Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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LIIj-2-. E CPi NGEg. The exchange column of the Sun¬ beam is above the ordinary. The cover of the Phi-Rhonian prends le gateau for neatness. Is slang slang if you say it in another lancruafife? The December Academian con¬ tains a graphic description of By¬ ron’s “Mazeppa,” with a forceful ap¬ plication to intemperance. We like the article on H. H. in the Arms Student. The writer, F. V. Tupper, shows a sympathetic ap¬ preciation of her character and work. In the Literary Monthly, Parkville Mo., Charles F. Winchell has a short article on the private ownership of land, which contains an able argu¬ ment against the Henry George land theory. Juveils Vade IMecum modestly de¬ mands three, and politely requests tioo more copies of every exchange for one of its own! It does not want the earth I Oh, no! it will bo quite contented with the whole solar sys¬ tem ! The Academy Journal, Alexan¬ dria, Va., is quite excusable for send¬ ing us a little fartlior Down East than we belong. If we made no Avorse mistakes than that we would give ourseK es a congratulatory pat on the back. When the prize articles appear in the Kandolph-Macon Monthly we may expect an improvement even on the ood things of the December number. Among the latter is “Ex- pression,” which has a rather strong Emersonian flavor—but then, Emer¬ son is always good, even at second hand. The editors of the Niagara Index seem to have been someAvhat elated over the prospect of vacation, and the general hilariousness must have reached the proof reader, too. How else can one account for “ancestors,” “delectible,” ‘‘ preci|)itatly,” and “de¬ gress,” all in five consecutive lines. Had we not read “The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,” we would much admire the originality of “Tea Table Papers” in the D ;cember Ot¬ tawa Campus. In the same number J. B. exalts the IMeaning of Life •above its ordinary interpretation. He says: “This, then, is what life should and may mean to us; a culti¬ vated mind, in a sound body, under the dominion of a pure, powerful soul.” The College Reflector from Miss., the Golden Eagle from Binghamton, N. Y., the Volunteer, Concord, N. H,, a bright school paper oith an exchange column. High School Gath¬ erings, Whitinsville, Mass.,—the name a happy hit,—and the Ideal, Philadel]fliia, we have not seen be¬ fore, but hope to greet regularly hereafter. The Academe, Woi’cester, Mass., we cordially Avelcome back. We had supposed it dead, for neither have Ave seen it before this year, nor have Ave seen it mentioned in any of our exchanges, Avhich number nearly a hundred. Judging by some of the “Notes,” the high school keeps up its reputation for enterprise and original ideas. A word to certain others of our ex¬ changes. Do you not know that it is re¬ garded as a gross insult to have the name of your excliange in Roman type instead of Italics?—[Shurtleff College Review. Perhaps someone else, instead of the Shurtleff College RevicAv, is “most ignorant of Avhat he’s most assured,” but the example of some of the best publishing houses in the country is sufliciently good for us to follow. The selection of life-work should be the result of a conviction of fit¬ ness Do not start out in any pro¬ fession or business until you find that you can become fully competent to succeed in it. If you set out con¬ scious of only a partial fancy for the Avork, you are likely to be unsuccess¬ ful.—[Chauncy Hall Abstract. The Cue, Albany, has a bright little poem in last month’s issue called “My Friends.” This number excels in its poetical contributions. As they are not accredited to any one, Ave suppose them to bo original with the Avriters for the paper. The author of “Fancy Fact” deserves much credit, but when the ex.-ed. says the Cue’s exchange column “numbers several excellent papers,” we fail to understand just Avhat his idea of an exchange column is. The High School Annual of Ncav- ark, N. J., is full of interesting mat¬ ter, and is emphatically Avhat it assumes to be, a school journal. Among many Avell-Avritten article the one on “Prometheus Bound” shows Avell digested study and thought on the part of the Avriter. “The statistics of the gentlemen of the senior class” are jiarticnlarly en¬ tertaining, but, shades of John Wes¬ ley! of Avhat is that embryo Methodist minister thinking, to boldly declare Byron his favorite poet! We see that the Wilmington Col- legian takes the same ground that Ave do on the “Vita sine literis mors est” dispute. We see also that it not only takes the same ground, but expresses the same sentiment, and, Avhat is rather flattering to us, con¬ sidering that the Collegian is the organ of a college, Avhile Ave simply represent a high school, expresses them in the same loords. Nature has her compensations. Hoav happy is that revelation of the microscojie Avhich shows us that the activity of the flea is partly caused by the parasites Avhich live upon its OAvn body. Science is consoling. Whittier has Avritten the following inscri])tion for the Milton AvindoAv in Westminster, jiresented by G. W. Childs of Philadelphia :— The New World honors him whose lofty plea For England’s freedom made her own more sure, Whose song,immortal as its theme,shall be Their common freehold while both Avorlds endure. Prof. Proctor says of our growth that the most retarded state for the boy is about 13, and the age of most rapid growth (after the first tAvo or three years) is about 16, the corres¬ ponding ages for girls seems to .be about 12 and 13 respectively. Dur¬ ing: the time from birth to the ag:e of 17, boy.s, as a rule, acquire a smaller portion of their full groAvth than girls do between birth and the age of 15. In the great maj-irity of cases girls add very little to their height after 15. Boys, on the other hand, usually add tAvo or three inch¬ es to their height after 17. The intoxicating property of all liquors is due to the presence of alco¬ hol, Avhich is not one of God’s “good creatures” the result of life and groAvth. It is the product of decay and death. Observe hoAV carefully nature guards against it production. This is the meaning of the purple skin of the grape, the varnished cov¬ ering of the apple, the leathery case of the banana, and the polished rind of the melon,—all arranged to pre¬ vent the admission of the fermenting oxygen. Indeed, if the saccharine substance is alloAved to complete its decomposition even, Ave shall not have alcohol, but acetic acid. Any sugary substance, Avhen fermented, breaks up into two poisons,—alcohol and carbonic acid gas,—the former deadly if taken into the stomach, the latter if inhaled.

