North Quincy High School - Manet Yearbook (North Quincy, MA)

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.16 MAZNET of them to work on board the ship. From time to time the remaining members of the crew were made to walk the plank until at last only :ny great-great-great grandfather and another ,sailor were left. .Naturally he was always planning to save himself and for every one of his old friends killed, his desperation increased. One day, by some kind of a ruse, they managed to get the whole pirate crew down into the hold. Quick as a Hash one of the captives grabbed an ax and stationed himself at the only hatch of the hold. As soon as one of the pirates reached up to swing himself out if the hold he had his fingers chopped off. The other captive was forced to manage the sailing of the vessel by himself. By heroic efforts, staying awake both day and night for five days, they finally reached an English port ivln-re the pirate ship was turned over to the authorities. According to law, the two captives, who had 'urned captors, received one half of the valua- tion of the ship and its cargo as their prize money. My great-great-great grandfather took his share of the prize and returned home to his native land, Norway, where he soon lost all of it. The other man settled down in England and apparently prospered. Sometimes we were inclined to tnink that iny great grandmothers story was greatly colored since we could find no trace of this pirate money in the family. However, as cir- cumstantial evidence, she offered the following events to which she could personally bear wit- ness. One day a letter arrived from England, very heavy and covered with official seals. The letter was addressed to my great-great grand- father and his brothers. It contained a will. The will stated that Miss -- was the -.laughter of the man who had remained in England. She was unmarried and had no relatives. Many times, however, had her father told her about the man who was with him on rhe pirate ship. She knew of nobody more en- titled to her estate than the descendants of this man. She therefore willed them all her pos- sessions in England, and the will went on to list these. But what did these uncouth sailors know about law? They took the letter to their em- ployer, a member of one of Norway's most prominent families. He very generously offered 'o go to England as their representative. This offer, of course, they gladly accepted and in- 'rusted him with the will and the other neces- sary papers, but failed to take a receipt for the same. After a few weeks this man returned from England and told them that the whole thing 'vas based on a misunderstanding and that there was no money or property to be had. This man, however, who was known to his em- ployees as a comparatively poor man, had nevertheless, while in England been able to buy a good sized clipper ship with a full cargo of silks and linens. With this he established himself as a merchant. But, I guess, re- marked my great grandmother, Hthere was no luck attached to those kind of riches, because he failed. My father once showed me this man's grave and tombstone. I was , of course, too young to remember this, but, my father later told me' that while all other members of the family of this man had long beautiful stories about their accomplishments engraved upon their tomb- stones, this has a name only. The stone seems to say, The less said the better! And thus ends the story of the pirate for- tune won once and lost twice. INGE THORNTON, 9-4. CYCLONE As we drew into Cleveland the clock of a church struck twelve. At the time we did not realize the experience ahead. Behind, the sky rapidly blackened. Looks like a thunder- storm, remarked a man on a street corner. In fifteen minutes a slight wind arose. In another fifteen minutes we were forced to stop. Then, all at once, rain began to fall so fast that it became impossible to see. The wind arose to gale force. People clung to telephone poles to keep from being blown away. Glass-plate windows were blown in, forms came out of a department store window and went off down the street. In another part of the city a roof was lifted off a building. Cars were stalled in four or five feet of water, although the storm only lasted forty-five minutes. All through the city, trees were uprooted, tele- graph poles were down, cars were stalled and many sections were washed out. This was my first experience with a lake storm. ROBERT STEVVART, 9-4. THANKS The day dawned blue and clear and cold, White frost adorned our roof, Sweet laughter chimed from out-of-doors, And this alone is proof- That the day of the year has come at last To make a joyful throng More joyous yet, to have them feel Like shouting-all day long. Each head and heart remembers well The days so long ago When Pilgrim Fathers dropped their arms And forgave their bitter foe. They seated them and fed them long, And heaped their platters high . With love and hope and friendliness To thank our Lord on high. Allan Power, 9-9.

