North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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1942 THE GOBBLER Try to see ourselves as others see us. Projection often helps us to see our faults more readily and makes us better able to remedy them. This will improve our efficiency by getting- rid of our faults. It may seem a little hard at first to do this, for bad habits are not easily broken, espe¬ cially if they have already made a deep impression. Never say, “I cannot break that habit; I tried before and I cannot.” It takes time and will-power and also a little backbone. Have perserver- ance, for perserverance generates success. Lastly, satisfy yourself that you have done your best in making your¬ self a better man to talk with, to live with, and to work with. Only then can one honestly say, “He conquers, who conquers himself.” JULIUS CEPLIKAS TAILOR-MADE TEXTILES For untold thousands of years man used vegetable and animal fibers to satisfy his needs for fabrics. Cotton, wool, silk, and flax, each with its peculiar characteristics which limit its utility, are the most important of these. To be sure, he improved them--lengthening, strength¬ ening the fibers, lowering the cost of the finished product. And that they still hold the leading role in our textile world is indisputable. But in the short space of fifty years synthetic fibers have invaded the field to such an extent that their domination of it in the not-too-distant future is not improbable. Silk, product of a lowly worm, has always been considered the Queen of the fabrics, but in Count Hilaire de Chardonnet the silkworm foun d a rival. The Count was well equipped with knowledge of the worm, having- studied under Pasteur and assisted him in his study of the silkworm disease which threatened the great industry of Lyon with ruin. In 1884 he began manufacturing his artificial silk, spun of nitrocellulose. Highly inflammable, it had to be put through a denitrating process developed by Sir Joseph Swan. Chardonnet’s process, now obsolete, was important principally in that it was the first to produce a multiple-filament yarn by squirting a cellulose solution through tiny holes. In 1892 Charles F. Cross and Ernest J. Bevan, an English research team, discovered viscose rayon, made by a tricky process in which tem¬ perature, time, and humidity must be strictly controlled in order that there may be no variation in the finished fiber--a process which produces two-thirds of our rayon. The Bemberg cuprammonium process, as well as the viscose and nitrocellulose, merely regenerate cellulose. Cellulose acetate, put on the market in 1910 by the Dreyfus brothers, is a distinctly different fiber. The search for a synthetic silk had brought about the development of these fibers. Since they were in no wise synthetic silks, and since to the public the term had unpleasant connotations, the filament-makers agreed in 1924 upon the generic name rayon. Camille Dreyfus, following their lead and scorning the name rayon for his acetate fiber, coined the name Celanese. To this day the manufacturer urges the public to dis¬ tinguish between them by including in his advertising matter a test for determining the difference between Celanese and rayon. 27

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THE GOBBLER 1942 other nation is in a position to play now. The purpose of this war cannot be anything else but to make democ¬ racy work, for the simple reason that in the world democracy is contained the best of two thousand years of human effort toward a better world. The road we must follow is not new. It is the road of reason. This civilization of ours is infinitely rich and generous. It contains all the inspiration w ' e need for a thousand years to come. Our aims for the future world seem very distant and sometimes dim, but we know that there is no hope of reaching them except through victory. Although we see a high rugged road looming ahead of us, we must climb if we want our great democracy to function now and forever, and if we want future genera¬ tions to enjoy peace and the God-given rights of man. CONSTANCE M. FITZGERALD On.ati.on HE CONQUERS WHO CONQUERS HIMSELF Man should be proud of having the task, the privilege, the heritage, not of outdoing the giants in their fields -- men like Rembrandt, Dickens, Pasteur, and Edison — but rather of satisfying his own scrupulous con¬ science that he has done his best in conquering- himself. The goal towards which one strives should be the fulfillment of one’s self-s ' atisiaction. This may seem easy to do. Yet just how easily are we going to be detoured by tfje obstacles that loom before us? Let Beetho¬ ven, the deaf musician, and Lincoln, the frontiersman, serve as examples of men who overcame their difficulties despite their obstacles. Then let someone speak of his own handicaps that are too great to surmount. Regardless of physical or financial handicaps, whether you end up rich or poor, it will not matter so long as you make the most of what you have, and always strive in the direction of self-satisfaction, but