Spaulding High School - Red and White Yearbook (Rochester, NH)

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10 THE RED AND WHITE instruments. This time he suc- ceeded. . He tried to look confident as he opened the throttle and turned on the ignition. i0h, oh, he's forgotten his glasses and can't tell which is neutral on the gear shift.J He shoved it all the way forward then jabbed the starter button. Both engines caught and being wide open raced wildly. Frantically our hero fiddled with the controls until he got the gear lever in forward position. This was going from bad to worse. Both mooring lines parted with a twang! snap! and Crummy 3rd departed full speed across the bay straight for Dead Man's Reef. A There was a grinding, rasping sound as the cruiser grated over the first few rocks then a rending crash and a terrific clatter as the boat struck head on. The force drove her clear atop the reef and there she sank in three feet of water. The expen- sive accommodations were drenched in a bath of sea water and the shining mahogany transom split. The two fine marine engines were forced through the teak deck and water filled the cockpit. For several weeks the boat lay there in its rocky grave until the Coast Guard pulled it off and sank it. For weeks it had stood there, mute testimony to someone's tragic care- lessness. Old J. W. B. has a new boat now, but he'll always remember the beau- tiful little cruiser that went to its watery grave off Gull Roast Rock. Every time he goes by in his new boat, he'll make a new resolution to be very careful. i...-... ..i. A Word JEANNE ANN BARCOMB I am a word. I mean a great deal. The people of all nations have been trying to attain me since the begin- ning of the World. They have al- ways failed. I am the goal for which the United Nations is striving. Will the United Nations ever find me? I wonder . . . Sometimes people have found me, but few have ever succeeded in keep- ing me. You see, I am an elusive word. However, I am not an illu- sion, as some people believe. I am real, yes, very real, and very worth- while to obtain. Although very few people will ad- mit it, I have enemies. Everyone claims to want me, yet only a few try to achieve me. I am found in brotherhood. The Russians and the Russian Satellites use my strongest enemy to prevent people from finding me. They have been using this ene- my in Korea in such a way that now I seem even more unattainable than before to the people who earnestly want me. You ask what the weapon is that they are using against me? It is a weapon most people hate! It is violence! From this violence a war has sprung. This war is not just a war among peopleg it is a war against me and all that I stand for. Fear and greed are often used to fight me. They are strong weapons and usually succeed in pushing me farther and farther away from the people. It is not hard to fight me, for I am not strongly implanted in the hearts of men. Too many people doubt that I will eventually reign over the world. Too many forget how important I am to the survival of the world. Why do I seem too difficult to ac- quire? The answer to that lies in the answer to another question. Why can't people retain me once they have found me? I do not try to escape. I am willing and eager to be caught and shared among the people of the world. Alas! I fear that this thing will never come to pass. My ene- mies are always present. The doubts in the minds of men push me from them. To attain me one must have faith and hope.

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THE RED AND WHITE 9 as if to say, Humph, what silly birds! They never seem to agree. Unfortunately, peace and harmony of this sort is seldom allowed to take its course. This time it was the in- sistent jangle of an irritable fold alarm clock that shattered the quiet- ude. The rabbit left for parts un- known as the aforementioned clock sailed out into the garden and came to rest right side up after an as- sisted flight of some seventy feet. Bed springs creaked as the propul- sion agent of the alarm clock turned out of his springy bower, fully pre- pared, bloodshot eyes and splitting headache included, to meet the chal- lenge of wind and wave. A low moan escaped the flabby lips of our hero as he fondled his aching head. A loud clump, clump clump sounded as he stumped off to the shower room. Here new groans and vulgar complaints about the cold wa- ter, the management, the evils of drink, and women in general, did their bit to irritate late risers in other parts of the club. Finally, after many unsuccessful attempts our hero managed to get into nautical garb and stumble off down the imposing dock. Crummy 3rd, a small 'express cruiser, lay alongside bumping against the piling. As usual, our he- ro, who for sake of the story is J. Wellington Birdbrain, had neglected to place fenders between his expen- sive craft and the dock. Friction had done its dirty work. Some of the spotless finish had been rubbed badly but not so much so that Cap'n J. W. B. couldn't repair it. No siree, no trouble at all, he muttered as he walked confidently to the paint locker. I'll touch 'er up in no time. No time like the pres- ent, he thought happily, for getting things done. He returned from the paint locker with a can of paint and some brushes. A water pail standing in his path seemed to be in imminent danger of being stepped in, but he carefully sidestepped this obstruction. After opening his paint he balanced it on the narrow coaming around the fore- deck as he sat astraddle the narrow- est forward part of the foredeck, painting merrily. A larger Diesel yacht camel in past Crummy 3rd's dock piling up huge waves in its pro- peller wash. i' The first two or three waves he hardly noticed, but the fourth lifted the stern fully three feet. J. W. B. went heels over head, paintbrush, and paint with him into the troubled water. He came up blowing and spewing. By and by, he managed to climb over the stern of his boat. When he had changed into dry clothes he suddenly remembered the extra paint he'd set on the cabin top. Oh, what a relief! he sighed, I remember that I covered it. At that moment a drop of some- thing Wet hit him on the nose. Rain? Nope, paint. - J. W. B. had reached the same con- clusion and with a muffled sound that seemed to 'be half way between an oath and a prayer, he rushed forward to investigate. Oh no, was his weak remark. Well, I was going to paint it any- ways, he added in a small voice. Two hours and several hundred oaths later the cabin top was finished in a sickly pea-green. This color was so horrible that every time he looked at it he became sick to his stomach. Now, he was ready to start the en- gines and cast off. Carefully, he edged along the alleyway between deckhouse and coaming and dropped gracefully onto a banana peel. The resulting skid was instantaneous and truly amazing. It took him clear across the cockpit where he grounded against some fishing gear carelessly strewn around. When he had picked the fishhooks out of his person he made another attempt to get to the

