Farmington High School - Laurel Yearbook (Farmington, ME)

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THE LAUREL 23 personnel, rigid requirements in education, conduct, intelligence, ability to concentrate, alertness, zeal, and loyalty, plus careful schooling in which we do our utmost to make every man to a degree self-sufficient. End quote. In conclusion if I were to set down a list of those old-fashioned virtues that still hold good, it would read something like this: honesty - industry - resourcefulness - courage - good manners - adaptability - dependability and hard, hard work. Ieanette Gould '42, YT' BEHIND THE. LINES T has been said that it takes fifteen people behind the lines to keep one soldier in the lines. These fifteen people do a great many varied jobs. They make the ships, tanks, and planes, they build the machines and produce the raw materials to make them, they transport them over wide lands and broad oceans. One of the most humble yet most necessary war occupations is that of the farmer. He must feed the soldiers in the front lines and feed the workers behind the lines. Mine is the story of such a farmer. Iudge Brown picked up the reins with a Get along there, Bill 5 whereupon the disgusted horse ambled down the road at a slow trot, but Bill wasn't the only disgusted one that day, for the Iudge, whose real name was Samuel Ieremiah Brown, was com- pletely disgusted-completely and thor- oughly disgusted. When the Iudge, usually of good temper and naturally jolly, got roiled up he really went on a rampage. Now, as he slapped the stubborn horse with the lines to get him out of the slow walk he had quickly fallen into after the first burst of speed, the Iudge kept muttering, Ninety dollars a week! Ninety dollars a week! Well, what do I care! Samuel Brown, more often called The Iudge by his neighbors, not because of any relationship to the court bench, but because of his knowledge of everything in general, was the owner and sole operator of a two hundred acre farm, that is, he was-but at the present time he was also the foreman, hired hand, and chore boy. His son, Samuel Brown, Ir., had joined the air corps the year before just after finishing high school. The Iudge took that as it had to be. He wanted young Sam to be a success and aeronautics did seem to be one of the most promising fields. Of course, the Iudge had hoped that by now his son and heir would be running a corn-planter insteadx of an airplane. But he was proud of his son's part in the war effort. The war effort. That was what got the Iudge. He didn't seem to be helping in the least himselfg and he wasn't fifty yet, cer- tainly not old enough to be put away on the shelf. The boy had left in the spring, the hired man had left in the fall. Iake, that was the hired man, had considered it his duty to go to work in the ship yards, and now he was getting ninety dollars a week- more than the Iudge could pay him a month. Sometimes the Iudge had begun to wonder if it was all patriotism. As he pulled into the maple lined drive- way that led to his farm buildings, the Iudge scanned the road behind him and remarked to Bill, There hadn't ought to be so many cars on the road if the farmers can't get enough gasoline for their tractorsf' Bill flicked an ear. The tractors are necessary on some farms. Even this last remark didn't bother the staid Bill anyg he knew his master was too proud of good horse flesh to worry about tractors and the Iudge's next remark was his usual explanation, Well, the gasoline that will run the neighbor's tractors would run an army tank. What tha- This last was caused by Bill's abrupt halt at the corner of the house. The Iudge soon saw the reason for the in- terruption in the progress to the stable door, for parked in the middle of the driveway in front of him was as new a car as there is the Iudge thought, wondering whom they had for company now. A quick glance around showed him an official look- ing stranger walking down his cow lane.

