Red Bank High School - Log Yearbook (Red Bank, NJ)

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8 THE ROUND TABLE «the FLYING DUTCHMAN” by Avery Giles “Tell us again about tbe “Flying Dutchman”, Captain Jim.” This plea was made to a gray-haired old sea-captain, christened James Beardsley, but who was familiarly called by the boys of New Bedford, Captain Jim. The speakers were four boys of the town, between the ages of ten and twelve, who were standing in the doorway of the old man’s workshop. “Step right in, boys, and take a seat,” was the cordial answer of Captain Jim. A cheery hre, blazing on the hearth, greeted them as they entered from the cold wintery out- doors. “I guess there’s room over there,” he added pointing to some old benches in a corner near the hre. “I’ve been pretty busy lately and you’ll have to excuse the looks of this pi ace.” Indeed there was hardly room for five persons in the shop. Models of ships and various wood carvings were scattered everywhere and on the large table, m the middle of the room, was a half completed sloop, an old model, such as was used before the Civil W ar. “Let’s see now,” began the old man, taking a seat before the hre and filling his pipe. “Oh, yes,” striking a match, “It was Friday, the thirteen- th of March, 1859, be- fore the war, when we set sail for Cuba, from this port, in the good ship, Priscilla. I was but a lad, about the age of Jack here, and serv- ing as cabin boy. We were in high spirits, as we had heard tales of great schools of whales around about Cuba. “Well, we were about a day off shore, when a northwester struck us. The Captain, being a bold man, gave orders to reef all sails and ride straight through her. We shipped heavy seas, un- til we reached the center of the storm. It was pitch black and the sea was smooth as glass. We could hear the wind roaring all around us.” “All at once a white and lurid speck appeared off to leeward. As she approached, we could see the Dutch flag floating from her mast. Her sides were all rotted and grin- ning skeletons, men of the ill-fated ship, stood on her decks, and as we stared, she suddenly disappeared.” “ 'The Flying Dutchman’, cried the mate, “God save our ship!” As he said this, the Priscilla hit the other side of the storm. Sud- denly I saw black. It was the first and last time I’ve ever fainted. When I awoke we were on a mer- chantman bound for home. I learned that in the rough seas the Priscilla had sprung a leak and foundered and that the Sea Lion, the British ship we were now on, had picked up us, miles off our course. All the crew was rescued except one poor wretch, who had thrown himself overboard when he saw the Phantom Ship.” We reached New Bedford the next day, me making a silent vow that never again would I sail on Friday, the thirteenth. I’ve never known myself to break this vow, and I’ve been on many a voyage since that time. After thanking him, the boys left for home, each with a rosy apple in his mouth and a roaring yarn ini his head. 29. ON AMATEUR RADIO —o--- Possibly a good story would be more acceptable to the readers of the “Round Table” than an article; the latter is supposed to be more: valuable as an educational medium,, and a higher type of literature, but who wants to pay ten perfectly good cents to improve his mind when he can obtain all the education he- wants and more, (usually!) for nothing, every day in the year? Well, don’t worry The purpose of this article is not in the least asso- ciated with education; it was writ- ten simply for the entertainment of its readers and to help fill the “Round Table”. Probably most of you have in your homes a radio set, perhaps for entertainment purposes, perhaps in. the case of more advanced radio “bugs” a means of occupying your time m experimentation and con- struction. However, the word “radio” to most people means sim- ply a means of bringing concerts and other features to the home; how many of you realize that broad- casting constitutes only about one- fifth in value of all radio services combined? There are many other fields of radio than that of broad- casting; there are important com- mercial stations handling inter- national and trans-oceanic mes- sages in the same manner that an ordinary telegraph system would send more local messages; there are valuable ship-to-shore services which keep steamers of all sorts in constant communication with land; there are government and naval stations handling traffic of their own; there are the usual broadcast- ing stations, only one-fiftieth as numerous as other stations, which send to you concerts, sports, speeches, and other things of in- terest; and finally, there are ama- teur stations, second in potential interest to the average person only to broadcasting itself, but usually completely unknown to him. Amateur radio stations are pri- vately owned transmitters and re- ceivers by means of which any per-

