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

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THE EXPONENT 5 Rome, and to Egypt. Therefore, he left the United states with a little change in his pocket and worked his passage to Europe. In his jour¬ neys, wnich led him into all parts of the v orld, Halliburton visited those cities and places of interest which were not on the deluxe tours. In fact, he chose those places to visit which he had been informed were inaccessible and closed to tour¬ ists. As a result, Halliburton had very interesting and educational travels, which were quite different from those of others, and the books which he wrote about his experi¬ ences are consequently original and widely read. He has also enter¬ tained thousands of people with his lectures on his travels. Surely we can say that Richard Halliburton has become successful by doing things differently. x4nother man who has contrib¬ uted much to civilization by doing things differently is Colonel William Gorgas, the hero of the Panama Canal. In building the canal, there was one hindrance which had brought failure to the foreign coun¬ tries attempting the cut through Panama, and which at one time seemed certain to prevent the Amer¬ ican government from completing the “big ditch.” It was the deadly yellow fever, which was supposed to be caused by uncleanliness. Al¬ though Colonel Gorgas with other doctors had previously found the real cause of the yellow fever to be germs carried by a certain kind of mosquito, the cmomission in charge of the canal project could not believe this, and consequently Gorgas could obtain no money with which to destroy the breeding places of the mosquitos. While others would have become discouraged and would have left with sufficient rea¬ son, Gargos acted in a different man¬ ner and stuck to his job. He saw that a great contagion of yellow fever among the workmen was in¬ evitable, and so he set about with what few resources he had to pre¬ vent it from spreading. Thus, when the fever did break out in the set¬ tlements, Gorgas was prepared to save much suffering, and when authority of the canal was trans¬ ferred into other hands. Colonel Gorgas received the necessary sun- port with which he stamped out the yellow fever from the canal zone. Numerous other examples might be cited of men -and women who have made their lifework a little different from that of others, with good results both to themselves and to others. However, let us look at the merits of doing things differ¬ ently from another point of view. How have the great contributions to civilization been made? By the willingness and desire of certain men and women to do things a lit¬ tle differently from others. The first airplane was made possible by the desire of the Wright brothers to do things differently. The sub¬ marine, wireless, the electric car, in fact every invention is the result of someone’s desire to make some¬ thing a little different, believin that the old way of performing various tasks could be improved upon. Lastly, doing things differently has a good effect upon people. It tends to create self-reliance and to push them ahead. Gen. Ernest Hoeking has said, “Imitation under¬ mines energy, it is a form of self¬ alienation. ff repression, a failure of self-confidence.” The converse ' f his statement might well be thi«. that originality builds up energy, it is a form of self expression, a help to confidence and self-reliance. Let us try to make life more worth liv¬ ing by doing things a little differ¬ ently and better. TALBOT ALDRICH, ’27. CLASS HISTORY The history of the class of 1927 is presented through the use of a nautical chart. The scene is laid in the captain’s saloon of an outgoing liner. The characters are Capt. Chesling and Miss Wheeler, a pas¬ senger. Miss Wheeler: Good afternoon. Captain, you and I appear to be the only good sailors on board, ex¬ cept, for the crew. Everyone else seems to be confined to his state¬ room. I wonder if you have some¬ thing that I may read this after¬ noon. Captain: I don’t believe you will find many books here. Miss Wheel¬ er, but you may be intcrestea In

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4 THE EXPONENT shall miss their bright faces and cheery smiles on Senior Alley. So with the warmest admiration we bid you, Seniors, farewell, and a bon voyage. AU REVOIR How dull life will be in school because of the departure of the honored Seniors I No doubt some of you rejoice to be free from study, but therp is a feeling in all of you which makes you sorry to leave good old G. H. S. You will PRESIDENT Parents and Friends: As President of the class of 1927 I welcome you to these Class Day exeicises. Classmates: We have spent three years in this new buildng after one year at the old high school. We have seen the advantage of this fine new building over the old and have ESSAY AND Parents, teachers and friends of the class of 1927, we give to you our most hearty welcome to these exer¬ cises on Class Day. It has been your assistance and friend=:hip that have made our years in Greenfield High School memorable and worth¬ while. It will always be gratfying to us to look back and think of the pleasant times that we have had in G. H. S. DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY It has been said that Americans are a most imitative people, both in thinking and in acting. Although this may not seem to be true to a great extent, however it it true that we like to imitate others and that we often feel forced by custom to act and to think like others. We should try to be original in our ac¬ tions and not follow the accustomed order of doing things simply because it has alv ays been done that wav. However, no good is derived from being different when the sole pur¬ pose is to be orginal and to attract attention. If a man should go about with his shirt buttoned up the back, he would certainly be doing enter into strange surroundings and will have to make new acquaint¬ ances but back here in school you will never be forgotten. We hope to hear of the good work of those of you who enter college, and the success of those who enter the business world. You will sail stor¬ my seas and we wish you the best of luck in finding a safe harbor. Never again shall we hear your ringing voices and see your digni¬ fied figures in the corridors. In the future the doors of G. H. S. will always be open to you. Au revoir and good luck, Seniors! had the chance to use it and its equipment. The neople of this town have giv¬ en us these things so that we might have a better chance for an edu¬ cation. They did what they could and it is up to us to show that we have profited by it. R. H., ’27. SALUTATORY the thing differently, but his orig- inalty would not be benefiting him¬ self or others, because he would have no purpose except that of at¬ tracting attention. However, if that same man should carry out some new plan whereby he could ac¬ complish more in his work, his orig¬ inality would benefit both himself and others. Originality with a defi¬ nite purpose behind it is sure to bring success. One of the best modern examples of men who have done things dif¬ ferently is Richard Halliburton. Af¬ ter graduating from Princeton Uni¬ versity, Halliburton decided to trav¬ el, visiting places which since his boyhood he had hoped to see. As Halliburton’s family were wealthy, he could have taken a deluxe cruise to the Mediterranean or a trip around the world on a modern, floating palace. In that case, he would have been only one more tourist added to the many thou¬ sands who had already taken those trips. But Halliburton wished to make his journey different, to avoid the beaten paths and to escape the crowds of tourists going to Paris, to

