Mansfield High School - Manhigan Yearbook (Mansfield, OH)

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Science and the Beautiful Jay W. Ferree HE TRAIN of human thought runs in cycles: so say the modern psychologists, and Solomon proclaimed the same thing when he said, There is nothing new under the sun.” In the present stage of human development, poets and sentimentalists view the rapid strides of science with no concealed alarm, for they think they can forsee the time when its rude rule and exact demands will annihilate or curtail all the sooth¬ ing sentiments, all the rich products of fancy and imagery of words, all the pictures of the imagination that have embellished literature and solaced the griefs of many a heart. This oft-expressed fear and forecast is merely a half turn in the cycle of thought. Science, searching and unfeeling in its analysis may resolve the ancient galleries of gods into simply mythic representations of the forces of nature, it may set the cause of spiritual visions uron the action of the sub¬ conscious mind, it may dampen the belief in a God of Salvation, but, notice, it is already atoning for its cold-blood slaughter of reverence and beautiful thought. The subjects held as ideal in one century are resolved into facts for scientific attestation, in the next. The old chrystaline spheres in which the planets rolled burst into the ' ‘fourth dimension” as soon as a telescope was aimed intelligently into the sky. But in their place we acknowledge the chains of gravity which were beyond the imagination of conceptionists in the past ages. The frightening gorgons and dragons much sung in aged poetry were refuted as imagery by the laconic critic of history, but the Science of Geology now bends her knees in apologies and reparation and settles saurians and pterodactyls, of no less fearful natures, upon our pre¬ historic lands and waters. Our thoughts, built up too ruefully weak, and our emotions, altogether inconstant, weave convolutions and pursue associations in the labyrinth of the brain in accordance and obedience to mathematically exact laws. The transcontinental messengers of Edison and Morse outrival all con¬ ception of a fleet winged Mercury. The field of poetry and wit is subject to immutable laws of the mind and New Thought is exploring these faculties as the material existance has been unearthed. Take what illustrations you will from any department and they all attest to the identical issue, that the incontrovertible facts of science float along on a current of pleasing, poetical, and fanciful impressions. Have not the organic cells superposed the fairies and dwarfs of youth¬ ful folk-lore in the delicacy and activity of work? Has not the art in painting and statuary been derived from a methodical study of the most symmetrical forms? Let a Geometrician ask an artist for the line of beauty”; ’twill be the parabola of the former. In social corn- page twenty-one

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By day he lingered in the halls To twit the girls he met; At night he pushed the ivory balls And smoked the cigaret. At last drew near the time for test— The final judgment day; When what he lacked should be confessed And he receive his pay. He felt his evil hour had come; He knew that he was mighty dumb; The thought of it was troublesome, And left him feeling worse than bum. He wailed, “0 lure of cushion chairs, 0, strolling round with maids; Would that I’d never practiced airs And sought to get the grades. But then his ma said, “MusVt fret And look so sore distressed; Just use the day remaining yet; The Lord will do the rest. ” A mother’s prayer, a lack of lore, Made Archibaidus cram. He labored night and day before The morning of exam. The morning of exam came round And when he got the test, To his surprise and joy he found That he was truly blessed. Quoth he: “I’m glad that I did cram,” And laughed in utter glee. ”0 what a berry was the man Who made this test for me.” And to this day you’ll find him still A’lounging round care free; For when he needs, our hero will Cram for eternity.

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munication and love, graceful gestures are performed in curved lines. Why is an ellipse prettier than a circle? It simply is founded on the law that variation of line is essential to beauty of curvature. This is purely progress in beauty under the exact law of symmetry. Physicists say that colors have varied wave-lengths and that they touch and vibrate the rods and cones in the eye at varied velocities according to the color. An artist mixes the tints, places the colors side by side and produces a thing of beauty, unconscious that the waves of these tints merely strike the eye in serial order to produce the impression of associated beauty. The greater Science becomes the larger and closer will be its critical re¬ view of nature but it will not crush natures beauty of form or the spell of spiritual enchantment, nor the charm of the supreme work of nature. Do we feel the same thrill of friendship in a hand-shake, although we know that the nerve-currents go down the arm at the rate of one or two hundred feet per second? Do we breathe different after we know the com¬ pounds of the air. Do the Best You Can V. Dean Just do the best you can each day, And do not grieve, nor sigh, nor fret Because you fail at first. To get Success you must be firm alway. Therefore, be diligent, sincere Throughout the present year. Just do the very best you can, As each day comes along, To keep from doing wrong, Twould be a most successful plan. And when this month of June is gone, YouTl be plum full of joy and song. Just do the best you can and you Will never have regrets, nor will You be ashamed. Your heart should thrill With joy as you your work pursue. Be sure you have no fear or doubt To turn your face about. page twenty-two