West High School - Senior Occident Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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THE OCCIDENT 153 friendly mariner are greatly appreciated by the whole school. The business staff of the play con- sisted of Mrs. Clara B. Ellis, director; Sanford Slocum, business manager; El- lison Martin, asst, business manager; Roy Darron, advertising manager; De- witt Reed, property manager; Mary Fil- more, asst, property manager; Warren Sperry, stage manager; William Taft, electrician. The presentation of “Her Husband’s Wife” has set a high water mark in West High theatricals and we all hope that this high standard may be maintained. The Possibilities of the Barge Canal Before discussing the possibilities of our Barge Canal let us review the his- tory of the New York State canal sys- tem. Doing so. we find that Dewitt Clinton was the father of the system. He dreamed that the canals would create a commerce of such an extent as the na- tion had not yet witnessed. He believed that New York City would become the granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, and the focus of great pecu- niary operations, through the influence of the canal. Clinton’s project was ridiculed by many who called it a “worthless ditch. Nevertheless, in 1825, this canal was opened and it was not long before it proved of great value to all. Commerce on it grew so that the shipping center of the country shifted from Philadelphia to New York City. Important cities at once sprang up along its route and it gave a cheap outlet to the unlimited re- sources of the Great Lake section. Not many years passed before the Erie Canal was outgrown. In 1903, the peo- ple of this state voted greatly to enlarge this waterway of Clinton’s, and make it a Barge Canal. Accordingly, a sum of $108,000,000 was appropriated, followed in 1915, by a second appropriation of $25,000,000. The Barge Canal will consist of four branches, namely; the Champlain Canal which will connect Lake Champlain with New York City; the Oswego Canal which will connect Lake Ontario (at Oswego) with New York; the Seneca Canal which will connect Lake Seneca with New York; and the Barge Canal proper which will connect Buffalo with New York. The Barge Canal is one of the world’s engineering feats. It is about ten times longer than the Panama Canal. It con- tains some of the most notable locks in the world of which there arc fifty-seven. The new canal makes use of rivers and lakes wherever practical, it “canalizes” them by the building of dams, locks and , other engineering works, and obtains what is known as slack water navigation. The length of the combined canals is about 446 miles. Only thirty percent, of this must be excavated. Of course diffi- culties have been encountered in the con- struction. About twenty-five per cent, of the canal must be cut through solid rock. In some places fills-in are necessary to conduct the channel over natural depres- sions. Now comes the question: Do we need this expensive waterway? The answer is an emphatic YES! Let us see what the Erie Canal ac- complished. Was Dewitt Clinton’s dream fulfilled? Yes. New York City became the greatest metropolis in the na- tion. Up to the height of the Erie’s popularity, in 1882, it had earned about $50,000,000 above the cost of construc- tion and maintenance. It gave the cities along its banks the impetus of their de- velopment. Commerce is the mainstay of New York State. Its greatness in commerce is due to the cheapness of transportation afforded by its excellent transportation facilities. The turning point in the ca-

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152 THE OCCIDENT you, O Occident Staff, have set a mighty high water mark. If only you will tell us—you, yourselves,—that we have not made a bump, it’ll make us all feel fine, and we can go away feeling that we’ve reached the highest goal. Where under the sun, have 1913, 1914, 1915 and 1916 gone to? If wc only knew! Every Senior sighs and asks that oft repeated question, when the Great Day draws nigh—and we are no different—we ask it, too, but as before, no one ventures to answer. Only a short way can we trace those misty yes- terdays—'midst all the happiness and joys of real “kids”—good times, and work which seems so trivial to us now. The class of January, 1917, cannot help but unanimously agree, that when she goes forth,—she goes with memories of the finest and most splendid school that ever was in existance, so seemingly for her alone. We all feel a much deeper sentiment but we don’t know how to ex- press it, for it’s way inside of us some- where. But we can and do say with all our hearts: Here’s to the most success- ful and most splendid years, stretching forth into eternity, that old West High can ever know. We Seniors, who arc about to leave West High, realizing the difficulties of an entering class, wish to extend to you our most hearty welcome and wish you the same wonderful life of success that wc have enjoyed in the past four years. The Senior Play The most successful play' given by West High pupils in many years, enter- tained a large audience in the Assembly Hall, Friday night, January the twelfth. The play, “Her Husband’s Wife,” was full of snap and vigor and held the at- tention of all present from the'first cur- tain to the finis. The acting was splendid and avoided that air of uncertainty which character- izes amateur productions. The players were well chosen for their parts and are to be congratulated on the manner in which they fulfilled all expectations. Helen Upham, as Mrs. Irene Ran- dolph, played an extremely difficult role and is to be admired for the manner in which she held the sympathy of the audience. Helen Edson carried the part of Emily Ladew with apparent ease, and demonstrated in the second act what clothing can do for women. Howard Jones, as Stuart Randolph, and Horace Thomas, as Richard Belding, appeared like legitimate players and were right at home on the stage. Eugene Curtis, as Uncle John Belding, rescued the play from dry moments and kept the audience in laughter, while the part of Nora the Maid, was decidedly well filled by Marian Miller.' The play itself was well adapted for a high school production and credit is due the persons who picked it out. A few dry places in the first act were made up by the lively second act, while the third happily untangled the complica- tions brought about in the first and sec- ond. A big share of the success is due Mrs. Ellis, whose untiring efforts and

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154 THE OCCIDENT reer of New York State was the con- struction of the Erie Canal. Since its completion, the state has taken first rank in the commercial world. If the Erie Canal has been so success- ful, what ought not the Barge Canal, a great elaboration of the Erie system, to accomplish ? It will be able to accommo- date about 3,000,000 tons of freight an- nually at much lower freight rates and ten times the volume of traffic on the present canal. It will have magnificent harbor and terminal facilities at each important town with adequate machinery provided to load and unload the barges. One reason for the failure of the Erie Canal was the lack of proper harbor and terminal provisions. The old canal was able to handle boats of an average dis- placement of 500 tons when loaded, while the new canal will be able to handle 3000-ton steel barges mechanically pro- pelled. Therefore transportation on the new canal will be much more rapid. Of course there will be no tow-paths on the new canal. Another advantage of the new canal will be that it will naturally force, on account of its low freights, a reduction of the same on the railroads. The latter have been supreme in the realm of trans- portation long enough and the new canal will compete with them on a fair basis. The people of this state, as well as of those surrounding, will thereby profit, for low freight rates are the magic key that opens the way to profitable produc- tion. They transform the wilderness into busy beehives of industry. They attract business. They increase employ- ment. It is these facts, which cannot be gain- said, that will gradually enter the minds of individuals and corporations about to establish new plants for manufacturing and attract to New York State where they will have access to cheap transpor- tation facilities of the new canal. The magnet of the lower costs of materials and food-stuffs on the one hand, and the lower cost of conveying the finished products to the consumer on the other, will force the establishment of new in- dustries in New York State, and the prosperous expansion of those already here. In this survey of the Barge Canal, I have tried to make it evident that the canal is very desirable primarily because it will be an important factor in the struggle to reduce the high cost of living. Also it will be one of the most important canals in the world, a fact of which New Yorkers may well me proud. Wilbur Coopbr Mildred M.—Do you think the au- tomobile will displace the horse? Helen S.—Yes, it will if it ever hits him. May—Who is that new janitor? Harold McN.—He used to be a bar- tender. May—Oh, I thought I had seen him before. Irene—I couldn’t marry a man study- ing for pharmacy. Vincent—Why ? Irene—Because I would never live on a farm.