Quincy High School - Goldenrod Yearbook (Quincy, MA)

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THE GOLDEN ROD. latent acquisitions are an Apache otSjlai bdttle of southern beetles and centipedes given by Rev. Mr. Cotton ; a piece of a flag which Far rag ut carried, and some paper pressed until it is as hard as iron, presented by Miss Dorety, ’95; some paper which survived the Boston fire, from Miss Cudworth, ’95, and some shells from Miss Mary Sampson, ’95. Perhaps there are others who have relics that they care- little for. If so, here is a good chance to dispose of them. E. The zeal with which the ’96 boys exercise with the weights is amus- ing. They scorn to take the small weights, even the thirty-pound one being too light, but the fifty-six is just the thing. They drag it around and manage to get it over some six feet of ground, and ima- gine their muscle has increased fifty per cent. The trouble comes, however, in bringing it in. Their strength seems to fail entirely all of a sudden, and for this reason it has been thought best to restrict their ardor to thirty pounds. E. A few girls were gathered to- gether in a room of the ----------- school building, on the last day of October, and they were discussing various charms which were said to yield very satisfactory results if tried Hallowe’en. It was of course very foolish, but the writer, wish- ing to see what results would real- ly follow some of the experiments, was one of those who promised to try a few of the charms and report on their success or failure, as the case might be. In accordance with this promise we valiantly sallied forth that evening and marched along the sidewalk looking neither to the right nor to the left, trembling lest any chance should make it neces- sary to speak, thereby causing us to lose the precious mouthful of water which we were carefully guarding, for the following instruc- tions had been received : “Fill your mouth with water, then go out on the street, and the first name you hear is sure to be the name of your future husband. If you fail to hear any name, you will be an old maid.” What a terrible fate ! For a few seconds all went well, and then the utter absurdity of the whole proceeding excited an uncon- trollable desire to laugh. A mo- mentary struggle with the fatal de- sire, a gasp, a choking sensation, and our cherished mouthful of water was gone, and sadly we re- turned home, feebng as if a placard labeled “Old Maid” were some- where attached to us. Our spirits soon rose, however, and we began to roast some chest- nuts, each one of which was called by a different name. Very anxious were we to see which chestnut would be the first to burst open and roll away from its fellows, and as the chestnuts did not roast fast enough to suit us we attempted to push them nearer the coals, there- by burning our fingers, whereupon we left the “hateful things” to their fate, and walked off in high dudgeon to nurse the aching mem- bers. All was quiet in the room, when suddenly there came a noise which sounded to our startled ears like the discharge of a pistol, and some- thing uncomfortably warm struck our face. “Oh! What’s that ?” What indeed but one of the chestnuts, which, not content with burning our fingers, had jumped up and struck us a warm blow. In order to soothe our outraged feel- ings, we promptly ate that chest- n ut. One more experiment remained to be tried, and trustfully hoping that this last charm would be more successful than its predecessors, we placed on a chair by the side of the bed a glass of water in which was a small stick, and then went to sleep, firmly believing that we should dream we were falling over a precipice, and that the one who might after all rescue us from be- ing an old maid would appear and save us from the fall. When we awoke it was broad daylight, and no dream had visited our pillow. We are afraid we looked wofully foolish, and indeed we deserved to