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Misnomers. W HAT a day I have had ! Every¬ thing lias been so [irovoking ! I’ve just been down town shopping, and in the first store I asked the clerk for some lead pencils; he said: “We have none in the store.” As I turned to leave, he said; “I beg your pardon, but perhaps you are looking for jiencils with graphite in them.” I remarked that I supposed that was it, but they had always been called lead pencils ever since I could remember. Although I want¬ ed some sealing-wax, too, 1 knew of other places where it could be bought, and, as 1 felt a little pro¬ voked, I went on. “I sould like to see some sealing-wax,” said I, in a sec¬ ond store. After a moment the clerk handed a box to me saying: “I sup¬ pose this is what you want, but it is not wax at all; this is a mixture of Venice turpentine, shellac and cinna¬ bar.” I told him that whatever it was I wanted it. I left as soon as I could, for I could see that he was amused at my embarassment. I next went into a jewelry store to look at some thimbles. I saw a very ]»i’etty one and immediately asked the price; adding, “I suppose this is good silver, is it not?” “Oh yes, it is German silver,” he said. I replied that it was just as good, if it loas im¬ ported. When I got home 1 found that I a third time had shown my ignorance. Perhaps you can ima¬ gine my wrath when I found 1 had a thimble made of an alloy of zinc, cop¬ per and nickel, and no silver in it. In a dry goods store I asked for some whale-bone. The clerk said, “I am sorry to say we haven’t any.” “Tiien I must try at another store,” I said. The clerk happened to re¬ member that they had something in the store Avhich people called whale¬ bone, but which, he said, did not contain any property of bone, and therefore is not bone. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was what I wanted, and so I told him that it would serve as well for my purpose as what I had asked for,—at the same time trying to seem indifferent, but to little pur¬ pose, I fear. Our pump needed fixing, and as I was passing by the hard-ware store, I stepped in and said that we had a pump at the house which needed fix¬ ing. The man who waited on me said, “What kind of a ])ump?” “A suction ])um]), of course,” I replied. “Well, of all wonders, yours is the only family in town which has one; that is, that I know of,” he said. “I guess not,” I said. “May¬ be,” he answered, “the word suction does not mean the same to you as to mo; but, as the water in the pump is pushed up, I do not feel like call¬ ing it a suction pump.” “Well, I do not care hoiv the water is brought, but I want you to fix that pump ;” was my rather jietulant answer. By this time I needed some stimu¬ lant, and so stepped into a tlrug store near by for a glass of soda Avater. The young man who Avaited on me seemed to be A’ery bright, in fact, as I soon found, too bright for me. He said he did not keep it; but, if I AV.aited, he Avould dissolve some soda in Avater for me. Seeing that I Avas on the point of leaving, he said : “Madame, I suppose you Avant Avhat lieople call soda, but you are drinking what you do not ask for. This is carbonic acid gas in Avater Avith a certain flavoring syrup, and it con¬ tains no soda; but the gas used is often generated from bicarbonate of soda.” I drank the mixture (and the information) and thought it tasted as Avell as usual. A friend Avho is visiting me is troubled Avith rheumatism, and know¬ ing that Burgundy pitch is veiy good for this disease, I asked for some. The clerk said that he had none, but that he had xesi i Avhich came from JVonocijj, Avhich Avas marked “Burgundy pitch.” I told him that I thought that I Avould not take it. “O, it is all right,” he said, “every one calls it by that name.” Remembering that I Avanted some flowers to wear tonight, I took my Avay tOAvards the hot-house and ordered roses of different kinds, among them tube-roses. The florist said: “I have none of them.” No¬ ticing my surprise, he then explained that Avhat I called tube-roses were not roses at all, but that he had some of the so-called tube-roses. By this time I thought it Avould be just as well for me to finish niy shop¬ ping some other day; but on my Avay home I saiv some very nice strawberries, and as it Avas near tea- time, decided to buy some. “I Avish two boxes of your strawberries,” Avas my greeting to the storeman. “I have none,” said he. “But you have,” I said, “I see them in the windoAV now.” “O, those are not berries; they are merely nuclei.” “They are Avhat I call straAvberries, anyway, and I Avill take them.” I started home, .thoroughly dis¬ gusted Avith myself, and on arriving immediately sat down to see if I could find any more Avrongly