Canton High School - Echo Yearbook (Canton, MA)

Page 26 text:

go TEIEIECHO PRO MERITO First Row: Mrs. Dana, A. Fletcher, F. Rice Second Row: V. Dean, E. Bolster, E. Burt, R. Wetherbee, K. Hebb. PRO MERITO ProMerito pins are awarded each year year to the Juniors and Seniors having an average of 85? during their high school course. The Pro Merito Society was first introduced into Canton High School in 1922 when only three received the pins. The class of 1931 in its Junior year had eight members who received pins. They were awarded to: Edna Bolster Elizabeth Burt Virginia Dean Albion Fletcher Kathleen Hebb Paul Pangiotakos Frances Rice Ruth Wetherbee Kathleen Hebb, '31 CLASS SONG Our days at Canton High are over We now must bid you all adieu Four years we've struggled all together And now must scale the heights in View Now as out in the world we're going We vow to always do our best With loyal hearts and fondest mem'ries Of our years at C. H. S. Our time with you has been so happy Our class has ever reaped success We hope that on the way before us We'll thus continue to progress We're here together for the last time For parting time is drawing nigh May our triumphs bring renown and honor To dear old Canton High. Elizabeth. L. Burt

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THE ECHO 25 a new Literature of Exposure be- gan to throw light upon that dark- ness, sometimes, to be sure, a flaring and distorted light. In 1902-03, Ida Tarbe1l's HISTORY OF THE STAN- DARD OIL COMPANY appeared in McCZure's Magazine Cthen a ten-cent monthlyl, followed by Laws.m's FRENZIED FINANCE in Every- body's. In 1905, Ray Stannard Bak- er published a series of revealing arti- cles about railroads in McClure's, and Lincoln Steffens followed with two amazing articles on The Sha-me of the Cities and The Enemies of the Republic. In this same year Upton Sinclair's Jungle called at- tention to horrible conditions in the Chicago stockyards, and Frank Nor- ris' Octopus and Churchill's Con- iston dealt with ways in which rail- roads then controlled politics and abused producers. Most of these writers were hopeful young crusaders, inflamed with zeal for righteousness, but here and there no doubt one or another degen- erated toward Hjaundiced journal- ism. President Roosevelt nnally ap- plied the catchy epitaph muckrak- ers to themg and the average man falways quick to weary of crusadesl turned his attention away, but not until the nation had been stirred for some years as it never has been by any other literature, and the passage of pure food acts had safeguarded the health of the nation. Crusading has by no means passed out of journalismg it never will. Among recent crusades may be men- tioned: The exposure of Get-Rich- Quick Ponzi for which the BOSTON POST received the Pulitzer prize in 1921, the work of the NEW YORK WORLD in clearing up the Florida peonage evil in 1924, and that of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH for the exposure of Naval oil leases, the work of many newspapers all over the country in unemployment relief, the LITERARY DIGEST presidential polls which proved remarkably pro- phetic in the past two campaigns. and the BOSTON POST Santa Claus Fund, which raises every year thous- ands of dollars for the poor children of the city. -Iournalism has grown impersonal. It is no longer distinguished by the great ovcrshadovving personalities which marked it ia generation ago. N o single editorial chief puts his stamp on a paper as H-orace Greeley did, with his controversial power, his moral earnestness, and his incisive force, which seemed to make the whole paper breathe his spirit and speak his voice. There are no suc- cessors to Raymond, Weed, Bennett, Bowles, and Dana. Still, there are no tears to shed over the passing of personal journal- ism. The backyard squaibbles carried on by both city and country papers did more than any other agency to destroy the public confidence in the press. If doctors should stand on a street corner and attack the motives and personal lives of fellow-doctors, it wifuld not be long before we should lose faith in all doctors. For the cel fury and more, we have had af sim- ilar spectacle in which editors have thrown mud and filth at each other, and in all the category of the foolish short-sightedness of the newspaper man there is nothing more foolish than this. The old idea of law and medicine and the ministry was that the cash register was not a measure of success. Service was the standard. So in journalism, the movement is toward service to its readers and advertisers. The coming newspaper man will take Kipling's phrase for his motto: I am of service to my kind. D, Kelehgr, '31, THE C. H. S. ORCHESTRA By the addition of wind instru- ments and a cello, the Orchestra has shown, on many occasions, ia decided improvement over last year. Miss Ridge has developed a fine orchestra and even though many members will leave this year, the prospects are good as there are many talented Freshies and Sophs. Mention should be made of Nicho- las Rasetzki for his able leadership in the absence of Miss Ridge. He showed remarkable talent and he is probably the undisputed successor of Serge Koussevitzky, of the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra. The Canton High School Orchestra has played on the following occa- sions: Sc-nior l'lay, Coinniunity Club Play, Opcrctta, Special Assembly l'ro- groni, l'armit-'ll-ac-licr' Association's Mc-clings J. flroak.

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THE ECHO 27 STUDENT COUNCIL First Row: Fletcher, Mrs. Dana, Wetherbee. Second Row: Keefe, Stevenson, Yeomans, Plant, Gelpke, M. Cohen. STUDENT COUNCIL The Student Council, composed of two members from each class and our Faculty advisor, Mrs. Dana, had its first meeting in September, 1930. This year's members were: Seniors, Albion Fletcher and Ruth Wetherbeeg Juniors, Charles Stevenson and Karl Gelpkeg Sophomores, Robert Keefe and Edward Yeomansg Freshmen, Bertha Plant and Manning Cohen. Many new ideas were adopted through the suggestion of the Coun- cilg among them was an important change in the bell schedule, a rule for the purpose of excluding students from the building at noon recess, and additional precautions against tardi- ness. During the course of the year, va- rious members visited the neighbor- ing high schools of Stoughton, Brain- tree, and Brockton, acquiring many new ideas which have been applied to our own school to good effect. Realizing that these improvements would have been impossible without the aid of the Faculty, we wish to take this opportunity to thank them for their co-operation during the past year. K. Gelpke, '32.