Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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935 BWENH UN CON OUERED WORLDS INCE time immemorial, there have always been worlds to conquer.. ln the beginning there was so very little known of our surroundings magical that the thought of conquering the realms of the land, the sea,--yes, even the sky, must have been bewildering. Then, gradually, the world, like a moth, came out of its cocoon to try its wings. Think of the courage and stamina of those first pioneers in the fields of exploration on land and sea. It is difficult to realize the fears of Columbus upon starting on his unforgettable voyage, the anticipation of hardships by the Pilgrim fathers and other founders of our country, and the anxiety of pioneers such as Daniel Boone. After our country had been explored and settled, did not our people go on conquering worlds in the sense of trying to solve problems of government? Let us not forget Raoul Amundsen and Commodore Peary, brave adventurers, who explored the north pole. To cite a still more recent example, what of Colonel Lindbergh? Was he not helping to conquer the realms of the sky when he succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in 1927? Rear-Admiral Byrd has certainly added to our knowledge of the world in which we live by his marvelous work in Little America. Surely we can take these examples of courage and bravery as models in our daily life. When it seems to us that everything has been fathomed, we must realize that our knowledge, in comparison to the mysteries which still lie before us, is comparatively small. Most of us today have neither the ability nor the inclination to go down in history as great navigators or as explorers of a new land. However, each of us must attempt to conquer his own world in his own small way. We must set a goal and allow no obstacle to intervene until that goal is reached. Let us conquer our own world. DOLORES PITTS inf' 44' ' , ,. 'fi Nineteen

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BWHNE THE ROOSEVELT SPIRIT To Theodore Roosevelt, Hunconquered worlds held an appeal which engaged his noblest efforts. His indomitable will, his aggressive spirit, and his thirst for the new, the unknown, kept him ever entering upon the uncharted course. New worlds to conquer are ours. True, much has been accomplished in many new fields of activity in recent years. But there remain just as many fields to be opened for exploration as have already been conquered. A few years ago, the possibility of a conversation between a person in New York and one in London seemed fantastic. This feat has now been accomplisheclg and before long, through the use of television, we shall be able to see the person to whom we are talking. Medical science, too, has progressed to a point undreamed of. Forty years ago Darius Green and His Flying Machine caused mirth wherever mentioned. Today, men like Lindbergh and Post have flown over the ocean and around the world. Regular airplane passenger service is maintained between distant points. But there are many battles yet unfought and frontiers yet unsubdued. We are just beginning to learn the secrets which the stratosphere holds. We may certainly expect that there will be as great progress in the fields of transportation, science, and wireless communication in the coming years as there has been in the past. Q We at Roosevelt would do well to strive for that desire to do, that desire to explore the new, that desire to achieve which was so firmly possessed and so eloquently expressed by him whose name our school bears. We may, by reflection upon the events of that life so full and eventful, gain for ourselves a spark of the Roosevelt spirit. NORTHCUTT COIL Q ' U 'I' Ol JN: A 1 E rghteen 935

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Feature Section AN EXPLORER OF THE DEEP K E HEAR much about the daring of those who explore the far North, the adventures of those who seek the far South, of those who Hy over tropical jungles or unexplored countries, but until Dr. Beebe devised the globe that enables him to go down to the depths of the sea, we knew very little of the beauties and mysteries of the deep. Charles William Beebe, who was born on July 20, l877, is an author as well as a diver. He writes in a most entertaining style, with a human, moving, and whimsical manner, interspersed with occasional side trips into fancy and philosophy. We, however, are interested in him as a deep sea diver, the one man who knows more of deep sea life from personal observation than anyone else. He has made several descents to a quarter of a mile, and one to 2,5l0 feet. From the bathysphere in which he descends, he has taken pictures and gathered information heretofore impossible to get. ln i929 Mr. Otis Barton and Dr. Beebe conceived the idea of descending into the ocean in a large steel sphere with heavy quartz windows. This sphere was to be strong enough to permit them to enter, be sealed up, and to be kept alive at the bottom of the ocean. Mr. Barton did most of the work, but Dr. Beebe helped him with a few small suggestions. Most of all, however, Bebe aided him with his indominable spirit and his unshaken belief in the success of the venture. When the steel sphere finally took shape, they in turn called it a tank, a cylinder, and a ball. One day Beebe was writing the name of a deep sea fish-Bathytroctes-and he decided that the Creek prefix meaning deep was very appropriate. He coined the word Bathysphere, and so it remained. . The first time William Beebe descended into the ocean several miles off the coast of the Bermuda Island, he realized that he had added thousands upon thousands of wonderful miles to his possible joy of earthly life. When he crawled painfully into the sphere, his emotions were such that he was nearly tongue-tied. The only thing he could ask for was a pillow to make himself more comfortable. The inside of the sphere was four and one-half feet in diameter, and at first it seemed quite roomy, but Beebe said the longer he was in it, the smaller it felt. He was slowly and gently lowered over the side, and the last visible link he had of the world he was leaving was the hull of the ship. When he reached the depth of six hundred feet, he began to realize the great adventure he had undertaken. It is true that other human beings had been to that depth before, but he was the first man to look out at the strange illumination that his electric torch made when it cut through the dark blue. When he reached the depth of eight hundred feet, he called a halt. He felt that was deep enough for his first dive. He was on deck about an hour after he had started, feeling rather surprised that he had suffered no ill effects from his journey. When he climbed out of the sphere, Twenty 93