Arms Academy - Student Yearbook (Shelburne Falls, MA)

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MY WORKSHOP My workshop is a small building in the rear ol the main house. This building ol mine is about twenty by thirty feet in dimensions. Iust recently I wired it for electricity. The wiring, of course, is not as good as a professional could do, but I have had it approved by a good electrician. In my shop I do everything from woodworking to photography. In the woodworking department I have a lathe, a iigsaw, and several hand tools. With the tools in this part of the shop I make lamps, bookcases, bookends, and radio tables. My grandfather seems to enioy working in my shop almost as much as I do. He has made several things for his home, such as a plant table and some other pieces of furniture. The carpentry part of the workshop is powered by a small one-third horsepower motor, which is used lor both the lathe and the iigsaw. In another part of my shop is the radio department. I have had several old radios to take apart or repair. Although I was told that I should not succeed in making radios work, I have finally succeeded in getting them to pull in the electrical waves from the ether. In tact, I have repaired and made work the small battery radio that belongs to the Science Department of Arms Academy. In the radio department I have such a maze of condensers, wires, tubes, and switches that anyone not knowing the layout is apt to get in a mess if he tries to fool with them. Still another department of this building is the photography room. I use this small room to take pictures in. The lights in this room make it almost as bright as day. After I take the pictures I develop them with a developing kit which I purchased recently. I can develop my lilms lor about one-third of the price that I have to pay in drugstores. I have saved the best part of my workshop till last: this is the chemistry laboratory. In this laboratory I have running hot and cold water, a gas system, several acids, an array nf test tubes and bottles. and a ten-dollar chemistry set which I bought for twenty-five cents. The water system in my laboratory consists of a large fifteen-gallon tank for cold water and a smaller tank for hot water. This system works on the principle of the syphon. The-e is a pipe that reaches to the bottom of each tank and then extends up over the top of the tank and down to a faucet. Although there is not much pressure in these faucets, the water does run fairly fast. One of mv verv best inventions , is the gas svstem, which consists of an old oil pump taken from a Pierce Arrow motor car, a large tank from an old water pump. and a motor from a discarded exhaust fan. The principle on which this system works is the vaporization of gasoline. I vaporixe the gasoline by pumping air through the gasoline in the old tank. All of the system except the pump and motor is encased in reenforced concrete, so that in case of an explosion there would be no danger from fire. As a further precaution the system is installed outdoors in a separate building. A brooder stove from a hen farmer furnishes enough heat even in the winter. I have a visiting list in the workshop and on it are the autographs oi visitors from Brattleboro, Vermont: New Haven, Connecticut: and Springfield, New Bedford, and Shel- bume Falls, Massachusetts. I have a lot oi good clean tun in my shop during my spare time. In fact, I am sometimes kidded because ol my love of working in the little building in back of the main house. Winfield Peck, '39 Page Sixty Ono

