Stephens High School - Tribute Yearbook (Rumford, ME)

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THE CHRONICLE 29 to collapse themselves plunged on mto the11 tedious tasks Pretty soon a young woman came m holdmg a httle baby followed by two boys and a glrl rangmg 1n age from two to SIX John looked then dld the hardest Job 1n hls llfe he told the mother that there w as no hope for the baby and fo1 hex three year old son They would have to be put mto a separate room to d1e w hlle the mother and her two other chlldren would walt outslde for the ambulance John prayed lt would come soon When he told the mother about her thlee year old boy he looked over at hls own son John JI and thanked God he had been spared It was then seven oclock ln the evening and people w ele stlll comlng m for help and stlll no remforcements for the w orkels Then the mlracle that all had p1 ayed for haopenefi sirens could be heard ln the dlstance not a red alert but the slrens from a fleet of rescue trucks and ambulances Af ter belng replaced John Mary and little Johnny trudged thelr way home through and around fallen debrls Reachlng w hat used to be then ranch type home and garage w1th a late model car ln It the Smlths saw a great change There were no wlndows anywhele the car was crushed by a tree that had cut lts way through the road at the garage The house resembled The House That Jack Bullt m that It was half off 1ts foundatlon and most of the walls were bowed The roof was half on and half off the 1'LllIl9d house All of thus had occurred on an aver age day ln the llfe of John C Smlth and hlS famlly that was destlned to change thelr l1ves forever Randy Quint CON FESSIOW A1thu1 Keenan IS a man of average helght and w as probably good lookmg when he was xoungel Keenan IS a llttle on the pudgy sxde and when he IS wo111ed 01 tloubled h1S face puffs up sllghtlx and turns qulte red Now he IS well along ln XSHIS and you could see this as hlS hall was glav what there was of lt Durlng the past few vears hls ex eslght had begun to fall hlm and now he has to w ear thlck glasses Kee nan dxesses well even though at tlmes w hlch ale qulte often he IS unemployed Tomght Keenan had gone to a party and lt was neally mldnlght when he swung hls gray sedan mto the deserted stleet headmg fo1 home The beam from the smgle headllght cut through the dalkness showing hlm the road ahead He stramed hls eves and cursed Blasted busted headllght' Id like to get mv hands on the guy who backed mto my cal at the party He d pay the thlee dollars lt s golng to cost me to get It fixed ln the mornmg I cant see a thmg th1s way Suddenlv the lone headllght beam fell upon somethmg lylng on the pave ment ahead of Keenans slow movmg car He gasped It was a womans body and she had been hurt Keenan slammed on the blakes and hls car came to a QUICK stop The body lay motlonless ID a pool of blood Leaplng qulcklv f1om the car Keenan rushed to the woman s Slde He saw that she was st1ll allxe and that she had been hlt by a car Keenan thought he had bettel call a doctor As he looked around he saw he w as ln a factory sec t1on There w ere no hghts no phones P' kicgv e or ,,HLc. hcWr,e so r J g xg gg J- ' 1 v L A y . . . . 7 Q 7 1 . ' 7 ' v ' , ' s , . . v v K ' 7 ' . y - 7 . - . K., - I. I K 1 'L v Y 1 . , ' ' v 1'v 7 Q ' v ' . r , . . 7 1 . . , . . . . w'1th the boys. He stayed quite late 1 LT ' I . Y 1 ' Q 'n . ' ms I- K , ' I 7 I Q u 7 ' ' V - 1 . ' .K i A . , l ' 7' - , 1 n I - ' ' . . v ' - , va 1 ' Y ' . y V m ll - , , ! , , 1 . L 1 y . v . ,