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The Golden Rod Vol. II. QUINCY, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1892. No. 3 THE - GOLDEN ROD Will be Published Monthly During the School Year in the interests of the QUINCY HIGH SCHOOL. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. For the Year. . 50cents | Single Copies, . 5 cents F01 sale at E B. Souther’s. Address all communications to SARAH C. McGOVERN or JOS. J. CALLAHAN, BUSINESS MANAGERS. Entered at the Quincy (Mass.,) Post-Office as Second Class Matter. EDITORIAL. GENERAL EDITORS. Eva G. Reed, John W. Estabrooks. IN the early days of our coun- try’s history the settlers of New England thought much more of training their souls for the world to come than of enjoying anything in this world, and the proper train- ing, according to their ideas, con- sisted in abandoning all earthly frivolities and pleasures, and in maintaining a grave, stern expres- sion of countenance, and spending much time in prayer. It naturally follows that the old New England Thanksgiving was somewhat dif- ferent from the Thanksgiving of this nineteenth century. And just here let me beg you to say, not Thanksgiving, as we so often hear it pronounced, but Thanksgiving; not that the former pronunciation is absolutely incorrect, but the weight of authority, is with the lat- ter, and furthermore the latter pro- nunciation reminds us more forci- bly of the special purpose for which this day was originally set apart, that is, the offering of thanks to the great and merciful Giver for the blessings by him bestowed. To most children and perhaps to some older persons as well, the word Thanksgiving is now hardly more than a synonym for a general good time, the most delightful part of which may in many cases be ex- pressed by the single word dinner. Very little of the deep seriousness of early days now remains. Of course, most people attend church in the morning, but they do not on that account become grave and thoughtful for the remainder of the day, nor is this last named condi- tion to be desired, for it is not ne- cessary that in order to show our gratitude to the Father, we clothe our countenances in a garb of pious solemnity. Gratitude is not an ex- pression of the countenance, but an emotion of the heart. How pleasant are the family re- unions which take place on Thanks- giving Day, and how much we all enjoy the merry games and inno- cent fun by the evening fireside. Few persons, we think, would care to have our pleasant holiday return to its early New England form; but in the midst of our pleasures we should not forget the true sig- nificance of the day. If one wishes to secure for himself a purer, sweeter enjoyment on this holiday, let him help one poorer than he to have a real Thanksgiving; and would it not be a good plan to do some act of kindness each day, and to forget our troubles in counting our blessings, thus making life, not only to ourselves but to those around us, a continual Thanksgiv- ing Day ? R. The debating society is proving a great success, and the object of the society as written in the con- stitution seems to be in a large de- gree realized. The entertainment which precedes the debate offers a very pleasant preface to the wran- gle which is” to follow. Visitors would do well to “drop in” the last hour on Thursdays. e. Our cabinet collection continues to grow larger. Each week new ar- ticles are added to it. Some of our

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THE GOLDEN ROD. look so, when we were asked the result of our Hallowe’en charms. It is said that misery likes compa- ny. However that may be, we were certainly delighted to hear that three or four of our friends had met with results similar to our own, and we cheerfully agreed with one who said, “111 never waste my time with Hallowe’en charms again; there’s no truth in them, any way.” R. PERSONAL EDITED BY Jennie Griffin, Edith Eaton, Herbert A. Thompson. Miss Fanny Eady, ’96, has re- moved from town. Miss Prince, teacher of drawing, teaches in the schools at Lexing- ton, Mass. Miss Annie Eady, ’96,an editor on this staff, has resigned on account of her removal from town. She was a very able scholar, and will be missed both as a scholar and editor. Miss Eaton, ’96, has been elected to fill the vacancy. Among our visitors of the past month were Mr. S. J. Nowell of the Rockport, Maine, High School, Dr. Sheahan, and Supt. Lull. Vis- itors are always welcome, and a cordial invitation is extended to all who are interested in the school. We were sorry this month to lose Miss Gerrish, ’94. She was one of our Exchange editors on the Golden Rod, and as a scholar she has a most excellent record. By a vote of the editors the position made vacant by her removal has been filled by Miss Pope, ’95. MR. AND MRS. CORTHELL’S RECEP- TION TO SUPT. AND MRS. LULL. The reception tendered by Mr. and Mrs. Corthell to Supt. and Mrs. Lull deserves more than a passing notice. The school com- mittee was well represented, and the Quincy teachers were present almost without exception. Though the evening was stormy, the cer- tainty that there would be a Lull in the storm was sufficient to bring together about one hundred guests. When one has mentioned the host and the hostess, together with the guests, and has added the fact that Weber of Boston was caterer, there is surely no need of making the perfectly obvious remark that the occasion was an especially brilliant social success Mr. and Mrs. Corthell’s graceful hospitality will be long remembered by the Quincy teachers. LOCALS. EDITED BY Annie E. Burns, Daisy C. Bemis, Percy A. Hull. Holidays occur quite frequently of late. Who has died ? Masculine mem- bers of ’94 please explain. How on earth can one find the north, south, east, and west at the north pole? Some one speaks of the proces- sion of the equinoxes. Did it take place in the late presidential cam- paign ? The fourth class are to write a novel of twelve hundred words. We shall now be able to ascertain the future authors of America. The miscreants who wrote vul- gar and indecent language on the school building ought to be pun- ished to the fullest extent of the law. Some of the boys of ’94 curl their hair, bringing a curler to school for that purpose. It was n’t a success one morning, because there was no fire. One morning lately one ot the absentees was inquired for, and it was found that no classmate ever visited her. We think all the pu- pils should be interested in one another. The vacation of Thursday and Friday, which we much enjoyed, is, we find, to benefit us. The teachers who visited schools on Friday have returned to us with renewed enthusiasm after exchan- ging thoughts with other workers in the same profession.