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

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The Pioneer mysteries of a coronet braid, the mar¬ cel wave, the Eames pompadour and the like. The boys begin to pay special at¬ tention to their socks, and in order to display the beauties of their footwear to the admiring multitude, whom they fondly imagine there, sit with their trousers so high, it is difficult to de- • cide whether or not they have yet • discarded the Freshman’s official rai¬ ment. Neckties, too, begin to claim more than the accustomed amount of attention, and many are the weary hours spent before the mirror wrestling with the in¬ tricacies of a four-in-hand or a bow tie. The girls discard tire one- piece dresses worn by the Freshman and blossom forth in shirtwaist and : skirt costumes bristling with safety pins to keep the newly acquired waist line intact. Altogether, appearances ■begin to assume much greater propor¬ tions during the Sophomore year than ■ever before. In speech, too, a great gulf springs up between the Sophomores and Fresh¬ men. The boys address each other as “Fellows” and attract another’s at¬ tention by a whack on the shoulder, instead of nudges as heretofore. The girls beigin to call each other “my dear” and they carefully reduce their viocabulary as nearly as possible to ‘simply” and “perfectly.” These words, when used in conjunction with any adjectives whatever, lend much elegance and force to ordinary con¬ versation. “Simply” is considered even stronger than “perfectly.” Tivo combinations much in vogue among Sophomores are “perfectly grand” and “simply darling,” and these phrases are used in describing everything from the new teacher’s appearance to the way Mr. Maxwell leads the chorus. What wonder that when we contem¬ plate these great dignities that accom¬ pany the rank and station of a Soph¬ omore we can . scarcely await to as- .sume such glories ourselves! DOROTHY DAVIES. ALPHABET OF CLASS OF ' 07. A stands for Asunta, an actress to be. B stands for Buck, our president is he C stands for Clare, who at ball does excel. D stands for Dotty, who keeps up with her well. E stands for Edith, Ethel and Etta, three little girls, none could be better. F stands for Frances, a friend of the girls. G stands for Gertrude, whose pretty hair curls. H stands for Helen, who giggles all day. I stands for me who with Helen does play. J stands for Jennie, and also for Jean. K stands for knowledge, on which we must lean. L stands for Lee, a dear little la.ss. M stands for Marion, gem of the class. N stands for naughty, which none of us are. O stands for ’otty seven Rah’ Rah! Rah! P stands for Perry, a hard naiwe to rhyme. Q stands for Quinlan, who is always? on time. R stands for Rachel, stately and tall. S stands for Sumner, respected by all. T stands for Tim, who a druggist will be. U stands for Upton, our musical prod¬ igy. V stands for Violet, our studious one. W stands for Winship, who creates lots of fun. X Y Z and my verses are through. And now schoolmates, I must say “Skidoo.” I never do my books deface. Or marks put in. I understood from sources good It was a sin. Yet every year I books erase By dread fiat. They come to me with marks, you see. Now, why is that?

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The Pioneer AN ATTEMPT THAT FAILED. “At last,” exclaimed Tobias Jinks, “my work is completed. This great and wonderful flying machine is now quite ready for a trip to the Planets. Today I shall bid farewell to my friends. Ah, they will laugh and sneer! They are behind the times. They do not understand the power of the greatest invention of the twentieth century. Let them laugh and sneer and call me a fool if they will! To¬ morrow Tob Jinks will have soared far above this earth, and be king and con¬ queror of Jupiter and Mars.” The morrow came. Rain fell and wind moaned. It was the day that Tobias Jinks was to bid farewell to earthly things. Men, women and chil¬ dren turned out to shout a doubtful “Bon voyage” to the future king of higher realms. At last he made his appearance arrayed for the journey. He stepped into the “Soarer,” holding a blue cotton umbrella in one hand and a lever with the other. A tear glittered sadly in his eye and trailed its course down his brown cheek. Af¬ ter all it was a great irndertaking,— and Tobias loved a warm bed ' and a good dinner. The good parson bade him read his Bible and say his prayers ever y night, and a kind-hearted matron filled his pockets with seed cakes. Tobias pushed the lever ever so little, and the wonderful “Soarer” began to soar. The crowd shrieked their last adieus. Earth and earthly things soon faded out of his sight. A ravenous gale seized the fragile craft and blew the umbrella into space. The explorer charrged his mind at this exciting point and would have returned to resume his lowly position, but fate decreed higher things for him. Upward and upward the little bark flew. The “Soarer” was made to soar, and soar it did, far above the little birds, far above the fleecy clouds. The left and the right, above and below, was cold dark space. Not a star twinkled in the blackness. “I am lost,” groaned Tobias, “I shall go on forever into eternity, — supperless and bedless.” Then there was a migh¬ ty roar! Then a vivid flash of flames,, and a great volume of fire shot down upon him. Tobias opened his eyes. The mellow sunbeams were streaming through his curtains. He was in his own warm bed. “Ah, this is the day I was to start out on my perilous journey,” sighed Tobias. “But Jinks is a wiser man.’” Like a thief in the night he sneaked down the stairs and into the workshop where the innocent “Soarer” awaited his majesty. With a horrible grin on, his face he struck it a blow with the. axe which shattered its slender rig¬ ging to splinters and threads. “If dreams came true,” murmured Tobias, as he gazed on the humble wreck. ETTA M. DOYLE- THE SOPHOMORES AS SEEN BY A FRESHMAN. The Sophomore year in the high school is known as the period of great changes. Old methods of living are discarded as “childish,” “outgrown,’” and things new and strange take their places. It is during this year that the boys make their first appear¬ ance in long trousers, amidst the jeers of their companions. The girls, too, go through the trying process of hav¬ ing their skirts lengthened, and they greatly increase their hair ribbons, perhaps better to fit the enlarged heads that accompany this period of development. A Sophomore girl who appears in public with anything less than three yards loses caste imme¬ diately. The boys begin to adopt individual styles of hair-dressing, which by the time they are Seniors will have de¬ veloped into some distinctive crea¬ tion like that known as the Canty pompadour or the Weston fluff. The girls, too, are initiated into all the

