Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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12 THE CHIMES steps, and into the green grass. Oh ! how good it seemed to be in the grass once more! He looked back and saw the girl who had captured him come running dow n the steps. Charlie began to hop as fast as he could, and as he hopped, he discovered that he was on Hu- man's Lane. Just ahead was beloved Cricket Lane. He gained the lane and ran right into a worried group of crickets. Poor Charlie was so tired that he just fainted into the arms of the old crickets that came to meet him. That night there was great rejoicing in Cricket Village because Charlie had returned from a Human Capture. The crickets no more laughed at Charlie's singing, but acclaimed him their hero because he was the bravest in the community. Katherine Somers, '27. WHAT NEXT? A little less than a score of years ago an automobile ride was an adventure, undertaken with thrills and peril. And why not? Did they not go clanking and bumping along at the tremendous rate of fifteen miles an hour when some in- trepid driver, clad in goggles and monstrous ulster, with no regard for the consequences or his hereafter, ''kept it wide open for a while. This appalling rate of speed was always sure to overheat the engine or break something after a mile or so. It was in no spirit of fun then, that some one conceived the slogan, ''Get out and get under. To change a tire meant that the trip was spoiled, for it took from two to three hours to change the tire or to strap a clumsy blow-out patch on and proceed. Today on the speedways of America a tire change is made in twelve seconds, for in a race of this kind every second is precious. It stands to reason then, that to avoid tire changes, tires will be made that will last throughout this terrific grind- ing of over one hundred and thirty-six miles per hour. Then again to stand this grind there must be fewer working parts CO wear or get loose in the race. The engine that is used today in most cars is of the four cycle type ; that is, there are four strokes to each revolution : namely, intake, compression, force and exhaust. There is now being perfected a new type of engine, a two-cycle engine ; combining two strokes into one; thus while firing, it is also drawing in gas vapor for the next explosion. On the up stroke it exhausts while it is compressing the gas that was taken in in the last stroke. This type of engine will cut in half the number of times working parts will 'have to function, thereby creating a new field of speed that is possible because of the lessened probability of valve breakage, one of the most frequent of racing car troubles. It is hard to comprehend the

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THE CHIMES 11 CHARLIE'S ADVENTURE A Bedtime Story Charlie Chirp, a Httle black Cricket, lived with his mother and father and his brothers in a pretty little house on Cricket Lane. Charlie wasn't very popular with the other crickets because he couldn't sing very well. His voice was rather cracked. Charlie really loved to sing ; but every time he tried, the other crickets hopped away so that they wouldn't hear him. One day, snubbed by all the crickets, Charlie decided to take a walk. So he put on his shiny black suit and a nice new shiny hat. He set forth humming softly to himself so that the other crickets wouldn't hear him. He hopped briskly down Cricket Lane ; then turned and hopped along Human's Lane. He knew that he was foolish to do it but, nevertheless, he hopped bravely dow n the lane. He hadn't gone far, when he saw a girl coming his way. Charlie tried to hide, but he was too late. The girl laughed with glee and picked up poor Charlie. She put him in a tiny box that had holes in it, and said in a happy voice: 'There, Mr. Cricket, you're going to visit my biology class. I was trying to think of something to take. Charlie's little heart went pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, as he bounced around in the little box. He felt of his head and discovered that the girl had knocked off his hat when she had picked him up. Charlie began to wonder what his mother would say to him now that he had lost his new hat. The poor little cricket crawled into a corner of the box: and cried softly to himself. All of a sudden he discovered that the top had been taken off the box, and that a group of gi rls were looking at him. Charlie tried to escape but it was im- possible. In a few moments the girl replaced the cover and Charlie began to be bounced around again. In a short time Charlie discovered that the box had stop- ped that constant bouncing and was perfectly still. Charlie peeked out of one of the holes in the box and found that the box had been placed on a long flat place. He wondered where he could be. He tried to push the cover off, but his efforts were fruitless. Failing in his efforts, Charlie settled down in the corner of the box to await fate. He waited. Then he saw the cover of the box slowly being lifted. His chance! Charlie gave a huge jump, and fell into space. Poor Charlie thought he'd never land, but he did, and with such a bang that he almost lost his breath. Charlie, however, lost no time in making his escape. He glanced quickly about him, and in the distance he discovered his native land. Charlie hopped quickly to the door, down the

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THE CHIMES 13 speed at which these little cars travel, almost five times as fast as the majority of people drive their cars. If you are standing near one of the banks of the speedway, you will see a car coming toward you at the rate of one hun- dred and thirty-five miles an hour. Probably the rider is way up on the straightaway. If he is, he will seem to just fall from there and swoop down toward the bank. When the driver is on the far bank, you hear only a high nasal whine. Then the rider drops toward you and you hear the rattle of a thousand machine guns, sounding like a snarl of hate, grad- ually fading into a dull roar as it approaches the opposite bank. Can you imagine oiie of the high seated, wheeled wonders of fifteen or twenty years ago performing this feat? To add to this, the engines used in these cars are of the 91.5 cubic inch variety, just one-fourth the size of the engine used in a Ford car. And there are also eight cylinders in these en- gines. When you see the improvement that has been made in this line in the past twenty years, you think it is marvelous; but this is only part of its development, for with the advent of the two-cycle engine, the speed of cars may double, and even the most conservative mechanics and drivers expect that rac- ing cars will eventually reach the three-mile-a-minute mark. Then what? Paul Quinn, '27. THE STORM Up to'rds the north the clouds grow black. And the wind is rising high. The herder hurries to his shack; The farmer leaves his scythe. Up in the heavens there is no sun ; The earth is wrapped in gloom; The wind hurls leaves as if in fun ; How dark the mountains loom ! The wind grows mad and screams with rage; The clouds race 'cross the sky Like soldiers marching to the Front, Where they will fight and die. The rain comes down in sheets and beats Against the window pane ; The cattle huddle near the house For protection from the rain. Up in the sky the lightning plays, While the storm king beats his drum. The trees bow down submissively ; For the God of Storms has come. Walter Stone, '27.