THE BLACKBIRD
Friday, February 11, 1938
1
THE BLACKBIRD
TH7 BLACKBIRD, published monthly by the journalism classes of
Rocky Mount High School, Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Editor Frances Henry
News Editor Rebecca Barnhill
Assistant Editors Reece Thomas, Constance Sweeney
Sports Editor Melvin Clack
Feature Editor Carl Atkins
Business Manager Rose Wilson
Advertising- Manager Ella Mae Lane
Assistant Advertising Managers Mildred Thorp, Betty Knowles,
Eliabeth King.
Circulation Manager Haywood Taylor
Typists — Mary Ellen McAdams, Amanda Stilley. Marjorie Moore, Vernell
Elmore
Reporters — Nellie Noble, Tom Avera, Elizabeth Coleman, Mary E. Ezzelle,
De Lon Kearney, Lynnette Mangum, Ann Mitchell, Mildred Morris,
Georgine Hurphrey, Mary E. McAdams, Katie Vick, Margaret Woot
en, Dorothy Zimmerman, Vernon Baker, Norman Harper, Wilbur
Hyman, Frank Williams, Frank Holman, Thomas Easterling, Mary
Lee Daughtridge, Joyce Powell, Dick Bradham, Bettie Jacks, Hay
wood Taylor.
Faculty Adviser I^iss Hazel Griffin
POEMS
THE VALENTINE
Ky Reecb Thomas
Friday, February 11, 1988
HOW DO YOU STUDY?
How do you study? Do you have a definite place to study?
Do you have a. set time for studying? Do you review past
work? Can you study in the study halls? Can you concentrate?
Seventy-five students were asked these questions. You
ask yourself. Out of these students only twenty-eight had a
definite place to study. Fifty-seven studied in the family liv
ing room and the remaining eighteen studied anywhere they
could.
Out of the seventy-five questioned only 28 per cent had a
set time for studying and just 26 per cent stuck to the schedule.
Fourteen people.'reviewed the past work and twelve credited
thehiselves with the ability to concentrate.
The students were very emphatic about the study halls.
Only 44 per. cent were able to. study in the study halls. Many
reasons were g^ven for this small percentage. So
i-'hQ-tr ni*' YYiHrno't'Tzf^ iTftr.aiiSft Wt
Some said that
people to talk to and too much else to do. Others stated that
they couldn’t concentrate because they had rather move around
and the study hall had too many attractions. Some said that
students and teacher walking around annoyed them considera
bly.
How do you study and how many excuses can you find for
not studying?
LIBRARY ETIQUETTE
The thing that is wrong with the school hbrary is the
way the students use it, or rather, misuse it. Some students
u.se the library as a social period and as a time to let themselves
go. They u.so the library as a place in which to let that little
inner self come out and show off at its worst.
The biggest fault is the abuse of the books. Pictures are cut
out, pages torn and marked, and covers broken and ripped. The
magazines are torn, trampled on the floor, thrown out of the
windows, and even stolen from the shelves the minute they are
placed there.
Then some students are so selfish that they won’t allow
others to study. They talk, walk around loudly, run, and hold
light boxing and wrestling workouts every period.
There are besides these the show-offs. They like to attract
attention, regardless of what it takes to do it. They hang out
the windows, yelling at people passing on the street. Several
students were so energetic that they climbed on top of the
bookshelves and wrote their names on the ceiling, feeling sure
that this noble effort would attract the attention due to them
and would show their ability in the art of their ancestors.
The light shade is used as an ice bell and the chairs are tilt
ed backward until they reach the breaking point with some in
nocent student in them.
Now that these revelations appear in print, perhaps the
absurdity of the situation will be realized.
All frilly and lacy the Valentine
came
In a big’ white envelope without
any name;
'i’here were bows on each side and
a rose in the middle
And a funny pink cupid half-dressed
and little
Withsome arrows and a tiny silvery
bow
And a sweet, sugary verse written
below;
“Oh. how 1 love thee, sweetheart
of mine;
■‘Be thou this day my Valentine.'’
She read it and sig’hed to think
that she
Could ever have loved such a
lian as he
Who had taken her heart and
to.ssed it away.
Who had made of her love mere
childish play;
For as she had turned the beauti
ful heart,
She had seen on the back and read
with a start:
“Ne'er believe the lad who may
say,
‘Give me your love this Valentine
Day,’
For as surely as the sands of the
desert shall cool.
He will make of you only an
April’s Fool.”
ALUMNI
George B. Culberth, sophomore at
Duke University, won first place
the third annual beginners’ public
speaking contest. He spoke on the
topic, “Do College Men Satisfy?”
George was graduated from Rocky
Mount high school in 1936 and is
lowing the preministerial course at
Duke.
