Burnet High School - Bulldog Yearbook (Burnet, TX)

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rHE COMET 5 Marble Fulls. Many other places along the Colardo Elver could lie clamed and be used for water power. The eastern part of Burnet County la in Ihe Mack land belt. In Burnet county cotton, wheat, oats, corn and other grain are raised. Pecans also bring a good deal of the money to Burnet county. Burnet county is gradually coming to the front as a poultry county. The huge incubator late- ly installed near Burnet will aid very greatly in this industry. Tattle, hogs, sheep and goats are raised in Burnet county. Burnet county’s wealth comes not only from fanning, poul- try and mines, but from live stock. When the sheep are Undeniably “Dad’1 Marten bad changed ! A metamorphoses had been wrought in his nature. Neighbors of Dad gossiped it over the back fences in hushed tones. It was rumored that Dad was loosing his mind. Truly, the little towu of i ake Point was “stirred up, Part of the gossip was exaggerated, especially that about his waning in sanity, but it was true that Dad was no long er the same. Dad had been a foster-father to the Inhabitants of Lake Point. When anyone was disturbed, whether it was over finances, or the death of h relative, he was wont to bring his woes to Dad, Dad’s good nature and philanthropy were a tradition of Lake Point—but now! Gone was Dad s anna blllty: vanished was his l»enevolence, and In its stead bitter- ness reigned. But the crowning jolt was this: Dad’s philan- thropy. his generosity to give his friends his last dollar was well known. But now, It wag said that Dad not only re- fused Tom Jolson a loan, but had said bitter things to him. The children of Lake Point, who had formerly idolized Ibid, now hooted at him. Even bis adopted son, Jake, was at a loss to explain Dad’s bitterness, as also was Jake's wife. Ella. If Dad Marten was aware of all these rumors, he did not show it. He was Indifferent to every one. At home be threw’ aside his mask of indifference and sank into an ajsithv ; he seemed to lose interest in even his most cherished ambi- tion ! Dad was. by trade, a horticulturist His life-long ambition was to produce a watermelon without seeds. To us, and even to Lake Point, this seems a futile ambition, but not so to Dad. He had instilled this ambition into .Take, his adopted son. Jake was a fine spectman of manhood and Dad adored him He sent him off to Pnllege and had high liojies of his success. Then suddenly Dad's wife, Marthy died. A few months later Jake marrfed Ella Wheeler, a girl that Dad disliked Intensely, because he regarded her as common. At first, Ella resented Dad s dis’ike of her, but the years softened her resentment, but not Dad’s. Dad did not confide the rea- son of his change In his son and so all I ake Point had to he content with its gossip. Then they received a shock. Dad made a trip of three days to Chicago. Now, Ijike Point was sure It bad the solution. Dad w’hs tired of being single—he had gone to Cbh-ago for his bride and she had lilted him ! To be sure they knew’ of Dad's devotion to “Marthy, but said ljake Point: “Men is all alike. Take Alma Arhuck's husband. She wasn’t in her grave three weeks until he begin steppin’ out Of course Dad was not fiORHessed Gf a flirtatious spirit as was the unfortunate Alma's husband, but that did not alter his decision. Only Dad Marten knew the real reason. There was his failure to produce the seedless melon when he was so sure of sucs-ess. Then there was the nightmare—he was going blind. So the occulist at Chicago had assured him. It was only a matter of six mouths till total blindness would occur. Then, besides these facts, he had heard rumors, vague to be sure, but supposedly based on Information from Ella, that sheared and the wool sold, a great deni of money Is brought into Burnet County. Burnet County has a very bright future. The factory at Marble Falls, the mines around Burnet, the Granite industry, the poultry business, the farms and the ranching all will aid In the building of Burnet county. At present two highways run through Burnet county and another la being proposed. The schools in Burnet county are growing very rapidly. Ber- tram and Briggs have new school buildings and Lake Victor has voted fifteen thousand dollars in bonds to use in build- ing a school house. Bg Lois Frg. Jake was likewise experimenting with an aim of producing a seedless melon! These were the reasons for I adfs mor- bidness. One morning about two months later. I ad chamed to stop in a store for a box of matches, and it was while be was waiting for his purchases that he heard the words which spelled ruin to him. Two men, oblivious of his presence were talking. Said one, neatly spitting on the other’s toef “Have you beard the news of Jake Marten’s luck? “No. resjionded the other. Wal, returned the first, “Ella told my ol woman as how Jake's fierdttced the melon without seeds. Put one over I ad. eh? Something snnppod in Dad's brain, For a moment he was numb, then came blinding fury such as he had never previously experienced. He felt a desire to kill! Jake had stolen his discovery! Really Jake had only smteeded where Da-1 failed, but Dad refused to see this. The old I ad would have been proud and congratulated Jake, but the new Dad’s heart