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

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THE EXPONENT 15 with him, and another speaker main¬ tained the idea that by escorting a young lady to the theater her escort had more of a chance to show her that he wasn’t stingy, and was willing to spend enough money to give her a good time, in the way of good seats at the theater, and offer her refresh¬ ments of some kind. There may be something in what each said, but per¬ sonally I think they were both wrong. I believe it is because most young men are rather bashful about speak¬ ing of their religion, and asking a young lady to share it with them. At any event it is odd. In former years a young man felt proud to escort his young lady to church, but now it appears to be very different. But, I suppose it is just one of youth’s peculiarities. Many years ago there was an old man who never answered a question with “yes” or “no”. One very rainy day he was observed coming into a store where several of his friends were gathered. They wagered with each other that they could make him say “yes” to a direct question, so when he entered, one said, “Is it raining hard, Mr. Stearns?” Mr. Stearns paused,looked at the speak¬ er, tipped his head and replied, “Look at my hat!” This droll, eccentric manner was a family trait, and was passed down tb his grandson, an educated man of culture, who had been abroad, and who had graduated from one of Ger¬ many’s well-known universities. One day this grandson went into a store in Boston and was treated with cold indifference by the clerk, a young man who probably had never been outside the state, perhaps not out of the city limits. Finally Mr. Stearns, pointing to his hat, said to the ' Clerk, “Do you see any hayseeds on my hat?” He was at once treated with respect and prompt attention. Not many pe ople would have taken such an eccentric way to reprimand an in¬ solent clerk, but it did the trick. Are we not usually too ready to criticize those who are not our par¬ ticular friends and, sometimes, even our friends? Why not start over again and try to see the good quali¬ ties instead of the eccentric ones in our fellow-men, for we are all human, and, being human, we all undoubtedly have our share of the idiosyncracies of human nature. GERTRUDE L. CHAMBERLIN, ’26. IVY SONG (Melody in F) Loyalty, Honor and Scholarship, too. Are what we’ve stood for these four long years. To G. H. S. we will ever be true Through all our hopes and fears. Now that we’re leaving, never to return, We leave this emblem, the ivy of success, ♦ That our memory they never may spurn In coming years at G. H. S. i We plant this green ivy by thy friendly wall Which to us all will ever be dear. And pleasant memories will surely recall Jn the future years. Harriet M. Salway and Kathryn R. Knight.

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14 THE EXPONENT loved all animals and therefore could not endure seeing one in distress. Samuel Johnson, that well-known author, was a very eccentric man. He lost many friends by his abrupt, almost discourteous manners. One night while dining with friends, he suadenly put his hand under the table and removed a lady’s shoe. Such manners as these were of course very unpardonable and for this reason many people would not include him in their dinner parties. A lady once asked him how he came to define “pastern” as “the knee of a horse”; instead of an elaborate defense as she expected, he at once answered, “Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.” What an unexpected answer! His dictionary contained many odd definitions. For example, he defined lexicographer as a “writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge,” and oats as “a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people”. People having an artistic tempera¬ ment are likely to have a supersen¬ sitive aversion to meeting people in any great numbers, and for this rea¬ son seek seclusion, which causes peo¬ ple to think that they are eccentric. Henry Thoreau, our own American naturalist, lived many years in seclu¬ sion enjoying solitude more than company. He was naturally reticent and loved isolation. Superstitions are sometimes the cause of our idiosyncracies. Such small things often make one super¬ stitious. Some people never think of starting a trip on Friday, or starting work which cannot be finished on that day. A black cat crossing one’s path-—passing under a ladder—stand¬ ing in a building under an open um¬ brella—these all cause superstitions among some people who believe bad luck will surely follow such actions. Besides these things which I have enumerated there are many others just as senseless, which cause even educated people to be superstitious and afraid. An educated person, at least,, , ought to realize that such things could not possibly have in¬ fluence on anything which might hap¬ pen in the future. Why is it that we are never satis¬ fied with what we have? After choos¬ ing out of all the world a lot on which to build a little house in New England we are haunted by the vision of one just beyond. This is certainly peculiar for if we hadn’t seen the one beyond we would be satisfied with the one we already have. Someone might say, “Why is it so?” But that is an unsolved problem. How often we plan on meeting people here or there, for a few minutes, and then—when it is all over we are disappointed. The time was so short, the conversation so hurried and interrupted, and so little said that we intended to say, that we almost wish we hadn’t met. Again we are dissatisfied with our lot. What a host of eccentric people there are in this world, wanting something very much and then after they get it, not caring for it. It is always the unattainable that they want instead. As the English poet, Shelley, has said, “We look before and after. And pine for what is not, Our sincerest laughter. With some pain is fraught.” Just at present the older genera¬ tion is grumbling about the ways of their children. They smoke, they go on joy-rides, they dance till the wee small hours of the morning, and they do countless other things which an¬ noy and disturb their parents and all older people in general. But what about the youthful days of our parents? Probably their parents in turn were as much disturbed over the doings of their children as ours are now; but it is hard for them to remember what their parents thought and said about the roller-skating rinks, straw rides and all night dances. The only trouble with them is that they are looking through dif¬ ferent colored glasses now. Just as it was with their ancestors before them, it is hard for them to keep pace with the new generation. I recently heard a discussion among some young people on why a young man asked a girl to go to the theatre instead of asking her to at¬ tend church with him. One of the young folks thought it was probably because the young man thought the girl would not care to attend church

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16 THE EXPONENT THE CLASS SONG Amidst the flowers of sunny June Are donned the caps and gowns By seniors parting on life’s way, Since high school days are done. On to the work of life we go, Yet severing with a sigh The ties and bonds of friendships dear We formed in Greenfleld High. The future opens up ahead. We feel the call of youth, Also the strength to conquer life All in the name of Truth. As we press on to victory. To keep our standards high Are lessons of honor and loyalty We learned in Greenfield High. If joyful pleasures come with day Or sorrow comes with night May we with courage rising high E’er strive to do the right. Her token of complete success May Fortune ever fix Upon each loyal member of The “Class of Twenty-Six”. Words and music by Bernice G. Sargent, ’26 ESSAY WITH VALEDICTORY CONSERVATION During and since the time when Roosevelt was president, there has been much agitation about conserv¬ ing our national resources. Socie¬ ties have been formed to plant trees and wild-flowers and to save coal, mineral wealth and the water sup¬ ply. ‘All this is very good but, while trying to preserve things material, have we overlooked the immaterial? There is something more important than material resources to be pre¬ served,—the thing, upon which na¬ tions stand and lacking which they fall,—national ideals. Ever since men have existed, they have had ideals; at first very low but advancing as human civilization advanced. We might follow the story through all its progress but it is too long a tale to be told here, so let us pick up the narrative in England in the seventeenth century. Here everyone was forced to at¬ tend the Established Church, but there were people who believed that everyone should be allowed to wor¬ ship as he chose. Others there were who believed in a more democratic form of government than England had. These people became colonists in America where they proceeded to live according to their ideals. Op¬ pressed people from other parts of Europe also came here that their ide.als might be realiz;il. Finally there were in America thirteen colonies which banded to¬ gether against England because they had common ideals. Many of the colonists gladly laid down their lives that their ideals might live and be preserved for their children, and when the Revolution was won, the survivors set up a government of their own, based upon the Ideals most dear to them. Our national Constitution is the symbol of their