Brattleboro Union High School - Colonel Yearbook (Brattleboro, VT)

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I 1 I be tal MY FIRST CAMPING EXPERIENCE T was my first opportunity to do any camping without a pestering guardian and I had decided to make the most of it. Vtfe had selected for a camping place a small grove a short distance from the White, sandy beach. After my com- panion had succeeded in starting a fire, I got out the makings and proceeded to throw together some slum gullionf' After partaking of our meal we went down to the beach and seated ourselves on a large log. The moon was just peeping over the top of the mountaing the stately pines were silhouetted against the silvery disc, a shimmering path of soft light fell across the lake to the sands of the beach. In the distance came the plaintive song of the Whip-poor-will. And as I gazed across the lake, I saw a canoe drift slowly across the path of light. Then came the mosquitoes by the hun- dreds, buzzing around our heads like so many miniature airplanes. Slapping and scratching as we went, we made. for the tent only to find it also infested by the un- welcome guests. We dove under the blankets and thus evaded the Culex pungensf' I was not getting any kick out of sleep- ing under the stars Cor rather under a tenth until Dick gave me a vicious one in the back. I marveled at his ability to put all discomfort aside and snore. Well, I don't know how many hours I lay there trying to find a comfortable position before I heard a slight rustling in the provision box. I nudged Dick in an endeavor to stop his snoring but all in vain. So I pro- duced a pin and put it into effect, this changed the snoring into a weird war whoop that must have terrorized the countryside for miles around, to say noth- ing of the whatever it was in the provision box. When he got quieted down enough I told him to stop using such vile language and listen. After listening a few minutes we heard the rustling again. A chipmunk, I remarked. So I crawled stealthily toward the provision box. On the way I told Dick to hurry with the flashlight, He wasn't able to nnd it and so I reached out in the dark and touched the bushy tail of what I was sure now was a chipmunk. I got a firm hold and just started to take it out of the box in this manner when the beams of the flashlight lighted, to our horrified gaze, the black and white form of an ani- mal much larger than a chipmunk. A strange scent assailed our nostrils and I very willingly let go of my hold on that bushy tail. IfVe made a fast exit out of the other end of the tent while the little beast ,of the woods resumed his interrupted banquet. -BILLY Cox, '31 THE MAGIC CARPET VVISH we could travel without the risk of being kicked off every time We show our faces, said Mike, the smaller of the two hoboes Not a chance,', said the other, our luck doesn't run like that. In proof of his words a sour-faced brakeman came along the top of the box car. The two tramps decided that they would rather jump off than be kicked off. Consequently, they made their exit through the open door of the box car. Almost as soon as the two boes'l hit the ground, the brakeman hurled a bundle at them, evidently thinking it was their property. The speeding train was soon out of sight and the hoboes unwrapped the bundle. In it they found a medium-sized, ordinary looking carpet, also a paper which read, This is a wonderful magic carpet. Give the name of your destination, seat your- self on the carpet, and pronounce- the magic words 'hokus, pokus.' You will im- mediately be carried to your destination. The two hoboes could hardly believe their eyes. It might not be true, but they were game to give it a trial, so they seated them- selves one on each end, and after much arguing as to their destination, they de- cided to go to Spain. Mike claimed the honor of directing the carpet and he said, Spain, please+hokus, pokus. It seemed as though very little time had passed since Mike had mentioned the magic words, but now there was no doubt in their minds that the carpet could do all it had promised, Not only were they in Spain, but they were about to land in an arena. Much to their dislike they saw that an exciting bull fight was taking place. Mike did some quick thinking and said, Paris, please-hokus, pokusf' When the people of Paris saw the curi- ous air vehicle coming down in their midst, they were not so curious as might be ex- pected. Some of them could be heard saying, Just