Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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than anything else 3 they are plain rectangular structures with no windows on the north side to save glass, which was quite expensive in colonial times. 1 K 1 I was astonished by the plainness of the light fixture in the dining room of Gadsby's Tavern. The main part was a flimsy circular affair of tin, made to set the candles upon. The whole thing was supported by a heavy rusty wire attached to the center. It seemed to me that if candles were placed on one side and left off the other, the thing would topple over to the heavy side and fall down. 1 4 li Bolted on the house where John L. Lewis now lives is an oval metal plate about a foot high. On it is shown rather crudely a barrel with a hose running from it and the letters F and A. The letters stand for Fire Association, which the early fire insurance com- panies were called, and every member of the associa- f tion had one of these metal pieces on his house. These ,-if-, early insurance companies supported a fire crew which I . T would rush to a fire as soon as the alarm was turned H in. If the house had one of the metal plates on it, the crew attempted to put out the fireg if it did not have one, it was allowed to burn to the ground. This reminds me of one way the Roman millionaire Croesus n tiff' . got rich. He organized some of his slaves into a fire 01 - crew, which he would take with him to a fire. If the owner of the burning building wouldn't sell it to Croesus for practi- cally nothing, he would let it burn. If the proprietor sold it, the slaves would extinguish the blaze, and Croesus would realize a handsome profit from the building after it was repaired. . ,fr T HE MI S S I L E Page eighty-seven

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and I noticed that all the crossbars, on which the actual scraping was done, were worn down in the middle by constant use. Another reminder of horse and buggy days was a little metal statue about two feet high of a darkie holding in his hand a ring to which horses were hitched. He was attractively painted Cthat's how I knew he was a negrol, but his face was coal black, and, if there is anything I dislike to see, it is the picture of a negro with a too black face. - if 'll 8 Out in the court at Gadsby's Tavern was a weatherbeaten old coach, was a shame for a relic out in the weather but that in all probability considered b u y i n g it est in the coach was to 1 C' qi gl jg f A of such value to be left soon it dawned on me Madison had never even However, my chief inter- see if it had the leather said to have belonged to James Madison. My first thought was that it 7 ?wl? , ' . . il' ' ' Q' X springs which I had .lr 'N Li . -H54 ' .x 'fv if If - Hur, A nf- --1 fi- , - 05:':, '-x,gLg......-- heard were on these old vehicles. I found them, somewhat to my surprise, big, heavy leather straps, which my father could use for purposes of chastisement even to better advantage than the accustomed belt. IF HK PII In the Masonic Temple there are many articles once belonging to Washington: chairs, his wedding gloves, his clock, a pruning knife, his Bible, his penknife and a very plain glass goblet, the first piece of glass made in America. I wonder what could have happened to his snuff-box. About the above-mentioned penknife this interesting story is told: His mother had given it to Washington when he was eleven years old to reward him for not joining the navy, and he carried it around for many years. During that discouraging winter at Valley Forge when Washing- ton was s-o disheartened that he was about to hand in his resignation, he chanced to catch sight of the knife, and was so inspired by it that he de- stroyed the resignation. Therefore, Washington continued to serve as commander-in-chief of the American forces, and the Revolution was brought to a successful conclusion all because of this knife. By the way, I discovered when I was about to leave the Temple that all this to do about Washington was because he had once been a grand master of the Masons. ' ' 4' is lk A peculiar style of architecture was exhibited in two or three of the buildings in Alexandria. A house of this type looks more like a jail to me Page eighty-Six T H E M I S S I L E

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Two Poems Why lt Rains By Charlotte Beville The angels are cleaning up heaven todayg They must remove the soilg It has lost its blue and gotten gray, And they must busily toil. They scrub with rags of snowy white And wring them out to dry, We humans seem to think it's rain Which falls down from the sky. And when their task at last is done, The wind helps as it can To blow the sudsy clouds away And leave all spick and span. The F air By Frank Farris The fair is here again this year, With side-shows, freaks, and eating stands, And chickens, horses, cows, and steersg And the girls hold fast to their boy friends' hands. There's something about it that gets in your veins: The crowd, the bright lights, the noise, and smells. You laugh and talk with might and main, ' There's a gayety in your heart that dwells. You forget all the trouble and sorrows you had, As you walk with the crowd so happy and gay. And when it comes time to go, you're sad, But often you'1l think of that glorious day. Page eighty-eight T H E M I S S I L E