Attleboro High School - Tattletale Yearbook (Attleboro, MA)

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-i«f mum mm A GROWING INDUSTRY OF ATTLEBORO Of late years, chemistry has come to play an in- tegral part in our industry and in our daily lives. Im- proved fuels make our automobiles run better; new alloys of metal make possible streamlined airplanes and high-speed trains; new chemical processes have founded entirely new industries, but of these many innovations, the one perhaps best known to the general public is the field of plastics. Plastics can b ? used for almost every conceivable purpose: combs, radios, jar tops, ornaments, and countless other small household articles are now made of plastics, and they are coming to be used for larger and larger objects. Plastics can be employed for almost any necessary task, as is shown by the fact tha t a certain man whose skull was crushed is now alive and walking around in perfect health, thanks to the bakelite skull which now covers his cranium. These new materials have many properties com- monly unavailable in other substances. There are special plastics having the qualities of a lasting finish, any desired color, imperviousness to solvents, acid- resistance, alkali-resistance, great strength, insulating properties, and many others as w( ll. A nianutacturer can find a plastic to fill almost any need he may have. The average plastic is, chemically considered, a cluster of extremely long molecular chains. These chains may be scattered and pointing haphazardly in all directions, as in bakelite and beetleware, or they may be stretched out side by side in a thin filament, as in nylon, the new material which threatens to replace silk. There are many different classes ot plastics: bakelite is the phenol-formaldehy l ' type ; beetleware, the urea-formaldehyde type; while nylon, which I have already mentioned, and lucite ; the plastic which conducts light around corners, are cellulos( acetates. To show you how the small plastic ash tray you have at home was made, I shall trace the story from the making of the plastic, which I shall assume to be bakelite, through the molding process to the finished article. Phenol, or carbolic acid, as it is commonly called, is combined with gaseous formaldehyde, under the influence of a catalyst. There are several different catalysts in ordinary use, each one producing a slightly different product. But no matter what the catalyst, the result of the combination of these two materials is a resinous or tarry substance. This resin is then mixed thoroughly with a filler and a coloring pigment. This fill, i- is generally wood, ground into extremely fine powder. But sometimes, to give the plastic special properties, other fillei s are used such as asbestos, to produce a fireproof plastic. After the resin has been mi.xed with the filler, the plastic is a solid mass, completely unlike the smooth black ash tray which we are discussing. This material is then made into small granules by grinding. The manufacturer of your ash tray probably bought his plastic in the granulated form, for the manufacturer seldom makes his own plastic. In the factory one of two things was next done. The granulated plastic may have been put directly into the mold, or else it may have been first pressed into the approximate shape of the finished product. The object of tnis primary shaping, or preforming , as it is called in the factories of Attleboro and other cities, is to make sure that the plastic will reach all portions of the mold, and also to reduce the space needed in the mold before heat and pressure are ap- plied. In either case, the next step is to subject the material to great pressure at high temperatures in a mold of special steel. The first effect of the heat is to melt the plastic, so that under the pressure it readily flows into all parts of the mold. Then, as greater pressure and heat are applied, the plastic hardens in th ' mold. Wh( n it is removed, after a cooling period, there is the finished ash tray with a smooth shining finish which requires no polishing. This tray will not melt under heat, for the heat and pressure in the mold changed it chemically so that it is uomeltable. As you can readily see, it is the mold which de- termines what the product will be. This shows that whatever can be molded, can be made from plastics. This fact presages a tremendous future for plastics. In the world of tomorrow, we may find not o ily knick- knacks and small articles made of plastics, but larger and more complex things as well. There is at present a company which is experimenting with the possi- bility of using plastic fenders on automobiles. Plastic Page T h i r t ij - o n e

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m mum VALEDICTORIAN ELLIOT PIERCE SALUTATORIAN OLIVE CLARK HONOR (Alphabeticall: ROLL ELLIOTT AXDER80X L EZ ATWELL PHISCILLA HROWX A LAX lU RT ARTHT R CARLSOX ROBERT C ' HA?iIILLARD OLIVE CLARK rai;hai;a cdiuucAX (■( i r . ( i: I i;i:xiER mu x ( ;( i)i) i;i) ri! ( i:s ( i( Av SIAM.IA lIol.lUioOK .MAi;.)()i;ii; iioi r MARIE JAMES RICHAIil) .KtHXSOX LEOXA KELLEV ROSALIE KXIGHT MARIAX LARSOX LORRAIXE L 1UEX DAM I) MAiniX ALIC-E MclU HXEV MARY McBERXEY FREDERICK MOOHE llElil5i;HT MOOHE 1;LI.1oT I ' llJiCE DAMD i;« »rXSlA ILLE CKCII.l-: M. lMi:i!HE RALi ' ii M iiri;mi:iss D( »TH ' TA I-liO AXITA I HKEX ELIZAP.E ' l ll WKI.LS VIVIAX WriLLEr.MIEl AWARDS Helen W. Metcalf English Prize LVRIE MABEL JAMES The Washington- Franklin History Medal FREDERICK .SAXFORD MOORE Bausch Lomb Science Award STAXLEY EARLE HOLBROOK D. A. R. Citizenship Award MAHJOHIE HARRIET HOLT Attleboro Museum of Art and History Scholarship FLOREXCE BARBARA CORRIOAX CLASS MOTTO CLASS COLORS What we are to te, Maroon and Gold we are now becoming. CLASS SONG By ROBERT PETTITT I.eaviiii: the portals of our A. H. S., ( ' art- on our way, ( ii. allium the memories we now |):i» ' ,-, kcepin{ them day l.y (lay. Ihiriiifi these years, we have made many friends, friendships have been cast; Xow, at the time that our schooling ends, we know these friendships will last. We will succeed and we will not dismay, no matter how rough the sea. For it is true — we ' re becoming today what we are to be. Page T h ii I y