was too warped by hatred. He left the store without wait- ing for his purchases. As he stumbled along, be met Jake—a new Jake, The old Jake had become prematurely aged by family cares, but this .lake seemed rejuvenated, Seeing Dad, he stopped and shout- ed, “Dad! I've really produced a seedless watermelon! We’ll both be famous together. Dad! It was your idea-- he got no further for Dad ignored the proffered hand and sft d« oru All evening, and late into the night he brooded. With the coming of dawn. Dad made a resolution to steal Jake’s ae- njunta.pf how he produced the melon, for every horticulturist keeps an account of his experiments. Dad chuckled glee- fully and ruhlied his hands. Yes sir! That’s what PH do. He laughed fiendishly. The laugh was maniacal and seemed to echo and re-echo. For a moment Dad had misgivings. Had not Jake offered to share the money and fame with him? But he Ignored his conscience and made his plans, n ■ would enter Jake's house after dark. About eight. Dad arrayed himself in his black alpaca suit, his socks, the last ones Marthy had nieuded, which he had reserved to l»e “laid out in, and sallied forth. Stealthily he pntered Jakes room, and there on the desk he tiebeld the accounts. Beside them was « melon—the melon without seed ! A perfect specimen It was. For a moment fury convulsed him at sight of it. His efforts for twenty- five pars were fruitless! Jake was to blame and he should suffer. Then he remembered that Jake went to lodge on th’s night. Then, he decided. Ella should pay 1 He started toward Flla's mom with some insane idea of killing Ella, and opened the door cautiously, he peered In. A low. sweet melody fell on bis ears. He halted. The melody was a srrange, haunting one. yet it seemed vaguely familiar. Seated In a chair was Ella, holding the baby, while around her were the children. The baby, he suddenly remembered, was bti name-sake. As Ella snug, a look, most holy settled on her face, and a radiance crept into her eyes. JKe Reformation.

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4 THE COMET ohe Old Deserted House. By Jtarcta JUaude Liyon. Oue clay while walking on a lonely country road. 1 had a great desire for something interesting to happen. I grew very weary and seeing a house not far away, I thought I would go in and meet the people that occupied it, but to my great surprise, no one lived there. It wag a large, two- story, white building. It must have l een a very beautiful home. Looking in at the window, 1 saw by the appearance of the old furniture and the dust that had accumulated on it, that it had been long ago since anyone had lived there. 1 went to the front chair to see if It would oi en. Yea, the door opened and I entered the room. No sooner had I entered than a feeling of sadness and lonlinevs came over me. I seemed to lie living in some past of sorrow. With a feeling of fear, I was going out when I heard some one coming up the walk. It was a woman. Never will 1 forget the sorrow that was written on her fa e. She did not ee me as she neared the door, so I crept behind a large l»ed. She mme in and «ut in a chair and liegan weeping, i slowly crept from my hiding place ami came close to her side and touched her arm. She frowned and would have m reamed, hut she noticed the expression on my face and thought 1 would not harm her. She asked me who I was. 1 told her I was walking around and did not mean any ha 1 thought some oue lived iliere and 1 would like to meet the people. She smiled ml told me that the |ss»ple that t ad lived there were all gone. Then she told me of a sad tragedy. This is the story that she told me: “Seven years ago 1 was a servant working here for a very happy family; a man. his wife, and two small boys. These toys were the sunshine of their mother’s heart. I often said if any harm should come to those boys, It would ;ull my young mistress, ami it did. At the end of a beautiful summer day, the Ih» s failed to return home. My mistress sent me to look for them. Not finding them in tile neighlM r- hood. I inquired about them. The neighlHjrs told me they were seen with a dark complexioned man. I returned home and told my mistress. Immediately she grew' alarmed and a search was made for the lw ys. The good jteople searched for them day and i ight but no good results did they ob- tain. The father offered a large reward for their return, but word earne that the boys were murdered by the kid- nappere that wen going around in the country. This killed nay mistress. This house is called the house of sorrow ; |m?o- ple never com here. 1 still live in my little house not very far from here and I often come here and think of the happy days of the past.” Q)hat You Ire By Sva Warwick You are exactly what you make of yourself. You are wlmt ou think you lire. Others think just as much of you a- . ou think of yourself. You cun do what you think you can and no more. Where there is a will there is a way. Y.,u •an tither find a way or make It. If you put yourself Ik Iow others in your thoughts, that Is Where they put you. They have not any more confidence in ou than you have in yourself. Your expression and your ways tell what you are. You are judged hy what you say, where you go, and the company you keep. Usually you get what you demand in this life. You nr»» just as big