Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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THE CHIMES 19 off, they would at the bottom of the dive when he pulled out. Bob also knew that if he pulled out of a dive too fast it would snap his neck; so he must remember to pull out easily and gradually. The flying wires screamed shrilly above the roar of his one-thousand horse-power Wright Cyclone. The prop was a white blur in front of his windshield. Below it he could see the ground come into sight extremely fast. Black dots and blurry patches turned out to be buildings and fields, and right below him he could make out the airport. He held on with all his might to the joystick and yelled louder and louder because the pressure on his ears was terrific. He was watching his altimeter closely; it read one thousand feet. The earth was rushing up to meet him. He counted three and tugged the stick back slowly. The ship was responding. Blood burst from his nose and ears with the great pressure, but instinctively he kept pulling the stick back. He reached over to the instrument board and shut the throttle down to landing speed. When Bob pulled out, he was about one hundred feet from the ground. He zoomed to lose speed and then coasted in for a landing amid the cheers of his friends. They ran over to the plane and helped him out. One man wiped the blood off his face with a handkerchief; it was the man in the brown suit with the slouch hat. There was a triumphant smile on his face and Bob knew that the test was a success. I owe it all to you. Spencer, said Seversky. No, you don ' t, Bob replied. You owe it all to your plane; I couldn ' t get those wings off. SENIOR CLASS NOTES Margaret Huntley This year certainly will be a memorable one in the lives of the Senior Class. We have one new member this year, Lillias Moore, who came from Reading, Massachusetts. During the second week of school the following officers were elected: Lawrence Gates, President; Robert Chessia, Vice President; Esther Spear, Secretary; and Grace Reynolds, Treasurer. Miss Dudley was chosen as our class adviser. On November 11, Grace Reynolds was awarded a medal from the American Legion, for an original composition on Why We Observe Arm- istice Day. Grace Reynolds was elected by the class as a candidate for the Good Citizenship Pilgrimage sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

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18 THE CHIMES POWER DIVE Bernard MacKenzie, ' 39 Bob Spencer, test pilot for the United States Army, stepped out of the administration building at Roosevelt Field, New York. He strode up to Hangar Seven where mechanics were busy wheeling out a trim low-wing fig;hting plane. A dignified-looking gentleman, dressed in a brown suit and slouch hat, stepped out to meet him. The man was Alexander P. De Seversky, president of the Seversky Aircraft Corporation, and designer of the sleek ship that Bob was to test that day. Bob had been testing this plane for a week and today he was going to put it through the last stages of the tests, the power dive. Good morning, Mr. Seversky, chirped Bob. 1 hope it is going to be a good morning for my plane, Spencer, re- plied Seversky. I ' m sure it will, said Bob. Spencer ' s job on this last test was to try to tear the wings off the plane in a terrific, steep power dive from twelve thousand feet up. The Seversky Pursuit that Bob was going to pilot was already considered the fastest mili- tary plane in the world, and if it stood this test the Army would grant a contract for seventy-one of these planes to the Seversky Aircraft Corpora- tion. Seversky held Bob ' s hand in a manly grip that hurt and said, Okay, son, everything ' s ready. Good luck! Thanks, Bob replied; he turned and strode out onto the tarmac where his ship was warming up. The long slanting rays of the morning sun dazzled Bob as they were reflected off the silver wings of the sleek fighter. He slid back the sliding hatch and climbed in. After waving to a few of the Army pilots that were gathered around the edge of the field, he closed the sliding hatch. He released the wheel brakes and taxied around into the wind. Gathering speed rapidly, soon he was off the ground and going up in wide spirals. In a few minutes he was just a speck in the sky, to the little crowd below. Up, up he went into the crisp blue air of the New York sky. He went up until his altimeter read twelve thousand feet; then he flattened the ship out and prepared for his speedy descent. He took a deep gulp of delicious air, then slammed the stick forward and opened wide his throttle. The ship responded to the controls instantly, whipped over on its nose, and roared downward. He watched the air speed indicator climb — one hundred, one hundred fifty, two hundred. Bob was yelling aloud now, as all pilots have to do when they are in steep power dives, to relieve the air pres sure on their ears and chest. Three hundred, three-fifty, three-seventy. If the wings were going to come

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20 THE CHIMES On Noveniher I k llie class gave a Sport Dance. The general com- mittee consisted of the four class officers, and James Steverman, Lois Hol- land and Virginia Young. The dance was not a money-making proposition, and it was open only to the members of the Junior and Senior High Schools. Everyone who attended had a good time. Lawrence Gates and James Steverman were named by the Brockton Tournament as members of their All-Star Basketball Team. The following members of the Senior Class were in the semi-finals of the Prize Speaking Contest: Virginia Young, Grace Reynolds, Margaret Soule, Madeleine Bailey, and Mary Schafer. Lawrence Gates, our president, also took part in this contest. Doris Simmons represented the Scituate High School at the American Legion Oratorical Contest. She composed and delivered an essay on The Origin of the Constitution. Plans for graduation are now under way. We, as Seniors, hope to make a very successful ending of the four happy years we have spent here. JUNIOR CLASS NOTES Helen Manning The following were elected as class officers: President, Arthur Damon; Vice President, Arthur MacAlpine; Secretary, Margaret Crowley; Treas- urer, Atherton Hewitt; Class Adviser, Mr. Stewart. We are glad to welcome the following new members: Lucille Frost from Girls ' Latin School in Boston; Atherton Hewitt from Canton High; Gertrude Joneleit from Brighton High; and Howard Joyce from Newton High School. The Junior Prom was scheduled for May 7. A movie for the benefit of the Junior Class was a great success and we wish to thank everyone who helped make it so. A contest was held for the sale of tickets. For every ten tickets sold, a free one was given. Vir- ginia Nary was the winner, having sold 32 tickets. Arthur MacAlpine won first prize at last year ' s Marshiield Fair, with his unusually fine collection of butterflies. Louise Chessia won two tickets to the Costume Dance sponsored by the Public Nursing Service, in a contest for the best poster. The judges were Mr. Calkin, Miss Dudley, and Miss Colburn. Arthur MacAlpine was the winner of a speedboat race in Maine last summer. He now has a large collection of trophies which he has won. He has bought a new craft for this coming season and will name it Bearsie the Second. It has been heard that William Coddy Sexton has been selling some of his famous cartoons. We all wish him success.