Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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8 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR might have to be somewhat altered in the final plans. I feel confident, however, that in a fert' weeks -all the details will be settled, the contracts given snd work begun. The building now under con- struction in the rear of the west building is a boiler house from which all of the city build- ings on Central Hill will be heated. The joyous thought in it all is that some- thing adequate for all is coming, ample room, properly equipped departments, much needed rooms for our various activities, a gymnasium, —all are in sight. Let us be patient a little longer, enduring with fortitude the conditions under which we work, rejoicing in the thoughi that soon the school will have a building cor- responding in excellence to the splendid spirit and purpose of the teachers and pupils who labor in it. In the next issue of the Radiator I hope to be able to give a detailed description of our new school home. J. A. A. IT will be good news to all that Mr. Clark is able to be in his office again. His enforced absence since his fall last January, and the set-backs he has suffered, have merited our sympathy; but the brave spirit with which he has endured his illness and surmounted all ob- stacles wins our greatest admiration. We are .glad you are “on your feet” again, Mr. Clark! Thanks to the effort of Mr. Sprague and the hearty co-operation of the entire school the Radiator is com- mencing a new year free of debt. Let us keep it so by paying for that subscription which should have been paid for long ago. Dig deep, you laggards! What our cheer leaders lack in stature they make up in voice and vim. See them in action and at the same time see Somerville gain another victory. Welcome, Post Graduates! Twenty-three P. G.’s have enrolled this year and arc holding forth in the East Library. We suggest that while one is reading Albert Fisher’s article on his western trip, one have a geography at his elbow. As to recent elections, did you notice how some of the candidates came to school each day all dressed up, for fear they might have to appear on the plat- form ? SCHOOL again: SEPTEMBER is a glorious month for all school boys and girls. In this month comes the happy day when we go to town to get dolled up for the opening day of school. Everybody likes to get ready for school and be dressed up. Being dressed up is very fasci- nating, particularly if the opening day is hot. The night before the opening we have the pleasure of thinking about the nice time we shall have for ten months studying. It will soon be too cold to go out and we shall stay in a warm and comfortable room reading a good book like “Self-Cultivation in English.” Oh, what happy thoughts! We will no longer be forced to wonder what we shall do in the after- noon, for we always have plenty of home work. Then we can spend the evening reading Web- ster’s “Bunker Hill Oration,” or some other equally exciting essay or speech. While these thoughts come to our mind we realize that we will soon be back in the old school building. As we approach the school our hearts leap with joy. We think of all the amusements which are furnished near the building. We do not have to go far to get an impression of what a boiler factory sounds like. Within a short radius we can see and hear how a street is dug up, how sewers are laid and how a steam shovel works. Later we will have demonstrations of good music by the green fife and drum corps. For the first month we can have the fun of guessing how near right the clocks are in each room. We will enjoy the long walks from the basement of the West building to the top floor of the East building. We will have our physi- cal exercises to make us healthy. We all enjoy those. We dream on and on, each thought seeming to thrill us more than its predecessor. After a long, anxious night the opening day comes. We start out. Most of us have on shoes that hurt our feet and a necktie that makes us feel as if we were being hung. But we are will- ing to make these sacrifices because—look at all the fun we’re going to have. We get to school early and rush into the room. Here we see all of our friends. We are tickled to death to see our teachers preparing our home-lessons for the following weeks. We first greet our be- loved teacher who flunked us last year. When the teacher tells us that we will be dismissed early we explain how sorry we are, as it is very comfortable sitting still looking at each other. We go home and immediately our mothers ask us the old question, “Where are your books?” Regretfully we reply that we have no classes on the first day. At night our last happy thought is: “What would life be with- out school?” Newton Johnston, ’29.

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7 263514 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR WHAT OUR SCHOOL OFFERS SOPHOMORES, Juniors, Seniors!! Here we are at the beginning of another school year and before we decide just what we are going to do, let’s take stock of things, find out the reason we are here, what advantages our school offers, and see what we must do if we are to derive the maximum benefit by com- ing here each day. To some a high school fur- nishes the final source of systematic education while to others it is but another rung in that long, seemingly unending ladder of continued study in the pursuit of learning. Because many people realize the importance and the benefit of the instruction that one receives in the higher institutions, they wish others to have some of the advantages that they themselves did or did not obtain. For this reason funds have been donated to our school by various individuals and organizations to be presented to those pu- pils who are worthy to receive aid. Each year a scholarship which was founded by the late Doctor Baxter, formerly headmaster of the old Latin School, and which consists of the first year tuition at Harvard, is presented to a senior of this school, while the Harvard Club of Somerville also donates a scholarship of $100 to a deserving boy who is continuing his studies at that university. This organization also presents a book to a junior who has proved himself meritorious in both scholarship and character. The Somerville Woman’s and the Forthian Clubs have both recently established loan funds, while the Heptorean Club for several years has awarded a scholarship, and the Daughters of Maine will give substantial aid to a girl who wishes to continue her education along any line. But we do not have to wait until graduation nor do we have to go to college to receive hon- ors, for in this school are the National Honor Society and the credit lists, and the recognition given to those graduating with honor. To be on the credit lists one must have at least four points of “A” and the rest must be “B,” or eighteen points of “A” and one “C,” while the maximum credit requires eighteen points of “A” and the rest “B.” To graduate with honor a pupil must be on the credit lists at least six times, one of which must be in the senior