Oxford High School - Ravelins Yearbook (Oxford, MA)

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THE RAVELIN S 1938 unt1l hostels were established throughout the surrounding towns and finally throughout Ger many Young hostelers of Germany students and youthful workers journeyed 1n bands afoot by b1cycle, and by boat confident that at the day s end they would find a hostel awaltlng them They drew up tl'e1r own rules and regulat1ons and at last they succeeded 1n gett1ng recogn1 t1on from nat1onal agenc1es From Germany the hostel 1d a spread ramdly unt1l all Europe had become acquamted wlth youth hostels At length the ldea of the hostel movement reached the Un1ted S ates Here It was taken up by Monroe Sm1th a graduate of Wesleyan, a former school master and coach at German town Fr1ends School 1n Ph1ladelph1a Wh1le study1ng for h1S Ph D at Teachers College of Colurnb1a Un1vers1ty Monroe Smlth and h1s Wlfe were comm1ss1oned by the Un1ted States to lead a hlgh school pro1ect 1n 1nternat1onal fr1endsh1p on a summer student tour of Europe The party was g1ven the pr1v1lege of usmd the youth hostels IH every country they v1s1ted The Smlths were very much 1mpressed by the European hostels so 1mpressed 1n fact that they returned to Europe for a years study of In 1933 Mr and Mrs Sm1th a tende dthe Second Internatxonal Conference of the Youth hostels and were offic1ally aopomted to 1n1t1ate the movement 1n the Un1ted States In October 1934 the th1rd 1nternat1onal Youth hostel Conference Wh1Ch was held 1n London recogn1zed the Amer1can Youth hos tels as the nmeteenth member of the Inter nat1onal Youth hostel Assoc1at1on The first Amer1can hostel was founded 1n Northfield Mass by the Monroe Smlths and shortly afterward hostels sprang up through out the rest of the New England States and throughout the natlon Today there are hostels 1n the followmg Massachusetts towns North field South Hadley S.1nderland Ashburnham, Adams, North Orange Lunenburg Bol on, Framingham, Spmrgfield and MIIIIS ' The New England hostel tra1l offers a great opportunlty for adventure Hostelers on the tra1l pass by the farms and v1llages of New England they sk1rt the shores of l1ttle lakes They may t lke a day off to chmb Mt Wash1ng ton where Alp1ne flowers grow and where trees only three feet tall are known to be four hun dred years old The top of Mt Wa hmgton IS a ver1table Arct1c reg1on where even 1n sum mer they can explore a baby glac1er In short they come to know the wonders and beautles of our own Amer1ca as one speed 1ng through 1n automob1le can never know them And best of all they come to know the people Perhaps they stop for the nlght ln a rambhng old wmte farmhouse and talk w1th the k1ndly farmer and h1s good wlfe wno are house parents to the hundreds of young hos telers who lodge there durmg the year The hostelers gather about the fireplace 1n the even mg slng songs tell stor1es play games and er Joy gettlng acouamted Wlth other young peo ple whom they have never met before and, wno may come from far away C1t16S or even from other COUHITICS They are ready to sleep sound ly before ten o clc ck perhaps on straw mattres ses t1red but oh so happy and wake Wlth the sun the next mornm-1 ready to conquer more m1les and mountams Betty Blodgett a worker 1n the A Y H a the Amer1can Youth Hostels are fa'n1larly called went from Boston to Northfield by bl cycle She says If you l1ve 1n Boston for ex ample and can t spend a week hostellng take a week end at any one of the Massa hu e s a f1Sh1Hg enthus1ast go to the M11llS Hostel and fish 1n the Charles Rlver from the vou h hostel back Dcrch w1th the town famed f1sher man the house father If vou love d1v1ng and wlmmlng go to Bolton and dvve out of bed each morn1ng lnto the lake If vou love the deep woods grand v1ew and dear old New England vlllaves take the hostel tral from Boston to Northfield and red1s over Massachu setts Thls year It IS estlmated that there w1ll be 15 000 hostelers travel1ng through the Un1ted States They w1ll travel by blcycle or hlke over tra1ls and byways to see our country 1n all 1tS beauty Youth hostels are not run for profit and therefore the fee to Jom IS nom1nal A hosteler may be any age from four to nlnetv four In order to Jom, he must have a phys1cal exam1na t1on own a blke and possess a pass If he plans to take a tr1p he not1'ies the hostel at wh1ch he plans to stop so that the house var ents can reserve room for h1m He then hlkes or blkeS over a planned tra1l When night comes he stops at the hostel he has chosen In states where the movement 1S well devel oped these hostels may be no more than fifteen 18 ' , , - cz ' N . , . 1 1 y ' 9 7 . Y 1 , . ' ' 1 1 . . . 1 . I , . . . . . . , 7 q 9 u n , I , ' I 31 I 9 I 1 1 1' . L l l 1 - . , . . . . . - . . 1 9 I . 1 I Y - . . . 7 , , , , . . . . - - 77. ' ' - . I , ' . . ., s . O - A - ' . 7 I - , . cc - - , 1 .7 1' , 1 ' 1 ' - ' ft. 3 tt the hostel plan' hostels nearer you. If it's summer and vou're 1 ' ' ' - 5 ' . L . . U . 1 7 - ' t ' ' . . . s ' ' ' 7 Q p ' ' L ' . . 4 . ' s, 1 ' Q ' . - 'i 7 A ' - D I . 77 V - , I , , . 5 . . , N ' Y - u u 1 o 1 1 1 . - 5 7 I I - I 1 , . . . . . - 5 1 ' ' fi ' H U 9 7 S ' ' l 1 ' r ' ' S - ' . ' F ' ' - if ' ,Y ' 0 - . . s ' ' ,

