Dexter High School - Signet Yearbook (Dexter, ME)

Page 15 text:

THE SIGNET 13 OUR DEBTS Every man who owes money feels that he must get that debt off his hands before he can face the world squarely. Every boy and girl who attends high school is in debtg all are in debt to their country, their town, their school, their home and even to them- selves, and like these men they must pay their debts before they can face their fu- ture. You may ask, How shall we pay this debt, and how shall we know when we have finished paying our debt? The answer is this: Acquire the highest rank possible and keep a good reputation both in studies and conduct. You are responsible for the fu- ture progress of your country and town. If you have paid your debt in high school, your father will not be loath to leave this great responsibility in your hands. Therefore, pay your debts that you may face your future squarely, prepared to do your work, whatever it may be. Nina E. Quimby '27. SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL A matter of interest to history students and those who are interested in the history of Maine, has come up recently. Thi ques- tion is whether Sprague's Journal of Maine History will be continued in the future. Mr. Sprague who died last week in his ofiice at Dover-Foxcroft, started this jour- nal several years ago and it has always been very popular with those interested in the early history of Maine. It has been used very profitably in secondary schools. Some like our own, merely subscribe, while others use it in class work. For several years the state school department has urged a more extensive use. This journal contains biographies of prominent men of early times, true ac- counts of early controversies, such as the OF MAINE HISTORY Northeastern Boundary Controversy, and much interesting and valuable data on other topics. All these articles are written by people well versed in their subjects through study and research. Because 'of this:-Ame can find in this journal authentic accounts of our state's former activities. In fact one sometimes finds in these magazines the only true, complete accounts written in readable form. Therefore not only historians but all of us should hope that this small quarterly magazine, the most lasting part of Mr. Sprague's lifework, will be continued in the same way in order that our state history may be preserved in a form which all can study. Charlene C. Rollins '27. DETERMINATION The dictionary says that determination means resolution or purpose. Determina- tion, however, is something more than resolution, for anyone can make a resolu- tion, but the next thing is to keep it, It takes determination to stick to a resolution. Determination isn't something that is given us but it is something we must culti- vate. It is easy enough to have determina- tion when the sky is blue, the sunshine is bright and there is absolutely nothing in our pathway. It isa different story, how- ever, when the sun is hidden from view by a heavy mist, which envelopes the earth, and just ahead of us is a steep mountain of diiiiculty, doubt or fear-then it takes all our will power to say I am determined to keep on. Everyone has heard the story of the battle of Verdun and the words They shall not pass have gone down in history as words of determination. Even when the soldiers were tired and hungry-almost ready to give up the fight, the words made them realize their responsibility and by sheer determination they finally won the battle. In everything we need determination to win our battles whether we are teachers or students, day laborers or the president of

Page 14 text:

12 THE SIGNET CONSERVATION OF MAlNE'S FORESTS Are all of us doing our part to conserve our forests? Do we stop to realize the value of our forests, and that they are being greatly reduced every year by fire, and the carlessness of man? Should we not do our duty to conserve them, when they are our most valuable resource? If all of us would do our part to save them, our troubles would cease. We should never cut the young, growing trees, but take the old and broken down ones, until all the old trees are gone. When cutting wood, we should always leave the small trees for our future forests, and where there are no trees, we should set out some. We must not cut down trees, and leave them to rot, but use them for something needed. If we, the people of Maine, wish to save our forests, we must begin now to do our part, and to persuade others to do theirs. Don't leave it all to someone else to do, but do your part. , Norman McKenney '27. BEAUTIF YIN G DEXTER One of the questions that is uppermost in the minds of the people of Dexter today, is the question of keeping this town clean and free from rubbish. To do so, requires the cooperation of every individual, not only the men and women, but also the boys and girls. i , A We high school students realize that it cannot be accomplished in a short time, but that it requires a large sacrifice on our own part. We know that we are careless and untidy, sometimes, and partly responsible for the general untidiness of the town. We realize that people point us out, as the cause of part of the town's slackness. We know all these things, but we also know that the time has come for us to assume responsibilities of our own. We have come to realize that it requires a greater coopera- tion between the people of Dexter, and the students of N. H. Fay high school. Therefore, let us students, the future generation of Dexter, resolve to avoid carelessness that tends to lower the stand- ard of the town. Do not throw paper or rubbish onto the streets or lots. Do not let your gardens, fiower-beds, and lawns get untidy, or choked with weeds. Above all, do not let certain people of Dexter do most of the work. Instead of hanging back, let us co-operate with them, and stand back of them, in making Dexter finer, cleaner, and a more beautiful place in which to live. Richard Ramsay '27, OBEDIENCE TO LAWS How many of us ever stop to think what the nation would be like, if there were no laws? Of course it is true there are few of us who do not break a law at sometime or other. Take the speed law for instance. If we have a new car, we naturally want to see how fast it will go and unconsciously we go faster than the limit. Or if we go out in the woods on Sunday, we may take a gun along. And then, perhaps, we catch more fish than the law allows us. But you say these are only minor laws and hardly anyone is ever punished for them. Suppose we do get by, will we not break greater laws next time? And then think of the nation. If one person can break a law and get by with it, another can. Do you want other countries to think your own country a lawless nation? Of course not. Then let us obey its laws. Be- gin with the minor ones, they are the ones that count. Then other people will follow our example. When every one assumes his responsibilities we have a fine, peace- ful nation, inhabited by quiet law abiding citizens. Horace Hopkins '27,

Page 16 text:

1134. 14 THE SIGNET a large company, soldiers or civilians. Let us therefore resolve to become more deter- mined day by day. Esther Libby '26. HONOR Honor is the greatest quality a man can possibly possess. One who is honorable, is quite apt to have other fine qualities. A dishonorable man is greatly despised by everyone, even by the dishonorable. He can never be trusted once his honor is lost, therefore he can never reach the heights of success. It is only too true, that many persons who are well-off, never made their wealth honestly, but by some crooked, scheming methods. Except the compara- tively few whose consciences have reached the stage of being called hare-boiled, these people are never at ease, they do not 'enjoy life. Honor is a quality which is most tempted, and once lost it is lost forever. A man who has lost all sense of honor finds it exceed- ingly diificult to re-establish himself when he wished to. Honor is not always born in the heart of a mang it is more often acquired as one matures. One who might have been con- sidered an honorable person, might easily become dishonorable by desperate circum- stances. There is the place for moral courage to play its highly important role. Honor, without moral courage to strength- en it, is much the same as a tent without poles. Honor, in my estimation is the basis of love, faith and truth. Without it there could be none of these. Could you love a person whom you did not honor? No. You love a person because you honor him. You trust and have faith in him. You believe in him. Therefore you see honor, ever since the beginning of the world, has been the mak- ing of man. Men live for it and men gladly die for it. Once it is lost all is lost, includ- ing the greatest thing in the world-LOVE. Robert Eliot '27, Bucknam '27: Got my golf socks on to- day. Ramsay: How so? B-: Eighteen holes! Neighbor to Coughlin '28: Is your mother home, Boidy? ' Coughlin: Do you think I'm beating this rug for my health? Miss G: What would you expect a cap- tain on a ship to tell his men to do if some- one should shout Fire? Clukey '26: Run for your life. Heard on the baseball field: lst boy: Where's DeWever gone? 2nd boy: 0h,.don't worry. He's gone to hitch his car to an electric light post. Diagrams were assigned in Chemistry. DeWever: What was your lesson in on Chemistry for today. M-t '27: Pictures! Bailey '28 in word study: The men would wear derby hats sand long tailed coats walking with a cane. Prescott '28: Did you know that an aw- ful lot of girls are stuck on me? Wise Senior: . Yes, they must be an aw- ful lot. Mrs. Blake: I don't call eating recrea- tion. Student: It was in the dictionary.