Western Canada High School - Yearbook (Calgary, Alberta Canada)

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BOOK Page nine HateMrtmi By GRACE EGLESTQN We who stood at the crossroads last June bid the students and staff of old Western good-bye. Everyone has had the experience of looking back over a road which has been travelled. One experiences a sense of accomplishment and of being ready for bigger and wider experiences. Yet, as we, the graduate class, look back over a somewhat difficult journey, our reminiscences are tinged with regret. What a host of memories the words “good old Western” call to our minds. Life-long friends we have made, the faces of sympathetic teachers, busy halls, laughter, hilarious rugby games, and the hush of the examination room. GRACE EGLESTQN But now the vital question—“What are we going to do ? ” In these times of stress it seems almost impossible to choose an occupation which is not already overcrowded. Because of circumstances, some cannot be trained for the work they have chosen. Let us not lose sight of our ideals! The hardships which we are enduring now and trying to overcome are character builders. We must not forget that we all have a place to fill, a duty to do and it is our responsibility to take advantage of our opportunities. And what have these four or five years meant to us ? Has it merely been a cramming of technical facts and laws, the acquiring of a piece of paper which says we have obtained Senior Matriculation ? Happily not. Our comradeship and life together, the associations we have formed in class and on the athletic field have meant much more to -us. These are the things which will have an indelible effect upon us and will be remembered long after dates and formulae have been forgotten. We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew, There’s something for all of us here; There’s big work to do, and we all must be true, To the task which we find close at hand. If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail, If you can’t be the sun be a star; It isn’t by size that you win or you fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

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Page eight YEAR idnokimj Harkuwrfc—anft Jfanuarit T. E. A. S. Some years ago oil was discovered in Turner Valley. A little later Calgary experienced an oil boom. This boom was probably very much like other booms, gold booms, land booms, general stock booms, etc. Now we are sadder, and wiser —perhaps. The brutality of it all stands out in its naked ugliness as we look back. At that time the streets were filled with strangers with flinty countenances who were here then but away today, ready to repeat the programme wherever opportunity offers. Why were they here? Not to boom Calgary indeed, but to utilize the conditions they found and created to get rich. The wealth they gathered did not come out of the ground but out of the pockets of peaceful Calgary citizens, some wealthy and able to lose it without disaster, others of moderate means who needed their money for the comforts and necessities of life, but very many who had nothing to lose without sacrificing food, clothing and shelter. All these things were well known to the fraternity. The skeptic who questioned the possibilities of all getting rich simply had to take to cover. These strangers were all “optimists.” What has been the result of this experience ? Many have lost money they could well have put into the legitimate channels of trade. This is by no means the most serious result. The searing of social conscience is all too evident. Per¬ haps the distress of the present depression and a sweeping revival of religious belief and practice will quicken this lost sensibility. If so, the depression, will serve a very useful purpose. If not, we are headed for still worse conditions. At present the hungry have to be fed. The feeding of the hungry is surely com¬ mendable but the manoeuvring that takes place to make the other fellow pay the bill must surely make the angels weep. What of the future? Will the coming generation be any wiser? Can they be helped ?, Something may be done by legislation. We are apt however to expect too much from legislation. Unless people are well informed and sane in their judgments, methods for parting them from their earnings will surely be found. I erhaps an honest consideration of the ethics of the boom might be a protection in the future, and perhaps a few fundamental economic principles might be en- giaved on the cover of the family cash book. Some of these principles are so old as to be familiar proverbs and on that very account are not considered a part of school philosophy. It might be a good thing if we were persuaded (1) That the ethics involved in trying to get something for nothing is at best questionable; (2) That oil or other shares sold at a gain perhaps, have been passed on, to be paid by the life savings or food and shelter of those left with them, when often the shares have ceased to have any market value; (3) That to play a hard-faced stranger or a hard-faced fellow-citizen for that matter, at his own game, is to invite disaster; (4) That sound investments always have to be sought, and are never peddled about among the non-financial classes. If a fortune is to be made those selling these investments would be only too ready to make it; (5) That the purchase of shares which owe their market value to market manipulation, and not to the prospect of dividends from the enterprises involved, is simply gambling, and ethically and economically unsound.

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Page ten YEAR iEfottoml EN AYANT W. LLOYD HUTTON The Year Book of 1933 is humbly submitted for your approval. This year’s edition has been somewhat reduced in size in the interests of economy. A reduction of five cents in price has been made, which should compensate somewhat for this reduction in size. An innovation this year is the write-ups of the Grade XI’s. This has been done in order to give the book a wider personal appeal. The most costly item of this publication is the cuts. As the amount of money at our disposal for this purpose was very limited, it was necessary to reduce their number. The Committee takes this opportunity of thanking the student body for the very loyal way in which they have given their financial support to the Year Book. They also desire to thank all those who gave freely of their ' time and advice, especially Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Bagnall and Mr. Stewart. It has been stated that a year book should faithfully and accurately mirror the life of the school, should help to make intelligible the spirit of the school and should in some measure arouse and inspire the school to finer and better effort for the coming years. If this edition of the Year Book can be said to do any of these things, then the Committee will be well-pleased and well-repaid for its efforts in connection with the book.