Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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if rs gfiff f 6 w r Y . . 2 +1 I WWW? 1 A SWTVQYIM It gg i 1 if t4 11 ml- . in-fl ' L fr - v MA I, ,. VZ- has this worker toiled throughout his life. It can be said truthfully that Edison, by his achievements in the field of invention, has done more than any other worker in that field, to promote universal brotherhood. The Youth of America, sending its message of brotherly love to all nations, can be personified by the birdman of the world, Lindbergh. America, how- ever, can no longer claim Lindbergh as her own. Every nation of the World now hails him as brother and joys in his wonderful achievements. Indeed, he has blazed a new trail to the realization of a more perfect brotherhood of nations, and it is for the future workers of this world to widen and develop that trail into a broad and peaceful highway. . LANGUAGE STUDY AND WORLD PEACE By FREDERICK S. SPURR I: 'ia little education is a dangerous thing, it does not neces- QF, sarily follow that more would be fatal. We are reminded of the Irishman who decided to settle the question as to whether feather pillows were comfortable. Wishing to try out the idea gradually, he slept all night on a single feather placed upon a stone. On awalcing with a violent headache, he saicl, Be- gorry! If that's what one feather does, what would a whole pillow full do? When we see the havoc wrought by a single idea, we sometimes wonder what a whole head full would do. Probably, like the pillow, they would result in comfort and sanity. Just as in our thoughts about things, we get distorted values through ignorance and partial knowledge, so in our imperfect acquaintance with people, we get prejudice and misunderstanding. In Silas lVlarner's day, those of one English village were suspicious and hostile toward those of another, just as the little Greek city-states had been hostile to one another two thousand years before. During the past century, however, more advance has been made in international communication than in all the centuries preceding. The rail- road, steamship, automobile, telephone, telegraph, wireless, and radio have fig linked distant realms more closely than towns of the same century once were bound together. An old gentleman born on the Isle of Man tells me that in his boyhood the language of that island was quite distinct from that of neighboring England, and a middle-aged Frenchman says that in his youth he learned three dialectic or village words for cat before he heard the correct word, chat But such conditions are rapidly disappearing, and not only are the people of one section of a country in communication with those of another, but distant lands are conversing across oceans and hitherto impene- trable mountain ranges and deserts. Twenty-six

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on : g f-if f ww ww- I n 27 , .smgyh aff, rx 4. in W . as ' u,. ,.4'v':2': .. ,, .X . B, 9 1, H M -1 ii I , 4, A I 41, .JV . In , , - . . 1 4 A I1 gt g- ,-fi Q ,: X. n cf s P lf-'i f rr' ' E- L Christ in plain and simple language laid down His rule of life and brother- hood: Love thy neighbor as thyself. I-low simple a rule it seems when read but how hard a one to keep. Man had not yet reached the stage where he was able to understand fully so superb a doctrine. It was necessary for other workers to develop with the ages to help a blind world see the light. For eleven centuries brotherly love was hidden in the darkness of hatred and strife. ln the twelfth century, however, a glimmer of light penetrated this darkness, for St. Francis of Assissi, the brother of all men, had joined the ranks of the workers. Under the leadership of St. Francis, there sprang up an organization of men, who thought not of their own comfort and joys, but whose sole purpose in life was to give comfort to the weak and despised. Love and the brotherhood of man, Love and the fellowship of God, were the torches they bore through the World. A Many years passed between that time and ours, but each age had its workers who were forever striving to help man learn to live in peace with his fellowman. During the Middle Ages, such men as Martin Luther and Savonarola devoted their lives to the cause of humanity. ln the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Galileo and Newton in the field of science, and Milton, Wordsworth, and Burns in the field of literature, strove to better their race. ln our own great country, during the last century, we have an example of what lack of the spirit of brotherhood can do: the Civil Warg brother fighting against brother, and for what reason? Because man could not hold his brother man in slavery without demoralizing himself and his country. To Abraham Lincoln, however, every man was a brother, regardless of color, race, or creed. The beauty of his character, the broadness of his mind, and the high-souled purpose of his life made of him the man for the ages. He took from his nation the shame of slavery and gave her in its stead the gift of four million free men, who were to help the white race learn more fully the lesson of brotherhood. But a white man alone could not lift the negro from the depths of a slave to the heights of a man. It took a negro himself to accomplish this task. Booker T. Washington, born a slave, did more to bring about a feeling of friendliness and brotherhood between the white race and his race than did any other man. Perhaps in this modern day of ours We would be prone to lose sight of the progress which man is making toward universal brotherhood. Nor do we often stop to think of the men who are making this progress possiblep in this very day and age, however, there are men who have devoted all their efforts to the purpose of making the lives of their fellowmen more beautiful. From among these workers Thomas A. Edison may be chosen as one of the greatest. All his life has been spent in perfecting, and putting into operation the idle day dreams of other men. For his less fortunate brothers Twenty-five

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2 ' V. Ffa YF I A V zfv B T! V ff' H 122'-4221 H, , f n fuk 1 f --f ' rf to 1 ,QQ ,L J J H -Nan Q 5 4 W 5 A : iQf'A --- , Y - In ,XI ' Y Now to keep pace with this progressive movement and gain an intelligent, reasonable attitude toward our neighbors on this tiny planet, we must be able to understand them and make them understand us. It is for this reason that the League of Nations has urged the various members to teach and learn the others' languages. Probably the Franco-Prussian War would have been impossible if the two peoples involved had understood enough German and French respectively to enable them to penetrate the false and ambitious designs of their rulers. Let us, then, seek to understand the thoughts and motives of our fellow- men by acquainting ourselves with the spoken and written symbols by which their ideas are conveyed. We shall conclude with David Harum that there is as much human nature in some folks as there is in others, if not more. Even the traits that seem most repulsive will be less obnoxious if we grasp the viewpoint. When we learn, for example, that the Spaniard uses the pfoceeds from bull fights to further the work of the societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals we shall be less aghast at his cruelty than amused by his childlike simplicity. Doubtless, all have read the French story of the innkeeper and his wife who were planning to butcher some fowls, and whose conversation frightened their young and timid lodgers. So likewise, if we could know more of the actual meaning of other peoples, we should comprehend that they are usually busy not in dark and sinister plots against us, but in plans for the honest advancement of their own race and promotion of its welfare. Without in the least diminishing our loyalty and patriotic devotion to our own country, let us be in addition to being national patriots, citizens of the world, in the true sense of Socrates. To do this, we must learn to speak intelligently and to understand clearly the languages of our fellow Earth dwellers. I ' -rm --F mr ' 4 -jj. n V' 1' , 1 Q J s .... ,,,.. , QQQ,.3 .,j ...I .. , .A Twenty-seven