Norfolk High School - Milestone Yearbook (Norfolk, NE)

Page 15 text:

Booms. There are many different kinds of booms. Some are harmless and beneficial, while others are radically different. Some of the first class are: A boom of logs used by lumbermen to keep the logs from floating away, and to have them conveniently near the saw-mill; a boom is set up near dangerous places along a river to aid pilots in keeping the channel; ships carry booms to which the bottoms of the sails are fastened. The candidate for office also has a boom. When his chances for election are very slim his boom becomes what is known in politics, as “boomlet, or a small sized boom. But when his chances are very good he has a fine, large, full fledged boom. We Americans are great people for booming. Our tendency is to push things through hurriedly, violently and to do things with a rush, even to the extreme. Having looked to the harmless kind of booms, let us now turn our attention to the other kind. Every town has its boom. Sometime the boom comes when the townsite is first surveyed and platted, or it may come later, but at some time it is sure to appear. With the boom comes a species of business man. known to us as a real

Page 14 text:

12 THE MILESTf)XE. of one idea? Let us, then, clioose our occupation, pursue it carefully, and bear in mind: “Lives of great men all lemind us, We can make our lives sublime: And, departing leave behind us. Foot prints on the sands of time.”

Page 16 text:

14 T1IK MILESTON E. estate boomer. He strives and works for the success of his project. There are two different kinds of booms as applied to cities and towns, namely: A manufacturing boom, which is to encourage and cause the erection of manufacturing enterprises in the city. A real estate boom is gotten up to aid the sale of land and lots in the immediate locality. Manufactures seldom come to a place without inducement of some kind. Foreign capital, ever shy in seeking investments, dares not hazard the undertaking without local aid and the assumption of some responsibility by the resident citizens, not only to help the manufactury about, but also to unite local interests to it. This aid is given as a bonus and consists of the subscription of either money or real estate, or both. To this bonus every citizen is urged to contribute. If he does not he is thought, no matter what his position or financial standing is, to be close and unconcerned about the future welfare of his city. When a manufactory is built, if it proves to be a paying institution, and can be kept in legitimate operation, employing a certain number of men, then the boom is entitled to so much credit. Suppose the enterprise proves to be a bad investment and the manufactory is compelled to shut down because it does not pay expenses; then the bonus is lost, all the foreign capital is lost, and the people who were employed by the institution are left without work and are compelled to seek employment