Leominster High School - Magnet Yearbook (Leominster, MA)

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THE MAGNET 9 with a joyful voice exclaimed, ‘Mr. Baldwin—Miss Shepherd. I was just telling Poppy about fairies, and here they are.” At the name “ Baldwin,” the girl jumped, but her excitement was not noticed in the confusion. Solomon was presented the gift, and Poppy was promised a big doll before the jolly party broke up. It was not until the two visitors had reached the street that they real- ized the late hour and Mr. Baldwin said, ‘‘ Now, where do you live, Miss Shepherd? I will gladly accompany you home.” “ At ‘The Sheldon,’” was her reply. “Then we are neighbors. It isn’t by chance you're the ‘fifth floor back?’” A year later, found Solomon working as office boy in Mr. Baldwin’s office. It was a bright summer's morning when he dashed into the office clutching a newspaper in his hand. “Jerry,” he exclaimed to the book- keeper, “did you read the piece in the paper about the weddin’ 2?” “ No,” was the answer. “Well,” replied Solomon, “ Mr. Baldwin was married yesterday, and J made the match.” “ Did you, indeed,” laughingly said the bookkeeper. ‘You're quite a chap, Solomon.” | PAULINE M. Burns, ’I5. What the War Teaches Us HE general opinion of a great and terrible world-wide war impending has been prevalent for many years. Yet, when it came, it came with a swiftness that nearly swept us off our feet. Very little time inter- vened after the Germans’ declaration of war before the three other great na- tions had mobilized their armies and entered the struggle. All this alacrity signifies the readiness of these peoples to kill each other and the fact that not pity for a weaker nation but jealousy and race hatred alone were the causes of the war. What kindled this feeling of hatred and revenge? It was the taking of Alsace-Lorraine by the Germans. Is it possible that people with a strong patriotic feeling for its own country can be made loyal to another? That this cannot be, has been proved from time immemorial. It was just such a situation as this in Alsace-Lorraine that fostered the seed of war. So in 1874, the real causes of the war were laid. From this fact we learn some- thing that should aid us in avoiding another such a catastrophe. In reality, from every phase of the war, we discover something. What we read about the fearful atrocities committed makes us shudder and ask:

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8 THE MAGNET “Want a lift?” piped up Solomon, with a guilty expression on his face: “No. Ill walk up tonight,” she said, and began to ascend the stairs. As Solomon watched the girl, a deep voice exclaimed, “ Any laundry for me, Solomon?” “Hello, Mister Baldwin. Yes, here it is.”” And he handed him a big package. ‘Jt’s a bad night, isn’t it?” “Yes, so it is,” was the reply. ‘ Mighty pretty girl just went up.” “Yes,” said Solomon, “that’s the ‘fifth floor back.’ I feel kind ofsorry for her. Her room is awful hot in summer, and just as cold in winter, so I try to jolly her and give her calls she don’t have, just to keep up her spirits.” “Sad case,” said Baldwin, and with an added “ goodnight,” left Solomon absorbed in a gaily colored book entitled, ‘“‘ Alone in the Jungle.” As Solomon sat there, lost to what was going on around him, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and looked up into the eyes of the janitor. “Now, I have you. Yesterday, a lady complained ’cause you hung her false hair on the fire escape, and now you're caught jollying Central. Now you can get out, see.” “ But it’s an awful cold night,” sobbed Solomon. Just let me stay 9 until “You're going now. So hurry up.” And out into the dark, cold night went Solomon, home to his little sister Poppy, a cripple, whom he supported. He tried to look cheerful as he entered the dirty room, and burst out with a “ Hello, Poppy, aren’t you glad Icome?” Then little by little, he told her his story, which ended with: ‘“ Never you mind, Poppy, if Ma and Pa did go off and leave us. We'll get along somehow.” At the same time, Richard Baldwin was entering “The Sheldon,” and seeing a new face at the lift, exclaimed, ‘‘ Where’s Sol?” “Qh, the boss fired him long ago for being too fresh with Central,” answered the new boy. ‘Too bad,” was the response, and he ascended the stairway to his apartment. Once inside his room he sat by the fireplace and thought of the boy he had learned to love. His eyes rested on a dusty blue coat with shining buttons which hung in the closet. This was the coat in which he fought many a sham battle in his boyhood days. Why not make some one else happy with it now? He donned his hat and overcoat, and with the coat carefully held under his arm, he went out into the cold, crisp, night air. It was some minutes after that this man was making his way through the throngs of people on the East side of the town. Finally, he came to a dark alleyway and entered a dirty, broken.down house at the corner. He climbed the creaking stairs in utter darkness, and it was no wonder he al- most bumped into the woman standing in front of a door from which came a faint stream of light. ‘Be quiet,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t want him to know I’m here yet) And glancing in he saw Solomon and Poppy. Suddenly, having heard voices, Solomon appeared at the door, and

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10 THE MAGNET ‘Are these the peoples who call theinselves civilized, and who call them- selves Christians?” Here we learn, but at what a price, that civilization and Christianity are still to be striven for. War is now a very different matter from what it used to be. In past times victory was gained by cunning and artifice alone; now it is merely a question of which has the more powerful guns, air-crafts, etc. Formerly, war was nothing but child’s play, compared with this. Men are no longer killed singly, but are mowed down by the thousands. The immense slaughter is beyond our comprehension. Man has outgrown this means of settling disputes. Even from this most terrible calamity we discover many advantageous truths. We realize that at this war we must act upon the principle of nationality. That is, that no portion of a race, or people, shall be separated from the whole by the victor, as an indemnity, that the victor shall relin- quish his claimsin order to suppress any spirit of hatred and revenge, there- by avoiding any future war. We perceive, in discovering this lack of civili- zation and Christianity, that this money lavished in killing each other, must be spent in teaching us to love and respect each other. We also learn that war is too frightful, and too destructive, and too full of pathos, to be waged again. Therefore, we will do all that is in our power to gain a just and last- ing peace among all nations. MARIAN GAULD, ’I16. In the Heart of the Woods He in this quiet nook was the profoundest peace. Behind me rose the deep, dark, murmuring pines. Down yonder was a little lake where boys occasionally went fishing. It was surrounded by a fringe of bushes. Here and there a white pond lily pushed its pretty head out of the water as if taking a peep at the world. Once in a great while the tranquillity was broken by the distant rumble of a farmer's wagon pass- ing along the edge of the woods. Now I came upon a path which led me into bushes heavily laden with blueberries, and I helped myself. Just then I spied a large rock and I climbed to the top to see better what was about me. There on my right was a beautiful, silvery cascade, about fifty feet in height, tumbling over rocks of every size and shape. Now and then I could hear birds calling to each other, and squirrels chattering. On looking up, to my surprise, I saw a small, black cloud rising from the west, and as it rose, it grew larger. That warned me of a coming shower and | hastened home. Since then, I have often visited the heart of these woods and spent many a happy hour reading by the little lake. InMA A. HOLDEN, ’I16.