Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

Page 8 text:

THE DEBATER. Historical Sketch of Our School. The high school was established in 1845, and is now one of the most highly prized and cherished educational insti- tutions of the town. Long before the establishment of the high school there was erected in 1829, on the pleasant ele- vation easterly of Crescent street, the South Reading Academy under Baptist auspices. It was for many years a flour- ishing institution of learning and ex- place among like institutions in the State, and its certificates to various col- leges and Normal schools all over the country are accepted. The increasing numbers of the incom- ing classes must soon necessitate the construction of a larger building with thoroughly modern appliances, and it is earnestly to be desired that such a build- ing may be procured as quickly as pos- THE WAKEKIHI,!) HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. erted a valual)le and elevating influence on the rising generation of the town and hastened the coming of the present high school. The Academy was discontinued about 1845, and the town in 1847 purchased the building for the use of the high school. From this humble beginning the high school has risen to a foremost sible. But the deficiencies of the build- ing itself are in a large measure com- pensated by the fine situation and sur- roundings. It is rarely tliat we find sucli a pleasant park and lake almost before the school. The decorations in Ryder ' s drug store for the prize drill were noticed and ap- preciated by many.

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THE DEBATER. Who has married one of royal line. I see a busy city street, with buildings high and grand With many signs and offices, on both sides up and down, Bnt one sign in particular attracts my wondering eye It reads. Miss Mary Dignan, Elocutionist. Beside this is a store with plate glass windows large, And automobiles and runabouts can easily be seen While o ' er the door in letters gold, I read A Purrington. I gaze again into the crystal ' s mystic depths And lo ! I see a daily paper open wide (The Boston Herald edited by Harry Sparks) I read the striking headlines, imagine my surprise On seeing, Boston Lawyer Wins his Case, Murphy moves the Court to Tears, Jury Disagree. And again, Cleveland wins the Series Home run of Symonds saves the Game and reading on I learn that Coombs, Low, and Buxton all are playing mighty ball With Chicago Nationals, but I am not surprised For this is simple evolution from the kind of ball they played With the Wakefield High School Nine not long ago. The page is turned ; I see again a name that ' s most familiar Horace Lee, Well known Author marries leading prima donna And under this to my astonishment I read the startling news Of how a seven-master under Capt. Harold Collins With a cargo of ripe lemons, runs aground near Wonderland. The social page attracts in turn my keen and wandering eye I learn that Mildred Parker (only it isn ' t Parker now) Is President of the Woman ' s Rights and Woman ' s Suffrage Club. The scene next turns to one of rustic loveliness I see my old friend Mansfield ploughing up the meadow lot Near him are three ladies with microscopes immense Examining closely bottle flies, plants, and insects rare, Ruth Parker, Nellie Bailey, with their friend Miss Lucy Noyes Now studying in the summer before taking their degrees. But who ' s this fellow yonder running ' round throughout the trees He seems to be on the lookout for birds, — but birds of species one — I do believe its Spear still hunting after Hawkcs. For the last time as I gaze into the crystal wondrous orb I see a crowd of students clustered ' round a platform high From which, in accents loud and gestures rusticated A youth is reading from a pap r long and weak. The crowd is jeering, hooting, throwing vegetables and such, But still the youth, in rapture, continues on his way A mighty surge, an onward rush, the youth that was is not, And as they bear his bleeding form from off the gory field- I look in horror at that form and recognize — my own. Max Everett Eaton, ' 07.

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THE DEBATER. The Debater, a Sketch. Perhaps no one of The Debater readers outside of the staff, ever imag- ine the work that attends its getting out. It is very easy to read the paper through, criticize it, as becomes a stu- dent, and throw it to one side, Httle realizing the personal effort that gave you the opportunity so to do. It will be well, no doubt, to give the readers a little sketch of The Debater troubles, and I am glad to take this op- p o r t u n i t y . Two years ago, The De- bater of eight issues cost a little over three hundred and twenty- five dollars. Quite a sum for the staff to obtain from subscrip- tions and advertise- ments. Last year the paper cost about one hundred and seventy- five dollars. (The paper of last year was not up to the stand- ard on account of lack of support and poor management). This year, so far, it has cost twenty-five dollars an issue, and the June issue will prob- ably cost nearly fifty dollars. Consider, if you please, the fact that you are pay- ing about four cents apiece for your papers, while it is costing The De- bater eight cents apiece to print them. The larger part of the money must come WILLIAM KDITOR- from advertisers, and too much praise cannot be given for the way in which that department has been managed this year. It is the mainstay of The De- bater and has proved a reliable one. Aided by the loan of twelve dollars from the Young Men ' s Debating Society, and a gift of twelve dol- lars from the Girls ' Debating Society, The Debater has been kept in good fi- nancial condition this year, and was able to pay an old debt of twenty-four dollars. The business man- ager has a duty that is far from congenial. It is necessary for him at the beginning of the year, to see every student in the high school, and obtain his subscription if possi- ble. It is then his duty to dun the sub- scriber for his dues and obtain those if possible. This duty has been thoroughly performed this year, and as a result this department is in a flourishing condition, over two hundred subscriptions having been secured. Last, but far from least, are the offices of editor-in-chief and assistant editors. The editor-in-chief with the help of his assistants writes all editorials as a duty, and a good part of the rest of the read- H. MURPHY IN-CHIKK.