Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

Page 18 text:

8 THE EXPONENT But, to return to the history of the World Peace idea. In 1899, the Czar of Russia extended an invitation to the nations of the world to send dele¬ gates to the Hague in Holland for a discussion of rules of warfare. Arrangements were made where¬ by any two nations might call upon other nations for arbiters to settle their differences amicably. In 1902, this court sat for the first time. Since then it has settled many questions which might otherwise have become serious. At present the dif¬ ferent governments have regular judges to act as arbiters and the Hague Court is permanently estab¬ lished. In 1907, another Hague conference was held which among other acts condemned the use of dum-dum bullets. In 1914, our Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, suggested that a third conference be held in 1915. But before the plans were completed the European war broke out and Peace took a vacation. We all remember the efforts that were made during the winter of 1918-19 to secure a League of Nations which should prevent more wars. When the United States did not enter the League because of the failure of the Senate to ratify the treaty, the senators received a great deal of criticism. But now many who then favored ratification have decid¬ ed that it was as well to keep out. No scheme for a League could have been successfully put in opera¬ tion when all the nations of the world were facing a readjustment which ranged in consequences from slack business and unemployment to national bankruptcy. Yet a well organized League is bound to come —all farseeing people agree to this although one writer says that it will not arrive until 3000 A. D. However, most authorities are more optimistic than this and some expect to see a working Leagui within their own lifetime. j Ihe chief fault in the plans thus far tried in the interest of peace is that they lack provisions for a police force. Theodore Roosevelt once said that it was of no more use to try to run a League of Nations without a pplice force than to try to run a city or state without one. Some have sug¬ gested that a certain percentage of the navy and army of each country be turned over to the World government so that it could enforce its orders. To command arbitration of differences and to order the nations to obey decrees of the court with¬ out some means of compulsion would be the same as to forbid small boys the green apple privilege and then leave them alone under an apple tree. Some good authorities are of the opinion that to form such a police force would be an impos¬ sibility. The nations would not consent to it for fear that some one nation might gain control of it. With all due respect to these authorities, we may say that ideas are the strongest things on earth. In 1688 when a few thousand Quakers in Pennsylvania passed the resolution that slavery was a moral evil, no one supposed that slavery would be abolished in the cotton states. But ideas grow —and Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclama¬ tion. Thus we may hope that the dreams and work of such peace champions as Andrew Carnegie and John Nobel will not perish; and while we are hop¬ ing, we will do well to remember the words of Roosevelt: “There can be no nobler cause for which to work than righteous peace; and high honor is due those serene and lofty souls, wh-o with wis¬ dom and courage, with high idealism tempered by sane facing of the actual facts of life have striven to bring nearer the day when armed strife between nation and nation shall end throughout the world.” RALPH HASKINS, ’23 CLASS HISTORY Introduction Now at the close of our long, hard year We trace our history year by year. In four great works we try to show, How we have journeyed this path of woe. Our Freshman year was full of strife It was chucked full of childish life. Like the Odyssey it had its fights, And as a thrilling book it ended right. As a thip we began our onward flight, Steering the depths with all our might, As an ancient mariner we journeyed on But therein lies a tale to be found. A little older and not so bold We, like Lancelot and Elaine of old Grew like him, a knight right bold Or became like her, a maid of gold. Seniors, dignified we begin again Trying such truth as comes to win, A record of loyalty, honor and truth W ith a diploma to show as our proof.

Page 17 text:

THE EXPONENT 7 the development of the dynamo electricity took great strides. In 1884 electric street cars were run in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1888 the first standard electric railway in the United States was built at Richmond, Va. In 1895 the electric locomotive came into use. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail¬ road wanted to burrow under Baltimore, and as coal-burning locomotives were out of the question for so long a tunnel, an electric loco¬ motive was tried out. It was such a great success that the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads built vast terminals in which only elec¬ tric locomotives could be used. Ever since that date the electric locomotive has been constantly prov¬ ing its superiority over the steam locomotive. In a recent test one electric easily outpushed two great steam locomotives. It has been found that on an electrified division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad over the Rockies, a distance of 400 miles, 42 electrics do the work much bet¬ ter than 112 steam engines. In the snow of the mountain passes the steam trains were slowed down by radiation from their boilers, but electrics are never happier than when there is zero weather. Braking steam trains down the steep grades of the Rockies was a great problem, but electric trains are equipped with “regenerative brakes.” By simply turning a switch the motors are turned into dynamos and the train coasting down the hills sends electricity back into the power line, thus act¬ ing as a brake. It is estimated that 100,000,000 tons of coal, or a source of power equal to five Niagaras would be saved annually by electrifying all railroads of the United States. Thus the electric railroad has taught America how to conserve its fuel supplies, for the rivers running down the mountains pull heavy trains up. So efficient has the electric locomotive proved that today nearly every railroad in the United States is looking forward to electrifying its whole system. More recently still has wireless telegraphy been invented and developed to such a degree that now wireless telephony is becoming a common, everyday thing. Today one thinks no more about putting on a pair of receivers and “listening in ' here and there all over the country than one does about starting up the phonograph. The radio is used nowadays on all ships, in many homes, and even in aeroplanes, railway trains and automobiles. Now let us think of the future. What a won¬ derful age this is! What opportunities are ahead of us? Thomas A. Edison says, “The chances for big electrical inventions are much greater now than before the telegraph, the telephone, the electric light, and the electric motor were invented, while each of these is far from perfect.” Just think! In the near future probably all the railroads will be electric, gasoline automobiles may give way to electric ones, pocket wireless telephones may take the place of stationary ones, and so on. Thus elec¬ tricity which is now only in its infancy, progresses, and in the future, when coal and oil give out, elec¬ tricity will be used everywhere for everything to which power or electrical energy can be applied. WILTON DEAN, ’23 IVY ORATION The Latent Power of an Idea In the past few years we have heard a great deal about World Peace. Since President Wilson returned from Versailles with the covenant of the League of Nations in 1919, we have talked, read and thought about it. Many of us have come to re¬ gard it as a mere fad which will soon pass out of the public mind into oblivion. But when we consult the pages of history we discover that this is not too new an idea to be durable. It has seemed to grow naturally and slowly for some time. Arbitration is the form in which this idea has been continually cropping out for the past cen¬ tury. More and more, nations have learned to ar¬ bitrate their differences. We can here boast that our nation has done more arbitrating than any other of the world except our mother country, Eng¬ land. But other countries have also taken up the idea. France, Italy, Russia, Japan and several of the South American republics have been parties to one or more important arbitration cases. For the nations have found that by so doing they not only keep out of the debt which would be incurred through war but that they also are fully as apt to get what they consider their due through ar¬ bitration. Again, the world has for the last century been growing more and more averse to the thought of sending its young men through the horrors of war. Hence an eminent writer declares that he can find this much good in the terrible struggle of 1914-18: the civilized world was so shocked by the terrible sufferings which the inventive genius of each side thrust upon the other that the date of organized peace protection was brought cen¬ turies nearer. Perhaps, then, this great catastrophe was allowed by the Ruler of the Universe so as to convince the world that war is what Sherman said it was.

