Brooklyn Technical High School - Blueprint Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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scum OF EDUCATION OF 'rr-as CITY OF NEW YORK BROOKLYN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOI1 TWENTY-NINE FORT GREENE PLACE 1 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TELEPHONE: STKILINU S-DI!! ALBERT L COLSTON January 5, 1942. To the Seniors: The theme this year, I am told, is to be 'Experience'. Now, I am not going to impersonate the 'Voice of ExperienceW,that well-known radio personality, who advises how to adjust nearly all human difficulties. If I could give you some canned experience from which you could dip when your trail got very rough, I would gladly do it, but I do not know enough to do that. I have not had enough experience. Just because one man has lived longer than another does not mean that he has accumulated a larger and better store of experience. It depends on the training and quality of the man. Some acquire wisdom and understanding more easily and more rapidly than others. If one has followed a given interest he will pick up and assimilate quickly everything related to that interest. His observations in that field will store ideas and habits of thought very quickly. There are sometimes unhappy associations with the word experience. I go to look for a job. The prospective employer says he would prefer to have a man with experience. I wonder how I am going to get what he calls 'experience' in a given line if I cannot get a job in that line. Finally, becoming quite humble, I ask if I may show him what I can do, - and then, if he is a bit hard up for men, he gives me that chance and I Wstrut my stuffn. Being properly trained or educated, I have that stuff. I do not worry about your getting employment. This is the time when the technical man is needed both in the armed forces and in civilian life. It looks as if that rather modest looking technical high school founded about twenty years ago had a real mission to perform. The apathy which tended to freeze its development then has largely disappeared. The skies look much brighter as we take our rightful place in the scheme of things, educational and industrial. Sincerely yours,

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Dr. Colston FI

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THE MAKING OF AMERICA Compiled and edited by LEONARD HIRSCH, 735 SOLOMON TEPFER, 793 MILTON WILNER, 76 FOREWORD M MERICA has been made by m l people and their experi- lir gg g ences-the people of far- off lands, the people of America's past, and finally, L .5 the people of today. Espe- cially at a time like this, it is well to inquire what the America is that has resulted from these experiences. What are her ideals? What are her pur- poses? To that end, we here present a series of short compositions written by students of the senior year, relating their own experiences and those of their fami- lies, and thus showing a cross section of American life as represented by Tech. In so far as possible, the material has been arranged in chronological order so as to illustrate the growth of the American spirit. First of all, then, America is made of the combination of virtues brought to our shores by our European fore- fathers. The Greehr, the first democratic people, gave America their lore of liberty. 'The glory of Greece,' .said my father, a veteran of the Balkan wars, in speaking of his native country, 'was slowly dissipated through a. series of invasions, culminating in the Turkish occupation, from which we were freed in 1821. But in 1912, the Balkan war broke out. However, with the help of our Serbian allies, we defeated Turkey once again, and later, Bulgaria, who 4 laid claim to Thrace. Our battles were fought with courage, and people sent their loved ones for the cause of free- dom. Greece has always revolted against oppression, andl predict that the Greek people will rebel against the present tyrants'. Our Dulrh forefatherr heflowed upon ur :heir remarkable ingenuily. My father, who formerly lived in Rotterdam, Holland, tells about how, forty years ago, in that city, a floating drydock was built for the city of Port Natal, South Africa. To transport the drydock, it was necessary to board up two ends and fill it with bags of coal to be used as fuel for the two tugboats used on the long trip. If either of the boats needed fuel, it would go along- side the dock and get the coal, while the other tug pulled the dock. In calm weather, the drydock was pulled along the top of the water, while in rough seas, it would be sunk ten feet to make easier transportation. The complete trip took three months and was hailed as a great achievement in ocean transporta- tion. The following story illurtraler the rourage and Jelf-rarrijire of lhe English people. A packet of important papers had been entrusted to the care of Captain Snow, my grandfather, who, as a pas- senger, was carrying them by sea to New York, and thence to the nation's capital.