, Some well-known Rocky Mount
High graduates:
Kay Kyser, nationally known or
chestra leader
Bill Murray, coach at Children’
Home, Winston-Salem
Joe Epstein, physician, Philadel
phia
Arthur Lee Daughtridge, house phy
sician. Rocky Mount sanitarium
Ben Thomas, judge of recorder's
court. Rocky Mount
S. L. Arrington, attorney, Rbcky
Mount 4 ^ '"**4
BYed Hunt, dentist, Rocky Ik^unt
Jack Murchison, attorney. Rocky
Mount
If you know of others, send In the
news.
Buck Arrington has been included on
the dean’s honor list at Marion In
stitute and has been awarded a medal
because his scholastic record has aver-
ed better than 85.
Mason, a '37 graduate, who has
played for many weddings, recently
was married.
Mary Virginia Simerly ’37 gradu-
e, was recently initiated into the
Tri Sigma sorority at East Radford
College in Virginia. She was one of
only nine freshmen taken into this
society, which bases its members on
scholarship and leadership.
EXAMS
BEGIN RIGHT TO END RIGHT
All’s v/ell that ends well.” But it’s also true that every-
■■ thing that starts must have, an ending.
Don’t be satisfied if you were just pushed out the door be
fore they shut it last semester. This ig another beginning which
in about four months will have to take inventory again and
close shop. You want to make a profit this time, and you must
have discovered by now that you can’t keep borrowing from the
register and put it ail back the night before the check-up.
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today’’ be
cause “Tomorrow never comes.” Maybe these two quotations
were not meant to be associated, but their meaning in relation
to each other is truer than many a laggard would like to believe.
Certainly a mind that is either incapable or unwilling to
absorb information gradually does not have the capacity to
take in four and a half months’ work in one night or even a
week.
This is the spring semester, you know, and it’s much eas
ier to study now than after the “fever” gets in your bones.
Of all youth’s problems and abom
inations.
One of the worst is examinations.
At the end of each term there is
string intimation
That a million questions with no ap
plication
Are on their way to confuse educa
tion.
To publicize all lack of preparation.
To sweep out the cornesrs of pro
crastination—
A maze of reckoning with such com
plication
That despite unraveling and expla
nation
They threaten and often: postpone
graduation.
However, they do compel imagina
tion,
They also provide better conversa
tion
Than five or six stitches in an op
eration.
But I’m sure one could find better
recreation
Than learning the date of the “Dec
laration.”
Or the wars during Jackson’s admlu
istration.
Still for what must b^ there’s no
alteration, ;
When exam time corned no solicita
tion
Can put off the dreaded investiga
tion.
And if under fire you escaped devas
tation,
You’re a lucky.guy in my estima
tion.
—CONSTANCE SWEENEY
In Tallahas.see. B'lorida, a recent
survey shows that three-fourths o
the students and teachers that driv
to school prefer Chevrolets o
Fords.
Cold lion?
’Bout to freeze.
Want my coat?
-lu.sr the sleeves.
Full or empty?
Full please.
The Pointer—High Point, N. C.
In Boone. North Carolina, the Na
tional Honor Society has establish
ed a lost and found department for
the school.
-\s
feature of National Thrift
wouic in Dallas, a citizen offered a $200
university scholarship to the studnet
V'ho wrote the best essay on thrift.
Greenville High School has recently
instituted a system of student self-
government.
Freshman Luck
It
ten minutes before the bell
would ring in study hall. Freddy
Freshman shut his notebook with a
"bang” and turned to show his friend
the fine picture he had drawn of an
aeroplane. They were discussing this
matter when Teacher Sharp-Eyes
“cut in.” She informed Freddy that
if he didn’t keep his books,open until
the end of the period, he would keep
them open after school that evening.
Somewhat disdainfully, he turned to
his books, but not to study. For a
while he amused himself by making
faces at a boy across the room. He
gave this up immediately when he
caught the teacher’s eye upon him In
the midst of, what he considered, his
ver^ worst grimace.
“Only one minute,” observed FYed-
dy. “What makes that old clock so
slow, anyhow? Won’t t'he bell ever
ring? Maybe the hands are stuck.
Freddy’s thoughts were broken by
the bell, and he was the first person
out of the room When he reached the
end of the hall, he had to turn back.
He had forgotten his books.
PRYING PERCY
The ebony bird is advertising for
the identity of “Percy Seesall.” He
evidently is a man about school. And
he's clever in his ability to gather
news of no one’s concern. I’ll pass on
to you what he told me. Here ’tis:
Sa “raye” B, holds the spotlight in
the acting class—Shrimp is a liberal
guy with gum where “Blondie” Do
zier is concerned—Miss Hardy prefers
blondes too—Hilda H. is the only fe
male member of the large and fast
growing “Snaggle Tooth Club”—One
teacher thinks Val M. and Eddie M.
could make swellegent debaters (not
for the benefit of the debate coaches)
Billy Rawls, budding playwright, does
a one-act drammer entitled “The
Moonlight Murder on Mugwam Moun
tain” (his instructor suggested the
title). Billy Young thinks he is a sen
ior—he actually has the nerve to
march ouc of ihe auditorium with the
dignitaries (watch your step, Billy).
