Standish High School - Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Standish, ME)

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THE HOUSING PROBLEM Today, we in the United States face a serious crisis, the housing problem. At this time there are more families than ever before and the average family likes to be situated near work, stores, and schools. How that most of the men in the armed forces have come home and are married they find no place to live. Many of them are finishing their schooling with the help of the G.I. Training Program, but even on the campus there are not enough houses to permit them to live with their families. Not only is it just the Ex-G.I.'s that have no place to live, but also the many displaced persons who want to come here from all over Europe because there is no other place for them to go. Due to high cost and scarcity of building materials and fixtures, the average person cannot afford to build his own home. The housing projects and prefabricated houses have helped this problem in some places, but the average house is so expensive that were it not for the Government loans these projects would be useless. In the rural districts there are some vacant places that could be used for living quarters if they were developed, but unless a person could earn a living by farming or some other nearby occupation, the expense of traveling to and from work would be too great for anyone to benefit from living in the country. - In the cities, there are many bad slum districts where people live in surroundings that are unfit for human beings. Some landlords in large apartment houses are strict in their rulings excluding families with children. They do not allow children under certain ages due to the extra noise and damage that they cause. The only solution I see to this problem is for people to wait, if possible, until prices go down where they should be and then once more to build and own their own homes, Patricia Brown 'Sli

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Her professors were both suprisedaauidelighted with her imagination enthusiasm, and skill. Here among them was a small, frail-looking girl who surpassed by far all her fellow students in intelligence and skill. They encouraged her to go on with any research that interested her. Heartened, she decided to try for a double master's degree in physics and mathematics. She succeeded. Manya passed with highest hon- ours in the masterfs examination in physics in 1895 and with second highest honours in mathematics in 1894. Soon after this, Marie met Pierre Curie, a French scien- test, at the home of a mutual friend. Pierre was both supp- rised and pleased to find that this pretty young woman could talk his language that of science so well, as well in fact, as he could. Marie also was very much impressed by her new acquaintance. There was something about the quiet, intelli- gent man that made her heart do cartwheels-something about the way his eyes glowed warmly when he smiled and looked so cool and precise when he talked of science-something about the quiet and gentle manner in'which he spoke and moved. Pierre Curie was one of the leading French scientists, but he made very little money. Therefore, he did not think it would be quite fair to ask Marie to marry him. However he finally got up his courage and asked her. Marie happily accepted his proposal. Marie and Pierre had a quiet little wedding ceremony and started off on their honeymoon a bicycling trip. When they returned, they commenced their laboratory work. They devoted every minute they possibly could to the work of solving scien tific mysteries. dThe Curies had two daughters. It is an object of great wonder how Marie managed to run a house, raise two children, and work with her husband in the laboratory so successfully. Pierre was killed early in their marriage, and his cour- ageous wife earried on his work. She worked for years with radium and closely connected minerals, and finally died- from over-exposure to radium rays. Pierre and Marie made many discoveries in the scientific field, but the one which made them most famous was the dis- covery of radium, a substance which is of great importance in the treatment of cancer. Although both worked on this discovery, most credit is attributed to Marie. No one will ever forget Marie Sklodovska Curie for it is her most important discovery, radium, that brings relief to thousamds of people from the terrible affliction-CANCER Suzanne Thomas '5l

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STANDISH . As Town Clerk and Custodian of Standish Town Records, many inquiries of the early history of the Town and subsequent events through the years are frequently asked me. The early history of the Town, as you read between the lines, is full, not only of history, legends of hardships, privations and suff ferings, but show the determination of these early settlers to hew out a place to live where freedom of those ideas which they considered sacred could be carried out. Waterways have long played an important part in the settle ment of the early towns of Maine. Exploring parties would go up the rivers, like the Saco, Presumpscot, and many others, and cruise the country in search of good land, good hunting, and for the old growth white pines, which were in good de- mand for ship masts. In the early l800's, what is now called Standish Corner, was a Tavern Town, with large barns where numerous oxen were fed and sheltered. The Taverns took care of the drivers and helpers. Stores and blacksmith shops were much in evidence. In the early history of Maine, we find that many large grants of land were made to men or companies as a reward for military service. Moses Pearson had commanded a company at the siege and capture of Louisburg. He requested a grant of land be given to Captain Humphrey Hobbs and Captain Moses Pearson and Company. This petition was granted April 20, 1750 for a township six miles square, 22,640 acres, to be known as, Pearson and Hobbs Town. This soon became known as Pearson- town, until, November 50, l785, when it was incorporated and mamed,NStandishH, in honor of Captain Miles Standish, the Hero of Plymouth. It was on June 9, 1752 that a meeting, which corresponds to our present Town Meeting, was hold. They chose a Moder- ator, a Clerk, and Treasurer. A committee was chosen to sur- vey and lay out the land of this new town, giving the tracts to some who would perform much needed services, like building a saw mill, or grist mill. In April of the following year it was voted, for the encouragement of the first settlers, that there be erected, at the expense of the proprietors, a fort at what is now Standish Village. What is now called the HTown Pumpn was inside that fort. In all the droughts that have plagued the State, we find that the well dug then has al- ways furnished an abundance of water. An interesting note is found in the old records of how six men employed as guards at the fort for a period of one month received eight pounds. This gave them about six dollars and forty cents each. Ebeneger Shaw, who built the first saw mill, was given the mill privilege and two hundred acres of land.