Dexter High School - Signet Yearbook (Dexter, ME)

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THE SIGNET 17 The Flying and Peaceful Age We are now in the dawn of the dying, and 'peaceful age. The horrors, the sorrows of the World War are now things of the past. The animosity which once existed be- tween Various nations is now rapidly dimin- ishing, and in fact, is being converted into friendshipg friendship not off the kind that springs from treaties and alliances, but friendship such as exists among people who are all working for a common cause. The cause in the present case is 't-he ad- vancement of aviation. The men of nearly every country are working diligently, and bravely for this punpose. 'Many have given their lives for it, a few -have been success- ful, while the people of the world have mourned the first, and applauded and praised the second, irrespective of nation- ality. If wwe consider the friendly feeling which now exists between France, Ger- many, England, Ireland and America asl a result of the few successful flights, will not this friendliness be greatly magnified when aviation will have become a practical mode of travel and thousands will cross the ocean yearly? This is what we are looking for- ward to, and what we hope will really occur, for, above everything else, the world longs for peace. Donald Palmer '29 Ruts Of all the things we are most likely to do that of getting into a rut is the commonest. Most of us lay the foundation for our future life in school. It we form the habit here of just getting by in our school work, in doing well in those subjects we like, but almost failing in those we do not '1ike, or if we form the habit of doing only enough to get by in our subjects and enjoying life the rest of the time, or if-and most of us are guil- ty of this-we put -off until the last miinute our work, we form haibits which we shall be sure to follow, and which will 'become more pronounced as we follow them in later life. While in school we should prepare ourselves for future emergencies and overcome these habits. When we leave school we do not have time to do so. Work comes then, and some of us, compelled by financial necessity, must do the same joib over and over again. But if we are not burdened with careless habits we can study after work, and thus get a better job with higher -pay and prospect for a better future. Those of us who drive automobiles know that ruts are undesirable -things to get into. But mental ruts are 'twice as deep and twice as hard to get out of. The state or town smooths up the automobile ruts, but no one but ourselves can smooth out our mental ruts. Therefore, let us build the kind of roads, while we are in school that we wish to follow for the rest of our livesg roads even and straight and true. Robert Thomas '29. X ,, l '2g . -:VA lv - ,. gl.-., 4 -lv ' A 3. A F8 . ' 5 ,fm-at f ' .a X

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5. 16 THE SIGNET they do not take the extra time to polish up -on the subject. What are they doing? Not only are they harming themselves, but they are also bringing the scholarship stan-dard of their school down to a lower average. 'The knowledge we gain in high school is indispensable to us in later life and it is more than likely that many -of us will never have another opportunity :to study the things which we take in school. It is therefore important that we aipply ourselves to our given tasks not only with vigour, but .also with interest. Let us, the present students of today and the future citizens of to-morrow, not only get by , but also come through with the greatest honor-that of having done our best! Avis Titcomb '29. Enemies of America America has two kinds of enemies to-day: foreign and domestic. Tlhe country always has had them and it probably always will, to a certain extent. The less dangerous off the two evils, in my mind, is the foreign. The emigrants who come to this country with an idea of a socialistic form of government constitute the foreign enemy. 'These men, many of them brilliant, are continually trying to undermine the American system of govern- ment. The 'best way to ideal with them is to educate them on the subject of the form of American government. Perhaps this can never be fully done. That will be deter- mined as time goes Joy. The -other, and more deadly enemy of the United States, is the indifferent voter. He is always complaining about -the way that the machinery of the government is rung always finding fault with the oflicials and the high cost of living. But he has not the courage or the intelligence to vote. He is the one who does the mos-t to -hurt his coun- try's reputation. No nation in the world provides as much freedom for its citizens as -does the United States. The American policy is that it is the right and duty of ea-ch citizen to choose the men to govern him. But this shirker, the lazy, indifferent voter, does not take advantage of this great opportunity. Always remember this, voter! One vote, wisely cast, may swing the elec- tion! E. Johnson '28. Heroes of the Air During the 'past two years, we have seen many brave deeds done in the air. Byrd iiew over the North Pole, and then across the Atlantic, landing in the sea to prevent injuring people by landing while there was a thick fog. Two army fliers reached Ha- waii and then Lindbergh flew alone, in a small airplane, across the Atlantic. He was the first to accomplish this feat. The bravery of these men and of the others who have done ot-her feats is worthy of our emulation. Greater than this, how- lesson they brought home to ever, is the us which is: The man who is brave and one who makes all possible wise, is the preparations wbefore he sets out. The man who starts without preparation and without understanding the danger is not braveg he is foolhardy. A 'truly brave man is one who knows the dangers and after -all pre- paration is made, sets out in spite of them. This, and the modesty of their actions, show us that a truly brave man is not one who does a thing on the spur of the moment, and then brags about it, 'but one who knows the 'danger and goes ahead and does his task and doesn't talk loudly about it afterward. It's an example we'Americ-ans need for we are very prone to perform great tasks, it is true, but to do them hastily and often carelessly. By quietly crossing the ocean alone, Lind- bergh has given all of us a lesson that we should consider seriously. Donald Blake '29.

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ACKBONEU UB OF CAST