Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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s SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR The “Landlubbers” Richard Joseph Walsh, 1923 OM I'-VANS and his chum. Rob Stanton, had arrived to spend their second summer at the home which Mr. I 'vans maintained at the little scacoast town of Bon- haven. During the preceding summer they had learned to sail the twenty- foot cat-boat which Tom’s father had presented him. Having had the experience of the previous season, they were fairly competent sailors. Their great and unfulfilled ambition was to have the boys of the town acknowledge them as equals in seamanship. This the town boys steadfastly refused to do, saying that “those city chaps are still a pair of ‘landlubbers.’ ” To understand the point of view of these “na- tives,” as they were dubbed by the “landlubbers.” it is necessary for us to know just what sort of a place Boniiaven was. This town, built on Cape Cod. had fostered a people who spent the greater part of their lives on the sea. Genera- tion after generation of them had gone forth to help carry Uncle Sam’s flag throughout the world. To sum up. they were typical Cape Cod- ders. These boys had sailed boats almost from their infancy, becoming expert boatmen. Nat- urally. therefore, these coast-bred boys would not easily acknowledge two city boys as their equals in this respect, even though the “land- lubbers” excelled in other sports, On the day our story opens, the town group were participating in a picnic of their exclusive yacht club, to which the city lads had not been admitted. The outing, which on this day was to be held in the woods several miles inland, contrary to their usual custom of holding their outings on the water, included almost all of the other boys of the town. As a severe storm threatened, it was deemed advisable not to use the boats. The approaching storm did not. however, restrain the men of the town from going out to the fish- ing grounds, as they could make port before it became serious. For that reason, therefore, when the boys from the city walked through the town they found it practically destitute of men or boys, ex- cept the smaller brothers of the exclusive set into which they sought admission. As they were sauntering past the house of Jim Kent, the leader of the yacht club, they were surprised to see Mrs. Kent appear in the doorway and excitedly beckon to them. She looked worried and unnerved, and it seemed to their startled eyes as if she was about to faint. They hastened to obey her summons. “Boys.” she cried as they approached, “please hurry and get Dr. Brown. Mr. Kent has been badly hurt by the boom on his boat, and must have a doctor at once.” The boys assented, and hurried towards the home of the town’s only doctor. When Mrs. Kent once more beheld them hast- ening back alone, disappointment was written on their faces, and a look of despair settled on her own. “The doctor has gone to visit a patient in Jonesville,” said Bob slowly, “and he is not ex- pected to return before tonight.” “But Harry must have attention long before then.” the troubled woman exclaimed. “The nearest doctor is in Bayside across the bay, and there is no one to go.” She burst into tears. “Oh. if Jim were only here.” The two boys turned to each other with the same thought uppermost in the minds of both; why shouldn’t they take the place of the miss- ing Jim? Bob voiced it: “Why not?” “Just the thing,” answered Tom. “we’ll sail over in the Victor and bring the doctor back with us. It would take far too long to go all the way ’round in the automobile.” The worried woman looked scarcely less' wor- ried. even, at this offer of assistance. “I’m afraid that you boys couldn’t do it. I’ve heard Jim say that you aren’t very good sailors. Even if you were, it looks as if we are to have that long expected storm.” We’ll demonstrate our seamanship by doing this,” said Tom. Then, turning to his chum. “Come on. Bob, we’ll fetch the doctor in spite of the weather.” The boys at once set out for the boat and pre- pared for the arduous trip that awaited them. After sending one of the small boys to explain their absence to Tom’s folks, they hoisted sail and were at last started on their errand of mercy. The trip across to Bayside was accomplished under very threatening conditions, but at last was completed to the intense relief of the boys.

