Pennell Institute - Whirlpool Yearbook (Gray, ME)

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THE PENNELL WHIRLPOOL bothered with a bear who had been seen at intervals, but who did the most damage at night. He had got- ten into the camps and taken meat and other things off the shelves. One night he had been attacked by a dog, but the dog had got the worst of it. At last the people could stand it no longer, and a posse of men was sent out to capture him. The day on which the posse was sent out was the day for Hood’s week- ly trip to Berwick for supplies. As the trip took four or five hours, Jim, after taking the orders, started off at about six o’clock in the morning. The trip down was uneventful. After purchasing his supplies Jim went to see Jane, his girl, and told her about the posse out bear-hunting. After having a quarrel with her, Jim decided to go back to Bear Creek that night, instead of waiting until morn- ing as was his custom. It was a beautiful moonlight night in early April and the sky was full of stars. Jim drove slowly partly to en- joy the night, and partly because the road was so slippery. Soon the side of the cliff obscured his vision, and he had to drive more carefully be- cause the road was so full of curves. Meanwhile, the posse had been gone all day, and the only evidence that was found of the bear was a cave where fresh tracks could be seen on damp soil. They had built a smudge at the opening, but, as no bear appear- ed, they decided there must have been another opening somewhere. By this time, it was growing dark, and the men decided to return home. As Jim rounded a sharp curve in the road, his headlights suddenly dis- closed a form in the middle of the road. Jim jammed on his brakes, but the road was so slippery that the car skidded, and backed against the side of the cliff. Fora moment, Jim could not imagine what had happen- ed. Then it dawned on him the shadow must have been a bear which was heading for a cave in the cliff against which his Ford had backed. Jim climbed over into the back seat and grabbing his rifle, rose up and fired twice at the shadow. At the second shot, Jim heard a hoarse growl and the sound of a heavy body drop- ping to the ground. Jim drove out into the road a little way, then used his axe vigorously on an old dead pine nearby. A little while later, Jim drove into Bear Creek with the bear dragging behind on a crude sledge made of rudely hewn pieces of dead wood bound with withes. After he had told his story, one of the older men piped up, “Well, Jim, my boy, this is one time you sure were lucky. Our men have been out all day looking for that bear, and here you come along and skid right into him.” “Lucky Skid,” sang out another man. After that Jim was known as “Lucky Skid,” which he liked very much better than being called “Un- lucky Jim.” The next day Jim took his bear skin down to Berwick to have it cured. After he had done this he went to see Jane who was already sorry for

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THE PENNELL WHIRLPOOL 7 where, The sight of their bankrolls gave des- pair, For money took wings, do what they might. They got an airplane ride in Miami, But were wrecked in the great Ever- alades. They walked for miles on swampy land With alligators on every hand That seemed to wait in ambuscades. They straightway left the land of the orange And returned to their homes in Maine The sight of hills was good to their eyes, For the beauties of Maine not one denies, And they vowed they never would leave again. Kent, ’26 10) SPIDERS In 1874, a doctor by the name of Wheeler found two huge spiders as large as cows. He managed to drive them into a deep pit with the help of four friends. These spiders spun a web the size of an inch cable, as strong as steel, but very p liable, across the middle of the pit. The doctor found that they were man- eaters, and twice a day they had to have human flesh. He studied them with a strong microscope and found that they had powerful jaws and teeth. Prisoners who had received a death sentence were used to feed the huge creatures. When a prisoner was thrown in, he would be caught in the huge mesh- like web. No amount of struggling would free a person from that death trap. The two spiders would creep slowly up towards the doomed man, than leap upon him. There was an agonized yell or two and then silence. The spiders always fought it out to see who would get the choice parts. One day when the doctor visited his pets, he found that they were sick. The day before, they had eat- en a sick man, and this the doctor thought, was the cause of their ill- ness. After they died, the doctor hauled them up from the pit and cut them open. To his surprise, he found ews eee .. nothing, for he woke up then. Gray —— LUCKY SKID The road which led from the min- ing camp of Bear Creek to Berwick ran halfway around a mountain. On one side of the road was a high cliff, the top of which hung slightly over the road. On the other side were rows of bushes beyond which ran a small stream. The only way of transporting the mail and supplies from Berwick was either by mules or by a Ford owned by one of the miners. As it was hard to get feed for the mules, the Ford was used most of the time, The owner of the Ford, a miner, who had been at Bear Creek less than a year was a lank fellow whose name was Jim Hood. He was always the joke of the miners because of his lenethy build and his unluckiness. For a month the town had been

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THE PENNELL WHIRLPOOL 9 the quarrel. After dinner Jim told her about the bear. When he had finished, Jane cried, “O Jim!” “How brave!” “Fuh, just a lucky skid,” replied Jim. M. Hill, ’28 — o0-— — -— THE VANISHING AMERICAN J am an Indian The last of my noble race. Soon, I, too, will be summoned To the Happy Hunting Ground of my forefathers. ‘ Glad will I be when the Great Spirit Beckons for me to come; For in this world I am sad and lonely Gone now, are the tepees of my fa- thers, From the quiet woods; Gone, also, are all my brothers From native haunts ‘neath dusky shade, By lake and gliding stream. Never more will I see The fitful flicker of the Council fire, Or smell the sweet smoke From the Peace Pipe of my fathers. Gone, too, is the rythmic beat of the tom-tom So familiar to my ears, And the weird music of dark-eyed In- dian maidens, Seated among the shadows. Never again will I hunt the red deer, And hear the delightful sound Of an arrow, winging its way swiftly to the mark; Or spear the darting trout in hidden pool. For all these things belong to a nation Once powerful, but now gone forever! I, alone, await the beckoning hand Of the Great Spirit, that shall point the way To the land of Peace and Happiness. A. Cushing ’27 9) FIGHTING MOSQUITOES In the summer of 1926, the worst catastrophe since the burning of Cole and Marsden’s store visited our peace- ful community. There had been a rainy spring and the flats below the Corner had become the breeding place for hordes of mosquitoes. They spread malaria, the swarms becoming so thick that many families were driv- en out of town. The remaining inhabitants held a town-meeting to elect a mosquito ad- ministrator to have full authority and access to the funds of the town. Laban Thayer was elected unanimous- ly, as everyone’s hands were raised slapping mosquitoes when his name was called. Our illustrious fire-chief laid his plans with the skill of a Napoleon. His first step was to commandeer all available gasolene at the various gar- ages to pour on breeding places. Ken- neth Sawyer hauled it on his truck. When he reached the flats, swarms of furious insects made him lose control of his auto. The town erected a monument years later to Kenneth Sawyer, a martyr of Gray. As ordinary netting was useless, our mechanic, Wendell Tripp, invent- ‘ed a copper mesh uniform for Mr. Thayer and his volunteers. With the aid of this, they succeeded in oiling the flats.