Mechanic Arts High School - M Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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ln T H E stvr' lailed to appear. for us it was the thrill that eomes once in a lifetime. hleanwhile the pre- siding ollieer who was introducing the speakers was saying. . . and lX'1r. Lyle Cobb, Mr. l rederiek l.undbery and hflr. tlammer ,lones will take the negatiye side. The Caribous sat up with one aeeord as if the seats had been Charged with electricity. I gasped. Then looked again. Surely I was tlreaming but no-there was .lam- mer ltittirelli sitting on the platform in place of the first boy who had disappeared. Then 'twixt murderous glances from the Caribous and victor- UPON FINDING A DEAD SOLDIER llv 'l'oxi SP1-:Nei-,ia NVhy lies he here, so still, so stiff, so cold Upon this dreary, drab, and drizzly morn? 'Tis but a youth, with striking features bold, WVhose dirty, bloody clothes are Wet and torn. I looked into his tired and eareworn face His hair and eyes of deepest darkest brown. No beard as yet, had made a lasting trace. I saw instead a bloody mat of down. .and as l looked, ll strange thought came to me Somewhere, back home, a girl is all alone. And, too, a mother's waiting patiently For his return, when cruel war is done. W'ith heavy heart, and sorrow drooping head. l turned and left the soldier lying dead. ious looks from the Uzxelas, klim and l slumped down in our seats and listened in a daze while the Uxxelas won the debate. ln absolute dexieetion vve lelit the auditorium but a group of the Oxxelas behind us were eheer- ing loudly and clapping each other on the back. Suddenly we oyerheard Nlammer's voice exelaim. Say, that atomixer stuff sure was a wonder. lt helped my hoarseness like magic. l tnustn't for- , . . . - v get the name ot it in ease l'm hoarse again. Oh . . . l that was almost too much. .lammer sure must have had a patent leather throat, thatls all l ran sayl - A SONNET llv lNl,vnr:ti'i kl'l'i-I 'lliucsvax liaeh day l lie within my quiet door, AX lonely Cabin on the mountain side, To see, along the valley's winding floor The west express magnificently ride XVith egoistic whistle and a pour Of plumy smoke blaek as an inky tide. liach day from Pullman windows satisfied Sophisticated ones my lot deplore. ,Xnd yet I know, as they, the buds of spring, The summer's fulness, autumn's ruddy wane l feel the fires of human love that sing To my upholding through all bitter pain .-Xnd l find my meager living lose its sting ln passing of my forbearls sturdy strain. SUM ER BY Nlaiuci. Gktwi-:yvAi.n Upon a shady bank l sat, Une lovely summer day And watched the lazv water pass By on its happy way. Here violets blossomed in the grass And eowslips, yellow gold, Soft breezes stirred the willow trees And magic secrets told. The birds above sang merrily The clouds went sailing by l Watched and wondered drearilv VVhy I should ever sigh. I

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T H E M a red ilannel tied around his throat. jumping jupiterl if I wasn't surprised. I nearly fell off the ledge. WVhile I was still looking jim nudged me to lie down and listen. .-Xt first I didn't make any sense out of the conversation until somebody said, We've got to do something for jannner's hoarseness. That's all there is to it. I felt like cheering when somebody else-it sounded like Chick', ltlverett-cried, I've got itl A kid once told me about an oil of some- thing-the druggist will know what it is-that helps hoarseness wonderfully well. It costs about three bucks an ounce but it's worth it. Here you, jensen. Take this jack and run down to the drugstore. Ya, oil of something. Helll know. Make it snappy. After jensen had left, Chick spoke again, 'cAny of you fellows got an atornizeri We'll have to pump the stuff down jammerIs throat. 'Ilhat's the way you do it. I have, someone answered and evidently left the room to get it. just then jim poked me and handed over a note. I opened it cautiously because I was scared still weld be discovered and read: Go down to the drugstore and buy a bottle of the strongest perfume you can get. Nothing poisonous. Charge it. I'll stay here. Nobody can see me from the street so I guess I'm safe. Very much mystiiied but guessing that some- thing was up I did as I was told. I barely missed bumping into jensen who was coming out of the drugstore but finally I got back safely to jim, one bottle of perfume to the good. I judged from the conversation that jensen had already returned. jim was still thinking hard and surprised me by nearly falling off the ledge when somebody inside suggested the idea that a hot bath was good for hoarseness. VVe heard a struggle which evidently resulted in jammer being gently assisted out- of the room by the gang. Thenlf-I jim whispered to 1ne, Here's our chance,'l and crawling into the room, he snatched the atomizer off the table, emptied its contents out the window and poured in the per- fume. He was back in his old place before I had thoroughly realized what it was all about. YVhile we were waiting for them to return, jim said, VVe'd better stay to see if they notice anything's wrong. But luck was with us. A few minutes later when they were putting jammer to bed again, the campus gong rang for the first afternoon class, so they left the boy alone with strict instructions to pump that ustuffn down his throat every tive minutes. We breathed a big sigh of relief and sliding down the rain pipe went to class. We were pretty sure that jammer wouldn't discover the change. . It was a downcast looking bunch that ate din- ner together at the Caribou Club house that night with the exception of two and every at- tempt at joking fell Hat. We had not told them about the proceedings of the afternoon, but were waiting to spring it on them when they were all together. When jim, who has a liking for the sensational, sensed that the time for breaking the news had come, he arose. Fellow Caribousf' he began, Life is won- derful, indeed, when . . .II Say, cut the comedy, cried one of the fel- lows. VVell, it isn't comedy, that's a cinch, re- torted jim, indignant at having his carefully pre- pared speech spoiled. Without much more ado he related our experience of the afternoon and concluded with an explanation of why he had gotten the