Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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■7» THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR and later in the—ha!—that is the question! what did he do with them? He certainly did something hut not until he had patiently collected many, many hairs. Then at last came the day notable in our story; and even on that day the routine duties were performed as they had been performed on the pre- vious days. Rat worked as he had worked for three vears; dinner was served as it was habitually served; the afternoon wore away in the mysterious fashion that all afternoons wear away: the doctor came punctually at his appointed time, tied his horse to the accustomed post, laid his coat and hat in their usual place and entered the hospital. As soon as he had stepped inside, a fireman from the engine room dashed across the yard and breath- lessly announced that the engineer had been scalded. Thereupon, quite contrary to his habitual course of procedure, he followed the fireman back to the engine room, and as he entered we see the last of him. Thus, by the conspiracy of the hates, on the very afternoon when Rat had planned to escape, the doctor instead of being in the hospital, where he could easily have heard his horse go out, was in the engine room on the other side of the yard, and moreover was so wrapped up in his work that he could not hear his departing horse. It was by this time quite dark, and as it had be- gun to rain, it was net difficult for Rat to skulk over to the other side of the yard unobserved. So dressed in the doctor’s coat and hat with the care- fully collected hair, which it had been the work of weeks to arrange to imitate the doctor’s beard, he went as near to the door of the engine room as he dared, then turning about, he walked boldly across the yard, got into the carriage, and started out. Through the dim light he saw the unsuspecting guard salute as he opened the gate, and as Rat drove out and whipped his horse into a swift pace, he enjoyed a hearty laugh. He rode south for half an hour until he thought that he was, according to a fellow-prisoner’s direc- tions. in the vicinity of the warden’s house. Rat stopped his horse and from a passing boy learned the exact whereabouts of the house, which lie had very nearly reached when he passed the lanky fig- ure of the warden also going that way. He hur- ried his horse, and was already at the house, stand- ing on the sidewalk when the warden came up. Rat itad the carriage whip in his hand and held it so that he could use the handle as a club, which he did in a few seconds with very good effect. With two mighty blows the prison-keeper was stunned and his limp form fell into his assaulter’s open arms. Rat quickly manipulated his carefully prepared gag. and tying the man's hands securely together, he lay him in the bottom of the buggy and drove off. He was still driving at eleven o'clock, but in a few minutes he caught sight of the brewery to which he was bound. This brewery was situated on the shores of the Arkansas river, where ships from the Gulf of Mexico coming up the Missis- sippi could unload. Beside the main brewery was large cooperage, and many thousands of barrels of all sizes could be seen in its yard. Toward these barrels Rat drove, and when lie had succeeded in stealing one he put it into the buggy and turned his horse down the river road to find a spot where he could complete his revengeful schemes unmo- lested. He stopped after a few minutes under a bluff, and tied his horse. Then, laying aside his dis- guise, he was prepared to finish his work. He pounded off the head of the barrel, which was about six feet tall and made of heavy wood so that it was water tight. Then the unconscious warden was carried to the river. Rat appropriated his revolver and then stood him up in the barrel. He stepped back a few paces, and as he observed the warden’s look of returning consciousness, he thought that it would be only expedient to tell the prisoner why lie was being punished. Boss,” he explained, I don’t blame you for not understanding all this. But it’s just this way: When you put me in that dark hole you can't dream how I suffered there. But since you was the vil- lain as put me in there, sayst, you’re the man to pay back. 1 can't bother to tell you how I escaped, but you'll find out when you get where they know everything and everything is known. I’ll bet these white boss hairs that when I sec you again you’ll wish you’d never hear tell of a dark cell. But I must go now. so remember me as your old friend— ha! ha!—Rat Rawley.” lie bowed and immediately began to replace the barrel-head, and when it was securely fastened he turned the barrel on its side and rolled it into the river. This done, he detached the carriage, mounted the unburdened horse, and was off in es- cape. Three months after the deeds related in the first of this narrative the ship on which Rat was em- barked ran into a hurricane. The vessel was bound from New Orleans to Liverpool, and it was just about to sail around the numerous islands that ex- tend out from the shores of Florida when the hurri- can overtook it. The schooner was driven on to the coral reefs known as Tortugas Reefs, and there was pounded to pieces. Rat, and in fact all on board, were tossed into the sea. He was doing his best to keep afloat when a large hogshead appeared in front of him. lie made several attempts to straddle it. and finally succeeded. Then on this as a life-raft he floated at last to the island from which the reef receives its name. When the storm and its attendant darkness had cleared away, Rat was seized with a curiosity to as- certain the contents of the barrel, and after much labor he managed to break through four staves. But, as these did not let in light enough, he tore out four more and eagerly peered into the aperture. His gaze lasted but a moment, a brief second Rat. the hardened sinner, did what he had not done since he was an innocent little boy—he wept. Truth is stranger than fiction; for in that [ Continued on page 80.]

