Vergennes Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Vergennes, VT)

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14 VERGENNES HIGH SCHOOL THE VERMONT OF THE FUTURE As a state, we are entering what promises to he a period of widespread social and economic change. Vermont has been, and is yet. known primarily as an agricultural state. Whether it will he so called in the future is highly problematical, for something has to he done for our farming situation. At present, about 50% of the er-mont farms earn adequate incomes, enabling them to maintain a living standard equal to the white-collared city workers. Twenty per cent of the farms permit their owners barely to break even, forcing them to do without many luxuries which in this day are virtual necessities. The other 30% of the farms are hilly, rocky, and worn-out—of the type known as sub-marginal. Their owners are hopelessly in debt, uncultured, living in ramshackle buildings; men and women made coarse and sullen bv generations of unrewarded drudgery. Experts estimate that fully one-third of the farms of Vermont cannot be operated at a profit and should be retired. What could be done with this 470.000 or so acres? Reforestation is the logical answer. For farming, the land is valueless, or nearly so; as a gigantic park and game reserve, its earning power would be tremendous, not to mention the value of the timber taken off. Our tourist trade already amounts to millions of dollars a year. With a large section of the state turned into a glorified, natural park, this sum would be multiplied many times. It would all be money coming into Vermont from other states. What about the 25,000 people now living in the proposed development areas? Most of them could earn comfortable livings catering to the tourist trade. The retirement of these 3,000 farms would not. one might suppose, materially cut down our dairy products exports, as with modern machinery and efficient, up-to-date methods the remaining farms could easily increase production to meet the demand. Although the development plan has the approval of many economists, conservative Vermonters will undoubtedly frown on such a change for some time. Can you suggest a better scheme? It is a problem for the whole state. Something must be done to give the underprivileged farmspeople a new lease on iife, and to clean up our rural slums. Robert Elliott, ’37 SPRING TWITTER V ermont—V ermont The State near Isle La Mont, With a few small cities And many quaint ditties Vermont—Vermont—Vermont K. H. Haven, '39

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BLUE AND WHITE 13 three inches in diameter may be taken out, which shows the structure and quality of the marble at that point. A varying amount of waste must usually be removed before sound marble can be reached. After a process calling for careful and systematic blasting, the marble floor is ready for the channeling machines. The channeler runs on a movable track, and as it moves over the surface of stone, it cuts an inch-wide groove. It automatically reverses itself and so it goes on eating its way downward until the groove has become several feet deep. As soon as the floor of the quarry has been lined with grooves of the required depth, the channelers are run across again at right angles to them dividing the strips of marble into cubes. The VERMONT One of Vermont’s heroines was Ann Story, who lived in Cornwall during pre-Revolutionary days. Directly across the creek from her home was a cave, the mouth of which was hidden by bushes. During the New York and Vermont dispute over the ownership of land. Ann Story hid and fed the fugitives. who were trying to escape from the New Yorkers. Many of them were Green Mountain Boys. Another heroine, who lived during Revolutionary days, was Rhoda Far-rand, whose home was in Bridport. A runner stopped at her house and told her the soldiers were without shoes and socks in Valley Forge; that their feet were bleeding and sore, and that they were hungry. After hearing about the soldiers’ plight, Rhoda Farrand did something about it. She and her son hitched oxen to a cart, and drove from house to house, over all passable roads, telling the people about the soldiers. While her son drove the oxen, Rhoda quarry blocks, or “key” blocks are thus formed. There are several ways of getting blocks out of the quarry. At Danby mountain a cable track is used, and at West Rutland both the cable and derrick are employed. When the marble is out of the quarries it is ready for the mills. The sawing is done by smooth iron bands, set in a horizontal frame and acting in conjunction with sand and water. On leaving the mills, some of the marble goes directly to the monumental shops, and some to the building departments. Not only in the United States, but in some European countries as well, is Vermont marble noted for its fineness and durability. Rolanda Turpin, ’40 WOMEN knitted socks—all the way. Soon a large supply was kntted, and sent down to Valley Forge. Rhoda Farrand’s name goes down in history as a patriot. Theodora Peck, an author living in Burlington, wrote stories that took place during the Revolution. Two present-day Vermont authors are Bertha Oppenhein and Zephine Humphrey. Two hospitals in Burlington are named for Vermont women. Fanny Allen and Mary Fletcher. Both did much for humanity. Dorothy Canfield Fisher, our much beloved author, besides having written many books, is much interested in the welfare of the people. She is on the State Board of Education, and has done a great deal for the progression of Vermont schools. We find that the influence of women has been a leading factor in the history of Vermont. Margaret Reed, '40

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BLUE AND WHITE 15 VERMONT SCENES By Youth . . . After a short, steep pull onto a rocky ledge, we turned and saw—well, it's hard to describe—but it seemed as if the entire color spectrum had covered the whole of the Champlain Valley visible to us. The sinking sun broke through a maze of clouds, and was reflected from the lake and various rivers hack to the sky and clouds in a glory of color—colors artists dream of putting on canvas but never achieve, because they are divine colors that only God can paint. Perhaps these colors, visible to us at times, are insights to the hereafter. Who knows? Daniel Bull, '38 . . . When, in this day of improv- ed transportation we are in danger of forgetting how to walk, mountain