Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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12 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR sewing, so that her daughter might appear as well as the other girls at the High School, who could well afford to dress better. Edith thought that she earned her dresses by working harder at home, and did not realize that the little work she did was not enough to keep her mother from overworking. “O mother! Helen was ever so pleased with her dress. She said she thinks she can get more orders for you! Won’t that be lovely?” cried Edith, coming home two weeks later. “Now we won't have to take the money Uncle Will so be- grudgingly gives us. He’s the stingiest miser 1 ever saw. He thinks he is helping us out a lot, and I’d just like to show him that we can get along without his help.” “You mustn’t talk that way about Uncle Will,” warned her mother, “You know we could not possibly get along without his help.” “Well he’s got so much money and he be- grudges us every cent he gives us,” grumbled Edith. “I’d just like to show him that we can get along without his money.” “But we can’t, Edith, I never could work again the way I have in the last two weeks. I have not very good health and I must take care of it a little,” sighed Mrs. Mason, as she thought of the splitting headache she had had all day. That was only the beginning of it. The next day, when Edith came home, she found a mother too sick to get out of bed. The next day she had to stay at home and the doctor was called. He told her that her mother had been overworked and it would be three weeks and probably longer before her mother would be able to work again. Those were sad weeks for Edith, she had plenty of time to think, and she now saw many things she had never thought of before. She loved her mother, but the trouble was that she had never stopped to think before. She had never realized how her mother had worked and sacrificed for her. I think she would never have forgiven herself if she had known of all the pain and worry her mother went through for her. It was as she knelt each night and prayed for her mother, that she might soon regain her health, and asked our heavenly Father to forgive her and help her to do better in the future, that she realized as never before, that her mother was worth more than all the dresses money could buy. The Manufacture of Chocolate RANDOLPH CHAFFEE, 1D19-B UR1NG the first part of the sixteenth century, Cortez, when he came to America, found the Indians, in a crude way, making cocoa. He carried the idea back to Spain, where it was kept for some time. Later, however, its manufacture spread to France and England, where only the nobility could afford a cup of cocoa, it was so expensive. Th£ cocoa bean pod grows on a tree some- thing like our apple tree, in Venezuela, the Guianas, and West Indian Islands such as Trini- dad. The pod, instead of being suspended from the tip of a branch, projects from the trunk of the tree. Only the ripe pods are picked, for if green pods are mixed in also, the flavor of the chocolate in the end is of an inferior quality. Pickers tell if the pods are green by tapping them or by the size or color. The seeds inside the pod are covered by a very white, delicate skin. All the seeds, about forty-five in number, are sur- rounded by a slimy substance. When the pod is picked it is split through the center. The seeds of beans are scooped out and placed in a huge vat for the process of fermentation, which is not un- like that of a brewery. After six days of fermentation the beans are taken out and placed in a trough, when the hose is turned on, removing the slimy substance and all coarse dirt. During the process of fermenta- tion the delicate white skin is changed to a red- dish-brown shell. After the washing the beans are dried. In olden times the beans were dried in the sun, but later, buildings with movable hip roofs, which could be drawn over in bad weather were used. The latest drying systems use hot air heat to dry the beans. After the beans are dried, they are sent to the chocolate manufacturer, and here, before proceeding to describe the -making of

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 11 hundred cubic feet or three hundred and thirty- three tons of rough granite were quarried to fur- nish the carvers with enough material for this single feature. We do not stop to think what a wonderful piece of work this is, and what patience must have been afforded in its wonderful carving. Now let us go inside this huge mass of masonry. We must, however, remember that positively no wood was used in the construction of the tower. Now we will climb the spiral stairway a few flights, and then take the electric elevator. For the permanent operation of the building of course everything is electric. Our guide tells us that there are four electric traction passenger and freight elevators, ventilating motors, and a pneumatic tube service for further communication between offices, from part of the equipment which aggregates 400 h. p. in motors and a few thous- and lamps. He also tells us that each of the offices will be connected by telephone and will be used for no other purposes than governmental. As we go up in these elevators we stop on the dif- ferent floors and visit the huge offices. Then we wonder at the statement made by our guide that no wood whatever was used in the construction of this Tower, as we look on in wonderment at the beautiful mahogany-like railings and heavy doors. But our guide will tell us that we are mistaken. These doors and railings are not of mahogany, but composed of a huge mass of steel melted and heated to an exact temperature, and then coated on the outside with this wonderful mahogany-like finish. From all windows, different views of the har- bor greet us; but let us now go up to the twenty- fifth story and gaze at the wonderful panorama from the balcony, or even to the “twelve by twelve” room (the twenty-ninth story) where the view is imposing and unbroken. Mount Wa- chusett is outlined among the distant hills in the west, while the State House dome looks scarcely two hundred feet away. Then looking eastward, we see down the harbor, and beyond Brewster’s and Boston lights, the shore-line of Scituate and Minot’s Ledge without the aid of a glass. The tall chimneys of the Edison Light Street station catch our eye in looking toward the Blue Hills, and the landscape as viewed from the north windows includes the pointed shaft of