another one of those trans- Atlantic flyers,', and others said, It's a foolish stunt in this weather. We don't seem to cause much excite- ment here, said Mike. Let's sell the car- pet and buy something to eat. -MAURICE BUCKLEY, '29 ENCHANTMENT MURMUR and swaying of the palms over my head announced the coming of the dawn, I though of everything that had hap- pened to me until I had come to safety. But was I safe on this bit of land that I concluded was an island? Had another unkind fate sent me to more unknown dangers than those I had already experi- enced? I sat up and felt a sudden small sting near my knee. Looking down I saw a tiny black Hy. I must be on some tropical island, I concluded. U Was I far away, I wondered? Had the storm, the day before, driven me away from humanity forever and ever? Then I thought how thankful I should be that I had ever been allowed to reach land at all, so I sent up a simple prayer to Him who rules all. For it was He who had guided my frail boat from out the har- bor to the treacherous storm-tossed waters of the Atlantic and it was He who had brought me to this island, where I now was, Finally, I stood up and beheld the rising of the sun. Such a glorious sight! The waters gleamed with a thousand lights and the sand about me glinte'd and sparkled like diamonds. The sight dazzled me. I traveled inland. After a few minutes I came to a grove of trees. I'll stay here while the heat is intense, I said to myself. Pretty, little tropical flowers were all around and I discovered a tiny spring of water bubbling from the ground. I made a deep basin around this spring by scoop- ing up the soft sand. Having completed this, I 'took a mouthful of the refreshing water, not bothering to think whether the water was pure or muddy. Luckily for me I suffered no ill effects from it. About this time I began to get hungry. Looking overhead I saw clusters of dates. Finding a long stout stick, probably a piece of driftwood, I tried to scale one of the slender trees. just as I thought I was up far enough to poke some of the dates down, my arm slipped and I went sliding around the tree. I dropped to the ground and made a second attempt to climb the trunk. I secured a small cluster. But what is a handful of dates to a hungry person? Wanting to explore more I walked on, eating the dates, and thinking of nothing in particular. As I climbed .a small hill I began to wonder what was on the other side. When I reached the top, there, below me, lay a small valley, a body of water, clear as crystal, lay in the midst of the tiny vale. Faint smoke rose on all sides of the water. It seemed almost magic. Enchanted, came to my mind. Not knowing what I was doing, I started walking down a narrow path. Only a few steps and I was in the valley. When I arrivedysomething clouded my senses and I slept. Was it the tiny smokes? Here it was cold, the heat seemed not to penetrate into the tiny valley. And as I slept, I had beautiful dreams. I awoke, the tiny smokes had vanished, the air was clear and cooled by a little breeze. Glaneing around, I discovered beside me,

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M onday-August 22 Left Mojave about noon and rode out into the Mojave Desert. It was hot, 115 degrees in the sun. We rode until about 3.00 o'clock and then stopped at a tourist camp and went in swimming. After the swim we rode on until about 11.00 o'clock. Slept in Needles, the hottest place I was ever in. 247 miles Tuesday-August 23 Arose at 6.00 and rode on over the Colo- rado into Arizona, VVe stopped to have a tire fixed and then rode on. We arrived at the Grand Canyon about sundown. Got our first view of it. I had never realized till this minute the size and wildness of the Canyon. Its changing lights and colors took my breath away. For miles up and down it stretched. A land of weird forma- tions and wonderful colors. We slept in the camp at the top of the Canyon. 