Ricker Classical Institute - Aquilo Yearbook (Houlton, ME)

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THE YOUNGER SISTER The younger child has all the disadvan- tages, especially since there are only two in the family. The greatest disadvantage is that she is always the baby. No matter where she is or Whom she is with, some- body will always come up and say My! Is this the baby? How you have grown. I can remember when you were such a darling baby. Usually this goes on for hours at a time, while she stands and thinks how many times this has happened and how many more times it will happen. If the older child happens to be a sister, the younger one is really sunk . She now has the disadvantage of being able to wear Big Sisters clothes. Mother and sister usually think they are doing her a great Honor when they give her one of sister's dresses or coats. She has a different opin- ion on this subject. She wants some new clothes of her own. When, however, she finally persuaded mother that she really needs some new things, who has to go along? Big Sister! She does not agree with Younger Sister on anything. Big Sister invariably wants for herself the dress or coat that Younger Sister selects. Finally it is easier to submit and let Big Sister select for the younger member of the family the clothes she wouldn't wear anyway. For, of course, she has the greatest influence with Motherg She is the older. Moreover, mother always agrees with Big Sister. If younger Sister wants to do some- thing, Big Sister always interfere-s. She is always Boss, and she never lets anyone forget it. lSlhe is the older. When finally Younger Sister gets old enough to do some things on her own initiative, she never does them right be- cause Big Sister does not do them that way. She may not shift any picture, furni- ture, or ornaments around because Big Sis- ter put them there. Big Sister is boss, and apparently she will be the Boss for all time. Ruth Hagan 1 S 1 I HAIRPINS The greatest merits of the hairpin are known to all observant men. Its special use in surgery is told by, a writer in Ameri- can Medicine. It seems that a surgeon can do almost anything with a hairpin. He can wire bones with it. probe and close wounds, pin bandages, compress blood vessels, and use it as a curette for scorping away soft material. There is no doubt too, that wom- en doctors can do a great deal more with that most gifted human implement. A slow-witted person will tell you that women arenit as able to think as men. a hairpin a They don't have to-with woman can pull a cork, peel an apple, beat an egg, see if a joint of meat is done, sharp- en a pencil, dig out a sliver, fasten a door, hiang up a picture, repair a baby carriage, clean a lamp chimney, put up a curtain, cut anpie, make a fork, a paper cutter, a cloths- pin, regulate a range, tinker with a sewing machine, reduce the pressure in a gas meter, keep bills and receipts on file, cut patterns, tighten windows, untie a knot, replace hooks and eyes, sew, knit, darn, and do up a baby. In short, she can do what she wants to: she needs no othe-r instru- ment. If a woman found herself in Robinson Crusoe's situation, she would build a hut and make herself a coat of the skin of a goat by means of a hairpin. In time she will revolutionize surgery with it. Meanwhile they the male doctors are doing the best can, but it is not to be believed that they have mastered the full mystery of the hair- pin. In the hands of girls it is mightier than the sword or, for that matter, than the plow. What is the plow but a development of the forked stick, and what is the forked stick but a modification of the hairpin? Wilmont O. Briggs 1 1 I l , TWENTY SECONDS The score was '0-6. The game was prac- tically lost. That our team was playing badly was very obvious to me from my fine permanent position on the bench at the sidelines. Our players were bruised and sore, many of them limping or squinting out of swollen eyes. They were carrying one man out on a stretcher now while the coach looked despairingly down the line of substitutes. I hopefully drew myself up to full height and swelled up my chest as the eyes of the coach passed me, was he look- ing a little longer at me? Was he scratch-

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Ing his head? Did he wave his arm at me? In a half second I was on the field and in the line of players. At last I was playing in a real game, Now I would show them what I could really do in the twenty sec- onds left to play. I heard the signals vaguely, as though they were miles away. Gently the ball loop- ed through the air and, lt was coming straighlt at me. Good! They were giving me a chance to do my stuff the first thing. I found the ball in my arms and I was running, dodging in and out around the opposing ,players. Only three men between me and the goal! They came in swiftly, determined to stop me at all costs. Nearer and nearer they came and I seemed to be running slower and slower. The crowd was cheering wildly, and everyone was standing on their seats waving their arms. Now I could see the goal coming nearer and near- er. Would I make it in the few seconds left? At the sound of the alarm clock I woke up, pounding the bed. Some day I would like to finish that dream, jus-t to see if I made that badly needed goal. Robert Maxell 8 O U O SECOND CHILD AND ONLY GIRL To be born as the second child in a fam- ily of three is a maddening and dishe-arten- ing occurence, but to be born the only girl in addition seems to me to be one of fate's cruellest tricks. Either of these two evils present many problems and few, if any ad- vantages. Sdnce it i1s.impossible to escape this dire predicament, I must resign my- self as forever being tfhe martyr of the family. Being born as a second child in an or- dinary family may be as agreeable as any other family position, but when you are wedged between the older boy and younger boy. you are trapped in every action, word, deed, and thought. Whenever Iexpress an opinion in a family argument, It is always opposed by older brother who wins the con- test through the weight of his years rather than through the wisdom of his opinion. A slight squable with younger brother is al- ways blamed on me since a younger brother has the weakness of his small size to fall back on, A second chlld can never win. In buying new clothes, in having an increased allowance, in staying up late, in eating that last piece of chocolate cake, I must con- tinually stand by in order to let younger child or older child have the first choice to which the manner of their birth seems to entitle them. Family positions have the power of inflatlng or deflating one's ego. The question in my mind is: VVhy must there be advantages in being the youngest and oldest, but nothing except misery in being an in-between? In order to polish off its evil trick, fate had to make me a girl! It is definitely not a misfortune to be a girl, but to be an only girl is a source of irritation. Not only does one lack the comradeship of sisters, but she also lacks many advantages and just rights. It is much more advantageous to have an older sister pave the way for one by her own experiences, but it is an ex- tremely hard task to win independence alone. An especially difficult proceeding is the matter of one's first date. 'Since my parents have no other daughter, they are unable to judge fairly, and the matter of boys becomes a constant struggle. There are debates over where I should go, with whom I should go, and how long I should stay. I am constantly in a muddle by their changing opinions which could have easily been prevented had I not had the misfor- tune of being born the only girl. These laments of mine add up to merely one point-lt is a disastrous state to be the second child and only girl. Ican think of no alternative for future generations except to put their trust in fate, and, perhaps, through the help of nature and the stork, they may avoid such a predicament! Anne Bither lk i Q li MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY Dear Diary, This morning when I woke up, I ran to the mirror and stared hard at my face. Yes, there it was-a wrinkle in my fore- head. I stared and searched for more lines in my world weary face and all the while I thought, Yesterday I was a mere child but overnight I have aged. Could anyone see it in my face? Today I am a woman, for today I became sixteen. 27