Kingfield High School - Abram Breeze Yearbook (Kingfield, ME)

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THE ABRAM BREEZE 21 PEACE? we have just fought a major war. A war in which our soldiers, sailors, amd marines fought on the icy shores of the Aleutians, across the blinding deserts of Africa and amid the steam- ing jungles of the Pacific Islands. We know briefly of the three major operations in which American forces participated - namely, the driving of the German and Italian armies out of norther Africa, the recovery of the Pacific Islands from their Japanese conquerors, and the final drive of the Allies across northern France and the Rhine, which brought the downfall of Hitler's Reich. we know that the efforts of the Allies in conferences planning the cooperation necessary for victory in the war and for harmony in the peace that was to follow were great. Most of us know the origin and structure of the United Nations Organizations and the measures which our qovernment has taken and will continue to take to help the im- poverished and undeveloped countries. Into our history has been recorded the most amazing discovery of the ages in the production of atomic energy, with its awful threat of total destruction or its benefits to mankind, if used for peaceful pur- poses. And now everyone can see the rift between the Western Democracies and the Communist governments as it constantly widens. Now the United States and the Soviet Union stand facing each other in an attitude of mutual suspicion which threatens to surplant the noble idea of One World of United Nations by a world divided into two hostile blocks of nations with the western democracies under the leadership of the United States, and the group of Communist states dominated by the Soviet Union and Stalin. Already there is open, if undeclared, warfare between the two groups in the armies of the United Nations opposing the open aggression of the Communistic forces of Northern Korea and China. Is there no way a global war can be averted and peace can be realized for that vast majority that is weary of war? Is there no alternative butwar if we are to preserve those rights and' freedoms that are so dear to the hearts of all freedom loving peoples? Is war which in itself may bring total destruction our only hope? Virginia Trask '52 SORRY. WRONG NUMBER It was seven o'clock one Sunday morning in mid-summer. The Blands were still sleeping because of the late hours kept the night before. At approximately seven-thirty there was a loud ring that broke the silence. The telephone! It rang once, twice, then a third time. Finally there was a stir from one of the bedrooms. At last maybe one of those sleepy heads will answer that thing and keep it quiet. Alas! All they did was to turn over, the husbamd saying, 'Answer the phone, Dear: I'm asleep.' Another silence except for the still ringing telephone. Now we hear a second voice, that of the wife. 'Hon, would you mind getting up to see if the baby is all right?' The husband, 'Sure, Dear.' 'And please answer the telephone now that you are up: it's keeping me awake.' With a growl the husband, having forgotten his slippers, clomped down- stairs in his bare feet. With a bang he lifts the receiver off the hook and shouts into the mouth piece, 'Hellol' There is a short wait: then the operator says, 'Sorry. Wrong num- ber.' Gloria Dyer '52 HOLIDAYS, THEN AND NOW The name 'holiday' is derived from 'Holy Day'. It is a time when people leave their work to celebrate a cer- tain historical event or to commem- orate a date of religious signifi- cance. Back in the days when most of our holidays were created people cel- ebrated holidays by making speeches and thinking about or worshiping the

