Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 26 text:

By:- L. Smith (2 A) If only men knew how to live with each other, If only men joined hands and worked with one another, If only men of war would destroy all their devastating toy, If only men had a heart of joy. If only men could share the earth with all of nature ' s Children, If only men wouldtry to save them from extinction. If only men would let God into their heart. And from them Satan would depart. If only men would hold the population level down There would be enough food to go around. If only men would try to remove Crime ' s ciaw. Of only men made sensible laws. If only men wouldn ' t descriminate one ' s races, creeds or colours, If only men learned to live like brothers. If only men would walk the path of righteousness and love. We all would live eternally in that beautiful city above. If only ... Improved Pembroke Canal R. Amos 2A FOG IN THE COUNTRY By:- Mark Hamilton (1M) In the early mornings in New Zealand when the fog settled down upon the country side like a white blanket, we could see the dew drops clinging to the cobwebs like a necklace of pearls. Many mornings when we had gone for a walk and had reached the top of a hill, we could just see the tips of them, for the fog had covered most parts of the hills and it looked to us as though we were on an island surrounded by a pure white sea. There was a crispness in the air and when we took deep breaths we exhaled long white vapours which disappeared into the surrounding mist. Soon the sun would appear like a hazy glow and gradually disperse the heavy blanket of fog from the valleys below. APPROACH OF A THUNDERSTORM By:- Marl Hamilton (1M) The night was pitch black and all was silent, until a blinding white streak of light flashed across the sky. You could hear the thunder crash like the voice of an angry God. With a resounding crack, the old oak split in two when hit by the forked lighting, whilst the wind howled through the trees and disturbed the white foaming sea, which pounded at the foot of the cliff. The clouds scuttled across the dark angry sky. All of a sud- den a cloud burst and sent sheets of driving rain down upon the cottage of the lighthouse which stood remotely upon the cliff top. After the Gale 24

Page 25 text:

NEARLY BURIED ALIVE By:- CarlClift(2A) Suddenly I felt the loose rock move beneath my feet. I tried desperately to cling to-the rein of my horse next to me, but the rock completely gave way and we both rolled till we reached the bottom of a pit. I was now pin- ned down underneath twelve-hundred pounds of hor- seflesh. From past experiences and from examining the situation I decided to try and keep on the back of the horse, out of the way of its legs. Only my right leg and hip felt the full weight of the horse. The old pony was frightened and was flinging its leg wildly bringing clods of dirt down upon us. I pulled on its reins to stop it kicking and said soothing words in its ear. i tried slowly to dig for my six-shooter which was luckily on my left hip and in reach. After much digging I managed to get at my gun. I thought for a while and decided not to shoot my horse unless I really had to. I fired a shot into the air to see if somebody would hear it and come and help but it was to no avail. The sun was just leaving us when I saw a large amount of dirt hovering aboue us. It was loosening Up!! ! Just then I remembered a pack of matches in my pocket and quickly pulled them out. I searched for a small twig and after awhile I found one. I lit this twig with a match. I threw the lighted twig up onto the grassland praying the grassland would catch fire. After anxious waiting, the grass finally glowed and this bright orange flame spread over the grassland. I put all my efforts to waiting. Suddenly I thought I heard voices coming closer. Stay back. I hollered. Stay back! Where are you? a voice answered. In the bottom of a pit, I bellowed, but don ' t come near the edge of where I ' m :it or it ' ll cave in. Come from the other side. Pretty soon there were half a dozen men digging me out with running irons and guns and anything they could get their hands on. My horse was lifted off of me and I was pulled out to get tht - ' iood circulating in my legs again. It took four saddles to puli .ny horse out of the pit. I thanked my rescuers and related the story of how I got there. With the help of one lad, I walked over to where the big hunk of earth was, which had been threatening me all that long day. I dug my heel into the crack and shoved a little, and at that time I was pulled away. The earth seemed to go out from beneath me as that hunk of earth left a big cloud of dirt and when we looked again the pit was nearly full. AN ADVENTURE WITH TOM SAWYER By:- C. Mawer I approached the door and rapped the knocker. A middle-aged woman, in her fifites, answered it. Hello ' can I help you? she asked cheerfully with a distinguished southern accent. Good day, madam, my name is Colin Mawer and I ' d like to talk to Tom. He ain ' t done anything wrong, has he? she questioned worriedly. Oh no, Mrs. ... Smith. Folks ' round here just call me Polly. Of course to Tom it ' s Aunt Polly, she answered. I continued, I ' m a reporter fr om The New York Times and I ' ve heard a lot about Tom. This was all she needed to know. Just the thought of having a member of her family in the newspaper excited her. Tom! Tom! Where are you, boy? she hollered. Over here, Aunt Polly! came a reply. I turned to face a stealthy figure climbing over a picket fence, to finally stand in front of his aunt. So ... this is Tom Sawyer, I thought. Who ' s he? Tom asked. Tom, I hear you ' re quite a boy, so I thought I ' d ' do ' a story on you. If you don ' t mind I would like to ' hang around ' just to see how you ' operate ' . So, the next morning being Sunday, Aunt Polly, Tom and his two cousins, Sid and Mary, attended church services. About half way through the service, Tom began to fidgit and he became bored. He pulled a box from his pocket and I eyed it suspiciously. Tom carefully opened the box and brought out a small insect and played with it on the pew. He played with it on his hand until the creature grew angry and bit Tom ' s finger. Tom received such a fright that he jumped, tossing the insect in the air and started to suck his finger. Meanwhile, the ' pinch ' bug, as Tom referred to it had landed down an old man ' s shirt. Whenever the bug moved around the man would scratch his back. The bug, finally becoming tired of this silly game, pierced its fangs into its victim. The old man leapt to his feet, howling in pain. The priest received the fright of his life. The man kept on screaming until he was lead outside. I took note of this incident. Tom quickly departed to play ' Bulls ' with his friends. He won nobly but very nearly declared war on Jim Baker, one of his friends, when Jim supposedly cheated. I was now lead by Tom to a lonely cottage on the Mississippi River bank. Here lived Huckleberry Finn, a boy en- vied by his friends. He and Tom sat under the shade of an old tree and they smoked tobacco from corn-cobbed pipes, What a dirty habit! I thought to myself. My work was now complete. I had seen how Tom lived for a day. I printed my story and sent my first copy to Tom, that legendary boy from Petersburg, Missouri. 23