perfume, Once my Aunt Bella pumped perfume down her throat by mistake and it scared her so badly that she called the doctor. The doctor told her it wouldn't do any harm only the alcohol would make her throat feel all the more dry and hoarse. VVe were going to play safe and see that jammer didn't get to the debate tonight so that's why we bought the per- fumef' The club went wild at the announcement and the house was filled with hilarious cheering. jim, without a doubt, had caused a sensation. Present- ly when things had somewhat cooled down the gang prepared to leave for the auditorium in a body. The place was packed. It looked like every boy in the college was there. As the Caribous marched to their reserved section they were cheered by loyal supporters, but in a half-hearted manner. We only smiled though and put on expression which read, 4'You just waitin I could see out of the corner of my eye that the Ozzelas were casting rather surprised and what I gathered to be apprehensive glances our way. Tickledf Say, I was tickled pink and I nudged jim and said, We got 'ein going! He only had time to nod before the presiding ofiicer arose from his chair and called for order. As the speakers marched onto the platform, I could see the looks of astonishment which spread over the faces of the Ozzelas when jammer jones

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TI-IE M DAY I THE BUSH lit' iX'l.'XR,ll7RIli lltttt-vx.-xx f n lllti Southern Cross had faded from ,233 the skv, the ghostly' gravness of 1' .V ' Q 'V' H . . ' ' . f1i,'Q early dawn glided into the air and the slightest suggestion of a white 'una' haze crept up in the east. The birds were awaking one by one. 'the psalmist of the dawn, the little yellow and green shrike robin was the first to salute the morn with his melodious 'ftink-tink g the pallid cuckoo was practising his chromatic scale far out of sighp in the top of a tree, a grey thrush's acrobatic whist- ling notes came from a wattle tree near byg from far away a coo-ee bird passionately called coo- oo, coo-oo to the unresponsive mateg the little house swallows joined in with their cheerful warbling songsg and every now and then the song was punctuated by a burst of raucous laugh- ter from a family of hookaburros. Thus the chorus of the birds, marvelous and beautiful, sang loudly, gayly, exultantly to greet the sun, that capricious lord of young Australia, As he rose in his glory of purple, gold and crim- son, the chorus ceased and the birds dispersed and busied themselves searching for breakfast. The day had already begun in a shabby, un-- painted little fratne house which sat perched up four feet from the ground on wooden posts. Mrs. Nlurray was already astir, kindling the fire and setting the ever present tea kettle on to boil. The boys who slept on a cot on the veranda, had been awakened by the brilliant Hood of sunlight and were ready for their cups of tea before they waded barefoot through the tall dewy grass to bring in the cows for the morning milking. By the front veranda was fourteen-year-old Nlonica, the only girl of the family. She was not a beauty by any means, but there was an in- describable charm about her attitude of shy frank- ness. Her hair was a tumbled mop of dark brown shot with golden glintg her eyes, a deep blueg her cheeks a dusky tan underlaid by a rosy glow. She was dressed in a torn and faded blue print dress and wore neither shoes nor stockings. Her attention was taken up by the beauty of a large Rangoon creeper which climbed on a trellis on one side of the front veranda. It was covered with clusters of tiny flowers which, although they were pure white now, would soon turn a pale pink under the action of the sun and later deep red. Soon lylonica had to go inside to help prepare the breakfast and was busy cutting great stacks of bread and opening a new tin of blackherry jam. The boys carrie in panting and breathless from a race from the cowyard to the house. Say, Mum, it's not fair, cried hfler- vvng he had a start of about six yards and then he crows about winning the raceln VVell,'y said Clarence calmly, 'flVlervyn's legs are about a lioot longer'n mine, so l think that evens it up. hflrs. Nlurrav, used to arguments of this kind, merely laughed and silenced the boys by putting the breakfast on the table. 'l'he early morning passed in the routine of rnilking the cows, separating the tnilk, setting the cream away in the cream shed, feeding the calves and pigs on skimmed milk and washing up the separator. 'l'he boys went away with their father to mend a fence in a far distant corner of the farm and were away until dinner time. In the meantime Mrs. Nlurray and lylonica were well occupied. Thev churnedg they baked breadg they swept and scrubbed and cleaned until the house looked like a new pin. .Xbout dinner time, as though attracted by the savory smells, a traveling man with his pack ap- peared. Sure of a welcome in almost any bush home, he sat down on the little back veranda dis- playing his wares which seetned to range all the way from a ribbon or a hairpin to a silk dress length. Greatly intrigued by his store Nlonica made him go through the entire pile. Having bought a few things, Mrs. lhilllfflly, as a matter of course, invited him to stay for dinner. After the meal was over and the traveller had departed, Moiriczt washed the dishes and prepared for the great event of the day, going for the mail. Unusually thoughtful of his sister lyler- wyn caught and saddled his sister's horse for her. She looked very sweet and fresh as she set out dressed in a pink blouse, a grey riding skirt and a wide brimmed hat trimmed with pink roses. The trip to the postotlice occupied about three- quarters of an hour, over an irregular road wind- ing through the dark mysterious scrubland, up hills, past gurgling little creeks where beautiful birds drank and bathed in the cool water. lyloni- ca enjoyed her ride through the drowsy, quiet dusk for she loved it in every phase, and always watched everything with a fresh interest, seeing new things at almost every glance. VVhen she arrived at the postoflice, which was nothing more nor less than an empty cracker tin nailed to a tree, she found several people already there awaiting the coming of the mail man. hlonica tethered her horse beneath a shady tree