Quincy High School - Goldenrod Yearbook (Quincy, MA)

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THE GOLDEN-ROD 9 Tokyo. All the hotels at which we stopped were American or Swiss. This is the reason why we did not stop at any Japanese hotels. They have a common bathtub—no private baths with the rooms. The Japanese method of taking a bath seems to us very strange. They scrub off all the dirt and then step into the bathtub to rinse off. The bathtubs have a small space for water (no faucets of course there is no running water) and beside this is a stone, just a small hole next to the tub where a small fire is kindled to warm the water. It is all one piece of furniture. Everyone in a home or in a hotel, wherever the particular bathtub is, used the same tub and the same water to rinse off in. The Japanese houses are very frail little things made of light wood. The walls of the inside are paper, so made that they can slide back and forth and so make a room large or small. A room is measured by the number of mats it con- tains. These mats are made something like our porch mats. They arc the only rugs a house has. They are all a stand- ard size, and are placed on the floor in an indentation made so that the mat, when placed in it, will be level with the floor. The people sit on the floor instead of on chairs. The floor is also their table and their bed. Their pillows arc blocks of wood. There is no furniture anywhere in a house, and to an American it seems very bare. The Japanese shoes arc just small pieces of wood with two stilts under- neath. These are fastened to the feet by a cord around the big toe, and this makes the big toe gradually grow away from the others. In rainy weather, instead of wearing rubbers, they wear the same kind of shoes with very much longer stilts. One must always take off one’s shoes and leave them at the door when one enters a house. The Japanese gardens arc beautiful, especially in cherry-blossom time. In the big gardens there are many little bridges, quaint little bridges that go up in the middle like an arch. On our way home we were taking a different line, the one to San Francisco. Our boat stopped at Honolulu. Honolulu is a very beautiful place. It is very much like our American cities, with American signs in the shop windows and on the street. We stopped at a hotel which is a favorite summer resort. The natives were amusing us by riding surf-boards. They started from hundred of yards out and rode in on the surf without once falling off. None of the Americans that tried to imitate them did it so successfully. When we went back to the ship some natives also came aboard, and dove oft' for coins which the passengers threw into the water. The water was so clear, even in that depth, that we could see the coins sparkling on the bottom. When the ship left Honolulu, all the passengers were given wreaths of- flowers, which we were told to throw into the water. If they sank, the thrower would never come back to Honolulu, but if they floated, the thrower would be back some day. We came home through San Francisco, the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert. The Grand Canyon is one of the most wonderful works of nature. It is a mass of colored stone, red, yellow, and orange. The path down the side is very narrow, and only burros and mules can go down. 'Flic heat in the Painted Desert was so intense that every thermometer in the train broke, but we did not feel the heat so badly as one might think, for out there the heat is dry, while in the East it is humid and muggy. We came straight back to New York, and from there I came home to Boston. I enjoyed every minute of my trip (except perhaps the seasickness) but oh, how good it was to get home and see everybody once more! Elizabeth X. Kinghorn, F. ’28 JUST FISHIN’ Some folks arc crazy for money, Some folks arc looney for wine, But I don't need either to satisfy me With this common old nature of mine. Just give me a pole And a big can of worms. And a brook where there's pickerel or trout. And I’ll have more durn fun than a plundering king. Just fishin’. day in and day out. Mary Isabel Springer, J. ’28.

