Plymouth High School - Pilgrim Yearbook (Plymouth, MA)

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4 THE PILGRIM crew and also a leader of his class. It is not necessary that we play football, baseball, or go out for trackg all of us cannot do those things, but we can do our calis- thenics which, done right, are fully as valuable. The value of calisthenics is recognized by the great educators and by all those interested in athletics. It is a daily feature of the soldier in camp. Calisthenics is not new! It is hundreds and hundreds of years old. The ancient Greeksg how well we remember their feats of strength and endurance: they knew well the value of calisthen- icsg the soldiers were forced to do them, the orators, the poets, the statesmen, all gained strength of mind as well-as body by the sys- tematic drill of the palwstra, and we have the opportunity for this every day in our high school life. Let us not be slovenly in our calis- thenics. It is apt to show too much of our methods of doing other things as well as prove a detriment to our physical and mental well-being. D. W. SUTHERLAND '27 ON OPPENHEIM The wide field of contemporary writers includes many who lay claim to popularity, but there are few who can claim to have pro- duced in a lifetime more than one or two actually popular novels. The evident exception is Zane Grey, who has a best seller almost year- ly. Barring this writer there are few who attain a more consistent popularity than E. Philips Oppen- heim. He has many high school readers and the uncertainty of his exact reputation makes him an in- teresting topic for discussion. His published novels are many but there are few that are of great worth. There is an enormous gap between The Great Impersonation and The Great Prince Shan. In the former he is a veritable master of mystery, in the latter The is writing to earn a living and, al- though that is a perfectly respecta- able and necessary part of life, it seldom produces masterpieces. The rule held true in this case-The Great Prince Shan is hardly worth the time. Oppenheim has a distinct and definite style which does not vary. His conversational treatment gives the desired effect. His characters speak as you expect people of their station to speak-his greatest as-' set. The description is often good but the methods he uses to give effects are not so well worked out. His method of giving a luxurious effect is too worldly. For instance, an oft-repeated way is to give a man a Malacca cane when he wishes to show needless expendi- ture. This rather obvious manner is also characteristic of Locke, who substitutes Corona cigars for the Malacca cane. A critic once de- clared that Oppenheim had a pe- culiar knack of producing a happy ending from a hopeless plot. It is all too true, the probability of the plot is often sacrificed to gain this end. E. Philips Oppenheim is not a classic writer but he allows the world to wonder whether or not he could be if he tried. Personally we do not believe he could accom- plish the thingg on the other hand he is probably very wise in not attempting anything which might affect his reputation. He realizes that he has not built a monument of immortal fiction and seems sat- isfied to produce fascinating plots to interest the people of his own time. H. WESTON '26

