Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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8 THE CHIMES COMPANIONS Bett) ' Bartington, ' 35 I can think of nothing so cleHghtful as spending several hours among books — old, musty, famous books, new, illustrious, and glam- orous books. A book store has a certain fascination. Once you walk into it, you l)ecome a part of it, carefully lifting the volumes from their shelves, and with a most exciting feeling, looking again into the heart of an old acquaintance. A book that you really love will hold you spellbound for many long hours. Little do you care for warmth, nor do you notice where you are seated. You are traveling in Paris with the author or crying your heart out with Hugo ' s Cossette, who has been mis- treated; or you are happy and careless with Don Quixote. Other- times you are making the l eautiful scenes of Rio de Janeiro a pare of your life; or you are on the deck of a four-masted schooner braving a gale, or in the heart of the desert with Lawrence during an Arab attack. Never do I see a book without thinking of its struggle for exis- tence. Long ago the Bal)ylonians wrote their accounts of events upon pressed clay with sharp instruments which were difficult to handle. Later they used harder substances, such as wood, ivory, or lead, until the Egyptians found that by crudely placing papyru-s reeds together they could have a smooth sheet on which they could write and draw. The monks of the monastaries in heat or severe cold meticulously copied with a quill the words of the authors. Very often at the end of a book the monks would write a colophon such as this for the reader : I pray you good readers who may use this book, ,do not forget him who copied it (which was brought from a foreign country) endured cold, and was obliged to finish in the night

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THE CHIMES VOL. 10 MAY 1934 No. 1 Published by the Students of the Scituate High School Scituate, Massachusetts EDITORIAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief Harriet Toland Assistant Editors ' ' ' ' ' o ' ' ' Rosalie Creelman T T7 i Doris Overland Eiterarv Editors , I Elliott Cole Business Manager Garrison Hall Assistant Business Manager Jeanne Bresnahan y thletic Editors Giertrug Schuyler ( Francis Stanley Art Editor June Hendrickson Alumni Editor Charles Jenkins Dramatic Editor Lorraine Ahbotr T7 , 1- Jackson Bailev Exchange Editors ] , ( Jack Barry Joke Editors ] egina Byron ' Chester Stone Class Editors Louise Barnes Oilman Wilder Kathryn Flahert} Dudley Wade The Editorial Board wishes to express its sincere appreciation to all those who have contributed so generously to the success of the ' ' Chimes. We thank especially our advertisers, and those pupils who have submitted material which limited space would not allow us to use. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy this edition of the Chimes as much as those of former years.

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THE CHIMES 9 what he could not write by day. Another copyist added this: ' ' He who does not know how to write, imagines it is no labor; but, al- though only three fingers hold the pen, the whole body grows weary. ' ' Theirs was hard work, but the monks rendered the greatest service to mankind. Should we not hold almost reverence toward these treasures which are our Open Sesames? These companions are able to take us to the remotest lands, to let us speak with the greatest of men and women. There is a society continually open to us, of people who will talk to us as long as we like, whatever our rank or occupation; — talk to us in the best words they can choose, and of the things nearest their hearts — kings and statesmen lingering patiently, not to grant audience, but to gain it, Ruskin tells us. Books inform us about the trials of the past, and the developments of today; they show us the beauties an,d misfortunes of life; but best of all, they stimulate our minds and let us use our almost dormant imaginations. Up in the attic, a l:)lustering March wind blowing through the invisible cracks and sometimes sending out into the room spirals of smoke from the cheerful Franklin fireplace in front of which I am curled up on an old springless sofa, I am living again with Luc Manette of the Tale of Two Cities, and am traveling on a dirty boat to meet a l roken man — my father — whom I do not know. Again I am seeing the horrible guillotine take its penalty and am in the dirty prison with Sidney Carton as he rescues Charles Darney — I am far away, entirely lost. ON THE RISE AND DECLINE OF POPULAR SONGS Ruth Spear, ' 34 It is interesting to follow the rise and decline of a popular song. When a song is first written, especially if it is a catchy, appealing jingle, all the orchestras play it, every instrument wails it, crooners murmur it, male and female groups harmonize it (usually torturing it,) and everywhere you can hear it hummed or sung. In street cars, on the street, in shops, in theatres, — everywhere this song pen- etrates. The stage show or motion picture that the song originated from is patronized because of this infectious tune. Music stores get many calls for the song and the composer makes a great fortune be- cause of his inspiration. In dance halls it is played four or five times in one evening by popular request, or if you wish, demand. People work to it, .dance to it, ride to it, and play to it. It is not unusual to hear the piece on every radio program during the day. Some- times it doesn ' t sound the same as the composer intended it to; it