Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

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.

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 12 text:

10 The Acaclemy Bell So our fuel question is more import- ant than most people realize. Forests are indispensable to agri- culture. They hold a vast resource of water that would quickly evap- orate if the trees were not there to furnish shade, and the thick layer of leaves that fall to the ground act as a blanket, preventing both erosion and evaporation. One of the greatest destroyers of timber is fire. Thousands of acres of woodland are burned each sum- mer by fires started by careless campers. The government forest rangers are doing much to prevent the loss of timber in this way, but even so it is the cause of an immense loss each year. There is a national law prohibit- ing the lighting of camp fires with- out the consent of the owner of the land and another law that makes it a serious offense to leave a campfire burning after you are through with it, but they seem to do little good. ROBERT LITTLEFIELD, '28. IT TAKES A MAN TO BE BRAVE Another Daring Burglary l read Mrs. Banford, as she picked up the morning paper. Lucullus, she said, turning to her husband, this is the fourth outrage of the kind in this town within a week, and if you don't get a burglar-alarm, or adopt some other means of security, I shall not remain in this house another night. Some morning we'1l get up and find ourselves murdered and the house robbed if we have to depend on the police for protection. Banford assured his wife that he would have the matter attended to at once. Then he left the house and didn't return until evening. When Mrs. Banford asked him if he had given a second thought to the sub- ject, he drew a newspaper from his pocket, and said, See here Mirandy! There's no use of foolin' away money on one o' these new-fangled burglar- alarms. Economy is wealth. Here's a capital idea suggested in this pa- per, cheap, simple and effective. And then he read the suggestion about hanging a tin pan on the cham- ber-door. I tell you Mirandy! The man who conceived that brilliant notion is a heavenborn genius-a boon to man- kind, and his name should go ring- ing down the corridors of time with those of such brilliant intellect as Watt, Morse, Edison, and other suc- cessful scientiiic investigators. You see, the least jar of the door will dis- lodge the pan, and the noise occa- sioned thereby will not only awaken the occupants of the room, but will also scare a burglar half to death, and perhaps the pan will strike him on the head and fracture his skull. It is a glorious scheme, and the fact that it was not utilized years ago is the most remarkable thing about it. Well, assented Mrs. Banford, in less sanguine tones, it may be better than nothing, and it won't cost any- thingg and as Susan has gone out to spend the night with her sick sister, and we'll be all alone, I'll hunt up