Plymouth High School - Pilgrim Yearbook (Plymouth, MA)

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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

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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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6 THE PILGRIM OUR JOURNEY Do We realize what life really means? How long we shall be here we do not know. Yet here We are in a remarkably interest- ing, if uncertain life, while, most of us take this life as if it were going to last forever and put forth as little effort as 'possible to see the world and to understand the peo- ple around us. Because we are given eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and the other senses to use, we believe we are here to use them properly. Also because we are given minds that can reason and think and Wonder, it is quite likely that We are expected to use them in order to form some opinion of life and its meaning. We should train our brains to think. Training involves labor but happily there is plenty of opportunity for labor, plenty of whetstones all about us on which to sharpen our wits. Good or bad, it is the only world we are in at present and for most of us it is a pretty good World. So while we are here the wisest course seems to be to see and hear all we can and train our minds the best We can so that when we near the end of the road we may sit on a hill, look back over our journey, and feel it was well worth the ef- fort it cost us to take it. F. FERIOLI '25 A RESTLESS SPIRIT Ghastly shone the crescent moon Upon the tombstones white, Sadly moaned the dying wind Throughout the mournful night. Slowly rose a gravestone, then CDon't frown or disagree! Stepping forth a figure bowed John Barleycornf' said he. B. K. H. AN ODE Throughout the drone of full four years One marked the budding of a tree Silvered against the azure sky, Two waddling ducks that sought the shade, The green waves roar upon a sandy strip- And dreamed his dreams. The other listened to the master's voice, Heard faded dreams of other lands, Conned all the precepts of world's good and guilt, Malice and sacrifice, toil and vain joys, Burned at Ambition's sacred touch- And sought his goal. The one, crushed by the careless world, Sank to the grass he loved--at rest. The other, led by ghosts of men's desire, Borne on by laud and praise, Mounted the peak alone - and was afraid. PERILS OF PLYMOUTH A man stops on Main street and looks puzzled. Two boys stop. Four women and a child stop. An auto stops. Two men stop. Two policemen arrive. A car stops. Three more autos arrive. A fight starts. A boy is knocked down. A woman faints. Some one rings the fire alarm. The engines come. Main street is closed to traiiic. The man remembers the address and continues his walk. D. K. '26