287 miles Wednesday-August 24 VVe arose bright and early and 'saw the sun rise over Grand Canyon. The lighting effect was more startling than the night before. After taking several good' pic- tures, we went back to Williams, and then started for the Petrified Forest. We saw some cliff dwellings, Indian huts, meteor' holes, etc. We stopped in Holbrook and, as it was raining, we hired a tourist camp. 220 miles Thmxsday-August 25 We got up early and went down to the Petrified Forest, a land of vari-colored rock stumps. We then went back up to the Painted Desert, one of the strangest and wildest sights I have ever seen. It was a desert of all different colored sands. The heat vapors 'rising from it were colored a deep red. We then rode on to Gallup where we saw the Inter-tribal Reunion. This gathering of 15,000 Indians, repre- senting every-known tribe of Indians in the Southwest, was indeed a sight worth see- ing. White people from all over the United States go to see this Reunion of Indians which in some ways resembles our fairs of New England. They 'gave per- formances in the afternoon and evening for three days. All kinds of horse races and foot and obstacle races featured the afternoon programs. In the evening the different tribes gave their various dances, which were very wonderful. Several In- dian baritones and tenors and one soprano sang, after which the tribes rendered sev- eral war songs. We were lucky to see such a program, due to the fact that we skipped through the fence, as our financial condi- tion would never permit us to walk in the gate. Tickets were only 34. The grand- The ial stand was reserved for white people. We could not get a seat there so we mingled with the Indians. We noticed that we were the only white people who were among them and what an experience it was. Slept in a cedar grove outside of Gallup. A Friday-August 26 We left Gallup early and rode on through New Mexico. We passed several Indian villages made almost entirely of adobe mud, and in one place we saw some old cliff dwellings, Passed an old Indian whose brand new hat had blown off in the wind! He let out an ungodly yell, which was ter- rible, and ran after it. Upon catching it, he pinned it to the ground with his axe and it sure made an impression on it. This time he let out a yell which, if it were translated into English, might be swearing. We slept near a swampy lake outside of Santa Rosa. Those mosquitoes sure were brutal. 310 miles Saturday-August 27 Got up early and got our mail and then rode on into Texas. Saw lots of dead cows, and in one place we stopped and took a picture of McKay sitting on one- birds of a feather stuff. The largest town we passed through boasted one busi- ness house which was a combined hotel, grocery, soda fountain, restaurant, and what have you. The town had only one street and the hotel clerk informed us that the only important event out there was when the wind stopped blowing up the street, and blew down for a change. Slept in a tourist camp in Hedely, Texas. 264 miles Sunday-August 28 Rode on to Gainsville. Not much to see except flat country, dust and go-to-hell curves, which were regular street corners placed in the middle of a desert. The rea- son for this was that the country is marked off into squares and that the roads assist in making boundaries. At one place we stopped and took some pot shots at a dead cow, which was all puffed up from eating poison weed. We wanted to see if she would explode-she did. In another place we stopped to get a drink and, when we started to rinse the cup, the owner told us that since they had to lug water fifteen miles they weren't fussy about rinsing the cup. They didn't seem to care if we be- came the victims of filthy bacteria. Slept outside of Gainsville, Texas. 287 miles Monday-August 29 Rode on out of Texas into Oklahoma, and then into Arkansas. We passed through the cotton belt and saw miles of white 3 cotton and black coons. We hit some bum roads and had to ford about seven cricks. The mountaineers through Ar- kansas are sure a dumb lot. If you asked them the way to South Burlap they'd say, Fust turn tu the right. We slept in a tourist camp at Benton, Arkansas. 342 miles Tuesday and Iflfeduerday-August 30 and 31 We left Benton at 7 o'clock and headed for Memphis, Tennessee, but were stopped about sixty miles from Benton by the White River, which had Hooded its banks. If we wished to cross, we were told that we would' have to wait two days for a ferry, so we retraced our steps to Benton, and started for St. Louis. We traveled all that day and night and at four o'clock Wednesday morning we arrived at St. Louis, about 600 miles to the good. We crossed the Mississippi on a big bridge over a mile long. We left St. Louis just as the sun was rising. We rode on out of Missouri into Illinois, and then on into Indiana. We rode until 4 o'clock Thursday morning and then stopped at Wheeling, West Virginia, for our first sleep since we left Benton, Arkansas, exactly 45 hours back. We trav- eled 1281 miles from 7 o'clock Tuesday morning to 4 o'clock Thursday morning. Forty-five hours without sleep! 