Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

Page 17 text:

THE PIONEER. 11 MY NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE. Tom was cross. He really was undeniably so, or I never should have bad my adventure. You s;e, Tom was home from college on a vacation, and father and mother were away, so we had dinner early and spent the first part of the eve¬ ning in the kitchen, making candy. It was very good candy, and Tom ate too much, which made him ill-tempered; and I will confess that I was a little bit cross, too, from standing so long over a hot stove. So we squabbled steadily for half an hour, though it was Tom’s first evening home; and we were glad when we heard some¬ one ring the door bell. It proved to be Tom’s old crony, Billy Jack- son, and his sister, who had come up to ask us to their house for the evening. I never could bear Billy Jackson, and his simpering little sister makes me tired ; so I said I had a headache — which was true enough—and couldn’t go. Tom was glad enough to go, and that made me crosser than ever. “Just like a boy,” thought I, “to go off and leave his sister all alone ; the very first evening he was home, too ! And yet he said this after¬ noon that I was a great deal prettier than either of the Jackson girls ! ” Full of indignation at Tom’s unbrotherly con¬ duct, I stepped out on the piazza, and wandered up and down, very lonesome and very cross. I decided that I had been foolish to believe t.hat Tom really thought me prettier than the Jackson girls, although he volunteered the opin¬ ion without my saying anything about it. I de¬ clared that he was the most ungrateful mortal that ever lived, when I had burned my hand and just about scorched my face on such a hot night, making candy for his delectation. (I wanted it just as much, but I failed to remember that.) And meditating in this ungracious strain, I strolled aimlessly out of the garden path and down the street. It was a warm night, but the street was almost empty. The blue-white glare of the electric light, now rising, now falling, was a refreshing change from the softly shaded light of the lamps within, and had a much cooler effect. I wandered along, unconsciously in the direction of the Jackson’s house, until, without noticing where 1 had come, I brought up in front of the High School building. Belford is a small place, and this schoolhouse is just an old fashioned wooden one. The lower floor is occupied by grammar schools, but the seeoud and the third are the undisputed realm of the High School. The pupils all sit in the hall on the second floor, an apartment which is large and rather barren, and known as the “ big room.” Some attempt has, in years past, been made to decorate it, and when it is filled with scholars it has quite a cheerful air ; but when no one is in it but yourself, it looks inexpressibly bare and laige. Some slight repairs had been going on, and a ladder leaned against one of the big room win- dows, carelessly left by one of the workmen. A daring impulse came to me, and following it, 1 ran swiftly up the ladder and stopped before the window. Much seaside rock-climbing and stepping about in a small boat had made me very sure of foot, and I had not the slightest fear. I had a struggle with the window which nearly lost me my balauce; but I finally opened it, and in a moment I stood in the gloom of the big room. For a moment I was tempted to basely turn and fly. If the room looked big and barren in the daylight, what was it at night, with no light at all save where that from the electric lamp came in at one end, contrasting uncannily with the total darkness all around, and lighting up the plaster features of one of the busts of the room in a way that was most ghastly ? But I conquered this cowardly inclination, reflecting what glory it would be to say that I had been in the schoolhouse alone, at night, and had climbed a ladder thirty-five feet long to do so. I endeav¬ ored to appear to enjoy myself, although there was no one to see me, and sitting nonchalantly on the sill of the window I had just entered, swung my feet and looked about me. In a mo¬ ment I heard a loud thud below me ; I knew be¬ fore I jumped down and looked out of the win¬ dow what had happened ; I had pushed the lad¬ der down !

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10 THE PIONEER. T is for Taylor, whose surname is “ Duck.” Strange, in his fishing he never has luck. U is for union, a virtue profound. ’Twixt upper classes ’tis too seldom found. V is for Vera, our Senior so gay, Gracious to all, somehow making her way. W is for Walter, who much needs a check. Send one sufficient to take him through “Tech.” X is Xperience, which ’97’s had ; Welcome, vacation ! you make our hearts glad. Y’s for You, reader ; forgive, I entreat! Muses, like mortals, have oft, limping feet. Z’s for a graduate, no matter who. Name her I will not, because — I’m all through. Roy E. Parker, ’97. Some of the Uses of the X-Ray in the Public Schools. A New York paper recently published an imaginary X-ray photograph of a goat. The picture was entitled, “ Why Billy died —told by the X-ray,” and the stomach of the animal con¬ tained all manner of indigestible articles, from boots to a clothespin. Aside from the use of the ray in post-mortem examination upon quadrupeds in a few years we shall witness its employment in many scientific experiments upon living animals of a higher order. Probably its greatest sphere of usefulness will be in the public schools. Methods of examination mav be greatlv im- proved. The present form of test is unfair to the pupil, for although it does not display all his knowledge, it is quite certain to hit upon the points which he does not know, and thus show all his ignorance. The X-ray test would be conducted somewhat in the following manner: A pupil is asked to step to the examination room, and with no friendly “helps” nearer than his own desk, the X-ray is applied by the teacher, and the exact amount of Latin, Greek, and mathematics which his head contains is at once visible. In this way no opportunity is offered for surreptitious alteration of papers after the correct answers have been announced. The work is quickly accomplished, the examination of each pupil occupying less than a minute. The next decade will know nothing of irate parents raving over the injustice and partiality displayed upon report cards. Instead of a defin¬ ite report by percentage, an X-ray photograph of the brain of each pupil will be sent to his parents, who will judge for themselves of the standing of their child. As an aid in disciplining, the rays would be invaluable. It might be well to keep an outfit for producing the lays in every room in the school for use at times when personal investiga¬ tion would be unwise. For instance, should a desk cover be suddenly raised and sounds of suppressed snickering be heard, the ray would disclose with unfailing accuracy the funny pic¬ ture which causes the disturbance, and should it be desired to find the offender who drew the picture, it would be necessary only to project the rays about the r.om, when they would show the effect of the guilty action upon the culprit’s brain. The tardy pupil will find a half-open door but a filmy screen for such antics as he may execute for the edification of his companions in the schoolroom. A wise teacher would periodi¬ cally take a ray survey of the scho )1 as a whole, that any incipient insurrection might be nipped in the bud. The method of examining teachers now in vogue will become a thing of the past. Instead of an ordinary photograph, which is apt to be deceptive, a teacher will apply with a picture of that part of her brain which contains her knowl¬ edge of the science or language which she desires to teach. For instance, an instructor in mathe¬ matics would present a view of a brain filled with cube roots, logarithms, and Pythagorean dem¬ onstrations. Sometime, pupils will be fairly examined, cor¬ rectly marked, and higher standards of moral¬ ity and justice will prevail in our schools than ever before, because of this wonderful discovery. A., ’98. Wanted — Parents to visit the Reading High School. All are cordially invited.

