Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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18 THE CHlMEiS PEDDLERS Jane Pitkin, ' 35 On July Fourth, 1931, niy mother. 1)rother and I diseniharked from the S. S. Leviathan at Plymouth, England, where after a few days ' stay we took a bus for Barnstable. Here we bought three nice, shiny bicycles from an old man called Mr. Beer, who strangely enough lived on Beer Street. He took the greatest amount of time and care to see that the bikes were properly adjusted, mox ing that seat up a little and putting this bar a mite back. Equipped with our shiny iron steeds, we set out to conquer new worlds (to us any way). Our route lay through the Lorna Doone Country and along the Severn River to Wells, an old walled town; then across the river at Bristol through a corner of hilly Wales be- side the River Wye to Sudbury and Stratford-upon-Avon, where we saw five or six Shakespearian plays in the ultra-modernistic theatre that is such a strange contrast to the quaint half-timbered buildings of Shakespeare ' s time. From Stratford we went to Oxford, Lon- don, finally arriving in Paris. For clothes we each had a pair of shorts, one moldy, mildewy dress or suit, and a rather leaky raincoat. These we put in a pack which was strapped to the back of the ])icycles. If you ever feel depressed because of lack of clothes, try wearing such a wardrobe for a month. At night we stayed at some (|uaint old inn or farmhouse or even at a pub house, where far into the night w e could hear the men argu- ing over their ale. Once we slept in an ancient gatehouse over the street, to which we had to mount an old, winding, stone staircase From this room they used to lower the portcullis (or iron gate) to keep the enemy out. My brother said that he saw the ghosts of the men who used to work it. For luncheon we sometimes carried picnic lunches or we stopped at some inn. Once we sat in a field adjacent to one where a regiment of soldiers were trying to hit a red balloon drawn by two airplanes, with anti-air-craft guns. First we could hear the officers ordering the men, then a tremendous bang, and about two seconds later a faint report with a puff of smoke near the balloon. I guess they were rookies because they didn ' t hit that balloon once. Sometimes when we saw the gray walls of an old castle perched high above us on a jagged rock, we would take time out to explore it. Tlie keeper would probably tell us tliat one of illiam the Conquer- or ' s nobles had built it and that the old ' ' keep went back to Saxon times. Standing among the ruins of the huge banquet hall, we

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THE CHIMEiS 17 disaster on their trial flights, and were wrecked. At the same time Maxim was conducting experiments in England. His airplane was of large proportions, and demonstrated a great amount of lifting power. The work of these two men was a great help to others who achieved success later. Otto Lilienthal, a German, developed a highly successful type of glider, and made several thousand flights. Chanute, an American, also made many glider flights, and contributed much information about the problem of stability in flight. The Wright brothers studied the experiments of other famous pioneers in aviation, and incorporating the ideas of these men and their own, they constructed a kite-glider in 1900 which was quite successful. After this they constructed a larger glider in which one had to lie flat on the frame to operate it, but it was not very success- ful. Following this they made several other gliders, attaining a fair degree of success. Then they constructed a powered plane which, made the first successful power-driven flight by man. In the years following this first great success they developed their planes until finally they had some of the first really efficient airplanes. SCITUATE Dorothy Studley, ' 34 Of her historic places Scituate is proud to boast. And since history began Has hem a perfect host. The lighthouse is outstanding, As historic places are; It was the ancient landing Of the sailors from afar. The Lawson tower stands proudly And is seen for miles away; We can hear its bells ring loudly As it marks the time of day. A lighthouse flashing 1-4-3 Is Minot ' s, tall and handsome, It stands among the rest at sea And guards the might}- seamen. - MEMORIAL LlBKAh SCITUATE. MASS

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THE CHIMES 19 couldn ' t help thinking of the royal feasts once held there or of the men who had spent their lives far below the surface of the earth in those dirty, dark dungeons. Three weeks to a month of this sort of thing is enough, and we were glad to sell our bikes in Oxford. The transaction brought us such a good price that we celebrated by punting on the Thames at night, although not very successfully for we managed to bump into a couple of other punters, much to their disgust. If you want to see England or any other country, this is my advice : Stay away from the big cities and American tourist centers, buy yourself a bike and a pair of shorts, and go to it ! THE RUNAWAY Grace Reynolds, ' 37 The sun blazed down fiercely upon the dusty highway that wound up and down through lofty crags and gloomy defiles of the northern Pyrenees. Along this road, two figures, small against the towering precipices, made their slow way. One was that of a typical peasant of Southern France, brawny and tall, with a sinister, hard look about him. The other, though dressed in the rough garments of a peasant boy, carried himself in a soldierly, erect way, and with his long, tapering hands and finely-molded head, presented a striking contrast to his rough companion. The older man was speaking, scornfully. What, tired already, Rene? After all these years on my farm, one w ould imagine thou wouldst have lost thy high-born ways — they are not suited to a poor peasant l)oy. Thou ' rt almost a man, now; we must have no more of this foolish posing. ' Thou hast no right to talk to me like that! retorted the boy, angrily. And who has a 1:etter right? Am I not thy father? ' ' Well do I know tho u art not! Do not think that I have lost the memory of conversations overheard when I w as a child. I often heard thee talking al:)out one who w as my mother, and other mysteri- ous things. Thou wouldst have me believe that I dreamt it, but 1 (lid not. I will find my mother some day. But see that immense hill we must climb! I will go not one step farther without rest. Go on and leave me, if thou wilt. Tlie peasant trudged on without a word, and Rene threw himself down on the cool grass by the road. Languidly he watched the sturdy figure of Jacques press up the steep hill, till, at the top, he saw him stop and, shading his eyes w ith his hand, stare of¥ into the