Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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18 OUT-DIRE THE BLIND BOY. XX'hat are the visions of the sight? Uh, tell this poor blind boy! I cannot see the sun or light, Hr things which you enjoy. You think I am not satisned, llecause I cannot see: llut l've a sense of touching, Xkhich is so good to ine. 'l'hev say the trees are tall and green, 'llhe grass is soft and low? lint I ean't see a single tlnng, llecause trod made me so. Uh, bark! I hear the whippoorwill, Ile sings in meadows lowi I cannot reach his feathery breast, lint I love his notes you know. I hear the humming' of the bee Xkhieh buzzes round the roseg I smell the vining eglantine, Into whose depths it goes. I hear the flowing uf the brook, I feel the cooling tlrop. Xkhich to my heart brings a desire, 'l'hat I could my eyes unlock. Some day when I shall leave this land For that of Une above, My vision will return to me Iiecause uf llis great love. 12. it. s., wg. CLASS PROPHECY. Une day a few weeks after the commence- ment ol -lnne the ninth, nineteen hundred and fifteen, l was wandering lonelv as a cloud along a deserted countrv road, overhung by tall trees which nearly hid the skv from mv view. M - -- w Alo tht ltlt. velvety green meadows, trim with daisies pied, sloped to a 'Rliinpletl brook. lo the right a grove iinpassable for binsh s under ' . , , hellered many featherv creatures whose songs lloated out to 1110 gtg l 511-011k-I1 'It A ll te! tug. I, wondering what the next ten or tif- N I i year: tx iuld bring to mv classmates, sud- denly noticed a large, thick, black lt , 'ather-bound book lying on the road before me. 4 Jn engines it . - ' . ,S my cr ll 1 ' 'Vrsity was aroused to know what was in this volume and from whence it had come. So I picked it up and, opening at the Hy leaf, read these words, I, San Verite, a wizard and soothsayer, unknown to you, but nevertheless ix orld-famous and knowing you all intimately, dedicate this book to the Senior Class of 1915 of the XYinchester School. This was rather surprising, but undeniably interesting, so I sat down on the grass be- side the road and proceeded to read farther. 'IX few days ago, in the manner known only to the chosen members of the High Qccult, I beheld while in a trance, the members of your class within the next fourteen or sixteen years. .X great change had taken place. The Gods were not meagre when they dealt out the tal- ents to vou: for art, music, literature, politics, science, I and many other branches of the world's work, have been benefited by your con- tributions. You have occupied many high po- sitions and executed your duties very well, fully carrying out your school motto, 'Candide Xlodo, Ifortiter Ref Now, having compli- mented you enough to soothe any rufded feel- ings, let me proceed to relate the visions of my trance. I turned the page. First, an attractive dining room, Hooded by a bright wintry sun, passed before me, in the center of which was a table surrounded by seven or eight children whose faces rivaled the sun's in brightness and happiness. .-X wom- an, seated at the head of the table, was heard expostulating, 'Childrenl Children! Mary Anne, john, lflizabeth, George, I'Ienrv it i' s . D . nearly a quarter after eight. I'Iurry to get your wraps lon or you will surely be late. No, George, you cannot have another watiie, three are more than enough for any little boy. Now lly and run all the way or you will not keep up mother's reputation for being at school at least twenty-live minutes before it openedf .Xh, girls, you well remember Matilda, for this motlier was she, and none other, seated at her table in the Seniors corner busily pursuing the Goddess of Learning before some of you had yet even greeted Aurora. I passed to one of the busiest streets of busy New York. XYhat was that huge building on my left? At risk of life and limb I crossed and read over the door 'The Love School of Illocntionf Upon entering I found myself in a very large auditorium, at least eighty feet long by forty feet wide. I heard very distinct- ly some words spoken by a person at the farthest end of the hall. She was going through a very affecting scene of a new play for the benefit of a large company of young, but agpir-

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our-DIRE I7 the death of jo, the crossing sweeper, cry and cry hard. Your eyes may smart, and your nose may be red afterwards, but you will feel better in the end, and the real world will seem brighter in comparison. To illustrate the humorous side of Dickens Dr. Burton read two selections, one from David Copperfield, the other from the Christmas Carol. The first told of how little David ran away to Dover to seek his only aunt, Miss Betsy Trotwood, a Spinster of spinsters, and how she received him. Hungry and footsore, sunburned and covered with dust, David appeared in her garden and revealed his identity, thereupon causing the old lady to fall over backwards very suddenly. .-Xfter she had recovered herself and said Mercy on us a great many times and had made many hor- rified remarks over his very soiled appear- ance and his mistake over being a mere boy instead of Miss Betsy Trotwood Copperhcld, jr., she led him into the neat little parlor of the spick and span house. But in one short t ?l essay it is impossible to tell of how David was dosed with salad dressing and anchovy sauce and how the donkeys had to be shooed off the grass plot in front of the house. Let it suffice that Mr. Dick was called into consultation, and that very wisely Mr. Dick suggested a bath. We draw the curtain there, as did Dr. liurton. The scene changes, and we, in company with Old Scrooge, are transported to llob L'rachit's home for a Christmas diimer. The whole fame ily is there, and all very busy, Mrs. Craehit engaged in basting the goose and in testing the pudding, and the younger Crachits of all ages engaged in setting the table, controlling their appetites and generally getting underfoot. Tiny Tim is here too. with his pitiful little crutch and his cheerily pitiful little smile. Ah! Dinner is served, The goose is brought in and is eaten, we might say devoured, until there is absolutely nothing left but the bones, and I have no doubt they are well polished off. .Xhl again. The blazing, steaming pudding, with a sprig of holy in the top, is borne aloft, leav- ing a trail of blue tire behind! XYell, it is too delicious to imagine. XYith such a pleasant taste in our mouth, or rather in our imagination, Dr. llurton brought his lecture to a close. The spell was broken, the enchantment ended. Dr. llurton earnest- ly entreated us that very night to go to the book ease, and start one uf Dickens' novels, ff we did this we would be sure to finish it, and would be amply repaid. l did. Did you? M. ri. n. 15. 