as your ideas. You can have as many friends as you w ant and the kind you want. For the only way to have a friend Is to be one. A woman writes that children think of their mothers what their mothers teach them to think of them. That if si teaches them to love, honor and obey her, they will. They think what she wishes them to think of her. But if she allows them to neglect and disobey her. it is her fault. She forms her own image in the minds of her children. You may not he what you would like to he. but it is your fault because you make yourself. You cannot blame others for your own failures. One of the authors of oue of our text books said there Is no education but self-education, our schools are not to educate the people, but to aid them In getting their own education. There are no castes in free America. You can rise as high us you wish. Resources of Burnet County By Donald Percy The county of Burnet on the edge of the mountainous and the farming areas of Texas is a very picturesque county. It abounds in history. Near Burnet. Koltert K. I-ee is said to have spent a short w’hlle. The county has three princlj al towns. Burnet Is the largest. It is the county seat and is in both a farming and mining area. Marble Falls Is the second in size. It is in the pecan lndt and is also on the river where water power is easily gotten. Bertram In In the farming area. In this theme 1 shall take up the four main resources i f Burnet County. They are minerals, stone, water power and agriculture. 1 shall first take up the minerals. One very seldom thinks wf mining in Burnet County without thinking of the Graphite ni ne twelve miles west of Burnet. This mine Is one of ti e largest i f its kind in the United States. At present the mill at the mines Is running l oth night and day. Trucks may Ik seen on tie road fr« in Burnet to the mine at nearly ev- ery h ur of the day. Another mineral found In Burnet coun- ty is the rare lehthyol. The mine is located about a mile north of Burnet. This is found in very few countries and is found in only two places In the United States. It is usm in mukii.g medicine. Copper is also found in Burnet County. The mine i located a few miles west of Burnet. Recently lend was d'seovered west of Burnet. A great deal of money was q ent by the Eagle-Pitcher I eacl Company in proftpoct- ing this deposit. At present the mine is being operated on a small scale, hut it is the belief of many that w-ithin a few years a large mill will Ik in operation at the lead mine. I atetv a large dejmslt of iron was discovered west of Burnet. One finds iron in nearly all of Burnet county. One can dig down about five feet and find iron in nearly every trial around the town of Burnet. Borne day Burnet county may he the greatest iron l lt in the southwest. Jewels are also found In Burnet County. Stones that resemble saphires are found in great quantities alwuut ‘■even miles west of Burnet, Many other minerals including silver are found in Burnet County. Granite abounds in nearly the whole of Burnet county. Ne=vr Marble Falls is a huge Granite Mountain. Granite is be- ing qunrred from this mountain at all times. Granite from this quarry is shipped to the eastern i«rt of the United States. There is also marble in Burnet county. Limestone is also found. Lime stone Is used in making lime and cem- ent. Who knows but some day Burnet County may ! e a center of the maoufnctnring of cement. At Marble Falls the water of the Colrnuio River Is being harnessed to Ik used in the huge factory to Ik» situntid at

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THE COMET 6 Dud gave a start. The song was one that Marthy had sung to Jake when he was a baby and Dad fancied that Ella in some way resembled Marthy. He shut the door. Sanity had returned. Softly he replaced the account». No! lie could not rob Jake s children of their birthright. After all, he was an old man with one foot in the grave. He stumbled and swayed Everything was going dark—-he took a totter- T. A. CHAMBERLAIN. By Jesse Pogue The subject of rbls sketch. T. A. Chamberlain, was born in the year eighteen hundred and forty nine. He is now 77 years of age. He has been a resident of Burnet for sixty years or more. At the nge of twenty-two or twenty-three, he started to teach school. The school which is now known as Bethel was opened at that time and he was chosen as the first teacher. It was also his iirst experience In teaching school. He had about twenty-live pupils, many of whom are still living in that same community. After teaching school for a few years, he entered politics ing step. Suddenly he extended bln iirins. “Marthy,” he called, I'm coinin'. You'll forgive won’t you Marthy! Wail Marthy— but he fell. The oeeulist was wrong. Blindness had occured and with it came death. But a metamorphoses had occurred. (rone was Dad s bitter sneering look and in Its stead was that old sweet, benevolent smile that was fam- iliar to all Lake Point! and was elected county surveyor of Ilurnet county. This office was of considerable importance in those days, as the coun- ty was young and was being settled up rapidly. With the exception of a few years during which be was living in South Texas, following his vocation, he has held this office contin- ually and still holds It. Uncle Tom, as be is known to