Gardiner Area High School - Quill Yearbook (Gardiner, ME)

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6 THE QUILL LITER CITY TREES AFTER SNOW Desolate yesterday, Shivering branches violet grey. At night the stars sent down, In pity of earth's nakedness, A part of their own loveliness' Tiny gleaming starfshapes Lent each tree a crown. s Humble bushes, graceful trees For one brief ecstatic day Stood in radiant array- None so beautiful as these. That was just for one brief day, Now the city has turned them grey. - -Doris Colby, '41 CONEUCIUS IS JUSTIFIED Herr Aachan was a pacifist. He sat in his gloomy little room, staring at his greatfgrandf father's saber, which had seen service under Marshal Blucher. Then. for some unknown reason, he recalled one of Confucius's greatest statements. 'kThe greatest virtue of a quiet life is a dignified submission to circumstancesw. Submission, submission! but was it reasonable to submit under the circumstances? Last night, his brother had been ruthlessly dragged away by the Gestapo, for questioning . Herr Aachan knew what that meant. Many of his friends, including his father, had been marched away on this pretext, but none of them had ever returned. He thought of the peaceful days before the present regime had come into power, when all men, Aryan and nonfAryan, had lived side by side peacefully and happily. Life had been tranquil then. Now, every day the mangled bodies of one or more of his friends was found, covered with dust and blood, lying in the gutter. Their sacred cathedrals had been desecrated, their shops had been pillaged, and finally many ASZEESIQEZTE-'QQISQE3 ' A SEE, innocent people, including his brother, had been wantonly murdered or tortured. His eyes became more fixed, and a revenge' ful expression came over his dark, drawn face. He stood up and took the saber from the wall. With uneasy steps he walked back to his bed and pulled a grindstone from under it. Effif ciently he began to grind the agefold nicks out of the weapon until it shone more brightly and its edge became as sharp as a razor. He sat down to wait patiently until the sun sank beneath the mountains, and clouds took its place, transforming the sky into a fleecy blanket. Towards seven o'clock he heard a step out' side and peered through a concealed hole in the wall which served as a secret window. Disappearing around the corner of the buildf ing was a man in the grayfgreen uniform of the Gestapo. Silently Herr Aachan picked up his saber. He climbed out through a window and dropped noiselessly into the alley, along which he stealthily approached the doorway. In the doorway the Gestapo officer was trying to force his way into the house. With care Herr Aachan raised the saber and brought it down with dreadful force upon the Germans unprotected neck. The head spun away into the corner. The uniform was a disguise. for the face which looked up at Herr Aachan had belonged to his brother. -David Peat, '42 A VISIT To THE HAYDEN PLANETARIUM About a month ago I took a trip to New York. Of all the beautiful, magnificent, and unbelievable things I saw, the Hayden Planef tarium interested me most. It is one of the latest contributions to the great city, showing the supreme splendor of the astronomical world. I

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THE QUILL 5 privileges. These privileges, such as freedom of speech, press, and religion, are rights granted to the people by a constitutional form of government. And to the republic for which it stands. . The republic for which this flag stands is our country. The supreme power is held by our people, and is exercised by representatives elected by, and responsible to us. 'LOne nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our nation is divided, but only into states. It is not separated. It could not be, because our cause is a united one-liberty and justice for all. Liberty is freedom from restraint or compulsion, the power to do as one chooses. Justice, on the other hand, is the rendering to everyone his due, just treatment, be it reward or punishment, regardless of race or creed. If we had just one more chance to salute the flag, we would pay much more respect. We would realize how much it means to us. We do not idolize our flag as a god, we respect it because it is the symbol of our freedom. Let us stand erect, eyes on the flag, and say the pledge as if we meant it, glad that we are Americans. -Y--Doris Colby, '41 THE VALUE OF DRAMATICS There are many things to be said in favor of dramatics. It is a proven fact that you get from anything about what you put into it. I have found that this is true of acting. Last year something prompted me to try out for the junior play, That was what awakened me to the fact that acting truly is interesting. This year I made the Dramatic Club and actually got more pleasure from it than from anything else in my days at Gardiner High. If a person is naturally good at things of that sort, he owes it to his school to give them his efforts, if, on the other hand, he is a little bashful about such things, he owes it to him' self to overcome this fault. It is a wonderful gift to be able to talk when occasion requires it, and I actually know of business men who pay big money for training of this type. Isn't it much more sensible for us to obtain this training now for nothing? Everyone, I don't care who he is, likes to be complimented. If we do something and know we did it well, it pleases us to know someone else appreciates the fact. Believe me, there is a thrill greater than a roller coaster ride when you are acting behind the footlights. There is plenty of work too, but I assure you that if you put in your best effort, you will be rewarded. This work has also made me more conscious of my English. Cne must use good English in this highly educated world, and one of the best places to get training outside of the classf room is in plays or public speaking. The Dramatic Club is losing many experif enced members this year, and this means there will be vacancies to be filled. We need memf bers who are interested in acting, interested enough to work to obtain the many gifts it has to offer. I have outlined only a few of the advantages of belonging to the Club, but I sincerely hope that some of you will be inf spired to come and claim the many things it has to offer you. -james Desmond, '41

