Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

Page 6 text:

,,7 BALL Tum B.x5r:1LT

Page 5 text:

THE HERMIAD Class Flowers, ------ Louisa Maggz'a, 1922 A Parody, - - - - - - Eleanor Jllain, IQ22 Popular Fiction, - - . - - Carl Berggren, 1922 Hits ofthe Season, ----- Aliee Salisbury, 1922 junior Specialties, ---- Carl Main, 1922 Food for Thought, ---- Mollz'e Baxler, 1922 Pupils SHOULD-SHOULD NOT, - - Alice Salisbury, 1922 Wise Cracks, ----- Mollie Baxler, 1922 Seven Wonders of P. H. S., - - - Louisa lllaggia, 1922 And They're Still Saying, - - Ernesl Moll, 1922 School Votes, ---- - Our Buried Hopes, - - - - - S Philzf Bailey, 1922 VVant Ad. Section, ---- Alice Sal1'sbznj', 1922 Here, There and Everywhere, - - - Slanley Slzumway, 1922 Roun' Town, - - - - - . Stanley Shumway, 1922 Our Advertisers-Patronize Them. 5

Page 7 text:

THE HERMIAD 5 FAILING TO SPIKE THE LEVER GLADYS BURDICK AT 9:o5 on a winter night, when the thermometer registered 300 below zero, extra engine No, 1626, east-bound, went off the track three-quarters of a mile west of J. B. Tower, be- cause a rail had broken under the pounding of heavy trailic and the contraction caused by low temperature. The point of derailment was 1o,ooo feet east of the Broad Street Tunnel and a mile from the Seaton block ollice. Often during heavy car movements, when the West Broad Street Yard was full of cars, the east-bound track from the tunnel to the J. B. Tower would be used by direction of the yardmaster for cars soon to be moved, and the dispatcher would issue orders establishing a single track zone between I. B. Tower and the Seaton ofhce. This night, the dispatcher did not establish a zone, but the operator at the tower had orders to hold west-bound trains and to allow east-bound trains to proceed against the current of traffic. When Taylor Williams, the third-trick operator, came on duty at II o'clock, he failed to sign the transfer book, which contained the iniormation that the east-bound track was blocked, but the second-trick operator had told him the news, and, with a warning not to let the fire go out, had de- parted into the dark and biting cold. The warning about the fire was unnecessary. Williams heaped on the coal liberally, but when he had been on duty an hour and a half, he discov- ered that the room was becoming decidedly chilly in spite of the fire. He dropped upon his knees and gazed in the ash pan. It was full of ashes up to the grate and he estimated that the fire-pit was a quarter full. He would have to empty the ash pan before he could shake the grate. Shivering, he went about taking up the ashes, which first meant a hunt out- side for the ash pail and shovel. To prevent mistakes owing to forgetfulness, since trains were controlled by manual block signals. a makeshift arrange- ment was in force at the Seaton office. A railway spike was placed between the latch and the handle of the lever that con- -trolled the main-line signals, which prevented a hurried or improper movement. After lining up the switches for a train movement shortly after coming on duty, Williams had failed to spike the lever controlling east-bound signals. Physi- cally cold, but hot under the collar, he paid no attention to the distant four long blasts of an approaching east-bound freight train calling for the clear board at the Seaton oihce