1281 miles Thursday and Friday-September I and 2 Got up at 6 o'clock, after only two hours sleep, and drove to Washington, Pennsyl- vania, where we had to buy a new fan belt for the car. We then went on to Washington, D. C., arriving there early in the evening. After looking over the capital, etc., we left for Brattleboro, Ver- mont. Traveled all night and arrived in Brattleboro at 8 o'clock, Friday evening, 1119 miles From Tuesday morning at 7 o'clock to Friday evening at 8 o'clock, we traveled 2,400 miles, an average of 600 miles a day, with only two hours' sleep except for March-and what a guy he was for sleep. Why, he could sleep on a bicycle. But I guess he didn't sleep much at that, for the wrangling of Boyden and McKay kept him awake. VVe were stopped in St. Louis by a couple of detectives who thought we had run away from home, and poor Hal knows nothing about it. I-Ie slept through it all. On our whole trip which took 34 days, we covered 9,698 miles, an average of a little over 285 miles a day. We were 17 days going out, 6 days in California, and 11 days coming back. It was a great trip, we'll tell the cockeyed world. -WARREN MANLEY, '29 -HAL MARCH, '27 X I

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trees of all manner of fruit. Heaps of fruit had fallen to the ground. My hunger demanded instant attention, so I ate some fruit. After I had eaten I felt joyous and re- freshed. I started humming a tune I could not recall I had ever heard before. Strange! Was the fruit enchanted? Darkness came suddenly, a wonderful moon arose. Across the lake shot silvery beams-never stirring-a silver lake. As I sat watching this beautiful picture the trees started to sway. Did I hear Magic in their murmurings? Their whisperings lulled me to sleep. As I opened my eyes, a glorious sunrise was before me. It far surpassed the one I had seen the morning before. The lake, which had been crystal clear, became sud- denly alive with colors. These colors were reflected all around me and I was in the midst of a glory such as I had never seen. For three days I lived thus giving no thought to the morrow. On the fourth day, as I awoke, I saw a white and golden vision in the center of the lake. It came toward me, walking on the surface of the water. I saw it was a woman with rippling sunny hair. Her gown was misty whiteg her feet were bound in white kid, trimmed with ermine. As she moved, she seemed a glimmering, shimmering vision. The emblem of peace. And if I had had quiet and rest before, something undefinable crept into my soul and I knew it was peace. She stood before me and stretched her long shapely arms toward the entrance of the valley, and said: Go, for the world has need of you. Teach it the wonderful things you have seen here, and make it believe there is mystery, peace, magic, enchantment, and beauty. Help those who seek the truth to find it and those who seek peace to know it. You have been living in enchantment so you gave heed to nothing. But go now for a ship is at anchor in the harbor. With these words she faded into the tiny smokes. I went to the top of the hill and I be- held a ship at anchor near the island. Saved! Both in body and soul! -THYRA HERTZBERG, '29 TRAVEL IN 1978 ITH all eight powerful motors wide open, propellers cleaving the thin air, nine miles above mother earth, the giant air liner New York tore through the black ozone at ten miles a min- ute, bearing with her two hundred people bound for Seattle from New York. She was four minutes behind schedule which meant much in the times of high Speed, for, if she were late when she sped into Seattle she would be in danger of colliding with Ghz tal the trans-Pacific air liner just leaving for japan. At the speed the New York was traveling, unless the hypromiscope, which kept the motors cool in rarified atmosphere, broke, the liner could be in Seattle on time. Within the well-lighted ship people sat dining. Everything there was built for comfort. Deep overstuffed chairs were in- vitingly placed. There was no noise, for and air-tight. provided air everything was sound-proof Special oxygen apparatus which was much better for one than air near the ground. Built into the floors were large windows of plate glass protected by thin duraluminum brass. A large gyro- scope kept the giant plane steady enough for the men to bowl or play billiards, or for the women to play auction poker While sipping