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

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superior's untidy appearance and mussed hair and contrasted it to her own natty attire. She noticed also that the secretary had the ledger with her. No need of those, now, she said, The investigators have left. Mr. Hightone is alone with Mr. Hamfatt and Mr. Jones. Miss Goldgraft seemed visibly re- lieved and dropping the ledgers on her desk departed once more as hur- riedly as before. What strange behavior, mused Miss Kratz and then dismissing the thought from her mind, turned to the remaining reporters who had not followed the investigators out. ill Ill il 1 The impatiently awaited Ponchi and company did not return till late afternoon and burst suddenly in on the suppressed atmosphere of the outer oflice. Approaching Miss Gold- graft who was busying herself pre- paring notices for the broadcast, the junior member, who usually attended to such boresome details, announced himself and followed the already dis- appearing Mr. Ponchi into the ofhce all the while making a mental note of Miss Goldgraft's possibilities. Dioes he suspect Miss Goldgraft? --you say. Oh no-Mr. Mulligan was far too dull an individual-or perhaps far too nice a man-to at- tend to business during business hours. He noticed Miss Goldgraft'-s possibilities, not as a suspect, but as a future Mrs. Mulligan and it has been to dear Joseph's everlasting thankfulness he never opined this openly. As he crossed the office threshold, his shapeless ears ran into a -staccato 1 2 MANET outburst that even the loquacious Mrs. Mulligan had never matched in those days when she was loved for stew and feared for her tongue. The producer of the unintelligible ha- rangue was the much mu-stachioed Jasper and, the reason for it, from what the disturbed Mr. Ponchi could gather, was the loss of the famed collection. However, J. J. was not destined to attain the peak tif anyl of his verbal bombardment. Miss Gold- graft once more appeared this time, in her official capacity as office secre- tary. The notices, Mr. Hightone, she remarked. It's time for your daily broadcast. As she spoke, she handed the principal a typewritten sheet. The notices. . .eh. Well, gentle- men. . .the school must go on! You will excuse me? He arose and went to the outer office to broadcast. Mr. Hightone had often pictured himself undergoing a trying situation with flying colors. Here was his chance to show the staff just how a MAN re-acted in such cases. He non- chalantly approached the micro- phone, glanced at his sheet and noticed that there were a few student speakers on the list. Miss Goldgraft, he called, the students, first, please. William Williams isn'ft here, his secretary answered. He was sup- posed to speak on the Honor Society meeting. Perhaps you'd better give his notice. I think I shall, Miss Goldgraft, I think I shall. You don't suppose he's disappeared, too, do you? fto be continuedj

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Whereupon, the active brain of Detective-Sergeant Ponchi went into high-geared function. Motive. . . he muttered, Motive ...most important! Mr. Hightone, may I see the school ledgers. . .may prove helpful. Why, our books for this year wouldn't help much. But, those of last year are filed in the attic-store- room. I'l1 have those brought down. And Mr. Hightone pressed the but- ton which summoned Miss Goldgraft from the outer ofiice. It was a pale Miss Goldgraft who answered his insistent summoning. To all appearances, Miss Goldgraft was a very ill young woman, but Mr. Hightone's quick glance observed none of this. Miss Goldgraft, he snapped, will you tell the janitor to bring last year's ledgers from the attic storeroom. Yes, Miss Goldgraft, repeated the irrepressible Hamfatt. The ledgers. . .janitor. . .most h e lp ful, most helpful, don't y'see. ...up in the attic. . .on the top, y'know. . .hurry now. . .what's keeping you? Miss Goldgraft returned to the outer office to face a veritable storm of questions from the hard-bitten reporters of Oshkosh's several news- papers. Ignoring these, she sum- moned a janitor from the corridor without who dropped his idle broom and entered the office. Go to the. . .the attic storeroom and -bring down last year's ledgers, she told him and leaving her sub- ordinate in charge, she excused her- self and headed after the departing janitor. , 1 If 1 Ik Joseph Mulligan had averred Cal- tho' only to most discreet soulsj that he was the integrating force of the Ponchi-Mulligan combine. There- fore, it was most fitting that he should take this opportunity to prove it. Sending one of his most know- ing leers in the general direction of the lilting Ponchi, he spoke with what he considered subtle emphasis. Boss, dontcha think we oughta leave this 'till later. We got the lay of the land, now, and all we gotta do is give it a little thought. Be- sides, we're due at the commislfs in fifteen minutes. Guiseppe Ponchi, the occidental Charlie Chan, rose languidly Che was capable of no other tempol and directing an apologetic glance at the fast-expiring lion of Oshkosh, he stumbled merrily out of the oflice followed by Mrs. Mu1ligan's pillar of justice, Joseph, who departed with a curt nothing about telling the janitor to never mind. The investigators gone, Mr. High- tone turned wearily to the row of buttons, pressed that of Miss Gold- graft for the nth time, arose, and stood staring stupidly through rain- blurred windows. Outside, young Miss Kratz, the of- fice stenographer, heard the bell ringing for Miss Goldgraft and since the latter was out answered the sum- mons herself. In reply to the wilted principal's half-hearted queries for Miss Gold- graft, she told him of the secretary's departure after Mr. Scrubbard, the janitor. Oh yes, the janitor,. . .well, tell her to delay the order. There's no need of the ledgers until later. That's all. Upon returning to the outer ofiice, Miss Kratz came upon the secretary just returning. She marked her MANET 1 1

