West Philadelphia High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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THE RECORD 1918 27 a cloud of falling earth, the Bosches were using high explosive shells in place of the usual shrapnel. The enemy did not get the range, but soon sections of our line were missing when the geyser of earth had settled. Curiously, these happenings seemed' entirely impersonal to me. I and the men around me kept marching forward as if nothing had happened or ever would happen to us. My mind was far from the thoughts of battle. Automatically, my feet carried me toward the barbed wire, now only a few yards away. It did not seem possible that in a few seconds I would be engaged in deadly combat with a fellow mortal. I was still wandering in the realms of the future as we drew near our first objective. Suddenly, a blinding flash dazzled my eyes. I heard no sound and felt no pain, but it seemed as if I was sliding down a steep incline at a terrific speed. Occasionally I felt a slight jolt such as is experienced by a coaster on a hill that is not absolutely smooth. Then I stopped gra-dually and the space about me filled with a pale blue light. A beautiful creature in blue approached me as I lay there, and took me by the hand. I ventured to address her. Madam,', I said, Please tell me where I am. This must be Heaven, although I have never before heard tell of blue angels such as you seem to be. Do not be afraid, friend, she replied, Hthis is the plant of the Future Film Producing Company and I am the guide for the few visitors that come here. In that office to the left the Fates are writing the scenarios of future years. In various locations throughout this land our directors and their companies are producing these new dramas, which you call the Events of the Year. When they are completed they are shown on that screen which some people called the earth and all pictures are endowed with speech. 'fYour friend Shakespeare was almost correct when he said, 'All -the world's a stage' The only trouble with him was that he didn't live in the proper times and consequently did not know enough to say, 'All the world's a screen' He had the right idea but the wrong word. Then over there to the right is the projecting room where they show all the pictures to the International Board of Censorship before they re- lease them to the public. I think that they are now giving reel 1943 its final showing before they store it away for future release. Would you care to see the film ? Of course I expressed my desire to view the picture, and my guide ushered me to a good seat. As I was entering, they threw upon the screen the title- ,

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i l3l'llfQQ 2 X .p, N . 'A I' , M 7- TN f f ts. ,lt ll iiiiit l ll, rltwilli ' 'wr l' x Z T G M i ' -f1L-Dmitr i ' 7 ifbimf V . 'Seiji ' -.i It-ies-hf. t.1Pe1-aa' - M S l stood in the mire of the trenches, awaiting the signal to go iv? Si U 9 -gg over the top, the shells of our own artillery whistled overhead and exploded above the German lines. The morning was dark ,I and stormy and a dreadful suspense set the nerves of the men on edge, Even veterans have been known to grow frantic under the strain of the few minutes before zero hour, and it is no wonder that this battalion of rookies fresh from the training camps were striving to turn their minds from the thoughts of approaching death. Our offi- cers, men who had gone through this experience before, had advised us to think of anything but the horrors that lay before us. To keep my mind from weakening under the tension, T turned 1ny thoughts back to my old days at XVest Philly. l fell to wondering what would be the fate of my classmates who were serving in this war and from that l. began to speculate on the future destinies of the fellows who had graduated with me a few months before. Then came the sound of the Captainls whistle. The arm of the lieu- tenant was raised above his head and at this signal, the whole line as one man climbed over the parapet. Uur own barrage protected us from the fire of the enemy infantry and the Hunls artillery had not yet gotten into action. As we walked onward with steady step our barrage was lifted and our shells began to fall on the German second line of trenches. The artillery of our foes began its deadly work. The report of our shrapnel bursting over the German lines, was supplemented by another sound, louder and close at hand. There would be a whizz, a crash and part of our advancing line would be covered by 26

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.v ,N L , 31.17. h .i .Di ,-L ,g . ., .. ...r ,.,.'. L10 :tin 'T O 28 THE RECORD 1918 EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1943 Produced By The Future Film Company Scenario by the Three Fates Then a sub-title appeared- JANUARY lsr, New YEAR's PARADE, PHILADELPHIA The parade was shown passing in review before a beautiful building, which I did not recognize until my companion whispered to me, That's the City Hall. The dedication exercises were shown in Reel 1941, The plans were drawn by Albert Dagit, who achieved great fame as an archi- tect on account of this building. As a matter of fact, he never did any famous work until his design for this building was accepted because of the pull he had with Mayor Sullivan. Of course, Sullivan had to order his plans accepted when he was put in power by Fred Rosenbloom, who was also a friend of Dagit. Rosenbloom has more political power in Philadelphia and has arranged the details of more corrupt elections than any other politician since the days of Mayor Smith. While I was listening to this, my attention was directed again to the screen by a close-up view of the reviewing stand. The Mayor was not present, but in his place sat another old friend, joe Bauer, who was Chairman of the Council committee on parades and Master of Ceremonies. I readily understood why he had been appointed to this exalted post. The work requires ability to preserve order in a crowd of rough-necks, and joe had received experience in this while presiding over class meetings at West Philly. Then the scene changed. A new title read: WAs1i1NGToN, D. C.--NEW YEAR's BALL AT WHITE HOUSE The grand ball-room was brilliantly illuminated. The great crowd was dancing to the inspiring music of a large orchestra. My guide informed me that it was the famous Heilman's Symphony Orchestra. As I looked at it more closely, I saw that much of the noise proceeded from the fiddle of my classmate Rose. I watched the crowd as it swung by. Resplendent in the dress uni- form of a general of the United States Army, I saw our old friend Sammy Friedman. The youngest full general in the Army, said the Blue Angel. He showed such ability in smashing lines that they sent him to smash . ' v aw., - -1, -.-' .-,' 5--Y.-'W 5 . A ....i,-. fi