Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

Page 11 text:

Dear Pupils and Friends: Having arrived by the favor of Providence safely through another year to the season when, according to the custom of our predecessors, we should introduce ourselves, and lay before you an outline of our task, we beg to offer, in behalf of our predecessors, thanks for past favors, and express, in behalf of ourselves, the hope that in spite of universal war, the high cost of living, and other great world events which have made the past year one of extraordinary vicissitude, all the friends who have supported this publication in the past, will continue their patronage with this, the twenty-seventh volume of the Somerville High School RADIATOR. Improving on conventional forms and habits is almost an impossibility, and it little matters to what degree one sustains his efforts in the attempt, for the odds multiply rapidly against him with the flight of time, and eventually he is no nearer than when he started. Notwithstanding this, we hope in a measure to eliminate some of the often repeated platitudes of the past, and have in mind some new and novel features which we trust will prove both interest- ing and unique. We contemplate the reorganization of the Class Notes. Within the past few years, this depart- ment has lost much of the exclusive quality for which it was institued and for which it had so long been noted among the RADIATOR’S many exchanges. The chief cause for this decline has been the lack of co-operation between the pupil and the Class Editor. The seeming remedy for this defect is to appoint a competent assistant in each room whose duty will be to look after the magazine’s interests in that room. We will en- deavor to elevate the tone of the jokes, and to add to the quality of the column by inserting brief, interesting accounts concerning the individua! pupil, both in and out of school. This system, we hope, will not only swell the bulk of material, but will reach every department of the school. The Alumni department will also be affected by this new arrangement. More items concern- ing our graduates, in whom we are all interested, can be easily obtained through the room as- sistants. The idea of awarding a medal to the author of the best original story published in the RADI- ATOR during the coming year is being carefully considered by the members of the staff, hoping that this will create a keen competition among the students, and insure a greater variety of excel- lent fiction and reading matter. To stimulate the support and interest of all organizations connected with the school, with the possible exceptions of those of class and athletics, we heartily invite them to publish a summary each month under Public Occurrences. With such a wide range of societies, clubs, fraternities, and the like, these reports should prove of great in- terest to the reader. Reports of class meetings and athletic societies will of course appear under their respective columns. Likewise, do we place at the disposal of the student and all others immediately concerned with the welfare of the school, the Letter Box- which each month should contain information valuable to the reader, or criticism, even more valuable to the success of the paper. Thus it is with mingled feelings of pleasure and misgivings that we make our debut, and the high standard set by our predecessors convinces us that we must exert ourselves to the utmost to maintain it. Schoolmates, give us your heartiest support and co-operation to make this twenty-seventh volume of the RADIATOR, dedicated to you, to your interests, and to your purposes, one which will be a model to all succeeding volumes. THE EDITORIAL STAFF

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Who Am I? I can be trusted with life’s most solemn secrets I am a zealous defender of the Faith I study to help all and hinder none I reverence the things sacred and supreme I frown down slander and encourage praise I condone rather than condemn I protect the good name of my friends 1 decline to encourage caustic criticism I speak the word of warning in love I am faithful to friends absent or present I am uninfluenced by wealth or poverty I hold my promise as sacred as life I stand by my convictions though alone 1 reject mere rumor as a basis of judgment I live in the realm of religious reality I am not affected by threats or applause 1 seek to make every life a success I make governments possible and progressive I stand with pillar-purpose under great Causes I am the bulwark of human progress My name is—LOYALTY.

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6 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR Somerville’s Burglar VANDA CAPPUCCIO. 191S-A, Room 20G ND YOU be sure to close the windows and put out the electric lights,” ad- monished Mrs. White as she left the house, in company with her husband, stroll to enjoy the summer air. The twins, Patricia and Olive, received these instructions which (of course) they meant to carry out to the letter, but which were, of course, entirely forgotten while they played around. '1 here were five children in the White family, the oldest were the twins- aged twelve, and the rest ranged down to the smallest one, Elsie, aged two. ‘'Let’s go to sleep now,” suggested yawning Oiive, after they had played for a while. “All right. Let’s get Elsie to bed and then we can go,” answered Patricia. And so they did. E sie was put to bed, the lights were put out, the twins adjourned to their room, and the windows were left open. Now the particular neighborhood in which the Whites lived was infested with tomcats of a prize-winning size, but not of beauty, which rendered a beautiful serenade in the cat language every night beneath the windows; for this musical entertainment they received as a compensation, shoes, broomsticks and oaths. All the children except the twins fell almost immediately asleep, but the twins had to keep up their chatter to a late hour, and then, their vocal organs quite fatigued, they were dropping off into s.umber when Patricia or Patty for short, who was very keen of hearing, thought she detected a noise down stairs, and rudely awakened her double to inform her of her fears. “Ollie- Ollie, there’s some one down stairs,” she whispered in almost inaudible tones. “Aw there ain’t nothin’ o’ the kind. You’re dreaming,” said the sleepy one. Patty thought that she might have imagined the noise and stopped talking but continued to listen. Again she thought she heard that same noise, as of some one walking around stealthily. “Now, there is some one down there, listen and you’ll hear.” Ollie, seeing that unless she overcame Patty’s fears she would not get any slumber listened, and to her surprise she, too, heard that mysterious noise. In a flash she thought of the windows, and wondered whether they had been closed. “Patty, did you close the windows? ” she asked. “No, did you?” “No.” I bet it’s a burglar that’s got in through the windows,” said Patty in a weak voice. “It can’t be, the window ain’t big enough for him to creep in, and burglars are awfully big, you know,” said Ollie. Nevertheless they were frightened, and the for a short