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

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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

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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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NOVEMBER 1933 Gettysburg— bare save for tombstones in- scribed with names of generals to show where they fell. On my journey again I went to Bucyrus, then north to Toledo, Ohio, and then Route 20 to Chicago. These routes prove equally valuable to the driver and the hobo. I reached Chicago Saturday, the fifteenth, about four o ' clock. Ignorant of booked events, I was surprised to hear people cheer- ing, and to see them throwing hats and papers into the air. I had all the exultation that such a greet- ing could give any important person— and en- joyed the greeting as if it were for me alone— until I looked up in the air to see twenty- four beautiful seaplanes circling the city. It was Italy ' s most famous flyer, Italo Balbo, ar- riving after a non-stop flight across the At- lantic. Well, even if for only a short time, I shared his welcome to Chicago. That night I was fortunate enough to find a good room in the loop for $1.50 a week. My first day at the Fair was like a first day in the land of wonders. My 50c admission I paid willingly and I was one of the 122,000 people who attended the Fair that Sunday. The site was perfectly adapted for a play- ground for many people: its green park, its flower gardens, fountains and well-kept drives, and, above all, its unusual buildings appropriately placed with the ever-changing lake just beyond and the silhouette of Chi- cago ' s myriad towers against the sky as a background. That day I walked around wondering at the buildings which one may call the fruits of industry. Amazed as I was and desirous of lingering, I still realized that I had to move quickly if I wanted to see all in one day, so I did not enter any buildings. I was perfectly contented to crane my neck and look at the vivid colors, the different styles of architecture which were very new and extraordinary to a fellow who has always been accustomed to the streets of South- bridge. About two o ' clock I saw the crowd rushing toward the Illinois State Building which is set apart from the other forty-four in honor of having Chicago inside its territory. The cause of the excitement became clear to me when cannon ' s tone began to echo for miles around. A band furnished by the U. S. Army was escorting General Balbo along the Avenue of Flags. General Balbo stopped first at the Illinois Building where he congratu- lated the American people upon its progress, and then he went to the Italian Building where he spoke in Italian to the Italian peo- ple of the Fair. After his speech a chorus of nearly 2000 girls and 500 boys sang Italian songs. Entranced by the the beautiful welcome but unable to understand it, I sought some other free amusement. At the Baby Ruth Pool. Pierre Desjardins and Helen Maxwell, well-known swimming and diving experts, were putting on a beautiful diving demonstra- tion. Farther on I found myself near one of the towers of the Sky Ride where 1 noticed that the prices were 25c on Sunday and 40c on week-days, so, being very economical, I dug and gave 25c for a ticket. The Sky Ride I might explain, is an advertising scheme of the Pepsodent people. Everyone knows Kingfish, Madame Queen, and Amos and Andy. Everyone at the Fair must notice the high towers and the little compartments named for these characters which are drawn slowly across cables from the island (filled out for the Fair) and the main land. Then the price of the ride is another added attraction which makes the Sky Ride one of the best known features of the Fair. Since Kingfish is one of my favorites, I decided to enter the car by that name. It brought me near the entrance to the Fair again, so I left the grounds and went downtown. There I found an eating plae where I got a meal for which I would have paid 35c any- where. I ate until I thought I ' d bust. They gave me a check which read 10c. Thinking this was an error, I hurriedly paid my dime and went out as inconspicuously as