Mount Penn Lower Alsace Joint High School - Penn Alma Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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There are a number of advantages which the educated man has over the uneducated man. The educated man stands much higher in his community than the uneducated man. His opinion is respected and his advice is sought by many. He takes an active part in civic government and is one of the leaders of his community. His power to do good is almost unlimited. As a creator of public opinion he is a great asset to his community. He wishes his community to improve and approves of plans which will advance it. If a new water system or the erection of a new public building is contemplated, he does not hesitate to support it. When a fire occurs, the educated citizens remain calm and try to prevent panics. The educated man is a good citizen. He obeys the laws. He does not wantonly destroy property, because he realizes the folly of it. He votes at all the elections and his choice is always intelligently made. He also is a man of culture and refinement. He is able to appreciate art. He is acquainted with the works of the world’s best writers, and, while he may not he a good musician himself, he is able to appreciate good music. An uneducated man may, in a measure, appreciate good literature and music, and he may he a leading citizen in his community, hut he will not have nearly so good an opportunity as the educated man has to he a leader and to he successful in life. From the financial point of view the educated man has a still greater advantage. The educated man starts out in his life work with a high salary and has an excellent chance for advancement, while the uneducated man is forced to start with poor wages and has no chance of advancement. For example, the average earnings of 150 men who did not finish grammar school were $500 per year. The average earnings of 166 men who finished grammar school were $1,250. This was taken in 1909 and the men were 30 years of age. The salaries of the educated men were likely to increase .after they had reached 30 years of age, while those of the uneducated were not likely to change. Therefore, the amount gained by remaining in school was quite substantial. The difference between the grammar school graduate and the high school graduate is also very great. For the first year the grammar school pupil, then 14 years of age, will earn on an average of $4 per week. He will receive a raise in salary each year, and when he is 18 will receive $7 a week. The high school pupil graduates when 18 and starts at $10 per week. By the time both are 25 the grammar school graduate will earn $12.75 per week and the high school graduate $31 per week. By adding the amounts earned by each during this period of time it will be found that the high school graduate has earned over $2,000 more than the other, even if the four years in high school have not been added. In 1913 the United States Bureau of Education compiled the following statistics: Uneducated laborers earn on an average of $500 per year for 40 years, a total of $20,000. High school graduates earn on the av erage of $1,000 per year for 40 years, a total of $40,000. This education required 12 years of 10S days each, a total of 2,160 days in school. If 2,160 days at school add $20,000 to the income for life, then each day in school adds $9.25. The child that stays out of school to earn less than $9 a day is losing money and not making money. Besides, employment is always more easily obtained by the educated men and women. The employer of today wants an intelligent applicant in preference to an ignorant one. Many people say that they do not see why they should send their children to school when they can earn money in a factory. But did you ever stop to think that the wages of children are low and the work unsteady? Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is far better to keep the children in school. An uneducated person is prevented from becoming one of the big men of today. In former times the self-made man was very popular, hut today, with so many complicated conditions in business, it takes an educated man to hold his own with the leaders. Page Twenty-three

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and all help in conserving. The waste of our natural resources is appalling. Let us take the forests. The forests may he wasted by fires, careless logging, sawing, tapping of trees, insects and also by not clearing the forests properly when cutting trees. About one-fourth of the standing timber is lost in careless logging, from one-third to two-thirds in in sawing and about one-fifth in tapping for syrup and various other substances. The damage done by insects is very great. In every thousand feet of lumber, which stand in the forest, 680 feet are wasted. One of the greatest menaces is fire, which may he caused by locomotives, campers, forest trampers and lightning. Since 1870 $50,000,000 worth of timber are destroyed yearly by fire The government does a great deal in the conservation of our natural resources. A Bureau of Forestry has been established. This bureau has taken over more than two hundred great forests from the Mexican to the Canadian border. Its rangers are sent out all over the country, where they keep on the lookout for forest fires, which are immediately extinguished. This bureau also gives advice as to the wise use of forests and how to make them more productive. Nearly all states have forestry departments of their own. All this is very important, as few people real ize the importance of forests and the harm that may come through their destruction. Trees regulate the water supply and prevent floods. They also keep the land fertile. By far the greatest use is for building purposes and for fuel, as