Townsend Harris High School - Crimson Gold Yearbook (Flushing, NY)

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CRIMSON AND GOLD OUR ALMA MATIER ARTHUR N the course of our high school W J, I career, do we ever pause to consider what we gain by at- tending Harris? Do we ever t realize that we are deriving more from our high school course, more than the thousands in other New York schools? ,Z f . K X: I L I. T16 lf' ,: se '9 tif Tig To the average I-Iarrisite, only two advantages are evident: first, that we obtain in three years that to which many others devote four, then, on en- tering City College, that we may resume the college curriculum without any un- necessary trouble and change of custom. The pessimist will also contribute his views. Inevitably, he will indicate the fact that to retain good scholastic stand- ing in I-Iarris, a student must perpetu- ally drudge over the studies assigned. Moreover, he will claim, Harris lacks a gymnasium which is essential to the physical development of every able student. To the former we can reply that by the time one has attained Upper B, he has become accustomed to the difficult work and arduous assignments. To the latter we can only express our desires that in the near future this missing ele- ment in our equipment will be supplied. But let us enumerate the advantages which overshadow these alleged shortcom- ings. Due to our comparatively small number, our individuality is furthered, whereas in an institution four or five times our size we would be in an immense wheel and would remain personally merely cogs most of us unassociated with school affairs. of little im- However, individuality is portance when compared to some other benefits. Perhaps more than in any V. BERGER other school, our instructors bear a deep- seated concern in all our activities, both curricular and extra-curricular. Thanks to our Director, the Harris Faculty has been convinced that All work and no play makes jack a dull boyf, In all student enterprises, the Faculty willingly offers its support and encouragement. Although that is true, it does not nec- essarily follow that our Faculty ac- complishes the work that we, the students of Harris, profess to do ourselves. We may be proud of the fact that both our publications are managed almost entirely by the students, which is not always so in other schools. In addition, we have still another ad- vantage. Contrary to the consensus of outsiders, school spirit does exist both among the instructors and the students of Harris, so remarkable as to enable the maintenance of a vast sphere or' organiza- tions. No such word as failures ap- pears in the vocabulary of Harris work- ers. As a result of this, many and sun- dry clubs have been established and up- held, service squads have been encour- aged, class organizations, of a type ex- isting in no other high school, have been well managed. All these and many others are the ad- vantages of attending I-Iarris, From our Alma Mater we graduate disciplined in the best personal qualities, experienced in self-government, well instructed in the foremost scholastic subjects, and, finally, equipped with a spirit of fine sportsman- ship, a very necessary factor in public life. In scanning the records of the present Seniors, notice how few, if any, have not at least one item to their credit as evidence of the Harrisite's acknowl- edgement of these advantages. Page Fifty-nine

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CRIMSON AND GOLD The judge denied the motion, request- ing proof of these assertions. This, Mr. Sut readily agreed to furnish. Dr. Sunger took the stand on his own behalf and brought forth rather astound- ing information. Where did you meet jonathan Apelyf' Mr. Sut queried. I never met jonathan Apely, was Sungers retort. I created him. Five years ago on a visit to South America while walking through a dense forest I perceived that which anthropologists con- sider as the missing link. This was the first time that such a living specimen was seen. The Dutch physician, Dubois, in 1891, near Trinil, java, discovered the Pithecanthropus Erectus, or erect ape- man. It appears that Apely was the last of this genus. Modern paleontological research has proposed the Pithecanthropus as the connecting link between man and the rest of the animal kingdom. I led this being to my hut and was surprised at seeing that he behaved amicably. I was struck with a novel idea which I determined to carry into effect. By means of many difficult surgical opera- tions I made him seem as a man. He was extremely adept to learning, readily com- prehending all that I taught him. Over four years I spent in performing these operations and educating him. Finally, I was confident that my creation would re- main undetected. L E Last September I booked passage for New York. Arriving here I brought him to the Hotel Calpin, amply supplying him with money. By january I wearied of the endless surveillance of my protege and his excessive expenses and deter- mined to destroy Apely, which I did. The prosecuting attorney, wholly un- prepared for this testimony, declined the privilege of cross-examining Sunger. To substantiate the new evidence in- troduced many phylogenists and paleon- tologists took the stand. During their corroboration, the District Attorney by means of cross-examining attempted to prove that Apely was a man since he performed all of the exigent functions of man and confirmed the Dar- winian theory. Sut, having recapitulated the testimony, pleaded with the jury for an acquittal. The judge charged the jury and they retired. Tension was rife until the jury returned, after eight hours of delibera- tion. As the gentlemen of the jury entered the courtroom, Dr. Sunger drew a knife and stabbed himself through the heart, He was pronounced dead. The jury was dismissed without rendering its decision which would have no effect anyhow. I am still in a quandry when I seek to discover the decision of the jury. Was this being an ape or a man? QTHE END, T ,fa .JL .4 3 v Page Fifiy-right b SWS? l

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CRIMSON AND GOLD TO TI-IIE ILAST-A STUDENT The boy who is now bringing to a close his career at Townsend Harris Hall has reached one of the milestones of his life. Graduation is a goal achieved and an ambi- tion realized. The dream of the day that has now arrived, was, not so very many years ago, ensphered in a glamor which outshone that of all other objectives. Now that glamor has lost some of its brilliance, as all dreams are wont to do when the time of fruition is at hand. There are divers reasons for this change beyond the fact that it is in the nature of things. The boy has become a little more mature-and no dreams are quite as dazzling to him now as when he first came to us. Then again, the intervening years have brought with them new and higher goals which go still further into the future. That, too, is in the nature of things, and when those greater heights are scaled, there will ever be loftier ones on ahead. The boy will be going through that process over and over again. It will constitute the zest of life, the driving force, if you will. Already he begins to recognize that truth. But he is nevertheless proud of this much accomplished-and justifiably so. Some- times he gives evidence of being a little too proud, a little too self-satisfied with him- self, with his surpassing wisdom, and his knowledge of the world. At such times he is both an annoying and a pathetic figure. The wiser folks, who have all his experiences, and many more, shake their heads either in despair or pity, and say, Poor boy, he still has so much to learn. But after all, even in these annoying moments he neither desires nor warrants anyones pity. And as for annoyance-it should be tempered by the recognition that it is a stage in the life of the being. He really will learn. In just one respect is he perhaps deserving of our sympathy. He is at the stage where he is the recipient of all kinds of friendly advice and censure, on all sorts of questions from all manner of people, who have his welfare at heart and who will not rest easy until they impart some of their wisdom to him. All of this, however well- intentioned and beneficial, will be painful to him. He will resent some of it, and dis- card much of it. And so with the recognition of these facts in mind, it is not our intention to join the army of advisors. Nevertheless, as a teacher of his, I would be his friend. I would be a friend who loves his faults as well as his virtues-and he has his share of both. As a friend, I repose great faith in him and his future as he shall be led, in his own way, to work it out. His friends do have the confident hope that as he leaves us and takes the next step, and the next, he will emerge first of all a man, true, honest and courageous, and furthermore, that he shall learn enough to know that he will never learn all, and so will remain a humble student, not simply for the next four years but all his days. A HOWARD W. H1Nrz. P051 t' .g1i.1'fj'