Rangeley High School - Tattler Yearbook (Rangeley, ME)

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T H E T in winterimuch snow is seen. This is some change for the foreigners and one would think the japanese would perish, since the vast majority of the nation have no tire in their houses except cha1'coal braziersg the partitions in their dwellings are mere paper screens, and they themselves rarely wear woolen garments. They do not seem to mind this-they are very hardy. It may seem strange -to us, but the peasants of the rural districts wear very little clothing as a rule. Even in the streets of Tokio one sees, on rainy days, thousands of men wearing neither trousers nor stock- ings. The japanese lady is short with a dark complexion and very abundant hair, which is usually oiled and glistens like a raven's wing. One would when he saw a japanese lady sitting on the lloor tas is their cus- tomj that she had a pillow at her back: but if he should see her again walking down the street, he would see that what appeared to he her pillow, was a regular part of her costume. lt is a heavy, silken sash, long and very elegant. This is called the orbi and is the most precious article of a japanese lady's wardrobe. The bow, although arranged in dilterent stlyes, is always worn behind. A japanese lady never changes the position of her orbi unless she wishes to announce publicly that she will never marry again. In that case, she ties the bow in front. The japanese are gradually giving up their tasteful costumes of the past for the European dress. Until quite recently, the rule for japanese women, when they mar- ried, was to shave their eyebrows, pull out their eyelashes and stain their teeth jet black. The point was to make them look as hideous as possible so as to attract no more admirers. The japanese are naturally of a happy disposition. A. smile illumines every face. Apparently their past has no regret, their present no annoyances, their future no A T T L E R 23 alarms. Their wants are few. The houses of the rich and poor are alike. If they are sad, they seldom show their sadness in public. M. H., 121. R. H. S. PICNIC NE beautiful May day the R. H. S. Club went for a hike and picnic. The first pleasant spot that we reached we would stop and eat our dinner. The first place of interest we passed were two beautiful Parks , a short distance apart. From these we entered a Woody section which contained a great many Knowles and where the Robbins were singing, as they do just preceding a rain. Through this wilderness a stream ripplecl and in all its appearances it re- sembled the Nile 'i river. Not far from this pasture, in a g1'OVC, a new house was being built. 'We inquired of the carpenters, who it was for, and they told us it was for a' Taylor who wished to live in a secluded spot. After we had gained all the information we wished re- garding houses and Taylors U, we traveled on for a mile or so until we found we were in a beautiful orchard. Nearby we could hear Brooks running swiftly on their way to the sea. The instant we heard the Brooks we discovered that we were very thirsty, so we hunted until we found a clear rivulet rippling down between two huge apple trees. Thinking that there must he a house not :tar off, we satisfied our thirst, and went in search of a house. We 'found a huge, old-fashioned farm- house nestled in a large fir grove. We sent the president of the club to ask if we might eat our lunch in the orchard nearby, but as he stepped onto the porch, the door opened suddenly and a large, red-faced, Way, How the orchard. were going all want to smiling lady greeted us in this do you dog yes, you may eat in I know that's just what you to ask 'cause that 's what they do, who come here. I've been watching you all the way through the orchard. I

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22 THE TATTLER ing so fast that the detention camps are filled to overflowing, and the omcials have time to give the aliens only a hasty exam- ination. Something must be done to provide a place for these newcomers, or else they must be kept from coming so fast. If too many are allowed to come, the result in labor conditions may be serious, for every- one knows how much cheaper foreign labor is than native help. Foreigners will work very cheaply, and this throws many Amer- icans out of employment. Most aliens do not know our language, yet they are not made to learn it, as they should be. They form a little colony on some of the obscure streets of a city, have their own stores, speak their own language, they are not Americanized the least bit. They should be taught the American lan- guage and customs. The settlement schools in some cities are doing a great deal toward this, but they are not adequate, nor plentiful enough. We should not allow these strangers to drift away into oblivion, we should teach them and make good, sound American citi- zens out of them. E. P., JZI. JAPANESE WAYS HE habits and customs of japan are quite different from those of our country, and some of them seem to us very queer, but our habits and customs probably seem just as peculiar to them. Five men, upo11 reaching the landing-pier at Yokohama, were delayed by a polite ofhcer for a slight examination of their trunks. There is a duty in japan on photo- graph cameras. One of the men was, therefore, called upon to pay the required sum. I have no japanese money, he fal- teredg if I must leave my camera here and call againf' Not at all, replied the olhcial courte- ously. I will lend you the money, here it is. The man was durnfounded and asked, But what security have you that I will repay you? Ah ! replied the officer. You are an American. It is pleasant to know what other people think of us, that is, if it is to our credit, and this little incident shows us what the people of japan think of the Americans. A traveler leaving the Custom-house to go sight-seeing, cried: Shades of my childhood! What are these? There be- fore him was a big two-wheeled carriage drawn by a strong, naked Japanese man. These rigs are called in japan jinrik- shas . lt may seem impossible at first, but a traveler soon comes to like these little vehicles and a breakdown in them is prac- tically unknown. The usual price per hour is ten cents or seventy-five cents for an entire day. Onels packages and valises follow in another jinriksha. The speed is almost that of a Ford fat least five miles per hourjg On good roads, with two men, one pulling and the other pushing, one can make ten miles an hour. In stormy weather these human horses wear blankets as a dress. They are a kind of Japanese mackintosh, composed of grass and straw, which gives the appearance of a fretted porcupine. Yokohama, the divided into three sections. The first is the settlement, where the hotels are locatedg the second is the strictly Japanese quarter, the third lies on a hill called The Bluff . The hill is reached by a stairway called the Hundred Steps . Most of the 'foreigners reside on this hill. Some of the houses on the Bluff are quite chief city of japan, is original business attractive. Two travelers once visited the hill and met there two Americans who had taken a furnished home for several months and who were actually keeping house in Japan. They reported that they had never had such an experience before and that the markets of Yokohama abounded in meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, all at reasonable prices. The summer, they confessed, had been hot, but on the Bluff the air was fine and cool, with no thunder storms. Yet Y okohama's climate is not always tropical and mild, for

