Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

Page 4 text:

TIIK W. II. S. DKUATKR A Sardine Factory IT was a peculiar bnildina;, tlie factory, and wlion I first saw it I stood still and looked. It was a low-studded building, built on the slope of the shore in such a way that one story was seen from the front and two from the back. The sides were clapboarded and painted red. The roof, which was nearly flat, was nearly covered with tar paper. A tall chimney, made of a red clay drain pipe, had forced its way through one end of the building and was calmly belching forth smoke. A bi ' oad w oden walk, nearly as wide as the street, led to the corner of the building where one half of it seemed to enter and the other continued to the back of the building. I took this latter walk and made my M ' ay to the rear of the factory. Here, a short wharf drew my attention. It was a narrow wharf, covered almost wholly with fishing tackle and filth, except for one little place at the further end. This place, however, served as the site for a small red building, which contained a pumping ma- chine. A small wooden canal, about a foot wide and fifteen Indies deep, led from the pumping station to the factory. The canal was raised to the height of eight feet above the wharf. It sloped gently toward the main building until it was within a lew feet of its destination and here it dropped sharply. The wooden bottom had been removed Ironi the top of this sharp decline and a piece of wire netting inserted. I dill not understand this arrangement, so I made some inquiries. In answer to my questions, I was told that the canal was used for fioating the sardines, which are really Utile herrings, into the factory. It seems that the fish are brought to the factor} ' in small tug-boats. A big hose is lowered into the hold of the tug and the fish are pumped, by means of the pumping station, into the canal. Water is pumped into the canal at the same time and the fish are fioated to the sharp dip ; here the water runs through the wire netting and the fish slide into the build- ing and into tanks l)uilt to receive them. The floor inside the factory was made of cement, and it was covered with water and sUme. The tanks, I found, were situated near the door. They were made of heavy planks and the inside, which was about four feet wide, eight feet long and five feet deep, was lined with zinc. They were, at that time, full of tish and water. They did not remain full very long, however, because a sort of wire escalator, which led upstairs, was carrying off an endless stream of fish. This interested me and I went up-stairs. I found that the end of the escalator was spreading the fish on tlakers. Flakers are wire trays which are about three feet long and two feet wide and look like wire letter trays with the sides cut oft ' . As soon as one of the Makers is covered with fish it is removed and an empty one is put in its place. The loaded flakers are put into a tall rack, which holds about forty of them. I watched this process for some time until I noticed that the racks which were full were being i)ushed off to some other part of the building. I followed one of the racks and learned that it was puslied into a vault, which was almost exactly like a vault in a bank. When the vault contained a sufficient number of racks, it was closed and bolted, and steam was turned on. Tiiis, of course, after a short time, cooked the fish. The steam was then turned oft ' and the racks removed into a cooling room. A big electric fan was inserted in the wall of the cooling room. The blades of this fan were turned so that it drew the air from the room, thereby causing a terriflc drauglit. The draught was so strong that, at a distance of six feet, it would draw one ' s hair out straight. It always seemed strange to me that it did not draw the fish out of doors. It can easily be imag- ined, however, that the fish were soon cooled oft ' . From here the fish were taken into a large room full of girls. Each girl stood befoie a little bench. Every- one was busy and I was quite startled when a girl, who was working at a bench near which I was standing, turned suddenly and cried Fish. A boy iinmeciiately rushed over with a flaker full of cooked and cooled fish, and gave it to her in exchange for her empty one. She at once picked up a small pair of scissors and cut off the head of every fish on the flaker. Siie then packed the fish, just as they were, into cans of oil or mustard. The heads were thrown into a receptacle for that purpose. These receptacles were emptied, at certain intervals, into a wheelbarrow. The fish heads were then carried outside and deposited in a large bin, from which they were sold to the farmers, for fertilizer, at fifteen cents a barrel. The fish themselves, now in little boxes, were sent to sealing machines. Here, covers were juit on the boxes and the machines sealed them air tight. The machine, after it had sealed the boxes, threw them into a barrel. They were then taken down stairs and rccooked. This second cooking was to see if the cans were air tight. If any air was enclosed in a can, the heat expanded it and it caused the cover to bulge. When this happened, the can was thrown away. If, however, the cover remained fixed, the wrappers and stickers were put on and the can of sardines was ready for the market. Eaui,k SxKWAirr, ' 14. I wonder if a teacher ever i ets sol ' t-liearti ' d and boosts a fellow l)y l)ee:iiise lie pleads terror of tin- paternal frown ; or bc- cause he oll ' ers to ohlisje the teacher in some way. .Anyway, tlie teacher should consider whether the fellow can keep his word or not, if only to he business like.

