Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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:nnuuunmuumnmm The Problem Byi Linwood Stevenson HETHER he liked it or C, p WJ' not John had always fl done what he thought ,rf 137' to be right. Of course L6 there wasn't much for 'mm him to do that he didn't want to do. He never had been in bad straits, up until nowg but that is another matter not for our discussion. Before talking about John Thornton much it would only be fair for us to meet him and learn to under- stand him . . . Oh, well, 1et's just lllli ' z: ll 2 rang.. hmmm fiiiiiig .iminsmu nllllllg Us '-1 lvlslpr F31 'WEB Eiiiig -Ufqwmxnl Ii-'EW 1205130 'af if - FUI! H ffffj. l Q gif' , 5 I n I Il I .. -ai, .. ' ' I :4:' 3- yrf I.: ,J , nm .. .... ' V, YQ -r T: 1 :unfit 'af El, ' 1 ' +-'1' -sfeszstz-, , . ! ,S 5' 1 . 2 1 - ' - .v v. , visual-rse.isws- -. up ill -. nu .- ,km -11-, . 1, : LJ.-3 - ,,fjr? .1. .v. 1 :-wfef'rfil..a.r it f?'2.se'!f2Hf' ,- V Jr..a..3Jg,A,,,.' -T A' , 417' ' Ill ll ' ft-' f ff' - vw 1. 1, Av .' 1- f4:-, 'gzjw -1 ll 2-'Lf' 34535 , 41.4. E .lf:'jd?1? ?:' i' .QW ff . - -.--2 -.Lf 5 L,-.21 , -f-was-' gf' -. ,, ? ' '--frf '1f '.. ,g..f.-'Li Lim' ' ' ' . ' - Ti'r '-'ini' '51 , n V ' A A flair H-- ., .... . .... try to understand him and not talk about him. John' father, Mr. Thornton, was born and bred on the Virginia coast, his father alternately fishing and farming for a living. Mr. Thornton's father did not drink or . . . I started to say cuss, but what seaman does not occasionally give way to his temper in words? And the same goes for farmers and fishermen. However, the men working with and for Mr. Thorn- ton's father both drank and cursed. You know for yourself that a boy in an atmosphere of this kind goes one of two ways. He either picks up drinking, gambling and cursing as naturally as a fish swims, or he is overcome by a deep feeling of disgust, which drives him on to make something of himself. Unfor- tunately most such boys turn to the former life if brought up in it. However, the Mr. Thornton in whom we are interested proved to be one of the latter type of men, or this story might never have been written. Mr. Thornton worked his way through several degrees of higher education and finally entered the min- isterial ranks of the Methodist church. Shortly after entering into God's work he fell hard for a beautiful belle of Southern descent as is proven by the fact that not long after she became his wife. It wasn't so terribly long after this happy event that another one took place and John, later to become somewhat like his father let us hope, appeared on the scene. John's father made rapid advancement in the ranks of his lmmmmummmuuunluuuIu1Iunnu111vummnuuIunIII1uummmmmnuuumunnumnu no n Page twenty-three . .

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Q .77 665.24 QIIIAALYQ V V the dilemma I was in. Each time they laughed as if something really funny had happened. I got home just in time to hear the game over the radio, but, of course, the rest of the holiday was spoiled for me. About a week later I was dressing for a date Cwhich was of course important as it was a first nighterl with a new victim as the hero. I was vigorously brushing my teeth, with the in- tention of having a tooth paste smile, when just to be different my misbehaving bicuspid again decided to put on the fan. I slap- ped my hand over the drain to keep my tooth from going down, and picked it up disgusted and frantic. What now? I reached into the medicine chest and found a piece of cotton and wrapped this around the pivot putting the tooth back into the gap. You can imagine what a time I had the rest of the night. I am not, naturally, a woman of few words, and when one has to be un- natural it is of course very annoying. The third time I went to my dentist he too began to see the Horror of my situation. The tooth has stuck by me until now, but there is still one thing I don't understand: although I have a. delicious sense of humor, I have yet to see the funny side of my unusual annoyance. HW Al: Sea By Mary Mahone The world is sad and dark and drearg I'm sure that's not a notion, ' And I am growing worse, I fear, From this continuous motion. This book goes always down and upg The same goes for my dinner. I really do not care to sup, And I am growing thinner. I think I'1l stay right here in bed Until this boat stops reeling. I've got a strange ache in my head And such a funny feeling. . . . Page twenty two

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4 Q 77 uffac QILAAJC V V church and, as is the custom in the Methodist church, naturally moved from one place to another. This constant change of location was, of course, rather hard on little Johnny. Hardly would he form one circle of true friends before he would hear Father has been moved to a larger church in -. Thereupon he would have to leave his friends and meet new ones in another city, never knowing just when he must move again. Of course this sort of thing had its effect on John. He .turned to reading as his best source of amusement and pastime. Mr. Thornton soon saw his son's love of literature and kept him supplied with what he considered good books and magazines. John faithfully read this material, but he also read what he considered to be more interesting. In school John had little trouble making excellent marks. He would systematically do any written work required, but other than that he studied little. It was his great store of knowledge gained from his extensive reading that enabled him to get such high grades easily. His parents were justly proud of their only boy's apparent studious abilities. John took an active part in school activities, no matter where he happened to be. The ease with which he obtained honors in his classes greatly helped to give the confidence which made him a leader everywhere. And though John spent much time working with organizations and thus showed great leadership talents, he made very few close friends until his father gained a permanent posi- tiong but that we shall soon hear of. He continued his reading in spare time, no matter Where he was. He Was, however, wise enough to exercise and keep his body in healthy condition, read- ing or no reading. The Thorntons led such a home life as might be the envy of many a wistful parent. At every meal together a minute prayer service was held. Every evening before the youngest child retired, a ten-minute family group would be held in which a chapter of the Bible would be read and a discussion of the chapter heldg then everyone would join together in asking God for His guidance through the coming day and thanking Him for His help in the past day. Every Sunday you could find the two daughters, the mother, and the brother listening to their father preach and deliver a message of love and hope to the attentive congregation. After Mr. Thornton received a permanent ap- pointment, the Whole family would be found attending church at every service in a sweet and Worshipful group. If the child- . . . Page twenty four