Norway High School - Caduceus Yearbook (Norway, ME)

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28 THE CADUCEUS the parting that evening meant nothing but downheartedness and discouragement to the young would-be artist. After several days of trouble, Langdon and Hank Marriner became Rangers under Major Rogers. They were called Rogers' Rangers. Because Langdon had been to Harvard and had some drawing talent he was made Rogers' secretary. Their first assignment was to destroy an Indian town called St. Francis. The hardships they had to endure on this trip were almost unbelievable. For ex- ample, at one time they were traveling in a bog, with water up to their knees and sometimes their hips, for nine days. They went for nine days without fire, eating only meal and corn, sometimes building beds of brush above the water and other times lean- ing against a tree dozing whenever they could stay awake no longer. Their clothes and their sleeping blankets were wringing wet. They finally left the swamp, but when they did they had very little food left. T I ' ' f They succeeded infuwipigng-out the vil- lage of St. Francis. They killed the larger part of the population but took with them several white women and children and two or three Indian boys.. They got food enough there to last them three or four days. Before they reached the mouth of .the Ammonoosuc River where supplies were waiting for them, many of the men died of fatigue and hunger, others went mad, ,from lack of food, and all of them looked like scarecrows because they were so poor. Many of them gotso hungry they ate timy plants, bugs, snakes, and anything they could get their hands ,on that was chewable. Whenever they were lucky enough 1to find any game, the only part left.was the skull, and one man even took a skull with him once to keep from starving. There are many more interesting 'factors about this trip but there are other parts of interest, also. d Wlien at last Langdon returns home, he resumes his old crave of painting in pastels many of the adventures of his trip. I have neglected to mention much about Major Roge1's or his character which I should have done before this. Major nog- ers was worshipped, admired, and respected by every one of his Rangers. They all held a very high opinion of him. Ile asked none of his men to do anything he would not' do himself. He always kept them go- ing when they were ready to drop. lt seemed that he could not be killed, and that he never tired. He was never criticized for anything he did. Once again the first thing Langdon did when he returned home was to call on Eliza- beth Browne. This time there was rejoic- ing and everyone was light hearted when they parted. The most severe blow Langdon ever had was the night there was a banquet given in honor of Major Rogers at the Browne's. At one time during the evening Major Rog- ers said that in about a week's time he would be after Billy, the Indian boy whom they had brought from St. Francis, and Langdon said Billy had become a part 01 the 'family and that he would like to buy him. Major Roger's-reply was that he had ,given Billy to Elizabeth as a weddng present. Come to find out Elizabeth was marrying Rogers -instead of Langdon. Shortly after this event Langdon' went to London to study art. He had been in England only a few months when he mar- ried Anne Potter. Langdon studied hard' and made a name for himself. They came to the United States one Christmas and while they were here he fought a one man