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THE RAVELIN S 1938 the pressure above Several other advantages of the hour glass made lt more popular w1th the people than the clepsydra It would not freeze It dld not need refillmg but needed only to be mverted It could be used mdefimte ly for there were not any parts about the hour glass to wear out It IS curlous to note that the hour and the half hour glasses the first portabl t1me tellmg devxces were st1ll used for keep1ng t1me on sh1ps 1n the Brrtsh navy even as late as 1839 Today s1m1lar sand glasses are st1ll used 1n households for trmlng the cook1ng of eggs Other devlces for measurmg t1me once used ch1efly 1n Europe and As1a were t1me candles These were colored alternately ln black and whlte sectxons to mark the passage of t1me by the amount of candle that had burned They were often used at auct1ons and the last b1d der at the last fllcker of the candle was the suc cessful one Now, let us move forward over an mterval of a thousand years smce man first measured t1me Although the sun d1al the clepsydra and sand glass are st1ll used we find ourselves at last ln the t1me and lands of clocks The French called them cloches and the Saxons called them Clugga both of whlch words meant a bell Everywhere ln Europe there was a constant chxmlng of bells through out the day Not even a blmd man could have remalned unconscxous of the passage of hours through out the day A clock as we know IS a mach1ne w1th a motlve power, a regulatlve de v1ce to make the mechamsm move steadlly and a devlce to mark the t1me and make rt known Toward the close of the 13th century clocks were set up 1n London and ln other 1m portant centers of the old world The earller clocks had nelther dlals nor hands but told t1me only by strlkmg At first they were too expensrve to be m very common use but once thelr usefulness became known they began to appear everywhere and were constantly bemg rmproved The first watches came mto exlstence 1n the year 1500 They were small thxck heavy and were worn at the belt or around the neck They appeared rn the shape of ammals, stars or eggs They had only the hour hand and no crystal, so that they kept more accurate t1me xf they were left on the table than when car rxed around Durmg Queen Ellzabeths t1me people se lected watches as modern women do thelr hats to match thelr vanous costumes and used them for dlsplay rather than servlce Even today watches are generally consldered more of a luxury than clocks The latter were mtroduced 1nto Amerlca 1n 1800 The first ones were made of wood The manufacture of clocks and watches both of which appear 1n ut1l1tar ran and ornamental styles, has been an lmport ant lndustry IH New England s1nce early tlmes People have learned that clocks are essential to modern lrfe hence thousands are used each years rn many new forms The latest ones run by electrxclty THI1 AMP RICAN XOUTH HOSTELS Kathryn Lane In tanglble form a youth hostel IS a f8Cll1 ty for travel It IS a bulldmg wlth separate sleepmg rooms for glrls and boys It ns equlpped with bunks, mattresses and blankets separ ate wash rooms and to1let fac1l1 1es a common k1tCh9H and a common dlnlng room a common recrea lon room and prlvate quarters for the resldent house parents In purpose a youth hostel IS to help all especlally young people to a greater knowledge understand1ng and love of the world by pI'OVld1I1g for them youth hos tels blcycle tra1ls and foot paths ln Amerlca, and by asslstmg them m the1r travels here and abroad Youth hostels got then' start m 1910 when R1Chard Schlrrman a school teacher ln West phalen Germany, concelved the 1dea of settlng up shelters or hostels where he and hls pupils mlght safely and wlth llttle cost, pass the mght after a day of hlklng At first he used the attxc of hls school and the 1dea met wxth so much success that the town government converted an old castle into large quarters Schlrrman worked perslstently 1 , 17 ' 1 y - 1 - D . - . . , .. 1 . . . . . . . 7 ' ' 1 1 , . 1 ' ' s . . . , . - 1 ' ' 1 1 - , . D , . , - 1 ' 1 5' u 1 - 1 , . - . , 1 1 , , Y V 4 A 1 ' . H . . . . . - . . , - - . . . . . . . ' 1 1 1 ' 7 v' - . . .,-. . . . 1 L 1 1 9 4. . . . . . - 1 1 - I 7 - . 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 '