named articles, so that the next time I Avent shopjiing I Avould knoAV Avhat I Avanted. In looking over my books I found a list of other misnomers, and that you, my reader, may not ex¬ perience the same chagrin, I add the iolloAving:— The arteiy, from its derivation, means air carrier, but it carries blood. Archipelago ought to mean a chief sea, but it means to us iioav any narroAv sea interspersed Avith many islands; for this Avord Avas ap¬ plied to the JEgaen Sea, Avhich had these peculiarities. Cuttle-bone is only chalk found in the fossil re¬ mains of extinct cuttle-fish. Cen¬ trifugal force is not a force at all, but only a form of Newton’s first law of motion. We often hear of per¬ sons dying from a broken neck, but it is not because the neck is broken, but because the bone of the neck pierces the little ganglion of gray matter which controls respiration. Brazilian grass is nothing but stripes of palm-leaf, and does not come from Brazil, as the name would suggest. Baths always make us think of Avater, but there are certain kinds called Turkish baths, Avhich are simply heated rooms and did not originate in Turkey as Ave naturally su|»pose. Cat gut is made from the entrails of sheep. The Avhale is ahvays popu¬ larly classed Avith the fish, but is a mammal. The cuttle-fish is not a fish, although it resembles it in form. I also find that Cleopatra’s Needle” Avas not erected to Cleoiiatra’s mem¬ ory, and “Pompey’s Pillar” Avas not in the least connected with Pompey. This error of calling things by Avrong names has even reached the rocks. We Avho pride ourselves on our granite Avill be pained to know it is syenite. Still Ave are not the only unfortunate ones, for Quincy is Avith us. My head aches to think how much I have to unlearn, and, as you may also be sympathizing Avith me. I’ll save the rest for another time. M. F. B., ’88. Fronde says: “History is a voice forever sounding across the centuries the laAvs of right and wrong. Opin¬ ions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laAV is Avritten on the tablets of eternity. For every false Avord or unrighteous deed, for cruelty and oppression, for lust or vanity, the price has to be paid at last; not always by the chief offenders, but paid by some one. Justice and truth alone endure and live. Injustice and falsehood may be long lived, but doomsday comes at last to them, in French revolutions and other terrible Avays.” It is not Avhat you study, but Avhat you remember and reflect upon that makes you learned.

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IVY. TP dM lilliYIIVY. JANUARY, 1888. Published Monthly During the School Year, KV The Senior Class of the Milford High School PRINTED BY G. M. BILLINGS. KUSIXliSS KDITOUS. GRACE L. BL001 and LYDI.A A. ROBERTS. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. (Ten Numbers.) For the Year, . 50 cents | Single Copies, . 5 cents This paper is for sale at the well-knoun drug store of J. Allen Rice, where subscriptions for the year will also be received, and back mimbers can be obtained. Address all communications to THE 0. I ;, LILY AND IVY, Lock Bo.x 137. Entered at the Milford, Mass., Post-Oltice, as second class matter. GENERAL EDITORS. Olie L. Brom’n and Lillian E. Thompson. Happy on account of onr Christ¬ mas jiresents, ve all came back to school. A number of the scholars have new watches. They count the time, and are ready to inform the bell ringers when the hour is up, es¬ pecially if it is their turn to recite ne.xt on a lesson which they have neglected. The belated teacher and her two scholars jmt their knowledge of elec¬ tricity to a practical ap|)lication at a late hour one afternoon last iveek. One at the crank (T the electrical machine, another on the insulated stool, and the third at the gas fi.xture quickly caused the darkness to van¬ ish,—a result very desirable in their matchless condition. Brute force has gone to the wall. o This is the age of the mental powers. Hence the great necessity of an edu¬ cation, and hence, too, the need of those studies which cultivate liabits of close attention, the power of rea¬ soning, and the ability to draw cor¬ rect conclusions. The study of Lat¬ in, of mathematics, and of the sci¬ ences will develop and strengthen these mental qualities, and therefore all high school courses include them. Energy is an e.xcellent quality; in¬ dustry, and close application, and perseverance are all good ; but men often fail in their business because they cannot wrestle with some men¬ tal problem, when the premises are right before their eyes, and draw a correct conclusion. Then let us ap¬ ply ourselves to our daily work with renewed effort, so that the i-esults of the second term, just beginning, may be more satisfactory