Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR o AWHEEL IN SCOTLAND. By George cM. Hosmer. E landed at Greenock, where the larger ocean-liners anchor on the Clyde, and were ready to take the train for Glas- gow. Our tickets entitled us to a third-class passage thither by rail. Novel sights began at once. What strange looking locomotives and cars! We never saw engines painted green before, except, perhaps, in pictures; and our new railway coaches seemed to be nothing more nor less than long red or green boxes set on four wheels, and divided off into three or four compartments, in each of which were two seats facing each other, with room for five on a side. Our tickets were collected before we left the station, so that we had no conductor or brakeman to trouble us. To be sure, they could not pass through if they wanted to. for all doors of entrance or exit to the cars were at the sides in each com- partment. with none at the ends. Any intercourse from one car to another was cpiite impossible. When once on the road, we traveled as fast as in America, but. instead of keeping to the right, as the law directs,” we passed all trains to the left. Arrived at Glasgow, we soon discovered that ail teams and trams also passed one another on the left. Our attention was directed naturally to these things, because, as cyclists, we must know the cus- toms that govern passing vehicles. Of course, we learned, too. at once not to speak of the trolley car to any one. but to make all inquiries for the tram. As our hotel was only four or five blocks awav. we wondered whether we had better take the tram or walk. A sight of one of Glasgow’s easy- riding surface cars, with the scats on top, proved too inviting. We climbed the winding stairs at the rear, and viewed our first foreign city. not. to be sure, from the elevated,” though from an elevated position. When the conductor came to collect our fare, we expected, of course, to pay the equivalent of five cents, but all that was wanted for the short distance we were to ride was a half-penny, or one cent. We soon had the pleasure of learning that all fares were strictlv in accordance with the dis- tance ridden. When once we were settled at the hotel, we de- termined to sec the Glasgow Exposition, and pro- posed to go by the subway to the grounds at Kelvinside. The stations on the surface look quite as inviting as the entrances and exits on Bos- ton common. But down below further compari- son is unfavorable for the foreign city. We boarded one of the two cable cars that make up a subwav train, and started off at snail's pace (com- pared with the speed in our own subway) into what seemed to be a large tunnel just a fit for the car and totally dark, except for the scanty light of two or three oil lamps within the car. e could not see to read, but simply waited to be free from the mephitic atmosphere about us. We wondered that we had ever complained about our own subway at home, and resolved, when we heard people deplore our rapid transit accommodations, to tell them they should travel where surface cars move at such a pace that young women never think of stopping them, but simply hop on or off as they please. At last we reached the Exposition, and admired some of the exhibits. Our greatest pleasure, how- ever, came from watching the people. We took seats along the principal walk to see the people stream by, going hither and thither, thousands of them, and not a familiar face. Every one had such a different appearance from the Americans, whether that difference is due to bearing or dress is not al- ways easv to say. The young ladies in our party were naturally surprised at the few shirt waists that were worn, commented on the various styles in hats, and wondered that the Scotch lasses all wore their hair free in the wind. The young men noticed that every Scotchman carried a cane—the man without one was. at any rate, the exception—and no one smoked a pipe. We did not look long be- fore we discovered that we were ourselves objects of observation. We were distinguished from all the native-born as easily as we marked an American the moment we set eves upon him. We spent two or three days doing” Glasgow and the Land of Burns, and then decided to set out northward on a circuit—our wheel trip to Edin- burgh. We were glad to begin preparations for the bicycle tour, which seemed to be the object ot our journey. Our first landmark, or. perhaps better, water- mark. was Loch Lomond, the foot of which was soon reached one morning after a ride of twenty miles. Then followed eighteen more of as fine wheeling as we ever had. or ever expected to have when we first set out. The road was as level and smooth as anv of our best boulevards, and skirted the lake all the wav. The hills rose up abruptly from one side of the road: and across the lake could be seen Ben Lomond towering up above the surrounding summits. We tried to recollect a like stretch of road in America, and were forced to con- fess that the attempt failed. We made up our minds to keep a record of the good roads that we found: two days’ wheeling soon showed it would be less work to keep a record of bad ones, all roads were kept in such excellent repair. Our trip as outlined between Glasgow and Edin- burgh, taking us through the Trossachs. necessi- tated our crossing the lake some miles below its head. We learned that there was a ferry boat at the place, but that the ferryman always stayed on the opposite shore two miles away. How could we hail him? We were told that the primitive fashion of building a fire of brushwood was the usual way

