Cochran Junior High School - Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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COCI-IRAN AERIAL 67 Hope you have good luck, Dick , and Tom started home feel- ing lucky. By this time quite a crowd had gathered in front of the store to see what had happened. Dick shoved through the crowd until he reached the top step where Mr. Altmeyer was standing. Joe Alt- meyer's crisp white coat made his face show up redder than it could have been, and eyes glared and snapped fiercely as he talked. Dick had never seen him so angry before. He had always been a good friend of the boys until then. How he wished he had stayed behind the bush! At first he stuttered and grew almost as red as lNIr. Altmeyer, although not from the same cause. Before he could finish a sentence, Mr. Altmeyer jumped at him: Did you break this window? A plate glass window this size isn't a cheap target for a baseball. What do you mean by playing ball here, anyhow? 'fWell, I couldn't help it. The ball just went the Wrong direction and Tom didn't catch it. Mr. Altmeyer's rage was cooling down. He is really very sweet tempered. The crowd had started to move away. You're the boy that lives upstairs, arenit you ? 'fYes, came Dick's feeble answer. Is there anything I can do to make up for the damage ? Pay for it, I guess. Couldn't I work in the store to pay for it? That's a good idea. You may as well start right now. Dick could hardly believe it was true 'that anyone who had been so angry just a little while before could be so kind. He was happy again. After he had been fitted with one of Joe Altmeyerys white coats and was standing behind the counter waiting for some customers, his heart sank when he thought how Tom and the gang would razz him. Oh, I don't care. It's the only way I can pay for it, he thought as he watched the men putting the new window in. Soon his first customer came and Dick waited on him to his satisfaction. In the next few weeks he had many customers. He learned to like his work very much. One day when he came down to work, Mr. Altmeyer said, The window is paid for now, Dick, but I don't see how I could get along without your help. How would you like to work for pay now P I like the job, sir, and want to keep it. Thank you very much.

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66 COCHRAN AERIAL around their grounds. In the summer when the foliage is thick they partially hide the eyesore of the mill yards from the public view. When the sanitary sewer system is completed, Johnstown plans to make something worth while out of the Stony Creek. About fifteen years hence, instead of being an eyesore, germ-breeding, worthless creek, it will be a clear, sparkling, smooth running river between green banks lined with trees, boat houses, and docks. On this new Stony Creek, canoes, motorboats, rowboats, etc. will be gliding past. Cochran will be benefited by the improvement because it will have a swimming pool at its back door. When the old, dirty, polluted garbage dump called the Stony Creek has been transformed into a clear, smooth-flowing stream, properties along the banks will increase in value and Johnstown will become known as a healthful city. George Gasser, Term VII THE BROKEN WINDOW Oh, Mom, may I go down on Ohio Street to play ball for a while?,' Tom yelled in through the screen door. 'Tm going with Dick. His mother must have said that he might go, for he rushed to Dick's home in leaps and bounds. Dick lived in the Otto Apart- ments above Altmeyer's drug store. He fell down the steps with a baseball, a bat, and a glove. You take these and let me bat firstf' Dick handed him the ball and glove. Ten strikes out, no matter how many you make or miss. Tom had successfully caught the ball in Dick's glove seven times but the next time instead of landing in the glove, it crashed through the big plate glass window in the drug store. Both boys made for a clump of bushes in the field across the alley from the drug store. They crouched under the bushes in silence, except for the pounding of their hearts. The sweat trickled down their faces, for it was a hot day in June. A slight, cool breeze brought Tom enough composure to allow him to speak. W-why didn't you bat the ball toward me instead o' through that window? Well, why didnlt you catch it ? Then everything was quiet until Dick said, what will we do ? 'Tm going to go home. Well, oh, I guess I had better go and see Mr. Altmeyerf'

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68 COCHRAN AERIAL Tom happened in that afternoon to tease Dick, but the joke was on him when Dick told him he was getting paid for his work now. -Mardell Gundaker A GOOD SPORT I think Mr. Hill is a good sport. One time I was out in the hall and I dropped an agate. He picked it up and I thought he would keep it. He asked me if I had any more. I said yes, and he said he would play with me. He played a couple of games and I was scrapped. Then he gave me them back. Another time I went for a hike when he was along. VVe played baseball and he was the umpire. One time he called a strike for our side and knew it was a ball. When their side came up he called a strike to even it up. When we came home he told us about tin and trees all along the way. He's just as good company and just as square as any boy I know. -Curtis Horner, IV MY GRANDMOTI-IER'S SALE Last Saturday, my mother and I went to my grandmother's sale. The auctioneer was a rather large glib tongued man, who has been auctioneering sales in that community for many years. My grandmother's home and personal property were sold. There were some very old pieces offurniture and dishes put up for sale. Two antique hunters were there, who make it a point to go far and near to buy antiques. My grandmother had two small, blue glass dessert dishes. The antique hunters both wanted these dishes and they quickly ran them up to four dollars apiece. There was an old zinc table, and we thought it would bring a very small price, but one of the antique hunters bid until the price reached nine dollars. After he had bought it he took off two little handles that were used to pull the drawers open, put them into his pocket, and said to my aunt who lives in that neighborhood, Now, you may have the table. I do not want it. If I ever have a sale and have any antiques to sell, I hope these people will be on hand. I -Illary Elizabeth Wertz A VISIT TO THE RANGER What a savory smell of bacon! My dog was sniffing the air for he had noticed it too. I walked on a little way and saw a camp with a fire burning brightly. Sitting with a skillet in his