Page 3 text:

Qi }t M. % B. S bato PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL : : Vo!. 1 WAKEFIELD, MASS.. JUNE, 1914 No. 2 Judgment ||NC P2 dear readers, in the days of long ago, there was a kiny. This kiiiff was a hisroted, selfish sort of a itersDii, who had a very haid time trying; to rule Iiis suhjects accordinu- to his ideas. This kiuy could say such foolish things in such a wise and solemn manner, that a witty Frenchman was heard to remark that the king was ' the wisest fool in Christen- dom, thousjh a sterner, and perhaps far wiser man had called him God ' s silly vassal. However that may be, this wise fool caused a yreat thing to be done before he died, which is what T am tryiny to get at, and the reason I am repeating all this history. The vassal of (iod, silly or otherwise, wish- ing to astound the world with his learning, caused to be written, and translated a certain liook, composed of the sayings of a certain (ireat Man, His history, and the history of His nation. The king wrought even better than he knew ; for the Book lived after him, and was carried into every land, and is still read, revered, and loved the world over, which shows that the old king couldn ' t have been such a bad sort of person after all. This Holy Man, about whom the Book was written, uttered many wise and very beautiful sayings to guiile those who should come after him. These sayings so astonished the people who heard them, that certain historians preserved them, and wrote them down in a book. Among the historians was one named Matthew, who heanl a great sermon delivered by this Man, whom men called Jesus, which contained such great truths and was so full of love and kindly advice, that Matthew, recognizing its greatness, wrote it wonl for word in the Iiook, which was translated for the wise, but foolish king. Of all that great sermon, there is one saying which lingers in my mind. It is, Judge not that ye l)e not jinlged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. Look at it, dear reader. Perhaps you have read it before, if so bear with me a while. T.ook at it again! What a wonderful thing it is, — a command, a warning, and kindly advice all in one little sentence. Judge not. You have a command, i)ure and 8inii)le, given to the people by their leader. H He had cared less. He would have stopped right there, and gone on His way; but being full of love for His people. He continued with words of advice and warning; — for if ye judge, ye shall be judged in return and the return judgment will be just as kindly, or just as severe, as your own, and it will descend on your head with the exact measure and force with wliich you judged. For so said the great Teacher who knew human nature beyond all other men. Can you think of all the people whom you have judged, and who are judging you in return? You and I judge somebody every flay. I say, I don ' t like that fellow, he is a fool. In the meantime what does that fellow think of me? I should hesitate to be told. Per- haps you say, What a mean disposition that person has! He won ' t (b) a thing I request of him. We probably have greatly misunderstood those we have judged, but that isn ' t going to heli» in the least in their judgment of us. The day may come when people will no longer dis- regard the teaching set forth in the good Book, but will live in perfect peace with one another in accordance with its teaching. Dear reader, let us helj) that day to arrive by being careful what our judgments are. If we must judge our neighbors, let us do it in a kindly spirit to help them, and to be helpe 1 by them. Perhaps the time may come when the judgments against us will grow lighter until we walk a free people. Then will it come to pass that — No war or battles ' sound Is heard the world around. ami a reign of peace upon the earth has begun. Williams.