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furniture is hv ' ma tested, and there is ( ven talk of a completely plastic house, with every single part composed of synthetic plastics. Our manufacturers in Attleboro are using plastics more and more. Our jew?lry factories are producing plastic rings, bracelets, and pins. Plastic radio cabinet- are being produced here for one of the lai ;c.-t niaiiu- facturersof midget radios in the United States. II the manufacturers of Attleboro take advantage of th- new- fields constantly being ojiened to them by plastics, our prosperity will be materially benefited. A man connected with the plastics trade her( in Attleboro characlciizcd it as, one of the fastest grow- ing industries in the world, with the l)iggest future a- head of it . ' Flic only lurllicr coniincnt 1 can make on this wondeiiul new field of rcscai-cli is to say, W ' liat miracles science hath wrought! . — t(inl(ii Ih.lhrook More tlian two thousand yeais ago the Roman orator Cicei-o said, ■■ ' Fhcre is no people so savage or so ignorant that tiuy do not know thci ' e is a Cod. We have but to look back into tlie story of primitive man and read the records of icligiou- behefs that he lias lett behind him. The weird aper titions, the bloody . ' sacrifices and peculiar ceremonies, and the ancient rites at the burial of the dead — all give evidence that the earliest people had a religion. Alan has always expressed his ciavings tor worship, be it pagan or Christian; th ' more jiertect the God, the better the man. The great tombs and massive pyramids of Kg -pt told al)out their faith in a life after death; the ancient Ciceks and Homans W(ir nipiie(l gods and godde.s. es who directed tlie live aiid fate ut mankind. The Hebrews who lived in ancient Palestii:e weie the first to believe that one God controlled the universe. This heritage of religion w ' hich can ])e shared by one and all has come down to us tnday, thidugh struggle, persecution, and even martyidoni : xi it is fitting that Attleboro, in showing her giatitude for the benefits of all religions at d {nr th.ii- pi-e , ' r ation throughout the centuries, vjiduld (h j.-aie li. ' i- churches. -Many interesting incident - have been wi-iiten on the re- cords of the numerous chui-che.- a t h. y ha ■ . .-tal)lislied their places in our community of Ati lebi)i(j, but limited time demands that we relate only a few of the.se to- night. Maav years before its incorporation, Attleboro was one parish and for several years alter it became a town, a preacher could not be suppm ted because ot the few inhabitants. As soon as pos-ibi Ik. w ever, an enterprising group determined to insure spiritual wel- fare for all by making provisions tm a church. In 174. , the Second Congregational Church was established in . ttleboro, since the church in Oldtown — the only one within a radius of seventy miles — was too far away, especially in winter. A small meeting house was erected and used until the so-called White Church was built in 1S24. Toward the latter part of the last century the (jUestion ot a new edifice, remote from the noise of the nearby ti-ains and from the commercial center ol the city, ai ' d.-c, but because the spot on which the chiu ' ch stood was so rich in memories, the new brick church was placed close l)y the old white one. As Attl( bni ' ii grew into a lai ' ger town, other denomi- ratiors ap])eai ' ed along with the influ.x of people who came to settle I ' .ei ' e dining the latter part ot the eigh- teenth century. Shortly aftei- the Civil W nr a Method- ist ministei ' and a laynia.n fi ' om Pawtucket started the Methodist Kpiscopal Church in old Union Hall on Xorth Main Slnct. The name ( ' ej;tenaiy was added because tlii i;ew branch was Ijegun a century alter Metlmdism had been introduced into this countiy. The fir-t cliui ' ch used was on the site ol the piesetit one. I- ' ourteeii years later, just after tlie SlO, ()()() dcht was lilted, t he cluu ' ch was biuT.ed to its louiidatioj ' s, but in a hort lime the cotii-ageous pastor, the K ' V. Mr. Rich, had niea-inements taken for a new building which was (k ' dicated in 1912. Ju.st before the beginning of Alethodism in Attle- boro, an attempt to establish an Episcopal Church was made: but because of the upheaval that the Civil War caused, this attempt was a failure. Thirty years later, however, a mi.ssionaiy sponsored a meeting for all interested in this faith: and the response was so en- thusiastic that imineiliate arrargemeiits were made for .services in All Saint ' Alission. Later oo, land was Page T h i ) t y - t ir o