been through thick and thin together ever since. Now, although Mary is quite grown up, she says she wouldn’t part with me for the world. Now, don't misunderstand me, for I’m as contented with my lot as I can be, but, sometimes I wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn’t fallen out of that young man’s pocket. Betty Caverly. HIGH SCHOOL CLUBS. Clubs in High School are sometimes very useful. Of course every high school has its own idea of what a club should be and so there are social clubs and business clubs and clubs which are dull and those which are active. I believe that one fault of a great many clubs is to have no restriction as to its members. People can join any time and once they are in, there is no interest to keep them there. Nothing but high grades in a certain subject is one way of restricting members and another way is to put a requirement of a year in a certain subject on the member. But once the members are decided upon, your interest must be kept up in the club. Pot luck dinner can be given to get the members together; money should be raised in various ways and programs given. I believe that a club in a foreign language is a good thing. If a restriction of a year in that language is put on the members, they ought to know a little about how to speak it in the club. They can give plays and get speakers to talk to them about the country whose language they are studying. One club which I admired a great deal was a dramatic club. This was hard to enter, for the members had to be good scholars and be chosen by the dramatic teacher. Dramatic instruction was given and the members all tried to earn enough points to get a pin. It was surprising at the talent discovered among the students in acting. But to speak from another point of view. It is sometimes asked, “What do the clubs in a high school amount to?” It is true, a lot of them amount to nothing. Once in a while their president calls a meeting, and nothing happens except that a lot of time is taken up. And just the opposite are the clubs that have so much to do that the members cannot get their real school work done. In some schools, although they cannot be called clubs, are the “special class periods,” which do a great deal of good. These are periods in which the student can pick out the study which he thinks he most needs, and get extra help in it. In closing, I wish to say that I think it a great mistake to condemn all high school clubs because a few have not accomplished anything. I believe that any effort in clubs should be encouraged. —B. Caverly.