Quincy High School - Goldenrod Yearbook (Quincy, MA)

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8 THE GOLDEN-ROD “Yes, but somehow or other we all seemed to change considerably that sum- mer. Some grew so large that we even decided to send them out for football, and two of them succeeded in making the team, Bennett and Leavitt.” “Talking about football, Bertha, wasn’t that the year the football season was in- terrupted by the ‘flu’?” “Come to think of it, I guess it was. We had a vacation on account of that epidemic. Of course, we were all disap- pointed when we were unable to attend school! Anyhow, in spit of the ‘flu,’ we had a rather successful football season, and Bennett was elected captain for the following year.” “I don’t remember much of what hap- pened that year except the election of class officers, when you were elected sec- retary. ‘Larry’ Leavitt was the choice for president, and ‘Betty’ Breslyn was elected vice-president. Then as we thought we should always have plenty of money in the treasury, we elected Donald Bennett to guard it for us.” “You must have forgotten, ‘Barb,’ that Miss O’Xeil left us that year.” “That name sounds familiar, but I can’t seem to place her. Describe her for me. “Why, don’t you remember the teacher in Room 24 that used to give us those long Latin lessons, and with whom Brad- ford Ropes tried to compete (unsuccess- fully) in carrying on Latin conversations? I don’t see how you can forget her; I know I never shall!” “Now I remember her. As soon as you mention Ropes I recall those funny inci- dents; he certainly was a clever fellow. Even if Miss O’Xeil was a little strict, she had such a way of teaching that we couldn’t help learning ‘Caesar.’ Although we were all sorry to have her leave, we soon found out that Mr. Jewell was quite as good.” “Why, Barbara, I didn’t realize we were so near the beach. We must hurry or we’ll be the last ones off the boat.” “Look, Bertha, what are they all look- ing at? Say, there’s that old deaf and dumb lady that caused so much commo- tion getting on the boat. Why, she’s lost her parasol. And can you imagine who is with her?” “Why, that is Wyman Arbuckle, isn’t it?” “Yes, and that’s the rich old aunt that he talked so much about in school. Say, isn’t he getting extremely careful of her in her old age? He’s a lucky fellow. Well, Bertha, I must hurry, I have an engage- ment.” At this point Barbara left us, while we hurried to help Mr. Arbuckle out of his difficulties. We escorted him to the pa- vilion, and there we started a conversa- tion. After the usual welcoming, we began to talk over old times. Suddenly Wyman said, “Say, do you know, Fred, that since I left the High School I’ve had some pretty hard times, but somehow as I look back through those days spent at Quincy High, I always seem to enjoy a laugh at the expense of one of our fellow classmen. For instance, when I think of ‘Jack’ Beale as a soloist in the Christmas pageant that was held under the super- vision of Miss Giles. I know that he knew the words and he may have known the music, but I doubt it. Singing reminds me of those assemblies that Miss Howes used to call in the hall once in a while. The fun we had while singing ‘Scotland’s Burning,’ ‘The Three Blind Mice,’ and ‘Old Black Joe,’ and that whistling, say, that was wonderful! Especially that done by Harold Deacon and John Lane. Miss Howes and Miss Tuthill very ably con- ducted the music department of the school while we were there. “If you remember rightly, our large class continued to grow, for we had sev- eral additions this year, among whom

