Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR EDITORIALS Towards the close of last month the student body, the alumni, and many parents in Somer- ville read with considerable surprise in one of Boston's prominent dailies the following head- line: “SOMERVILLE HIGH IN NEED OF MORE ‘PEP7’ Now we like to hear our esteemed contempo- rary over in Boston talk that way because the facts always contradict him so pleas- antly. Last spring this same daily drew the attention of the Greater Boston schoolboy fans to the Somerville High School’s weakness in spring baseball, though we had won the in- tersholastic championship of 1914. This year, in spite of this Cassandralike wrong. Somerville won another championship. This fall they accuse our team of going into the game with a lazy, indifferent look, instead of a determined one. They claim that a light, snappy team is a better fighter than a team of our weight and strength. J hey declare that, from observation, the Somerville team is not a fighting and resolute team. They even as- sert that there will be no team if injuries oc- cur, because most of the players are not anxious to play without a suit which the Ath- letic Association seems unable to provide. Keep right on, dear brother, and around Thanksgiving time, just for once get the real news from Somerville. Another championship! Who knows! It is better to begin a great task with trepi- dation than with over-confidence. Hence, we are commencing Volume XXV of the Radiator with some doubts. At the time of this editorial we feel per- fectly safe in saying that the various organiza- tions of our school through the aid of our pre- decessors have attained a permanent round on the ladder of perfection. Therefore, should not the staff of 1915-1916 place the Radiator on the same height of ex- cellence? Admitted. However, it is with feelings of doubt, we repeat, that we enter upon our task. To complete this volume of the Radiator, we need the hearty co-operation of teachers and pupils. This co-operation consists, first, in “boost- ing” the Radiator at every opportunity; sec- ond. in contributing to the literary department by writing stories, class notes, and securing articles for the “Letter Box”; third, in sub- scribing to the paper, and procuring advertise- ments. It is our cherished hope to present to the student body a creditable paper from a literary standpoint; to promote the different depart- ments to a higher degree of excellence; and to add new sections of interest and value. As this paper is issued for the student body, schoolmates, it is your paper. Put your shoul- ders to the Radiator and “boost” it! r, r, it it President Lowell in his baccalaureate sermon to the Seniors at the last Harvard commence- ment quoted, “Be sure you are right, then go ahead.” Freshmen, this is precisely what should be said to you. Do you realize that your first year presents an important crisis in your career? Do you perceive that to get started on the wrong road in your high school career will mean a waste of valuable time and energy? Do you understand that a thorough and com- plete knowledge of all courses in the school is invaluable? Be sure that what you are plan- ning to devote yourself to is the best within

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IO SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR each individual play a part in it. It is really a game that you play all through life. In school each has a goal ahead of him, or her, that he wants to reach. Some place their goal higher than others. Everyone wants to stand as high in their studies as they can. School is even better than any game that there is in the world, because in school everyone must work in order to get ahead and in a game it is only l y chance that one wins. I think, Clara, if you look at school as I do, you will be sorry to hear the gong ring at one-thirty, and the only reason you will be glad of a vacation, is so you wiil get rested and be better fitted for work when you go back. Will you try my way of thinking of school, and I think by the time reports come out you will be a happier girl.” Clara played the game successfully, and when the next report came out, she was very happy, just as Edith said she would be. On her report she had all “.Vs” and “B’s” and two “D’s” made up. When she told Edith she said. “Oh. Edith, I have been playing your game and feel much differently towards school than 1 ever expected to. I think if more girls would play your game they would be much happier.” £om Male’s Determination Phillips B. TRcpes, 1917 B OM Wade lay on the lounge in his warm, cozy den, looking disconso- lately out of the window at the street before his house. He eyed the busy thoroughfare, teeming with bustling activity, with unseeing eyes, all his thoughts being centred upon a cold, inanimate, lifeless form that lay buried under the ground in the nearby cemetery. His father—his own dear father—had finally succumbed to a long and painful illness a few days before and had passed on quietly and peacefully during the night, leaving sixteen- year old Tom, his mother and baby sister Betty alone in the world. His last words, as Tom and his mother watched at his bedside on the fatal night, were: “Toni, my boy. try to bear up under this mis- fortune and don’t be discouraged. I know I’m going soon, and I want you to take my place as far as possible. Here is a letter to Mr. Picker- ing. i f Pickering Co’s big department store, my intimate friend, who will give you a place, I think, as in all probability it will be neces- sary for you to go to work.” Here a severe coughing spell set in. and for a moment’s space Mr. Wade’s emaciated frame was racked with hard, dry coughs, while his face wore the expression of one who had long been resigned to pain. “I will, father,” said Tom. with a voice that quivered with emotion, for it was evident, even to the inexperienced eyes of the boy, that his father was rapidly approaching his. end, and Tom shivered inwardly at the thought. Presently the sick man rallied and