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THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR 77 TLhc Convict Oi£» va treat», os ARLY in his life Erastus Rawley ac- quired the nickname, “Rat, which was doubly applicable, as it was not only a shortened form of his given name, but was a word that summed up in three letters all his characteris- tics. You have no doubt heard some person spoken of as an “old rat, and Rawley was an old rat, save for the fact that he was only about twenty- eight years old. He was born in Scotland of parents who were good people, who attempted to train their child in the way he should go. But when he was about seventeen years old he departed from them, and took passage as a deck-hand on an out-bound vessel. Rat fell in with an evil crew, and particu- larly one fiendish sailor, who was his clever teacher in the wielding of the dagger and who instilled in his heart a craving for blood. Let it suffice to say that while a boy Rat committed murder, but like a lion who has once tasted human blood his passions were not satisfied but urged him on to further crime. He cleverly escaped detection, and had hardly come from his concealment when he temporarily appeased his thirst for crime by striking down a defenseless man. He dodged arrest once more, and for eleven long, hideous years he wan- dered about the world, now into crime, then into hiding, last into prison. This sort of life is not conducive to physical or moral perfection and Rat in prison was not a pleasant object. His eyes had a cold, wild gleam that made one shudder when they were turned upon him. His checks were emaciated and pale. His head was prematurely bald, and his hands shook and twisted nervously. Such was the pitiful condition of Rat when he started to serve a twcnty-fivc-ycars’ term of impris- onment in the Arkansas state penitentiary at Little Rock. As he showed no great eagerness to en- gage in any one trade, he was put to work in the brushmakers’ shop, where his slender fingers be- came quickly dexterous in sewing in the bristles. He worked industriously for six or seven monoto- nous years, when for some breach of the prison regulations, he was sentenced by the warden to three days' solitary confinement. While he had been at work Rat had had little or no time to think of his previous history, or to plan for his future career, but when he was alone in his dark cell strange thoughts came back to him. The agonized faces of his victims seemed to keep staring at him out of the darkness. He tried to sleep, but shameful deeds perpetrated years before came to his mind as though they had happened yesterday. In the darkness he could not see the cup of water that was given him, and, in his diseased imagina- tion, he fancied that the cup was full of blood and he would not touch it.- On the third morning his fears in a measure left him, and he began to plan how he might have re- venge upon the warden, who had unwittingly been the cause of his disturbed peace of mind. As the warden did not live at the prison, and was rarely seen by its inmates, Rat perceived immediately that he must effect his escape from prison before he could get at him. And thus began his plottings and cogitations as to the best means of escape and then glorious revenge! Rat worked on with the brushmakers for s:x months, when having fully decided upon his plans, he asked the warden if he could change his occupa- tion and work in the stables. The unsuspecting warden was only too glad to grant the request of one who had worked faithfully during his confine- ment. and thereupon Rat began his short term of dutv as stableman. It might here be well to give a brief description of the interior of the prison. The brick buildings were all built around an oval courtyard, at the northern end of which were the offices, and next 4c these, toward the west, were the buildings, extend- ing half way down the southern side of the yard, which contained the cells. Then came the engine room and the workshops on the southern bend, ad- joining which was the chapel. Further on was the prison stable, where Rat daily curried the prison horses: namely, a sorrel colt and a white mare. Lastly came the hospital, next to the big carriage entrance, where the old white-bearded prison doc- tor treated his patients. 'Hie doctor was a precise man, who believed in doing everything bv habit, and just the way it had been done for years, so when lie had finished his outside practice, at ex- actly thirtv minutes after four cverv afternoon, his horse, a fiery animal, which he had driven for ten vears, and buggy, also a victim of a decade's hard usage, could have been seen coming into the prison yard and around to the stable. Here his horse was tied to the identical post that he had gnawed for ten years, and in the carriage were carefully laid' his black coat and felt hat. both of which he had worn since lie had begun to practice. These duties per- formed. lie proceeded to the hospital, where he quickly examined the patients, made a suggestion heie, wrote a prescription there, held a short con- sultation with the matron, and was in his buggy driving out oi the yard beforeone could hardly real- ize that he had been there. Rat worked on day by day performing his tasks as stableman in such a creditable manner that one would hardly have guessed that his mind was full of his plSns for escape. But had anyone watched him closely he would have seen that every morn- ing, while he was rubbing down the white mare. Rat pulled a hair or two from her flowing, white tail and mane, rolled them up. and put them into his ear by way of concealment. Every day this happened; every day Rat pulled out a few white hairs, concealed them in his car.

