Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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imagination. American opportunities have called him and, inspired by great hope, he has come to the country where he may realize all his dreams. He works, he strives, he accomplishes! He loves his adopted country with a devotion born of gratitude, the country that took him in and gave him willingly of her bounties. His ties are not those merely of dutyg and when that America which has given him so much and asked so little needs his aid to preserve this democracy, he must rally to its cause in a very ecstasy of renunciation. But it is renuncia- tion? Renunciation of old ties, old friends, old memories. Can he renounce all these without a pang? Is it easy to forget? And, have we not all a common feeling of sympathy for some country from whence our grandfathers or great grandfathers have come? But they, these grandfathers, have steadily shown themselves to be true and dutiful citizens. With their blood they have helped to build and uphold the nation. Will the present immigrant show the same spirit of loyalty, of love? When war was declared by Congress, the foreign papers here saw but one duty-America! In the great Liberty Loan campaigns, the foreign-born were the ones that made them a success. In the numerous training camps of the country a large percentage of the soldiers gath- ered there are immigrants. The food conservation movement has met with the greatest success in our own city, which has a very large per- centage of descendants of immigrants, even of those from our enemy countries. They have upheld our nation in the past. Will they continue to do so in the future, so that the war drum shall throb no longer, and the world shall be made safe for democracy? Newcomers all from the eastem seas, Help us to incarnate dreams like these: Help us to father a nation strong, In the comradeship of an equal birth, And the wealth of the richest bloods of earth. G6fffUd62FI6iShH18D. Women and the War AR-when one thinks of war it is usually of the men who EQ' shoulder the guns and go to the trenches. But do they wi-f? alone serve? What of the women? Is not the part they Qi 1 play, the work they do, as important as that of the soldier ,f . on the firing line? Women give their sons, their brothers, their husbands, yes, and their daughters, for a cause which they know is right. It is a sacrifice, the greatest a woman can make. But they feel that no sacrifice

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Q f ' A ' --Q fr- --N -- -Y - Y - ,p:,fgi 'f7 ' S N f-1 +-7' se .f- .,.J-A ,4 1 is -'C-5336 A' f 1' f fesaffe f -fe ef' T Q, Since.-C l . The Allegiance of the Immigrant 'T MERICA! Waiting, beckoning, shining in the distance- the land of hope, the land of promise, the great melting W pot where all the races of the world are fused together as it one. 'N uh i A-: I i l A It is this America, with its spirit of humanity and democracy, that has led our immigrants to renounce their fathers and their homes for the country whose doors are open to all. Here they have been welcomed, protected, and loved. For here the exile met from every clime, And spoke in friendship every distant tongue. We have had over thirty-two and one-half millions of these immi- grants. They have come to us individually or in families, with the intention of residing here permanently. They have acted upon their own initiative and responsibility, without official support or compulsion. Had they come to some other country, they would have been classed as aliens 3 but America has adopted them. She has spent millions in educating them, so that they may become better individuals, better citizens, better patriots. To accomplish this, night schools have been opened all over the country for their benefit. In the St. Louis night schools and those of other large cities, special classes have been formed for them and every effort has been made to select teachers who are especially fitted for the work of Americanization. Here they have been taught our language, our customsg here they are given opportunities to become true Americans. In the present conflict of nations, America could no longer maintain her tradition of isolation. She has been forced to play her part in this great world war. The waters of the Atlantic are no longer barriers of human interchange. We are at 'war with Germany and Austria and the status of the alien has been a very troublesome question. How have the immigrants repaid America? Can they accept her benefits and give no returns? They certainly have some sense of obliga- tion toward her. They have sworn to protect the constitution of the United States, but now in this national emergency, where do they stand? Patriotism is being subjected to closer scrutiny than ever before and ,patriotism demands that they be faithfulg but in this crisis, do they hesitate? Can they give up all memories of their childhood days and take arms against their friends, their brothers, their parents? Picture, for one moment, an eager and ambitious youth in the old world. The alluring tales of his friends across the water have Fired his 5

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,- -it 'Lp-nsGfgf- -- X- -A .. ,.ff s,'?,: i vf.,f --Pt.. 4111 1 Y 15?-2' 5, is too great to secure the end for which all are fighting-democracy. But with this sacrifice alone they cannot, they do not, they dare not stop. Who is it, in the main, that feeds and clothes and nurses the great armies of the world? Behind. each man in the trenches is a woman. It was she who raised the grain for the bread, it was she who tended the Hocks that provided the meat for his rations. A woman made the boots and the uniform in which the man stands. She makes the shells with which his gun is loaded. When the man is wounded, a woman's ambu- lance, at risk of her own life, may even pick up the man on the battle- field, and it is a woman who will nurse him back to health. In the hour of stress, she cheers, she inspires, she comforts him. At the very beginning of the great world war, many noble women of both France and England gave over to the cause their beautiful and costly homes. The red cross above the doorway let it be known that there the wounded might be cared for. Did these women desire glory for themselves? Nog they would through service win democracy for the world. When these places were opened, nurses from all countries found their way to Europe. Not only have they served nobly, but in that service many of them have laid down their lives. As the sons of women fight, the daughters of men make that fighting possible. Out of the very battle smoke of this war has emerged the woman in khaki. She it is who responds when a call is made for service that is difiicult and dangerous. She, the giver and conserver of life, would give her own life that she may fulfill her mission. So truly have women responded to the call for service that in every country they have entered nearly every trade and occupation, no matter how arduous or how dangerous. It is one of the compensations of the war that, at a critical time in feminine history, war should have revealed to the whole world the full splendor and strength of womanhood. As has been said, in the great world war the women are filling men's places. They are standing behind their men and even with their men, as in Russia's famous Battalion of Death. Indeed, all women everywhere are answering the great call for active service. But in this momentous struggle it is, more than ever, necessary that women everywhere continue to realize the importance of the home and the school. The home must be kept in readiness for our men when they return. Our schools must keep the boys and girls in training for the peace times that are to come. This work will largely fall into the hands of women. With their energy and intuitive power they must shape the world for the new and lasting peace. The call to the colors has sounded throughout the world. Women are answering-giving their all. Are you ready and am I? --Eunice Marten. 7