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THE PILGRIM 3 but also of heedlessness. When we are prejudiced or opionated we see ourselves only. Our minds are diseased because we have no fair outlook upon life. We suppose we understand things, events, and persons, but our understanding is vague. If we knew more we would arrive at different conclusionsg it is as if we looked on the silver side of a shield without seeing what is on the other side of it. Indeed we can all recall at least one trifling mistake which has been worked through prejudice on our part, and now we wonder how we could make such a mistake. But are there not now some things in which we are still prejudiced? If once we were in error, it is possible that we are many times. We should try to understand the opinions opposite to our own, for it is probable that when we have discovered the reasons for another man's opinions, our own reasons are likely to change. More- over, we can not thrust others' rea- sons aside as wrong unless we know what they really are. Prejudice has never been up- rooted, and no great attempt has been made to kill it. It is the pur- pose of some classes of peoplehto prejudice their comrades in order to obtain what they would seek from them. Our courts .furnish such an example where both the defense and prosecuting attorneys try to prejudice the jurors for or against the defendant. In this Way many a guilty man has been acquitted and innocent man con- victed. Truth is but exactness, and only when we are free from prejudice can we honestly find it. B. BRINI '25 'DO THE STRONG To the strong hand and strong head, the capacious lungs and Vig- orous frame, fall, and will always fall, the heavy burdensg and where the heavy burdens fall, the great prizes fall, too. -Laws of Life. The first element of success needed by the boy or girl to achieve the ideal set before him is bodily strength, a stout physical constitution. Until within a re- cent period, possibly this last year in our school, little or no attention has been paid to physical culture except by those few interested in the school sports and those we know are very few in comparison to the number of pupils. Now that we have a real op- portunity to participate in real physical culture, though it takes the form of the dreaded calisthen- ics, let us accept this opportunity and do these things to the best of our ability. The slovenly habit formed by some of the pupils in doing their calisthenics is indica- tive of the way they will perform their future duties. We all know that it is at this period of our lives that our great- est development comes, both men- tally and physically, and we can- not do ourselves justice mentally if we neglect our bodies. Time was when the youth was urged to burn the midnight oil in poring over his books, but the foremost educators of the day realize the faulty procedure of the past and much more stress is laid on physi- cal well-being than heretofore. At one time muscle was associated with rowdies, long-windedness with chatter and swearing, and tallness was the only sign of virtue, the model young man being lanky, pale, and preferably clerical in appearance. But a revolution has taken place and we find in the schools and colleges the young man who excels not only in the athletic field but in his studies as well, as for example, the last two years have seen Charles Hubbard, a Harvard football captain, who also led his class in his studies, and Keith Kane, captain of the

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THE PILGRIM 5 OUR GIVING Our gifts should be carefully chosen. There is too much waste in haphazard giving. The making of presents, whether it is to our friends, to our church, or to some educational or charitable institu- tion, should be a matter of thoughtful consideration. There is such a thing as a wise economy even in generous giving. If one buys a book for a birthday present, it should never be purchased at random. A few days before Christmas we saw a woman go into a store where there were books for sale, ranging in price from 10 cents to 31.50. She picked up several of them, giv- ing each a casual glance, and then said to the clerk: Oh, I guess it doesn't make much difference which one I get. I'll take this one, I don't want to pay very much. Mary likes to read so well, I thought I'd get her a book. Not only in material gifts, but even in the giving of time and abil- ity in any sort of service, we ought to be quite sure that we are con- tributing something worth while. A woman was one day asked. to speak to a group of children. With- out considering the viewpoint of the children, she spoke on the sub- ject on which she had been con- gratulated at a meeting the night before. But the subject was one which did not interest the children, and hence both her time and ener- gy were uselessly spent. Anyone who has been through school knows how often this is the case. The right use of time and money is a great responsibility and one which we must all shoulder. CORA HARLOW '25 ' BEAUTY Very often has it been said that the Americans are mercenary. The great power that we realize is the power of the dollar. This is a severe criticism, but if we are really honest we must admit it is true. We were not put in the world to amass a great fortune in money but to store up in our hearts a treasure far greater-that of love, faith, and the beauty of God's handiwork. Let us try to feel a little of the soul-stirring emotion that the artist experiences as he gazes on the beauty of nature and with a sob in his throat and a tear in his eye prays for the power to make such beauty live forever on canvas. Most of us when we read a poem merely say, It's pretty. We can- not realize how much more we should be able to gain from poetry if we would try to sense the poet's great depth of emotion as he paints for us his beautiful picture of words. Most of us would ap- preciate the power that poetry has if we would give ourselves up to the strength and passion of the poet's words and try to place our- selves in the poem and actually live through it. Let us try to obtain all the love- liness and beauty from life that we can. In the most common and ordinary things we may find great beauty if we but seek it. Moon- light sifting through new green leaves, blue water sparkling in the sun, gulls skimming by, soft sweet scent of flowers in the rain. All of these wonders hold a different beauty if we can interpret them. Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost 3 For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost, And for a breath of ecstacy Give all you have been or could be. BERTHINE PETERSON '25