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THE RED AND WHITE 11 War, destruction, fear and greed have often wounded me. These ene- mies have detached me from the hearts of men along with faith and hope. Because of this fact, I fear that the world will lose me forever. Will I live only as a word in a dic- tionary, never even used or thought about? I would not be living then, for if my meaning dies, my soul dies also. You see a word without mean- ing is like a door Which opens into no- where. It is worthless. Few people agree exactly on my meaning. I mean more than just words. I reach into the hearts and feelings of men and leave a part of me there. No one can really say what I leave, for I become a part of every person I touch. According to a dictionary, I am Hharmonyg law and order, freedom from war. How many other things am I! I cannot express them all. I am necessary for the continuation of life. Without me, all nations will eventually diep I shall continue to hope that some day the people of the world will not find me so hard to grasp, and that I will take my proper place in every man's heart. Such is the ambition of my friends, Faith and Hope, as well as my own. The world will be wonderful when our ambition is ful- filled, and the three of us have a sta- tion together in the hearts of men. Yes, together, because they are a part of me. They are necessary if Peace is to reign. And I am Peace. A Funny Experience MARCIA CAMPBELL, '54 Relatives of mine often recall a family reunion of a few years ago. It was a -beautiful day, and after the usual gathering, all decided to motor toward the White Mountains. At a rambling farmhouse, on a porch over- looking beautiful Lake Winnipesau- kee, the group ordered dinner. My sister who was five years old promised to eat everything brought to her. She thought she would iin- ish her glass of water before her meal. The waitress filled the glass up again, and she drank it obediently. This was repeated until the seventh time. Then in a low whisper Cwhich everyone could hearj, she ex- claimed, Mama, tell her not to fill it up again. I can't drink any more! The Sissy PRISCILLA DAGGETT, '53 Ten-year old Billy sat alone on the large, moss-covered rock, gazing into space. He seemed to lack some of the spirit which usually accompanies a fifth-grade boy at recess. Less than one hundred feet from him his con- temporaries were playing hopscotch. Playfully they shouted accusations at one another and joined into the com- petitive spirit of the game. Sudden- ly, one boy turned to Billy and called, Hey, Bill, come on and play I Naw, answered Billy with a touch of scorn in his voice, that's sissy stuff. The other boy, making a derogatory remark and a grotesque face, turned back to the game. Aw, Billy muttered to himself, I hate ev'rything. He pondered the events of the previous morning. It wasn't his fault that he had been caught cheating on an arithmetic test. It was that guy nex-t to him, Donny Chadwick. Yet, he re- flected, that idea didn't seem right. Donny told on me and it's right to tell on kids that cheat, Billy mumbled aloud. But I never cheated before--the other kids do it all the time, but I only did it once. Appar- ently this idea failed to reassure the small boy, because his frown deep- ened. The end of recess bell sounded its raucous, summons. Billy rose slowly and trudged wearily toward the