Thomas Starr King Middle School - Echoes Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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Book Week Posters free reading gives us. We started out by reading rather easy books. These were exciting but they soon passed away and We we1'e almost unable to remember what we had read, while famous books stayed imprinted on our memories. Besides the old, old, books that prove so interesting we are reading autobiographies, nature books, science, histories, etc. Lists are found of good books chosen by book lovers. These we follow so as not to blemish our good reading lists. This free reading experiment helps us wonderfully in all our other classes besides English. Probably this experiment may help, in some way, the future of each child, whatever his future may be. Books on art are read by artists to be, books on music by music lovers and so on down the line. On the whole I believe this experiment is a huge success. Yvonne Beach, B7. FOLLOWING HOBBIES Collecting is a very interesting hobby no matter whether it is collecting stamps or butterflies, It opens wide fields for research. Not only collecting in the immediate surroundings, but through trading with other collectors, we gain a knowledge of the supply throughout the world, and this adds to our interest. There is always just another species or another old, rare stamp for which we may aim. A collector never has an idle moment, he always has some interesting research, mounting or pressing to occupy his spare time. lVIany of the boys and girls have collections. Some have butterflies, some stamps, some books, some Howers, and some of the older ones make collections of information on subjects in which they are interested. Some of these indi- vidual interests have been expressed in the following articles. Dravid Mociize, 149. , MODEL MAKING lVIodel airplanes should be of interest to anyone who desires sport, aeronautical knowledge and pleasure. Just imagine seeing an airplane fso small that it could be fitted easily into a suit boxl circle upward, upward and nearly out of sight. It is a sight one can never forget, and a thrill, Oh, boy! Seventy-five

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' me LIBRARY Books are our crowning privilege in civilization. Thomas Starr King. Service and inspirational guidance for all cultural, academic, manual, social, moral and other activities of our junior high school radiate from our school library. ADVENTURES IN THE LIBRARY With a book upon our knees, We may travel at our ease, We may climb the mountain top, Or in the largest crater drop. We may travel round the earth Enjoying countries, and the mirth, Cross the jungles, dark and wide, Watch the people and their tribe. On adventures we may go, If our Library we know. Viola Hansen, B9. FREE READING Our English class is trying a new experiment. We devote two-thirds of the period to silent reading. Records are kept of all books read by each pupil. It is truly surprising the rapid improvement shown in the reading taste of each pupil. Non-fiction is being read more and more. We find that the adventures of modern explorers often prove more interesting than the acts of the most gallant knights. It is almost impossible to explain the pleasure Seventy-four

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This very thing is something that is being done time and time again by model airplane enthusiasts at school. And it is even more thrilling to see a model that you have built yourself soar away into the Wind. Even though you are having great sport you are also obtaining knowl- edge in one of the greatest phases of science. In truth the model builders of today will be the leaders of aviation in the future. MOLDING METAL Molding metal, you might think, would come under some other subject than science, but when you trace its uses, you will find that by the process of mold- ing, all machinery and other instruments needed by modern science and indus- try are made. ' Careful work in drawings and the greatest accuracy in making the molds are necessary and accuracy is one of the 1110511 important things that any engineer can learn. Jinz pyigkesl AQ' A PAGE FROM A NOTEBOOK My hobby is aviation. I am collecting all the data I can find on the subject, and interviewing experts in and around Los Angeles. It is impossible to say just where, when, how, or under what circum- stances man first conceived a desire to fly. Looking back through the ages we find that various flights were made, but these turned out to be purely legendary. Mercury, messenger of the Godsg Aladdin and his magic carpetg Pegasus, the winged' horse, and many others are among the folklore and legends of all races. Although the principles underlying mechanical Hight are comparatively simple, and although the airplane has reached a stage of perfection Where it need no longer be regarded with fear, flying is still lookd upon by many with a superstitious dread. The first scientific study of aviation may be said to date from the year 1500, although frequent attempts were made at tragic intervals throughout the fifteenth century, when the brilliant and versatile artist-engineer, Leonardo Da Vinci, directed his genius to the solution of the age-long problem of man to conquer the upper regions. He approached the problem in a scientific manner for the first time. He planned the heliocopter -the vertical-lift type of heavier-than-air craft, but his experiments were mainly with the Ornithopter -the fiapping-wing machine-and in his notebook he left numerous sketches of wings to be fitted to the arms and legs. Sumnied up, the notes and sketches that he left proved that he had a sound knowledge and understanding of the principles and facts underlying mechanical flight. To come to the more recent developments in the field of aviation, we find in our minds the question, ls it really safe P I shall try to answer that in part. In October, on the 17th, to be exact, 1903, an object was created and displayed to the wondering world, an object totally unlike anything we had seen in nature. It was, in brief, the first American airplane. True, it was very crude, and looking back one might wonder at the serious attitude the people of yesterday took toward it, but it was the beginning of a new era in this scientific and mechanical World. The plane was created solely by the genius of man. It had neither the appearance, power, speed, comfort, or anything that the modern airplane has, but IT FLEW. It flew for only a Seventy-six