Waltham High School - Mirror Yearbook (Waltham, MA)

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X PAUL WINTERHALTER Class Treasurer, 1928 HERBERT BAILEY C lass Secretary, 1928

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THE MIRROR 23 the floor, for fear Bea would see me, invisible tho' I was. Arm-in-arm about the auditorium paraded four be-aproned females, smelling to Heaven of catsup and cheese and coffee and liver and onion. Rath Evans emitted an odor of roast turkey, while the stench of good old cheese of pre-Civil War vintage could be traced to Silvia Canter. Dorothy Mankozoitcli, Ismelt, was stationed at the fruit counter, while Deljina Ciarletta emitted the odor of good strong coffee. I don't want to convey the impression that these waitresses sznelt badly. On the con- trary, the whole concourse of odors blended aro natically and sweetly in- to one appetizing perfume. Oh, yes! Willingly would I omit this that is to follow. And yet, I must gird up my loins, bolster up my courage, draw my belt a notch tighten grit my teeth, go thru' various other ac- tions designed to instill fortitude and unwavering purpose, and tell the truth. It wouldn't be half so bad if there was only one of them, or we might even be forbearing and lenient with two, but alas and alack, they num- bered six. Six what, you ask? Six tramps, vagabonds, knights of the road, or just plain burns. It matters little what we call them, for the shoels on the same foot, no matter what color sock you wear. Paul Carey and Vincent Tracy were im- peccably clad in a much-worn outfit of beard,rags and yawning apertures. Willard Brown and Alvin Linnell wore toeless shoes and tieless collars, and Gay Perry and Herbert Howe went them one better, in having shoe- less feet and collarless necks. Ah, well, there are some people always within our midst, attired perhaps more meticulously and with more of a fastidious eye for the niceties of dress, who do not a whit more Work than do our track-walking brethren. In one section of the hall, farthest removed from the wail and blare of the laboring musicians I found a sizable gathering of twenty-eighters huddled like so many sheep about one central object. The nucleus of this herd of lambkins I found to be Beth Higgins. At the point of my arrival Beth, on being severely pressed by the crowd, had consented to pass out some vocal selections. Perhaps you'll remember Beth's vocals in high school. On hearing her declare that she would sing, I quit the hall, and continued my stroll on the unyielding waters of the Charles. It was while I was sitting perched precariously on the prow of a con- venient canoe that was parked in mid-stream minus tail light or for- ward parking illumination of any sort, trying not to watch the en- amoured couple contained therein- it was then that It happened. The It referred to was nothing more or less than the abrupt appear- ance of a brother ghost. As com- mon courtesy is due to all brother spooks, I greeted the apparition, al- beit in a perfunctory manner. You see, I was afraid it might be a lady ghost, and any cordiality towards that form of Wraith could easily end in embarrassing complications. However, a well-delivered not-too- gentle clout on the back proved that the newcomer was no lady, and a yelled Horackl told me that I was known. It was Walter Peirce. After I had affectionately mas- saged his misty person with playful wallops and loving thumpings, we sat ourselves down for a long, heart- to-heart talk. First Walter told me about him- self. After his high school days Mr. Peirce had taken up his cavalry work

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y TgHE MIRROR, 25 in earnest. From private he had ad- vanced to corporal, from corporal' to the rank of next highest, and so on, 'till our classmate was a general, a booted, spurred, and medalled gen- eral. y Then one day while he was gen- eralling out in the stable, a hot-tem- pered cavalry mule was suddenly reminded of divers indignities im- posed upon his person by the gen- eral in his pre-general days, rose in his wrath Cliterallyj, elevated his dynamic hinders, and let drive at the abusive dignitary. He fWalterj was buried with full military honors by the obsequious fliterallyj Mr. Wentworth. After my old pal had saddened me with his tale of woe, during which I shed immeasurable quantities of: ghostly tears, I asked him about some of our classmates who had ab- sented themselves from the re-union. Walter told me that two lines from the play Maker of Dreams , namely, ' Let every woman keep a school, For every man is born a fool,', had impressed Betty Webber and Louise Carey so deeply that the twain had become school marms. Their novel institution was called Manners and Modes Academy for Men, and was designed to correct the stigma referred to above by the poet. A Mr. Peirce informed me that the above pair had two star pupils who were both classmates of ours. They were Arthur Lynch and Francis MacLaughlin, who have progressed so far in their school work as to be universally acclaimed the two most perfect fops going. I had not seen Rogers Smith at the dance, and as it was a most unusual and almost unprecedented occurrence for Mr. Smith to absent himself from any function of this sort, I asked Walter about him. Mr. Peirce in- formed me that Mr. Smith was abroad in Paris, studying to be 2. woman's man. You know what I mean-one of those dashing, debonair individuals who have but to look at a member of the contrary fmindedj sex and-Presto! Just like that they fall for him. Rogers had gone abroad for further instruction after graduating from The Manners and Modes Academy for iMen,'. Walter also told me that a few of the graduating sistren Cas opposed to brethrenj had formed what in known as a Husband Syndicate. A Husband Syndicate is one of these abominable institutions where we men are traded and bartered like so many cattle. Four of our lady classmates-and I'mlinclined to believe they're no longer ladies-namely, Sadie Mac- Donald, president, Eva Marcou, vice president, Anna Cormier, secretary- treasurer, and Jennie Marchetii, com- pany, owned and controlled this Hus- band Syndicate. The idea works something like a second hand automobile shop. If any female doesn't like her model, she takes it to the above four, who, with very little red tape or legal pro- ceedure, take her incumbrance off her hands, and for a small monetary consideration give her either another second hand model or, if the hus- band hunter wishes to pay more, a brand new one. And both parties go their way rejoicing. In this way we menare kept in circulation. According to Walter, much ad- ministrative ability had long lain latent under the shirt-sleeves of many of our fellow graduates. Rudolph Sunafquist, the general stated, was at the present time mayor of the thriving metropolis of Way- land. During the entire period of Rudy's administration, not a single