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THE QUILL 7 First, we attended a lecture, which I might have found yery interesting if I had not been so anxious to see the main part of the show. At last the lecture was over and my excitement was growing greater and greater every minute. The first thing that caught my eve was a large network of iron bars at the hack of the room. In a short time, a man approached and stand' ing directly in front of the bars. he proceeded to give a short talk on three probable ways in which the world might end. The lights were dimmed and finally darkness fell over the room and stars slowly twinkled out, giving the appearance of an illuminated heaven. Then suddenly a voice boomed, 'LWatch that moon! As the moon gradually grew nearer and nearer. I sat tense on the edge of my seat. expecting almost anything. There was a loud crash. The moon had struck the earth! I had never seen such realistic effects in my life: thunder, lightning, and everything that is part of a violent storm. I had hardly had time to recover from that, when I saw a comet slowly heading for the earth. Closer and closer it came and then Hnally the inevitable collision. which caused a deafening roar. The earth had been blown up. What a tingling sensation raced through mel Then the lecturer began to tell us of an' other way in which the world might come to an end. A slow rumbling sound could be heard, gradually growing louder and louder and resulting in the explosion of the sun. The earth had burned into a great flaming ball. The lecturer said that this was, inevitably, the way in which the world will come to an end. I left the Planetarium much soberer and more thoughtful than I was when I entered. !fean Greenlaw, ,41 AN EMBARRASSING DAY Foa H. E. JoNEs At the soft chiming of a quiet alarm clock, a perfectly manicured hand slowly reached out from between two lavender silk sheets to silence it. ' H. E. Jones got out of bed and stood before an open window, slowly counting from one to ten and alternating with deep breaths. He then got back into bed and rang for his servant. In bachelor luxury he ate a big breakfast and dressed for the office. Taking a last look in the full length mirror, he beheld a plump figure with a shining pink and white face and nicely groomed mustache. He shrugged his shoulders and muttered to himself UH. E., you're all right. Nothing cluttered the polished top of H. Efs desk. A few papers and a few of the most expensive cigars were the only things to be found there. just before lunchtime a commotion was heard in the outer office. I don't care if he is busy. I'm an old friend of his, I want to see him, a loud, hoarse voice was exclaiming. Into H. Efs sanctum strode a red-faced, stubbilyfbearded farmer, who slapped the business man on his flabby shoulf ders and exclaimed, 'lWell, am I glad to see you, Hiram Elmer. How'dye like to be back on the old farm? H. E.'s face got redder and redder, to think that at last one of his schoolmates had caught up with him. Oh, if he could only forget that name of his. Hiram was bad enough, but to have Elmer tacked on to that! H. E. thought, I must get Herb out of here. Even my secretary doesn't know what my initials stand for. What can I do? Finally he said, Here, Herb, have a cigar. You say youlre here only for the day. Too bad. Sorry, but I can't talk to you now. Have a business meeting to attend. 'Tm sorry, said Herb. I kinda counted on seein' you. Ain't seen you for a long time. Nice place you got here, Hiram. I'll have to bring the folks up here so they can-- But Herb was interrupted by a loud slam, and before he knew it he was on his way out of the building. Behind his large polished desk H. E. sank down in relief. He'd forgotten that he had seen his secretary go our for lunch as Herb came in. He was saved. No one yet knew what HH. E. stood for. -Martha Hamlin, ,42 WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANT THIS YEAR I This year in cities and towns all over America everyone was getting ready for the Christmas holidays. People were planning to buy gifts to give to their friends. Stores were filled with people buying fruits, vegetables,