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6 THE EXPONENT this chart. It represents the four- year cruise of the class of 1927 throug h Greenfield High School. Miss Wheeler: Oh, I would love to see it. It must be interesting to see it charted like that. Captain: Yes, it is. I remem¬ ber the sailing day as well as though it were yesterday. There certainly were a great many children—about two hundred and seventeen—all dressed up like real sailors, with a jaunty cap on each head. Miss Wheeler: Yes, and weren ' t they anxious to have some real of¬ ficials! Here it shows where they elected Dick Hamilton as captain, R uth Reynolds, first mate, Ruth Dickinson, the keeper of the log, Charles Nims, purser and Vera Mor¬ ris, his assistant. Of course you were really in charge, weren ' t you? I suppose, though that you Iiac! to make them feel happy and import¬ ant! Captain: Of course. But were¬ n ' t they stubborn! Why I heard that Mr. Smith, the chaperon, act¬ ually had to spank George Billings rgid Russ Shay to make them be¬ have. However, after some revelry on deck., during the reception given them by the Sophs, they calmed down. Mv ship stood the ordeal ex¬ ceptionally well. The ship was old, and these Freshmen had shorter hours than any other class on board, but they managed to do well, and a gieat many received high ranKs in their studies. Miss Wheeler: Five months of sailing through the auiet stra ' ts of Diligence and Study! Oh, here ' s wh re thev ran into a cyclone! Capt: Yes, they had entered the region of “Mid-Year Exams. They were frantic and many fell over¬ board. That was a critical - ' me. Even the bravest did not dare to venture onto the deck of “School Activities until later in the vov- age. While rounding the coast of “Final Exams they were b ' - ' er sailors, and there were fewer cas¬ ualties. Miss Wheeler: The reports that we received about them were very good. Captain: Yes, thev gloated over them even when beginning the sec¬ ond year of the cruise. This time we had a large new ship, and every¬ one was much happier. But really. my passengers didn ' t do much but study. M.ss Wheeler: The first year was the best as far as studying goes, I guess. They had another election about this time and elected Dick Hamilton again as pilot, Ruth Dick¬ inson, first mate, George Mazuz an, second mate Margaret McIntosh, purser and Carolyn Avery her as¬ sistant. Captain: By this time they were well acquainted with their surround¬ ings and they clambered all over the ship. They gave a (reception to a bunch of youngsters on the fourth deck who were on their first voyage. At this party they also gave a play, “The Queen of Hearts. Didn ' t you hear how Blanche Williams first came into prominence as ar actress in this play? Miss Wheeler: Yes, it was in the papers. What ' s this? It says here that Maniatty, Bell, Dickinson, Vickery and Anson booted the pig¬ skin all over the ship. Captain: Those were exciting times. In practice one day Anson tackled the cook by mistake and had to polish the brass from three until eleven P. M. for the rest of the voyage. Did you see where Helen Dawe, Talb ot Aldrich, Florence Portman and Marion Dean led the climb for the topmost in scholar¬ ship? M ' ss Wheeler: The chart is blurred about this spot, but I re¬ member reports that they had be¬ gun their climb this year. Dick Hamilton seems to be pilot again, Carolyn Aver- ' ’’ is first mate, Bar¬ bara Humes, second mate, Charles Nims, purser and George Mazuzan, his assistant. Captain: Did you ever hear about their Junior Prize-Speaking? You know, it ' s one of the customs of my ship to have a Junior Prize- Speaking Contest. This year the competition was espec ' ally keen. Blanche Williams and Dick Hamil¬ ton carried off the honors with some dandy poems. Miss Wheeler: What ' s this about a Prom? Captain: Oh. thev gave a Prom to the lords of the ship, the Sen ' ors. That was a Prom all right! Too bad they have to go from one ex¬ treme to another in their parties.