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22 THE LAUREL of his class, has only about one chance in eight of surviving the freshman year. He notes, in the third place, the attitude that the student has towards his work. Is he satisfied to 'just get by'? Is he in school just to make grades? Or on the other hand, is he working up to his limit, and is he de- termined to gain real mastery of his work? Has he developed a life long interest in some worthwhile problem? If the student has learned to place supreme emphasis where superlative values lie, there is high promise for genuine suc- cess in college. All colleges have a hearty welcome for students who come thus en- dowedf' End quote. From William S. Carlson, the Director of Admissions and Records from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, we learn that, quote, The first evidence as to how well a student will succeed in college is found in his success in previous school work. Gen- erally speaking, those who do well in high school will do well in college. Those who get through high school with low standing cannot expect to succeed in college. Some students spend their high school years in play and do better work in college because they have become more mature and serious, but the number of students who show this change in attitude is small. Usually it is too late for this when students come to college. We are constantly searching for addi- tional means of making the prediction of college success or failure more certain and dependable. One valuable source of infor- mation is the estimate of the high school principal or faculty advisor regarding those qualities which largely determine the out- come of the student's efforts. The student,s high school principal or teacher will be glad to discuss these things with him. Another source is the information given by the stu- dent himself in his application for admis- sion. All this information is used judicially in the light of long experience to supplement and correct the college aptitude rating and to help or guide the student to do that which will be to his interest. End quote. Lctls take the University of Wisconsin for example. Some of the questions that they now ask about a student are these: How does his appearance and manner affect others? H Does he need constant prodding or does he go ahead with his work without being told? Does he get others to do what he wishes? How does he control his emotions? What progress has he made in learning how to think? Has he developed habits of study? The Uni- versity of South Dakota asks for such traits as the ability to study effectively, ability to read intelligently, curiosity about some in- tellectual ideas, love of books, willingness to work, good character, high school grades that are average or above. These are typical questions of universities and colleges all over the country. But, perhaps you are not going on in an extended phase of education. Nevertheless you will find that the qualities required in the colleges are very similar to those required in business corporations. Seventy-live cor- porations were asked to list, from their own experience, the most common causes for the discharge of office and clerical workers. Fol- lowing, in brief, are the results of this study. About ten percent of the people who lost their positions lost them because they lacked specific skill in shorthand, typing, English, bookkeeping, the use of office machines and the like. The thing that may be surprising to you, however, is that the approximate re- maining ninety percent were discharged be- cause they were considered deficient in cer- tain character traits. Among those which led in importance were non-cooperation, careless- ness, laziness, lack of ambition, dishonesty, lack of courtesy. I. Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau of Investigation states, quote, There is noth- ing secret about the manner in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation operates. Its formula is a simple one- intensive training, highly efficient and carefully investigated

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24 THE LAUREL The stranger, on getting within speaking distance, inquired, Are you Samuel Brown, the owner of this place? They call me Iudge, was the curt reply, for the Iudge was not yet entirely restored to good humor. I'm a government agent trying to esti- mate the crops this year. You've got a great farm heref' he stated. The Iudge had climbed down from the wagon and walked around to Bill's head by this time. I'm glad to see you use horses and don't depend on gasoline for your power, con- tinued the visitor and added approvingly, You,re certainly doing your share to win the warf' The Iudge spoke up then. That's just the trouble, he said. Don't seem to me I am doing much out of the ordinary. Lots of times lately I have figured maybe I ought to leave the farm and work in one of these fac- tories as everyone else is doing. The stranger thought a moment looking around over the carefully handled farm- lands as he did so. Did you ever hear, he began, the statement by Secretary of Agri- culture Wickard, 'Food will win the war and write the peace'? The Iudge nodded. Yes, well- said the agent, climbing into his car, you're doing your part and if more people did the same, we would be bet- ter off, so keep on with the good work. And say--maybe you'd like to go around with me next week. You know this section better than I dof' He drove out of the yard and the Iudge went about his chores. That night, after devouring Betsy's baked potatoes and early peas with a little more relish than usual, he started through the shed into the barn to do the night chores, whistling as he went. From the shed door, the Iudge looked over his domain proudly for the Hrst time that year. As he turned to go to the barn he stumbled over an old red paint cang this gave him an idea. Now how did that go-H he muttered, fumbling around in a pile of odd paint' brushes to find one that would scrape the little remaining paint out of the old can. Food will- Food will win-oh, yes, that's it. By this time he had found a suitable brush and a piece of old board off the kin- dling pile. This last he squared up with an axe and headed once more forthe barn. When he reached the barn doors, he stopped, laid down his equipment, and started to work. M-O+T-T-O, he wrote first in the center of the board at the top. Then work- ing laboriously with his scanty paint and old brush he began, in large capitals- F-O-O-D I'-then, in smaller size, w-i-l-l w-i-n t-h-e w-a-r, a-n-d w-r-i-t-e t-h-e - Cand Hnally in capitalsj P-E-A-C-E peace. After finishing the last he sat back and observed his handiwork. Picking up the hammer and nails ne had secured from his tool box, he stood a ladder against the barn door. Over the top in the center of the barn he placed his board, then, after fastening it solidly, he climbed back down and surveyed his work. For several minutes he stood there reading it over to himself. Food will win the war and write the peace. By golly, I am doing my part, he exclaimed, and pick- ing up his milk pails he trotted off to the tieup whistling. Lois Cohoon '42. YTD' PETER SWENSON-Fireman ETER SWENSON walked slowly down the narrow cobblestone street by the waterfront. As he ambled along with his hands thrust in the pockets of his heavy jacket, his mind was occupied with a vital question. And, in connection with that question, he could not keep the events of the previous month from rushing back into his Peter felt that he would never thoughts. forget the experience he had been through then. It had happened while the oil tanker Northern ,' was steadily making her way through the rough Atlantic a few days from port. Peter was a fireman on the North- ern, and like the rest of the crew, had been