Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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THE TOWER LIGHT The Misunderstood Sailor The life of the sailor is the greatest contradiction in the world. Throughout a trip he talks of how he wants to get ashore and once ashore he pines away till he is once more at sea. Although woefully underpaid, and although he will strike for an icebox, he refuses to strike for more money. Reason-more money, more drunk, more sick. Although gener- ally possessed of a minimum of education, he is better read and better versed in the articles of today than most people ashore. The sailor learns complicated knots to secure his A. B. ticket but never ties them again. His swearing is continuous and monotonous, consisting mostly of Blank the blanking ship, blank itll, Loudly he complains cf the horrible gyping the captain is committing through the Slop Chest, but in port he is in such a hurry to get ashore that he never tries for satisfaction. He lives in a foc'sl twelve feet by twenty feet with nine other sailors, and keeps it neater than the average living room. Off watch, he takes a bath and goes to sleep in a bunk overrun with bugs. With the very lowest grade of food, poor sanitary conditions, continually sur- rounded by iilth, the Seaman still manages to be the healthiest of humans. He boasts throughout the voyage of his conquests of women, but is embarrassed among girls until he has had several drinks. He is absolutely certain that the money to run his seaman's union comes from Moscow, but he is no Communist. lnvariably he is tattoed and just as invariably he wishes he had not been. The Sword Line is a good line to ship on, he declares, the decks are so thin that rust can't be chipped without putting holes in the metal. The sailor is absolutely the laziest man in the world, averaging twelve hours of sleep a day, but in times of emergency he can go a week without even a nap. The sailor reads the Sea Scout Manual and has to turn to the Glossary to understand the salty terms used. Gentlemen, hats off to the misunderstood sailor, with all his faults, he is the friend to his friends in the world. E. MERTON FISHEL, Sr. 7 QRQDQQSF Evening The saddest part of the day had come: the time when the sun reluctantly, caressingly withdrew. A bronze cross atop the red brick church offered consolation to the bereaved valley, and yellow corn shocks seemed to have absorbed some of the splendor of their departing monarch. Scarlet clouds formed a royal pathway for His Majesty's flaming farewell. MARJORIE MCBRIDE, '3 7. 11

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THE TOWER LIGHT persons rehearsed under the directions of John B. Rogers Producing Com- pany. It was chiefly through the pageant, On Wings of Time , that the anniversaries other than the Antietam Commemoration were observed and their importance depicted. In keeping with every phase of the joint event, the pageant sounded the keynote of toleration in religion, toleration and impartiality in the stand of Maryland in the Civil War and the toleration of today that still keeps dear to Maryland its title of the Free State. The theme adopted for the pageant was the Spirit of Tolerationn and it was around this that the pageant was built. As planned, the pro- gram opened with a prologue of assembled flags of nations, a guard of honor, the spirits of Peace, Liberty, Brotherhood, Faith, Charity, Sincerity, Industry and Progress. A massed choir of 500 voices sang Land of Hope and Glory to complete the prologue. Thirty-two definite scenes inter- vened between the prologue and finale, comprising the body of the pageant noting constantly changing decades. The Hnale, against a background of skyscrapers, planes, and modern engineering feats, consummated the idea of the Spirit of Progress. The cast formed into a gigantic wheel of Pro- gressg turned, holding at its hub, the Spirit of Tolerationg and in turn, each spoke an achievement, till the Wings of Time spread over the entire nation. Doms ELDRIDGE, Sr. 7. Q2QC.?-2.65 A Faculty Suggestion Poor Dr. W. D. Funkhauser, professor of Zoology at the University of Kentucky, exhausted all his resources, but to no avail. After weeding out all ineligibles in his course on heredity the enrollment was still over one hundred. Something had to be done, so Dr. Funkhauser made this announcement at the first session: I'll warn you students at the beginning that Iim a boring lecturer. This class is made up of lectures entirely. The first half of the course is very dry and technical-with many scientific names. The seating arrangements are very unsatisfactory. Most of you won't be able to see the board, and diagrams on the board are an important part of all my lectures. If you are nearsighted there is little hope for youf' Interpreting creaking of seats as weakening, the professor continued much encouraged The grades are based entirely upon the hard examina- tion at the end of the course. And you sink or swim. Ihave no mercy. Now do I see any volunteers who would be willing to drop the course? No one stirred from his seat. 10

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THE TOWER LIGHT Enthusiastic Babble ACH fall on returning to school, it seems that everyone except me is enthsiastically bubbling over with interesting conversation, but this year I, too, am joining the ranks of the enthusiastic, for I have chosen a some what different means of conveying my experiences to my friends and others who appear to be curious about .three months of my life. The TOWER LIGHT enables me to tell my story to all my friends at once, and it keeps the story from becoming more vivid each time it is told. Summer came. With no prospects of a vacation in view, a desire to work possessed me. However, lack of experience was a handicap, so I called for the aid of influential friends. Almo-st before I was aware of what had happened, I had become inveigled into directing a group of children, seven to ten years of age, in a rhythm orchestra. I became panicky. What was a rhythm orchestra? I-Iow did one begin? How did one continue after having once begun? My eight years of musical training seemed meager for the task, but thanks to Diller and Page my problems were soon solved and a happy summer amid the clamor of drums, tom-toms, cymbals, tambourines, triangles and sand- blocks ensued. Almost too soon we found ourselves preparing for an exhibition. From fifty children on one day to seven on another, we finally emerged with a group of twenty in a final performance. The children marched to their seats which were placed in typical orchestral arrangement. At a given piano signal from me, a jitter in the balcony, the conductor's baton came down, and- amazing- all instruments began their parts together. The children carried on nobly throughout their two selections, and soon all was over. Still excited to the core, Iwent to congratulate them on their accomplishment. And I completed a happy experience amid such exclamations as Oh, Miss Kovitz, how were we?u Did we play all right? I tried so hard not to look at the balcony, and It was so hard to keep from laughing. F. Kovirz, Jr. 3. q2QCgQS a War Great scourge! Hell on this earth Looking e'er for new birth, I pray that you will come no more, Damned war! BOSLEY ROYSTON, '37. 12