Mechanic Falls High School - Pilot Yearbook (Mechanic Falls, ME)

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M. F. H. S. Pilot 29 meant being lost and freezing to death. By three o'cloek he had imade but a quarter of the way to the shack and he was beginning to tire. Two hours later it was hard to dis- tinguish the trail in the drifting snow. jim had stopped tending to his traps and was making every effort to get to his shack. Already it was getting gray, and jim was tired now, and he felt queerly weak. He was shivering, then he was perspiring, then he was doing both at the same time. He couldn't keep this pace up much longer even if he didn't reach camp. He would have to stop and rest soon and perhaps make a cup of tea himself up. . Hours later Jim did stop, after l.e had bumped into a was dark and knowing that there was no use in wandering around trying to find the trail, he groped about in the snow and finally found enough sticks to start a small fire. He put his cup Filled with snow, to melt for tea, on the lire. He sat down and dozed, awoke with astart and put so.me tea into his cup, dozed again, and slept. to warm but only tree. It Tl at spring, young Robert Page found a pile of bones near the old trap- per's trail. The wolves and voltures had not left much for identification. Hut near the bones were several traps of vari u-4 sizes with the name james Allen, printed on them. I William Coolidge, '38 HCHEWING GUM Nine persons out of ten like to chew gum, but why? Etiquette books say it is a very, very, had mannered person that chews grim. Beauty Experts say it willprexent a double chin. Doctors say it l elps digest your food yet I d,in't chew gum for any reason. I chew simply because I like it. I am in favor of all gum chewers because it is harmless, it doesn't cost much and there's nothing in the world I like bet- ter than GUM! Some chew gum with their back teeth making no noise, some with their front teeth making snapping noises, others blow big bubbles of gu-m, while still others grab it, stringing it out their arm's length, It takes practice to be a good gum chewerf' One must practice long, hard and faithfully and must be tireless in his or her efforts to make a snap that can be heard all over the room or to be able to make no noise. Can you think of a more enjoyable way of spending a rainy evening than to curl up in a nice soft easy chair, with the latest detective magazine at hand, and a nice new stick of gum upon which to chew? Let me tell you the story of gum. First it is the sap of a tree, later it is manufactured into gum and sold. Then it is jostled around in someone's mouth, parked on a dish for three four days, tossed around again in someone's mouth and at last laid to rest forever under a seat in a theater. Now perhaps you don't chew gum but prefer to spend your money on tobacco, cigarettes, cigars or candy. However, the only way to set the wlorld right for me, when school isn't going well or other troubles are bother- ing me, is to chew my troubles away! Helen Rowe, '37 THE UNUSUAL HOUSE PARTY Tonight has been set aside for our high-brow house party. This party

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28 M. F. H. S. Pilot M. ii-11 iw. ' I I . ,, i ' - me Ia I1 Ill' . T He knew he would have to hurry today if he was to be back before the storm Started. A snowstorm in the North was something to be respected. lt might last a day or it might last a week. XYhen the wind blew the snow into drifts over a manis head, and when the mercury in the ther- mometer disappeared, the trapping business was for younger men than Jim. Nevertheless, mid-morning found .lim barely a quarter of the way around the line. The snow seemed a little thicker, and a slight wind was sway- ing the trees, making the snow fall off and drift to the ground. .-Xt noon .lim was still trudging along from trap to trap and it was over an hour before he came to his customary stopping llace. He built a small fire and filled his which to mal-'e tea. Hs- felt unusually tired and his coat, while frozen with a crust of snow on the outside, was damp with perspiration on the inside. lt was definitely snowing harder now and the wind nearly succeeded in ex- cup with snow with tinguishing the hre. He did not rest today as was his habit at his mid-day stop, but started immediately on his return trip. Being on the trail after dark in this bad storm VOICE OF THE NORTH It was the truth, He could not de- ny it. Old .lim Allen was getting old. He wouldn't tend a trap line in that cold country many more years. He- ing on the line all day in freezing weather was getting beyond his en- ilarance. llit it was fall again and .lim was repairing his traps and getting his snowshoes into condition. He was thinking that before many days he would have to hire young Robert Page, with his tlivver, to take him out to his shack to repair the roof. It was morning and several weeks had passed. There was a light snow fallingg the Hakes were drifting lazily onto the hugh jack pines. The pines seemed to be protecting a small shack from which smoke arose from a piece of stove pipe protruding thru the roof Finally, the door opened and out step- ped an old man, a faded mackinaw on his stooping shouldersg shoulders that had known the weight of many packs. They now carried several traps of va- rivus sizes, .lim Allen, for it was he, closed the door and stepped to the side of the shack where a pair of snowshoes were stuck in a snowdrift. jim put the shoes on and started on his tramp around the trap line.

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30 M. F. H. S. Pilot is to be quite different from our pre-- vious parties in that all the guests are very famous. Tonight finally comes and also, one by one, come our guests. Our first guest to arrive is Sherlock Holimes, an elderly man smoking a black pipe, and wearing a brown tweed suit which looks at least one size too large and very much out of press. Sherlock takes his seat in front of the fire place and looks very thoughtful blowing smoke into the air from time to timeg aside from that, he seems quite motionless, Next to arrive is Robinson Crusoe, clad more or less in rags and appearing quite haggard. He, also, went into the living room and, not paying any atten- tion to Sherlock, strolled about the room observing the paintings hanging on the walls. A few minutes after Mr. Crusoe's appearance Cleopatra glides in, clad in a vivid red dress of scanty dimen- sions. Taking no notice of either of the men already in the roo-m she throws herself upon a divan and moodi- ly picks up a book lying on a table near by. Slim, and dressed in dark clothes appears the Thin Man. Noticing Cleo- patra and, at the same time, under the appraising look of this lady in red, he soon finds much in common with her. He entertains himself with hardly a glance at the others wh-o, at this turn of affairs, seem to be not in the least interested. Merton of the Movies is next to ap- pear and, after taking a good look at himself in the hall mirror, strides dramatically into the room. At the sight of beautiful Cleopatra on the couch, he stops short and, growing very red in the face, mumbles some- thing and passes on to regain his self- possession. Quite an oldish man next appears dressed in dark but rather shabby clothes, This is Silas Marner who by no means livens up the party. to be the seventh in the spacious living room garbed in a black evening gown. Although much more beautiful than Cleopatra herself, she does not have quite the glamour and, much to the disappointment of Venus, the Thin Man still stays in the most gracious company of Cleopatra. Venus proves line and enters Five minutes after, the tapping of a cane upon the hardwood floor of the hall gives away the appearance of Rip Van Vtlinkle. Rip, very stooped and lame, enters the room and sits in the cl air nearest to the doorg after folding his extremely long beard upon his lap, he goes to sleep, presenting by no means a cheerful sight. XVilliam Baxter next puts in an ap- rearance with neatly combed hair and a rose in his button hole, XVilliaim Wears a rather ill-fitting tux, and carries a cane which he leaves in the vestibule. XVilliam makes his entrance rather timidly and, not seeing Cleopatra, walks over to the divan on which Ve- nus has taken a seat. Sitting upon the furthermost side he starts to chew his nails and nervously tap his foot. Last and almost late was Socrates who, clad in a white toga and bearing in his left hand a scroll, was to open the meal with a speech fitting and proper for the occasion, Ten in all are now present which in- cludes all invited to the party. Among those ten only two seemed to be en- joying themselves and those two were Cleopatra and the Thin Man who are