not with¬ out consideration of others. Be willing to give credit where credit is due. There is a story about a young interne, James, who was elated -- because of his brief know¬ ledge concerning the matter — that he did so well in saving the life of a premature baby. Later on he learned the success was due to the head nurse’s fifteen years of experience with premature babies. I propose that each one strive first to develop his standards of judg¬ ment. For instance, everyone should read widely, and think over and discuss what he has read. He should cultivate friendships among the old¬ er, more experienced people. In this way he may learn to profit from their mature judgment. Instead of falling into the common errors of impulsive youth, he will temper his own ardent spirit and learn from the silvery hairs of experience. Yet, he must not become completely dependent on others. He must make his own decisions. He can not lean everlastingly on the shoulders of others. When his own native common sense, his judgment, and his conscience tell him that he must stand alone for the right, he must have the independence and stamina to stand on his own two feet. Despite all the help older heads may give him, he must dare to face responsibility and risk making his own mistakes. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “The man who never made a mistake is the man who never dared.” 26

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THE GOBBLER 1942 With the rayons and, more recently, with other synthetics, such as Nylon, the textile industry has created all sorts of made-to-order fabrics —sharkskins, crushproof velvets and crepes. High twists, every degree of permanent luster or dullness, staple fibers, varying spinning treat¬ ments opened vistas of possible new effects in fabric. The different dye affinities of the rayons, as of wool and cotton, permit the economy of cross-dyeing, resulting in many original color effects. The trick, bor¬ rowed from the silkworm, of stretching filaments to increase the ten¬ sile strength makes possible a rayon yarn stronger than steel wire — Cordura, a viscose yarn used as the cord fabric in automobile tires. In 1939 Du Pont introduced an entirely new fiber, nylon, contain¬ ing no cellulose, and developed by Wallace Carothers. It is really new in that it is a totally different combination of the elements and since the term nylon is a generic one, we may expect other nylons. Nylon was offered to ' the public, not as a cheaper substitute, but as a new, man-made, higher quality, and more expensive fiber and as such, the demand for it was tremendous, showing that the unpleasant character¬ istics associated with a chemical substitute in the public mind had dis¬ appeared. Following the development of nylon have comp other fibers made from non-cellulose raw materials. The National Dairy Company has produced Aralac from the casein of milk to be blended with other tex¬ tile fibers. The Ford Motor Company was making upholstery fiber for use in its automobiles from soybeans. The development of a noninflam¬ mable fabric made from dried seaweed has been reported to the Ameri¬ can Chemical Society. In addition to new fibers, textile research has given us flameproofing, waterproofing, mildewproofing, and shrink¬ proofing to prolong the life and improve the appearance of our clothes. The war has had its effect on synthetic fibers as on every other field. Cut off from world markets, Germany and Italy must of neces¬ sity have developed synthetic fibers, libe the Italian casein fiber, Lani- tol. The defense program created a greater demand for all types of materials. The war with Japan, erasing silk from the textile picture, forced greater production of nylon. In the creation of new fibers the properties of wool, cotton, silk, and flax have been taken as models. Those natural fibers have been the standard by which the quality and performance of the man-made have been judged. But it is becoming increasingly evident that they have qualities which are distinctive, unlike any in nature. It may well be that textile fibers will one day be made with characteristics to fit the requirements of a particular need and purpose and that we are en¬ tering an era of textiles “made-to-order”. Tonight we, the Class of 1942, terminate our four brief years at Tohnson and pass on, each to his own task in a broader, more exacting world, leaving the timeworn traditions and the slight innovations we may have made to you who follow. We carry with us gratitude for the leadership, guidance, and trust given us, along- with unstinting work for our welfare, by Mr. Hayes. We take away, also, an appreciation which will grow ever deeper with the years of the efforts of our faculty to put into our hands the tools for making a richer, fuller life. They have been happy, fun-filled years which will live in our mem¬ ories peopled by the friends whom we have made here. And so, with regret for what is past and hope and best wishes for that which is to come, I bid you, on behalf of my classmates, a simple goodbye. PHYLLIS D. TLRRET 28