Pennell Institute - Whirlpool Yearbook (Gray, ME)

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16 THE WHIRLPOOL — Mr. Moulton, a graduate of Bates College, is a missionary home on a furlough from India after fourteen years of service in the western part of that country. Seldom has one the chance to listen to a man of appealing personality who is intensely interested in India. For one hour he talked with us, not as à lecturer, but as a man telling of his work. Пе told us of the great divisions that kept India from being a united whole. While one-fifth of the population of the world, or 352 million people, inhabit India, there is a vast separation between these people, resembling that between the negro and the white in our own country. Of these people 250 million are Hindus, 75 million are Mohammedans, 5 or 6 milion are Christians, and the others belong to some minor religious groups. Together with all this, there is the appalling number of dialects used in India amounting to 220 different vernaculars. However, as Mr. Moulton said, the greatest problem is the social one, or that of the caste system: for India has a class division—the Brahms or religious leaders, the Chatres or warrior class, the Dais or farmers and merchants, and lastly, the Sudras. who are the untouchables or outcasts. Those who were so unfor- tunate as to be born as outcast are treated with even less concern than cattle. We were privileged to have our friend narrate at great length about Mahatma Gandhi, and his work in trying to break down the caste system and also win complete independence from Great Britain. Mr. Moulton said, “I truly believe that the greatest personality in this world today is Mahatma Gandhi; and when the history of this day is written, India shall he the most important issue in this notable era.“ Mahatma Gandhi's great influ- ence over the people of India is such, we were told, that they loved him enough to break and disregard the strictest laws of the caste system, laws that have gathered the venerable dust of two centuries. In closing. he told us how close we are to the people of India, and how they are watching the manner in which we and the rest of the world are solving our problems. The need of the world for more internationalism was stressed. After the close of this most interesting talk, which had engaged our fullest attention, we were further delighted and entertained by a period devoted to questions. This was admirably begun by our speaker, who chanted an Indian song in dialect while swaying his body and clapping his hands in time to the song after the fashion of the native children in school. This period brought out many interesting facts about life in India, both in school and outside. EU. When Mr. Moulton left we could see the mud villages on the flat land beneath the burning heat of the sun; the men toiling in the fields with

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THE WHIRLPOOL 15 Jones every Tuesday night and I reading to his mother. We did this to get money enough to give mother a birthday present. We asked the principal and he gave us permission.” (There. we've let the cat out of the bag, but her curiosity is satisfied. If we didn't tell the truth we might have got into trouble.) “Er—why, I—er—I, that is—l'm sorry but you see I didn’t under- stand. (Oh. why did [| ever come?) That's all right this time, Mrs. Benson, but I think I am capable of taking care of my own children. (That ought to set good with her.) I must be going. Good-bye.” (My, I am glad to get away from there. I guess 1 won't meddle with their affairs again.) “That which is everybody's business is nobody's business. VIOLA WiNsLow, 33. IMAGINE THIS WORLD WITHOUT SUNLIGHT! To prove to you what would happen if this world was suddenly with- out sunlight, | will describe a recent dream. It is now 1950! I have planned to make my first trial flight in my airplane “The Bartonia,” as airplanes are all the vogue this year. I arise, look out of my window: it is dark outside! | know it is time for the sun to be shining, but where is it? At last, after making inquiries. I discover that the sun will shine no more. I, as well as the rest of the world, upon hearing this terrible fact, realize that we will not be able to live much longer in this now sunless world. Why? Because, without sunlight. our foods cannot be raised: we shall have no heat from the sun's rays, which means that the earth will soon hecome a solid mass of ice. No manufac- turing can be done because of the lack of the sun's energy. We shall have no time because this is determined by the sun. Soon everything would no longer exist because the existence and work of the world depends entirely on our sun. Even if 1950 is the age of airplanes, what good are they now? My hopes and plans are lost because our sun exists no longer. What a dream! I awoke with the good old sunlight shining directly in my face. PHYLLIS V. BARTON, '34. INDIA I wish to leave with vou the need today for a broader vision of life— that true Americanism is internationalism.” These words came from the Reverend Joseph Moulton, whom the faculty and students of Pennell Institute had the pleasure of hearing on January 25.

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THE WHIRLPOOL 17 wooden plows and oxen ; the children swaying and clapping while chanting their songs, or playing in school; and behind all this the political unrest of India. Ernest A. DeLorme, 34. THE HORSE SWAP Not long ago there lived in these parts an old horse trader, well known for miles around for his knack of swapping horses and invariably getting boot. He had learned his business in the hard school of life with experi- ence as a teacher. Although he had passed threescore years and ten, his mind was alert for a chance to swap. Пе always had, around his barn, two or three old skates of horses which he could make step and call colts. In his old age it was a great pleasure to him if some of the younger genera- tion tried to get the best of him in a horse trade. A young neighbor had a cribbing horse, and it was necessary to put a cribbing strap on the horse's neck while in the stable. In case this was not done, the horse tried to eat all available boards, which resulted in his get- ting full of wind and having the colic. Getting tired of the horse's doing this, the young man decided to trade him. He went up to the old man's house and after a long session of dickering, in which nothing was said about the horse being a cribber, the trade was finally made. Upon his return home, his wife came out and was so pleased with the trade and the appearance of the new horse that she said, It was a shame to take advantage of the old man, and you had better take that cribbing strap up to him so the horse won't have the colic and die. After some hesitation he took the strap in his hand and carried it up to the old trader. As he was entering the yard he began to feel so ashamed for trading that cribbing horse that he wanted to go back home, but being so near there he went on with his head hanging and greeted the elderly man at the door. John, he said slowly, “John, I'm awfully sorry that I forgot to tell you that the horse I swapped for yours was a cribber, so here is the strap. llonest, John, you had better put it right on. I'm really ashamed that I got the best of you. But you know that when a man like you ages up he—er—kind of overlooks things, don't he, John ? John, with a twinkle in his eye, said, Ned, how long has that horse I swapped you been in the stall? With a look of astonishment Ned said, About six hours. Why? John said, with a smile which lighted up his face from ear to ear, Son, if you want to save your barn, I'm going to advise you to take that strap right back home. You'll need it. That horse was the worst cribber I ever had ! SiLAS FOSTER, ’34.