Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

Page 25 text:

THE CHIMES 23 as to be absolutely content with himself and yet be mortal. The only real Contentment I can think of is that state of being content with opportunities given for amelioration, and of real- izing the fairness and full possibilities of such. Cheerfulness must be closely combined with Contentment. Happiness may be found in fine friendships and in Love. Friendship and Understanding of other people and character, and of the philosophies of hfe are beautiful things. It is won- derful to be able to earnestly talk over one's dearest beliefs with an understanding friend who is strong enough to caution and advise truthfully as well as to praise. I will say little about happiness in Love because I am rather doubtful about it and believe there can be none except in a Love great enough to lose and sacrifice self to another's happiness. Happiness in Work is quite common. A person's work may be so thrilling and congenial as to absorb his interest, but it could hardly be perfect without companionship. Service is also interwoven with Charity in Work. The power to originate, to create, and express emotions and ideas in words, with pal- ette and brush, in marble, in the architecture of souls and homes, in mechanics and nature are divine gifts which should be turned to Service in gratitude for their possession. The greatest road to happiness is Faith, the Faith that prompts a man to lose himself, his soul, to find his soul, or God ; for a man's soul is the tiny spark of God's reflection found in every human being, no matter how depraved. Barbara Colman, '29. JUST A SEA STORY If you wish, I'll tell you a story. The way it was told to me — About a sailor and his dory And how they put to sea. The sailor was a good one; The dory, a staunch boat. But when she filled with water She couldn't stay afloat. He bailed and scooped and bailed her Till at last he said with a pout, 'The water comes in much faster Than I'll ever throw it out. And then he thought, 'T'll bore her. He started with a shout, For then said he, The water will Go right on flowing out. As for the sailor and his dory I've never heard them tell. But by their silence, I should judge, Their plan did not work well. John McJennett, P. G.

Page 24 text:

22 THE CHIMES HAPPINESS 'The secret of hapiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do. This is a saying of Barries'. There are hundreds of short sentences like it holding the solu- tions of as many men for the secret of happin ess. They are many of them different, yet fundamentally the same. Perhaps every individual has his own problem of finding happiness, must work it out, and solve it to his satisfaction. It takes often a life time to solve that problem to one's satisfaction, for we often ask so much for happiness when it might take so little to satisfy us, if we could but give things their value in proportion. Great men and famous have given to the world, through mottoes and quotations, their synonyms for happiness. Some, a very few, are Service, Contentment, Friendship, Faith, Understanding, Work, Charity, and Love. If you distilled and refined all these definitions together, you might find the most perfect synonym for Happiness. But these are the ideas of great thinkers, writers, and philosophers. What are the ideas of us common, everyday, easy-going people? We rarely stop to seriously figure out whys and wherefores of our desires until we are shocked into it by some outstanding event that knocks down our conventionalized, taken-for-granted, smug little conceptions. Most of us merely know that we want some- thing, happiness, but instead of one definite goal, it is disguised under countless minor objects and more immediate, petty joys. It seems to me to depend directly on the character, possibly the environment, the means, and hopes of the person, where and how he will find his own special road to happiness. Those who find happiness in Service are sometimes people who have been so hurt and driven from their selfish (uncon- sciously so in some cases) standards that they have turned to Service as a last resort and there found peace in entirely losing themselves. Formerly they may have refused to listen to inner summons for duty so that the long, hard way of experience could be their only lesson. A few fortunate people are born with the innate love of Service in their characters and have not such a devious path to follow. Could it be that in some former existence they reached that state and they are now getting their bearings by aiding others while preparing for the next jump? There are so many, many kinds of Service and it is so intermingled with Love and Faith and Work that it is impossible to dissect it and explain it like a dead mouse in a laboratory. Happiness in Contentment is hard for me to understand. It is desperately hard for some people to find happiness by liking what they have to do. I think it is right for people to try to better their conditions not only for their own sake, but for that of the new generation. If we did not wish for better things, there would be no progress. I have never seen, nor can I conceive of, anyone who is so perfect and conceited

Page 26 text:

24 THE CHIMES THE INVADER A number of years before the cross-word puzzle fad was adopted by the American people, there came into the limelight a new and most fascinating diversion. Although this new out-door sport had been practised in an earlier period, it had never attracted much attention. This game probably originated in some of the European countries. Now for the name of this wondrous game — the simple word Golf. The requisites of this game are one or more players, who are each accompanied by a small youngster car- rying a long, spherical leather or canvas bag in which there are several shafts of wood mounted on one end with flat pieces of iron, projecting out from one side ; a number of small vhite balls ; and a fistful of sand. The sand, having been placed on the ground, the ball is then in turn placed on the mound of sand. The object of the game is to drive the ball as far as possible. A club is selected by the player, who makes a half attempt to hit the little ball. His goal is a distant up- right flag placed in a hole which is surrounded by a law n-like terrace. Upon hitting the ball, the player sets forth to retrieve it. When he finds it, he again makes a brave attempt to drive it nearer the hole. So this game goes on for nine or eighteen holes, at the end of which time the player counts up the number of strokes it took to get the tiny ball into the holes. So much for the description of the game. On a sunny afternoon in early summer one may see at a golf club crowds of men and women playing this famous game, — young men, old men, grandmothers and grandfathers, daughters and sons, all enthusiastic over a few sticks and a handful of golf balls. All the men, whether young or old, wear short pants and shirts with sleeves rolled up, as a costume. It is not a strange sight to see an old man of sixty or seventy years of age wearing this costume of the younger set. Golf is the cause of men's becoming raving maniacs, and of married women's becoming widows. One hears a golfer telling of what a fine score he got that niorning. The next day after a round or two, he becomes so discouraged that he throws his clubs in the pond. It is an aggravating game and one who plays it must have plenty of patience. Nevertheless, this game of ''Golf has ruled suioreme among the richer class of people and will probably continue in popu- larity. George Lowell, '31. THE STORM The winds blew, The trees creaked. And through the sky The lightning streaked.