Providence Technical High School - Review Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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1930 THE TECH REVIEW 4.5 Islands in Fact and Fiction By Daniel Earle, '30. [Awarded Boys' Brize in Anthony Medal Contest.] Islands, those enchanted spots in the midst of a great ocean, which harbor pirates, castaways, and other heroes of our story book days. Many an exciting hour has been spent by most of us as we followed Robinson Crusoe about his little kingdom, or, hidden in some dark recess of Treasure Island, heard Long John Silver plot some dark and terrible deed. We have, in all of our imaginary visitings come upon our islands just as the last rays of a tropical sun were playing upon the highlands, bathing the whole vista in the most harmonious and enchanting colors possible. We have always wakened on our islands with the splash of a waterfall ringing in our ears, with a slight breeze swaying the palm trees, and with the prospect of a happy and beautiful day before us. We have invari- ably walked from our abode down to the seashore, and there we have seen the great blue ocean stretching away into oblivion, and, nearer to us myriads of beautiful fish darting in and out among the coral reefs. We have, without fail, seen our hero and heroine brought together by some queer twist of fate, and always have we left our island with a feeling of remorse which can only be likened to the loss of a very dear friend. I hese islands are the islands of fiction. I have traveled. My summers have been spent on the decks of mercantile vessels plying between the great ports of this world. I have seen the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, each in its calmness and then in its fury. Being of a romantic nature I have watched for one of my pictured islands in the hope that some day I might walk, in reality, in the foot-steps of Captain Kidd or Robinson Crusoe. In many of our voyages the lookout’s hail of Land, Ho! , would come down to us, and sure enough, in a short time we would see, rising before us an island. But w'hat a shock awaits one. This is not an island! It can’t be! Why! there arc no beautiful palm trees waving out their welcome to you; in fact, you see but a few struggling bushes. What is more, there are no beautiful waterfalls or bubbling springs. What! unbelievable as it may seem, there is no water of any kind. Surely, you say, this mass of broken stone and struggling vegetation is a glaring ex- ception to the general run of islands, but as each successive Land, Ho! brings you running to the ship’s rail, and you pass an- other of these barren spots, you begin to realize that the beautiful abodes of you. island heroes have been but the creation of the minds of authors. In spite of these things which I have just related, in spite of the fact that I may never travel again, I will always cherish my pictured island, and, if some day it is my good fortune to find it, I will be happy on the island of my story book days.

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THE TECTI REVIEW 1030 44 Everything Done in a School Should Educate— Do Socials Educate? By Esther Devine, '30. [Awarded Girls' Prize in Anthony Medal Contest.] Schools and institutions are for the sole purpose of education. 1 he student attends school to acquire knowledge of the world about him and of life in general. Every- thing which is taken up in school should educate the pupils along some line. By this statement, I do not mean that a school should not have activities and functions which do not pertain to book learning. We cannot receive education from books alone. The education which we obtain from friendships and co-operation with other students is exceedingly necessary to every boy and girl. Apart from the extra-curricular activities which are organized under the familiar titles of Athletic Association, Glee Club, Debating Club and others, there are those events of a purely social nature which must be considered in a well-rounded program in the high school. Ordinarily, we call these affairs socials, parties, or “proms.” Whether these be enjoyed by boys and girls together or separately is a matter which may be given special attention when the question arises. Certainly the former plan is nearer to the natural way of living and is to be emphasized. Social affairs teach a pupil the correct way to do the desirable things he will do anyway. Extra-curricular activities have a distinct moral value, and also give the pupil an equalization of opportunity. The color of one’s thoughts changes, as an escape is made from the routine business of a school program to the lively anticipa- tion of being one’s friends socially. The social training many students get in the high school is the only social training they do get. Boys and girls should know to some extent, how to carry on a conver- sation, how to please people, how to come and go without awkwardness. I o meet older men and women as well as people of their own age; to learn important, con- ventional social customs and to have respect for them, is in perfect harmony with the natural desire of the adolescent, who, be- cause of his expanding personality is sustained by the social medium in which he is placed. This means that social train- ing, which in the last analysis includes moral training, can only be given by means of concrete situations, and these are sure to arise. Dr. Royce once said: “Social conformity gives us social power. Such power brings to us a consciousness of who and what we are, hence we begin to have a will of our own. We may discover this will to be in sharp conflict with the will of society. This is what naturally happens to most of us for a time at least in youth.” It may seem a little thing to call after one has been invited to dinner, to rise when a lady enters the room, to eliminate such terms as “say” or listen” when beginning a conversation, but it is these little things which distinguish a trained from an un- trained individual. Dancing is a very favorable participa- tion at social functions. It gives poise, courteousness, democracy, sense of rhythm, and good taste of mind. Social functions should be held in every school. My answer to the question as to whether socials educate is strongly in the affirmative.

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rilE TECH REVIEW 19:50 40 The Night Before Christmas By Helen E. Kinnccom, '30. “’T was the night before Christmas And all through the house, Not a creature Was stirring; Not even a mouse. Jeanie Patterson’s cheeks dimpled in a smile as the nonsensical rhyme flitted through her head, but she sobered again as she reflected on the probable truth of the statement. She thought of that last Christ- mas Eve, of the lights, the gay crowd. Oh what a party that had been! Dear old Dad! Jeanie cupped her chin in her hands and fell to musing. A sweeter lass than Jeanie Patterson would be hard to find. Small of stature, golden hair, blue eyes, peach bloom cheeks and a wistful heart-shaped mouth combined to make what seemed to more than one person the most adorable bit of humanity he had ever seen. But this same, small Jeanie Patterson also had a will of her own, a stubborn will inherited from her Scotch- Irish father. A little less than a year ago these two wills had clashed. Jeanie had wanted to go abroad to study music; her father had been determined that she should not. Edwin Patterson was not a hard man, and he was well able to give his mother- less daughter anything she might desire in the way of education, travel or pleasure. But Jeanie was an only and idolized child, and her father wanted her all to himself. Yet she adhered to her decision, and on the night her father pronounced his verdict, Jeanie ran away, determined some- how to earn enough money to get across and thus obtain her one desire—to be a famous singer. Jeanie secured a small flat in a fairly good neighborhood in Brooklyn, N. Y., and managed to live by giving piano lessons to such pupils as she could pick up. and occasionally singing at parties or recep- tions at the homes of some of the more in- fluential members of the community, with whom she had become acquainted. That her father had searched for her, she knew, even to the extent of having hired detec- tives on her trail. But they had never found her, and the people about her were none the wiser. And tonight she was to sing at the Glcnn- Richardson’s Ball. Jeanie found herself thrilling to the fact, and her eyes sparkled as she slipped into her dress. It was a dainty affair of orchid taffeta which had taken two weeks’ pay in the purchasing; but Jeanie put it on without a pang. Tonight was to be a night of joy; time enough for remorse later. She powdered her small nose, gave a last searching glance in the mirror, and then, in the height of her ex- travagance, called a taxi. The Glenn-Richardson party was in full swing when Jeanie arrived, and she was met at the door by Mrs. Richardson, whom we shall call Natalie, herself a charming debutante of only three years previous. As Jeanie entered, a young man in a corner of the room started violently, but soon re- covered himself and hastily looked around to see if anyone had noticed his act. He reassured himself on that score, and after staring hard at Jeanie for a few seconds longer, he rose and made his way to the side of James Richardson, of the junior law firm of Richardson Bourne, who was sitting rather disconsolately on a sofa and looking decidedly bored with the whole affair. Bruce Sydney, whom we shall take this opportunity to introduce, was a young fel- low of about twenty-three, and just out of college. He stood about five feet nine, and