Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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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

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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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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 7 noise was decidedly that of stealthy footsteps. They were much louder and plainer now than before, and by this time Ollie was so frightened that she got hold of Patty around the neck as if her life depended upon it, and cried softly. ‘It’s you’re fault that the burglar got in,” she whimpered, “you should have closed the win- dows.” No, it ain’t either, it’s yours,” retorted Patty. But here a crash of dishes was heard, at which the twins gave a loud yell, and drew the blankets over their heads and presently fell asleep, hud- dled close together. About 11 o’clock, Mr. and Mrs. White re- turned from their long walk. Mrs. White no- ticed the open windows and decided to let them stay. As was her custom she made a tour of the children’s bedrooms to see that they were all right. When she came to Patricia’s and Olive’s room and saw them sleeping, she said, “The darl- ings, how they love each other,” and after kiss- ing them, retired for the night. A half hour or so passed. Mr. White, fatigued from the day’s work and the walk, was now sleep- ing peacefully, but his wife was lightly dozing. Suddenly she gave a start, sat up in bed and strained her ears. Yes, there was no mistake about it, there was some one down stairs, she was posi- tive she could hear stealthy footsteps. She turned to her husband. “Henry,” she said, “Henry.” No answer from the sleeping man. “Henry,” she called again, and she shook him at the same time at which he awoke. “What’s the matter, Esther, aren’t you feeling well?” he asked gruffly. “I’m all right, but you listen; there’s some one down stairs.” “1 think you’ll have to take something for your nerves. You’ve been quite nervous lately, and—” “You never mind my nerves. I say there’s some one down stairs. You just listen. He listened and he, too, heard, and knew his wife was right (an unpleasant characteristic of hers). Whoever he was he was approaching the dining room where the silver was kept. “Henry, we must do something.” “Well, I haven’t any weapon of any descrip- tion, so what can we do? Anyway, he can’t take so very much,” came the peeved reply. “We’ve got to do something,” insisted the per- sistent Mrs. White. “Now you just go behind the attic door and get the mop which 1 use to clean the cobwebs out of the ceiling, and get the little kerosene lamp, light it, and then we’ll see what we can do.” Her husband did as he was told and returned in a few moments with the required articles. “Now you take the mop, and I’ll take the lamp and we’ll go downstairs,” said his wife. “No,” he replied frightened, “you take the mop and I’ll take the lamp.” “Let it so be,” she assured, and she noticed that before he proceeded on the adventure, he drew forth a pen-knife. “What are you going to do with that?” she questioned. “Oh, it might help in case of emergency.” Down the stairs they started, walking on tip- toes. They were half way down when the foot- steps began approaching the hall door through which they would have to pass to gain entrance to the rooms. Now they were surely trapped, and Mr. White, shaking in every limb, started to trot up the stairs again, now that they were near the crisis. But the determined Mrs. White was de- cided not to turn back without showing the in- truder some resistance, so Mr. White had to re- sume his post of lighting the pathway. The sounds receded to the dining-room again so now Mrs. White opened the door cautiously, and seeing no one in sight entered, followed by her meek husband. “We’d better be careful,” whispered Mr. White, “maybe he’s hiding somewhere.” Through the kitchen they walked, Mrs. White holding the mop high ready to strike as soon as she saw the disturber. “Come on back,” her husband again whispered, “I don’t see anyone.” But just then sounds of scratching were heard in the parlor. Mr. White went quickly into the parlor, but seeing no one, bravely cried: “Whoever is in here had better get out, and quickly at that.” No one moved. Mr. White went as far as the dining-room door, but did not dare to go further. “Henry, can’t you keep that lamp still, and come nearer,” she said, in an irritated whisper. As she was talking and turned toward her hus- band she felt something brush by her. Down came the mop and as it struck an agonized yell of Meow-wow-wow pealed forth, and the injured