Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

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CANDY LAND ICE CREAM and HOME MADE CANDIES Reading Square Established 1821 Tel. Reading 0071 Cummings Express COMPANY J. E. FROST, Treas. and Mgr. Reading’s Best Equipped Fu r niture Mov ers J. M. Maxwell Son ELECTRICIANS Authorized Agent “Radiolas” and “Freed-Eisemann” Sets Phone 0240 1926 FOR GRADUATION 1926 FOR THE BOY | FOR THE GIRL White Flannels, Black Oxfords, f White Kid Pumps, White Silk Shirts, Ties and Hose I Stockings CHASE FINNEGAN Reading Square Tel. 08I2s=M Our Advertisers are out main support, patronize them

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ADAMS COMPANY WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S FURNISHINGS READING G. H. Atkinson Co. GROCERS QUALITY GOODS MAKE SATISFIED CUSTOMERS WENDELL BANCROFT CO. COAL LUMBER HARDWARE ATLAS CEMENT — BRICK — DRAIN PIPE BESSOM’S THE ONE PRICE STORE Quality Merchandise in Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Furnishings Ask to see our All Wool Line whe?i in need of Suit or Overcoat Made to your measurement at no additional cost Tel. 0306-M 75 Haven St. Our Advertisers are our main support, patronize them

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Page Six The Pioneer anew? Don’t be like the teacher who said: ‘ 1 At summer school I should like to take the courses given by Dr. Bagley, but I have decided not to, for I am afraid he will make me change my opinions. ” This teacher, this student of truth, might just as well have said, ‘ ‘ I will close my mind. I will live with my prejudices. I will accept no new truth. I will not attend the foot-wear exhibition for fear I will become dissatisfied with my old shoes.” This same reactionary frame of mind accounts not only for the hostile attitude between individuals, but also nations. In our own history before the Civil War, that period when co-operation be¬ tween sister states was notably lacking has well been labeled “the Era of Hard Feelings.” You in this later day recog¬ nize what a great awakening, what a decisive step in the progress of mankind, took place when the fog lifted and pa¬ triotism stretched to what they termed the “boundless limits of the United States. ” The world has grown and life has expanded, and whether we wish it or not, we belong now to a great sister¬ hood of nations. The patriotism which broke down provincialism and cleared the human horizon, is again pressing against its barriers,—your narrowness. Do you think “my country against theirs,” or “my country with theirs” for the peace and progress of mankind? Dr. Henry Fosdic-k believes that mankind’s real conflict of interest is not between this nation and that, but between the forward- looking, progressive, open-minded people of all nations, who have caught a vision of humanity organized for peace, and the backward-looking, reactionary, militaris¬ tic people of the same nations, who use their heritage of patriotism as a cloak for their narrow minds. It has changed as it were from an enlightening to a blinding force. Just as that great mon¬ ster, the squid, sends out his inpenetrable, inky-black substance to blind his enemy, Avhile he envelopes him with his far- reaching, irresistible tenacles, so man’s narrowness and intolerance blind him with his false patriotism. Such prejudices, such intolerance, the young people of today hope to break down. You think they are exasperating. In just such a way they have been ex- exasperating their elders since the days of Cain and Abel. But have you ques¬ tioned your position? Perhaps some of you unconsciously have the attitude of the Pharisees. They were the good people of their day, only they were so sure of their goodness and so positive that they were right, that they tried to force the others, and in that way became set in self-righteousness. You object to the apparent boldness and openness so prevalent among the younger generation. But which is better: society resting on a great and sure, but growing and broad¬ ening, platform of truth, and living in an atmosphere of sincerity, frankness, and open-mindedness; or one hemmed in by narrowness, hyprccisy, intolerance, and useless formalities—founded upon truth to be sure, but on a platform which is small, stationery, and unacljustable? The former is the goal of the younger generation, the latter will be the condi¬ tion of the older generation if it does not hasten to change its policies. Now that the facts are becoming more ap¬ parent to young people, and they realize that there has been a wholesale conspir¬ acy to deceive them in many ways, and to cover up many of the facts of life, leading to their tragic disillusionment later on, it is inevitable that they should undertake a revolution of ideas. Why not join them in this and give th em the benefit of your riper judgment and great¬ er experience, acting as a balance-wheel or gyroscope, and make it a more speedy and more sure success? I believe with Judge Ben Lindsay, that “in the mighty rebellion of modern youth, that is the glory of our time, they will come to know the good as well as the evil, the true as well as the false, the superstition and the savagery, the wisdom and the folly of their fathers. ’ ’ This worthwhile revaluation is not for the young generation alone, nor for any one person in any one lifetime or epoch, but for all—young and old—working harmoniously toward an ideal society. To think with the method of the scientist in the ideal way. He no longer by chance meets with a new idea. He methodically gathers his information, and by a process of elimination, of trial and I