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MANET 1-'3 The hurricane is preceded by a stillness, not even the trees move. The air becomes close and heavy, the sun gets red. A man who was a native there and who had witnessed one at night said that the stars appear very large. He also said that the mercury in the barometer falls rapidly, and the barometer usually indi- cates a rise in tl1e temperature. Darkness then usually extends over the earth with the excep- tion of a few flashes of lightning which light the heavens. The storm is first seen by those at sea. High waves rise suddenly from the motionless Sul'- face of the water. The blowing of the win'd is terriic and seems like the thunder in the distance. The rain descends in torrents, shrubs and trees are borne down by the mountain streams, the rivers overflow their banks and flood the surrounding land. Most of the people are terror stricken by these hurricanes. Birds are driven by the wind far out to sea. The animals usually herd to- gether, trembling with fear. Following the hurricane, the sun shines upon a scene of utter destruction. Fertile valleys are now dreary wastes. Uprooted trees, branches torn from their trunks, dead animals and the ruins of houses are scattered over the land. Sometimes the destructions are so com- plete that people are unable to distinguish the boundaries of their estates. ZITA KEEFE, 10-8. IN THE PULPIT lt seems that Davey Jones is always on the alert, for I cannot st.art on a sea trip but I have a narrow escape. We started out from Scituate on August 2, 1932, in a thirty-six foot sloop, the Quandry. The craft was rigged with jib, stays and main, she was a double-ender, so we had a tiller instead of a wheel, thus making man- neuvering simple. Our water tank had a capacity of two hun- dred gallons, and o11e of the finest hand pumps I have ever seen was used to get this water into the galley. We had a four cylinder Red Wing engine aft, and two gasoline tanks of sixty gallons each, on either side and above the engine. Our cooking was done on a small wood- burning stove about sixteen by twelve inches on top and about ten inches high. Our sink was, of course, small also, about twenty by ten inches, and eight inches deep. Below the sink was a spacious refrigerator which held enough food for about a week. Our crew was made up of Mr. Arnold, skip- per, his son, Herbertg Mr. Fitzpatrick, who a.cted as navigator, and me, who acted as gen- eral nuisance. The first day we went as far as Plymouth, where we rigged up our swordtishing pulpit. We also purchased there such paraphernalia as barrel-buoys, harpoons, and harpoon heads and, of course, rope. From Plymouth we proceeded through the Cape Cod canal. Just out of the canal we sighted our first swordtish. Fitz climbed out on the pulpit and let him have it The head went clean through the giant fish. but it went through near the side, where the skin was thin, and before we could throw out on a barrel he had succeeded in escaping. Wt sighted many more after this, but succeeded in. landing none. Just off Block Island I sighted a. large shark and proceeded to get all the tackle in readiness, It must be remembered that this was my first experience at the game. I clambered out on the pulpit with the harpoon in my hand. XVhen wt- had navigated to a position directly above him, I drove the harpoon with all my strength into the briny deep, under which my intended victim dozed. My aim was perfect, for when the foam had drifted away, I found that I had driver. clear through his stomach that glistening brass weapon. Fitz threw over the barrel and I proceeded in my efort to remove the harpoon Meanwhile the shark had become very mucl. awake and was thrashing about in a terrifying manner. I tugged and pulled on the harpoon, but to no avail, it stuck fast. I was determined to get that harpoon if it was the last thing I did, so with one final muscle-straining pull I tried my luck. The pulpit creaked and groaned under the strain, quickly gave way, and I did a ,somersault in the air, but my legs wound around the iron rail. Still the pulpit sank, until my head was under water, but I could not extricate myself now for my legs had become entangled with the bent and twisted braces. There I hung upside down with my head under water, unable to free myself, and on tor. of this, a ferocious shark was beating the water around my submerged head. Finally the men on deck by bending the braces freed me, and I was hauled up out of harm 's way. Mean- while the shark had wound the rope around himself a few times and then bitten it in half. swimming swiftly away with the harpoon. ROGER ENGLEY, 10-2. A FORTUNE WGN AND LOST tAs told by my great grandmotherl My great grandmother had a store of stories about interesting, exciting and adventurob happenings in the family, and she took as much pleasure in telling them to us as we in listening to them. One of her favorite tales was the following: My great-great-great grandfather was a sailor. Once his ship was captured by pirates who killed a great part of his crew and put the rest