year. For the athletes there are letters, sweaters, and medals to be won, and for the athlete and scholar there is the Chester Otis Garland Cup. Boys are not the only athletes rewarded, how- ever, for to many of the girls in the school who excel in different sports letters are awarded. Nor must the pupils who are not especially good as students and athletes feel that there is no honor in store for them. Those that are good actors have excellent opportunities to de- velop their talent in the Dramatic Club. The Literary, Spanish. Debating, Chess Clubs, and a number of other clubs have been established: while for the musicians, the Band, Glee Clubs, Mandolin Club, and orchestras were founded. Pupils of good business or literary ability are welcomed to the Radiator Staff each year. Those possessing the latter quality may have their work, providing it is worthy of publica- tion, appear in the school paper. All these advantages have been established for every High School pupil, his to be secured by hard work and hearty co-operation. We urge all, Sophomores especially—begin now! Be de- termined to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities! Use them as an incentive; a goal towards which you strive with the grim determination to succeed; but above all, remem- ber it is the foundation that counts, so start right with a worthy purpose always in mind and you cannot hefp forging ahead. G. R. W. IT'S COMING! HOORAY! IT was my hope to be able to give to the school in this number of the Radiator a detailed description of the new building. It has taken longer, however, than was thought to perfect the plans, and although they are prac- tically finished, it would be ill advised to give out as determined any arrangements which DEC1478

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SOMERVILLli HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 9 WESTWARD HO! By Albert L. Fisher, '28 THREE cars with eleven people including myself left Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for Calgary on the way to Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. About twenty miles out of Calgary we had our first glimpse of mountains after traveling days and days on endless plains. We thought they were clouds, but coming closer we saw they were snow-clad peaks, towering thousands of feet into the clouds. After many miles through the alleys, always going upward, we arrived at the entrance to the National Parks of Canada. The previous day at Banff the Indians had a “rodeo” and now they were returning to their reservations. From there to Banff we saw hun- dreds of them, some on horseback, others in wagons, but all dressed in their native cos- tumes. We also saw dozens of papooses on their mothers’ backs. The older men and women could not be distinguished because of their manner of dress. With so much to amuse us we were scon at Banff, which is closed in on three sides by high mountains. We camped here all night and in the morning visited the hot sulphur springs for which it is famous. The water is piped so that one may drink or swim in it. We took the former. One drink was all I could stand as it reminded me too much of the experiments I tried to do in the laboratory with H2S. Lake Louise, one of the lakes of the clouds, which closely rivals Switzerland, is famous for its glacier. The glacier looks about one-half mile long, but when we asked we were told it was ten miles long. One can’t comprehend or compute the distances with such massive moun- tains around one. Then we went to Yoho Falls in British Columbia, which, I believe, are the second highest in the world and are fifteen hun- dred feet. While there we met two boys from Brockton and Springfield, who were with the Harvard Summer School studying glacial for- mations in the Canadian Rockies. On the way back to Lake Louise we stopped at the Conti- nental Divide, where the watershed separates, going in different directions; one to the Atlantic Ocean, the other to the Pacific Ocean. Here we took a drink of each. The hottest springs in North America with a temperature of 118 was the next attraction. Here we took a swim in the tank and when we came out we could hardly stand up because of its enervating effect. We then passed through the Sinclair Canyon, where the road is blasted from solid rock, and down, down into the level plains which led to the United States. All this time we had been driv- ing through perilous passes and roads cut out of the sides of mountains, which didn’t make us feel very safe to be on the edge of nothing and look down! My uncle absolutely refused to drive, so his son had to do all the driving through the mountains. We were certainly glad to get back to United States, as the roads in Western Canada are im- possible to describe. One day at Glacier Park was enough, as we had seen the same thing in Canada. At Butte, Montana, we obtained permission to go down into the copper mines. Donning coveralls we all got into cages and dropped 2,800 feet in the earth. I thought we were fly- ing we went down so fast. They showed us how everything worked, including the miners. It was so hot there that I have the impression I never want to go to the lower regions. Yellowstone Park came next. We entered at the northern entrance and camped at Mon- mouth Hot Springs, which are made up of steaming terraces and strange formations in different tints. Here also is the museum of all the animals in the park. Outside stands a petrified tree which had changed to quartz crystals and stone. We found all kinds of hot and cold springs throughout the park. In the distance a steaming geyser basin drew our at- tention and when we got out to look we found the ground warm and openings everywhere boiling or spurting water. The mineral matter that comes up with the water kills all vegeta- tion so that it is a gray expanse in the vicinity of the geysers. The paint pots are bubbling mud holes of different colors. “Old Faithful,” which is world-famous, of course attracted us. This shoots off every sixty-five minutes to a height of 150 feet and gives off so much steam we could hardly see the water. After it stopped I went up to the mouth and looked down. Noth- ing could be seen, but I could hear the water boiling. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is be- yond description, having a multitude of rare colors blended together in the rock. There are also two waterfalls, one of which is twice as high as Niagara Falls. We were at an altitude of a mile and a half most of the time. We passed out at the east entrance and camped near Buffalo Bill's home for the night. The road to Cody, Wyoming, from Yellow- stone is claimed to be the most scenic seventy miles in the world. It has many strange forma- tions made out of soft rock. The dam in the Shoshone Valley is like a cement wedge in a canyon forming a reservoir. Here also we passed through five tunnels under the moun- tains. We spent a little time at Denver and two days at Colorado Springs. Here we saw “Pikes Peak” and “The Garden of the Gods,” in which lies a petrified Indian. Leaving there we went to Kansas City, thence to Springfield, Illinois,