Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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my newspaper I saw in headlines on the Sport Page — Manager Raupach of the Braves purchases Dondero, star pitcher of the Red Sox, for $10,000 and Robert Kent, his star sub thrown in. “Will wonders never cease ; ” I thought when a voice at my ear startled me and I heard in lady-like accents, “The Library closes at 5.30, Madam; so Pll have to ask you to leave.” I turned around and my reply never passed my lips for the librarian was none other than Anita Daniels. We fell in each others arms and, when we had our breath again, I learned that Anita’s assistant was Elsie Marr who had entire charge of the Art and Marine Room where Albert Spyut was a constant visitor. He was seek- ing inspiration for a new yacht to be called the “Elsie” and modelled after the “Hull” of his first. It seems Albert has been amassing a fortune since he and Jonathan Hall had joined forces building pleasure boats. John had am- bitions for a much larger boat than Albert’s and work had already been started on his masterpiece, “The Sway Easy”. During this last bit of gossip my sur- roundings had grown dim but as I waited objects became clearer and I found myself in a plain but dignified church. Directly in front of me sitting upright behind the reading desk sat a woman dressed as ’ a Quaker. Not a ' sound could be heard. Then abruptly anothe- woman dressed similarly passed up the aisle quickly and addressed the congregation. I held my breath. It was Ruth Gilday and the words she spoke were these, “Brothers and Sisters, the spirit has moved and I wish to an- nounce the world famous preacher. Sis- ter Helen Bruce who will favor us with an address on ‘How it is Possible to Remain Silent for Three Days.’ ” The shock of this announcement was too much for me remembering Brucy’s ability for having the last word in 1923 when her stage whispers could be heard in the noisiest of class rooms. Suddenly darkness descended upon me. This time I came to myself in the dusty street of a village directly oppos- site a store which bore the announce- ment on a huge sign over the door “Hamilton Bros., General Merchandise, Skowhegan, Maine.” I was about to en- ter when, with a rattle and roar, a huge jitney bus drew up beside me, and a verj business-like young woman descended from behind the wheel. As in a dream I watched her advance with out-stretched hands and with a start recognized in this spruce young lady Catherine Ryan. She suggested that we take a stroll through the village, and glad for a chance to talk over old times, I agreed. She informed me that any other day I should have met Ruth Brown, who was one of her regular passengers since she had been teaching school in the country. The scene changed without warning and I found that I was in the lobby of an enormous theatre, which was hung with portraits of the same beautiful young man, under each of which was printed in red and gold letters “William Burke the successor to Rudolph Valentino, sup- ported by Bernice Connor, his leading lady. All this week in his latest picture Wour eyes have told me so.’ ” Press notices attached to the signs explained the sudden rise to fame of the new star. The increased demand for Burke’s pic- tures by the flapper element of the coun- try had placed Valentino in the discard and he had been forced to seek employ- ment in a garage. In my eagerness to see my old class- mates in pictures I rushed past the man at the door and found myself in total darkness which began to grow light as 26

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PHOPHECY This afternoon, among my assembled classmates and friends, I wish to re- late to you a strange and disturbing ex- perience that came to me one afternoon last May. Suffering from an acute attack of s::ring fever, I had taken the afternoon from my lessons to wander in the cool dim shadows of the wood. With my volume of Milton and a box of choco- lates I was reclining on a grassy bank in the very heart of the wood, alter- nately reading passages of Comus and idly thinking of the future careers of my classmates. I closed my eyes and tried to conjure up visions of each one doing his or her chosen work and, find- ing all unsatisfactory, turned again to my Comus. The drowsiness of the afternoon soon overcame me and I tossed aside my book to lie thinking of the strange power of Comus to change unwary individuals into brute forms and then of changes in general. I languidly reached for an- other piece of candy and to my be- wilderment found that the box had dis- appeared and that the trees were gradually receding. I closed my eyes in horror and when I opened them again I found myself in the corridor of an office building standing directly oprosite a door on which appeared the inscription in neat black letters, “Helen Rogers, Mfg. of Wigs and Toupees”. I opened the door softly, and my ears were deafened by the rattle of hundreds of typewriters. Seated comfortably be- fore a huge desk just inside the door of this immense office sat my old school friend “Midget” but so changed. Her eyes were almost hidden behind huge shell glasses and her hair was done in an elaborate style, which