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24 THE TATTLER could tell by the look of your faces that you would ask. Jim, my husband, says I 'ni a regular mind reader. .I must go now and get the dinner on, for the men will be here in a jiffy. Now, have a good time. She closed the door and left us standing there, too surprised to utter a word. We went back to the Brooks , sat down under the trees to rest and chat a while before eating our luncheon. VVe were comfortably settled and talking when we heard a voice speaking to us. We jumped to our feet as quickly as possible and who should be standing there, holding a large pan of white biscuits and a huge dish of Beans , but the same red-faced lady who had met us at the door. I thought I'd bring you down some 'Beans' and biscuits, she was saying. They always taste so good out of doors. These biscuits are made from 'Pillsbury's' Best: I can't cook with any other flour. I've got to go back and churn. jim 'll be down in a moment with some lemonade, he sure is a cracker-jack at making lemonade. If any of you like fresh buttermilk, come up and I'1l give you some. We thanked her and after she had dis- appeared around the corner of the barn, we prepared to build a fire, and fry 'K Lamb chops and potatoes, and there was no doubt in our minds but this would taste good with the Beans and biscuits. The boys opened the Olive bottles and one boy went down in the Glenfnj to gather More fMoorej wood for the Ere. just as we were ready to sit down to the repast, which had been spread on the grass, a man came around the corner of the barn, carrying a pail. If we had not been expecting jim, as his wife had introduced him, we would have thought he was the Ancient Marriner himself. He was a short, skinny man of about fifty-five years of age. His voice was squeaky and shrill. He approached us and set the pail down, pushed his hat on the back of his head, and said: I thought I 'd bring ye down some lemonadeg most picknickers like it, and my wife says I'm a 'jim slickeri' at mak- ing it. , We were about to thank him when he began again: 4' Don't mention itg I like to be accommodating, and disappeared around the corner of the barn. After finishing our lunch, six members of the club went up to the farmhouse for some fresh buttermilk. The remainder of us stayed in the shade until the others returned. The six club members returned and re- ported that the names of our friends were Richardfsju. There were no incidents worth mention- ing on our way home. We met one man live miles from H Nowhere with the Axel of his wagon broken. Some dis- tance farther on we saw a man painting a house. At the sight of him we broke out in loudest cheers and the Brackett under the staging gave way, throwing the man to the ground. Fortunately it did not hurt him. XfVe arrived home at seven o'clock after a most delightful day. L. T., '24. ROBERT'S CONCLUSION OBERT WILLIAMS was fourteen years old, and, after school had closed Friday night, he went out to the garden and dug some worms. After he had got his can full he overhauled l1is fish- ing tackle to sec if it was all ready for Saturday's fishing. The next morning, as Robert and his father were walking through an apple orchard, on the way to the fishing hole, there was a Hock of sparrows and a robin sitting in the apple trees pecking at the apples, which still remained on the trees in spite of the bitter frosts. ' As Robert spied the birds he picked up a stone and was about to throw it at the center of the flock, when his father stopped him, saying, You 1'I11.lStl1,t do that, Robert, just think how badly you would feel if you should kill one of them, especially the robin. You know what a help he is to our garden,