Bunker Hill, 'fhe old monument is not impressive from this vantage point which is now the best observation point in the city. We are quite tired from our long climbing and sight-seeing, but nevertheless, we have enjoyed our trip and will all remember that the Custom House Tower will long be a landmark and a beacon for mariners entering the Port of Boston. Has not Uncle Sam given us a wonderful and majestic gift? Edith’s Lesson CAROLINE COMEY, 1920-R HER, I’ve got to have a new ess,” said Edith, as she came in jm school. “I know dear, but you know I have no money to buy one with,” sighed her mother, as she bent closer over her sewing. “You don’t understand! All the girls are hav- ing new summer dresses. I can’t fix up my last year’s dresses because all the girls will remember them from last summer,” answered Edith, as she slammed her books down on the table. “I don’t see what else you can do,” replied Mrs. Mason, “I cannot possibly do any more work, and there is no other possible way of getting money. The girls all know that your father is dead, and I was thinking we could fix—” “That’s just it, they all pity me because I have no father,” stormed Edith, “and I can’t stand having them do that.” “What will you do then? You’ll have to go to work; that’s the only way I see out of it.” “No, I can’t go to work,” declared Edith, “but I heard Helen say she was going to have a new dress for a dance she is going to, and I thought maybe you could make it for her.” “I have to sit up till one and get up at six in order to get the work I now do done,” sighed her mother, “I could not possibly do more.” “I’ll help you around the house, and do some of your other sewing. I’m sure Helen will pay well for it.” So this is how it happened that Mrs. Mason got up earlier mornings and stayed up later nights

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 13 chocolate, I will speak of the Walter Baker plant. The plant is located at Milton Lower Mills, Mil- ton, Mass., and consists of six buildings covering- fourteen acres of floor space. Walter Baker’s lirst plant was a small granite building on a corner near the present site. All the buildings are named after pioneer chocolate makers, such as Forbes, Ware, Preston, the former of which is chiefly a storehouse; the latter a receiving station on the railroad. The buildings are equipped with Grinnell Fire Sprinklers, and are inspected monthly to see that no rubbish is allowed to collect. At the foot of every stairway directions are posted for turning off any sprinkler in the vicinity that might ac- cidentally spurt water. All exposed gears and belting are covered by fine, strong grating. The windows are large and are kept clean, thus ad- mitting plenty of light. There is a great feeling of unity among the employees of the factory, which is absolutely necessary to operate a large plant. River water is used for cooling devices and operating elevators. The beans are fed into a hopper and thence into a sorting machine on the floor below. This is a perforated cylinder, slowly revolving, at the highest end of which the holes are smallest, and larger at the lower end. All sticks, stones, and dirt fall out at the side, and beans at the end. Sometimes double beans, or two or three beans grown together come out and have to be cut apart by hand. The beans are then put in several large vats, heated by steam, which the vats slowly revolve. In this way the beans are cooked so that their shells can be removed easily. Up to this time the beans from different countries have been kept separate, but before crushing they are mixed to improve the quality of the finished chocolate. The beans are crushed to the size of a finger- nail, then sorted in a machine something like that previously described. Those crushed finest come out at the high end and so on. Some beans es- cape crushing, and these are scooped up and the crushing process repeated. As the beans are crushed they descend a slide whence they are met by a reverse current of air which blows all shells and stuff lighter than meat back in a room. Such a strong current is necessary that good meat is sometimes blown back also. This bean is then fed into mills composed of two stones; the upper revolving, the lower sta- tionary; which grinds the meat to liquor or thick liquid. The liquor is so thick that the process is repeated in a smaller mill. This liquor is then cooled and hardened until used. In the winter the outdoors is used, in the summer a refrigerat- ing plant. Since probably few of my readers understand the principle of this plant, I will describe it. The principle is this: When aqua ammonia, the same only stronger than that used in the home, under high pressure is forced through a valve into a tank of low pressure it loses a great deal of its heat. In fact, the temperature is about 25, 30 or 5() degrees below zero. This gaseous ammonia is run through pipes of brine which is, in turn, cooled and pumped to the cold rooms. After removing from hardening, all cocoa butter is pressed out, which is mostly used by barbers for massaging. Sugar is next added to sweeten the chocolate. Some chocolate before sweetening, however, is sent to confectioners for covering chocolates. There are two machines turning out 10,000 pounds every day from the crushed meat to sweetened liquor. This sweet- ened liquor is cooled and put in a huge tub. Two huges stones are set opposite each other on an axis suspended from the middle. This immense tub full of cooled chocolate revolves and the chocolate is ground even finer, by the passing over it. This paste is put on little trays the size of the five and ten cent cakes which we buy at the store, and put on machines that shake the chocolate down into the moulding tins. On entering this room the racket is so great, that it is difficult to think. The chocolate is then removed from the trays and wrapped. The ten cent sizes are wrapped by hand, but the others by machines, em- ploying about fifty women and thirty machines. The chocolate is packed in wooden boxes for ship- ment. A very ingenious machine is used to nail the boxes. By placing the cover on the box and pressing it against a horizontal bar, one side and one end are nailed with a single stroke. The nails are dumped into the machine anyway, and are righted on the way to the box. For the cocoa the beans are crushed to a pow- der and then canned. The cocoa is fed into round receptacles. As one-half a pound enters the receptacle, automatic scales close the valve from [Contnued on Page 17]