Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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THE W. H. S. DEBATER 1 ) never tried to make one, we little realize the hours of patient labor for which it stands. Therefore, it seems to me that we should not only consider the neatness and originality of the design but also the sticktoitiveness of the designer which made the finished product possible. Grimm ' s Fairy Tales At the English conference held lately in Wakefield, Professor William A. Neilson made a statement which has caused much comment all over the country. The statement is as follows : The stories by the brothers Grimm, were, written many years ago, and perhaps the most charitable way of dismissing them wotdd be to say that for their time they were all right. The fact remains, Iiowever, that they are standard and classic, and that there is still a profita- able business in publishing them. Sooner or later they fall into the hands of our little folk. I believe that these stories should be discarded because their suggestion to the childish mind is that every wrong was avenged. Revenge is a bad enough vice to exist in any of us, with- out being suggested and inlaid in the childish mind by a fairy tale. The Dial criticises this statement for several reasons. First, because such precautions against teaching revenge are unnecessary with the world in its present condition. vSi ' Ccmd, the ordinary child does not take Grimm ' s tales literally. And, again, the impression of pleasure at the justice shown supercedes any thought as to incentive. Rather than state our opinion upon this matter we will point out what another great educator thought on the question of harmful books. Ruskin evidently did not fear any bad iuHuence from books, and trusted to tht child ' s innocence to spurn any harmful suggestions. In Lilies h(! says of the girl: Let her loose in the library, I say, as you do a fawn in a field. It knows the ]);ul weeds twenty times better than you, and the good ones, too; and will eat some bitter and prickly ones, good for it, which you had not the slightest thought would have been so. It seems, upon such authority, as if we might risk any chance of harm from the thought of revense contained in Grimm ' s tales. The Labor Question If occurs to some people that there are other (piestions involved in a labor disturbance besides the question of labor against capital. How about the community in which the fight is going on? What riglit have any persons to instigate scenes of violence in a community? Every means should be used to discourage all attempts toward a settlement of difficulties through mob violence. Such a proceeding shows a revertance to the methods of five or six centuries ago, when law and order were little respected. The hurling of missiles and threatening personal violence take us back to the reign of terror in Paris. The means employed by the I. W. W. in Law- rence have checked our progress toward a peaceful settlement of labor difficulties. They planted the germs of mob violence in many an uncultivated European head, which need only the nursing of skillful labor leaders to develop into anarchy. Another question to be considered in connection with the use of violence is that of the cost. Who pays for it? The town ! Consider the big city of Lawrence. It was overwhelmed with debt through the expenses imposed by its recent strike. It was obliged to protect its citi- zens from the violence of the strikers and did so at a tremendous cost. Who pays for the extra police pro- tection in Wakefield? The town ! In other words, the people of Wakefield, whether interested in the labor question or not, must pay the ])rice. For this reason, if for no other, violence during labor troubles should not be countenanced. Violent methods are unfair to the citizens of a community, and they must give way to peaceful ones. Without doubt in the end a cure will be found in the ballot: in the establishment of courts of arbitrati(m to which all questions will be sub- mitted. Then we shall have peace, but not until then. A LI, interested in the welfare of the Dkuatkk wish to thank their friends who make possible, financially, the pul)lication of the paper. The last number was so great a financial success that the business managers were obliged to solicit only a few advertisements for this number. We wish to burden the business men as little as possible. Every bit received is put into the paper ; there is no surplus left over as profit. Again, we wish to thank our patrons. SOME of our pupils are gaining a name for themselves. When a man gets famous you begin to see his name in the newsp pers. A freshman reports having seen an article in the Mail concerning a Mr. C. Garett Feenil, said to be of the Wakefield High School. The article in fitting terms described the settling of a warm dispute between the Senior and Junior boys, said C. (iaiett Feend being the central figure. It seems that this Feend carried about with him a (jueer looking thing which the Seniors claimed was a down, while the .Juniors declared it was a moustache. The argument became strenuous and wjir was imminent. I?ut at last a method of settlement was found. The down or moustache, so- called, was divided. The Seniors took half of it, which they called down; and the Juniors took the other half, which was called moustache. How ever, the Seniors hist their half in the grass on the common and ould not find it again, while the aforesaid C. Gai-ett Feend went otf with the other half, the moustache, so-called. Now they are questioning who won the argument. We believe the whole story is fal.se, anyway.

