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

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MANET -f FRANK E. MacDONALD l wish I might get to know him better-this man who has made himself so much a vital part of our school since the very day ,hc came in September, 1931. Perhaps if I cultivate his qualities I shall be a bit nearer his level. May- be that is the Ollly way to know him. I've gathered so little about his past-only this- that he was born in East Windham, Maine- that he is a Bowdoin graduate, played football there, that he has taught in Maine, western Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, that he finally came to us from Quincy High School. lle is president of the Schoolmasters' Club, too, but how little all this really matters. I shall never forget the first time he made an impression upon me. It was at an assembly. He was called upon to say something about athletics. I liked the way he stood, tall, square- shouldered, with his hands behind his back, and looking straight at us. I always remember voices. His was well modulated, calm, reassur- ing. He said something about having heard of a splendid team we had tbasketball I thinki and then told us he was looking forward to see- ing ns maintain our record. Although I Wasn't on tl1e team, I felt like a million dollars when he got through! I have him in class, too. Heis the head of our inathematics department. Hc's thorough. lt seems as if everyone must understand whci. he finishes explaining. We work, but yon ought to hear the side lines on his amusing ventures in the culinary field! Did you ever get a chance to See him Wrcstlei lt's worth most any price. He trained an uns defeated wrestling team last year and somehow he trained more than muscle co-ordination, he trained character. You're at your best when you 're with him, you ,just can 't be small. But he can make you feel small though. Oncm l was supposed to correct a paper. I knew it couldn't be very valuable, there was almost nothing on it. So I marked it nothing at all. The next day he showed me the paper, said he'd figured it out. I believe the percentage was eight. Better than nothing--anyway. Funny, I can never tell what he thinks of mc When he smiles, I wish I knew whether it's at me or with me. And it 'S positively impossible to anticipate what he's going to say or what he 's going to ask me to do. He's always cir- cuitous, and begins with generalities. Before he's half-way through I change my mind a dozen times. But it doesn't matter much, he 's so persistent. And fair. I know the students like him. We feel we can talk to him whether we 're happy oi whether we're sad. And, if it ever came tc that, l wouldn't mind being tried by him! 4- ON THE OPEN SEA One Saturday morning last April I visited a friend of ours, a captain, and we had a long chat over different things. He certainly did know what he was talking about. He told me of his first experience on a sailing ship. On a Monday morning in June, at 7.30 QI couldn't sleep the night beforej, I applied for a job. Since there were about twelve experienced sail- ors ahead of me, the prospects looked discour- aging, but I had a note from the captain. So I was accepted as an ordinary seaman on board a sugar boat at S30 a month, sailing to different ports of Cuba and back to Boston. My watch was six hours on and six hours off. VVe mad- in all three trips during the summer, each one eovering a period of about twenty-one days. As soon as I was picked I was set to work cleaning up the deck, for the ship had been tied up since April. Late Monday evening wc went into dry dock, and until VVednesday we chipped. washed, and scraped paint. Late XVednesday we sailed for Cuba. XVasn 't I scared, not of the water, but of the mate. He seemed to be bawling me out all the time, but as I look back I can 't blame him much. The sailors told me he was about the finest mate I would ever meet up with. I spent four hours one day cleaning up oil about the deck. The mate came along and told me he could havi- done it in ten minutes. I was never so dis- lieartened in my life. Most of the time I cleaned brass, chipped rust, and took the wheel from 12 to 6. I stood' lookout often, and although I felt drowsy at times, I managed not to fall asleep. I had to chip water tanks on the inside and what a job it was. Every time I would get a kink in my leg and an electric shock from the lamp. One Saturday morning at the wheel It saw about six porpoises, no more than six feet from the boat. Sundays found me reading and washing clothes. ' lt. was now beginning to get warm and I could see flying fish from nine to twelve inches long. They would get up speed along the stu face and then fly into the wind thirty feet oi more. The water was now very blue witl' patches ot' sea-weed here and there. and nothing' in sight except the sun and the sky. Perhaps you would like to know what we did while off duty. l'll start from the captain. down. Ile spent most of his time making models of ships. The mates and sailors reac magazines, made cord belts, boat-s. painted or. canvas. and carved. It was amazing how clear. the sailors kept themselves and their rooms. One thing that surprised me greatly was that the ship in ballast would go to Cuba in

