University High School - The Cub Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 37 text:

not have cxceede l five feet six : yet he was not a dapper man for liis sliouklers we re as liroad as Hall ' s. To look at liiin, one wonld easily iinafjfiiu- liiin a suc- cessful Wall Street hanker. After a few brief introductory remarks the ] resi lent retired and Dr. Hollands seated Jiimself in the roekin!, chair, lie C(iinnieiue l li ' casually sayinjj. This morninjj i was jircijared to fjive you a talk on a subject different from that which you are f oini; to hear this eveninjj. This afternoon, while listening over the air, 1 heard an orj an recital played by a master over cjne of our ])rominent stations. The majority of the program was of medium quality but all of a sudden the organ broke into brilliant melody. My mind, at ease with the world, had not even noticed the announcer when he had told the name of the selection and I would probably have forgotten the composer had I not noticed the peculiarity name. It was a Scandinavian name and at this moment I cannot even recall it. The selection had the dei)ths and resounding qualities of the fjords, the song of the snow, and above all it had a message for all of lis. During the jilaying of the composition there ap- peared at frequent intervals harmonic chords in groups of three. This re- minded me of a graduation speech delivered some twenty years ago when I graduated from high school. The subject ' The Three Cs ' has given to nie the best conception of life that it has ever been my good fortune to hear. To- night we shall apply those same three c ' s with our own meanings and inter- pretations. The first is Courage. One in college must have courage. Only yesterday did members of this school exhibit courage to a high degfee out there on the gridiron. The necessity of courage has been emphasized for at least three thousand years and it shall still insist upon staying with us. To bring closer to us the real meaning of courage let us consider the courage of the Pilgrims. They pushed civilization into the wilderness just as hard as those eleven stalwarts yesterday upon the gridiron i)ushed the l:)all over the goal for a touchdown. Let us consider the second C, co-operation. W ' sterday again u])on the grid those same eleven athletes, representing you, co-operated and won that game. Just in this manner have men throughout the ages combined to help their brother men. Ves, fellftws, w e need co-operation as much if not more than we need courage. The third ' C, consecration, sounds rather formidable, doesn ' t it? Well, first let us think what it means. Consecration means for us the dedication of ourselves to the attainment of a given end. As the knights of the Round Table consecrated themselves to the protection of the ])oor, weak, and de- fenseless, so in the stadium yesterday eleven strong men consecrated them- selves to play clean, hard, and square football. Yesterday these same three c ' s were put into actual play. It does Thirty-five

Page 36 text:

B ' THREE CS RO ' X 13 — State 13! Brown player injured, he is being taken from the game! ' e don ' t know who ' ll be put in. Reg Gaines is on the bench with his injured shoulder and apparently there is no ' tither man to play the position, the pulilic speaker announced. Gaines ' entry into the game raised the morale of Brown ' s team. The halfback carried the ball, making large gains. State called for time out. We have just got to stop Gaines, said Red Stuart, the State cap- tain, and stop him hard enough to put him out of this ball game for good. After we get him we ' ll win this game — he seems to know our plavs. Any ■ injuries, fellows? and as there was no response Stuart signalled the referee and the ball was put into play. The gridiron battle between Brown and State is one c,i the football classics. Intense rivalry always prevails and this year was no exception. The week earlier Reg Gaines had been injured and the advantage of Brown had been destroyed. Now he was in. however, showing his true form by making the State team look seriously ill. Gaines took the ball on an end run and as tackled by Hall, the State quarterback. In the heat of play. Hall, contrary to rules, jjurposelv kneed Gaines in the shoulder, opening- the injury and causing him tn be carried from the game. Hall never arose until noon on Sundays and the day after the Brown game was no exception. . t dinner he was profusely showered with con- gratulations for having stopped Gaines run yesterday. With each succeed- ing congratulation Hall felt worse for he knew that he was sailing undef false colors. To tell the truth, he felt miserable. More to escape the queries of fellow students than for anv other reason Hall went to Chapel Hour that Sunday evening. At State the University authorities invite eminent speakers to lecture to those students that care to go each Sunday e ening. Strange as it mav seem there is usually a good sized audience. On the Sunday following the Brown game the lecturer was a prominent Y.j I.C..- . man who had earned a big S some years before. Dr. Arthur Hollands. These gatherings were held in the front rows of the main auditoriunr. Tonight a strange sight met those who arrived early, for there in the center of the platform stood an old fashioned rocking chair. On the dot of six o ' clock the little door to the side opened and a distin- guished looking man stepped out. He was followed by President Cottinger of the university who frequently introduced the speakers. His stature could

Page 38 text:

takf a kit of courage to stop a man running- al)Out three feet per second, particularly so when that man weighs close to two hundred pounds. Those eleven men co-operated and won the game playing as one instead of ten or eleven parts. Those same fellows were consecrated yesterday when they went onto the field to fight hard, fight squarely, and to fight fairly, and to win for State. After this concluding statement there was a short discussion and the meeting broke up. Hall went to his room to prepare for classes on the fol- lowing Tuesday because he knew that it would be impossible for him to study on the morrow as there was a field trip in Paleonthology scheduled As this was to be a fossil hunting expedition, all of the party were to look for peculiar rock formations. Hall ' s mind was so far off the subject ■ that at the end of the day he had nothing to show for having gone on the trip. The only thoughts that would come into his brain were those concern- ing the Brown game incident. ( )n the following Thursday morning Hall was walking across the cam- pus when Paul Red Stuart, the football captain, touched his arm. Say. it surely is great that you ' re winning the Hickingbotham Medal, he said with a lusty back slap. It isn ' t official yet, you know, but one of the committee let it slip before he knew it. The Hickingbotham ledal for citizenship! Say, you are as crazy as a loon. he caustically remarked after considerable effort. Well, it is true, replied Stuart. Maybe, Hall said. Then as if remembering something he muttered a hasty thanks and left the wide-eyed Stuart standing amazed. That morning Dean Rice, Dean of Men, received a visitor who refiused to state his business to the assistant in the outer office. Good morning. Hall. What can I do for you? he cordially inquired. I just heard from Paul Stuart that the winner of the medal was to be myself. I really don ' t want to seem over anxious, but might I ask? ' ' Well, Hall, that is rather a hard question to answer. after a pause, please regard this as strictly confidential. Then slowly, as if choosing his words with care, he continued, i would not be surprised if you re the com- mittee ' s choice. Well then, it is not too late to reconsider your choice? No, it isn ' t. Here goes. he said with a sigh as he began to recount the incident of the Brown gatne. After finishing with this narrative the dean excused him and he went to his room, relieved for the first time in about a week.