Biddeford High School - Olympian Yearbook (Biddeford, ME)

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THE OLYMPIAN one say, I did not vote in the last elec- tion-I did not have the time. Oh, well -l'm no politician. That is what peo- ple said in Germany, that is, prior to l933. Now they are saying-those who are still alive- Heil, Hitler! The second step deals with living in the American way. If it is a distinct privilege to help make the laws, it is an even greater privilege to help carry them out. The ideals set forth in our Constitu- tion should be before us every moment of our lives. inspiring us to be decent, happy, law-abiding citizens. Living in the American way means more than obey- ing the law, however. It means being tolerant, kind, and charitable. It is tragic, but true, that these three words have rather an old-fashioned ring today. The third step is the most difficult, and therefore the one we are prone to neglect. lf we desire to build a perma- nent structure for democracy. we must exterminate the termites. XV e must wipe out all un-American organizations. True, this is a free country, and everyone is entitled to tree speech. But there is no room for Bunds and Anti-this and Anti- that Leagues. lN'e cannot prevent them from existing, but we can spread a net- work of truth. even as they spread their insidious network of lies, and thus hght tire with fire. VVe want no isms in our land ot liberty. VV e want no menace to our happy lives. This, then, is the challenge: To make our country a shining inspiration to us and to the peoples of the world who turn to us for guidance since they have no other place to turn. Can we do it? It is no longer a question of ability. XVC llltlif do it. if we are to survive after this dark period. VVhen peace comes, as it some day must, and democracy triumphs over dic- tatorship, as with the grace of God it some day will, we will be able to say to tired, war-ridden people. Lay down your guns forever. lN'e will show you the road to 'lit'e, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. MORRTLL SHAPIRO, '-ll FORGET NOT YET Forget not yet the work we've done, The battles lost, the battles won By hours of study sadly spent- Forget not yet. Forget not yet Ben Ionson's tale, Nor that by Lovelace when in Jail. O udge not harshly! VVhen thou ,rt able, Please forget. Forget not yet the long essays, The cruel test, the hard earned praise VV e did not get,- Forget not yet. Forget not yet, oh forget not please H ow hard we struggled with all these. Our minds have ever been ElllllSS-- This, please forget l CLARA VVALLACE, '40 l44l

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THE CJLYMPIAN cgileftctfijf gDefpc1rl411e411Lf . . . TODAYSCHALLENGET lN'GOVER The year 1940 is in its infancy. Not many days ago, we ushered it in with gay celebrations. VV e said, Happy N ew Year! to one another, and our voices were loud and boisterous. VV e were very jubilant. VVhy not? Do we not have our health and our youth and our lives stretching before us, a thrilling panorama of promise? And do we not live in America? Do we not enjoy that great- est of all blessings, liberty? Yes, we were very gay---and with reason. Yet, under- lying the gaiety was a vein of sadness that we felt almost against our will. VVc know that there are other people in other lands who did not celebrate the birth of another year. For them. there can be no celebrations. They do not go about exchanging happy greetings. They do not even smile, let alone laugh and be merry. For they are at war, and war is a grim business. The thought of these millions of un- fortunate people-many of them children -has an insidious way of intruding upon the senses. and casting a blanket of gloom over the brightest moments. True. we are still in school, but we know what is going on. There is no government cen- sorship here. Newspapers and radio keep us well informed. lt is impossible to shut our minds to world events, and we must recognize the responsibility which confronts us, the youth of America, the future law-makers of this country. l.et us analyze this responsibility. It is not enough to realize that the world is in chaos. VVe must go further and find the cause underlying the present condition. In order to do this, it be- comes necessary to go back a few years to 1933. An Austrian paperhanger has just come into power in Germany, and strange things are beginning to happen. XVe hear stories so horribly fantastic, so QJAMERHLUQYUUTH: NMENT incredibly gruesome, that we refuse to believe them. Vtlho is this man Hitler? XVbat is all this talk about Nazis, concen- tration camps, and Non-Aryans? It must be exaggerated! Such things don't happen in a civilized world! The Ger- mans will not stand for it! We soon learned dinierently. Things were happening-savage, bestial things. And the Germans were standing for it. More than that-they were voicing their approval, The rest of the world shrugged its shoulders and said, Nothing to be alarmed about-it will pass. That was ten years ago. Since that fateful january thirtieth, when Hitler be- came Chancellor of the Reich, the world has seen many changes. Now Europe is embroiled in a war, because they learned --a little late-that a lllilfllllllll with a Napoleonic complex must be stopped. They do not laugh at him any more. There is no shrugging of shoulders, no saying. 'fit will pass. Over here in America, we watch the conflict with anxoius eyes. VVe are neu- tral. Our sentiments are with democ- racy and personal liberty. of course, but as a nation, we take no sides. And, as we watch, we are aware of a challenge- a challenge that we cannot and must not ignore. lt is up to us to build a struc- ture of truth a11d justice and democratic ideals that will be a standard for the whole world to follow. It will not be easy to accomplish this, but it mu be done. The first step is education. Vtfe must educate every American to appreciate the privilege of having an active voice in his government. The right to vote is not negligible, and should be treated as an honor, rather than as a mere annoy- ing obligation. Too often we hear some- H