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12 THE PIONEER. I endeavored to look the situation in the face. I was all alone in the second story of a great school building, thirty-five feet above the ground. The doors, of course, were all locked, and the windows down stairs were always left fastened. Even if they were not so, they were too high to reach without a chair. The building was in total darkness, and I had not so much as one match to lighten it. If I called, the policeman, far down the street, would come, and as likely as not arrest me for house-breaking; for was not a schoolhouse a house? Then I thought of Tom, and I blessed him for going to the Jackson’s, for he would have to go home past the school- house. I went to the window where the light came in and looked at my watch ; a quarter past eight. Tom would surely not come home before ten, and probably not until half past. Two hours and a quarter to wait, all alone, and at night, in a big, empty, pitch-dark school building! The prospect was not inviting. I stood at the win¬ dow nearest the light, as being the most cheerful, and looked down the street. Ever so far down I could see the Jackson’s house, brightly lighted, with the doors open on the big, inviting piazza; and I reflected that the oldest Jackson girl was really not so bad, and that I should be glad to hear even the youngest one’s simper. I thought of what fun Tom must be having down there ; and how good the candy on the library table at home must be; and then, growing pensive, I thought, what if I never get out of this alive? for the next day was Saturday, so there would not be any school, and if I couldn’t attract any¬ body’s attention I might starve to death before Monday. And then, I reflected, Tom would wish he hadn’t gone off and left me all alone, and be sorry he was so cross, although it was possible that I might have been a little less cross myself. I began to wish ardently that I had been. I ruminated over our last quarrel before the Jacksons came, and found that it was really ray fault. So I continued to meditate, and so my meditations continued to grow less and less agreeable, until 1 was called back to myself by the coldness of the night wind on my arms ; for, as I said, the night had been very warm and I wore a light muslin. I looked down, wondering why I did not hear the measured pacing of the old Irish policeman up and down his beat, when, to my surprise, I saw him gazing open-mouthed up at the window wdiere I stood. I stepped back hastily into the shadow, and waited perhaps three minutes, when suddenly an overmastering desire to know the time came over me. It grew and grew r , with the unreasonable persistency of such wishes, until I could not en¬ dure it a second longer. I stepped forward into the light again, but before I could look at my watch I heard an ear piercing shriek, followed by a torrent of Irish supplications, below me, and saw the old policeman turn and fly in an agony of fear. The truth flashed into my brain. The old Irishman w r as as superstitious as any of his race, so, very naturally, he fled at what he thought was a ghost. I felt like anything but an object to inspire fear, but it really was no wonder that, on seeing a white-gowned figure appear and vanish so sud¬ denly at the window of an empty building, all his inborn superstition should awaken to terrify him. If I had called, it would probably have been worse instead of better for me, for then he might have been too frightened to come back ; as it was, he would probably hasten to the near¬ est house for a defender, or else summon a brother policeman. I fell to counting up the places where he might stop. The next house was the Blake’s; they were taking an early trip to the mountains, and the house was shut; then came the residence of the Misses Peters ; they were two maiden ladies, and hadn’t a man in the house, so they were out of the question ; opposite them was an art stu¬ dio, which was always shut at night; so (O blessed relief!) the nearest house at which he could ask assistance was the Jackson’s, and either Tom or Billy would be sure to come. And Tom, being a favorite with the old fellow, would almost certainly be preferred to Billy. My heart felt about ten tons lighter than before. I stood in the shadow, so as not to frighten the poor old fellow into fits when he came back, and watched. The time seemed intolerably long, although it couldn’t have been ten minutes.