Pennell Institute - Whirlpool Yearbook (Gray, ME)

Page 8 text:

6 THE PENNELL WHIRLPOOL sentatives of Maine. Our fellow citizens have chosen us to represent them and not ourselves; so let us represent the people back home and not our own selfish interests. Our grievances against Massachu- setts are many and great. ests of Maine and Massachusetts are on an entirely different plane. Mass- achusetts is a state of farmers and tradesmen, while Maine’s chief occu- pation is lumbering. Do the citizens of Massachusetts properly safeguard the interests of Maine? They care not for the petition of Maine; their only interest is to collect unjust taxes from Maine. We are not properly represented in the General Court of Massachusetts. The governor has repeatedly refused to grant us just representation. Is this right? Gentlemen, you know it is not. Why then should Maine con- tinue under the rule of a state whose arrogance and narrowmindedness are the talk of all New England? We have another and far greater difference, which is that Massachu- setts is governed by a Clique of Fed- eralists who stop at nothing to obtain their ends. The Federalists raise the cry that the wealthy classes are better fitted for positions in govern- ment and should have the right to rule. Are not the men of the people better fitted to direct the affairs of the state? Why should the lauded aristocrat be better fitted to govern than the plain common citizen who fears his God and pays his debts? My ancestors were simple Highland farmers, laying The inter-. no claim to aristocracy. Am I not as well-bred, and as good a citizen as if I had been knighted by King George or some other Monarch? Birth makes no material difference. A man born in a hovel shall be equal to the knight in his castle in this new state of ours. Massachusetts does not protect our struggling plantation from the depre- dations of the Indian tribes of Can- ada, our frontiers are unprotected, and Massachusetts declines to send troops to our aid. Are not we entitl- ed to the aid of the Militia of Massa- chusetts? We sent our sons to die on the bat tlefield of Bunker Hill, and to starve at Valley Forge. Our sailors have maintained the rights of Ameri- ca on the sea. Why are we not enti- tled to protection? If Massachusetts refuses to listen to petitions, the time will come when we shall be forced to take our liberties by the sword. I have shown you the disadvantage of a union with Massachusetts. I have shown you the advantages Maine would have by becoming independent. Gentlemen, I ask that you cast your ballots for separation. W. Caswell, ’28 O THE PILGRIMAGE TO FLORIDA During a raging wintry blizard, When the air was thick with snow, A tourist party in the Pine Tree State Left, with hopes that tempted fate, For the land where the grapefruit grow. The farewell was nothing to Flori- da’s greeting The rain drizzled steadily every night. Land agents harried them every-

Page 7 text:

THE PENNELL WHIRLPOOL 5 LITERARY ° THE HAUNTED POOL Deep in the forest it lies, this haunted pool, in the center of a small, thickly-wooded dell. The dense foli- age of the massive trees nearly shut out even the sunlight from this se- cluded spot, and makes it, at night, a weird and somber rendez vous for gchosts of the past. As the moon begins to rise, its ghostly light filters through the trees. and casts mysterious shadows over everything; even the pool gleams in this light like the wicked eye of a murderer, whose mind is filled with evil designs. The ferns and rushes on its banks rustle and sway in the damp air as if moved by some unseen hand; and the branches of the trees creak and rub together as the night- wind sighs and moans about them. The frogs and lizards in the stagnant water make queer noises, magnified by the stillness; and even the ser- pents and other small animals creep- ing stealthily in the bushes seem to forebode evil. As the “witching hour of mid- night” approaches, a twig snaps, and a faint clank as of metal echoes through the forest nearby. Silently then, as if walking on air, the ghost of a lonely traveller, murdered in this very spot many years ago, appears. It proceeds slowly to the pool, bares its throat, on which an ugly scar is clearly discernible even in the dim light, and then steps into the water, and vanishes. The dell is deserted and lonely as before. This has happened every night now for many years; and, as the old le- gends say, the ghost of this lonely traveller is doomed never to rest, but to visit nightly the scene of the mur- der by the haunted pool, until the Angel Gabriel shal] call him to eter- nal rest. A. Cushing, ’25 —— 9 IMAGINARY SPEECH DELIVER- ED AT CONSTITUTIONAL CON- VENTION HELD AT FAL- MOUTH, 1819 Gentlemen of the Convention: We are gathered here today, not as members of the political parties, but as citizens of the District of Maine. We can rightly say we are the repre-

Page 9 text:

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