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THE OLYMPIAN THEIHG Personally. il feel there is no reaction comparable to that produced after hav- ing had one's first glance at a pig. His skin reminds one of a slightly bald, old man with a pink scalp and scurvy. His coarse, sparsely sprinkled white bristles come nowhere near covering up his ter- rible complexion. And his eyes! l.ong. sandy colored lashes, shading little squint eyes that seem. as l remember them. to be blue. lmagine a pig having blue eyes! His snout has a wet end and looks like a sawed-oti' elephants trunk that has been doused in water and then rubbed in gar- bage, The only pleasant thing about a pig's appearance is his tail. XVouldn't we women be pleased if our tresses were as permanently curled as the pig's rear appendage! lt gives the general effect of a corkscrew thumb-tacked onto his derriere. The only other thing that meets the eye is the pig's home. Knee deep mud. a messy trough hlled with milady's waste, mixed with some kind of grain and warm water. His home is a low-rooted but with a gloomy interior and old torn potato sacks to stuff the ehinks and soften his nightly repose. However. seeing a pig is nothing com- pared to smelling him! The odor is im- possible to describe. but its eHeets are a sullocating, nauseated 'feeling followed closely by a great desire to go home and have a bath. The table manners ot a pig are deplor- able. VX-'hy even an experienced social reformer like Emily Post would stand no chance with him! 'Whether he has a mouth or draws his delectable meal up through his nasal protrusion. I do not know: but whatever his table technique may be, a11d whether he masticates his food thoroughly or not, he makes a tas- cinating sound. described in animal books as slurp. slurp, slurp, ugh g the ugh denoting deep satisfaction. Think of all the uses he is put to! His dirty white bristles do the most talented things when fashioned into an artist's paint brush. His filthy boots, delicately Havored by years of mud wallowing, are carefully pickled and eaten. His tongue is, according to those who have known its epicurean delight. a real delicacy. He makes roast pork. ham. bacon, Vork- chops, and glue fthe glue coming from his bones, as does a certain something which goes to make gelatin jelll. He also makes tasty sausages. hot dogs. and smoked shoulders. His school girl skin is tanned and fashioned into shoes, bags. jackets. and footballs-no, not tootballs, l stand corrected. His salt pork goes into our Saturday night beans. No doubt there is some use for his tail: it there isn't, some genius will find one. But worst of all, imagine worshipping one! A dirty, smelly creature with an annoying grunt! VVell the Chinese and Hindus do! lX'lARGAR12T BIQECROFT, '40 OCTOBER l like the month of October. The month of falling leaves. The wind howling round the windows, And whistling through the trees. The leaves on the trees turn bright colors, And slowly fall to the groundg And some blow about in the cold w1ndy ai r, Making a rustling sound. Tniziznsa BOURQUE, '42 I4