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Nwlh Zmla.-5 by Willie Byron The North Quincy Knitting team has just completed a tough schedule and one that can be termed success- ful as they won two of seven matches. Coached by the veteran Mr. How- land, who teaches the hitch and stitch method, the team showed great possibilities as it was beaten severely in only one match, the meet with the powerful alumni team. Quoting Mr. Howland, I had a grand bunch of boys. They tried hard and practiced hard. However, we were weak in fundamentals and the squad boasted no capable substitutes. Better luck, next year. After a short period of practice, the team opened their suicide schedule with a pre-season match with the alumni. The Scarlet Seam- sters presented the same line-up that appeared in all their meets. The line-up follows: Bill Phinney, left stitchg Russ Hardy, right stitchg Jack DeVries, main seamg Mike Conroy, mitreg Ed Cameron, supporting sutureg Fargo Walker, main mortiseg Fred Cobban, missing stitch. The boys were game but were facing a veteran outfit, including such sterling crocheteurs as 72 a minute Townes and Lace-Curtains Georgian. To make a long story short, the alumni walked off with the match. The score was 48 sweaters, 7 doilies, a set of curtains, and 3 tams to 11 sweaters, 4 doilies, and 4 tams. A week of rigid practice under the watchful eyes of Coach Howland and Head Threadman Silvia brought about a complete reversal of form. lfnflilfinq Seann In their second match, against Lowell Textile at Lowell, the hard- fighting thread-hashers from North Quincy produced 49 sweaters and a combination table-cloth and necktie to Lowell's 27 sweaters and 11 pairs of socks. The big gun of the Raider attack was Russ Hardy who dropped only one stitch during the whole match. For their third meet of the season, North indulged in some match play. Each player was to knit 5 sweaters and the team which dropped the least number of stitches was to be declared the winner. The opposing team, Quincy Trade, dropped 3 less stitches, but one of their players, Yho Mo, used chopsticks instead of regulation interscholastic knitting needles and so, N-orth won their second and final contest on a forfeit. Two of our mainstays, Bill Phin- ney and Fargo Walger, were in- jured during the match, developing painful bone bruises as a result of using oversized knitting needles. Coach Howland replaced them with the reliable Bill Lessard and the up- and-coming Scratch McCutcheon. However, the loss of such mainstays proved all too damaging as the team dropped their next two matches to Weymouth and Milton respectively. The Milton match was protested be- cause the Wealthy-Towners knit to waltz-time, completely disconcert- ing the Northern Needle-pushers. Needleless to say, the protest was disallowed. It was a gloomy band of knitters that left for Providence the follow- MANET 13