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

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M A XE 7' 7 OLD MAN RIVER Johnny sat back in his chair, putting on his soothing briar as the radio played Old Man River by his side. The world discon- tented him. Business-! XVorry--I Fatigue-l Louging for a change-! He sat dream- ing of rivers. Marco Polo travelling down Oriental streams to an undiscovered East, tor- rents in central Europe down which the ravag- ing Tartars rushed to the plains, gold seekers and explorers in the new world, Australian creeks in fantastic regions, Himalaya 's eternal flows, Norvvay's mighty fiords, tropical South -Xmerica's unexplored river basins and moun- tain rivers. :xc :X: :E :I-Q: An early morning departure for regions un- known. Buenos Aires. Vp the Parana. Fever, death, rapids. Jaguars, cannibal fish, poisonous snakes. Five men in a boat. Brazil. The headwaters of the Amazon. Three white men and an Indian guide. The Peruvian border. Fertile Andes moun- tain sidcs. Vnknown hills and forests. The roof ot' the world shitting from the Painir to Peru. Four dots on snow capped crests. The making of new boats. Travelling down treach- erous rapids and sucking currents. Mapping, noting, exploring. A sinash on the rocks. Lost instruments. Speed increasing. Turning a hend. A disappearing river. lnto a pitch hlacli tunnel. Through a long passage. The river opening into a valley. A inajestic citv ot' white marble revealing itself. 911 Ili: li? iff lt was a cuiious valley having an ancient loop and reminding one ot' an abandoned dwell- ing place, as indeed it was. The expedition, ol' which -lohnny was a part, was increasingly curious as it saw an enormous stone pipe stretching from the river into a reservoir below, Front the reservoir, a series ol' te1'1'aces ex- tended up a long hill, past the pool, over the valley and up to the city. The explorers were climbing up these ter- races when a flash of light temporarily blinded them. Bewildered. they gazed upwards to where a huge shield, golden yellow in the sun, hung in the city square. They recognized the losf 'ildity of the lVa!'I'iol's, by this shield to o l the sun, so often mentioned in Peruvian legends. Stumbling up well-terraced slopes, the ex- cited party reached a paved street leading to the square. The golden emblem of the emperor scintillated before a pyramid temple, evidently dedicated to the sun. Its whole exterior was decorated with gold ornaments, and gold was everywhere profuse in the buildings. Johnny's little party explored every nook and passage. lt would take a book to reveal all the interesting objects they observed. Pipes, evidently for supplying water and disposing of sewage, lay in the ditches beside the streets. Roadways, having no side walks, intersected at angles to shame most modern cities. The buildings theinselves were slightly modern be- cause ot their occasional second stories and their style ot architecture. An exceedingly valuable discovery had been made il' this hardy band ot' men would be able to find its way out to r.-port it. They seated themselves on a stone wall and inade plans for exploring the city. as excitedly as a crowd ot children, taking souvenirs as evidences, and tor receiving the glory on reporting the find. l,t'l'll2llJN they were too greedy. Things happen quickly in strange places. .lohnny had no knowledge ot' anything out ot' the ordinary happening until something snapped over his head, and he t'elt himsell' dragged ott' the wall. Strange, triuinphant yells rang out around hint. .X great tear seized his heart. XVhat could he happening? The next instant he was trnssed and hound, and the lnlindt'old was whipped front his eves, Ile ln-held, crowdingaround the hound party, as desperate a band ot' lndians as he had ever lllldQllll'tl to exist. XM-re these lncasg' hYll 1't' had they eoine l'ronn .' llad they been isolated here l'or untold agcsf What did they plan to do to the illi1'ttdel'S? .Iohnnv did not have much chance lor rctlee tion as ln- was hurried betore the leader ot' the people. Strangely enough. the latter, as in t'act all ol' the people, had the appearance ot' the dcgradcd town Indian rather than that of the noble lncas whoin he had hall' expected to see.

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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.

