Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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THE W. H. S. DEIJATER PA(4E EIVE TO THE CLASS OF 1919 DlEAR Y()rN(i Friends:— The editors of the Dkbateu have very kindly put their cnlumus at my disposal for anything I see tit. I know of no better use to which to i)ut uiy oppor- tunity than writing- you. You are soon to enter the high school. You will receive a hearty welcome from both teachers and scholars alike and we hope your four years may be profitable and hai)py. You will find school life in the high school quite different from that you have V)een accustomed to. In the first place, you will have more freedom around the school buihling. You may make a mis- take and think that you have the right to do anything you please. You will soon discover, however, that your freedom must be attended by self control and a willingness and desire not to interfere with the rights of others, both teachers and your fellow pupils. You will be willing, I am sure, to speak in low tones at recess time, to refrain from lunning around the cor- ridors and to obey the reasonable requests of your teachers in a pleasant and agreeable manner. Again, the routine of your daily work will be much different from what it has been heretofore. It is quite likely that no two day ' s work will be the same. Each will stand by itself and you will have difficulty in re- membering just when your recitations occur unless you have taken pains to make a written programme for each day to which you can refer. Once more, you will find it quite another thing to recite to four or five different teachers in the course of a day from what it was when you had only one teacher. It will be necessary for you to learn the ways of them all in order to get along well. Do not, for a moment, think that what satisfies one teacher will necessarily satisfy another. A word or two regarding your work. Success in your studies will depend altogether upon the regular- ity of your work. A regular time for studijinfj each lesson is as important as it is for reciting it. Some- time you will be tempted to omit your study hour for the sake of something else. Do not yield. I have seen failure come to a boy, who had always been a good scholar, simply because school work had been neglected for play. It is not so much the amount of Work put upon one ' s lessons that brings success as it is the regularity of that work. Another temptation will assail you, some of you, at least, about the first week in November. This is the time for the distribution of the report cards for Sep- tember and October. You may find that your marks are not what you expected not as good as those you used to receive in grammar school. You will be tempted to give up study. You may be discouraged. You may even want to leave school. Don ' t be a (luit- ter, as the boys say in football. Be philosophical and say, I never give up. Another factor in your success is punctuality. If every day finds you in your place in school, your suc- cess is practically assured. Only the most urgent rea- sons are sufficient to warrant absence from school. It is not a sufficient excuse to say that you went shop- ping, or to the dressmaker ' s, or dentist, or the theatre or on an errand for my mother. Do not misunder- stand me. There are times when you oitglit not to come to school. If you will come every other tiine but these, you will be satisfied with your success. Finally, be friendly with your teachers. Talk over with them your plans for the future. You will always find them glad to talk with you. Do not hesitate to ask them for help in your work. And above all things do not scold about your teachers when things don ' t go as you expect. Nothing so endangers one ' s profitable use of school as the habit of scolding. Trusting that these random thoughts may be of some slight service to you in your new venture and with best wishes for a prosperous and happy year, I am Yours sincerely, Charles II. Howe. WAKEFieLO, THE 56ST TOWN wny? WAKEB ' IELD is a conveniently located suburb of Boston. It is situated on the main line of Sh the Boston and Maine IJailroad, and is within ten miles of the state capital, situated on Bea- con Hill, Boston. Many of its most respected citizens are connected either directly or indirectly with one or more of the great businesses, or manufacturing houses, whose headquarters or offices are located in Boston. Besides being well-known as a residential town, it has a great variety of manufactures. A person riding in a railway coach in the Southern, Western, or Pacific States, in Europe, South America, or even in India, may see on glancing down at the inscription on the car-seat, the following words, Made by Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, Wakefield, Mass., U. S. A. Also a London or Parisian woman, asking to be shown underwear in a London or Parisian shop, might be shown some of the products of the ' Harvard

