Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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r A Strange Experience ............... Beatrice Sweet ’21 5 The Kind-Hearted Meddler....... Josephine E. Murphy ’21 6 Editorials................................................ 8 Alumni Notes ............................................ 10 Library Department............................9.......... 11 Exchanges................................................ 12 Athletics . ........................................... 12 School Notes 15

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Q Q Q flAAAjLSJLU-H-P g gQ gflj?JL iL£gg fl Q Q.Q, Q 0 Q Q Q Q Q Q Q g fl Pj SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 'lnmrNtfimrNr?nnmnmnmmrtf?r?rr Tinrra7 VOL. XXIX. SOMERVILLE, BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS, OCTOBER, 1919 No. 1 The Somerville High School Radiator is published by the High School on the third Thursday of every mouth «luring the school year, and only important news matter can be received after the first Thursday of the month. Matter for insertion may be left with any «if the editorial staff or mailed to the editor at the High School. In contributing, write on one side of the paper only, and sign full name. Communications, according to their nature, should be mailed to the editor, business manager, or exchange e«litor. Manuscript must be accompanied by necessary postage to insure its return. Terms, 75 Cents per Year Entered ns second class mall matter at Boston P. O. Graduation Number, 25 Cents Other Numbers, 10 Cents PURITAN LINOTYPE EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR IN CHIBP L. CURTIS FOYE, ’20 ASSOCIATE EDITOR DOROTHY BAKER, ’20 BUSINESS MANAGER HARRY S. SMITH, ’21 EXCHANGE EDITOR ISABEL CARPENTER, ’20 SPORTING EDITOR C. ALVAH MITCHELL, ’20 ALUMNI EDITORS HARRIET FORD, 20 ALENE HOLMAN, ’20 ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGERS HOMER ROWE, ’22 LINCOLN HIGGINS, ’22 STAFF ARTIST HELEN STEERE, '20 TREASURER GEORGE M. IIOSMER (Faculty) LIBRARY EDITOR LILLIAN PIERCE, ’20 ADVISER A. MARION MERRILL (Faculty) CLASS EDITORS FRED LITTLEFIELD, »20 JOHN C. DUNBAR, »21 ASSISTANTS DOROTHY BAKER, »20 DONALD H. MILLER, ’21 WALTER N. BRECKENRIDGE, »22

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5 V T-£ Ouvie.lqzo. SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 212998 A STRANGE EXPERIENCE Beatrice Sweet, ’21 It was a cold, rainy night, and father built a fire in the wide fireplace of the little cottage. Our family had hardly settled around the blazing logs when we heard a knock at the door. The visitor proved to be Mr. Towning, a jolly, middle-aged gen- tleman, widely known on the beach for his genial ways and story-telling talents. We welcomed him cordially and made way for him at the fireside. The conversation turned to the old cottages in Gloucester (the beach where we were spending the sum- mer.) “I had a strange experience in one of the oldest houses in Gloucester,” said Mr. Towning. “It is a long story, however, and I fear it would bore you—” “Oh, please,” I broke in, “do tell us! We would love to hear it.” To hear a story from this man was indeed a pleasure. “There is an old house,” he began, “near Folly Cape in Gloucester, where a Puritan family lived in the seventeenth century. It is used now for an annex to the B— Hotel, and many visitors go there simply for the historic value of the place. I spent a week in this house two summers ago. One night during my stay I found it impossible to sleep. I arose, and, thinking to while away the time, picked up a pamphlet from the table. This pamphlet told the history of the annex. It seemed that a Puritan family had lived in the house many years before. The father had been a stern Puritan, and the mother a meek, gentle little woman who dared not cross the will of her husband. There was also a daughter, Mercy Dan- forth, a high-spirited young woman who had a great passion for finery. Mercy’s father forbade gewgaws of any kind, which made Mercy very unhappy. Mercy had a lover, also forbidden by her father, whom she met clandestinely outside her house. This lover brought her a pair of fine kid gloves. The very night she was given them, her father discovered the poor girl with the gloves in her hand. In a fit of rage, he threw the offending articles into the fire. Then there followed angry words between the testy old gentleman and his daughter, after which Mercy ran from the house and threw herself into the water off Folly Cape and was drowned. It was half-past two when I finished the little story. Suddenly I heard a short, dis- tinct, scraping sound. It stopped. I wait- ed tentatively. Again I heard it. Fold- ing my dressing-gown around me, I opened my door and stepped into the hall. At the end of the corridor I descried a woman. She started to descend the stairs. Startled and suspicious I walked quickly after her. At the head of the stairs I peered over the banister. The figure had reached the foot of the staircase. The moon sent light enough through the front door glass so that I could see that the figure, girlish and slender, was clad in an old-fashioned Quaker gown, over which a long, dark cape was thrown. The girl was standing before a long mirror, and was trying on an elab- orate picture-hat. A cold chill trembled down my spine. The girl’s costume was of another age, but the hat—that flower-laden creation—was a modern hat. I wondered, I puzzled, I pinched my arm to see if I was asleep—but no, this scene was real! I leaned weakly against the balustrade, and at once froze into an upright position again. A ray of dawn shot through the glass, and the girl at the foot of the stairs started and sighed audibly. Then, without seeming to have moved, she was on the staircase trav- eling upward airily, deliberately, mystically. I looked about frantically—I must find a hiding-place, I thought. I saw an open door in the wall and darted in. Gad! I shall never forget those next few moments! My eyes were glazed. My hands were like cakes of ice. The fig- ure had stopped in front of the closet. For an instant I saw the face. It was a ghastly,