well as beauty. Water, though it may not he exhausted entirely, is shamefully wasted. Streams are polluted through carelessness. Water power to the amount of 30,000,000 horsepower is lost yearly. The government has also established boards for the regulation of water power and for the constructing of reservoirs at the heads of rivers to control floods and drought. The most important uses of water are for power, irrigation, navigation and domestic purposes. By the wise use of our water resources freight rates may become cheaper, flood damages will be reduced, deserts irrigated, fuel saved and railroad congestion relieved. The wealth of our country in underground resources, such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron and many other metals, is very great. These resources can never he replaced and therefore must he used wisely so as to prolong the supply. For every ton of coal mined a half ton is wasted. This may he wasted through careless mining which causes fires that may burn for years before being extinguished. Natural gas is also wasted hv being allowed to escape from the wells and from imperfect pipes. The United States Bureau of Mines is launching a great movement for the preserving of unde rground resources. 'flic most important natural resource is land. Only a small part of our land is fit for cultivation, one-twenty-fifth of it being swamps, two-fifths arid or dry. The government has established a Reclamation Service, which buys land, irrigates it and sells it to the people at reasonable rates. It also drains land and gives advice to farmers in managing their farms to get better crops from their land, on which depends the food of the nation. All this conservation on the part of the country can become effective if we all help, and our nation will become powerful and wealthy with great forests of wood for man’s needs; unfailing sources of water for all uses; with minerals wisely used against the time of need, and with its soil improved our country will grow steadily onward to greater prosperity for many years to come. THE VALUE OF AN EDUCATION Ethan Allen Doty Ladies and Gentlemen: There are many young people, and some older ones as well, who do not fully appreciate the real value of an education, and they do not find out the handicap until it is too late. Some parents, therefore, unwisely allow their children to leave school at the earliest age the law allows to enter a factory to earn a wage much lower than that earned by a High School graduate when he begins to earn money. Page Twenty-two

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In short, the question before you is this: Is your child going to be success- ful in life or not? If you want him to be so, he must have both grammar and high school education, and, if possible, a col- Class We, the Senior Class of 1923, being from the date of our birth to the present time, of an unsound mind, altogether mentally unbalanced, feel ourselves in a proper condition to write our last will and testament. We do hereby bequeath to next year’s Senior Class our reputation for never being in trouble, provided that they act ns genteel as we did. To the Sophomore Class we will our popularity. To Edna Bingaman we will something she could have had this year if it had not been for a Senior. To Mary Ludwig we bequeath Mr. Morrow’s History Book from last year. She seemed to study it so hard. Miriam I.orah will receive Abhie's curling iron so as to eliminate the use of hairpins every night. For Emma Levan we order a special table at the drug store with(?). Oh, well! She knows who 1 mean. To Anna Levan we give Katherine Light’s worn-out sneakers. To Sara Althouse we will I.utzie’s place as captain on the basket ball team. To Dorothy Schnlck we will the friendship of our beloved French and chemistry teacher. To Esther Ritter we will some of Katherine Light’s weight. To Virginia Hart we bequeath the School Bible. To Ruth Hart we will Bushy’s basket ball suit. To John Light we will a pair of laces for his sneakers, so as to eliminate the use of cord string. To John Leidich we will our class’ U. S. History, written by Hart. To James Leinbach wc will Dick as his brother-in-law. To Norman Schlegel we bequeath Doty’s green necktie. lege education. Education is the keynote to success, and it is within your power to place this wonderful opportunity within his grasp. Will To Albert Tice we will a concrete road to Jacksonwald. To Alton Bowyer we will Doty’s ability to bluff the teachers. To Frances Donaghy we will a season ticket for the Armory next year. To Dorothy Egelhof we bequeath a screen to place between her and the person working opposite in chemistry, so she won’t he hit by explosives. To Katherine Kilpatrick we will Kit Light’s chemistry apparatus, if there is any. To Robert Earle we will our class secretary’s sister. To Grace Ellis we will Potty’s alto voice. To Mary Goll we will a machine to travel across the street. To Erma Stichler we will Kitty Born’s wiggle. To Melvin Chalfont we will a candy store so he will have enough to treat the girl aside of him in history class. To William Seidel we will a bouquet, so he won’t bother people for flowers for a while. To John Barth we will Margaret Bush’s ambition. To Earnest Stump we will the Senior Class’ butcher knife to aid him in his business. To Preston Cook we will I.utzy’s everlasting love. To Edward Benson we will a private telephone line for him to speak to Kitty. To Raymond Sweitzer we will Doty’s purple “Schmeller.” If any of the conditions herein directed are not carried out, the bequests shall he revoked; and the heirs and heiresses shall suffer the loss of their inheritance and remain without them until next year’s class shall pass away and make bequests of their earthly possessions. Signed Peari. B. Rapp. Page Twenty-four