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5 M A NE T seven days and return in six. Many people believe that fia gs are carried at sea, but it 's not so, only in emergencies. Now I shall tell you something about the sailors and the ship. My best friend in the forecastle was a Lithuanian named Berg. He had gone to sea at sixteen expecting to be home in seventeen days. He jumped the ship in Amsterdam, because of poor treatment, and boarded a. ship bound for Philadelphia. When he arrived he had a dollar and couldn't speak -a word of English. He hasnt been home since and is now thirty-two years old. There was a Dane also, but I didn 't like him and he didn 't like me. He called me everything under the sun. I ididn't see anything in him' myself, he was 'notliiiig but a wheelsman land it was notliing to be thatj- Wliile on -watch, hefwould slteall my cocoa and various otlieai-itliingswHe was alweaysltrying to get cigarettes'fromf the other fellows, finally they .caught on to him. ' ,V ' .. 1. .-1 ' , ,.,. . K-, . . Ti-:Is ls .x 'l'Y1'1C.xI. S'l'Rl1ZE'1' SCENE IN Crum I The sixth day out we passed San Salvador and then the next day I saw lofty mountains, .great green sugar fields, and forests. Up a deep narrow canyon we sailed into Cuba. That night we went up to a small town named Banes. I sat down to write a few letters in a cafe, while all the little bootblacks crowded around to get me stamps and to post my letters. Just then a policeman came in. and hit a few of them with his broad sword. After that they didn't bother us, but once we were out on the street they were always in our way, asking for cigarettes and nickles. One little girl even asked for a peso. 'We had to laugh -and finally gave her a nickle, too. About two the next morning we turned in. At 5.30 we turned out in order to start work at six. NVe painted the side of the boat. but found it necessary to keep lowering the boards, on which we sat, into the water to cool them off. The natives who worked as longshoremen were the most perfectly built fellows I ever saw. They lifted each 350 pound bags of sugar on their backs, walked across the hold, and laid them down as if they had been carrying 100 pounds. They worked from six to eleven with two hours off at noon and then till four. The young boys, who were also very strong, carried water all day. In port I was now able to speak a few words of Spanish, I traded a pipe for a pair of san- dals. I asked if they felt the depression down there and they replied, Yes, At night I hated to go to bed because our fan was not working. I would get up in the morning drenched with sweat. On Sunday most of us went swimming in water 750. Some kind of a fish bit me-and I had a rash on my armfor two days. The port was lovely and the American section of the town was laid out with palm trees, banana trees and wonderful houses. It was a treat to see. ' -A - I ' ' NVe always sailed with the slack of the tide, and a single error on the pilot's part would put us all on the rocksnf I think it must have taken tene years I oi- the captain 's v life' every time we .went throulghithe canyoit,'1whieh was about one 'and olne-half miles'lo1ig'3'iai1tl'fve1'y shallow at places. I AAs soon as the pilot was dropped we took the fiags down. Sometimes they would stick and I would have to go up to them. lt was a ticklish job up at the mast head with nothing to hold on 'to.l , ' On our last trip home, Slim, the mess boy and I, had some fun with the firemen. They had drenched us with water the day before so we set the alarm clock for 2. They came off watch a.t 12 so the clock wakened them in two hours. They tried all that trip to get even with us. I One morning while in the mess room I drank out of another sailor's cup, the -Dane's. He made a pass at me. I ducked and grabbed his arms, but what a blow he hit me on the nose with his head! My eyes watered all that day. Later in the trip I was late calling watch. I got it right on the top of the chin and was out for a few minutes. After we passed Cape Hat- teras, the water was a greenish color and it was very cold at night, in fact, it was so cold when we passed Nantucket that with two sweaters and a coat I was still uncomfortable. IVe dropped anchor Sunday and lay on the flats all night. The next morning we passed immigration and docked at five o'cloek. VVhile coming into the dock I was working the winch. It was only the second time I had ever had my hand on one. The mate was motioning to heave away, the sailor was splut- tering because I nearly caught his arm in the drum, and the captain was giving orders. I didn 't know what to do so I just let them get another sailor. Finally we docked from our last trip and I was sorry to leave the ship. From experience, however, I learned. one thing: to keep my eyes open and my mouth closed. ROBERT OUMMINGS, 10-4.