Oak Bluffs High School - Beacon Yearbook (Oak Bluffs, MA)

Page 23 text:

THE BEACON 21 ty towns in Massachusetts and even penetrated into Maine, Salem suffered the worst eifects of it and thus it has gone down in history as the Witch Cityn. S. O. S. Wilfred Lawrence This message is for all readers of lit- erature who want a change in the sys- tem of writing books. Some day, very soon, I shall write a novel that will startle the world and show these present day petty authors a tl1i11g or two. They have been sui- focating the public with a lot of hot air and choking them with Hindi- gestible baloney and calling it lif- erature . VVhen my book is placed on the market, every reader will realize the best-sellers are trash-just that, and nothing more. The story will be a romance, of course, and in that one point it will resemble the present-day tales. In the first place, my characters will be altogether different. In books writ- ten these so-called authors, the hero- ine is young and beautiful. Her tress es may be golden, raven, or coppery, but they are always wavy or down- right curly. Her eyes may be blue, fir black, if she goes out with another man, but they are always fringed with luxurious eyelashes. When she takes a coy glance at her lover, his heart turns a flip-flop. fPardon me for the indelicacy, but so does my stomachi The heroes of such stories as these possess resemble a handsome Apollo. He is the type that girls, women, and old maids look at once, then look ai again. Villains are invariably dark anl vicious looking, with a corkscrew mus- tache. They are the trouble-makers and many times the money-makers. Of course, there will be incidental characters to speak the necessary lines when the main characters are too pre- occupied to do so, but I doubt if I shall even bother to give those bodies any consideration--heads will be quite enough! Now, as to the plot of the play or masterpiece or something-that is where I excel. Mine will be far differ- ent from any others. Oh! Time out. The telephone is ring- ing. Hello, yes, -bang. Did you hear that? The boss just fired me. I guess I committed a person- al foul, and you know something, my boss doesn't wait until you get four fouls before he throws you out. Now back to the subject which will bri11g success to me. Since I am out ol? a job, I might as well offer my book and make some competition in this racket. As I was saying, my charac- ters and their qualities, habits, and customs will be very much contrary to those commonly portrayed, and thc plot will be changed. Miss Alley fthe heroinej will meet Mr. Durgin fthe heroj at some place never before used for a setting fI have yet to find that placej, but Harry C. Dorr fthe vil- lainj appears upon the scene, and the fireworks, or battle, or baseball game, or wrestling match, if you can imag- ine such maneuvers, will begin. Of course there will be battles of wits and even iist-fights, but, in the crisis, the villain will kill the hero. In gratitude. the heroine fwho has tried her best to faint, but can 't-she had never fainted in her life, and had neglected to practice before the crisisj will con- sent to be-his sister forever and ever and even ever.

Page 22 text:

20 THE BEACON THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT DELUSION Alice LeVere The city of Salem in Massachusetts is famous the world over as the Witch City . This is due to an un- fortunate witchcraft delusion among the colonists which had brought on a few isolated cases of executing, par- ticularly for witchcraft, from the ear- liest days of the Massachusetts Bay settlement, in fact, from the earliest days of history, witch persecution had been known. How the delusion actually started is as follows: During the winter of 1691.- 1692, a company of young girls were in the habit of assembling at the home of the Reverend Samuel Parris, the clergyman of Salem village, which at the time included what is now Dan- vers Center, Danversport, Tapleyville, Putnamville, and parts of Danvers Plain. At these social parties, fortune telling, palmistry, necromancy and magic were practised. These young people attained considerable skill in these black arts. After a while some of the young girls began to crawl under chairs and tables, try to force their way through small holes in the Walls, and bark like dogs, and they ascribed their peculiar actions or ailments to supernatural sources. At first they acted this way in order to impress the people that they were bewitched, but gradually these actions grew upon them. The whole neighborhood near the First Church in Salem Village became in- terested at first, and finally alarmed. An examination by the village physi- cian, after which he pronounced them bewitched, sowed the seed of delusio 1 which overspread the whole settle- ment and caused the terrible tragedies of imprisonment and hanging. Matters went from bad to worse in the parsonage. The bewitched girls began to exhibit their afflictions by doing all manner of queer things dur- ing church meeting. One morning they mocked the visiting parson, the Rev- erend Disdot Lawson, While he was delivering a sermon on the arts of the devil. Public opinion all turned in one direction and the belief that these peo- ple were bewitched became universal. The people suspected of being in the possession of Satan were complained of, and the courts began to prosecute them. Among the first to be examined and imprisoned were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tibuta, an Indian serv- ant of Reverend Samuel Parris. Tibuta confessed to being possessed, and im- plicated the others by admitting that she :I 11d her husband, John Indian, had taught the children the black art. About the early part of 1692, Sir William Phipps became Governor and established a special court for trying cases of witchcraft. One of the first to be executed was Bridget Bishop. Another victim was the elderly and highly esteemed Rebecca Nurse of Sa- lem village. This old lady suffered one of the most unjust court trials in the history of Massachusetts Bay, and she was hanged in great shame. Only a few years after her death her sons and daughters established her innocence. Altogether, about nineteen people were executed during the Salem witch- craft episode, eighteen of them being hanged on Gallows Hill, and one be- ing crushed to death. Contrary to popular opinion, not one victim was burned. The delusion spread far and wide, and almost three hundred peo- ple were accused of witchcraft. Al- though the fever reached about twen-

Page 24 text:

22 THE BEACON p Believe me, when I write a novel-l I just saw an ad in the paper. Young boy wanted as salesman. Must know his books. He will sell novels at a com- mission of 2 per cent. Great book po'- traying the character of men. Easy To sell. Report at once. VVell, I guess I've found a suitable position after all! THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY Dorothy Rae When I was in Washington one of the most beautiful buildings that I saw was the Congressional Library. It is one of the most famous buildings in the capital. It is constructed of marble. There is much gold leaf as an overlay on the ceilings, walls, and in the many deco- rations. The floors of some of the rooms are mosaic. They are very beautiful. The floor of the entrance hall is made of marble. The stairs are marble. They are very shallow and wide. At the foot of the mai11 staircase are two statues, placed 011 the ends of the bannisters, which are very beautiful. At the first land- ing a high mosaic picture of Athens confronts one. It is done in very vivid colors. It ranks as the finest mosaic in many countries. The stairs continue up. They form, two stairways at the la11di11g a11d they lead to separate parts of the upper floor. Old original manuscripts of all kinds are all on the upper floor, on the left hand side. Books of VVashington and Lincoln, the oldest Bible in the world, pictures of many presidents, and the diaries of important men are there under glass cases. -There are Chinese maps in special cases. The different towns, seas, moun- tains and roads are illustrated by typi- cal pictures. Dragons signify the seas and goats the mountains. The Constitution of the United States is in a gold case on a marble pedestal. The glass front of the case is gold glass. In front of the pedestal is a toot stool of marble. The whole case is in the middle of the upper floor near the back wall in a very conspicuous place. The names of the signers of the Constitution can still be read on it, as they have faded little. There is also a room where the news- papers of many years and many cou - tries are kept in great books. Anyone who goes i11to this room may take any book of new or old papers and read as as he wishes. There are files of papers way back to the Civil NVar. There are also daily papers on sepa- long rate tables. The newspaper books are kept in racks. The entrance hall has many drini- ing fountains and it is very lofty. From this hall extend corridors to private I'621dll1g.Z' rooms for senators and representatives. Across a court the windows of the book rooms can be seen. The book shelves extend from the floor to the ceiling. There are all types of literary works here. The library is awe inspiring in its beauty, size, and contents. Many peo- ple can only spend one or two hours there, but it can not be grasped in less than a month. It is wonderful, beautiful, and magnificent, especially at night when the lights emphasize its beauty. p