everybody. Is one of the l»est men 1 have ever known. Although making no greAt display about It. he is a true, ('hristlan gent Ionian, willing to help anyone in any way that he can. When any one has surveying to la done, he is called No government or other surveyor has ever found a mistake in his da I a. for he is very careful with his work. He has surveyed a large portion of Burnet and Llano counties and is still at 1L“ JKe House of Horror %n£leren Some people say that 1 am Insane: others say that I am mad: others, that I am feigning madness like Hamlet, Per- haps I aiu mud. Who can tell? My jtast life has been ho hor- rible. so full of grief mid terrors rhat 1 feel as if I am grop- ing hi utter darkness and slowly, slowly losing all control of my superior lieing. Shall 1 tell yon of my lad life or keep it buried deep down in my heart forever? No! 1 shall tell It. It hangs over me like an Immovable cloud and is so terribly depressing that 1 feel as If 1 must lell someone or 1 shall die. Many years ago when 1 was still unite young, my family, consisting of my father and mother, Mr, and Mrs. Dupree, my sister, Henrietta, my brother, George, and I came to Amer- ica from France. We were accompanied by Lucien. an old French servant. He had been with our family for many years. Our first few years In America were spent happily on a small farm on the banks of the Hudson River. Ah! how 1 took back on those years as the only time life seemed worth living. How peaceful! How sublime! Into those few years 1 can place all my pleasures of this life. My father became inveigled In some land schemes. As 1 was too young and carefree to understand what realty was happening the first thing that I knew my father announced that we had lost all that we poeaeacted lu this world. We were outcasts in a foreign land, without home or money. We finally found a small hut overgrown with thick green vines. The people who lived near told us that It was haunt- ed and abandoned and if we cared to live there we were perfectly welcome. Alas! how little my dear family knew what was in store for us. If they could only have read their sad fates, how we would have fled from that place as from a deadly viper. Lucien who was very superstitious, was horrified at the Idea of living In such a house, but rather than leave the family, his only friends, he submitted. Of course the grue- some aspect of the house and his own Imagination bore heavily on his mind, I could see that as time wore on. his mind was weakening. One night 1 was awakened by peculiar nosies In the ad- joining room, 1 got up, lighted a eandle, and went in where 1 heard the noise. There stood Lucien with a terrible gleam In bis eyes. Indeed he was filled with the evil spirit. In his hand was a knife with a long thin blade that reflected the eandle light like a mirror. 1 stood motionless. 1 was struck perfectly dumb with terror. 1 was quaking with fear but 1 dare not move. Lucien ran his long, bony linger over the shimmering blade, Then he looked at me and grime Mich a horrible ghastly grin that I thought surely my time To die had come. But slowly he run his linger the full length of the blade n second time: looked at me: shook his head; turned and walked off. By this time I realized that Lucien was Insane. What could I do? About this rime, I beard my father cry out for help. Before 1 cniild reach him. Linden passed me waving the bloody knife hi the air. shriek!tig like one puaaea ed with a demon and swearing vengeance on the whole family. Where he went 1 do not know; 1 went to tny father. He was dead, Lucien had stahlied him. This was more than 1 could stand. 1 felt that T would go mad myself. During the next year the rest of our family lived in fear of Laden's return. Imagine, friends, living through a whole year with such a terrible remembrance of Lucien and knowing that any time he might return and murder the whole family. Every noise at night, every shadowy figure crouching in the darkness. 1 thought to ite Lucien. Henrietta, my beautiful sister, was terrified at the idea of his return and lived in sin- dread of It that she liecaiue a mere shadow. At night she would wander down to an old well and stand for bourn In the moonlight. One night we saw her walk to the accus- tomed spot and stand looking into the well fur a long rime. Imagine our unspeakable terror when, after a while, we heard n splush In the well, 1 rushed down there but 1 was too late. She had been grasped by the mossy entanglement of the treacherous green water of the old well. Horror-stricken I called for aid. We worked all night hut could not find the bottom of the well. We could drop anything in It and could hear the reeking of the moss through which it was (tfiKslttg for at least five minutes. It seemed to be a bot- tomless cavity, 1 was distracted with grief. Then, that very night when i returned to the house, Im- agine my horror when 1 found that my mother and George had fallen victims to the wanton hand of Lucien. Nearby was Lucien dying from a self-inflicted wound. 1 wan crazy with grief- Stay at that house from th:i night on? No! I left as quickly as 1 could. I was travelling to some unknown Mecca for my soul. I wandered from city to city. People did not understand the Invisible torture of my mind. How could 1 tell them? Would they believe me?