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THE CHRONIC LE DISASTER At 11 45 a m Thursday Febxualy 11 1956 John C Smlth dlove hls 55 Chexlolet lnto h1s garage John xxas commg home fox d1nne1 as usual flom hls ofhce Job at the Acme Sal s Corp ThlS man IS tall and thm xxears glasses and looks llke an average xx h1te collar xxo1 ker He went lnto h1S lanch type home to eat dmner x lth hxs vxlfe Ma ry Xx ho also xx as 22 and then th1 ee yea1 old son John Junlor Llttle Johnny certamly resembled hlS father and xxould plobably follow ln h1s fathers footsteps Mary was short and plump lathe-1 dalk complexu n 'md alxx ays t1y mg to brmg up httle Johnny by the Book Aftel greetmg h1s famlly John sat down to h1s lunch of spaghettl and meat balls a meal typlcal of those posslble from his average mcome When grace vxas Sald they began to eat John Jr of course mlsslng every once 1n a whlle All of a sudden the a1r ra1d slren sound ed a red alert John Jumped up from the table gathered httle Johnny 1n h1s arms and w1th Mary ran down the street to the local C D shelter 1n the basement of the local hlgh school bulld nn At the shelter the Smlths were hud dled together along the OUtSld6 walls wlth hundreds of neighbors and mot orlsts from the nearby super hlghway the red alert vxas stlll plercxng the ears of John C Smlth Then a hght brlght er than any the Smlth s had ever seen ht up the entlre basement Thls vxas qulckly follovxed by a terrxble shakmg action and the falhng of trees the breakmg of glass and the collapslng of walls on the floors above The siren blew agaxn thls time the white all clear The John C Smlths vxere lucky the walls agalnst whlch they were huddled stayed up txxo other walls fell outward but the floor xx as taklng 1tS toll Radlo contact xx as made vxlth other centers the entue clty was a hole tn the earth txxo and one half mlles ln dxameter Hundreds of people ln the area xxere kllled many hundred more 1nJured and they began to converge upon the base ment of the school for first a1d What could be done for these people? There xxas one doctor present three nurses and no ste11l1zed equlpment The atomlc bomb of course had contamm ated exelythmg except fo1 a fexx sup plies ln a thlck lead box p1ov1ded fox Just such a catastlophe As the people came 1n wlth hldeous expresslons on thelr bold smeared faces some were Just sent Into a room to dle SIHCE they were so radloactlve and there vxas no help for them John havmg had some tra1n1ng was lmmedlately pressed 1nto SCFVICG Hls Job was to screen the 1n commg patlents and send each one to a certaln nurse or the more serlous to the doctor He had been vxorklng only five mmutes vxhen a group of Hve boys came ln For some reason or other three were leadmg two who were bleed mg profusely about the head After askmg one of the boys who seemed to be the leader of the group what had hap pened John found out that the three 1nJured boys had been standlng before a plate glass xx lI'ldOW xx hen the exploslon occurred Meanxxhlle one of the C D 0mClalS xx as talkmg vxlth other centers He found out that no water could be used untll lt had been bolled for seven mln utes Much to the dlsmay of the work ers mcludmg John C Smlth there xxould be no rehef for a long long txme After thls dlsheartemng message John and hls co xx orkers almost ready 24 ' V . . Y f a I' 1 1 Y . . ., , ' . ' as vv ' 1 ..- - . I . q . . 4 ly s 1 D . . D Y . V - C . y Y . 7 , - y 1 . ' 1 . . V. . Y. - , . 'v v , ' 1 Q 1 ' 1 Y ' . . T. . . . , , . . 7 , . - Y 9 , 1 ' ' 1 , . ' . Y - 7 . . . Q . 1 ' v 1 1 1 'fs 1 y Q ' 1 . A - L - Q u vs ' 1 . . . , n u . . y 9 . , I ' . ' Y 7 Y ' ' . - 1 ' r . . . ' y 1 1 . ' . v , ' 1 . . 'i ' V . ! 7 . . . . . . . y ' - v ' ' ' ' y . . ' 1 r 1 . . . . . V . 7 . . , , . ' Y ' Y . ' 1 n ' ' , . . y - - Y . . 1

