Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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THE CHIMES 9 however, meant little in Edison's life. It merely meant that he would have to work all the harder on something else. Mr. Edison says, ''One secret of my success is my ability to spend years of siow, patient experiment on some seemingly trivial and uninteresting problem. It is the ever patient and sacrificing effort of men, such as Edison, which has brought this world out of the darkness of yesterday into the light of today. Gertrude Jones, '29. A PROFITABLE HOBBY John, who is in the grammar school and beginning to study history, asked his father to take him to different places of historical interest. His father got the camera and told him to come along ; and off they started. The place they visited that afternoon was very interesting and John snapped a picture of it. He returned home with an intense desire to learn all about it. John made a practice of visiting all the interesting historical landmarks until finally he grew so much interested in this that he made it a great hobby. Every week John would manage to visit something new. Sometimes he would go to the home of a great painter or a tomb of some great man. John became so much interested in these places that he studied, that when he was called upon to recite in class, he had a very good recitation. His hobby was profitable and helped to develop a good edu- cation. Can there be anything more thrilling than suddenly discovering that one's hobby is profitable as well as inter- esting? Helyn Matthews, '30. SCHOOL SPIRIT What this school needs is school spirit, — not the spirit that pays its dues and obligations when asked, but the spirit that pays before the thing is due ; not the spirit that gives ridicule and laughter to the person who has the seeming temerity to get up and ask the group to cheer, but a school spirit that says, ''Get up. We'll support you. We'll give you hearty cheers in- stead of cowardly jeers. There is a school spirit that conquers all obstacles, that en- livens a team, and that keeps a school in good community standing; but this school spirit cannot be made by one or two but must be fostered and developed by the whole student body. A student does not like to hear his school ridiculed. For example : A boy is walking along the street with another boy from a different school. The stranger may make a slanderous remark about the local school. Instantly it is taken up by the local boy, who bravely defends his school. This boy has school spirit in a slight degree. He will have the true school spirit in a high degree when he is prepared to screech to the multi-

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8 THE CHIMES YESTERDAY AND TODAY As we look back over the long road which leads to the en- lightenment of today, we wonder just what has happened to bring about such changes as have taken place. Let us investigate the life of the greatest inventor and the process of development of some of his inventions which have changed this world from darkness into light. Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847. He was not a smart lad in school. His favorite study was chemistry, and upon this subject he spent most of his time. He liked to experiment and on one occasion he gave his chum a huge dose of Seidletz powders, expecting that the gases gen- erated would make him light enough to fly. He was severely punished by his parents, and in the future he gave up the idea of using his friends as ''articles for experiments. When he was fifteen years of age, Edison invented a tele- graph repeater by means of which he was able to take dis- patches which came too fast for him to transcribe. At twenty- one years of age he devised a ''stock quotation printing apparatus. His inventions up to this time had earned for him about 140,000. With this money, young Edison started a factory and a laboratory of his own. He studied day and night in his laboratory, for he knew that Success came only with a great deal of work. He did something which probably none of us would do — he went without his dinner, in order that he might put extra time on inventing. His hard labor was not always rewarded with success. Some of his ideas have been failures just the same as ours. Failure,

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10 THE CHIMES tudes in ringing notes of loyalty this se lfsame defense of his school's principles. Now school is the time to show your school spirit. Pay your dues. Go to the games. Cheer your loudest. Defend your school. And show your loyalty by getting many subscriptions for the Chimes. You have heard the call Respond ! Herbert Dwyer, '30. THE SEA OF LIFE While sitting on the beach one day this summer, I found myself noting the differences in people, and their different reactions to the sea. There are young people and old ; there are good swimmers and those not so good; there are fearless and fearful, — all splashing about in the same great ocean. Some of the so-called swimmers are making remarkable headway with powerful strokes, but their strength lasts for only a short period of time, and when they gain but a few yards, they become tired and cease to swim. Then I see another group. It is a group of surf -bathers ; they are near the shore, splashing about and apparently having a wonderful time. And yet again, there are some who are trying to teach others to swim. Both parties seem to be struggling and swallowing several gallons of very salt water. The waves are quite high and a few of the swim- mers appear to be having great difficulty in getting past the section where the waves are breaking and the surf is too great to swim ; they seem to be waiting for a lull which never comes. Some are merely standing on the sand, looking at the water and wishing they had the courage to venture in. But worse than these are a few who have just extended their largest toe into the water and have withdrawn it to return and lie upon the beach. Then far out I see a lone swimmer ; his easy, sure stroke proclaims him to be a real swimmer. His progress is slow, but sure ; he is always pushing onward toward his goal. Let us consider. Can we not imagine that this is the sea of life? We are all splashing about in the same sea. The people who are such brilliant swimmers are those who start off with surprising celerity, but who, because of their great exertion, soon are tired and have to stop, and so lose out in this great swim. Then, there are the surf bathers. They are content with the mere surface of things. They find enjoyment in playing, whereas, they might find far greater happiness out in the deep, swimming alone. Those who are endeavoring to help others along deserve great credit; theirs is a praise- worthy lot. They will not only make their own lives more suc- cessful but will make others' lives better too. Theirs, perhaps, may be a hard lot and bitter, but in teaching others their experience will help them. Now we come to those who are