Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

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I0 THE ACADEMY BELL tops, the depths of the seas. or the heights of the air. will always seem to some people unpractical and fool- hardy. hut do we want to see a world in which there are none willing to put something aside in search for higher things? :Xs long as there are graduating classes in lfryehurg Academy and other schools, so long, we hope. there will he young people who will see the vision the traveler in l.ongfellow's 111 PClll SIIXY. l':IlW.XRI1 l.l41,vni:ia.v'i'l-114. SCIENCE AND MIRACLES . I have chosen a suhject on which one may spend hours in deep thoughtg one on which many a man has spent a lifetime in study and research. l.et us consider the suhject,-Science and Miracles. A miracle is a sign or mighty wonder performed to show the power of God, htit only employed in a great cause or for a religious purpose, Yet it is often given a hroader mean- ing. heing employed to descrihe many wonders which are explainahle hy science and are not really supernatural. 'l'lie miracles of the llihle were per- formed hy tiod and llis own Son, -le- sus. Xvho else could divide the wa- ters to let the children of lsrael return lu t'anaan? fiod appeared to Moses in a hurning hush to give llis com- mands. -lesus walked on the turhulent waters to cheer and encourage those in danger. lle fed five thousand people with hve loaves of hread and ltvtn fishes. At the marriage feast lle changed the water to wine. lle and some of the disciples had the power to heal the sick. jesus heing of the lloly Trinity had divine power. hut the diss ciples were common people who were empowered hy God. 'l'hrough hlesus and the disciples did tlod reveal Himself. Men have performed what appear ltr he miracles, hut nothing performed hy man is unexplainahle. Nothing ex- plainahle is really a miracle. liotl is the Creator of an innnense universe of which the earth is a very small part. lle has peopled the earth and made it rich in resources. 'l'o men of heneficent minds lle has revealed these secrets of nature and hy llis guidance men have developed them to a vast extent. liotl has guided men in the study of science. tiod is the founf dation of chemistry and chemistry is the foundation of everything. livery material suhstance can he analyzed and its constituents deteriuined. The ani- mal and vegetahle kingdoms have a common characteristic. lifeg yet how dissimilar it is in each. lloth have mas terial hodies composed of essentially the same elements. Does this not create in you a desire to understand what life is? .-X man and a tree die, hut what a change takes place? .VX tree dies liinh hy limh. QX man may die in an instant and what is lacking after death? ls not every part of the hody there? lt will weigh as much as hefore life departed. Xvhat. then, is the part of man that is created

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THE ACADEMY BELL 9 record. The motto of this intrepid explorer was Excelsior, and he was. fortunately, more successful than the hero of l,ongfellow's poem. Another Arctic explorer, who had for his motto Excelsior, and who is of particular interest to Fryeburg people, in that he once lived here, is Com- mander Robert E. Peary, the discov- erer of the North Pole. After eighteen years of almost continual work in that region he realized his ambition, and in doing so, gave the United States the honor of being the hrst to reach that long sought-for goal. His health was undoubtedly undermined by his many Arctic trips and he died in mid- dle life. but he must be regarded as eminently successful. The discoverers of the South l'ole. .-Xnmntls-en and Scott. were men of the same type. No discouragemeut or dis- appointment kcpt them from their goal. and though Scott met with the same tragic fate as l.ongfellow's hero, yet he succeeded in attaining his ambition. A graduate of the .Xcadetuy in the class of 1884 made a record as an explorer, which is well worth our attention. Dennis N. Cole and a com- panion, making surveys and explora- tions iu Labrador, discovered the Great Falls. They met with many mishaps and nearly lost their lives, but all through Mr. Cole's life it was a great satisfaction to him that he attained his goal. Of the present day explorers we should not fail to mention Donald li. McMillan, whom many of us have heard speak in this church. Ile is now making important explorations in the Arctic regions. Excelsior has always been his motto. A band of daring mountaineers is hoping this summer to conquer Mt. Everest. lN'e may soon hear that they have attained their goal, and they will have a thrilling story to tell the world. These explorers and pioneers were successful because they had one end in view. and, of course. the driving power of one aim is just as impelling in other lines of activity. To take just one ex- ample of this let ns look back at those days when our constitution was framed. After the Revolutionary NVar Con- gress sat in Philadelphia with the defi- nite view that the United States should become one of the leading nations of the world. This was their goal. After many reverses they saw their plan be- gin to function, and is not the United States now what they hoped it would become? llid they not realize their vision? What shall be our final estimate of the value of the work of men like these? XYould they have contributed more to the world if they had thought only of financial success and personal safety? Not all adventurers can be equally successful, but every person who is willing to make the sacrifices necessary for high ideals. adds some- thing to the sum total of the world's wisdom. There are always some who criticize a man who will not compro- mise, whose motto is Excelsior, The search for the Poles. the mountain

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THE ACADEMY BELL ll in the image of find. that is indissol- uhle? ls it not the mind, that strange power that enahles man to develop in himself to a greater or less degree a likeness to his Master? The myste- rious power that makes man the crown- ing work of God. Another matter which is not known hy anyone, is what life is for. XYhy are we on earth? lt is tiod's affair and the lmest we can do is to live and do Ilis will. Many people, if asked. will say that life is to have a good time. Xthat is success in life? Many people accumulate great wealth and are not very happy. Others are poor and nmst work hard, hut are after all very happy. XYhich have made the greater success? Again, people have studied and luecome very learned while others can neither read nor write. You may have olmserved that the ignorant are often the happier. lf life is to have a good time. will not people after death have a good time in Paradise supposing they are admitted? God has put us on earth for some special purpose and hy llis guidance we ac- complish that purpose and die when lle is ready to receive us. llow wonderfully Ile has created the animal kingdom! livery living crea- ture eats food. a part of which is con- verted into energy hy chemical changes in the digestive system. The rest is used to hnild up the tissues and keep the lwody warm. This energy main- tains the ahility of each to move about and do tiod's will. There are other chemical changes which develop energy in everyday life. toal is an important source of heat as well as dyes. medicine, and tar. :Xu- other important source is natural gas. lt is used in making steam. in driving engines. and in producing light. lloth of these sources of energy are material sulwstances. There is yet another source ul energy which is coming into wide use. lt is a mystery in itself. lt is electric- ity which is delined as an imponder- alile and invisilwle agent. producing manifestations of energy. Yet can we not see electricity? Benjamin Frank- lin discovered that lightning is elec- tricity. Although it has no material form we can feel it. XN'e see lightning and call it a hall of fire. W'hat ele- ments are lmurning to produce fire which we call electricity? lilectricity is the means of conveying radio, wire- less telegraphy, and telephone mes- sages. All of these were considered as miracles when invented and would doulztless he so considered among sav- ages. Xke hear of people controlling a lioat at sea when no one is almoard and even of sending out radio waves that will stop motors in aeroplanes. Many will wish to dishelieve such statements. hut we who are ignorant of what great inventors can do must not he too hasty to criticise. From time to time we see in the northern heavens the Aurora Borealis, more commonly called the northern lights. lt arouses in us admiration, awe. and curiosity. The ancients hc- lieved it of supernatural origin, hut re- cent ohservations show that it is caused hv electricity acting on nitro- genf lt is as mysterious as it is heau-