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

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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,

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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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s THE QUILL and fancy candy for the Christmas feast. Alf though many friends and families did not feel the security of warm homes and nice things to eat, they were happy because they were allowed to celebrate Christmas in a land of freedom. We did not have to strain our ears for the sirens warning us of an approaching air raid, to crowd into bombfproof cellars like sardines in a can in order to stay alive a little longer, nor to try to think where our next meal was coming from. We were safe. Many Americans went out and sang Christmas carols to their friends, while in Europe bombs were raining down on innocent people, people that had never done anything wrong in their lives. Why should they be made to suffer for other people's greed for power? They were not allowed to celebrate Christ' mas as they had in the past. Most of them had to stay in bombfproof cellars. They were separated from their families by oceans. Many of them did not even have a place to stay. We complain because we have to follow a few simple rules, the people in Europe have their lives based on strict rules. We live and act as we please, they can not do what they like. They are prisoners of a selfish ruler who considers his word law, we do not have to live according to some one else's rules. Of course, we have to abide by the laws, but that is not like Europe's way of living. We believe we were created free and equal. We are allowed to have our fun, and we do not have to ask a ruler's consent for that privilege. People in Europe dream of coming to America because of our way of living. They consider our land a heaven on earth. We should consider ourselves lucky if we were just with our families at Christmas and be thankful for what we have and not want more. Let us all hope that Christmas next year will be different from what it was in 1940 for the people in Europe, and that it will have its real meaning: Peace on earth, good will toward all men. -Marguerite Morang, '42 RESULT????? Time-March 20, 1941 Place-Room 2-Senior English Class Characters-The Unfortunate English Stuf dents. Mrs. Smith- The Eortuf nate English Teacher The door opens-enter, Mrs. Smith. Everyf body sits-too quiet. It's too late now! No time to ask questions or sharpen a pencil. We're trapped!! Mrs. Smith, peering over the top of her glasses, looks at each of us in turn, then demands, What have you for the Quill? We stare at her and then stare back at each other-'iBut, what do you want? What shall we write? Anything-that's sensible , says she. Sensible? we all echo back at her. Yes, my children-sensible. I am asking you, the master minds in our midst, to have something ready by tomorrow. fElattery, she believes, is the only method of persuasionj. We gaze blankly out of the window and chew on our pencils, while she stands there, drum' ming her pencil. As no one utters a sound, Mrs. Smith pref pares to leave us to our meditation. Before she leaves, she says, Now remember, children, I shall come around tomorrow and gather up your information. If she only knew that none of us QI par' ticularlyl is very clever. She turns on her heel and leaves us to our luckless fate. Result????7 This! ! ! !! -Rita Buckley, '41 A PICTURES IN THE FIRE It's fun to sit before an open fireplace and see the pictures flash and disappear. All one needs is the crackling log fire and a touch of imagination. Once I saw the thousand ships of Troy launched. They were flaming red and laden with soldiers. For a moment they rocked and then vanished from sight.