Does John Adams hrive the gout cr
did a cow step on h:s feet? “Scrappy
Gay” still likes the Wilson town—-
there isn’t much mo."e for Professor
Easterling to kn vw—he d better read
his horoscope —I thinjc it rea^Js
“trouble in his pat>i”—thanks Percy—
The seniors wanted some steps;
They cried, nagged and wailed.
The seniors got their steps
But now they might as well be jall-
For use them they will not.
Everyday on the steps you see
Juniors, Sophs, and Freshies.
And the Seniors, if you ask me
Are adorning the bring gym steps.
(Moral: What’s a privilage anyhow?)
A new innovation in the stage crew
—junior crew with some girls in it.
Why? To inspire what? Work? The
scenery? The boys? Uncle Will thinks
they’re a nuisance—Carl Atkins says
Valentine Verses
My poor heart goes “pit-a-pat,”
When I think about you;
If I could make your heart do
that,
'T would thrill me through and
through.
In honor of that good old Saint
Whose birthday we now celebrate
I send my love as lovers do
And all of it belongs to you.
You are the flower of my heart
And so of course it’s true
When thinking of a Valentine
I really want—just you.
I’d be happy as a king
My eyes with joy would shine
If you would only do one thing
That’s—be my Valentine.
Here’s my heart,
Ob, won’t you take it?
If you dont
You’ll surely break it.
Escort To The Door
Devices for escaping study
halls, like the poor, are “always
with us.” Some students make a
run for it while the teacher is not
looking; others sneak out behind
a little scrap of paper with a
doubtful signature on it.
One way that seldom misses is
to leave all one’s books in Iiis
locker and then assume the atti
tude of an irrespressibly studious
Intent (few teachers can resist a
well directed scholastic appeal).
Ingenious preparation in many
cases will do the trick, A call from
home or a stooge planted outside
the door usually dispels all suspi
cion.
Martin Bailey has a new tech
nique if it works.
The other day one of his fellow-
sufferers had somefiow wangled
permssion to leave study hall, and
Martin calmly rose and proceeded
to go with him.
“Martin, where are you going?”
demanded Miss Ledbetter.
“Going to let him out,” replied
Martin.
Alas! Just one more foot and
he would have been free. But not
one ounce of sympathy did he re
ceive from his unfeeling super-
“Go sit down over there,” or
dered Miss Ledbetter, “and I don’t
want to hear a squeak out of
youV’
J. D. Fisher isn’t chagrined when
reminded by a teacher that he be
longs in a cage—oh, no! He laughs
and keeps on singing about the brok
en-down merry-go-round. He contri
butes gladly to a Feeitatl(5lL.-JW^lieii .Jhe*
name Pluto was mentioned, he quick
ly contribuated “Why he’s Mickey
Mouse’s dog.”
Book of The Month
By Joyce Powell
THE NILE
Emil Ludwig’s latest biographical
contribution to literature, “The Nile”,
is considered one of the greatest un
dertakings attempted by any writer
of biographies. Mr. Ludwig calls
himself a painter of portraits and has
the ability to paint glowingly pictures
and scenes of history which are often
drably and unintsresiingly oftcred by
other biographers.
At the ago of fifteen Mr. Lud%vig
began his writing career with a play
in verse. T’or some fifteen years
Emil Jjudwig ‘ On.lnuul the dramatic
form of writing, but. at the age of
thirty he abandoned this and began
the writings which have made him
the most widely-iread biographer of
modern times. A score of his works
such as “Napoleon,” “Bismark,”
“Roosevelt”, have been translated Into
many foreign languages.
Upon seeing the Great Dam at As
wan in 1924, Ludwig first obtained
the idea of a biography of the J^ile,
the greatest river in history, written
i parable. For six thousand years
the stories of Solomon and the Queen
of Sheba; of Alexander the Great; of
the Ptolemies; of the Abyssinian slave
markets; of Caesar, Anthony, and
Cleopatra; of Stanley’s heroic discov
ery of Livingston and the Congo; of
Bonaparte; and innumerable other
heroes, adventures, and madmen who
have made up the glittering spectacle
which attended the Nile.
Ludwig’s volume, in spite of the
•aat number of historic scenes which
.re covered, is not weighted down
with dates or places. Lewis Gannett
of the New York Herald-Tribune says
it, “What a river! What a life
itory! Neither the Ganges nor the
Yangtze, the Amazon or our Mississip
pi carries such a flood of story with
its water—^The Nile is, I think, Emil
Ludwig’s best book.”
BONERS
A period is a dot at the end of sen
tence. Period costumes are dresses
all covered with dots.
Milton wrote “Paradise Lost’; then
his wife died and he wrote', “Para
dise Regained.”
Name three tragedies written by
Shakespeare, “Macbeth,” “King Lear”,
and “Twelve Nights in a Bar Room.”
mountain range is a cooking
stove used at high altitudes.
A cat is a quadruped, the legs, as
usual, being at the four corners.
The plural of ox is oxygen.