Valparaiso High School - Valenian Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

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18 HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL 1904. The Prize Oration: TRUE PHILANTHROPY. Auretta Imagine, if you can, a narrow alley reeking with filth; men, women and even children pouring in and out of the gam- bling dens, saloons, thieve’s cellars and pawn shops on either side; and foul vapors rising from fish-stalls and fruit-stands that line the street. A crowd of ragged boys, on their way to spend their pitifully small wages at a low class theatre, rush past, filling the air with curses and blasphemies. Here, piled up into the smoky, choking air, is a mass of dirty, poverty- striken tenements, teeming with people whose daily lives are unwritten tragedies. The people exist, merely exist, in these places, not live in any sense of the word. We can, w ith difficulty, imagine the life of people in this condition, yet such is the picture we are given of London slum life in Charles Kingsley’s novel, “Alton Locke.” A picture of the most appalling sights is painted for us, of homes devastated, the fathers and sons slowly dying in dense atmosphere of sweat shops or wearing their lives away in a vain attempt to care for their wives and babies by daily piece work; of mothers and daughters starving to death. It is not in London alone, nor at this particular time that we find these districts of squalor and wretchedness, for in all ages and in all places men have striven to correct these deplorable con- ditions. “ Social Equality ” has long been the cry of the promoters of socialism. Away back on the Nile river, five thousand years ago, the ancient Pharaohs were declaring for equality. They built many structures for the betterment of their people and some tribes excluded criminals from their boundaries. Over in the land of art and beauty Plato encouraged indepen- Hoyt Agnew. dent thinkers and spent many years of his life in an attempt to introduce reforms into the courts of despots. He taught that vice is ignorance and virtue is knowledge and that if men can be made to see and recognize the good, they will do it. Justinian, the great Emperor of Rome and founder of Roman law, instituted reforms that were of great benefit to his people. He made wise laws and built churches, acqueducts, convents and bridges for them. In our own time the names of Robert Owen, Fournier and Saint Simon stand foremost as the advo- cates of social reform. They founded the first infant schools in England and France and introduced shorter hours into factory labor. But not until the time of Arnold Toynbee, in the latter part of the 19th century, had any one arrived at a reasonable conclusion for solving this great problem, but he knew that this democratic and unchristian condition of the poor labor- ing classes and criminal classes could be bettered not by giving alms, but by intimate association with them and by brotherly love. Appalled by the depth of wretchedness and sin in the slums of London, he turned the power of his wealth and the thirty years of his life against the force which was crushing the lives of thousands of men, women and children. This man, accustomed to every luxury, with naturally refined tastes and the best education that England’s universities could offer him, went down into the heart of this district and with a few faithful followers made a home there. The new project was begun and before his early death he saw his work bear fruit and yield a plenteous and rich harvest of good. From this beginning the movement has spread all over

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL 1904. CLASS WILL. Know all Men by these Presents, that we, the Class of Naughty Four, of the Valparaiso High School, being in good health of body and sound and disposing state of mind and memory (notwithstanding our violent mental efforts of these four years) and being desirous of settling our worldly affairs while we have strength and capacity, do make and publish this our last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills by us at any time heretofore made. First. We direct our executors, hereinafter named, to pay all our just debts and funeral expenses from our person- al property not hereinafter disposed of. Second. We give to the Juniors our back seats, our Physics note books, our stable of ponies and all we die pos- sessed of. Third. We give to our friend and landlord, George S. Haste, all the superfluous hot air we may have on hand to be distributed in the fall as Miss Benny may direct. Fourth. We give to the Sophomores all the holes in the matting to be used at their discretion. Fifth. We give to the Freshmen any obnoxious odors which may arise ab inhumatis rodentibus. Sixth. We give to our ilat-hatted friend, Lurton K. Halderman, the hole in the southwest corner of the H. S. room to be used for peanut shells and apple cores for which he has no other use. Lastly we appoint Hon. Ray Adams and Supt. A. A. Hughart our executors. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hand and seal, in presence of the persons whose names are subscribed. (Signed) NAUGHTY FOUR (L. S.) Witnesses: Wm. Schumacher, Laura Jones. Subscribed to and sworn before me this 23rd day of May, 1904. Eugene Skinkle, J. P. (My commission expires May 23, 2000, Q. E. D.) 17 20th Century Leap Year Club. This club is known as the Valparaiso Leap Year Club and the membership is limited to the teachers in the public schools of Valparaiso. No questions are asked as to age, politics or religion. The only oath required is to support the constitution, promote the espousal of its members at any cost, and add to the ex-membership. The officers shall consist of president, vice-president, cor- responding secretary, treasurer, grand lecturer, sergeant-at- arms, right guard, left guard, traveling solicitor, and such committees as the president may appoint. The following is a list of the officers: Estella Diefenbaugh — President. Blanche Spencer — Vice President. Nellie Power — Corresponding Secretary. Pearl Miller — Treasurer. Rebecca Pierce— Grand Lecturer. Fannie McIntyre — Sergeant-at-arms. A. A. Hughart — Worthy Patron. Eugene Skinkle — Right Guard. E. S. Miller — Left Guard, F. A. Reece— Traveling Solicitor. ( William Freeman, Advisory Board ■! L. M. Pierce, ( Dr. J. R. Pagin. COMMITTEES. Would Leap: Rebecca Schnewind, Myrtle Gettys, Mar- garet Beer, Nona MacQuilkin, Leona Appleby, Louise Wins- low, Mabel Benny, Ida Jones. Anti-leap: Elizabeth Patton, Bess Stinchfield, Julia Carver, Laura Pagin, Minnie McIntyre, Olie Welty and Mary Deegan. Soon-to-leap: Lillian Perry, Nellie Parks, Ruth Qua- termas, Sadie Sweney, Letta Landis and Lillian Smutzer. Ex-members: Mrs. Beth Benny Ellis, Mrs. Grace Louder- back Hughart, Mrs. Estella Lewis Ray, Mrs. Rose Drago Pierce, Mrs. Kate Stoddard Jones, Mrs. Margaret McGregor Lytle, Mrs. Rebecca Bartholomew Lestenberger, Mrs. Kate Gregory Billings.