Page 5 text:

THE W. H. S. DEBATER Musical Stones How many of my readers know that common stones and rocks can peal fortli the most beautiful musical tones? The credit of discovering this fact belongs to Alonzo R. Oilman of South Berwick, Maine. Out of rocks and stones he has made an instrument, know as the Rockophone, capable of producing musical tones. This Rockophone, the only one of its kind in the world, is now at Hampstead, New Hampshire, and it was here that I had the pleasure of seeing it and of hearing several familiar tunes played on it. One day, while Mr. Oilman was in the woods, he picked ui) a stone which had iron in it, and upon hitting it with a steel hammer, he was surprised at the sweet- sounding vibrations. It occurred to him that there might be music as well as sermons in stones and that if several could be found which had variations, a tune could be played. He set, immediately, to work out his idea and in eight months he hitd found eight stones with which he was able to play a ditty. Having found these, he was spurred on to gather more, and so for seventeen long years he collected cart- loads of stones, testing each stone and throwing out those which had no musical sound. All the stones which Mr. Oilman used in making his wonderful Rockophone were found in Maine and New Hampshire in stone-walls, along the roadside or in fields. All stones except marble, slate and granite, in Maine and New Hampshire, contain iron pyrites and it is from this, that the tone comes. From the thin, long stones. the highest pitches are given, and from the tiiick, heavy stones, the deep bass sounds are obtained. He arranged the stones the same as the keys on the piano except that they rest on small rubber tubes which lit into grooves in the steel frames. The rubber is used to help the vibration, for if the stones rested (m a hard surface, such as steel, the sound would be deadened. The stones which make up this instrimnent vary in length from six inches to three feet and weigh from one to fifty pounds. It was after he had arranged the stones in their fi-ames, that he built the case in which they rest. The frame, which is box-shape, is twelve feet in length and tiiree and one-half feet in width. It is of white- wood stained green. People have urged Mr. Oilman to patent his Rocko- phone, but he has refused to do so. Thus the oppor- tunity of making one of these instruments is open to anyone who has the patience and the sensitive ear for music which are required to do the work successfully. Ruth W. Boardman, ' 14. We ouolit to have a fire drill every recess wlien G. B. j oes up in the helfr} ' . The Teaching of English at Home and at School AN English Conference was held by the Kosmos Club on March 6, under the auspices of the New England Association of Teachers of English — Mr. Samuel Thur- ber of Newtonville, chairman of the committee on con- ferences, presided. The theme of the conference, The Teachiig of P ng- lish at Home and at School , was discussed under three topics: first, The Point of View of the Teacher ; second, Problems of the Parent ; and third, What shall our Children Read ? The first topic, The Point of View of the Teacher, was discussed in a very able manner by Mr. Charles Swain Thomas, head of the English department at the Newton High School. Mr. Thomas is also educational editor for Houghton- HtHin, and one of the authors of the Thomas and Howe Rhetoric , used in our High School. Mr. Thomas, who is well acquainted with chil- dren both as a teacher and as a father, told his views based upon his own expeiiences. He considers a child lucky if his parents know what is right in English and have a care that he shall learn what is right. He believes that children should be seen and heard and that mental training while the chihl is young is of more importance than grammatical correctness. The parents who care about the language of a child will also guard the literature which he reads. A child will bi ' influenced for life by the impressions that he receives while young. For instance, if a child reads a great deal about fairies and sprites. Iiis imagination will become keen and active ; if he reads history and patriarchal literature, sternness and severity will become his traits. Mr. Thomas said, Watch the moving-picture shows carefully. If they do good for the child and raise his mental powers, encourage him to go. If they are bad and lower his power of phrasing, keep him away. The same is true of the theatre . One should use his own judgment as to what is beneficial and what is not. Surely, no one can listen to Forbes Robertson without deriving benefit from his clear enunciation. Mr. Thomas believes that what a person thinks has great infiuence upon the physical nature. If a person is careless in thinking, his voice will become displeasing to the ear. He stated the ease of two sisters of his ac- quaintance. While young, their voices were remarkably alike. In the course of time, one of these sisters be- came a rich woman, cultivated and refined. The other was obliged to live in poverty and ignorance. There is now a great contrast in the tones of their voices ; the one, soft and cultured ; the other, disagreeable and nasal. One nnist not be heedless in voice training. The