said with difficulty: “Good-bye, my lad. Remember to t-t-t-take----.” and then Mr. Wade relapsed into that deep, peaceful sleep from which there is no awakening. The misfortune mentioned by Mr. Wade hap- pened two days before his death and had the bad effect of hastening his end. It came about in this way. James Fowler, the cashier of the P-------Bank, where Mr. Wade had some five thousand dollars, his sole property, had been in the habit of taking large sums of money, at different intervals, from the bank for the pur- pose of speculating. As is usually the case, his speculations proved a total failure, and overcome with despair at the thought of fac- ing his employers under such conditions, he fled the city. T he bank failed and was able to pay only ten cents on a dollar to its depositors, leaving the Wade family barely five hundred dollars in- stead of five thousand, which would have made it possible for Tom to finish his course in the high school he had been attending successfully for two years. As it was, however, it seemed certain that Tom would have to leave school, and work for the support of his mother and sister. Do not get the impression that Tom wanted to leave school, in fact he did not like the idea in the least, but he had no alternative. He had stowed the letter given him by his father safely away in his pocket, meaning to see Mr. Pickering about it on the morrow. After a late supper, Tom retired determined to fulfill the promise made to his father, that is, to support his mother and sister, and to care for them faithfully. On the following morning Tom presented the note to Mr. Pickering, and making a good im- pression on that gentleman with his gentle- manly manners and observant ways, was of- (Continued ou m«k«

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12 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR range, and most likely to produce the best re- sults. Above all. then, get started right, and follow out the course of study that is the most suitable for you. Now is the time. Improve your opportunity! ! ! ! r v r Girls! Pause a moment amid the varied claims of classroom, society and sports. Arc you doing your duty by the Girls’ Debating So- ciety? There are almost a thousand girls en- rolled in our school this year. How many of you are supporting this branch of our High School activities? Yet the time required is only about an hour a week. Do you know that the Girls’ Debating Club meets every Monday afternoon to discuss popular topics? Why not attend, these debates and obtain a training in public speaking which will be of great value to you not only in your school work, but all through your life? Show your school spirit! Encourage the members who are endeavoring to make this society a success, by adding your name to the membership list and by attending the debates as far as possible. Remember that our girls won honor last year for their Alma Mater, and resolve to have a share in this year’s honors. Therefore, girls, Seniors, Jun- iors, Sophomores and Freshmen, join the De- bating Society and help us win the shield for Somerville this year. v » r r Watch us grow! In the year 1852 the Som- erville High School entered upon its work of instruction with an enrollment of sixty-six. The first sessions were held on the second floor of the present City Hall building and the faculty con- sisted of the principal and one assistant. Even in 1872, when the old Latin School was built, the number of pupils was but 101 and the teachers, seven. The present school year opens with an en- rollment of 2,100 pupils and a corps of seventy- six teachers. Truly our school has grown! The earlier buildings have expanded to accommo- date the increased attendance, and up-to-date equipment has replaced the cruder facilities of earlier days. Especially have we developed in the extent and variety of the curriculum. Old school re- ports show that “the three R’s” were contin- ued into the Sophomore year and that the ad- vanced Latin of the Seniors was that of Cae- sar’s Commentaries. We all know what a varied choice of extended courses is offered the present day pupil. r. tt k Bang! Immediately there is a shuffle of noisy feet. The attention of the class is focused on the direction of the noise, and the minds of many of the pupils are far from the lesson. A war bomb dropped into the room! No! This is the description of a typical class- room when some thoughtless or careless pupil has let a book or a desk cover fall. Everyone has done this very thing at some time during his school life, but never with the thought of the disturbance created, and the time necessary to bring all minds back to the lesson. A class- room consisting of careful, thoughtful pupils accomplishes double the amount of work a classroom does containing pupils who are for- ever dropping something. This seems a trivial matter to occupy• Radiator space, but it is the small things that sometimes count the most. Henceforth, then, let each one see to it that he is not a disturber of the harmony of a class- room. ! In culling out material for publication in a school magazine as large as the Radiator, er- rors frequently occur. This is true of the re- cent June issue. A poem entitled “Book Love” was published as the work of Mr. Curtis F. Day. of the Class of lDlo-B. Mr. Day did not write the poem, but used it as a quotation at the conclusion of one of his articles handed into the Radiator. We have been asked, therefore, to extend in behalf of the editor of 1914-15 his sincere regrets and deepest apolo- gies to Mr. Day, to the author of the poem, and to our readers. K r We are always glad to see our instructors advance to higher positions, though it is with a feeling of deep regret that we part with them. We miss several well-known and prominent instructors from our teaching corps. Among the teachers of Somerville to go to higher spheres arc Howard W. Poor, who enters upon the headmastership of Pinkerton Academy, Derry, X. II: Roy W. Hatch, who goes to Dor- chester High School as submaster; Edward N.