Sedgwick High School - Comet Yearbook (Sedgwick, ME)

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16 THE consider with me the superiorities of the radio. You say the victrola will play any time. There's nearly always something on the radio. In the morn- ing, afternoon or evening, one gets programs from some station or other. You say that you know what you're going to hear on the vic- trola, we read radio programs in the newspapers so we know very nearly what we shall hear. The sense of expectation, however, that feeling that a surprise is coming, is delight- ful to most people. The question of static is dis- missed from the fact that a good radio set overcomes it. An important feature to empha- size is the news bulletins, which con- tain news of interest to every one. IVe hear the account of a great event almost as soon as it occurs. WVe hear great speeches, widely advertised en- tertainments. The very wonder of it gives me pleasure, as it must to every one, to think that we, sitting in our living rooms, can hear the speeches and songs that are being de- livered hundreds of miles away. I haven't counted my points, and I'm not going to, because, she add- ed, her eyes twinkling with mischief, HI don't want to have to say that I won an argument against my dad. Eut really, in my estimation, the radio gives pleasure and informa- tion. and keeps us in touch with the affairs of the world in a way that vietrolas never can. i110-1-T. TELLING TIME BY THE SUN. l'm hungry, father. Isn't it time to eat our lunch? asked a small boy, vlio lived four thousand years ago. He had teased to go out 011 the hills C OMET where his father watched the sheep, a11d o11 the way had run about a great deal. He thought now that it must be about time for dinner. The father laughed and looked up at the sun. It is not the sixth hour of the day yet, my son, he said, it is only a little more than the third hour, and if we ate our dinner now we would be hungry by noon. I wish there weren't any sun to tell the hours, said the boy, gazing hungrily at the basket that held the lunch. t'No, no, my son! Don't say such a wicked thing! replied the father hastily, looking arou11d lest some bad spirit should hear and grant the wish. The sun was the most important thing known to the people of ancient times. The sun gave them all the light they had and almost all the heat. A few rich men had bronze lamps with wicks floating in oil or grease, but they gave such a feeble light that they barely illuminated the spots where the lamps stood. No wonder they took no account of time in the night but reckoned it only during the day. Time began for them when the sun rose and they called that the first hour. The day was reckoned as twelve hours long, though one can see that this would make some hours longer than others, since summer days are long and win- ter days short. Noon was always the sixth hour, in summer or in win- ter. Thus they divided the day into quarters. If they said a thing hap- pened about the third, sixth or ninth hour, they thought that was accurate enough. After a while they divided the night into four watches.

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THE COMET' 15 the piano is repeated. After a steady drill of ten minutes over only four notes, the students are trained to give any note on true pitch, but by this time the period is over. Now our time is up, we've spent the whole period on live notes. What shall I conclude? That you don't want to do this? Exactly. And the students go back to their seats, sad- der and wiser for the music period. -M. L. C., '28. 0-l VICTROLA VS. RADIO. Mr. Hatch leaned back in his arm- chair, a look of disgust on his face. Really, Mary, you must admit that the victrola has its advantages. Well, I suppose so, but I don't think of any at present. Enumerate them, please. My victrola will play anything for me at any time. It is better to listen to well-chosen records than to such a program as we had on the radio tonight, isn't it? That cer- tainly was awful, made up entirely of jazz and silly jokes, and there was so much static I could hardly hear enough to form a connected idea. Oh, dad! T'onight's program wasn't a fair example of what this radio can do. There is rarely any static, the program tonight wasn't all jazz and foolish jokes, but, as you said, the static prevented our get- ting the complete thought. Well, a victrola is never bothered by static, is it? No-o, but - Point number one in favor of the victrola! Then I don 't have to wait for a certain hour to hear a program, which perhaps I wo11't like after I've waited. If I feel like jazz, or sacred music, or comic selections, I can have them, at any hour. Isn't that an ad- vantage? Why, yes, I suppose so, ac- knowledged Mary. Point number two for the vic- trola, remarked her father, sitting up and warming to his subject. Moreover, if I hear a selection that I like, I can buy it and have it ready to be played at any time. On your radio, however, if you happen to hear a song that you like very much, the 11ame of which you do not know, you cannot buy it or request that it be' sung again? If you do know the name you may buy the song, but, at that, you ,lose the voice of the singer. Isn't record buying another point for my machine? 1 Yes, but I- That's three points I've proved, he observed with satisfaction. Now, do I ever have to wait to have the batteries charged in my victrola? Or do I have to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for static to clear up before I can get what I want? Do I? No, of course not. Then that's two more points - I have five now. If I took time to give serious thought to the question I could doubtless think of many more. But that's five, just off- hand. And the old gentleman leaned back in his armchair, Well pleased with himself for having van- quished his daughter. Very well, but you haven 't looked at the question from my view-point yet, retorted Mary, sitting up, her eyes flashing, not in anger but in love of argument. I admit that all these characteristics are advantages, .but

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TH Thei watchers who stayed out un- der the sky all night learned to tell time by the stars. This was a mova- ble record, because each star that rises comes up about two hours ear- lier than it did the month before. The Egyptians noted this fact and ligured out the length of a year from the time it took the sun and stars to get back into the same positions. So people came to divide the time off by years, when they did this they divided the time from sunrise to sunrise into twenty-four hours, and counted how many days it took to make aa year. So our system of measuring time was made thousands of years ago, before a clock or a watch was even dreamed of. But the basis is still the one by which the little shepherd boy reckoned four thousand years ago, when he looked up at the sun to see if it were dinner time. -L. M. B., '28, -.-.....0.T. THE SOLILOQUY OF THE FAM- ILY COW. Oh, I think it is almost tragic to be a cow and provide milk for a fam- ily of six! How those children pester me! Just this morning, after I had been tied out in the field, ten-year- old Jerry, wishing to chase his older brother, who was on a horse, un- chained me and climbed upon my back. He then tried to make me catch, up with that mare. Imagine my in- dignation! I am sadly afraid if my horns had been sharp instead of blunt I should have hooked that boy. Later in the day, when I had quiet- ed down and was once more at peace C OMET 17 with the world and feeding content- edly at the end of my rope, 1 sudden- ly stepped on something soft. Lo and behold! It was the baby, who at once set up a terrible screaming. The little thing can just walk, a11d had come quietly up and fallen directly in front of me. As usual, I got all tl1e blame for the accident. This noon I took a taste of my din- ner, sneezcd violently, and left the rest uneaten. Farmer Brown, im- mediately suspicious, asked his chil- dren what had happened. Little Amelia innocently told him she had seen her mother put salt and pepper on different things that they were to have for dinner, and she thought I would like to have some on my hay. I could11 't resent the child's act, for she really had good intentions. Jerry has a boy friend whom I dis- trust. Today I discovered that my suspicions of him were not ground- less. The children were playing in the barn when suddenly I heard a cry. Turning around cautiously, I saw that that big bully had hit Jerry in the eye. I lazily switched my tail back and forth as if to drive the flies away, then, quickly changing its direction, hit the boy directly in the face. He ran home howling, and I was rewarded with a line piece of salt. ,Here comes the farmer, and I must stop my meditations. I am glad he is taking me back to the barn where I can see the children play. I have said that I dislike chil- dren, but I find that I miss them if I am away from them very long. I should hate to be taken away from them. --G. O., '30,