Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

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NOVEMBER 1933 this building was remarkable. California ' s exhibit was in the term of a giant red wood tree. Inside the door one had the feeling of being inside the trunk of a huge tree. The many foreign nations with their ex- hibits of all kinds presented color on all sides. Noteworthy of these were the typical Moors in costume selling their wares in a reproduc- tion of a Moroccan village. Most interesting was the Belgian village with exact reproduc- tions of buildings and houses as seen today. Cafes, shops, an old bridge, church, town hall, and block pavement make up this re- markable display. Flemish dancers in color- ful costume and wooden shoes perform in the main square. In this same group we have The Streets of Paris with its sidewalk cafes, quaint shops, noise, shows, and beauty. The streets are named as in Paris and the buildings very good imitations with some of the famous res- taurants. Fascinating phases of industry are brought out in the Sears Roebuck building, the A. and P. Carnival, the Time and Fortune display, the Firestone building and the various stages in the making and refining of the oil in- dustry. The Historical group consists of the story of old Fort Dearborn reproduced in every de- tail, the De Saible Cabin, and further along the Marquette Cabin erected in memory of Pere Marquette. Prominent in this group is the Lincoln display comprising Lincoln ' s boy- hood home and Rutledge Tavern. More of furniture and mementos of Lincoln ' s career can be found in the Illinois Host House on the Avenue of Flags. An interesting note here is that the flags are of two colors only. Looking down from one end of the avenue the flags are all rust in color while from the other end you get the color of gold. This color scheme was carried out from an artistic view point keeping in harmony with the pro- fusion of color roundabout, rather than dis- playing the vari-colored flags of all nations in this Avenue as was originally planned. Fun was not lacking in this place of won- ders. Of course one would not fail to get a view of the monstrous Fair from the Sky- Ride. This ride was in a rocket car along a cable stretched over the Lagoon between two giant towers about two hundred feet high. The Midway afforded no end of spectacles, side shows, and unusual attractions. Here were found the Oriental Village, the living freaks and wonders brought from all parts of the world. Here, too, was located the Mid- get Village and very important the Pantheon de la Guerre, depicting the battle fields of France and Belgium. Even the children had their World ' s Fair in the Enchanted Island, a place of magic and wonders. A real Hollywood where pictures could be seen in the making and where actual radio broad asting took place, was of exceptional interest. Ripley ' s Believe It or Not audi- torium was well patronized. A trip to the bottom of an African diamond mine assured us of the laborious task of mining pure stones. The hog lolling feat carried out by cham- pions of several western states was cleverly done and afforded no end of pleasure. Wheelchairs and jinrikishas furnished transportation on the grounds while, on the water, launches and Venetian gondolas went back and forth on the Lagoon. Even the eating places with their gaily cos- tumed waiters seemed in keeping with the whole idea of the progress of a century. Thus the world joins with Chicago in cele- brating a century of the growth of Science where every phase of progress and life is found exhibited. A scientist might say that the Century of Progress is the culmination of invention and science— the acme of progress. Miss Kathryn H. Finnegan. MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE THE CENTURY OF PROGRESS A FTER seeing the most wonderful sight ■ that you ever saw and perhaps will ever see, you ask yourself, and many ask you, What were you impressed by most? If a person liked art, he might be impressed