Page 27 text:

TYPHOON By:- Fretwurst (1 M) The day began quite normally. Who could have for- seen how it was to end? We had dropped anchor at the break of day in a small lagoon in the Pacific, just off the coast of China. No-one was living on the fifty islands that surrounded the lagoon, except for a few native people in a small village. It was like a small paradise there for there were all kinds of fruits, palms and flowers. The native people lived off the plants that grew there. They made everything out of what was there and they ate wild animals that roamed around there. There were no imports or exports coming or going from the island. The only way to get to the mainland was to go by plane, there was one small airport. We were on holiday, our fee was all paid by my father ' s zoo. We went to bring him specimens for the zoo. The boat was all equiped with tanks, scuba gear that was needed. Our yawl was sixty feet long. On our first day in the lagoon we were looking down in the crystal clear waters to the coral gardens that lay 60 feet down below. That afternoon we went down diving. Captain Eddie and the mate were to stay on board and John the Scientist from the Zoo, my brother Mike and I were to go down and explore the coral gar- dens and bring up specimens. About five o ' clock we packed up and ate supper. My brother and I wanted to camp out on the island about five miles off the island so we took our sleeping bags and some food and drink and then we headed for the island. We went in a little inflatable motor boat since it was to far to row. There was a cliff that rose 200 feet out of the water covering the whole side of the island. We had to go around to the other side if we wanted to step on a beach. We pulled up the punt and rolled out our sleeping bags and went to sleep at about 9.00 o ' clock. It was dead calm when we fell asleep, we did not notice the black clouds creeping up on us on the horizon, for the cliff blocked our view. At 10 o ' clock it hit us! First thunder boomed down and awoke us with a startle. Immediately after buckets of rain came down on our heads. The winds increased from ' 0 ' to ' 40 ' knots and both my brother and I knew we were in for a typhoon! The tide was coming up rapidly. Come on, we must hurry and get to the top of the cliff before this whole island is underwater! I shouted to my little brother, watch out for the deadly coconut! At this point the wind was so strong we had to crawl. Trees and bushes were being uprooted by the dozens. We had to keep a sharp eye out for the falling ones. Then it happened, what I had dreaded, a tree fell on Mike and killed him instantly! I had to hurry now for the water covered the whole island ! I climbed to the top of the cliff and looked out into the black for our vessel, she was not at her moorings anymore in the lagoon. The combers were rising to 50 feet in height, and crashing against the huge cliff. Then I spotted her, she was 10 feet on the cliff, every comber lifted her another 3 feet. Now the island was submerged except for the cliff. All trees and shrubs had vanished and at the break of day the winds and seas decreased their incredible powers. Now we only hoped no-one was killed. When all was quiet a helicopter came to pick up anyone who was still alive. The three sailors were on the chopper already as they picked us up and flew us to a naval station to rest and eat. THE SEAFARER By:- Sean Pedro (1M) If was a dark, cold night and it was so windy that waves were washing over the side of the longship and water was leaking through the small gaps between the oar and the oarhole. Tired though we were, we plodded on into the night with our oa s being dipped into the waves to the beat of the r;;-um We rowed all night without having a bite to ear or a mouthful of drink. We were at the point of fainting bui inspiration kept us going. All we were dressed in were short, ragged pants and a light shirt which enabled us to move more freely and stop sweating. By morning the storm had died down quite considerably and we were allowed to rest. We were on the look-out for an island to get some food but as a ship went by first, we chased it, attacked and stole their food and other goods. After a feast of lamb, beef, vegetables and ale, we slept because the hearty meal had made us tired. RAINY WEATHER By:- Chapman (ID) The wind howled as it dodged in and out between the house. Branches bowed meekly to the mighty Emperor wind. The old stiff boughs which challengingly refused to do so were promptly severed off. Power lines snap- ped as the Emperor formally opened a new building. A dark mask smothered the country-side, threatening the brave humans who had ventured from their shelters. Suddenly, the dark Prime-Minister let fly his ammunition of water and, helped by the Emperor, reaching the speed of machine-gun bullets, thudded heavily into windows, walls and into the flesh and hides of humans and animals alike. A bright light danced across the sky and the low rumble of thunder rose to a deafening ' oar as if the light were an escaped prisoner who was running away from confinement. When the light would not come back, the rooves of the houses shook violently as if the Prime- Minister were beating his fists in rage upon them, he unleashed another volley of water which came down by bucket-fulls, flooding everything. This finally died to a drizzle as the storm moved of to sea and the country side was left in peace once more. 25