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THE RAVELIN S 1938 mlles apart He signs a reglstratlon book and pays the 25 cents fee for an overmght lodging and hands his pass to the house parents At 10 P M the hosteler has to be qulet and have his lights out or the house parents may collect a double fee In the morning the hosteler cooks h1s own breakfast t1d1eS his room at the hostel and leaves generally by 9 A M after the house parent has returned his pass A hosteler may stay ln one place from one to three nights nev er longer because of the necesslty of making room for new travelers Internatlonal hostellng makes It posslble for its American members to see Europe as well as Am r1ca and at the same rates The rules in European hostels are much the same as those in America Drinking and smoklng are both forbidden the greatest s1mpl1c1ty of l1v 1ng condl ions 1S the rule lHl bill DISH ILRLI NTLXARX IN ANII RICA By Evy Carlson Although the Scandmavlan countries are an unobstruslve group they have proved them selves quite eHic1ent ln developing both the economlc and social fields of the1r living Nab oth Hed1n tells us in his article in the maga zme Forum for October 1937 Sweden has today done more than any other nation for the promotion of soc1al welfare and a wlder d1s tr1but1on of wealth and yet she was one of the first coun ries to recover from the depresslon to balance the budget and to restore normal employment Thls year marks the tercent enary of the landlng of the ancestors of the Swedish and Finnish Amemcans It is appro pr ate then to review at this time the experx ences and contributions of these worthy people Therefore, I have chosen this topic for my es sa lit was 1n the year 1600 before any settle ments had yet been made 1n America and be fore other nauons were even planning to colo n1ze there that the Dutch were busy persuad 1ng Gustavus Adolfus King of Sweden wmch then covered the present terr1 org, of N rway Sweden and Finland to send some of his people to America wiere r1ches was to be found 1n abundance The Dutch traders had wanted a colony 1n Amer1ca as a powerful tradmg sta tion and had looked for an approprlate leader to guide them through the lnevltable hard ships wh1ch they must undergo Tney had turned to Gustavus Adolfus because of his fame as a genius and a leader m organlzatlon at home and abroad He was at that time busily engag d 1n a Wai with nelghbcrmg coun r1es and could not devote time to plan for any fur ther expan ion He did however, authorize the Dutch traders and Peter Mxnult to recruit 1 party of colonlst from the Swedlsh towns This was not easy to do for the Swedlsh people were not anxlous to leave the1r homeland des plte the allurxng storles of r1ches ln America It was not untll 1637 that a group could be or ganxzed whose members were ready to leave lhey sailed from Sweden 1n January 1638 1n two sturdy boats, one named Kalmar N yckel wmch means the Key of Kalmar, and the other F ogelgrip which IS translated to mean The Eagle, bravmg the stormy ocean and finally landing in March on the shores of wnat is now Delaware wnom they eventually bought the land lying on the West slde of the South' or Delaware River and extend1ng from its mouth as far up as that polnt on the Schuylkill River where the c1ty of Philadelphia now stands Here they erected a totem pole w1th the coat of arms of the K1ng of Sweden Shortly after the1r arrival another boat came bringing their governor, a huge four hundred pound man by the name of Johan Prmtz It was to h1m that the success of the colony was due He was a dom1neer1ng man wno supervised everything him elf and d1d xt successfully des plte the hatred and fear whlch he aroused 1n hls sub Jec s Mr Carl Wahl trom Cha rman of the Worces er Ccmml tee for tne Tercentenary Celebration, has done a great deal of researc 1 on the history of this early group and he tell the following enhghtenmg story to illustra e Governor Prlntz method of administering Jus ice Anders, The Finn, a member of the colony, protested at the hnrsh rules and the strict regulations to whlch the governor held the group Governor Prlntz, w1o could brook 7 , 19 ' . . 7 - 7 s 'I . n Q , YJ . ., . c , 7 , . u o - , Q . L , V T J Y Y : V S : W 41 V F Y Y Y ' T A J JA A L 4 4 - 4 1 ' 7 Q' ' - ' G5 ' Y Y 7 Y ' . . . . - H ,, I ' , 7 3 , . - ac ' ra - - - 7 I 7 ,, . - ' - 1 . ' ' ' A - ' . - They were met by three Indian chiefs from 1 1 a H ' . . . , ' 1 v ' f L, . - . , Q A . . 7 . . , . . . . j 7 V F . Y L N- 9 . , l a , . . 3 , - . . A Q . ' . , . 3 , o ' ' L '47 1 ' . L 1 1 I I 1 L . . . N , .3 . . . . . , . . . C . 1 . . . , . . Z. I ., . . - in , A-. . . L . L. . ' 9 4 -Q . . . - 1 ' ' u A