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MA AUTUMN LANDSCAPE The rough country lane ran beside a twist- ing and churning stream. The white .foam bubbled and swirled around big rocks in its bed. Beside the stream stood stately flaming scarlet, green, and orange leaved maples. The leaves were falling from the trees that were swaying in the gentle wind and covering the sunburned grass with patches of brightly colored leaves. The land on the other side of the stream was thickly wooded, and moss formed a rich, soft, dark green carpet beneath the stately trees. The sky overhead was a misty blue with pearly white clouds scudding along in the wind. DOROTHY LEONARD, 9-8. A GOOD LESSON One very cold afternoon in January, just as we were dismissed from school, Mary, dragging along her sled, ran to catch up with me. Mr. Hanes, who was hauling a large hay load to the railroad station offered to take us along with him. Although he told us to sit up on top of the load, we insisted that we were going to hitch our sled to a dangling chain and sit upon it. Isn't this just grand? said Mary, sitting down on the sled and facing me. Everything was all right until we came to our journey's end, then things began to hap- pen. Mr, Hanes must have forgotten we were here, I said, while the big sled kept steadily sliding over the snow. Oh! that's all right, Mary informed me. '4I'll just slide off the end 211161 you follow suit. It sounded very simple and it was on Mary's part, for she slid off and was left sitting sweetly in the middle of the 1'oad. Now it was my turn. I slid off about half way, when my brand-new dress caught on a nail and held me fast. My first effort was to get the other half of me back on the sled, but all in vain. The next minute I was on the ground and the sled was on top of me. Mary tried to help 1llC back on the sled, but without success. Just then a strange thing happened. The rope on the sled broke and I was left in a bed of snow, with a rip in my dress from one side to the other, and my hands stinging furiously. AURELIA SANFORD, 9-9. C O A TARPON SPRINGS. FLORIDA Situated on the west coast of Florida, at the mouth of the Antaclote River is the little town of Tarpon Springs. It is especially noted for being the home of the Greek Sponge Fisheries. Along the waterfront are the wharves where the ridiculous little boats tie up. The boat we are to go on was named after Calvin Coolidge. N E T I? These boats are manned mostly by Greeks and are gone for weeks at a time, miles into the Guli in search of sponges. When' the boat reaches the best fishing grounds the men drop anchor. They make ready the diver who is attired in a heavy rubber suit, and rubber shoes with lead soles to weigh him down in the water. His helmet is made of copper with round glass set in it to enable him to see. After he is helped into his suit the men tie the life and the signal line to his helmet the back. The to go over the down into the his daring trip and the air hose is screwed into ladder is now lowered for him side of the boat and part way water. Thus we see him begin to the bottom of the gulf. VVhen he has landed on the bottom he takes his small rake and be- gins to gather the sponges and put them into l1is large net basket. We will know when this is filled because there will be a number of short jerks on the signal line. This signals the atten- dants on the deck of the boat to pull him up. The boats are homeward bound and the men are anxious to reach their home port and their families. They have arrived! What a wonder- ful sight to us tourists! The boats are tied up with gay colors and the sponges are laid out ready to be taken to the warehouse to be bleached. The warehouse looks like a court with cells on all sides. The boat I take most notice of is the boat which I have been on. It has its array of colored flags strung from the top of the mast aft to the stern and forward to the bow. The little boat is all white except for two orange and blue stripes that go around it. After I leave the boats and walk up the wharf I notice an old diver 's suit out in front of a store whose sign reads Curio Shop. This looks very interesting because of the nu- merous displays of shells and sea fossils in the windows. I decide to go inside. An ex-sponge diver who had become stooped with tl1e pressure of the deep water comes up and asks, How do you like Tarpon Springs? Fine, I answer, I think it is a very nice- town and I think the waterfront is interesting' with its fleet of sponge boats. We are very proud of Tarpon Springs,' he says. 'tWould you like to see the store? He shows me around the store and explains: what everything is. One thing that I like best is the pink and lavender sea fern. This is one of the most beautiful works of nature that 3 have ever seen. Several other things that are of interest are the salmon colored coral the ! 0 n , sponge baskets containing little plants, and the shell souvenirs. I am, sorry to leave the old gentleman and his curio shop, but as I am due back in St. Petersburg at six-thirty, I must be an my wan, to the bus terminal. ' NANCY PLUMMER, 8-10.