Weymouth High School - Campus / Reflector Yearbook (Weymouth, MA)

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remember. Some day, when I strike it rich, I ' m going to do the same thing, whether it ' s Christmas or not. Dan didn ' t say a word. He just sat there, puffing pleasantly on his pipe. Finally, he spoke, I guess Christmas is worth remembering, after that story! Let us leave them now, while they both think of Christmas Eve. HeC ame Th Tke Fiekt Before Ch ristmas O, Algernon Percival Oscar McFish Was in love with the swe.etest of girls you could wish, Though he wore quite the thing from his shoes to his hat, Alas and alaska ! his pockets were flat. A sweet little girl was Susie May White, A nice little number, a wonderful sight; But all that she bought was always the best, As Algernon Percival already guessed. ' Twas the week before Christmas as Algy walked down To view all the gifts one could buy in the town. They were all far above his simplest of means, Fit only for movie stars, shop girls, and queens. Well, Algernon Percival brooded awhile, When over his face there travelled a smile. An idea dawned like a light in his head, Which he rushed to complete before going to bed. Algernon Percival reeled down the street, He bumped against Susie and trod on her feet. Horror prevailed in Miss Susie May White, As she gasped in disgust, Why, Algy, you ' re tight! Twas the fight before Christmas, the workings of Fate, And Algernon Percy was given the gate; He enjoyed a gay Christmas, a happy New Year, And when ' twas all over to Susie said, Dear ' I apologize humbly, forgive me, my love. You beautiful creature, you exquisite dove. As for Susie, her horror and heart he made well; Back into his arms she tumbled and fell. So, amorous swains and moonstricken youths, The week before Christmas imply these un- truths. The damsels are cute, but expensive and dumb, And thus you can keep them right under your thumb. Carol Seach ' 36 rough Tom Manly and Jim Davidson were guards on the Stanford basketball team. They were both good players, but Tom was jealous of Jim. One night the team was facing the Newbury team. Tom made two baskets, and in the last few minutes of the game Jim made his third. Tom didn ' t like this. Jim knew it. Jim rea- soned, however, that he was playing for the school rather than to please Tom. The next afternoon Jim was walking down the street on his way to the store. When he came to Whitman Street, a street closed for the purpose of sliding, he saw Tom coming down the hill on his sled. Instead of turning into the field before he reached the main street, he came straight on toward the main street and destruc- tion. Jim thought fast. He yelled to Tom to let the rope go, and as Tom went by, Jim grabbed the rope. Tom was thrown off the sled into a snowbank, from which he climbed without any injuries. Mumbling his thanks, he walked away. When the boys and girls praised Jim, Tom grew more jealous than ever. That night at the gym the coach called Tom aside, and told him if he didn ' t show more sports- manship he would be put off of the team. He also told him that Jim had practically saved his life, and he didn ' t see why he wasn ' t more friendly towards him. Tom did some serious thinking during the game. After the game he walked up to Jim, and told him that he was ready to be a friend. From then on the boys were the best of friends. The team won more games through their co-operation, and the school as a whole had more spirit. Helen Downton ' 37 Ch nstmas Christmas time is here, And everyone is full of cheer. Stockings will be hung And carols will be sung On merry Christmas eve. Then in the night, When the moon is shining bright, Santa Claus will come in his sleigh, To bring toys for all the girls and boys To play with on Christmas day. Richard Milner ' 38 REFLECTOR

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How A Dog Celeb rated CliriStmaS Herbert Sullivan ' 35 Our scene is laid far up in Alaska. It is a cold, bleak night. Snow is falling; the wind is starting to rise; a blizzard is in the making. Far down in a valley a light gleams. Let us approach this light. As we near it, we see through the flakes of snow, fast becoming thicker, that the light is glowing through the window of a prospector ' s small cabin. Let us go up and peek in the window now. Before a fireplace with a roaring fire in it, we see two men. One is a grizzled, middle-aged man who looks as if he had seen much of the hardest side of life; the other, a young healthy looking fellow, hardly out of his teens. How they got ac- quainted is of no importance, but a brief history of both might help the story. The older man is an experienced prospector, having made and lost many fortunes. Nobody knows where he came from, but that, matters little. The young fellow is from one of the cities of the western coast. He had gone away from a home, and taken shelter with the old prospector. Now let us do a little eavesdropping and listen in on their conversation. But, perhaps before we go farther, it might be well to give names to our two unsuspecting subjects of attention. We shall know the old prospector as Dan, and the young fellow as Dick. Now let their conversation proceed. Dick is speaking. There has been a long silence. I say, Dan, do you know what night this is? Then, answering his own question, It ' s Christ- mas Eve. Waa-11, drawled Dan, after a long drag on his pipe, what of it? Days are all the same to ya after ya been living up hyar as long as I have. Oh, nothing, quickly answered Dick. Then with a bit of remorse, he added, I was only thinking of when I was a kid. That was be- fore mother and dad — Then he choked up. But did I ever tell you of the Christmas that dad struck it rich and got himself a good job? That was my first real Christmas. Then he stopped, and looked at Dan to see if there was any disapproval in his looks. Upon seeing none, he proceeded with his story. The truth is that Dan knew little of the boy ' s early life ; he had been very quiet in regard to it. Dan welcomed this story of Dick ' s. Now let us go on with Dick ' s story. Well, we had practically finished our first real Christmas dinner that we had had in years, when I went out in the kitchen to get the des- sert. As I stepped inside, I heard a soft whine at the door. I opened it. There was a small mongrel pup, bedraggled, thin, and hungy-look- ing. As we hadn ' t finished the turkey, I thought there would be no objections to my feeding the rest of it to the dog; so in he came. Did he go into that ! After he had had his fill of meat, I handed him a dish of milk. When he had come in, he could hardly stand up, but soon he looked as if he could lick anything his size. At length, instead of lying down and resting, he went over to the door, and gave a few gulps. When I opened the door, he grabbed the cuff of my pants, and tried to pull me along. I couldn ' t see anything wrong with going with him ; so, after putting on my coat and hat and telling mother and d ad I was going out, I fol- lowed along. Now we lived right next to a very poor district. To this district he led me, and right up to the door of one of the poor, broken-down hovels. I knocked at the door. My knock was answered by a little boy of about five. He had clothes on that could scarcely have kept him warm in a heated house, let alone without any warmth except for a small kitchen range. When the boy saw the dog, he went down on his knees, and put his little arms around the furry neck of the dog. He was so happy to see the pup that he scarcely noticed me. A bit later, however, he asked me in. He had little to offer, but he was glad to give me all of it for bringing back his pup. He and his mother lived there all alo ne. His mother had lost her job three weeks before and had, by now, spent all her meagre savings. Before I left, I had already planned to do something for them. Upon getting home, I told mother and dad the whole story, and they agreed to follow my suggestion. This was my plan: I would buy some clothes and toys for the little shaver, mother could buy food and clothes for his mother, and dad, who had many influential friends, would get her a job. Somewhat later, when we presented this good news to the poor couple, they both broke down and cried. All because of a smart little pup! Somehow or other, I was much more pleased with this Christmas than any other that I can REFLECTOR ... 12...

