Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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-libf THE M1ss11.1-J D49- There were several reasons for enjoying my stay at the sana- torium. On Thursdays and Sundays we had to eat ice cream. Can you imagine anything easier or sweeter than that? The friendships which I found I value more highly than any- thing else. The superintendent Was from my home town, and several of the patients had lived nearby. On Sunday morning We attended Sunday School in the Chapel. Some of the patients were teachers. At night an interdenomina- tional service was usually held by some visiting sky pilot. We always enjoyed having visitors, but some of them we almost loathed. Whenever we saw anyone spitting on the ground or walks-well, we couldn't stand it. We had been taught sani- tation day by day, and this was too much for us. The visitors were the only ones who did it. At one time during my stay they were responsible for a chicken pox epidemic. I left after six months vacation, and so strong was the bond that bound me to the sanatorium that I didn't want to leave, and I have returned as a visitor three times since then. When I look back over that period of my life, it is not with regret, but with a pleasure that I cannot express. Tuberculosis is a disease which can be prevented, which can be checked, but which can never be cured after reaching the advanced stage. Fresh air, sunshine, good food and plenty of it, with a peaceful and optimistic mind are the necessities for a tubercular patient, if he wishes to regain his health. So-why should a stigma be attached to the mere word tu- berculosisu? Just ignorance and stupidity--that's all. l XQ?J N L X411-5 ,X X 3 fr f, 130.-

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'H PETERSBURG HIGH SCHOOL Not so for me, however. I got in with the night nurse, who was a cripple, and after prayers I went back into the classroom falso called the oifice J and shook down forty thermometers for her every night. ' One night she heard a noise at the rear of the building, and fearing that some intruder was trying to enter, she woke me up and asked me to see if all the doors Were locked. I was just as scared as she was, but I didn't let her know it. Of course, there was nothing there, but it didn't hurt to make sure. My first examination at the Sanatorium was negative in every way, except for my temperature, but that came down be- fore long. My weight also climbed rapidly until it reached normal and then refused to go higher. I also grew three-quar- ters of an inch during the first week. I hate to think of what would have happened if I had continued to grow at that same rate, but as it is, I haven't grown a bit since then. Every patient, if large enough and well enough fthe ages ran from 6 to 161 made up his own bed. That was how I found out what made them so hard. A wooden frame separated the mattress Charder than the one I used at homej from the springs. This was used as an aid in making the body grow straight. An- other method was to sleep without a pillow. This is a habit which I still have. I quickly got use to all this and soon it was HO K H When it was ascertained that my condition was such as to permit it, they let up on my schedule a whole lot and gave me more privileges than the majority enjoyed. I got up a half- hour earlier in the morning to distribute and collect the boys' thermometers. Then I took the reports on the previous day's work to the staff officer before breakfast. After breakfast I went to the postoffice and store. I also took the same trips before supper. I was usually late getting back and had to eat by my- self. . The surrounding-,mountains always ,held a peculiar fascina- tion for me, and I never grew tiredof studying them through a telescope. The sanatorium itself 'was located at the base of one of these hills and slightly higher than the surrounding terri- tory. Most of the buildings were surrounded by trees, mine being the only one completely in the open. Sometimes, when the snow was on the ground, the building had the appearance of being in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful just the same. -29-

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-01 PETERSBURG HIGH scnoor. 3414- 0n Spring By John Turlington What lovely flowers blossom in the spring! The birds how gayly sing from up above, And whisper to their mates in songs of love! The woods and forests with rapture seem to sing, Proclaiming this the day for ev'rything. The damsel, too, with beauty like a dove, Seeks strange adventure which she knows not of. The world seems bright and cheerful in the spring. Too soon the frost will come and kill the flowers 3 Too soon the leaves from all the trees will fallg From earth's white shroud too soon the birds will flee g No longer will they warble in their bowers. Thus time creeps stealthily upon us all- For beauty and joy last not eternally. . 0 -. The Shopkeeper of Moscow By Julie Vaughan , HE people who knew Kratsky in those later years of his life saw him only as a wizened, ageing little shop-keeper, whose nature had gradually blended itself into one with the dismal atmosphere of his surroundings. Even had they de- sired to learn more about him, they would have found it a diffi- cult task. He guarded the secrets of his past as he hoarded his coins-with a miser's care. Often during those long, dull days in the shop, his thoughts reverted to the old days at Platyev's, to the rooms he had occu- pied-the study with its windows overlooking the trees. Left with a small fortune of over three thousand rubles by the death of his father, Kratsky spent much of his time as a young man in solitude, studying, forming vague and undefined ambitions- ambitionsl nevertheless, which he hoped eventually to realize. .In those days one figure stood out before all others for him- that of Mavlinov. Mingling litle with society, Kratsky came to regard Mavlinov's friendship as a thing to be treasured. He valued the attention and criticisms the other gave his writings, and never doubted the sincerity of his friend. Mavlinov, on the other hand, saw their friendship only as a -31-