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8 MANET The leader poured a stream of Words in a Spanish sounding tongue into their startled ears. That it was Spanish was evident When the Indian guide replied in the same manner. Were they to be able to converse with these people and learn the strange secret of their isolation? VVere these people some band of lncas separated by the mountains from the rest of the world in bygone days? As they spoke Spanish they might even be the descendants of Indians who had fled from Spanish oppression into the wild mountain regions. And if so, had they developed into a new and strange race as often happens under like conditions? In any event, what would their fate be amongst these savages who plainly showed their dislike for them? The guide began to speak, unravelling the following amazing story. CContinued in the June Issued JOSEPH COSTELLO, 11-1. THE STORMING OF THE BASTILE The frenzied mob charged down the street With furious cries and tramping feet, Brandishing firearms and flashing knives, Hate in their hearts-avenging lives. The grim old prison was reached at last, The object of hatred for long years past. A shout, The prisoners, set them freel' 'Twas easyea dead guard-a purloined key. But the mob, full of hatred, their work just begun. Stopped at nothing-they plundered. they tortured, they hung! Long years had they waited. souls seething with hate. Ai-istocrats, rulers, at last met their fate! Margaret Duncan, 11-6. A LITTLE OF LIFE You know, life is a funny thing. Ton lay your plans for the day without thinking that something may happen to prevent their being carried out and suddenly you ind yourself confronted with disappointment. I guess most of us wonder why we are not illowed to carry out all our plans to a success- ful conclusion. but if we ever stopped to think vhat. would become of us if we always had 'hings as we wished them, we might .see just 'vhy even the best laid plans sometimes go astray. This is simply fate's way of letting us xnow that we cannot lay plans Without taking ner into consideration Erst. I wonder if you ever stopped to think what life would be like without disappointments and sorrows? We should become unutterably bored 'vith anything pertaining to life and would realize, perhaps for the first time, the reason for these seeming catastrophies. Is it not to nake us understand and better appreciate the ,goys of life? As life is at present we are all adventurers ind explorers, seeking experience, searching for happiness, and many times the very things we a1'e seeking are the things that hurt us the most and cost us the most dearly when We find them. Nevertheless, each experience, Whether harmful or beneficial, teaches us a great lesson in the school of life. We may not realize it at the time, but it is these details that make up our whole existence on earth. A man without experience may be compared to a man without arms. He is caught in the whirl of destiny unprepared for whatever life may see fit to deliver to him. At every turn he is held back by his handicap, the lack of adequate preparation, for this fascinating but bewildering game that is called life. Did you ever turn the pages of a calendar ahead and wonder what the future held for you? It is a decidedly interesting and intrigu- ing thought, but it is not to be built upon definitely for the capricious gods usually decide differently. And after all, who can tell what the morrow will bring? MURIEL Towns, 11-6, sNow-FALL Last night I heard a faint whispering Outside my window-pane. A soft, new sound. I thought, listening. It must be a gentle rain. And I slept again, yet in slumber That soft patter I still could hear Like a broken twig in the ivy, Or a dead leaf fluttering near. In the light of the early morning I arose, and drew aside The curtain. and there before me O'er the landscape far and wide- O'er the trees and shrubs and house-tops, O'er the church towers misty height, O'er all within range of my vision Lay a garment of purest white. And the air was filled with feathers, Mounding the hedge-tops high. From the wings of the downy snow-birds That flew along the sky. Mabel Macdonald. 11-5. RED AND MORE RED Billy and I sat on the pasture fence and chewed grass. There was nothing to do but chew grass. The August sun shone down, strong and bright, the ocean beyond the pas- ture was an unbelievable blue, and the gulls were startingly white against it as they Wheeled and iiashed in the sunlight. They were having a. good enough time, but we weren't. For that whole long day we were forbidden to go any further than the school house simply because we wanted to see, the night before, what Lars Johanneson was doing in Windy Point Cove. lVe had heard that he was engaged in a strictly illegal occupation carried on around the sea- shore, and we were greatly intrigued. What Lars was doing was none of our business, it seemed, and after being rescued from his en- raged clutches by the English gentleman at Wiiidy' Point House, we had been returned