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THE CAD UCEUS 27 PAUL ROBESON, NEGRO The book, Paul Robeson, Negro, in- spires one with an overwhelming desire to meet Paul Robeson, to hear him sing, and to see his friendly, engaging grin. You want to talk with this giant Negro. You wish that you might have been there when Rutgers University overcame the Navy football team with a score of fourteen to zero. You wish that you might have seen Paul Robeson, Rutgers' end, carrying the team through to victory. A great athlete in all sports. Robey was well loved by the faculty as well as by the student body. You would have enjoyed seeing the face of Paul 's beloved father when Paul received the Phi Beta Kappa key in his Junior year and when he was selected by Walter Camp as end for his annual all-American football team. You fervently desire that you might have seen Paul in 1925 in London. It was the11 that he played The Emperor Jones,', Eugene O'Neill's famous play. You also would have liked to see him as Jim Harris in All God 's Chilluns Got Wl1lgS.7, You would give your favorite set of Shakes- peare to see him in Show Boat. In fact, there is nothing Paul Robeson has done that you would not like to see. Woven into the story of Paul Robeson is the story of the Negro. You realize the struggle the Negro has to gain the rights which the Constitution gives him. Per- haps you have wanted to visit Harlem. Your motive was probably a passing curios- ity to see how the Negro lives. Now you want to visit it to meet the many intellect- ual and accomplished Negroes who live there. You would like to know more of the race that produced the famous and lovable Paul Robeson. You will think Paul Robeson is perfect, just as his wife thinks he is perfect. Paul Robeson can be described only in superla- tives. His voice is said to be the most beautiful in the world, rich, haunting, with complete control. He has brought the songs of his race to the world as no other person has done. He is known and loved by millions of people, both white and black, because he is just himself, a magnetic per- sonality-Paul Robeson, Negro. -Ruth Greenleaf '41, NORTHWEST PASSAGE I believe 'tNorthwest Passage is one of the most interesting and well written books I have ever read. There are very Iew chapters that do not hold your interest. The only fault I found in reading the book is that one should really spend long periods of time on it at once, as it is not easy to get the right meaning if you read it by snatches. Langdon Towne, the chief character, is se11t to Harvard. Through some fault of his friends, Hank Marriner and Cap Kutf, he was dismissed before he had fl!1lSll6ll his education. This very much displeased his father and mother. Under these circum- stances he was unwelcome at home, which made him turn to the country. He did backbreaking work in the beating sun the larger part of the summer. His first action, when he returned from his unpleasantly spent summer, was to call 011 Elizabeth Browne, a dear friend to him. He was heartily welcomed by the Reverend and Mrs. Browne. When asked WIIZLL he intended to make his life work, he replied that his highest ambition was to become an artist. A quietness fell over the room as suddenly as does the dusk blot out the day- light. The Brownes were very much against the idea of Langdon 's wasting his time on a career as useless as that oi an artist, consequently, there was quite a bit of argument following this outburst and

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TIIE CADUCE US battle in the W'est. They returned to Eng- land again and stayed there quite some time. During this stay in England, Lang- don saw Rogers. He had come without Elizabeth because of some trouble he had had with her father about rent. He was now writing a book on the capture of St. Francis and had started to write several articles. At last Langdon and Ann came back to America to live and built a home near that of Langdon 's father. Rogers is said to have come over here lighting the men of Wasliingtoii and Howe. Elizabeth married again, but wasn't much happie1'. This book is very popular because it Hts so many types of people, and also the mov- ie, 'tNorthwest Passage, has given the book a larger popularity. -Pauline Snow '40, NORTH TO THE ORIENTH As early as 1508, men like Cabot had at- tempted dangerous sea voyages in search of a north passage to that land of overpower- ing riches, far off Cathay They tried to make such trips by way of the Hland of the midnight sun. They braved the ice- bergs and the bitter cold of the Arctic sea- but all in vain. I Four and a quarter centuries later, in the year 1930, Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, were making their final plans for a trip by a similar route, not by sea, but by airplane over the seas and across the bar- ren tundras of Alaska-not around ice- bergs-not through treacherous waters of the north-they were to go by a route as straight as a line could be drawn between two points on a map. They were to go on that roadway i11 the sky where man is un- disturbed by passing traiicic. They were to have the area enclosed by the Arctic Cir- cle spread out before them like a large re- 29 lief map-miniature in every respect. Wliat unexpected trouble, storms, fog banks, unchartered mountains, lay before them in their theorectically easy course? Only history could give that answer. To make such a trip required a greater previous duration of time spent in plan- ning than 0116 would oifhand imagine. The construction of the plane was supervised by Mr. Lindbergh from the blueprints to the finished plane. Emergency supplies had to be carefully chosen to cover every unforeseen need that might arise. Food was one of the important items they had to consider. They had to have a radio, both for sending and receiving. This made it necessary that Mrs. Lindbergh learn to be, at least, a licensed 'tClass C operator. When she started to get ready for her exams, she didn it know a coil from a knob o11 the front of the set. Then, there were weather, fuel, maps, navigation instru- ments, and thousands of other minor things that go in towards the making of a journey of that type even possible, that had to be considered and made ready. After years of research and a iinal year of preparation, the Lindberghs in their monoplane, the Sims, started their long journey north to the Orient. The events that happened and the trials of the trip that they went through are too numerous to mentio11. What this flight did for bettering international feeling and in forwarding the progress in aviation is much too important to overlook. By their Hight to the Orient, Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, proved to the air-minded world that aviation had its place in the field of transoceanic travel. They proved that it was more than an idealistic dream that man could cross the barren wastes of the cold north, and by doing so, tie together the other side of the world with this side. Since that year, 1931, aviation has pro-