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It THE W. H. S. DKBATKR DEBATER STAFF Editor-in-Cbief . Assistant Editors Business Manager Asst. Business Mgrs. Exchange Editor Chief Reporter Asst. Reporters Athletic Editor Staff Artist EARLE R. STEWART fHILDlTR L. CARLSON ( ANNA. G. BARNES J-HERIHA M. MAcINrOSH I RUTH VV. BOA RDM AN LUKAN E. WALDRON MANSON M. DILLAVVAY ROBERT T. PHIPPS WILLIAM H. DOUCE r MILLARD W. THRESHER MARGARET E. O ' CONNOR .CLARENCE H. FAY ARTHUR W COLLINSON, ' 15 DOROTHY H. BEALS, ' 16 WILLIAM R. HASKELL, ' 17 STANLEY E. COLLINSON ALVIN W. GORDON ?Etiitanal0 Something the Spectator failed to see was a record of tardiness and absence kept by Mr. Howe. All good things usually come out however. It must be a line thing to look back on a record of perfect attendance, or a perfect record for punctuality. Several remarkable stories are contained in the plain figures following. Think it over. Leon R. Home — Not absent, tardy or dismissed in High School. Not nbsent since 5th grade, tardy once in 1st year. Ruth Boardman — Not absent, tardy or dismissed in High School. Not absent since 5th grade, tardy once in 1st year. Estelle Horton — Not absent, tardy or dismissed in High School. Not absent since 4th grade. JVcccr tardy, never dismissed. Bertha Macintosh — Not absent, tardy or disn)issed in High School. Not absent since 4th grade, not tardy since 3d grade, not dismissed since ;5d grade. It is not always you meet someone who works and says nothing. How many fellows remember when a foot or more of snow was shoveled from the hockey rink ? One of the faculty went down and pushed and hauled, with soaking wet feet, until after six p. m., and hardly spoke at all. Boys, don ' t forget people who do not tell you what they ' ve done. Thanks, Mr. Preble. The following statistics regarding the membership of the class of 1914 may be of interest to our readers, especially in view of the fact so widely stated that not 7% of the children entering school fini sh High School : Four years ago 123 pupils entered. ' I his June 70 are being grnduated, or 56. ' . ' %. This is an unusually high percentage for the Wakefield High School and is far above the number graduating from city school systems. New High School Like Haverhill An article in this Dki ' .atek, deseritiing the Haverhill High School, gives a charming picture of what we should have in Wakefield. No doubt our pupils could study to better advantage in a beautifid building fitted with every convenience. Strike Thk strike in Wakefield brings the great question of Capital vs. Labor right into our midst. It is a deep question, taken either morally or financially. The claims of each side seem to be reduced to the following : Should not laborers have the right to band together to better their interests? If so, how far should they be allowed to control matters? On the other hand, what rights has the investor? A man in a small business seems to have the right of discharging an employee for any reason or no reason ; anger is sometimes sulHeient ground. Should a large business interest destroy this right? Honesty the Best Policy Don ' t smile ! You may have come to regard this as a joke, but evidence shows that it still rings true. A mem- ber of the Senior Class was tn Iking with a representative of Whitman ' s studio. Maiden. He urged her to inter- view the picture committee and make a bid for the class contract. This was the only large concern which ottered no favor to the committee. Above all matters of jirice and pictures, stood that policy ; and when the class voted for its photographer, Whitman ' s studio had all but one vote. As for satisfaction over pictures ! Even the Spect ator cannot find a dissatisfied look among the Seniors. The secret of this is found in the evident aim of Whitman ' s studio to please all comers in every way. Thk cover design was made by William Doucet of the Senior Cl.ass. There were several very creditable de- signs submitted for this issue, those of Dean Waldron and Roy Eriberg deserving special commendation. When we look at the finished cover, that is, those who have

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Ifi THE W. H. S. DKHATHK MISS JlIl.DUK CAKLSON Valedictory MISS ETHEL MacMASTKU Salutatory HKNKV KUHAKDS Honor Part THE HONOR PARTS THE DKiiATi-.K wishes to congiiitiilato the thi-ec Seniofs who have this year eaiiied the Honofs. It tai es four long yeai ' s of iiard, pei-severino ' work to earn tliis distinction. Only tliose who come prepared every day in every lesson during the whole four years may compete for such a prize. Those who are acquainted with the honor winners know tliat (piiet perseverance is charac- teristic of each. The Valedictorian is Miss Hildur Carlson. Miss Carlson obtained 720fi units, as they are called. The Salutatory was awarded Miss Ethel MacMaster, wlio obtained 7 lot! units. The Honor part was won by Henry Richards with 7051 tuiits. The reason for giving these figines is to show th - closeness of the race for Honors this year. What praise might l)e given one must be given all. In order to realize the small dinereiie ' between these figures one should know tin; ollicial rules goveiiiiug the choice of the Honors. They may also be of interest to lower class pupils who desire an Honor in their last year. Eollowing is the method of determining the parts at gitul tuition, as adopted by the School Commitlee : 1. Kind the average mark in each subject by dividing the sum of the marks received in the subject dtiiing the year by tiie number of times nuirks are received. 2. Midtiply the ([uotients ascertained above by the number of points at which the subject is rated. . ' 5. A ld these products. 4. The V aledictory shall be assigned to the i)upil having the largest total, the Salutatory to the one having the next largest, and the Honor part to that one having the third largest total. It will be observed that the ii(iiiHti of work done is taken into consideration as well as the tfiutlitf . It is probable that imder these rules no one tloing the mini- mtun amount of work only, viz. Of |)i)ints, woidd re- ceive an honor. The Senior class will, no iloubl, watch with interest the progress of its Honor memliers. ' ith tiuir tine start they have much to hope for in college or elsewhere. We wish them every success in the futurt ' and congratu- late them anew upon tiie honors obtained already in their High Scliool career.