Walton High School - Periwinkle Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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The Door is Qpen We have come to the crossroads, no longer are we children. Still in that in-between stage of adolescence, we are: soon to begin the diffi- cult task of growing up. Definitely, now, we must decide where we are going. Are we planning to open the door of life boldly, or are we to push it ajar timidly? What is it that is needed in the world of today? Let us analyze what it is that we desire most. We are the symbol of the coming generation, and so we shall be the determining factors in the approaching era. Tolerance and understanding above all are to be sought for. The reason for this is self-evident. Conventions have been upset, monarchs overthrown, governments wrecked, the lives of millions torn asunder. World conditions are in a turmoil. Countries undermine the reputations of their neighbors and seek to perpetrate alliances that they know will disturb world peace. Why, we ask, the everlasting why? The question is not unanswerable. Were these nations not so sel- fishly egocentric, did they but attempt to bridge the gap caused by different customs with tolerance, history would present a different aspect. There is no need in this instance for history to repeat itself. We of the younger generation should look with clear eyes into the future and endeavor to assist world peace and internationalism by understand- ing. This question cannot be ignored. lt is pertinent and must be faced with courage. Although we may not sway world policies, we can create a spirit of open-mindedness within our own sphere. Let us not shirk that responsibility. Let us be strong and brave so that we may be able to shape our destinies as we have planned them in our dreams. 'The door of life stands before us. Let us push it open bravely. .FLORA CJNSBURC.

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Mark Twain cmd lhe Mississippi The mighty Mississippi flows on, oblivious to the changing civil- ization on its muddy, shifting banks. During the comparatively brief period of our civilization, the river has flowed complacently through years of strife and peace, turmoil and quiet, solitude and the noisy con- fusion of growing citiesg but no descriptions or accounts of the mighty Mississippi can surpass or even approach those of our beloved Mark Twain. In relating the story of his own life and the lives of his undying characters, Mark Twain writes narratives which are of necessity bound up with the majestic river. Even when the time came to assume a name under which to enter the literary world, that which fhe chose was a nautical term which he had heard on the river innumerable times. Quarter twain, quarter twain, half twain, mar-r-r-k twain, bellowed the leadsmen on the river, and these words, just as all else about it, impressed themselves indelibly upon his mind. So Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain. ln the days of Mark Twain's youth, the all-consuming ambition which fired every red-blooded boy along the river was to be a pilot. The pilot in those times was an awe-inspiring figure, hero of the Mis- sissippi. Courageous, responsible for ships full of human and inanimate cargo, subject to the orders of none, utterly independent, he was a char- acter to inspire the respect and admiration of all. And rightly, too, for the office of pilot required a knowledge not obtained in universities or colleges but in the school of experience. Mark Twain, like his play- mates, longed passionately to be one of the much-envied personages. Eventually and not without difficulty, he mastered the profession, which required sharp faculties, a flawless memory, and peerless courage. The everchanging shape of the river had to be photographed in the brain, and the water read as easily as an italicized passage. Ships had to be run by night as well as by day, and guiding an awkward, balky boat through inky blackness was by no means child's play. The author became an experienced pilot and would have ended his days as such had it not been for the intervention of the war, after which the need for pilots greatly declined.