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ristmas in Holl ana Robert Pine 37 Many of us have wondered how Christmas is celebrated in far-away lands. In Holland the holiday called St. Nicholas ' Day; and it is a day devoted entirely to him, and not a cel- ebration of the birth of Christ, as is the case in our country. Also St. Nick visits the earth on the fifth of December, and distributes gifts early in the morning of the sixth, which is his day. In Dutch houses there is a room called the grand parlor. This is regarded as most sacred. Of course it is kept very clean after the Dutch fashion. Admittance to this room is gained only on special occasions, and one of these is St. Nicholas ' Day and St. Nicholas ' Eve. On the eve of St. Nick ' s Day, the family gathers in the grand parlor, and after a great deal of game-playing by the children, St. Nicholas him- self appears. He warns the children of the wrongs they have done during the year. How- ever, nobody is forgotten when he distributes gifts, unless he has been particularly bad. After the saint has finished speaking, he throws a great shower of sugar-plums on a sheet spread out on the floor, and then departs. The children scramble for the plums, but it is seen that everyone gets his share. After this every- body enters another room and they each leave a shoe on a large table for the saint to fill. Then everyone goes to bed. They wake up early in the morning and go to their shoes which are usually filled with gifts. The remainder of the day is spent in worshipping St. Nicholas. Her Ideal He was 100 per cent, perfect. He went to a doctor at least once a year for physical examina- tion, as well as to a dentist. He ate all nourish- ing foods, went to bed at an early hour, arising at an early hour in the morning. He never for- got his health exercises each morning. He brushed his teeth three times a day, got plenty of fresh air, and was an all-round athlete. He was prepared to live a hundred years at least. The funeral will be held next Wednesday at two o ' clock. He is survived by fifteen doctors, eighty-one institutions, four nurses, and ten health commissioners. He forgot to look both ways at the railroad crossing. Lillian Parnell ' 35 The Union Pacific S treamline Irain William K earns 37 Recently a new era in transportation and prog- ress was gained by the new, best streamline train. The Union Pacific Railroad had the first one made. Now many railroads are ordering these new trains, which have a maximum speed of one hundred ten miles an hour. The train of six cars weighs only two hundred tons, while the steam train of today having the same number of coaches weighs seven hundred tons. The train is air-conditioned and the shatter-proof w indows are sealed. The air in the train is changed every four minutes. The train on the interior is almost a white on the ceiling, and the colors keep getting darker, until under the window the color is a dark blue. On the outside, the train is a golden brown on the roof and bottom, and the sides are yellow. A strip of red separates the colors. The Pullman coach is a combination sleeping car, compartment, and ordinary coach all in one. The sections, at every seat, may be closed at any time, making a compartment. The upper sleep- ing berth, when not in use, is pushed into the ceiling of the car. In each Pullman two sec- tions are made for men over six feet tall. On this train the cars are hinged together with one truck between each two cars instead of two. This makes much smoother riding when the train is moving at a fast rate of speed. The train is only a foot above the tracks. It is like the shape of a bullet. In the back end is the kitchen. It has dual controls, fog-penetrating head- lights, increased visibility of the motor engineer, and all other safety devices which I have men- tioned before, to increase the safety of those riding. A Christmas Tk ouaht Let us keep the Christmas spirit All throughout the year, By doing good to others, By bringing them love and cheer. Not doing and giving at Christmas, But living a life that is true, Will be the best Christmas present Your friends can get from you. So let ' s give the best that is in us Every day that we live, Since the time is not only at Christmas, But from Christmas to Christmas to give. Ruth Thayer ' 36 REFLECTOR ...14...