Troutman High School - Hi Way Yearbook (Troutman, NC)

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Presentation of Theme We, the Hi-Way Staff of 1948, have chosen as our theme Transportation, We selected this topic, not only because of its vast and very evident importance to mankind in everyday life, but also because the history of its development through the ages is so colorful, interesting, and enlightening. From the beginning of time, man, in order to survive has had to improvise methods by which to travel from place to place. Walking was, of course, the first method of transportation, but realizing that this form was much too slow and tire- some for long distances, primitive man began to use animals-the camel, donkey, and others-as beasts of burden to help him in his labors. Then from time to time, various improvements and advances were made, increasing man's facility to travel. The invention of the round wheel by the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians paved the way for faster land travel by cary, coach, and still later on for the automobile and practically all modes of transportation of today. But if you think that these progressive ancestors of ours were content to limit their travel to land alone, you are greatly mistaken. This was not the case. Their next step was to venture into the realm of transportation by water. To their great delight they found that this method of travel required less effort than did the land transportation to which they were accustomed. The art of navigation saw its begin- ning in crude rafts, canoes, and barges. Then the early sailors learned to use the wind to their advantage, and sailboats came into being. Water travel proved to be the key which unlocked the doors to vast explorations and the setting up of new empires, and often times the strength of a country was measured by its naval power. Down through the centuries more and more changes have been made in the designs and structures of ships until at last the wooden galleys of yesterday have given way to the proud warships and ocean-going craft of our time. With the settling of America came the era of stagecoaches and covered wagons. The invention of the railway and train system next opened up new horizons for transportation. Then came the invention which revolutionized land travel--the first motor cars, or as we know them, automobiles. This form of travel so practical and efficient, has grown steadily until today there are as many automobiles in the United States as there are families. Man next proved himself with an eye to the future as he ventured into the realm of air travel. No other facility of transport has received so much attention from the public and technical experts as has the airplane. From the shaky, crude gliders of yesterday to the strong and speedy airships of today, aeronautics has advanced until no place on the globe is farther than 60 air-hours away. Now jet- propelled airplanes are attempting to travel faster than sound, and rocket ships are threatening to break through earth's atmosphere and perhaps visit plants as yet unseen. So you see, as civilization does not stand still, neither does the story of trans- portation. Will you come along with us as we trace this story through the ages? Who knows? Our next stop may be the moon!

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HI-WAY of TROUTMAN HIGH SCHOOL for 1948 TROUTMAN, N. C. Volume XII MAXINE OSTWALT S Ed' or-in-Chief M

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Ships Picture Columbus' flagship beside a modern ocean liner of today. The contrast would be unbelievable. Columbus' ship would stand as a small house to a large building. The nineteenth century ocean liner could be put into the main foyer and dining room of today's gigantic vessel, with plenty of room to spare. The proud ocean liner of today, with its equipment of a luxurious hotel, is the end of a chain that may be traced, link by link, to the sailing vessel depending on wind, such as bore Columbus to America: to the long ship of the Phoenicians with its three banks of oarsg to the birch-bark canoe of the Indiang to the raft of floating logs, and finally, to the hollowed out tree or dug-out, used by men of the Stone Age. It is a long and romantic story and it may be told only in its broad outline. Then, inventions greatly increased the building of bigger and better ships. Aided only by sun, stars and crude maps, men of long ago braved the hardships, the hunger, and the fearg to discover new lands, open new trade routesg this was their dream. Later, compasses, better cartographers, enabled sailors to know more about what they were doing and where they were going. ' Ships driven by steam, in point of time, were the flrst among power propelled vessels. They were small at flrst and then in an effort to attain the standards set, they have been increased, enormously, both the size of the ships and the power of their engines. The finest Trans-Atlantic liners of today--the ocean greyhounds, as they are called-carry, besides cargo and crew, a floating population as numerous as that of a small town. They are able to circle the globe without refueling or running short on supplies. Later wood gave place to iron, and then flnally, iron gave way to steel. This was the start of the modernization of ships. The promotion of ships' construction in the United States is under the direction of the Shipping Board and the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The steam turbine engine, by which most large ships are driven, was envolved by Parsons of England. It maintains a speed of thousands of revolutions a minute, driving the twin or triple screws at racing speed. The screw was first used on ocean vessels toward the middle of the nineteenth century and has now displaced the old paddle wheel. Heavy oil engines of the diesel type are now being used for the propulsion of vessels. A new and different motor is being made. It is a closed gas turbine. This motor is highly efficient and will compete with other marine motors. It will burn a heavy grade of fuel oil. At the start of the twentieth century there has been a rapid development of the motor ship. Motor ships are equipped with the diesel engines, an oil-burning internal-combustion device similar in structure to the gasoline engine. Later on in the twentieth century, Anton Flettner developed a new type of ship which is called the rotor ship. It replaces sails with two rotating towers, about fifty feet in height and ten feet in diameter, which are driven by electric motors. Concrete ships were introduced in nineteen hundred and sixteen, Norwegian ship builders having the credit for the invention. Now thirty-nine per cent of the ships are built on shipway. The other sixty-one per cent is by prefabrication. There are six important steps in the building of a ship. These are: the shipway is builtg keel of the ship is laid: the hull is builtg main deck and superstructure is added: ship is launched and then towed to outfltting pier and completed. Ships have many uses today. A country needs a good navy to defend her against invaders, to carry freight and passengers, for lighthouse beacons, for repairing trans- oceanic cable that lies under the Atlantic, for ishing and for many other profitable industries.