Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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SPECTATOR 7 end of the ship. then, in succession. the mast, the cabin, the smoke-stacks, the captain's deck, until finally you can't see the tips of your shoes. Most of the passengers go below, while some of the sailors move quickly about obedient to sudden orders of the officers. The mist now reigns com- pletely on and about the ship. You can touch it with your handsg you see it quite plainlyg you feel its presence by the moisture gathered upon your eyes and on your cheeks, you breath it into your lungs. lt is deadening in its effect: it seems to have hushed every noise. Ha! Wliat is this? A dull, hoarse, monotonous shriek rends the air. Ah, this is the fog-horn. Our ship is signalling and giving notification of her presence to all other vessels within earshot, in order to avoid crashing together. A crash in the midst of the ocean!!! The thought itself is enough to frighten any one. You close your eyes and try to shut out the horrible visiong but all in vain. As if in reality arise before your imagination the recent great sea disasters, both real and literary. You see the great Atlanta burn and sink in the sea. You see the suffering wretches of the Titanic in frail shells of boats, trying to save themselves from destruc- tion. Yes, you witness the heart-rending scenes which must have occurred on the Empress of Ireland. There, in the great vast expanse you see men dodging and coming up againg but alas! each rising brings up far less men than the preceeding one. NVith these harrowing thoughts in mind you bend over the side of the ship and look beneath. At the distance of four feet your eyesight is blocked by the impenetrable gray mantle. But your eagerly-straining ear catches the gurgling sound of waters cut by the nose of the ship. How like the rush of onpouring waves through a gash in the side of the vessel it sounds! You find yourself immediately surrounded by a frantic crowd of hysterical women shrieking for helpg by white-faced sailors running to and fro in a vain effort to establish orderg by men pushing and squeezing each other in the helpless turmoil. You seek to find a way out of the press

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6 SPECTATOR Befogged on the Ocean M. S. '16 It is a .beautiful autumn morning. You have just break- fasted in the cabin, and step out upon the deck to enjoy the scenery. Qn every turn you meet faces of strangers which have become familiar to the memory because of your having seen them time and again during this ocean trip. Cloaks and dresses of every color imaginable, countenances typical of almost every nationality and all the stages of life are to be seen here and there. The slow unsteady crawl of the promenading people, the firm and decided gait of men ac- customed to the sea, and the occasional run of the sailors add greatly to the assortment of the scene. You walk up to the rail of the ship and look down into the surrounding ocean. As far as the eye can see, a vast expanse of dark-blue water stretches intermingled with white spray-like particles of foam. The sky above is of that soft- blue color which tends to bring into relief the almost im- perceptible bits of Heecy clouds as they move in a silvery path across the heavens. The sun reclines on his tlirone .rf the east, sending down upon us a temperate glow, extremely satisfactory to all promenaders. But there, as it seems upon the very outskirts of this world of ocean, where the azure sky touches the heavy, leaden waters, arises something hazy,-uncertain. You look closely at the object. ls it another vessel? Perhaps only a cloud! And now it has attracted the attention of other people. Now a number of sailors also turn their heads in that direction. It lies directly on our course and we must pass it soon. Can it be possible to sight land so early? Fog started a whisper somewhere, and passes from mouth to mouth. We are advancing rapidly towards it, and shall put all doubts to an end in but a few minutes. . . Fog it is,-a dense, heavy, all-absorbing fog-and before long we sail right into the midst of it. As by magic, the ob- jects around begin to disappear from view: first, the furthest

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8 SPECTATOR that you may come into the boats, but it is useless: you are wholly at the mercy of the crowd. Unable to reach the boats you seize a life-belt and, grasping it, throw yourself into the pitch below. Almost instantaneously you sink into the piercingly cold waters. You rise and sink continually, a helpless plaything of the mighty waves. You cannot hold out any longer! You gasp for breath! This is the finish! . . . A dull hoarse monotonous shriek rends the air. You have recovered the control of your imagination and now are complete master of yourself. Heaving a sigh of relief, you turn gladly away from these gruesome thoughts. You take another comprehensive view of the surroundings. It is dark, -so dark and vision-defying, that even the densest night cannot equal it. Yet no form of blackness is to be seen. This strikes you as unnatural,-out of the ordinary. Of a sudden you light upon a brilliant idea. Of course, you have left the earth, the abode of man, and are speeding fast to the Kingdom of Dreams,-that wonderful fantastic Dream- land of which every one has heard so much. Yes, no doubt, that is where you are going. It is the land where Night reigns year in and year out 1-but not the ugly dark mysteri- ous Midnight during which ogres and witches perform their missions of evil. No! no! lt is a much brighter night... The moon and the stars? Undoubtedly you will see them soon. They have not come out yet. By and by we will see them. Oh! Look! Here they are! Oh, how magnificent! how beautiful! There, one by one come out the tiny, silvery, bright little stars. But they are not shaped like those we see from the earth. No! They are perfectly round, like the sun and the moon, but, of course, much smaller. Look! they increase in number. There another one has come out, and here another and another .... What is this that sounds like footfalls! Nearer and nearer moves the objectg louder and louder clatters the noise. Presently it passes in your vicinity, enabling you to catch a glimpse of some being with a lighted torch. This is .the night-watch of Dreamland, employed in the task of lighting