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL 1904. 19 the world and especially to America. In our own country this so-called Social Settlement work has been wonderful and at the present time there are eighty-four settlements of this kind distributed over the large cities. The ones in which we are chiefly interested are those in Chicago, of which the Chi- cago Commons and Hull House are the most notable. In Chicago there are many foreigners who constitute the most unfortunate element in large cities. They do not speak our language, do not become acquainted with our customs and it is little wonder that they take no interest in the welfare of the country. They do not make intelligent citizens and have no higher ambition than to keep under shelter and to obtain food. The childr en have no education or pleasure of any sort and the families live in the midst of the vilest filth and squalor. It is in such a district that Graham Taylor, who wishes to aid these people not by a division of wealth exactly but by a division of talent and an equal share in happiness, began his great work. At first a small house was rented for the settlement home, but as the plan prospered a large brick building was erected. There Taylor brought his family and friends, who are aided by willing helpers from the colleges. In this, home clubs were formed for men, women and children. The children were the first to be interested and kindergarten classes were formed. As always a little child leads and so through their children the fathers and mothers were reached. Clubs in economics and politics were formed for men, clubs in cooking and sewing for the women, and dancing, literary, musical and gymnastic classes for the young people. Lec- tures and socials fill many of the evenings and picnics at the parks or into the country are arranged for the holidays. The work is essentially for the upbuilding of the home. An excellent example is furnished for the people in the settle- ment home and the manner in which it is conducted. Books and pictures are loaned for weeks at a time to beautify the homes of many unfortunates. A Flower Society has been formed to encourage the growth of flowers and pride in home surroundings. Prizes are given for the best kept yards, most beautiful garden spots or window boxes in the crowded tene- ments. The good accomplished is unlimited not only in the way of sanitary improvement, but also as a moral help; for the people must find it easier to keep in that way that leads up to light with beautiful flowers and growing plant life on either side rather than if it were bordered with broken beer bottles and rusty tin cans. Miss Jane Adams, at the Hull House, carries on this same work, but perhaps on a larger scale. Her work in the clean- ing of the streets is well known and no one in the city of Chi- cago has a wider influence over the poor and unfortunate than this quiet, unassuming little woman. One cannot say enough in praise of these self-sacrificing men and women, who, as ministers and teachers, voluntarily give up all hope of personal preferment and use every talent which God has given them to rescue these people and teach them the joy of living and the love of work. They devote their lives to the brothers and sisters of those “who have ended in desperation, drunkenness, starvation and suicide because no one would take the trouble of lifting them up and enabling them to walk in the path which nature had marked out for them.” John Ruskin says, “It is nothing to give pension and cottage to the widow who has lost her son, it is nothing to give food and medicine to the working man who has broken his arm. But it is something to use your time and strength to war with the waywardness and thoughtlessness of man-kind.’’ It is a mighty war waged by this army of soldiers, armed with the greatest of weapons — love, and fight- ing with their weaker brothers and sisters as allies against those awful foes, vice and ignorance.