Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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THE TOWER LIGHT Those Who Dare HE November wind tugged at his coat. Soft Hurries of snow, which at hrst had been a caress, now were blades of ice which stabbed his chapped skin. His legs were numbed by walking. He had not had a hitch for miles. A coupe shot up the hill, passed him, slowed down, stopped. Want a lift, buddy? yelled the driver. You bet! cried the walker as he climbed into the car. I'm going as far as Butte to get a doctor. My little boy has a terrible cold. I'm afraid it might turn into something worse. You can go that far with me, if you like, said the driver. Thanks a lot Mr.-Mr., hesitated the walker. Hughes is the name, Robert Hughes, said the driver. What's yours? My name's Joseph Rawlins, said the walker, looking at the other's face to see if anything registered there. Rawlins. Rawlins? I've heard that name before. You're not 'the' joseph Rawlins of the Trans-Northern, are you? You're not the Rawlins whom the papers have been panning? The one who lost hisln. Yes, go on and say it. Lost his nerve in that snow storm. It was my plane that crashed and killed those people. The investigators said that I lost my nerve but I tell you it was ice on the wings. Everywhere I go people stare and say, 'That's joseph Rawlinsf I can't get a job any place, said Rawlins. Robert Hughes looked at Rawlins for a minute and then he said, It's strange but somehow I believe what you say. I might need a pilot if my son gets worse. If you will stay awhile maybe you may have a chance to prove what you are made of. Time had passed while they were talking. The car shot around a corner and came to a stop in front of a brownstone house. Hughes entered and within several minutes emerged with the doctor, who climbed in beside Rawlins. The car sped toward its destination. In half an hour it pulled up before a house which was situated beside a small flying field. Hughes and the doctor got out. Won't you come in, Rawlins? We shall see what the doctor says. XVe may need your services, said Hughes as he quietly opened the door. Rawlins got out of the car, looked up at the sky and shuddered. If he was called on, could he face again that driving wind, that pound- 8

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THE TOWER LIGHT The Modern Arabian Nights ANY thousands of years ago in ancient Bagdad, the beautiful and virtuous Scheherazade doomed on the morrow to lose her head, wove with all her cleverness the weird and fantastic tales of the Arabian Nights. And the Sultan resting on his elevated couch, as was the custom of those Eastern monarchs, listened, and each night there- after for a thousand and one nights, he beheld, unfolding and passing before him, the amazing creations of this maiden's imagination. Today television becomes the modern Scheherazade, and as we turn its dial, even as Aladdin rubbed his Wonderful Lamp, we are car- ried away as if on a magic carpet, to behold wonders which even Scheherazade in her wildest fancies, could not imagine. What causes this wonder mechanism to operate is beyond the com- prehension of any layman. In 1842, joseph Henry discovered that an electric current passing through a coil of wire surrounding a needle magnetized that needle. This very simple fact which seems so trivial and unimportant to us, is indeed the basic principle of Radioactivity and led directly to Marconi's invention of radio telegraphy and later to our modern broadcasting and receiving stations. With the advent of the talking drama, a challenge arose to all scientists and inventors of the world. If the silent screen could be made to speak then shouldnit it be possible for the radio, a sound instrument, to transmit pictures as well? The new problem was attacked with vigor, although technically it was found that the two subjects had little relation. One involved the study of sound waves along electric wires which was comparatively familiar, and the other, the transmission of radio light waves through the ether, of which little was known. After many trials and failures, transmission of light and shade by radio waves was successfully accomplished, televis- ion became a fact instead of a possibility. From 1930 until the present, enormous strides have been taken toward its perfection, only a month ago in Great Britain a station was instituted to broadcast regular television programs available to any who might be interested. In its wake, no doubt, will follow many more im- provements, and with them the manufacture of a popular-priced instru- ment for receival. As a result of these facts, I think it is safe to predict that television not only is a reality but in the future will surpass all known forms of entertainment for us Sultans. BERNARD BERNSTEIN, Fr. 4. 7

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THE TOWER LIGHT ing snow? He shook himself as if he were shaking off something fear- some and walked into the house. There lying on the bed was junior, his frail body racked with that scourge, pneumonia. After examining the child thoroughly, the doctor looked up at the father and said, This child should be in a hos- pital. What he needs is an oxygen tent. It is necessary that we exercise all possible speed in getting him there. Mr. Hughes, you own this flying field. Do you have a plane that can be used for this purpose? There is a Boeing which we were fixing that we can use, but we haven't any pilot to fly it, cried Hughes. You forget, Mr. Hughes, that that is why you brought me along, said Rawlins. Oh, you! I don't know why I should have a different opinion of you from the rest of the world. Maybe it's because I've been around flyers a long time. Anyway, if you will fly for me, I shall be indebted to you for the rest of my lifej' said Hughes. I'll do my best,', murmured Rawlins. The plane was rolled out into the field. The stretcher was carried to it. The doctor and Mr. Hughes crawled in beside the boy. Mrs. Hughes stood beside the plane and wiped her tear-reddened eyes with her hus- band's handkerchief. Her lot, perhaps, was more difficult than that of all the rest. She had to stay at home and wait. The big plane taxied to the end of the field near the hangar, turned its streamlined nose into the gale and sped down the field for the take- off. The stick shook in the hands of Rawlins as the plane was caught in a cross-wind. He steadied and gave her the gun. The tachometer registered eighty, ninety, one hundred miles an hour. joseph Rawlins breathed a sigh of relief. The first crisis was passed. Next he had to fly over those mountains to Kansas City, the same route on which he had crashed before. This time, however, he had to make it, not to show the world that he could make it but for that kid in the rear compartment. He turned the plane slowly, heading south-southeast. Now the wind screeched through the struts with new fury. Hunching over the stick, he Hung laughing defiance into the teeth of the gale. It had beaten him once but this time he would win. The plane careened wildly in an air pocket, he fought with the elements just as he had that other time, for control of the plane. She went into a dive. Got to pull out. Moun- tains. Got to pull out before it's too late. Have to do it for the kid, thought Rawlins. Kick that rudder. Pull back, back, back on that stick. She's coming. Gently now. Back gently. Ah, she's flying level again. 9 i1.35f4W