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THE GOLDEN-ROD 7 Class History Since it was a very hot Saturday in July, we decided to spend the day at the seashore. Of all the popular resorts, Nan- tasket appealed to us. We arrived at Rowe’s Wharf just in time to take the ten o’clock boat. The heat of the day was intense and, to add to this irritation, the pushing and shoving of the crowd were unbearable. Through the midst of this bustling throng we were trying to make our way on board when we both noticed, at the same instance, someone gazing at us who seemed familiar. Who this per- son was we could not at once make out. After a short deliberation we concluded that it must be Barbara Wells. She rec- ognized us at once, and came rushing to- wards us, saying, after a hearty welcome, “This is just the opportunity that I have been looking for to discuss old days spent with our classmates at Quincy High.” “Well, that’s peculiar. Fred and I have just been discussing some of the memor- able incidents of our school experience. By the way, Barbara, do you remember how strangely we acted when we first started our notable career there?” “Yes, and if you remember rightly, I was somewhat late in starting school that year. Do you remember how, when I was walking through the corridor on my first day, I spied, coming in the opposite direction, a tall, stout gentleman, whom I asked if I might have a drink? He began to smile. At this, one of our noble teach- ers, of whom we had a good many, you know, informed me that it was against the rules of the school to talk while changing classes. Later I found out that this tall, stout gentleman was not the master, as I had supposed, but our own classmate, Donald Bennett.” “Yes, say, I never forgot that, Barbara, and every time I think of it I always have a good laugh. But do you recall those Monday morning assemblies when we would rush to the hall, only to be scolded there for our misbehavior? Flow often we would be told to remain after the others had passed out, and it seemed that at each assembly we would have a new Golden Rule to follow. Do you remem- ber the remark Laverty made, that these rules were being given to us one by one so that each would ‘sink in’ properly?” “Indeed, I do remember all that. Al- though that wasn’t so bad, because it was our one desire to shirk our duties. But how difficult it was for us to understand that complicated slip system. I never got the right idea until I was in my Junior year.” “Yes, I recollect all these events, but somehow that year seemed to slide by rather quickly. Near the close of the year several new members joined the class, one of whom was Marjorie Owens. In later years she proved to be one of the most attractive girls of the class. I remember the feeling of satisfaction we had as the year came to a close and we passed our examinations, to return in the fall as Sophomores. The final day of that year came and we were off on our vacation, one year nearer our destination.” “Yes, and we returned in the fall with one new member, Arthur Mendel, who later proved his worth as a violinist and leader of the orchestra. Say, do you re- member how some of the members of our class changed during the summer? For example, there was Houlihan, who in his Freshman year wore short trousers, but, during the summer months, changed his mind and decided to wear “men’s” trous- ers. Then there was Esther Campbell. Do you remember how tall she grew dur- ing the summer?”

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THE GOLDEN-ROD 9 were Beatrice Martin, the blonde-haired, bashful miss, and George and Wilfred Cooke, brothers, as you know, and both jolly good fellows. “I can recall while we were Juniors we were informed that the school committee had changed the ruling which had abol- ished school socials, and we resumed them with more interest than ever. ‘Freak’ Day was observed as usual, with Floyd MacDonald and Karl French taking the main parts. That child MacDonald was always getting into mischief. We were Juniors when Congress declared Woman Suffrage. Fred, I’ll never forget the cele- bration the girls had when we fellows were wondering if we should ever have peace again. But it was not all smiles that year, for we lost two of otir beloved teachers, Miss Seymour and Mr. Roach. “Our interscholastic athletics were not very successful that year, but we had a class that won three class championships, football, basketball, and baseball. It was one of our popular members, Donald Davis, who obtained the captaincy of the baseball nine for the following year.” “Yes, Wyman, it all seems as if it hap- pened yesterday. How, when we were Freshmen, we envied the Seniors, but when we returned that fall we were to envy them no longer,—it was our turn to be envied. This year we had many new and popular additions, Mary Harris, a former New York girl, Margaret Nowell, who had returned to Quincy, Juliette Mc- Carthy and Archibald Blair from Boston schools, and Clayton Blake, who came from New Hampshire to finish his learn- ing at Quincy High. “A great many interesting incidents happened that year. First, we proved our merit in football. We were success- ful in winning all the games except three. We also had one of our stars, Bennett, mentioned on the all-interscholastic team. During the football season there was a class spirit shown which has never been equalled. John Lane and his able assist- ant, Lois Wctmorc, had meetings called in the hall, where we practised, and so did they, wonderfully well, school cheers. “Then came Senior ‘Freak’ Day, when we all appeared at school arrayed in the most peculiar fashion. This year we cele- brated Hallowe’en by having a Junior- Senior reception. The gym, which was wonderfully well decorated, showed hard work done by the entertainment commit- tee. A few weeks later there was another reception given to the football team, at which Mrs. Collins presented the mem- bers of the football team with Q’s. “Then came the Friday before Christ- mas vacation, when the Christmas pa- geant was held under the direction of the English Department. The pageant was a representation of the experiences of our Pilgrim fathers, treaties with the Indians and Colonial school days in Quincy. This was all very well until Bertha Wight ap- peared as Dorothy Quincy and John Mil- ler as John Hancock. Such a coincidence! We all know what has happened to them since! After the pageant John Miller presented Mr. Barr with a gift as a token of our respect for the faithful services ren- dered to all by him. “When we returned after vacation, we found a tall, stern, strict gentleman in Mr. Barr’s previous position. Later we learned that this gentleman was none other than Mr. Burtt. “'Phis year Mr. Collins also gave his consent for a representative basketball team. I remember the first, game with Thayer Academy, when we, to some de- gree, offset our football loss by being on the long end of a large score. We were successful in winning a large percentage of our games. There was considerable material uncovered for the team for the following year, which we earnestly hope will be as successful as ours,