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4 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR led to such an untimely end. The newspapers have already too thoroughly reviewed these details. William McKinley’s name will go down to pos- terity as that of one of our greatest presidents. He deservedly ranks with Washington and Lincoln. How well we recall the great crises in political affairs through which our noble president carried us so triumphantly. But it is not of his great qualities as a statesman we would speak; it is of his qualities as a man. His whole public career was marked by kindness, consideration, and courtesy, and not a tinge of scandal ever rested on his fair name. In fact, he was the ideal of an upright American gentleman. In his last moments he acted with the same calm trust in God's will that had characterized his life throughout. When the realization of death came upon him, with grand Christian fortitude, which did not shrink from the hardest ordeal, he turned toward the grief-stricken group about him, and murmured softly, Good-by, all. good-by. It is God’s way. His will be done.” And thus died William McKinley, the twenty- fourth president of the United States, shot down in the summer of his greatness, in this enlightened century, and in this land, the seat of freedom and the haven of the oppressed. It is terrible to know that one worthless traitor can so shock the whole world, and plunge our beloved country into uni- versal mourning. The assassin will soon pay the penalty of his crime, and then the last scene of this terrible tragedy will have been enacted, but the memory remains and the realization that no public official is safe from the murderous hand of these so-called anarchists. This is the third president we have lost: this is the third time our country has been disgraced by the most atrocious of crimes. Let us pray God it will be the last. K K S we advance in our literary work, and manu- script begins to accumulate, we can appreciate how very inconvenient it has been for our prede- cessors to have been lacking in that requisite for good business-like work,—an office. We know this subject has been agitated and harped upon many times in the past, but as the poet says,— “Though old the thought and oft expressed, Tis his at last who says it best.” Thus do we try our fortune with the rest, and make one final appeal. We do not ask for tele- phone or telegraph connections, nor do we demand a carpeted door or a roll-top desk. All we desire is a small room containing the necessary office re- quirements, where, apart from the bustle and noise of the world, we may quietly peruse the verses of a would-be Shakespearean poet, or study the essays of some second Carlyle. We know that many of our contemporary high school papers have offices; hence we ask. Is not the Radiator worthy of one? r. pLRUAPS the chief essential to a football team’s success is the enthusiasm shown by its sup- porters. Every team will be cheered and cheered again when some great play has been made, and the supporters of that team will become wild with jov. But the other team, the losers, do they get cheered? Perhaps sometimes, but it is the exception. Its rooters sit glum and silent, while the poor lx»ys on the gridiron, cast down by their losses, and with no cheers to rouse their spirits, keep gradually losing ground. ()ccasionally a faint cheer is heard, but it dies out quickly. Now a team is far more in need of sympathy and enthusiasm when the tide of conflict is turning against it. So, in the coming football games, cheer at all times. Do not confine your enthusiasm and encouragement to victory; make it all the more heartv in defeat. It will put new life into the boys, and spur them on to greater effort. K K 'J'HE football season has again opened, and never with such bright prospects for the champion- ship. With our sturdy Graham and our redoubta- ble Jones we have a team that is hard to beat. We hope the patronage of the games will be as large as, if not larger than, in former years, for good finances are one of the chief ends to a team’s suc- cess. Girls, especially, show your loyalty by turn- ing out in force to every game, for if you come —, but there are some things that need no explana- tion. r QUR leading article this month, entitled Awheel in Scotland, is from the pen of George M. Ilosmer. Last summer Mr. I-Iosmer, with a party of friends, made an extended bicycle tour abroad, visiting France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, and Scotland, and cycling in all nearly 1,700 miles. The reminiscences he gives us of the last-named country are most enjoyable. K K K X 'J'HE Radiator especially desires contributions from the Freshmen. There are many subjects on which our young friends can write. For in- stance, we might suggest that some enterprising ] oet write a poem oti Love” (limited to twenty- five verses), or some other, not poetically inclined, try an essay on The Proper Way to Manage a High School.” Either subject we feel sure would prove most interesting and instructive.