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THE ROUND TABLE 7 The flowers have drooped their little heads And have snuggled in their peace- ful beds. Jack Frost blows his bugle loud And there emerges from a cloud. Dainty snow flakes all so white. That one is dazzeled at the sight. Old Man Winter’s works’ complete He has never known defeat. Elinor Jardine 8B 1 In the letter writing test given how would the following paper be marked? Gentlemen: 'Ginn Company: I am very much elated to know my dear frank, if you are not the shakespearean comedies as I have made plans to that effect. En- closed And my check for I think the Mid-West Club should be severly criticized. Sincerely Yours, for having neglected such a distin- guished guest, for which mail Chi- cago, 111. to the above address. I am hoping to be with you soon for two dollars and forty cents $(2.40). I trust you will remain the Midsummer Night’s Dream as listed in your catalogue. 2301 Prairie Ave. '’’The Tempest” Milton Cooper 8B Ralph Layman 8B AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TREE Here I stand in the forest, mon- arch of all my kind, descendant of an old, noble and aristocratic fam- ily. My arms wave loftily in the merry breeze, and I see distant hills, valleys, peaks and crags and the sky with light, fleecy clouds floating hither and thither. At my feet runs a little brook from which I drink and refresh myself. Wonderful is life here in the for- est, but my longing is to be a greater thing and to have a place m the world, a duty to perform, a service to give. It is of that, that I dream and dream. What is this I see coming to- ward me. Tiny creatures, they seem, carrying queer articles. Oh!. I feel a sharp pain in my side! I am very dizzy and can hardly stand- I am falling—down —down—down. I crash to the earth. They are cutting off my arms and I can hardly bear the pain. I feel myself being lifted and swung through the air. Now I am being lowered into an oblong tray with many of my brothers. We are moving, slowly at first but gradually increasing in speed until the objects fly past. We stop, and in an instant we find our- selves in a cold bath. I realize that I am in the river, the place where the little brooklet said it was going. There is a very strong cur- rent in the river which carries us pleasantly, smoothly down on the surface of the water a great dis- tance, until we come to a large building, where I am guided to the base of an endless chain which they class a chute. Up!—Up, I feel myself being pulled upward over a smooth hard surface. Suddenly it is all changed and I am rolling down an inclined platform. Bump! I stop and I find myself unable to move.-—I am caught.—Oh! what a sharp pain! A slice has been cut from my side. Eight times this painful opera- tion has been performed and I feel too weak to speak.—At last it is finished, and I am left a small solid four-sided piece of my former self. Next I am forced through rollers so that when I come out, I am as smooth as silk. Now this is not so painful- They are trying to make up for all my suffering and pam. They are rubbing and brush- ing me all over with something cool and healing. My, how I shine ! I really look very nice and feel much better. Where am I going now? There are hundreds that look just like me going too. At this point I f eel asleep and when I awoke, I found myself sup- porting a large and beautiful office desk in the Superintendent’s office in Red Bank High School. Ward Taylor, 9B SENIOR DUES Pay Them To NEAL RAVER COME WITH ME TO THE LIBRARY The doors are just being opened. A glance at the clock tells us that it is 8:35. I want you to meet my friends, the Book family. Standing at our right is Mother Religion who lives at 200 Library Row. Beside her are standing U. S. Government and Prof. Debate who live m the 300 block of the same street. Miss Botany, the lovely daughter of Nat- ural Science, lives at 500 and is always ready to talk to you about flowers. If you are interested in Engineering or Mechanics, come over to 600 and talk to Mr. Useful Arts. He will tell you all about farming, building, manuf acturing, medicine and commerce. Just next to him lives Miss Fine Arts at No- 700. She is very interesting to all lovers of music, painting, sculpture, photography, and architecture. Then next to her the two sisters. Literature and History, are waiting to welcome you. Each of them knows all about the whole world, America, Germany, France, Italy, and all countries. You may learn many interesting things from them. If you want to ask some special questions of them, it is always best to consult the card index whico gives you the exact address of the book to which you should refer. For instance, if you are looking for “Wild Animals I Have Known,” by Ernest Thompson Seton, you need not search aimlessly through every- thing to find it, nor you need not ask the librarian. Just go to the card index and you will find it list- ed in alphabetical order, either un- der the title or the author’s name. If you do not find it in the “W’s”, look under the author’s name. Then turn around, find the 500 shelves, and if your number is 599, you’ll have no trouble in finding your book. y. Reference work in books and magazines is a little more difficult and will be explained to the classes by Miss Throckmorton. In the meantime, try to work out your own problems in finding your book. It’s really not hard. K. Stadleman, 8-B V. Birdsall, 8-B

