Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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THE OflK IiILiY ApD IVY Vol. XLI MILFORD, MASS., JUNE, 1925. No. 1. Published by the Pupils of the Milford High School. Under the Supervision of Miss Marion A. Ryan of the English Department. BOARD OF EDITORS. Editor-in-Chief—Agnes A. Siipola, ’25. Business Manager—Arthur E. Vesperi, ’25(. Associate Business Managers— Thomas F. Davoren, ’25. Ida R. Kurlansky, ’25. ASSOCIATE EDITORS. Henry J. Frascotti, ’25. Albert J. Shaw, ’25. Charles W. Gilmore, ’25. Allan A. Eastman, ’25. Business Management of this Magazine under the Supervision of Miss Mae E. Birmingham of the Commercial Department. Single Copies, 15 cents. Address all communications to Oak, Lily and Ivy, Milford, Mass. editorial. optimism and pessimism. “Tivo men look out From prison bars; One sees the mud, The other, the stars.” How truly the above words express the viewpoints of two ordinary mortals, each of whom is a typical representative of a particular class of people in this world! The preceding quotation applies with equal truth to individuals in every walk of life. The humblest servant and the wealthy manufacturer may both be included in the same class in regard to their manner of looking out upon the world. The two classes into which all human beings are divided are pessimists and optimists. Let us take for instance, two men of the moderately well-to-do type. Both have comfortable homes, sufficiently large salaries and both names are entered upon the social register. But here the similarity ends. Mr. A looks out upon the world and “sees the mud,” that is, he sees all its bad points. He believes it is constantly growing worse. To his mind there is no hope for the future, for he sees no light in it. These depressing opinions continually fall from his cyni¬ cal lips. When he is greeted with a smiling “Good-morning,” bright comments on the weather or cheerful remarks of coming prosperity, he only grunts, and

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THE OAK. EILiY AND IVY Vol. XL. MILFORD, MASS., JUNE, 1924. No. L Published by the Pupils of the Milford High School. Under the Supervision of Miss Marion A. Ryan of the English Department. BOARD OF EDITORS. Editor-in-Chief—Harry Broudy, ’24. Business Manager—Earl Johnson, ’24. Associate Business Managers— Corinne R. Carlson, ’24. Bryant Hill, ’24. ASSOCIATE EDITORS. Mabel Gillman, ’24. Charles Innes, ’24. Frederic Knox, ’24. John Greenough, ’24. Business Management of this Magazine under the Supervision of Miss Mae E. Birmingham of the Commercial Department. Subscription Rates:—For the year, $1.00. Single copies, 15 cents. Address all communications to Oak, Lily and Ivy, Milford, Mass. EDITORIAL. BEING BLASE. Being blase is an unnatural condition. It has to be acquired as does a taste for olives or free verse. Sometimes, unfortunately, it grows on one. It may be the result of laziness, wealth, or severe disappointment in life. When a person is blase, he regards the world with tolerant indifference tinged with contempt. One in this condition will often pay attention to trifles, and ignore matters of weight. He may curse his valet for disarranging a tray, yet he is utterly indifferent to a robbery, a murder, or a war. The unfortunates thus afflicted may be assorted into various classes. First, there is the one who has nothing to do but play. To him the world is a huge sphere of earth inhabited by gentlemen and clods; the former he classes as tire¬ some, the latter as impossible. He frequents the theatre for the purpose of criticism and this criticism is de¬ livered in a refined drawl. He is, however, uninterested in the whole affair. This type is intellectually lazy, never allowing itself to think of anything more weighty than the condition of his hair or quality of his meals. His inherited wealth pre¬ vents his awakening from this revery, while his inherent brains save him from be¬ ing called stupid. The more human type is the one who has been disappointed in life, especial¬ ly in love. Such a disappointment not infrequently converts an active, energetic man into a lethargic, useless specimen of synical humanity. Personal disappoint¬ ment distorts his view of life. He thinks the unkind behavior of his beloved the

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18 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. predicts a rain storm, a drouth, a slump in business, a terrible war or some other calamity. In fact, he often predicts them all at once. Such a person is instinct¬ ively avoided and disliked, for who cares for the companionship or the society of a confirmed pessimist? No one but another pessimist, perhaps. Misery loves company, and they share each other’s views and then attempt to outshine each other with unhappy predictions. It is not at all remarkable that they are left entirely to themselves on every occasion. Now let us analyze Mr. B’s views on life. Everything is for the better. Misfortune and hardships are borne with a smile. His cheerfulness and hope¬ fulness brighten any corner where he might be. He is welcomed by society and blessed with a host of honest friends. A person in sorrow, a ruined business man or one who is ill, experiences a new spark of hope after an interview with an un¬ assuming and unaffected optimist. Such a person gifted with true optimism lives a much happier and more useful life than a miserable pessimist. It is difficult to tell which of the two classes is more numerous, but if there were more true optimists, the world would improve twice as quickly as it is now doing. A true optimist firmly believes that if anything be so, it is God’s will. He alone knows what is best and all His people can do is to submit to His divine will. Agnes Siipola, 1925. PATRICK PEACE ESSAYS. The following essays are tivo selected from those submitted by students of the Milford High School in competition for prizes offered by the late Delano Patrick of Hopedale. The subject of this year ' s essay was : WILL EXCLUSION LEAD TO WAR—A DISCUSSION OF THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. WILL EXCLUSION LEAD TO WAR? Any public question that carries with it the possibility of causing war is a serious one. It is only during the last few years that immigration has proved to be a question of this sort and to be a problem that has taxed the wisdom and tact of our government. We did not always have as we have to-day our great industries and immense population of over one hundred million. At one time we had the great West to populate and build up. This could be done only by immigrants and we readily and willingly welcomed all who might wish to come and by liberal legislation made it easy for those who did come. The Irish, forced to abandon their homes because of the potato famine of 1846, were among the first comers, as were the Germans. It is to these immigrants that we owe much of our prosperity and bright future, for without them we ourselves could not have attempted to open up with such rapidity the huge western lands. Of late years the Italians, Hun¬ garians, Czechs, Russians, and Scandinavians have been the most num¬ erous and can be found in our factories and mines, in fact in most all kinds of the manual labor of the country. Of late years they have been harder to assimi-