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Our Trip to Japan In the year J925 my uncle had occasion to go to Japan on business, and I was invited to accompany him. Imagine, if you can, my joy when I heard his invi- tation and accepted it. I met him in Xew York, and together we started, on the last day of May, on our long-waited for trip. Ye went first to Chicago, and stayed there two days, as my uncle had business to transact there. On Thursday we left Chicago on the train bound for Van- couver, from where we were to sail. We crossed the line which divides the United States and Canada soon after we left Chicago, and the next day we were in the Canadian Rockies. How beautiful they were! They are far more beautiful than our United States Rocky Mountains, though they are the same range. The next day we reached Vancouver. It was raining, and I was perhaps just a tiny bit surprised to sec that they used the same kind of umbrellas and rubbers as we do. I had been wont to look upon any city so far away from my home as uncivilized, or at least very different from ours. Our boat, the S. S. Empress of Canada, was to leave the following day. I was thrilled! My first real ocean trip! Of course, I had been on the over-night boats, which run between Boston and Xew York, several times. But to really sail on the ocean! But my high spirits were dampened a few hours after we left shore, for I was a poor sailor! The sec- ond day out I was all over my seasick- ness, however, and I spent my time in the cabin with the rest of the passengers. We had just struck the rainy season, and traveling so far north as we were made the air damp and dreary even if it did not rain. We did not mingle much with the passengers. There were only ten in the first class. One man was an Englishman, with whom we became quite friendly after the first few days. One Tuesday night I went to bed feeling very happy. The next day was to be my birthday. But when I awoke the next morning my uncle informed me that it was Thursday. We had crossed seme line in the ocean that caused us to skip a day—and of course it had to be my birthday. But a surprise was in store for me. The Englishman presented me with a beauti- ful blue silk scarf, which he had bought a short while ago in Japan. That was the last time he had been over there. We had a special dinner that day, with fancy cake and ice cream for dessert. Xot long after my birthday the captain told us we were due to arrive at Japan the next day. I was sorry, of course, to leave my ocean trip, for I had enjoyed it in spite of the continued rain, and the high waves that rose over the ship and made my heart jump into my mouth for fear the ship would be swamped. But nevertheless I was glad to set my foot cn terra firma once more, when we finally arrived in Japan. The big hotel in which we stayed for a few days in Yokohama was more of a puzzle to me than any- thing I have ever seen. There were so many corridors and passageways in it that every time I ventured out of my room without my uncle as guide I lost my way. One day I tried vainly to find my way to the dining room. I followed the signs, as far as I could, but every time I thought I was going along smoothly and would soon reach the dining room, I suddenly came to stairs, on to a cross- corridor and more signs. I eventually gave up the chase and had dinner in my room. I went to many other cities in Japan, but I spent most of my time in Osaka and

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10 THE GOLDEN-ROD “When We Went Abroad—” Mrs. Allan put the receiver on the hook and turned to her husband with such a look of misery on her face, that he actually laid down his cigar and the even- ing paper. “Well, who do I have to tow home this time?” The day before. Mr. Allan had had to tow his wife’s brother’s car for three miles. “John, the Clarks are coming over to spend the evening.” If she had said her mother had died, her voice could not have been more tragic. “They just came back from Europe two weeks ago.” “Xuff said,” grunted John. When the door bell rang, Mrs. Allan opened the door to greet her visitors. “Oh, my dear, I’m so glad to see you,” gushed Mrs. Clark. “I thought of you all the time we were abroad. Why, yes, I will take off my hat and coat. Horton, dear, don’t stand there like a dummy; take off your things and say something. You know, Helen, dear, when one has been abroad, and then returns to visit the old friends again, there arc so many things to talk about, one never knows where one ought to begin. You know yourself I never was very good at conver- sation, and when we were abroad Horton had to do all the talking. Yes, Mr. Allan, I speak French and English very fluently, but it is not my nature to talk. I always sit and listen. Don’t I, Horton, darling? Why, my dear, what a charm- ing little parlor set. It’s just exactly like one we saw in Havre, isn’t it Horton, dear? If you had a little larger room, it would be exactly like one we saw in a little peasant cottage. Doesn’t that lamp stand crookedly? Why, it reminds me of the leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s in Italy, I really don’t remember the town, but it’s famous. I felt just as if it were going to topple over, so I insisted on standing on the off side! Really, I was terribly frightened when Horton stood on the other side. I almost fainted, didn’t I. Horton, dear? Really, my dear, you never know how much vou think of vour husband until he is almost ready to be killed. Yes, Helen, I will take a cup of tea. When we were in England, we got into the habit of having a cup of tea, and some little snack just before retiring. You know, of course, that the English are noted for their tea drinking. But I never got such a surprise in my whole trip as I did in Scotland. I was under the im- pression that all they did was save money, eat oatmeal, and play the bag- pipes and golf. And do you know, my dear, they live just as we do. They drink a lot of tea, too. And their cups and saucers are so thin! Horton asked the reason—he did all the talking, as usual, while we were abroad, didn’t you, dear? —and they told him it was because the thinner the cups were, the more tea they would hold. But really, the French were the most interesting—My goodness, is that the right time? Really, I had no idea it was so late. Come, Horton, dear, we must be going. We’ve been over here all this time and I haven’t told you a thing about our trip. You must come over soon, and I’ll show you some of the snap-shots we took when we were abroad. Good-night, my dear; don’t for- get to come over soon.” 'Fhe door closed and silence reigned for about a minute. Then. “John, when I noticed that the clock had been put an hour and a half ahead, I almost wept for joy. I’ll never be able to repay you.” And John grinned peacefully, and said, “Don’t praise me, I didn’t touch the clock; that was ‘Horton, dear.’” The wind is softly blowing just a little bit of snow: A little bit of sunshine and the crocuses will show: On every twig that’s lonely a thrush will stop and sing. The blue sky for a greeting will bring violets back again. And every day of winter brings us nearer days of spring. R. G. W.