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4 THE CRIMSON AND GRAY ogy, and Dentistry. Interesting in the science of Medicine was the giant man composed of cellon and built on a human skeleton. He is transparent and, as though you were sud- denly given X-Ray eyes, you may see the in- side of the human body. Small microphones hidden in the ears allow this transparent man to talk. He properly begins the story of the science of medicine in this huge theater of Sciences. Astronomy is nicely taken care of in the Planetarium where a complete story of the heavens, stars and planets is beautifully and colorfully displayed. The huge Havoline thermometer standing in the center of the Grounds, two hun- dred feet high, was most impressive. The numerals were very large and readings could easily be taken from anywhere at the Fair. Notable on the Travel and Transport building was the so-called breathing dome, constructed on the principle of a suspension bridge, rising and sinking, depending on the atmospheric pressure on the roof. This building houses all sorts and means of travel and transportation. The outside exhibits were of an interesting nature consisting of the Royal Scot, one of London ' s fastest trains; a United States Railway Post Office car; cars representing various railroad companies; one of the largest freight trains in the world; and finally the palatial coaches of the Presidential train of the Republic of Mexico. Interesting in the automobile industry were the Chrysler and the General Motors Build- ings. In the latter a complete assembly plant had been built and crowds of people could watch raw materials enter through one door and finished cars come out at the opposite exit. In direct contrast to these buildings of ultra modern construction was the age-old Maya Temple of Nunnery built of brownish colored stone. With its carved figures and designs representing men and animals, one would hardly believe it to be an exact re- production of the beautiful temple in far- off Yucatan. The various Indian tribes with their homes of planks or wigwams and their carved totem poles afford much interest to the curi- ous. Beautiful in structure, its gold-leaf roof shining in the sun, was the Golden Temple of Jehol that takes you back to China in the early Eighteenth Century. Marvelous col- umns of red lacquer support the hundreds of small pieces of carved wood which are joined together without the use of a single nail to form the ceiling. The electrical and radio displays make one stop in amazement at the applications of elec- tricity in power, heat, and light. Exhibits take visitors behind the scenes and show the actual operations for various systems of com- munication. Television, the art of tomor- row, was very cleverly exhibited. One whole section is devoted to exhibits of homes. Each illustrates the use of some premade building material or method of con- struction such as steel, masonite, enamel, and lumber. Most interesting in this group is the House of Tomorrow made circular in form and of glass. All the plumbing pipes, gas, and electricity are built into a central shaft or mast. The outside walls are of glass and of course there are no windows. The walls are equipped with roller curtains to insure privacy. This ultra modern house has an airplane hangar, as well as garage on the ground floor. Those interested in poultry, livestock, flowers, and gardens had wonderful exhibits to view in the Agricultural and Horticul- tural Buildings. In the Dairy Building was located the color organ. The fingering ol the key board of the organ produces vari- ations of beautiful colors. As the music be- comes louder the colors became deeper shades, and then grow dimmer in hue as the music softens. Striking in appearance was the United States Government Building with its gilded dome and three pylons typifying the three branches of our government— legislative, ex- ecutive, and judicial. The parade of states in

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY by the harmony of colors. If he liked archi- tecture, he might enjoy the modernistic shapes of the buildings. If he liked medicine, science, the study of foreign countries ' history, he might say that an exhibit based on this interested him most. The Fair is really too wonderful to express briefly my impressions of it. I will try to tell you about the one building which made the strongest impression on me. From the Hall of Science turn your footsteps toward the island and enter the Adler Planetarium. This rainbow-granite building with its mushroom dome is world famous, for within it is an intricate mechanism called the Zeiss Projector, the only one in the United States, and one of the only two in the world. With this instrument is staged a spectacular drama of the heavens. Once every hour, visitors are admitted to a circular room to sit beneath its domed white ceiling. The light is flashed off, the ceiling becomes a blue sky, sparkling with millions of stars seeming so close and so real that you feel that you can reach up and touch them. A lecturer tells you about this firmament. His pointer is a beam of light. Behind him is a concealed switchboard, with which he controls the apparatus. You are permitted to look ahead into the future and know where the Pole Star or any other heavenly body will be situated at a particular minute of a par- ticular day, decades, or centuries ahead. You can look back into the past and see the heavens as they appeared when Christ walked on earth or when Galileo studied the stars with the first telescope. Should you arrive while a lecture is in progress, you can entertain yourself by strol- ling about the halls or exhibit rooms down stairs. The Planetarium, which is under the direc- tion of Prof. Philip Fox, formerly Professor of Astronomy at Northwestern University •has a wonderful collection of instruments which men of science in centuries of the past have used. Four hundred years ago the Strozzi family of Florence, Italy, began a col- lection of scientific instruments gathering and preserving those of worthy achievement About forty years ago this collection passed into the hands of Roone Heilbronner in Paris, and after the World War to W. M. Mensing in Amsterdam, and from him to the Chicago Museum. I have always liked Astronomy and that ' s the reason why this impressed me most. Marion E. Munday ' 35. BACK AND FORTH TO CHICAGO ' T ' HE love to travel, to visit strange cities, to meet their inhabitants, to enjoy their amusements has become the instinct of the American people. And that is what urged me to go to Chicago ' s World ' s Fair with the amount of money I had when I started the tenth of July. For four years I had been hearing of the work being done at Chicago representing the last hundred years of the world ' s existence. I started out with Chicago as my objective, but in my mind was the desire to find out what hoboing was all about and how hard it could be, and to meet differ- ent people of different dispositions. On the tenth of July, 1933, I started out from Southbridge with a wardrobe which con- sisted of a blue suit, four shirts, overalls, sweaters, and a pair of shoes. I have noticed that when some people go to Quinebaug to spend the week-end, they have about four or five trunks and come back and it takes them about two days to wash, rest, and tell about exciting moments. If such a person had gone to the Fair, you ' d hear a detailed story but I will just try to tell you in a few words about my experiences and the wonders at the Fair. After leaving Southbridge, I stopped both at Hartford and New York City visiting my brothers en route to Philadelphia where I visited Independence Hall. My next stop along the Lincoln Highway was at Gettys- burg. In Gettysburg I visited the famous hotel noted for existing through the Civil War. Bullets may be seen imbedded in its wooden frame. I also visited the field of