made me suspect Midget of wearing one of her own wigs. Having accepted her invitation to sit down, we were soon deep in thoughts of by-gone days. To my surprise I learned that one of Helen’s best cus- tomers was Dot Shaw who was operat- ing a beauty shop in New York. I re- membered that Dot had been rather against the use of cosmetics during high school days, but since Evelyn Bamford, her old chum had accepted a position in the Metropolitan Opera Company, her aversion to rouge and powder had taken a change for the better. As I sat there musing over this strange news, my surroundings grew dim before my eyes and in a flash I found myself walking upon a beach overhung with palm trees. Beneath the largest of these sat a group of dark skinned men and women playing ukeleles and singing “On the Beach at Waikiki”. Suddenly my eyes were attracted to a blond girl wiggling and whirling in the mazes of the hula hula. Drawing nearer in my excitement, almost col- lapsed as I recognized the girl to be “Bea” Tufts. Habit had evidently played a large part in her life for I saw that just as in dear old Manning High days she was accompanied by a (Weagle) wiggle. Suddenly everything faded from my view, and as the air became clearer I saw to my surprise that I was sitting in the newspaper room of a huge library. Before me on the table lay a copy of the “Boston Post” and, glad to see some- thing familiar, I picked it up. The first thing that met my eyes was an an- nouncement reading like this — “Begin- ning today until further notice James Burke will take over the column, ‘Talks on Love and Sentiment’ formerly written by Mildred Champagne.” “A column a day will be easy for Jimmie,” I reflected, “ a ‘Page’ used to be his limit.” Just as I was going to lay down 25

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torches appeared here and there, throw- ing light upon the figures of two women dressed in the uniform of the “Holy Rollers” while to the accompaniment of drum and tamborines they were sing- ing “Hallelujah! Hallelujah.” As they turned their faces toward me I recog- nized in the singers Olive Pace and Phyllis Girard. As I gazed at them their faces gradu- ally became blurred and I saw that I was standing in the spacious hall of a beautiful house. Nailed over the en- trance door was a sign reading, “Home ' of the City’s Philanthropist”. Slowly descending the stairs, I saw a beauti- fully gowned woman, whose warmly tinted hair looked somewhat familiar. As she drew nearer my suspicions were confirmed, for the lady was Elsie Man- zer. Just as I laid my hand in hers, I heard a strong buzzing in my ears which gradually changed to the sound of mili- tary music, and as I looked about me I saw that I was standing near the parade ground of a military academy. March- ing towards me was a company of stu- dents led by an erect soldierly figure of a man. As I gazed upon him my heart beat faster and as he passed me with eyes straight to the front I saw that it was George Porter. George’s ambition was realized, for now at last, he was in command of a company of soldiers. I struggled to free myself from a sen- sation of falling and turning found Althea Carpenter Whittier by my side. At the end of ten minutes I was speech- less at learning that Althea was an au- thority on high finance, president of the Bankers Association of the Country, walking delegate of the S. P. C. A., a nd an active member of the Woman’s Peace Party. All this information coming at once, confused me, and as I gradually re- covered from my confusion, there fell upon my ears the deep toned voice of a woman crying, “Cherries, Cherries, fresh picked Cherries, twenty cents a box.” At that moment I wanted cherries more than anything else and as I turned I saw the tiny figure of a girl sitting upon a truck loaded with cherries as red as her own cheeks and from the mouth of this tiny girl was issuing the deep, mellow tones. She turned toward me and in the peddler of fruit, I saw Roseltha Witham. Our greetings over, I learned that Rosy was making a huge success of her cherry orchards and was making so much money that she cDuld afford to go twice a week to the Opera House where Julius Caesar Bean, the celebrated musician and past second fiddler in Sousa’s Band gave concerts. Admission $10.00. Rosy being a thrifty soul, apologized for her haste and left me, and as I sadly watched her disap- pear down the street, her cries grew fainter and fainter and upon my face in the growing darkness were falling drops of rain. I shuddered with sudden cold and opened my eyes. Hastily gathering up my books and chocolates, I beat a hasty retreat for home before the full force of the shower might come that had so rudely inter- rupted my journey into the future. Nancy Homans PRESENTATION OF GIRLS’ GIFTS It has been a very difficult task to se- lect gifts for the girls of the senior class. When I sought for inspiration among authors, poets, historians, and scientists, all alike proved unavailing. In my des- pair I resorted to Wool worth’s. Here, at least, were suggestions that were tangible and appropriate, if they could not honestly be termed “high brow.” As I wandered down the aisle I stopped and marvelled at the amazing 27