Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

Page 10 text:

8 The Academy Bell jump to one side just as a big cart rumbled by with a funny little red light in back. They couldn't imag- ine what made it go, for there were no horses to pull it. The old war- riors solemnly shook their grizzled heads and walked on. After a while they ventured into a house that was ablaze with lights. In a large room they saw a big horn standing on a table. They could hear a man talking, but could not see him. They were terribly frightened at first, but finally crept closer to the queer looking contraption, and saw the letters R-A-D-I-O, but of course they could not read them These chiefs who had faced death in many a war and had lived for two hundred years in the Happy Hunt- ing Ground, were baffled for first, time, they had seen lanterns on poles, then they had seen a wagon with two bright lights in front, but no horse to pull it 3 and now, they were hearing a man talking but could not :ge him. He seemed to be inside a large horn. They couldn't under- stand it at all. Suddenly they heard music, and too excited for Words they rushed out of the building and started towards Lovewell's pond. As they walked down the old Indian trail to the pond they seemed to feel more at home in this strange land of queer people. The only thing that seemed the same was the forest they had loved so well. Not far away they could see again our Jockey Cap, the boulder which they had used for an outlook from which to warn the Indian tribes when white men or hostile Indians were approaching. As they neared Love- wellfs pond they saw a big rock on which was a bronze tablet all cov- ered with queer writing. They, how- ever, had no way of knowledge that this was our battle monument. They sat down on the shore and talked about that eventful morning just two hundred years before. On that morning they had been standing on the shore when they hard ,a shot. That shot had come from the gun of Captain John Lovewell, who was known and feared by the Indians. How did they happen to be so far from their homes? Years before some of the settlers had cheated the Indians. The hatred of Squando, one of the chiefs of the Sokois tribe, had been aroused by the cruel act of a white sailor, Who, just to see if a papoose could swim, had tipped over a canoe in which Squan- do's squaw and papoose were com- ing down the river. The child sank to the bottom, but the mother res- cued it. Soon the child grew weak- er and weaker, and finally died. Thus the thoughtlessness of a few white men had brought the hatred of all the Indians on the white settlers, John Lovewell askled permisslion of the Massachusetts Legislature to form a company of rangers to hunt and kill the Indians, because the In- dians had massacred so many white settlers. So on this morning in May, John Lovewell and his company ar- rived at what is now Lovewell's pond. There were thirty-four men in the company. Although the Indi-

Page 9 text:

7 Literary Department a. THE ANNIVERSARY OF LOVEWELL'S FIGHT Daniel Webster once said, It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to connect our thoughts and sympathies with that which is distant in time or place. We will, therefore, go back to the time two hundred years ago, when our beauti- ful village in the valley of the White Mountains was a wilderness, inhab- ited only by the savage Indian tribes. Corn, beans, and pumpkins were the chief crops raised by the Pequaw- ket tribe. Indians followed the rule, 'tBegin planting corn when oak leaf grows big as a mouse's ear. Tradition says that when summer iiies and mosquitoes interrupted comforts in the home woods, the red warriors who inhabited our village used to make their way toward the sea coast over the part now known as the Pequawket Trail. Of worthy Captain Lovewell, I now pur- pose to sing, How valiantly he served his country and his King, He and his valiant soldiers did range the woods full wide, And hardships they endured to quell the Indian's pride. 'Twas nigh unto Pequawket on the eighth day of May, They spied a rebel Indian, soon after .break of dayg He on a bank was walking,-upon a neck of land, Which leads into a pond as we're made to understand. The event mentioned in this poem was the beginning of that memor- able battle which has made our pond famous. On the seventh day of May in the year 1925, three of the Old Indian chiefs who had fought in the great battle known as Lovewell's fight, were smoking their peace pipes in the Happy Hunting Ground, and talking about that great event which had happened two hundred years be- fore. Q After talking it over they de- cided ,to go to the Great Spirit and persuade Him to let them go back on earth. After pleading with him for a long time they finally obtained his permission, but he told them they must be invisible to the human eye. Early in the morning on the eighth day of May the three old Indian chiefs came to earth to the place that is now Bradley Park. The first strange things they saw were, as they expressed it, lanterns hung on poles. These frightened them greatly, but the bravest of them started on down Main street and the other two finally gathered courage to follow him. When they saw the wide road they thought that millions of Palefaces must have tramped over that trail to make it so wide and smooth. Next, they noticed the houses, and tried to imagine living in them. As they walked on, they saw two big lights coming straight toward them. They were frightened. but had presence of mind enough to

Page 11 text:

The Academy Bell 9 ans greatly outnumbered them, the battle lasted until sunset. and then the Indians went away. The sur- vivors of the rangers went back to the fort, and finally reached Dun- stable in safety. The pride of the Pequawket tribe was broken. Only twenty-four men were left and they sadly made their way to Canada. The terror of the Pequawkets was over. As the old chiefs talked about this battle they seemed to live that day over again. When the sun went down behind the mountains the old chiefs walked back to the bank of the Saco where they had camped long years before. They pitched their tents and built a fire. One of the chiefs said, Heap big change in the place, eh? The oth- ers silently nodded in agreement. After Watching the twinkling lights of the town wink out one by one the old chiefs lay down and went to sleep under the quiet watch of the stars. In the morning they rose and made their way over the intervales. All day they walked up and down the bank of the Saco, and finally when the shadows began to lengthen they folded their tents like the Arabs, and as silently, stole away. RUTH GAFFNER. OUR FORESTS According to authorities on the subject, there will be a timber fam- ine soon unless something is done to preserve our forests twenty years from now. People are slowly be- ginning to realize what such a ca- tastrophe would mean to the welfare and prosperity of this country and are taking measures to prevent it from happening. There has been some talk recently of passing a law that would restrict the cutting of trees without a permit from the state. It was also suggested that we exemplify the custom of Germany and plant at least two trees for every one that we cut. By doing this we might make our forests last a long time. Practically all of our industries depend on our timber supply, either directly or indirectly. It is true that we can use many things in place ofwood, but it is also true that we can never hope to do without it entirely. The lumber in- dustry, one of the most important in- dustries this country has, would be entirely eliminated and building and carpenter work would need to under- go a great change. Wood is the chief fuel in the country towns, besides being used extensively in cities for the same purpose, and with the sup- ply of coal diminishing the fuel ques- tion becomes a great problem. About four-fifths of the power used by factories is steam power and about two-sevenths of these burn wood, thus consuming thousands of cords of wood each year. It has been predicted that the amount of elec- tricity generated in the United States- today would furnish power for only one-fiftieth of the mills, and what water power, if all such power was utilized, would furnish only fourth.