William Penn High School - Memories Yearbook (New Castle, DE)

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OPEN RIVER ' f Continued 1 Larry secured work at the mill as a common laborer for the summer months. It was hard work but at the arrival of winter he had saved two hundred dollars. As Larry finished work the coming of the winter brought him into the open road once more while the other boys enter' cd colleges and other institutions on their way to a career. Larry's future seemed blank. 1 One day while mailing a letter at the Post Oflice for his Mother he noticed a poster telling young men that they were offered the oppor- tunity to be trained as merchant marines. Larry's thoughts strayed back to the open river and almost automatically responded by writ' ing a letter for further information. After re- ceiving a favorable answer he boarded a train to Philadelphia. Larry passed all the qualificaf tions and was soon one of the cadets aboard the United States School Ship Annapolis receiving training as a merchant marine. It wasn't long before the two year course had been completed. He had made a few voyages down the open river into the sea and into some foreign lands with the schooner. As the vessel made its return journey it passed Larry's home' town and he saw the boys playing near the river as he had done not many years ago. When the ship returned to Philadelphia Larry was grad' uated and once again into the world on his own. This time he was qualified to work at the job which had been his life ambition. lt wasn't long before he secured work and sail- ed down the open river into the adventure of the great beyond. This lad worked hard at this work. After many years of hard steady work he had reached the top of the ladder for he was now Captain Tailor and no longer just plain Larry . He had seen lhe seven seas, met people of all nationalities, eiiperienced the roughest of weather, and braved many dangers. Larry had been to Honolulu, Calcutta, Tripoli, Murmanski, Monte' video, Shanghai, Singapore, Dutch Harbor, Pearl Harbor, and hundreds of other foreign ports. His eyes witnessed famine in the far East, thirst in Africa, adventure in South America, experif enccd isolation at the poles, and rejoiced when' ever he returned to America. Captain Larry Tailor had to retire because of old age. His last trip was made in an old vessel which also was to be drydocked when it reached Philadelphia. As the vessel passed the captain's hometown tears of joy rolled down the old man's cheek. Captain Tailor returned to his former home and had a new cabin built next to the river with all the comforts of a mod' ern home but as typical of the sea as it could possibly be. It must have done Captain Tailor heap of good as he watched the children play' ing along the shores of the river, the seagulls in the air, and any number of boats sailing down the Open River into the great beyond. ANGELO D1 GmoLAMo Class of '40 Make-Up The present day is quite different From the past that has gone before Today a girl who would be beautiful Wears creams and makefup galore. Her dresser is all a clutter With bottles and jars thrown about But what they all are used for Ask her to figure out! Naihpolish, rouge, and lipstick All in a bright red hue And when the styles have changed a bit Another shade is due. Her powder and her beauty creams To say nothing of perfume Are quite necessary to obtain That charming girlish plume. Now if nature has provided us With a face which doesn't look quite right just buy a little make-up And re'model it overnight. But when it comes to the young man With his elegance and vim ' Perhaps the girl won't stick to make'up As much as the make-up will stick to him! By ANN PLATT Grade 9

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Delusions' of Grandeur Open River LD MISS EVEN-,climbed -slowly up the cracking steps of her tenement house. She, the once famous Lillian Even, had been the toast of New York and Paris and in her days a wonderful actress. Up the stairs she trudged to dream of the tatters of her career. Settling down in a shabby old morris chair she let her mind wander.-Tonight was the preview of her latest show. People were lingering in the lobby, the women in orchids and magnificent furs, the men trim in their dress clothes. The music during intermission finished and the curtain went up on the third act. The actors went through their parts, but none stood out as well as she. The curtain fell and with it a thunder of applause. 4 , 6 H Friends went back stage and with urgent con- gratulations practically carried her out to a wait' ing carriage and on to the latest club. The play was in an uproar. Was not Lillian Even there? She was dancing faster and faster and faster. With this Miss, Even got up and whirled madly around the room with her image ined gown around her. Faster, faster, faster. The pain! That old familiar pain tugging at her breast. Her trembling old hands clutched at it holding it back. Swifter and swifter she whirled. Slowly she sank dead. A picture of forgotten grandeur. LEoNA WRIGHT Achievement If we had power to renew, When boyhood fades, the morning dew Which keeps the bud of youth so fresh. Cleansing the spirit and the flesh, If smiles prevailed and never tears Dimmed the procession of the years, We could not reach, unchecked by strife. , The smallest mountain peak of' life. NICKEY NICHOLS Grade 9 wi OATS! Boats going up the river and boats going down the river. From childhood days Larry Tailor had seen these tramp steamers come and go in the open river. Most of his spare time was spent along the waterfront securf ing nautical knowledge. You would often see Larry rowing a boat or swimming, but most of his spare time was spent watching the steam' ers pass by his town. The figure of this young lad could be seen many times at night in the moonlight as though he 'were a part of the open river. The large steamship would come down the river past Larry's quiet town, around the bend in the channel, fading into infinity as they con' tinued the next hundred miles of river before venturing into the perils of the deep. Larry the open great ad' often dreamed of the ports beyond river and wanted to experience this venture. Could it be Singapore or Shanghai that the very vessel he was looking at might make its next port? The sea often holds its secrets thus that would never be disclosed. Dreams sometimes appear to youth and Larry was no exception to this rule. His dream and ambition was to follow the paths of the sea into foreign lands, working to an officer's position on a vessel, and returning home in his old age to tell of it. The Tailor family moved to a little town in western Pennsylvania in the Morgabella Valley while Larry was still a sophomore in high school. His father worked at a steel mill next to the Morgabella river. This stream was only fifty yards wide and navigated by flat coal barges. These barges had peculiar paddle wheels in the back and sometimes on the sides. They received a cargo of steel or coal and transported it to nearby- towns along the river. Larry's intercst was not subjected to these crafts and this place was hundreds of miles away back in the open river where the tramp steamers navigated into the freedom of the seas past his beautiful hometown. As Larry Tailor graduated from high school anything but gloom presented itself. He had tried ever so hard but work on a tramp steam- ers could not be obtained by an inexperienced worker. Then, with his father's influence, fContinued on next pagej