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 1 'S.'I V 'A k '0 i?'T V 6 Oo- - ( -Z.o -Tu v»c. 2- 1 212999 SOM ER VILLE IHGH SCHOOL RADIATOR The Class of 1922 lias already shown the school what kind of stuff it is made of. The records of their achievements of last year arc sufficient to cause even the most skeptical to lose all doubt as to the calibre of 1922. Keep up the good work. Juniors, the school needs your help! It is hoped that the new pupils will co-operate with the upper classes and the Faculty in mak- ing this year one of the best that the school has ever seen. The new pupils can help most by be- ing good sports in cheerfully obeying the rules laid down by the school authorities. These di- rections were determined by experiment with classes just like yours and ours, and while they may seem a bit drastic or unnecessary at first, even the most mischievous and unruly of you will presently accept them as part of the game, 7 and obey them as the good sports you arc. As you gradually become better acquainted with the S. II. S. and its manners and customs, class spirit and pride will develop, and. by the end of the first half, you will have a class of which both you and the school may well be proud. : v We hope that those new to the school, as well as the members of the upper classes, will back up every activity'of the school to the sticking point. Get into it! You will be in high school but once! Why not do something that will make you remember your high school days? You do not lack opportunity. The Glee Clubs, the Debating Societies, the orchestra, the ath- letic teams, all need your help and will be glacl to have every one of you with them. Opportun- ity to do something is knocking at your door. I low about it? LIBRARY 1 )EPARTMENT n Not al! high schools are so fortunate as to boast a library, though every community, large enough tc claim a name, has its public library. Our high school is a community of students and teachers who arc specializing along various lines of education. The High School Library fills all the wants for books and periodicals, no matter what course one may be taking. The library is well equipped with books, dic- tionaries, encyclopaedias — also books of com- munity civics and of commerce and industry. The languages are well represented and illus- trated books of Shakespeare’s works may be ob- tained. Collateral reading of good literature is advised by all teachers of English at the Somer- ville High School, so the library has on its shelves a choice collection of books of travel, adventure, college life, and stories of the late Great World War. Novels such as “Hugh Wynne” by S. Weir Mitchell, “Lorna Doone” bv Blackmore, and “Last Days of Pompeii” by Bulwcr Lytton, books which have stood the test of vears. are among this varied set. A section of the High School Library is de- voted to periodicals which have proved, in pre- vious years, very helpful to students in prepara- tion for oral themes and debates. The weekly magazines, as the Outlook, Independent. Liter- ary Digest. Scientific American, contain very valuable information; the monthly magazines, as the American Builder. American Forestry, American Cookery, American Industries, Book- man, Industrial Arts, National Geographic, Popular Mechanics. Review of. Reviews. Stenog- rapher. System, Travel and World’s Work, of- fer a varied field of study and collateral reading. From 8.15 in the morning to 2.30 in the after- noon lhe library is open and students are wel- come anytime during these hours. The High School Library is for the convenience of both students and faculty, and Miss Miller, librarian in charge, willingly devotes her time and atten- tion to those who seek a share of the fund of knowledge at hand. Students furthermore are privileged to obtain books from the public li- brary through the school library whether or not they have a library card. A cordial invitation is extended to visit the library and inspect it for yourselves. The li- brary is yours. Make good use of it. FE3 23 1223

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 9 They easily found the young doctor, who was fresh from the city, and persuaded him to take the trip back. The old sea captains, of whom this town had its full share, were unanimous in shaking their gray head's and predicting ili luck for the little expedition composed of “city folks.” As one of them said, an experienced sailor might be able to do it, but as for those boys,—“n’ary a chance.” The boys were not to be deterred, however, for the woe-stricken face of the injured man’s wife was still fresh in their memories. These young knights-errant were constituted in such a manner that the thing making the most appeal to their generous hearts was the sight of a per- son in distress. The young doctor could still remember the ideals of his youth, as it was not very long since he, too, had been as these boys and filled with all the chivalry and enthusiasm that the average boy possesses. It was not dif- ficult. therefore, to persuade him to enter on this hazardous trip. The people of the little town were loath to have them depart, and many were the remon- strances offered by the kind-hearted folks against their going. Continued on page 19 » v The Divining Bullet Stanley F. Teele, 1923 ET’S go up in the garret,” said my brother Fred one rainy day. So up in the garret we went to rum- mage around in search of hidden treasures. We often went on these expeditions and many were our delightful finds. This day no wonders came to light until Fred, who was wear- ing out his clothes and patience crawling around in the black shadows of the eaves, stumbled upon a small chest. Lager to examine our prize, we carried it into the light. It proved to be a little chest of drawers resembling a doll’s bureau but heavy with nails and scraps of metal. With bated breath we opened drawer after drawer. Emptiness or nails — alike to us in value—were what we saw until the last drawer was hopefully opened. Our hopes were realized for — “by jiminey,” whispered Fred, “they're old-fashioned bullets.” And so they were — lit- tle round pellets of lead wrapped in their paper wadding and bound with linen thread. The pa- per was yellow with age, but the thread was still strong. “Come oil. let’s ask grandpa about them.” said I. “There may be a story.” Grandpa’s stories were always welcome, so we dashed down stairs with the drawer and bullets. Grandpa was read- ing the paper when we burst in on him. but he laid it down with a smile and said: “Well, boys?” We showed him our find and I said that we thought there might be a story. After a mo- ment’s pause he said: “You’re right, boys, there is a story about those bullets, though I haven’t thought of it for years.” “Tell us, grandpa, please,” we cried together. “Well now. boys,” lie said, settling in his chair and preparing to light his pipe—sure signs of a coming story — “It’s this way. You know that all this region, now called Clarendon Hill, was once called Walnut Hill. There was more rea- son then for calling it Walnut Hill than there is for calling it Clarendon, for in my grandfather’s time it was covered with walnut trees. During the Revolution the Hessians in the prison camps on Winter Hill cut down most of the trees for firewood, but I can remember a few that were left standing.” “But the bullets, grandpa, what about them?” I broke in impatiently. “Just a minute, boys, in just a minute. If you want the story I’ll tell it in my own way,” said grandpa, pulling at his pipe. “My father, your great-grandfather, lived in the old house with his father until I was about fourteen. Then he decided to build a house for himself. But mother insisted that there be water very near the house, as she was not going to carry water. So father said he would find a spring on the hillside where he was going to build. This part of Somerville then had plenty of water, but the hill seemed unlike the rest of the land. There weren’t any springs and father couldn’t dig a well deep enough, so he didn’t build that sum- mer. In the fall he spent much of his time tramping over the hills hunting foxes. Walnut Hill and the swamp between it and Winter Hill Continued on page 15