Metropolitan Vocational High School - Metropolis Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Your Heritage ln the early hazardous dawn of man's existence, there dwelled within him the instinct of self-preservation. His intelligence uncultivated, man lmew no way to comhat the unfriendly phenomena of fire and water. For countless centuries he observed the fallen twigs and logs that Hoated with ease on streams and rivers, and more centuries passed loefore he recognized the possihility of constructing a successful sailing vessel hy hollowing a log. By gradual degrees, oars or steering wheels were added, and sails were hoisted: larger and sturdier ships were made to endure the strains of longer and more perilous journeys. Kings and queens, with lust for power, new lands, new routes to distant points, gold and spices, encouraged ship construction. They recognized the benefits and profits ol sea commerce as compared with the advantages of land caravans. They sent forth triumphant ships to seelc these new treasures. Little was expected of the seaman oflthat erag if he was adventurous, hold and alole-lzmodied, he was qualified. And so hegan the colorful tradition of the sea, to he passed on from generation to generation. After the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the ship of timhered hulls and sails slowly vanished. In its place rose the modem, mechanized majesties of the deep . . . science's more complicated contrihution. To the hoys of Metropolitan this heritage will pass. Here in snug harhor our men prepare to carry on. ln deck, machine, engine, radio and hoat-huilding shops we are molding the mariners of tomorrow. 'From failing hands to them we throw the lighted torch.H BLAN CHE KATA

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TIME The sand smoothly flowing down an hourglass reflects our universal existence. Endless time has proven us to he steadily raising our level ol existence.. . . from the miserable, clumsy cave-man era to the shrewd, distasteful middle-ages which finally gave way to our contemporary times. Thus the people of the earth, en masse, have continuously partalcen of the worlds offerings and then were lost in the earth's vastness when each single contrihution was devoured. Lilce a struggling, successful actor grown unpopular hecause of his loudding smug, over-confidence, such was the history of man. The cave man individual slowly freed himself from his lowly existence to give hirth to the new man who made use of his greatest weapon,-his thinlcing facul- ties--to discover the advantages of clanning. Man molded together and thereafter developed a contest.-a hattle of wits, which offered power as a iaclcpot. The late of millions was heing controlled hy few and thou- sands no longer anticipated the coming of a new day-each dawn brought only misery and suffering to satisfy the desire of a minority group. Beliefs and feelings now increasingly divided. Yet, in scattered directions, a new idea was loeing cultivated. Those few who grasped the new idea of unionism and cooperation planted a seed that grew very slowly hut re- tained its significance. Equality and freedom from tyranny resulted from that new ideaQand then the very heginning of the hirth of the democracy that we lcnow today was conceived., Today man is still divided: the world is still a far cry from an ideal Utopia, yet he need not despair.-for with all the unloalanced living, there is a definite direction which he has repeatedly tried to follow. His aims point toward that distant Shangri-La that, we loelieve, is definitely ap- proaching. The people of yesterday have given the people of today the will for progress, and it is for us. today, to olzler the same to the future. Time is ours now: there is much to he done. When your hour glass has run through. what will we. as individuals. he ahle to claim as our dedication? BLANC!-IE KATA