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THE CHRONICLE avallable at thxs hour Keenan xxent back to hls car and raced It doxm the st1 eet to get to a phone As Keenan pulled axx ay a pollce pa tlol car turned the corner behmd hlm Look' one cop exclalmed Theles someone lymg m the guttex And that car IS hlghtallmg lt out of there shouted the other Let s go' The patrol car sped forxx ard and then skldded to a stop beslde the lnjured xxo man One cop xvent to help the woman xxhlle the other raced aftel Keenans cal lhe cop who went to help the xxo man saxx that he wouldnt be able to help her Nobody xx ould She xx as dead Meanwhlle Kcenan sped thlought the deserted factory sectlon lookmg fo1 a phone O1 a place where he could call Anythmg that mlght get h1m a1d for the hmd hlm the squad car drexx up along sxde forc1ng Keenan s car to the curb The cop got out and xx ent to Keenan s car Ollicer' There s a woman back there and she s hurt Keenan exclalmed thmkmg the cop would help Okay buddy' sald the cop Come out of there xv1th your hands up hxgh And no funny busmess I m takmg you m for a h1t and run The precmct statlon buzzed xx 1th ex cxtement Keenan stood ln front of the desk sergeant Hls ha1r xxas mussed and hls clothlng rumpled He xx as flanked bv the tvxo 1ad1o car OITICGIS xx ho d arrested h1m What s your name? Keenan Arthur Keenan But vou ve got me all xvrong Shut up you murdermg lat' snapped one of the officers Off on anothel slde of the loom one of the 0fflC9lS spoke to the sxxltchboaxd operatol and Sald Try and locate Lleutenant Stalex Tell h1m xxe Just plcked up a hlt and run dr1ve1 The xx oman he h1t IS dead You made a blg mlstake ln trymg to lun axx ay sald the sergeant to Keenan I dldn t do lt I xx as gomg for help Keenan sald D1d ya heal that Beckel The gux says he dldnt do lt Tell hlm xxe got xx ays to make guys like h1m confess Meanxxhlle the lleutenant had been leached Beckel told h1m that thev had Just hauled m a h1t and lun dr1xe1 and the v1ct1m had been kllled Stalev asked lf a confession had been gotten f1 om hlm N Sald Becker The guy demes lt We re gomg to xx o1k h1m over noxv Thought you mlght l1ke to s1t m Ill be down as soon as my xx 1fe gets a shoxx and ought to be back soon Doxxn at the statlon Keenan was tak en 1nto a dark loom except fo1 one brll hant hght that hung above them Keen an shook hls head as they filed ques tlons at hlm They found glass all alound the body Keenan Your car has got a busted headhght You st11l deny 1t'7 Somebody backed mto me tonlght Please let me slt down I m tlred Youll stand' When you declde to admlt lt you can Slt down I dldn t do lt' I dldn t' Hovx much dld you have to dunk You stlll smell from lt I had txvo I xx as at a partx tomght You can ask them You xvere drunk xx eren t vou Keen an You couldn t stop m tlme Aftex xou h1t her you got scared and ran No' No' She xxas there xxhen I dxove up I xx as gomg fox help Shut up' Youle lvmg' Dont tlx ' ' - . ' aa ' v . . at H ' U , D . , 11 - , ' ' ,,!V ll ' 7 ' v ' yy V! ll 7 i! CK ' ,, , . . Q , . .7 Y . , . . V . . . . v - Y . . ,, ' 7 , ' Q I s 1 ' , y , . . . . 7 Y . . ' H 7? ' ll . ' . o, , , . . . . . ,, . ,, mjured woman he had left behmd. Be- ln, Becker, said Staley. She went to - - y , H , . Q. . , Y . - ! ' 9 1 , l ' . - - 1 ll Y ' 1 - D !7 ' ' ' ! i ' ' ' it , 46 !! ' H , . . . . . . . . . ,, . , . ,, . . - - yy ' 7 1 ' YY ' ' . , . . . y. I- ,, , . - - 7 u ' x ' I ' 1 .yr . . .. y . ,. , , . , . . 1 Y ' H r 7 ' u v n H na N v ' , . - 1 . 1 1 71 I ' ' - N . Q ,, V - n v ' . ' . U r 7 ' . Q , , ' , av Q ,' , U ' . ' Y x y