Page 19 text:

THE EXPONENT 9 FRESHMAN YEAR After fighting successfully nine long years of school life, we left behind us the land of “Tillsonia” to embark on our black bowed ships for new and strange lands. We soon tasted all the adventure that we could wish for in one year. We started on our conquest with Francis Carson as captain, Louise Hunter, first mate, Reta Bostley, keeper of the log and Willard Letourneau, keeper of the treas¬ ure. Now as the days went by we encountered no real danger. Indeed during the first month of our voyage we came to the land of the Phoenicians or Sophomores. Here we were treated in a royal man¬ ner. We were their guests and many good times they gave us. Especially at one agreeable dance, called the Freshman reception. We were intro¬ duced to the higher nobles, the teaching force. All these good times and events impressed us very much. It was while we were here that many athletic games were held. Our! crew was invited to take part in them. Among those who accepted were Ed. Vickery, Jack Cavanaugh, Jimmy Woodlock, Art Merz, Mino Partenheimer, Joe Conway and Francis Carson. This being our first tryout few made the teams. Leaving the land of the Phoenicians we began our voyage in earnest. We now woke with the rosy- fingered dawn and worked. Many storms threatened us. Some of our ships were sunk and a few of the crew lost. When things seemed to be going along smoothly we came to the land of Circe. All of our crew fell under her dreadful charm. Studies lagged, interest fell off, we did not care to begin our work again. But Mr. Smith, our leading god, came to our rescue. After this we were more care¬ ful to avoid the Sophomores. However, that danger was soon forgotten and we drifted to a more horri¬ ble one. We had been drifting along with the tide in a leisurely way when we came to Charybdis and Scylla, otherwise known as mid-year exams. Some of us tried to dodge the danger. But it was of no use. Some were seized by Scylla to be no more; others succumbed to Charybdis. As it was, most of us escaped. Ah! but we breathed more freely when those potent evils were left far in the rear. Still we were not out of the danger zone. We encountered the Sirens who called to us to aban¬ don our hard studies and live a carefree life with them. A few believed their lies and succumbed to their songs, but most of us sailed by the danger. Some just about got by as the luring thought of no more studies was hard to resist. Good and happy days followed. Were we not nearing the end of our voyage? Were we not go¬ ing to be rewarded after the long voyage? Indeed, all these happy thoughts filled our hearts with joy. We thought of the good times that were to follow. But many of our thoughts were shattered. Out of the clear sky: the thunderbolt struck. Our ship was beached on the island of the Giant Cyclops, or final exam. We were a sorry looking crew that escaped the island. How we fixed the ship to sail is hard to answer. Two days later we sighted land. Oh, what re¬ joicing there was. Most of our crew pulled through safely. A two months’ rest was assured us and we passed safely into the land of Ithaca or the sum¬ mer vacation. SOPHOMORE YEAR There were some Ancient Mariners Of the Class of ’23, Who started on their Sophomore year, With many a laugh of glee. The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared; Merrily did we start, With Cavanaugh and Rita, dear, To steer us in our bark. Miss Toomey held the log so dear, As a duty great and noble. And Letourneau kept the bags of gold, With all its treasure’s trouble. “The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea.” The mariners did hold a dance For the class of twenty-four, And they did trip upon the deck, With never a care or more. The crew did call for many a sport, And the mariners romped and cheered, While mist and snow on us blew down, And of the cold we were afear’d. Then we did ’cross an albatross That flew darkly ’cross the sky And we did seek for one long week, Our marks to raise them high. “The sun now rose upon the right, Out of the sea came he, Still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea.” And then our ship did stay quite still, While we did sport in glee. “Good English Week,” a play did bring From all worries were we free. The good south wind now blew behind And brought baseball along, Many did come to its clear call To cheer in mighty throng.