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THE ROUND TABLE 9 son with ability to build one can converse with other radio enthu- siasts throughout the world. Such a radio station is not much more complicated or expensive than an ordinary receiver such as every- body uses; the only requirement for operation that is in the least difficult is learning the Continental Morse code and the customs of amateurs. This would seem a much more interesting and bene- ficial branch of radio, if you are interested in radio as a hobby, than just listening to concerts and ex- perimenting with receivers, and it is; there are twenty-five thousand such stations licensed, and this number would, no doubt, be larger if the 'broadcast listeners 1 only knew of the existence of such a thing. Those who have advanced to the stage of owner of an amateur radio station usually ignore mere “broadcast listeners,1’ and as a re- sult, the so-called “BCL” knows nothing of radio other than the con- certs he listens to nightly. Now for a brief history of ama- teur radio. Marconi, back in 1899, succeeded in telegraphic communi- cation over short distances without the use of wires; experimenters and scientists interested themselves in it, and improved the system until it was practicable to communicate over several hundreds of miles, and ships began to install wireless transmitters to keep in touch with shore. Many of these early ex- perimenters were boys of about high school age; they not only made many contributions to the develop- ment of the new art, but they also began to communicate with each other by means of their radio equipment. Soon the American Radio Relay League was established, comprising about almost all of these “amateur” stations, including not only scien- tifically inclined young men, but also many great scientists and earnest experimenters, who were “amateurs” only in the sense that they worked, not for pay, but for love of their work. The American Radio Relay League was simply a co-operative association of all radio enthusiasts, which enabled them to arrange schedules with each other. handle messages all over the coun- try, and work together as a body. Amateur radio had been quite firm- ly established when the United States joined the World War. Fear- ing spies, all amateur radio stations were ordered dismantled, and all their operators on enlistment found themselves valuable to the govern- ment as operators at the big naval stations that sprang up, and in the Signal Corps of the army. When the war was over, the amateurs dusted off their apparatus and be- gan with more vigor than ever. Transmission of voice and music was made possible, and in 1921 the idea of broadcasting entertainment by this means was put into prac- tice, mainly as an experimental pro- ject. It took like wild fire, and in a short time broadcasting stations were being erected all over the country, and people who knew nothing of the science of radio bought receivers as a means of cheap entertainment. Some of the original amateurs went into the more profitable business of selling radio supplies or operating broad- casting stations, but as fast as the amateur ranks were depleted in this manner, they were filled twice as rapidly by the broadcasting fans who heard of amateur radio and became interested in the subject. Consequently, it progressed rapid- ly, although entirely independently from the new art of broadcasting. One of the most important recent developments was the discovery of the ability of short wave lengths to penetrate great distances; they had previously been considered worth- less, even by prominent engineers, but the amateurs through their love of investigation, found that un- heard of distances could be covered with transmitters of very small power, and soon amateurs in all continents were conversing with each other nightly on the new wave lengths. Well, now that we have a gen- eral idea of what amateurs are, we can turn to the more interesting part of this article. Let us make an imaginary visit to an amateur’s station and see what it is like. We arrive there, say 9 P. M., and the amateur is seated at a living room table, doing his homework. He greets us cordially (amateurs are the most democratic of individuals; probably they get that way because of their constant companionship with men from 14 to 74 years of age, with rich and poor, with great and small. Two amateurs, totally unknown to each other, can get to- gether and enjoy themselves for hours at a time, speaking of their beloved pastime.) We follow one to his “shack”, probably in an attic or cellar or some unused room of the house. The first thing we see is a strange collection of apparatus spread all over a long table, with- out any care whatsoever to house it m a good-looking cabinet, except m the case of a receiver; a pair of headphones, a pencil and some paper, a call book and a telegraph key lying on the table; and above it, fastened to the wall, a magnific- ent collection of post cards with large gaily-colored call letters printed on their faces, addressed from Zanzibar, Madagascar, Siam, Palestine, Java, and everywhere. The amateur asks you to have a chair, and points out to you the things of interest. He explains that the little cabinet contains a receiver, while the miscellaneous arrangement of heavy coils, con- densers, and tubes, is the trans- mitter which sends out his signals to all parts of the world. No, he does not talk as you would over a telephone; the signals are in code, and sound to the unitiated like a long string of dots and dashes. Continued Next Issue SAY IT WITH SONGS “ Twas on a June Night” “Me and My Boy Friend” took a “Red Hot Mama” (“That Hard Hearted Hannah”) for a gay ride in “The Covered Wagon” on “The Road to Mandalay.” She played “Sleepy Time Gal,” but “Just Around the Corner” we met “Big Bad Bill,” 'Charlie, My Boy,” and “The Sheik.” “Down by the Old Midstream” we all ate some “Waffles”. We had a little chat and I said, “I have heard that “When I’m Gone You’ll Forget,' but Somebody Lied, cause “It’s (Continued on Page Twelve)