Warren Area High School - Dragon Yearbook (Warren, PA)

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The present day cheerleaders might be interested to hear that Rah! Rah! Blue! Rah! Rah! VVhitel was the composition of Charles Weller, who was then attending Warren High School, and was dedicated to the 1896 football team. Our class of 1897 was not a large one. As I recall, there were about thirty graduates. But though it was small in numbers, I believe it contributed to no small degree in the progress and development of Warren. I hope I may be pardoned if I mention a few names familiar to most of you: William Clark, Attorney, Sidney Black- man, Attorney, F. J. Lyons, Attorney and former burgess, and Edward Johnson, President of the Warren National Bank. Though it is difficult to separate school experiences from subsequent happenings after a lapse of fifty years, I have attempted to give you a picture of the surroundings and events at the time I attended Warren High School. I wish you the best of luck in the publication of your historical volume of the DRAGON. Thomas H. Jenkins, Class of 1897. O DRAGON BOARD, WARREN HIGH SCHOOL, YVARREN, PENNSYLVANIA. Gentlemen: Life in VVarren High School forty years ago was not as unlike the present as one might think. In refreshing my memory on the subject, browsing through the pages of the 1907 DRAGON, I was surprised to find how readily most of the activities, situations, and even wise-cracks could be transplanted to 1947 without appearing to be old-fashioned. I must admit, however, that some expressions would require modern- izing. For instance, there are numerous references to certain physical demonstra- tions of mutual attraction between a boy and a girl, then. known as spooning. The youth of today would probably consider this expression to be nothing moreithan a method of eating soup. To me, the greatest difference forty years has made in the school is in its size. Our graduating class was extremely large for those days-eleven boys and twenty-two girls! But what we lacked in numbers we made up in enthusiasm. To a large extent ..mimimmmluimlutlllllllllllll 1 T E i I 8 9 7 I 4 7 I U31

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or divert the student. Our pleasures or distractions were necessarily restricted to those of a pedestrian or bicyclist, although our flights of fancy could roam as far afield as those of our present high school scholars, and even then you would see many a dreamy eyed student diligently perusing some study book, the contents of which were mostly a blank in the class room. These were the gas light days! The boundaries of Warren Borough during that era terminated at the Cone- wango Creek and the Allegheny River. Across the Conewango Creek was Glade, and above that was Glade Run, both separate and independent towns, and on the other side of the Allegheny River was Pleasant Township. Many will remember the old wooden bridge across the Allegheny and the old famous swinging bridge across the Conewango. These towns had their own schools, and the Jefferson Street School served for Glade as a preparatory to our high school. All pupils from other towns or localities attending Warren High School were required to pay a special tuition. The only paved streets in Warren were the business streets. All other streets were dirt roads. You will understand that this was in the Gay Ninetiesn before the advent of the automobile. We had a few street cars in the borough, but no paved roads or transportation to other towns except the railroads. A pedestrian was not the low, insignificant creature of today. All he had to avoid were the dashing steeds of the wealthy or the daring bicyclist who had just graduated from the old high seater bicycle Cthe one with one big wheel in front and a small one in the rearj. lt was a great event for Warren when Major Windsor promoted and built a bicycle path par- alleling the road to Youngsville Qit was a gravel pathj and many of us worked and sweated through ay summer afternoon making the round trip. Our sports activities consisted mainly of track and field competition with other high schools in the spring and football in the fall. It might not be amiss to state that we were seldom defeated in these events. Our 1896 football team was undefeated and unscored upon during the entire season by any other high school team. Unable to get enough competition from other high schools, we played against town teams and athletic clubs, and the only team that even scored against us was the Kane Athletic Club of ex-college players. We played 30 minute halves and never used a substitute once during the entire season. Every member played every minute of every game. To any who might be interested, a picture of that team is still on display in the win- dow of Merle Graham's shoe shining parlors on Pennsylvania Avenue. lumgnllll' ' ' ' H l. T x lllnm Wlllllllllllllllllllll TT l12l

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we made our own amusements, which were none the less enjoyable. Organized forms of entertainment were not often available, but picnics, bus rides fwith horses, of coursel, and parties of various kinds provided a great deal of fun. So far as official school' activities were concerned, we had football, basketball, and baseball teams. Our competitive standing was about on a par with present day teams. As an example, the basketball team in 1906 won 12 out of 14 games, and in return engagements, defeated both Jamestown and Corry, which were the teams which had previously beaten us. The 1907 football team won seven games, tied one, and lost only to Titusville. lncidentally, in those days Titusville was our chief rival in all sports. When we played football there, a special car was chartered for the students, both boys and girls, and we were entertained at a gala dance in the evening. The same plan was carried out when they played here, and many life long friendships, and some romances of shorter duration were the result. Baseball was much more popular in high school circles than it is now, which is difficult to understand, in vie-W of the hold it has on the American public in general. As to scholastic effort and attainment, 1 doubt if there has been much change, and probably there exists about the same proportion of loafing and cramming, bluffing and hard work, worry and elation. But of one thing l am sure. If we in 1907 had seen the inscription Kilroy was here, chalked on the high school steps, we would have been just as bewildered as you of the 1947 class would be if you were confronted with a sign saying U23-Skidoof' Harry W. Conarro, Class of 1907. O DRAGON BOARD, WARREN HIGH SCHOOL,, WARREN, PENNSYLVANIA. Gentlemen : . To the members of the Class of 1947, the year 1917 is shrouded in the mists of antiquity, therefore, this article will attempt to dispell those mists and show that lllmm ' ummxnuiumu ummm n El.. .... ,mil ,,... lllinllllllllllllllllllllll ll4l