'l M s s .I sa--. as - X XQZTTQQQ Q ivxw -i LUN i M - ... A 2522 f' 'SN5 ' -1-ff' T- -X ' ' in f,l?h+'ic . ,f 5 - -112.5 Y-Q v V f e Q. fb .QIil - .rsfag-1:-,,,. 7 ' '-'

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OUI- DIRE IQ ing future actors and actresses there assem- bled. Xhiith no little ditiiculty, but by the aid of powerul opera glasses, I made out the person of the words and actions to be Edna. Then came a comfortable wainscoted li- brary, softly and artistically lighted by a few tall lamps. Covering the walls from floor to ceiling were book-cases filled with a large and miscellaneous collection of books falling to pieces with hard usage, books nearly all in the La-tin tongue, evidently belonging to one who might study deeply into the foundation of that language. In a winged chair under one of the lamps, before a cracking tire, sat Flora, and as I glanced over her shoulder I saw that she was reading in the original Latin, a volume of D 6 Catullus. I found myself wafted over the threshold of a large brilliantly lighted house. I had evi- dently come upon a musical, for on entering I saw a young lady seated at the piano and listened to one of the sweetest, most delightful selections it has ever been my fortune to hear. streams, of green meadows, of the lark and of verdant It told of gurgling of the sweet song forests. The audience was enraptured and called for other selections. For the life of me I could not tell who she was until she began to play that enchanting piece, 'Beautiful Ladyf and I recognized Mary Caroline Hogg. At length to the far and fortune-giving west I was borne, where I discovered Kather- ine Reed, alone and unaided, managing a cat- tle ranch. The meat from her animals was renowned the world over: indeed, it had nearly replaced the entire importation of beef from South America. She owed her success to the cultivation of the cactus plant of whose nu- tritious value you were apprised in her paper of not so long ago. Over miles and miles of desert, which she had redeemed, her cattle ranged far and wide. growing fat and yielding abundant revenues on cultivated cactus. Back again to Broadway, and lo, blazing in front of me in high electrical letters was 'Elinor Johnston' .in Iiernard Shawls latest play! I was too late to obtain a seat, but for Five dollars was permitted to stand at the back. The house was packed and well it might be, for your fair 'Ophelia' was interpreting her favorite dramatist in such an altogether new and charming manner that she was quite the hit of the season on the 'Great VVhite VVay.' I entered the lecture hall of the Carnegie Museum rand heard the most convincing lec- ture to which I have ever listenedg the subject was 'The Futility of the Study of Latin be- yond Yirgil, and Mathematics beyond Algebra for Girls' Although the heads of all the greatest girls' colleges were prcsent-includ- ing those of Vassar, lliellesley and Smith- hlosephine soon convinced these august person- ages of these facts. From that day forth girls need waste their time no longer on such men as llorace, I,ivy, and on that terrible bugbear, l,atin Prose. Xo longer need they stumble through Geometry, attempting to prove by a dozen theorems or more that a straight line is a straight line when they knew from the beginning it was so. Girls the world over re- gard Professor Josephine Ifleckel with grati- tude untold and will adore and worship her to their dying day for the way in which she has made life more bearable to youth. A new study had just been added to the curriculum of the XYinchester School, name- ly, 'Saving Secondsf It was a very wonderful subject dealing with the value of time. How many precious minutes did you girls thought- lessly lose gazing with vacant stare out of the window or keeping up a continual buzz of con- versation with your neighbor? Now, the girls begin their studies without a niinute's delay, continuing them uninterruptedly. Each girl with intent and hastening footsteps seeks to 'till the unforgiving minute with sixty sec- onds worth of distance run,' and the programs run like clockwork. Truth Dinns, who was renowned for her valuation of time even in the days of 1915, proves a very eHicient person to instruct the young minds in so important Zi theme. The capitol of l'ennsylvania appeared be- fore ine. As we all know, that was one of the last to obtain equal franchisement. and so, the present year was the first in which a woman had been elected to the governorship. Desir- ing very much to behold the lady in all her glory, I sought the Hall of State and found seated in the executive chair none other than Mary Tener. lVell might the former Governor of your prosperous state look with pride upon his niece and say, 'She is more than competent- ly carrying out the precept established by her forbearsf and the 'omnipotens et amans ex ex- ecutive ardet.' You might well have known that your 'En- fant I'henomenon' would indeed live up to her appellation. I happened upon her surrounded by girls of all ages and sizes seated beside the campfire. From various remarks made and from the title 'Toway-am,' which she was