Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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from all corners of the earth, men with all languages, customs, and creeds. Now, under the United States government, they pledge al- legiance to the same hag, and they realize the loyalty due hrst of all to America. This is not only the land of golden opportunities and the heaven across the seas that im- migrants are seeking when they hrst leave their homes in other coun- tries, but it is also the home of free- dom and equality where everyone has a chance to make good in the busy world of today. Little by little, due to various in- huences, the people are uniting in their belief in one God, and it is hoped that in the course of time there will be but one church and that church will be the medium through which God speaks to his chosen people, the whole world. This hope, while very optimistic is the ultimate peak of our dreams, and yet it is not an impossible goal. With this bright outlook, cannot the United States hope for a great future with all men free, and equal, and with the other nations as friendly and cooperative neighbors? Such a splendid vision is well pic- tured in Katherine Lee Bate’s “America the Beautiful.” Here is no thought of warfare, no sound of battle din and confusion, but Amer- ica as a land of peace and plenty where all men dwell as brothers. “O beautiful for spacious skies. For amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain ! America ! America ! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brother- hood From sea to shining sea !” A CENTURY OF PROGRESS IN COMMUNICATION Norman Baxter Let us enumerate some of the ad- vantages the present age has in communication : the telegraph, the telephone, the steam engine-boat and railway, the automobile, the ra- dio, and the aeroplane. All of these inventions serve in both social and scientific fields of life. A per- son may take the receiver from his telephone and hold a conversation with a party in London, Paris, or the Pacific Coast in a comparative- ly short time. In this generation a deed of sufficient interest to human- ity is soon known the length and breadth of the country; a word whispered anywhere is heard every- where. The first outstanding step in com- munication was the discovery of the power of steam by Watt, later used as a motive power by Robert Ful- ton. The first steam engine was in- stalled in a boat and considered a success. A success was also made of putting cars on rails and pulling them with this steam engine. Our present day freight cars would an- swer to the description of their coaches. Improvements have been made from time to time until to-day we have luxurious Pullman coaches. Our present day trans-Atlantic steamers are small worlds in them- selves being equipped with every convenience and luxury. The inventor of the telegraph, Samuel Morse, while in Europe, was inspired to attempt perfecting a tel- egraph when making other electri- cal experiments. Returning to America, he completed his experi- ments on telegraphy, when a mes- sage was sent through a coil of wire one-half a mile long. Morse made several attempts in this country to have the government aid him, but little interest was shown. The same attempts were later made in Europe 14

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the abolitionist fever of the north, but gave to all the other states, and even to England a definition of the New England policy concerning slavery. The sly humor and ready wit, irony, well-defined New Eng- land characters, and the political philosophy made the “Biglow Pa- pers” a series that became immedi- ately popular and very important. The fact that American poetic gen- ius has failed to materialize under even more remarkable circumstan- ces because of the essentially com- mercial character of the American people shows the insight, emotion, and depth of feeling that must have inspired Lowell when he wrote those clever papers. A third patriotic poet who aided the United States in her glorious en- deavor to preserve a union “one and inseparable” was Walt Whitman. He not only aroused feeling with his words, but he also devoted him- self to the cause of liberty. Al- though unable, because of ill health, to be a soldier, he did his bit for the Union by nursing his unfortunate compatriots during the Civil War. “O Captain, my Captain,” Whit- man’s most famous poem, and inci- dentally the only one he wrote in rhyme, was not written to encour- age the Northern forces, but as a great tribute to Lincoln. In fact this is the greatest elegy ever written on Lincoln. The words of that immortal poem will ever ring- out strong and true. “O Captain! my captain! our fear- ful trip is done; The ship has weathered every gale, the prize we sought is won ; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting. While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! heart! heart! Leave you not the little spot Where on the deck my captain lies. Fallen cold and dead.” The fact that these patriotic po- ets did not always write to arouse war- like spirits is shown in another of Whitman’s poems entitled “Pion- eers, O ! Pioneers.” This poem shows the author ' s deep reverence for the glories and accomplishments of our country. One stanza that is applicable to all times is: ‘■plave the eider races halted ? Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas? We take up the task eternal, and the burden, and the lesson; Pion- eers! O Pioneers!” A nation is not obliged to have a national song, as it is to have a settled form of government and laws. But in some crisis of national life a song arises which embodies the sentiments of the hour and be- cause it satisfies this need for the expression of a whole people, it en- dures, and in time becomes a na- tional hymn. Such a song is Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The celebrated author- ess wrote this hymn in 1861 the first year of the Civil War, to en- courage the soldiers of the North in their struggle to preserve the Union, and none can measure its infiuence in nerving the hearts and stimulating the courage of the sol- diers in blue. So noticeable was the effect of this song that soon af- ter the war a noted Confederate leader was heard to say to a Fed- eral officer, “If we had had your songs, you never could have con- quered us !” But now the United States has no need of poems and hymns that will stir the nation to a ferocious desire for war. We are persisting in the hope that the world has been rid of war for all times. With this out- look we are looking forward to a future of peace and prosperity with advancement in industry and know- ledge. America, “The land of the free and the home of the brave” is the melting-pot of the nations. Here, on common ground, mingle races 13

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but with no greater success. How- ever, Morse was not so easily dis- couraged, but returned to America and after four long years of poverty and numerous appeals to the gov- ernment for help. Congress appro- priated thirty-thousand dollars to be used in building a line from Bal- timore to Washington. This line proved to be such a great success that several other lines were built in America. Then a cable was stretched under the ocean to Eng- land, an almost incredible feat. Very soon after the invention of the telegraph, a new instrument, the telephone, was being planned by a great mind. Imagine the thrill ex- perienced, when a voice was heard from a distance as clearly as though it were at one’s side. Such was the case with Alexander Graham Bell, who had been making experiments to relieve the deaf, when he hap- pened upon the idea of the tele- phone which seemed very plausible to him. After numerous experi- ments, success crowned his efforts. A demonstration was held in a large field. A friend stationed at a dis- tance spoke to him through this queer instrument called the tele- phone, and, sure enough, the voice was audible to him. However, Bell was scoffed at, ridiculed, and called an imposter. While working on his invention in Salem, he was accused of witchcraft. A practical explan- ation could not be given to the sci- entists of the country. One brilliant Bostonian offered the suggestion that there was “a hole through the middle of the wire.” A company was formed known as the “Bell Company.” There were many hard dark days, but the company sur- vived the storms and threats of the indignant people, and now we find a network of telephone lines in our country. We are moreover fast es- tablishing telephone connections with foreign countries. The automobile was as much of a curiosty, and joke to some, as any of the inventions. The first automo- bile race was held in 1894. The course was over ninety miles; it took eight hours and forty minutes to complete it; five and one-half gal- lons of gas were consumed ; the op- erators stopped ten times for re- pairs, and the average rate of speed being ten miles per hour, they were obliged to use ice to cool the en- gine. In the years following, only the rich could afford cars, and a great many of these were of foreign manufacture, but now practically everyone owns a car. The improve- ments on the automobile are very evident and do not need any men- tion. Wilbur and Orville Wright, two young men, conceived the idea that a person could fly in some kind of machine containing an eng ine. But to get this contraption of the right proportions was entirely a different matter. Though they were jeered at they were persistent in their at- tempts and in 1903 they made a successful flight. Of course the aeroplane, like all other new inven- tions, was crude and cumbersome. Many scientists studying aeronau- tics have made possible the present day aeroplane. Not long ago peo- ple craned their necks to see them, but now they pass over our heads practically unnoticed. Routes are being established throughout our country connecting our larger cities for transportation. Plans are being made for seadromes in mid-ocean so that aeroplanes may make the trip across the ocean with less dan- ger. The radio was next introduced, an almost weird invention. But they are common in almost every home now, and are a great asset to both the social and commercial world. One of our present day geniuses, Marconi, makes the statement that in his mind the radio will not be perfected until a person can speak to a friend whenever he wishes, no 15