the new beverage Whisket. A peep through one of the windows showed the luminous green and orange stripes on the Japanese Royal Packet bound for Tokio, which had left Manhattan five minutes after the New York, but was al- ready passing it, 'Suddenly the ship shot by the ultrasign showing Des Moines, Iowa. This sign was sent up from the ground by ultrabeams, perfected in 1950. The sign was over two miles long, but it was barely readable because of the speed at which it was passed. About two hours later a deep, throaty whistle was sent from the New York by theuteleradio, to the aircraft in Seattle, warning them to 'clear the path for the great liner still fifty miles away. Every airship must be equipped with a teleradio, a combination of telephone and radio. On the New York there was a set for every person to be used on North. American trips only. In about five minutes Seattle was reached exactly on time. The huge air liner came to a stop nine miles in the air. Then the helicopters were put to their work. CThese are the big propellers on top of the ship and are used for descending in a straight line.l The ship dropped nine miles in as many minutes, landing in the space pro- vided for it in the municipal airport, hav- ing made the complete trip in three hours and forty-six minutes. From this point an aero bus conveyed one to the air liners bound for China, India, South America, Hawaii or Alaska, or an air taxi transported one into the city to the roof of any large building or to a landing place in any suburb or, by means of helicopters, into the air garage of his own home. -I. STEWART BARNEY, '31 THE DETOUR AM the detour. For long years I have wound calmly on my way, over through the vales in have been beloved by the hills and happy obscurity. I many and hated by none, Now, suddenly, I have leaped into a notoriety which no O 5 one need envy me. Rich men, poor men, beggars, and thieves heap curses upon my rugged, brown back. For the most part I am staid and dignified as becomes my years, but sometimes I enjoy a little joke of my own. I see nothing wrong in 'collecting a little mud puddle around a corner to skid the unsuspecting motorist on his way, by chance into a little ditch, and, if he has heaped anathema upon my whole length and breadth, I feel fully justified in shak- ing him from my back, Perchance my pa- tience has been unduly tried by urban sarcasm and the purring insolence of the lords of the road as they nonchalantly slither over the boldest and steepest por- tions of my anatomy. Then with demoniac glee do Iawait the coming of the lowly Elizabeth, not that her approach is sooth- ing to my nerves, quite the reverse, but the rattle, the bang, the grinding and grat- ing are quite in accord with my mood. It is not long. 'ACome, come Elizabeth, I whisper in- gratiatingly, you can make it on high. Elizabeth makes a valiant try, as I knew she would, but on a narrow curve her last breath is spent. Then close in upon her those insolent lords, limousines, racers, coach, and sport model-their drivers mut- tering invectives. Elizabeth heeds them not. I chuckle and shake with mirth, but they do not notice me above the throbbing of the impatient engines. At last all must ignominiously back down the hill again that Elizabeth may make a final try. I have my revenge. -ELEANOR LYo'Ns, '30 TRAVELS WITH A RQAD MAP T has frequently been assertedby wiser men than I that travel broadens the mind. This statement is doubtless true, in so far, at least, as travel gives to many that enlarged ego which in vulgar parlance is known as a swelled head, However, in other cases, the effect of travel, especially when it is aided by that instrument of torture, a road map, is flat- tening rather than broadening. We won- der why it is that the route which on the map seems by far the easiest and the most direct, is, when the traveler attempts to follow it, always composed of a series of the country's worst highways and most be- wildering crossroads. Our own experi- ence with road maps has completely dis- illusioned us. After a few experiences, such as the one undergone in trying to discover the home of a relative when, by the aid of a map and the directions of kind- hearted natives, we found ourselves en- deavoring to climb an endless and steep hill with ruts at least a 'foot in depth. We turn a cynical and ever-enraged gaze upon road maps, and proceed to disregard them. The sad tale of one of our acquaintances is only a confirmation of our judgment.