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR (i of attracting his attention. In due course of time our boatman appeared and ferried us across. Before setting out on our six-mile ride awheel to Loch Katrine, we visited Rob Roy's cave, more than a mile off the road. We found the walk a wearisome one, on a rough and narrow path, but a little side excursion that amply repaid our efforts. 'I he cave and the jagged rocks about it, tossed up helter skelter, and the outlook on Loch Lomond 300 or 100 feet below are sights seldom surpassed, and never forgotten. They inspired us with such a feeling that, the longer we looked, the less we thought of our weary walk, and seemed to feel new vigor. Retracing our steps to the place where we had left our wheels, we soon reached Loch Katrine, and boarded the Sir Walter Scott” for a forty-five- minute sail past landmarks made famous in the Lady of the Lake, as Ellen’s Isle and the Lady’s Rock. On the bicycles again, we rode twelve miles farther, and arrived at the town of Callander. Time, 9.30 p. m. Fitch dark by that time, we re- membered. in Boston, but in Scotland on a July evening it was only dusk. We did not have to think of finding a lodging place for the night till nine o’clock approached. The next morning we rode on fifteen miles farther to Stirling Castle, where we spent two or three hours in the middle of the dav: and in the afternoon continued on to Edinburgh, taking in the field of Bannockburn en route. We had traveled but two days on the bicycle: vet advantages of wheeling were in that short time found to equal, if not surpass, in some cases, the ad- vantages of traveling by train, and boat, and coach. We found the beauties of mountain, lake, and stream could be seen as well; for the roads fol- lowed in most places right beside the water, and were exceedingly good. In the 100 miles, more or less, that we rode between the rival Scotch cities, we found but one stretch of only five miles where the road was in poor condition ; and, for the greater part of the distance, we cycled along as easily as if on the Mvstic Lake boulevard. If there were no trains in a district, as cyclists, we could go wher- ever the coaches went. Side trips afoot could be taken in. as well, for the wheels could be left at any house along the way. If there were no roads in a certain region, as along the shore of Loch Katrine, bicycles could be carried on the steamer for a nomi- nal sum. But what if it rained? If it poured hard, we were obliged, of course, to stop; but all other tourists were at the mercy of the weather, too. If it only misted, we donned our rubber capes, made espe- ciallv for cvclists in Scotland, and rode on in com- fort for miles. What did we do about our luggage? Content with one outfit of outside clothing, we could carry on the heads of our bicycles in a con- venient bag all other necessary articles,—the whole not weighing over twelve pounds. But was not such a package a great inconvenience? It is true that when we met a head wind for several hours, the strain was greater: but there was one great ad- vantage in having a bundle over the fore wheel Xo one knows until he has tried it how much easier a bicvclc rides when the weight over the front wheel is more nearly like that over the rear. But was not Scotland very hilly? There were to be sure, manv braes”: yet we did not ride many days before we learned the good |)oints about hills. The great majority of them can. in fact, be ridden after the wheelman has become somewhat hardened to his daily exercise. Those that must be walked, we discovered, had their advantages, for they forced us to a change of exercise, in itself most beneficial. Bringing a new set of muscles into play seemed to rest the tired ones; moreover, every hill climbed meant a coast on the other side sooner or later. And the invigoration to the spirit that we received, as well as the rest to the body, counted for much when we met a descent on which we needed to pedal only one-quarter of a mile in a stretch of three miles. The country, then, we discovered could be seen from the wheel: and we were not long in finding out that we saw the people, too, and in their homes. An experience that befell one of our party when riding alone one day is especially typical as illus- trating the character of many of the Scotch country- folks. Our friend remembers the experience with the keenest pleasure. Acting on the recommendation of a friend, he wanted to take a short excursion up the Yarrow Water one afternoon, and then circle around to the main road again. The side trip proved unique both for scenery and lonesomeness (for a stretch of nearly five miles there was not a single house passed), and when he reached the main road about (• p. m.. he found that he had twenty miles farther to ride to the next town. He had already wheeled fifty miles, more than twenty since dinner. lie was growing hungry. After riding four more miles, lie spied (so he wrote home in a letter) at the top oi a hill ahead a small house, which he hoped might be a place for refreshments. Everywhere along the roads in Scotland are to be found what are called cyclists’ rests,” with aerated waters, etc., for sale. This house proved to be one. The good lady of the house was out front in her garden. She nodded assent to our friend’s inquiry as to whether he could get some bread and milk. He soon found himself seated at a little oblong table in a sitting room, with an open fire before him,—not at all un- comfortable. though in the middle of July. An old decrepit gentleman sat near by, stroking a lit- tle kitten on his lap, and watching a dog that lay- by his side. The good, whole-souled housekeeper waited on the tired and famished cyclist to all the bread and the sweetest milk he wanted, with plenty of preserves, lie ate and listened to the conversa- tion of the aged couple, understanding little that the man said, but most of what the woman said. He finally asked his hostess where she thought he hailed from. Imagine her pleasure when she knew he came from America! She had a son there, and was therefore interested with anything American.