George E Westinghouse High School - Sketch Book Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

Page 13 text:

'-4-- l 1 The Sketch Book T f e'- -t a Poems I and jf? ras C 3, ..g, ' XQQ, I :fl A W 1 F ear R. SMITHERS, the eminent biological chemist, had arrived in the city. An upper classman informed me that our psychology professor had arranged an interview for me with the doctor in order that I might obtain some material to be used in a treatise on the work of a fear-ridden brain. He told me that the professor was staying at the home of one of his colleagues in order that some vital experi- ments might not be interrupted. As I was ushered in to the great man's study, he curtly asked me to be seated. He was bent over some foul smelling stuff that emitted red fumes. Suddenly, he became very nervous, so nervous in fact that he could not re- main standing in one position. As is the custom with some experimenters when in the midst of their work, he began to mumble brokenly to himself as if he had become demented. He turned and sharply demanded that I approach him. He then told me to remove my coat and bare one arm. I did not know what to do. I could not cry out, for the very air stifled me. Compelled by his commanding personality, I did as he demanded, even going so far as to hold my arm out to him. The biologist confirmed my fears by filling a hypodermic syringe with the liquid in the retort. He reached out to prick my arm as though I were some animal on which he was testing a new cure. VVhat was I to do? My voice re- turned, but I was calmly informed that there was no one in the house but us. I turned to run from the room, but the biologist pounced on me and forced me back into his study. YVith demoniacal strength he pulled me to his work bench. He picked up the syringe and put it above my arm. VVith a downward swoop it bit into my flesh and its contents rushed into my blood, sending a searing pain up in my arm. I slipped into black oblivion. Some time later, asI regained consciousness, I could see a ring of grinning faces. They assured me that my initiation into Alpha Alpha Kappa had been very successful. The bogus professor had injected only colored water into my arm. Fear, as I found, is a controlling influence. JOHN -I. STUBBS, '28 Eleven ...,., I 1 1928 --- . ..,,..

Page 12 text:

---vi-'l- '- MM The Sketch Book '--1 - i e-' the newspaper. The magazine is the proper organ for publishing stories, poems, and similar student work. In it we also find articles and comments of faculty members. The year book, or annual, has long been the most popular form of high school publication. As the value of such a book is determined, not at the time it is published, but some years later it is ofimportance that things of passing inter- est be omitted from it. The pictures, scholastic and athletic records, character- istics, and other noteworthy features of students about to be graduated give to such a publication an added value. It should contain snapshots, cartoons, and similar material that will at once bring back memories of school days. Such news as is published should be in a greatly condensed form, athletic events should not be printed in detail but merely given as summaries, with a tabulation of scores. Stories and poems are of little value as part of such a publication inasmuch as they are usually read but once and then forgotten. The financial side ofjournalism must be considered in planning a high school publication. The problem presented by the newspaper is not difficult. Usually the work is done in the school printing department and the other necessary ex- penses taken care of through student contribution. With the year book, how- ever, the financial problem is important. The size and character of such a publi- cation often makes it necessary that the printing be done on a commercial basis. This of course means an increase in cost. The usual year book costs considerably more than the amount for which it is sold. The difficulty in obtaining the ad- ditional money and the acknowledged limited educational value of the work done on a publication of this kind compels the editors to reduce costs to a minimum. To this end we must be sure that the material used is worth the cost and is also of permanent value. Soon after Westinghouse High School was organized the need of a school publication was felt. This led to the preparation of the first issue of The Skeich Book. The only publication, it contained news of all the activities of the school as a whole, stories, poems, alumni news, and of course the Senior Section. W'ith the opportunities offered by our own printing department Vvesting- house added a new publication of the newspaper type, The Bullelin. The Sketch Book then became strictly a semi-annual publication. Yet it continued to print much that was of a newspaper character. Little by little, however, the space devoted to material of a transitory nature was reduced and the number of cuts, cartoons, and pictures increased, with the result that the book is becoming more and more a true year book. Vile have endeavored to embody in this issue of The Skelch Book some of the recognized ideals of first class publications, in the hope that it will be of great value to its friends in years to come by ever bringing back to them the pleasant days spent in dear old Yvestinghouse. .ala if fa., S' -qy, Nl ff .A ,T J Ten ...,... - 1--F 1928 - ..e,..

Page 14 text:

--la-1 The Sketch B00k -on Martina N an Amish-Dutch settlement near New Castle, Pennsylvania, some years ago, one might have seen a small, dark-haired Amish girl in the Vaughledt house or moving restlessly about the plain yard. Although she was clad in the severe habit of her sect, Martina's piquant face with its crown of almost black hair distinguished her from the usual pink and white Amish girl. She was, in the eyes of the self-righteous farmers, a sinful girl. She would not go to the meeting house unless so inclined, and what was more, Martina danced. This little rebel had, however, one secret admirer, old Peter Vengehl, great uncle to nearly every young person in the settlement. The aged man well remem- bered the brave little French grandmother who had often told him fanciful tales and had crooned little French songs to him when his parents were not about. He saw reflected in Martina the grace and loveliness of her ancestor. One warm spring day after a hard winter Martina stood alone in a little clearing separated from the house by a grove of trees. The Vaughledt family had gone to a funeral, leaving Martina free for a whole afternoon. As she gazed happily about her, she swayed gently back and forth, and then as she grew more and more exultant, she danced a wild dance of freedom as though her soul were released from suppression. Her full skirt of gray cotton material she lifted from the ground to free her quickly moving feet. At the height of the dance, feeling eyes watching her, she turned abruptly, and, as she did so, two women stepped into the clearing. One was small and grace- ful, while the other was sweet and motherly. Martina recognized the latter as a woman to whom her father sold butter and eggs. 'KAre you one of the Vaughledts? she asked. I am Mrs. Martin from New Castle and this is my friend, Mademoiselle La Grise. I have come for my butter and-H Ahl Marief' said Mademoiselle with a gesture ofimpatience, forget your butter and eggs. I want to see this child dance. VVill you? she turned to Mar- tina eagerly. Martina was amazed and very shy, but Mademoiselle soon put her at her ease. She stepped into the clearing and began to dance, timidly at first, then wildly, hauntingly. Jeanne La Grise Watched her, noting the lovely face alight with joy. Finally, Martina stopped, breathless, her diffidence overcoming her again. Mademoiselle thanked her and asked her questions about her life. In her answers Martina unwittingly revealed her dislike fer her drab existence. When the three went to the house to get the neglected butter and eggs, they found that Martina's father and old Peter Vaughledt had returned early from the funeral. Mademoiselle very delicately broached the subject of taking Martina to New York with her, but Mr. Vaughledt's slow mind stubbornly persisted that Martina was good Amish girl and she stay on farm. It was Uncle Peter who unexpectedly pleaded and won Martina's case. That night an old Amish man and a speechless girl sat side by side in the great Syrian Temple at New Castle while the famous dancer, Mademoiselle La Grise, Hitted back and forth on the large stage. The next morning the same old man helpedf Lhe same wondering girl into the train and charged Mademoiselle to take care o er. Some two months later, an announcer stepped forward on a well-lighted stage of a ball-room in New York and said, On account of an accident this afternoon Twelve ---an e 1928 ee 1-9--