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Page Sixty ADVENTURING ON FLOOD WATERS This is a true adventure which I experienced in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in 1936. I was with three companions. two of whom I shall call Nigger and Cark. The other, whom we called Shag, was a dog. I got up early and. after eating a scant breakfast. was out to see the damages and sights caused by the flood, which had reached its peak at about eleven o'clock the previous night. As I hiked along the flood-washed road which led into Hatfield from the north, I sighted the two boys with whom I had this adventure. While we were scrambling around on the ice at the edge of Hatfield Pond, Nigger suggested that we get Cark's row boat and see what we could see. We arrived at Cark's house at about seven o'clock. After taking his boat down from the second story of a shed, we put it onto a two-wheel contraption designed by Cark for this sole purpose and made our way down the main street to the pond. Here Cark and I launched the boat and bolted on the oar locks while Nigger ran home for his rifle. It was a little out of season for hunting muskrats, and Nigger didn't have a license, but adventure was ahead and such trifles did not burden our minds. We hid the rifle in the bottom of the boat, and Nigger shoved off. As Nigger was the heaviest. he seated himself in the stern: Cark took the oars: and I took my position in the bow. The air was filled with a light mist, as it was raining slightly, and there was quite a stiff breeze. which ruffled the water into tiny waves. The wind and waves were against us. so our headway was not very fast. As we made our way from the pond toward the swollen and angry Connecticut. I remember a giant elm tree about five feet in diameter, which was submerged in the flood waters to a depth of ten or twelve feet. This tree stood in the middle of an open field, and we sheltered ourselves from the wind and rain for a minute or two as we passed it. After another fifteen or twenty minutes of rowing, Cark landed us on a high part of the Connecticut's shore. We handed the dog ashore and walked along the bank, watching huge ice cakes float down the river. Nigger took a few shots at some birds riding downstream on the ice cakes, and then hit on the brilliant idea of getting out in the edge of the current with the boat and having a good swift ride. Cark was not to be stumped, so we got into the boat: he rowed upstream in the flood waters until he found a desirable place to pull out into the current. The big ice stayed in the middle of the river where the channels were. so I don't suppose the risk was very great. Nevertheless, I was a little nerved up about the idea. The ride was a swift one all right. but with Cark's rowing we managed to avoid hitting any ice or being hit by any. The current carried us downstream for about a quarter of a mile, and there Cark pulled into quiet waters in the midst of some small ironwood trees. By this time it was about twelve o'clock, and we decided to start for home. The wind was with us now, and we moved along a little faster. Nigger and I each took a tum at the oars on the way home. About half way across the pond we noticed a flat piece of ice, roughly ten feet square. which had probably backed up from the river. We decided to row onto it and have some fun. I pushed the side of it down, and Cark gave a mighty pull on the oars. We got about half on when. for some reason unknown, it decided to bob up again. It lifted the front of the boat up. and the back sank deeper, taking on a little water. This would never do: so while Nigger sat very still, Cark handed me an oar. and I pushed off. We decided not to try it again and continued our homeward voyage. Cold and hungry we landed on the main street at about one o'clock and decided that we had had enough boating for one day. Allan Kelton, '39

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I LEARN TO ROLLER SKATE Tonight we are to go roller skating. With these words still ringing in my ears, I got out my tweed skirt and suede shoes in preparation for a thrilling evening. But when we arrived at the rink and as the evening wore on, thrilling didn't describe my state, either mentally or physically. 'My dear, you do know how to roller skate. don't you? asked my hostess with a beam- ing countenance. Well, I- That's finel It really is simple. you know. Merely put one foot before the other and push. Nothing to it. Yes, I-- Well, there's Margaret. Goodbye. Enioy yourself, won't you, dear? Enioy myself? Enjoy myselfl How sweet of herl How many people. supposedly the receivers of good wishes. have felt that the Good Samaritan idea can be carried to an excess. Like a convicted prisoner, I went forward to the inevitable. Up to that time. I believe, no one in the records of mankind had ever defied the laws of gravity as I did that evening. With one leg at a precarious angle I did the difficult iack-knife dive that no swimmer since has equalled. To those sages who indoctrinate the innocent with poppycock about mastering their destinies. and to Cassius. who said, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. but in our- selves, that we are underlings. I wish to say that it's all just hooey. Try as I could, my luck didn't change. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. More boshl Such an audience I hadl It was queer how quickly they all made way for me as I sidled down the rink. Little did they realize that they were seeing a genius in the raw. But consider the number of great men who have been ridiculed by the populace. A prophet is without honor in his own country. As all things must come to an end. so the party finally began to think of home and bed. With an affected air of lightheartedness and a frozen smile for the benefit of the more successful. I decided to call it a day. My suede shoes, having seen better days. were now has beens : my tweed skirt, from hard usage, has a shiny finish: and I- How lovely seems home to the wanderer: how peaceful one's own bed when one is utterly exhausted by the vicissitudes of lifel Ioan Davenport, '40 THE BOOTBLACK On the comer stands bootblack Ioe, Who shines the shoes of those who go To night clubs, parties, or to work: The task is hard. but he doesn't shirk. His pay is small and the hours are long, But he greets his customers with a song: His friend, the policeman on the beat, Gives him money for food to eat, But he buys some flowers for his mother And a pretty toy for his baby brother. On the comer stands bootblack Ioe, Who shines the shoes of those who go To night clubs. parties. or to work: The task is hard, but he doesn't shirk. Walter Upton, '39 Page Sixty-Two