Bement High School - BIM Yearbook (Bement, IL)

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ft be Christmas Ibome Catherine Esther Dav. It was a cold, cold afternoon. In all of the houses one might see great fires burning. In some houses there were great old-fashioned fireplaces with kettles on the hearth singing like larks. In others there were base-burners and other stoves which are known in these years, that sent a red glow over all the room. There were large flakes of snow falling thru the air and the once barren ground was covered with a great blanket of white snow with here and there a hill like place where the wind had blown nature’s great blanket into soft-flowing folds like those in a lady’s garment of satin. The air was very cold and crisp with now and then a little breeze stirring. One could hear the tinkling of the merry sleighbells as the sleighs glided past. Then, if one listened very close, he might hear the sweetest, softest and most clear tinkling of sleighbells. There in the middle of the great wide road could be seen a large sleigh, filled with the softest of fur skins. The driver was a man whose shoulders were slightly stooped. His hair was as white as the snow. His faded blue eyes twinkled with merriment. There was the finest team of great brown horses pulling this sleigh. They pranced along like a small boy when he is on his way to the circus. On West Macon street, just on the verge of the city, there was an old house. It was a great brick house with a large porch facing the east. In the large kitchen at the back of the house was the man’s wife. Her hair was streaked with gray. She was the best of cooks, so her children thought. In the kitchen, there in one corner, was the large cook stove with savory smells coming from the several large kettles. If one could peep into the oven he might see the large turkey just turning brown. In the wide shelfetl pantry were cakes with brown and white icing on them. Beside these there were apple, peach and berry pies. Next to the kitchen there was a large dining room. The table was covered with a snow white cloth and was set for ten. In the center of the table there was a large bouquet of red roses. If one passed on into the living room he might find a large warm room. In one corner there was a fire place. The walls were tinted gray and the rug was a mixture of gray, blue and red. There were large red coals in the fire place which sent a red glow over all the room. We might wonder why the table is set for ten. The old man whom we saw with the sleigh has gone to meet his children, who are expected to arrive on the train from the city.

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£be IDcrp IRert 2)av ’Twas the day before exams, And all through the school, Every student was trying To break not a rule. And the clock was ticking The hours away. For—it knew what would happen The very next day. In the office our superintendent sat, With anxious face and dull cravat. He wonders why the fires won’t burn. And why the students cannot learn. The look on his face is very gray, For—he knows what will happen The very next day. In the library a senior crams, Always dreading those awful exams. On his face is a most forlorn look, As he anxiously scans his Physics Book. And the look on his face is just one way, For—he knows what will happen The very next day. In the assembly room with it’s merry hum, Sits a freshman with look very glum, He is working away with all his might To find the cause of day and night; And the look on his face is just one way, For—he knows what will happen The very next day. The juniors and sophs the fun do poke, For they think exams are just a joke; And they make the paper wads hum To hit the ear of a studious one. And the looks on their faces are very gay, Yet—they know what will happen The very next day. The paper basket has no face, But it seems to be out of it’s usual place. It does not like to have to hold Exam papers with “40’s’ as of old. And now it seems to tip and sway, For—it knows what will happen The very next day.

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1 here, Barton Fairfield is coming back now and his sleigh is full. They soon come rushing into the living room, throwing off their wraps. First to kiss his mother, Delia, is Harry, the eldest son, then his wife and children, Jack and Elizabeth. Then came their youngest daughter, Helen, who was home on the Christmas vacation given at the college she attended. Then their oldest daughter, Dorothy, and her husband. Last of all came their other daughter, who is a school teacher in the city. She came in with her father, whom she had gone to the barn with, to feed and unharness the team. Soon after, they had their Christmas dinner, not soon to be forgotten. Such exclamations as follows ensued at the table: “1 haven’t tasted so tender a turkey since I left home.” “These cranberries and sweet potatoes are so good.” “Oh, granny, bring on the p-i-e,” exclaimed Jack. “Oh, look, see the cakes and pies, just look ! Oh, goody, goody!” “Well, well, my pretty dears, you shall have all the pies and cake and candy and nuts you want, at grannie’s”. After that long-remembered dinner they had a regular musical. They played the piano, sang, piayed games and did most everything that was suggested. Barton remarked that the old piano hadn’t had so much exercise for years. In the afternoon they all went away in the large sleigh and gathered mistletoe. The merry Christmas home gathering ended with Barton and his wife taking their children and grandchildren to the train in the large sleigh. When Barton Fairfield and his wife reached home they sighed a great sigh of relief and remarked of the happiness in having their children there and the happiness in having them leave and being once more in peace. Soliloquy of a football Mary R. Parker “ ‘ I hold the world, but as the world’, a stage, where every man must play a part and mine a sad one.” Before I had played a game of football 1 did not realize how true this was, hut now I get full meaning of Shakespeare’s words. I remember well the first game I ever played. I was laying on the shelf when one day a young college student purchased me and carried me out to the football ground where T (after being handled and thumped to see if I was blown up