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THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR 79 tCbe Momen of 3apan J6x lEft'te ID. IRttcbic, IE., ’07 UST at this time, when the eyes of alt the world are turned to Japan, a glance at her people may not come amiss. The women of Japan have been the cause of much comment, and all of our friends who have visited this land of cherry and plum blossoms have returned singing their praises. For many have fallen victims to the charms of the Japanese women, who are so womanly—kind, gentle, faith- ful, and pretty. And yet they arc little appreciated by their native people, and is it any wonder that they are trying to free themselves from the bonds of custom in this the Meiji era? Of course, it is difficult to distinguish as yet between the new and the old. Two grotesquely different ideas arc at work to improve the women’s condition, European theories concerning the relations of the sexes and European clothes! The same man who struts into a room before .his wife when she is dressed a la japonaise will let her go in first when she is dressed a la europeene!” A baby is welcomed in a Japanese home as much as in a Western one. Its birth, whether it be boy or girl, is the cause oi much rejoicing, although a boy is much preferred. As soon as the event takes place, a messenger is dispatched to spread the news among all the relatives and friends, who are ex- pected to soon pay their respects to the mother and babe, and carry with them some present. Silks, toys, or crepe are suitable, but each must be ac- companied by fish or eggs for good luck. Each friend must sooner or later make the child a1 pres- ent, which is duly acknowledged and a present re- turned by messenger. The baby’s dress is very simple—much like the kimona of the grown-ups. All baby’s clothes arc fitted, one inside the other, and put on the floor. Then baby is placed inside them. A loose belt is put on the outside, and baby is dressed, with no squirming and crying waiting for buttons to be fastened. In the lower classes the babv is strapped to the back of some older child at a very early age. sometimes at a month old. It is then carried about among the children’s games and through the streets. This perhaps accounts for the frank, open face of the Japanese—they never know what it is to be timid before strangers. A tendency for baby carriages is showing itself in Tokio, but whether this is merely a fad or not re- mains to be seen. At a very early age the children must become accustomed to the hot baths of which the Japanese are so fond. The older people spend much time in hot baths, which they have as high as 110° Fahrenheit. One old man who has charge of a public bath stays in the water the entire win- ter. One Japanese man’s objection to Western ways is that he has time for only three or four baths a day! The Japanese children arc very fond of fairy- tales. and will listen to grandmother or the nurse for a long time to hear about the Peach Boy” or of some terrible monster. Occasionally they spend all day at the theatre, seated on the floor in a box. '{’hey have a great variety of toys and games, such as shuttlecock and ball and the poems of a hun- dred poets. A girl learns in her youth the lessons of cheerful obedience, pleasing manners, personal cleanliness and neatness. She must sink herself entirely, always give up to others, and never show any but pleasing emotions. She learns all the rules of their simple housekeeping, which is not difficult, considering the absence of much furniture and the simple ways of cooking. But they have all the furniture necessary for their way of living. One of my friends tcils me the Japanese house gives one the impression that the housecleaning is just finished (for the houses are immaculate), but the furniture has not been brought in. Nothing is visible but the tiny box stove, which gives hardly any heat, and a few cushions. But at tea time, which occurs at any time during the day at fre- quent intervals, several individual tables about six inches high appear, also the tea cups, chop sticks, and many small bowls. At night they bring out the pads to sleep on, and the block pillow from some hidden closet. The partitions arc merely folding screens of translucent paper, which may be taken away at a moment's notice, and the house, which, by the way, is only a story and a half high, made one large room. So much for the houses—to return to our girl and her environment. The girls in this Eastern country are considered worthy of a certain amount of culture. They arc educated in the arts of writing, painting, and flower arrangement. They arc taught Chinese classics. They have a strict code of etiquette which is taught them by professional teachers. They learn how to open and close a door, how to rise and sit upon the floor, how to hold the body and head when saluting, all the most polite manner ; for polite- ness is one of their most noticeable characterises. They would much rather tell a lie or be dishonest than impolite. Tea drinking is the common occu- pation of the women. Strict rules are laid down for drinking formal tea. and it has been said that The woman who has once learned the tea cere- mony thoroughly is known by her superior bearing on all occasions ” The above relates to the strictly Japanese schools. The missionaries have estab- lished schools grading from kindergartens to high, normal schools, and even universities. Every day the streets are crowded with boys and girls going with their lunch boxes to school. In these schools they study Japanese and Chinese literature, geog- raphy, history, and natural science, also mathe- matics. In all the higher schools one foreign lan- guage is required. English having first place.