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PACK KorU TIIK W. 11. S. DEIJATEIJ uiioffeiulinji ' earth. Now ami tlieu I beard the nun- l)liiij - of thiuuler whieli I, heiiit - in a laneiful mood, called the nuiibliiiK- of the chariot wheels of the Storiii Kiiifj. The sky became completely euvehtped and a Stytjiau darkness covered all mortal thin rs. Suddenly, with a roar like the report of a (Jerman sieue gun, the storm burst in all its fury. Flashes of lightuiuff split the heavens from horizon to horizon. Back and forth across the sky, the li htuin - i)layed, the Hashes following: each other in such rapid succession that I could see the havoc that the storm played. The mighty trees, kings of their kind, swayed like reeds in the mighty blast. Now and then, with a rip- ping crack the top of some lofty tree would break off under the terriiic strain. The rain fell in torrents, or rather in bucketfuls. The hillside was a raging river. The air was so charged with electricity that one could almost taste it. After a time the lightning ceased and the thunder died away in the distance with only an occasional sharp crash as though the iStorin King was just re- minding the earth that he was not through with it even then. The ilarkness continued however. The wind still roared and the rain fell as before. It seemed more mysterious than ever for I could not see what was taking place. I felt as must a certain (rreek hero have felt when he hunted the monster in the labyrinth. Soon the wind and rain subsided a bit and the sky be- came a dull leaden gray. Then I could see what havoc the storm had wrought. The trees lay in long windrows, as if some mighty reaper had gone along with his scythe and mown them down. The bushes and grass were flattened to the earth like wet sheets. Here and there a little bird fluttered with a broken wing. Never in ray life, be- fore or since, have I seen so much damage done in so short a time. Then as if to make amends for the violence disjilayed, the sun broke through the clouds and turned this scene of devastation into a sparkling, crystal palace. Its light, the sun ' s rays, was reflected from a thousand diamond points on every tree, rock, and bush. The birds began to sing their evening songs of j, raise to the now silent universe. All the world seemed to re- joice in the beauty of things. As suddenly as it had broken through the clouds, the sun dipped to rest, leaving me with the chirping crick- ets to reflect on the works of the Almighty. Zw i( ' Ki ' :i;, ' ] ; ' ). FOOD ADULTERATION CAREFUL attention should be given to the pure food problem ; but the majority of people 2 give it little thought, ordering their groceries from their dealers without specifying pure l r()ilucts. Poisons, such as many coal tar dyes, formaldehyde, sulphurous acid, arsenic, lead, and many others are present in food products, although usually in minute quantities. Continual consumjition of these poisons is likely to be followed with injurious results. Protec- tion against this accumulative process may be obtained by using products which have been found to be pure rather than by trusting to the label. It is wise in buying drugs to read carefully all labels. For instance, headache preparations containing acetauilid, antipyrine or phenacetin are dangerous drugs and have an injurious effect on the heart. Baking powders which contain alum form aluminum hydroxide. This unites with the hydrochloric acid of the stomach, forming aluminum chloride, thus hinder- ing digestion. A safe baking jjowder is one which contains cream of tartar or calcium phosphate. The presence of poisonous substances in foods is sometimes accidental but more often is due to the desire to deceive. Oftentimes the manufacturer uses pure food materials, but in the course of the manufac- ture contamination takes place. Aqueous liquids fre- quently act upon the glass container and cause reac- tions with the alkali of the dissolved glass, producing precipitates and seriously altered flavors. Compounds containing lead and zinc are frequently used in rubber goods which come in contact with food products and, in the event of such foods being slightly acid, contami- nation with lead and zinc is the result. ' I ' he imitation flavors employed by manufacturers save them money on account of iheir penetrating character. A drop or two in a large amount of li(|uid is all that is needed to inoduce a taste which, if natu- rally proilucted, in the same amount of licpiid, would recpiire a large amount of much more ex ' iiensive flavor- ing. This explains why methyl salicylate is used in- stead of wintergreen flavoring. Various compounds of ethers are used to produce other imitation flavors such as cherry, banana, peach, and plum. The Board of Health of the town of Westfleld, Mass., have made a careful investigation of food adul- terations and have i)ublished a list of the most impor- tant ])ure foods on the market. I ' his list can be ob- tained by semling 10 cents to the Westfleld Board of Health. This book will protect anyone from consum- ing im]iure foods. EUNKST E. F. Ii;i!A KS.

