Prattsburgh Central High School - Franklinite Yearbook (Prattsburgh, NY)

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28 FRANKLIN ACADEMY HIGH scHooL ANNUAL limbs. Then they would climb out on the limbs, and cling there, until the wind should blow them away. About forty of the acorns in this room were about to begin this journey, when Moon-drop entered. Immediately they seized her, and told her that they were going to lock her in the dungeon, for acorns do not love fairies. One of them jerked a golden cord that had hung from the center of the ceiling, and instantly a square opening appeared above. They got a ladder, and all climbed up, dragging poor Moon-drop, who wailed piteously. The trap door closed after the last acorn, and they found themselves at the foot of a circular staircase, which they started to climb. At inter- vals along the way there were stair landings, with fountains on them. On the thirty-seventh landing, another trap door was found. This was opened, and the fairy flung in. ' A Poor Moon-drop was then alone in a dark and dirty cell, half way up the trunk of an oak tree. After three days imprisonment she: was dying of hunger and despair, when she noticed that everything felt warm. Then all at once, she saw Fire all over the ceiling of her cell, and beyond that, the blue sky There was a forest fire, and the oak tree was burning with its brothers. A spark floated down to her, on which sat an ugly little imp. The imp caught hold of her, and they floated towards the sky. On the way up, he asked Moon-drop to marry him, but although she was in love with him because of his bravery in rescuing her, she did not want to marry an ugly little imp. But at that moment they met a magic rain drop, that put out the spark, and changed the imp into a handsome elf. The fairy and the elf rode back to earth on the rain drop. On their arrival they were welcomed joyfully by their fairy friends. A few nights later they were married at a fairy wedding, and they lived happily ever after. BILLY RACCOON By BEULAH BROWN, '26 Once upon a time there lived in a forest a little raccoon whose name was Billy. Billy's parents were fine, respectable people who lived in one of the largest trees in the wood and who were loked upon by their neighbors as well-to-do folks. In the raccoon world there are three classes of people, those who wash their food three times before eating, those who wash it only once, and those who never wash it at all. Billy's parents were placed in the three-time class, as you can readily imagine the social rank which they held in that community. Raccoons who-never-wash-their-food-at-all are considered by the three-timers as the most vulgar and vile, of creatures and are avoided by them in every possible way. VVell, to go on with my story, there was at this time a great party being planned by Billy's mother and father which was to take place down by the sandy banks of Raccoon River, in the bright moonlight of a June evening. It was to be a very formal affair, the men were expected

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E,:'1' .I FRANKLIN ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL 27 Farm Club for the benefit of the members of the Agricultural classes. junior Project work was carried on extensively. This work was started first in 1917 by Mr. Van Whittemore. Mr. Watkins also taught in 1922. When in February of 1923, Franklin Academy burned, the Agricultural Shop was left standing, but a room in the Pinney house had to be used for a classroom. Mr. Watkiiis remained as instructor of the Agricultural Depart- ment in 1923 and then left for a larger field of work. The school and community were very sorry to lose such a valuable man. During the years that Mr. VVatkins remained here as teacher of the Department, he trained a judging team which won the silver cup at the National Dairy Exposition at Syracuse. j In September of 1924 school opened with Mr. R. C. Vrooman as instructor of the Department. In the fall of that year, Mr. Vrooman trained a judging team which won second prize in a potato judging con- test held at Alfred. Later that year, he trained another team which won a silver cup at a livestock judging contest held at Ithaca. The farm club also held an educational meeting at the High School Auditorium to which all farmers were invited. Speeches on interesting agricultural topics were made by different members of the club. In March 1925, Mr. Vrooman organized the boy scouts and was kind enough to act as their Scoutmaster. The Agricultural Department as well as all other departments of the school is now in the new fire-proof school building and it is hoped that the Department will be as prosperous in the future as it has been in recent years. A FAIRY STORY By HELEN COMSTOCK, '27 Moon-drop, a little fairy, once lost herself in a large forest. VVhile searching for her companion she stumbled and fell dcwn a small tunnel under a huge oak tree. At the foot of this tunnel she found a little brown door, which she opened, On the other side of this she found herself in a long, dimly lighted corridor. The illumination was obtained from cap- tive lightning bugs, held to the wall by spider webs. At the end of the corridor she opened a door, and stepped into a round room, almost as big around as the large oak tree under which it stood. There were about three hundred acorns of di-fferent sizes in this room. Little baby acorns, no higher than peas, were in their cradles along the wall. Larger acorns were playing on the fioor, while still larger ones were learning to climb ladders and to hang onto a limb that had been placed in one corner of the room. Moon-drop had stumbled into one of the rooms of the oak tree in which acorns are born, brought up, and receive their education. There were five similar rooms under this one. Vvhen any acorns grew up, they climbed up through these rooms to the starcase that was in the center of the oak. They would climb this staircase until they reached the

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FRANKLIN ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL 29 to wear their dress suits while the women intended to wear their even- ing gowns. Of course the Raccoons who-never-wash-their-food-at-all were not invited. VVhen the night of the great party came, Billy's mother, after hav- ing dressed him in his best suit, carefully explained to him that he must be sure and wash all his food three times before placing a bit of it in his mouth and added that if he rinsed it off in a fourth water it would be so much the better. Billy promised faithfully to do just as his mother told him and skipped olf with a light heart when finally she released him. Billy really intended to do just as his mother said, but somehow or ever the food washed three-times didn't seem to taste a bit better than that not washed at all, so he got in the habit of slipping it, unwashed, into his mouth. Everything went fine for a long time but at last, just as Billy was sticking a great, big, dirty clam in his mouth his mother popped around a corner. Of course she saw him, that was unavoidable, but she did not catch him for he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, and in the direction of a never-wash-their-food-at-all Raccoon village. Billy knew that if his mother once got him he would have a right to lament, and for this reason he never stopped until he came to the other village. The settlers in that village allowed Billy to live with them and be- fore he died at a ripe old coon age he had converted many of his new neighbors to the wash-their-food-three-times-custom. THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE By RALPH HORTON, '26 Burton had entered the cave as brave and fearless as a lion, but came out, shaking like a leaf in the cool autumn breeze. His eyes were star- ing straight ahead and I noticed that they were glazed over, giving them a glassy appearance. I knew that people who had been hypnotized had that same glassy stare in their eyes. The moment I reached Burton I knew he was under some sort of spell which had seized him while he was in the cave. The cave had always held a mystery in its cool depths and Burton had been warned several times before he had undertaken the adventure of exploring it. I hustled him home and called the doctor, who said he thought he could cure him. However in spite of all the doctor could do, Burton died that night, murmuring some unintelligible words, only four of which I was able to catch. Those words were, Take that snake away. After he had uttered these words, he drew one deep breath and lived no more. I decided that it was up to me to discover the cause of this strange in- cident which had taken place in the mystery cave, for this made the third person who had lost his life in the cave, and I now decided that he would be the last. The day following the burial of Burton I set out for the cave with a shot-gun in one hand and a large flute in the other. A The first twenty steps into the cave seemed easy enough to traverse, but as I began to get