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20 THE ABRAM BREEZE brother and I had 'jacks' like yours. I tipped mine over to one side too far and the candle fell out on my arm. This scar is what I got to pay for my experience.' 'How old were you?' 'About your age.' - 'What can I put in my jack-o-lantern instead of a candle?' 'You could use your father's flash- light.' . Jerry used a flashlight to light his lantern and didn't get a scar. Leone Chadbourne '54 JANGLE JANGLE 'Jangle! Ianglel' Nothing but si- lence from the occupants of the bed- room. 'Iangle! Iangle!' Then a faint groaning sound followed by another 'langlef' 'For Heaven's sake, answer that telephone.' ' 'But. Dear, it isn't the telephone. It's the alarm clock.' 'Well, shut it off then. It can't be time to get up.' A 'But it is time to get up,' says a feminine voice. A muffled sound fol- lows. Then again thevfeminine voice pleads,'Dear, please get up or you will be late for work again.' A blaring voice finishes this com- mercial:'Is this the way you feel in the morning? Does your wife have to nag you into getting up in the morn- ing? If so, you,should take Dr. Xa- vier's Heel-e-SmoothNitamins! Then you will feel Heel-e-Smooth again! Guaranteed to work in all ways! This is Station Q.B.C. broadcasting Monday through Friday.' Virginia Trask '52 TOURNAMENTS February 9, 1951, marked the begin- ning of the annual Franklin County Basketball Tournament. Most people think that the purpose of the tourna- ment is to choose the best team in the county by matching the teams, and the successful ones playing off the following days until the winners are determined. If that is the main purpose, there are others that are very valuable to the schools that are concerned. Let us consider first of all the finan- cial a gle. It costs a small school a lot of money to play basketball. Expenses for equipment, trans- portation and above all for referees for home games may be more than the income from spectators at the home games. In the past that difference has often been turned into a profit by our school's share of the profits from the tournament. Even if that were not so, there are still important reasons for partici- pating in tournaments from the view- point of the student. Members on the on the team come to appreciate even more than before the great importance of teamwork. They must work together for the good of all. They have to remain cool-headed in the midst of a wildly excited crowd and in the face of the toughest opposition. Players a d student spectators alike have the opportunity to meet a d visit schools a d people that they would not other- wise know. And in a world such as ours today it is important that an individual know about people outside of his own little community, even if those people are only from another similar community within his own state. With this knowledge he is more ready to meet and accept people still further from his own little circle. In addition to this, think of the free advertising a school and a town get from a team that is successful, especially in the larger state tournaments. If your team gets near the top, no longer do you have to meet the vacant stares of people who say: Kingfield? Where's that? Even if you don't succeed in climbing to. or near to, the top, you still have had a thrilling experience. And you may be able to say: Sure, we lost. But to whom? They went on right to the top. They're the best there is. And all will agree that it is no disgrace to to lose to a superior team. Robert Niemi '51

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22 THE ABRAM BREEZE subject of the holiday. Now a few of us think about the subject of the holiday and sometimes we have parades and speeches. but the majority of the people think of a holiday as a day of no work. One of the worst aspects of modern holidays is the habit of many people to use liquor to help them celebrate. They often get drunk and then pile into their cars and go to a party, a dance, or go visiting. This often turns holidays into 'horror days', regular massacres in which three hun- dred people may be killed in one weekend by traffic accidents. There are groups who are trying to do something about this. Perhaps the greatest influence against drunken driving over a holiday is the radio. Warnings are broadcast repeatedly for the people not to drink if they plan to drive: or if they feel they must drink to some degree, to at least drink some black coffee before coming home from a cocktail party. News- papers urge the same things. In spite of these warnings thou- sands of drivers will venture onto the highway after taking a drink.Many of them will be killed or injured: what is even worse, they will kill or maim many innocent people. People should take all holidays more seriously. They should be used to commemorate the things they were named for. Not a few, not a majority, but all the people must find a way to celebrate that does not include driv- ing under the influence of liquor. Malcolm Knapp '52 THE BIRTHDAY OF A GREAT AMERICAN -FEBRUARY 12TH We have just passed February 12th, the birthday of a great American. I think that it is fitting that we should pause to think about him for a moment. He was born amidst very humble sur- roundings in the early part of the nineteenth century in one of our frontier states. His father was a poor illiterate carpenter-farmer. Al- though his own mother had died during his childhood, his father married again, thus providing a mother for the home. The family moved several times, always westward. This America had very little form- al schooling, just a few months at a one-room country school. But that didn't stop him, for he learned everything he could by reading books, listening to speeches, and talking to learned people. The young woman he loved in his younger years died, a fact which deeply saddened his already melan- choly spirit. Later he married an- other and had four sons, of whom only one lived to grow up. This famous man, when he had in- curred a debt, never failed to repay the loan,even after years had elapsed and the other party may have forgot- ten about it. He trained himself for the bar and practiced law for a time. He was a member of the state legislature sev- eral times. He carried his beliefs to the people in the famous Lincoln- Lbuglas debates, which paved the way for him to be elected president even though they failed to get him elected to the U. S. Senate frpm Illinois in 1858. He was elected president ofthis country in one of the most,critica1 times we have ever had: but he nobly guided us through the war between the states. Had he not been assassinated by a fiend he would have carried out a sound, fair policy of reconstruc- tion instead of the scandalous one that was pursued. Most men would not have been able to overcome all the troubles and trials, endure all the privations and all the grief that this man did. Yet he withstood them all: and at the same time he was able to help his fellow men of all races to enjoy a happier and better life than they would have had had Abraham Lincoln not lived. Paul Cory '51