than those of the first. An additional duty might be men¬ tioned among the services of several of our town officers; namely, that of informing the members of the Civil Government class about the town management. The first ten in scholarship and dejiortnient for the last term were as follows:— Thirst class: Thayer, Coburn, Tir- rell, Toohey, Hale, O. Brown, Thompson, Crosby, Bicknell, Miller. Second class: Blake, Spaulding, Goldsmith, Clark, Whitney, Conely and Waterman, Connolly, Bradford, May hew. Third class: Bartlett, jMathewson, Sullivan, Shea, Collins, Wilber, Mc¬ Dermott, Barry, Smith, Holbrook. Fourth class: .Johnson (i [lss), God¬ frey, Wright, liallou, Morgan, M. Foley, Gilmore, Bass and Eames, Coffee. We have all declaimed again and ten more scholars have been hon¬ ored. Miss Clark of ’89 rendered a vocal selection, accompanied by Miss Hoberts. Program: — o Master Fales, ’88, Webster, by John D. LTUg. Miss Brown, O., ’88, The .Smack in Scliool Master Maiain, ’89, E-xtraet from Julius Coesar. Miss Toomv, ’89, True Heroism Miss Clark, ’8),—Son , Climbing u;) tlu Garret Stairs. IVfaster liamson, ’90, Prep’s Soliloquy Misses Smitli anil Nickerson, ’99,1 ' he Story of Experience. Master Burns, ’91, How We Celebrated the Day. Miss Coffee, ’91, The Legend of Bregenz Master Noyes, ’91, The Babies Miss Quiggle, ’91, Little Jim The time for re.solutions has in¬ deed come. With great st’’cngth of purpose our besetting sins are re¬ corded, in order to keeji them before us, and we sign our names to our pledges with strong and honest de¬ termination to keeji them this year. Let not the senior class think because there are only two teians before leaving this school, that they have no neoil of resolving to do better. Our teaeher.s’ and sclioolmates’ opin¬ ions of us are based on what we do, not on what Ave can do, and we now have an opportunity of leaving a good and lasting impression behind us. Jjet us trv in every wav lo be faithful in our work, and thus pay the debt we owe to the town for its school privi¬ leges and to our parents for their sacrifices. For the second term, beginning Avith this month, there is a radical change in the studies. The senior class have two new studie.s. Review and Civil Government. The second class in Literature take up the all- absorbing tale of Ivanhoc, and its inquisitive chemists, dressed in their customary suits of bed-ticking, are beginning to find that poAvders and fluids are not as innocent as they look—as the noise from the labora¬ tory boro Avitness not long ago. The third class have entered upon elec¬ tricity in Physics, and commenced Rhetoric and History. The fourth class have taken Book-keeping for their neAV study, and are already in full Avar ])aint of red and black. If they Avould only confine themselves to themselves, and not smear desks and floor, they might bo forgiven. The school iioav has in its posses¬ sion tAvo valuable autograph letters from tAvo of our greatest American ])oets, Holmes and Whittier. The letter of the former Avas received by the class of ’85, Avhile that of Whit¬ tier Avas I ' eceived during the latter part of last month, in acknoAvledgc- ment of an “autogra|)h testimonial” from the jiresent senior class, testify¬ ing their respect for the octogenari¬ an poet; the letter Avas as follow s:— Danvers, Mass., 12 mo., 15, 1887. To the High .School, MilforJ, Mass.:— I gratefully accept your tasteful and well-arranged autograph testimonial, and you have my sincere wish¬ es for your future happiness and success; and that the world I am about to leave may be belter for your living. Your friend, John (d. Whittier. The letters, Avhich arc highly prized, are tastefully framed togeth¬ er and are iiaiiging on the Avails of I C7 O the large room. Why not have the books of our Town Library covered Avith different colored pa[)er? For example, assign a color to the different dejiartments and thus at a glance a book in a reader’s hand Avould prove the class of reading on Avhich he Avas feeding his mind. If cheap fiction were cov¬ ered Avith fiery red, some, avc think, Avonld hesitate to be seen in our streets Avith such books in their po.s- se.ssion. In the British Museum the different classes of books are bound in separate colored bimliiig.s, but it is not necessary for ns to go to such useless exiiense. If this method Avere adopted, more books of instruction and le.ss of fiction Avould be real both by old and young. Persons Avho ] rofess to be educated Avotdd be somewhat ashamed to carry to and fi ' o from the library books that Avere of no value to them, but rather of injury. Perhaps, too, this might in- fiiience the kind of books that are added to our library, and in time no books not useful Avould be found there.