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l (iK SIX TIIK W. II. S. DK BATEIJ Mills, ' also luauufaotured iu ' ' The Best Towu. Fur- thenuore, wlieu aiiyoue speaks of the shoe raanufactur- iufi ' ceulers of the world, everybody kuovvs that Lyun, Mass., and her suburbs are meant ; novv, another hit may be scored for Wakefisld, for it is one of the sub- urbs of Lynn (that is, speaking- in terms of shoe nianu- fat ' turinff). Then, too, the Henry F. Miller pianos, which are known throughout the civilized world, are the i)roducts of the skilled workmen who are em- ployed in the shops of the ' Henry F. Miller Piano Co., whose factories are at Wakefield. A department of the firm of ' Wright and Ditsou, the greatest man- ufacturing concern in the world which devotes its energies whdlly to the manufacture of athletic and sporting goods, is located here. We have also the works of the ' Smith and Anthony Co. For over fifty years this concern has been known the world over for the manufacture of high grade stoves and furnaces, and this firm takes second place to none in the making- of these products. The ' Jenkins-Phii)|)S Co. is a very progressive firm engaged in the manu- facture of reed and willow furniture. Without doubt, their goods will soon be as well-known in the vari- ous markets of the world as are the products of the lleywood Brothers and Wakefield Company. The Lead Lined Iron Pipe Company is another of the promising industries of this busy community ; their chief business lies in the manufacture of lead lined iron pipe. With such a variety of industries in a town with a population of only about 13,000, and witli these indus- tries employing such a high class of workmen, it is not strange that skilled mechanics seek, and find, a most acceptable haven of refuge iu the Best Town. With such labor and under such conditions, is it strange that the shops should run so smoothly, that the workingman should be so contented, happy, and peaceful, and that there should be no ill feeling be- tween employer and employee ? As for natural beauty — a person passing through this town will have his eyes attracted by a very pleasing- landscape. The center of the town rests on a i)lane three-quarters of a mile in width and three miles iu length. This plane is flanked on the east and west sides by hills, which are covered by trees with beauti- ful residences here and there. At either end of this plane lies a beautiful lake. The one towards the south, called Crystal Lake, is used by the town as a water supply. Lake Quannapowitt, or the upper lake as it is locally termed, was named after an Indian chief, whose tepee ' formerly rested on the shore of the lake. It is second only to the Charles River as a popular canoeing resort in Eastern Massachusetts. Since such advantages establish the reputation of a town, and, to a large extent the character of its towns- peoi)le, it is not strange that we take great pride in our town. IIakold Moncrikff. MANAGING A HIGH SCHOOL PAP6R T HE management of a high school paper is a difficult task, especially when money is tied up as it has been this year. The first thing the managers must do is to consult the ])rinter, give him some idea about the num- ber of pages to be priuteil, and find out how much time will be required for the printing. In small schools not representing great wealth, the cost of printing has to be met in part by advertise- ments. To obtain these advertisements is not so easy as one might think. For instance, at one store tiiat advertised in last year ' s Dehateh, we were told that the paper didn ' t bring in a single customer and that the money was thrown away. Other merchants in town confront us with the rules of the Merchants ' As- sociation, which bars them from advertising in any- thing but the newspapers. Soliciting ads in the city is still worse. We started out early one Saturday morning with the expec- tation of procuring at least one i)age of advertisements. The first place we visited was a large jewelry house, but we were told by the advertising manager that he couldn ' t possibly take on any more school pajjcrs as the firm was advertising in about a dozen different ones at the present time. After visiting three other jewelers with the same success, we decided to take the department stores. Two of the stores said they never advertised in anything but the newsi)apers, two were financially embarrassed, while a third could do nothing- then, but would consider the graduation numlier. The same day we called on three athletic houses; the first turned us down because our high school did not buy our athletic goods from them, and, argue as we might, we could not prevail upon them to give us an advertisement. At the next i)lace we went to, we found that the advertising manager was out sick, while the third did all of its advertising through an agent in New York, which meant that two weeks must elai)se before our ])roi)osition could be considered. We next