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The Pioneer ‘‘GREAT AUNT ORISSA.” “Denver, Colorado, Nov., 2. “Am on my wedding trip. Have the nicest woman that ever lived. Will visit you in a week. Yours truly, WILLIAM.” This was the telegram that Mr. Greyson received one morning from his brother in the west. “Well, I hope Will has married well, we were always afraid he would be a black sheep as he is so much younger than the rest of us boys, hut perhaps going west has done him good,” he laughed. “Imagine Will married!” said his wife, and then both laughed at the thought of it. Regie and Hattie jumped for joy when they were told that Uncle Wil¬ lie would come with his wife. “I hope she ain’t big an’ cross an’ got two chins an’ awful strict,” sighed little Hattie. “O” moaned Regie “I hope if SHE is, she ha’nt changed Uncle .,illie and—0 Hattie, YOU don’t know him ’cause you was too young, I do iaud he’s ;pi r i m e. It was the next Saturday when Mrs. Greyson looked out the window and beheld to her surprise a middle aged stranger coming up the avenue. She walked with firm steps and steady gait and came up the steps with de¬ cision. The bell rang and Mrs. Grey¬ son appeaired at the door. She gave the stranger a pleasant “Good afternoan.” The stranger nodded in reply and then began, “I suppose you received my letter saying that I was coming. Will is at New York sightseeing and will come later.” She was politely asked in and given the room arra.nged for William and his wife. It is needless to say that the Grey- sons were disappointed. Could this stern, solemn woman be Will’s wife? None dared to ask questions, but where was her husband? Was it natural that a newly married man COULD leave his wife to go sight¬ seeing and send her along in this way ? Regie and Hattie fretted and pouted, Mrs. Greyson worried and Mr. Grey¬ son (grumbled. Why didn’t William come? si It was in the pantry which looked out to the street that a conversation was going on. “Aunt Orissa” as she asked to be called was taking her nap, the children were at play and father and mother Greyson were in the pantry. “I don’t understand it,” began Mr. Greyson. “I won’t offend her to ask about Will. She is his wife, a pe- cular choice, I admit, and she shall be treated in the best of ways while she remains.” The tears of discour¬ agement filled Mrs. Greyson’s eyes as she went to the ipantry window. “Who can that be in the carriage coming up our avenue” she exclaimed, and then they hurried to the front door to greet whoever it might be. William Greyson was the man who stepped from the carriage and to their great surprise assisted a beautiful young lady to alignt. They rushed forward and before William could introduce his bride she shook hands with all and laughingly said, “We’ve come, at last, and I hope Willie’s wife will not disappoint you. I suppose Miss Trant has ar¬ rived. We did not hear from her.” By this time they were in the par¬ lor and Miss Orissa Trant came from her nap and in her stiff way shook hands with William and his REAL wife. Mrs. Greyson went back to the hall with the wraps and at that minute the mail man came. “I’m sorry” he said “ma’am, but I never noticed this house up the ave¬ nue. I’m a new man, you see, so here’s the mail since Nov. 2.”