Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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AN EXPERIMENT IN CANNING While weeding a strawberry bed last sum- mer. Jack Dinan and I decided to do a little canning as an experiment. After hav- ing received permission to us2 the log-cabin on the Wii ship estate, which is sheltered fiom prying eyes by a grove of pine trees, vo secured a wash boiler and numerous pans from the cook. We then secured all the f;;riss jars possible am transpoited our material to the cabin. Directly after supper we started our first venture in canning. Having decided to adopt the cold-pack method, (which we con- r.idercd the best and the simplest) we se- cured government pamphlets and directions in (,ider to inform ourselves on the matter. We knew exactly how to go about our first trial. By dividing up the work, we could work much better and accomplish much more. Jack secured the vegetables, washed and cleaned them, while I secured water with which to blanch them, or washed the glass jars. Wo started in on the wax butter beans. After wa-shing and cutting them in the re- quired length, they were placed i n cloth bags, and then blanched the required length of time. The mason jars were then filled, salt and water added, and with the covers .screwed on loosely, were placed in the boiler of v ater to be cooked. After an hour or so had elapsed, the jars were taken out and the covers screwed on tightly. By working until after midnight, we managed to can about 25 quarts of beans. During the next week, by beginning di- rectly after our work on the estate was over and working until one or even two o ' clock in the morning, we managed to can about 150 quarts of beans, corn, and other vegetables, plums, peaches, and a few ber- ries. Urged on by this success, we made many jarr. of grape, currant, and apple jelly, all of which were well preserved. We were indeed fortunate in having such a place to do our canning. The cabin is di- vided into two rooms. The main room con- tains a large stone fireplace, a table, several chairs, and a bed. The walls of the cabin are of beaver board painted red, and the ceiling of cream color. Over two windows and in the centre of the ceiling hang electric chandeliers. The back room where we did our canning contains a fine stove, just suit- 12 ed to our needs. We also cooked our meals here instead of going home. Our only mistake in the canning occurred one night when the boiler, containing 12 quarts of beets, was put on the cabin stove .•iL eleven fo;ty-five. Since I was very tired, 1 decided to go to bed at once. Jack said he was going to read awhile and that he would take care of the vegetables at 2 o ' clock — the time required to boil them being about 2 1-2 hours. About 4 o ' clock in the morn ing, I awoke and heard something boiling. Quickly jumping out of bed, X investigated and found the boiler still on the stove, while Jack, the faithful watcher, was fast asleep at the other end of the bed, still dressed and with a book in his hand. He had fallen asleep while reading. The lights v ere still burning and the beets were boiled a ' niost white. The cold pack method of canning has be- come so popular that canning has ceased to be a drudgery. Cold pack means raw pack. The food is put into the jars when only par- tially cooked, instead of being sterilized in a kettle over the direct fire. It is then trans- ferred to the jars and sealed. There are about six steps to the cold-pack method — cleaning, blanching, cold dipping, packing in the jars, sterilizing, and the final sealing of the jars. Wakefield is indeed fortunate in having a community canning center, for now the vegetables may be brought there and canned. Moreover, the women and girls can help and £0 learn this method of canning. This year of all years, everyone should can as many vegetables and as much fruit as pos- sible. J. Wm. Burke, ' 18 BUY THRIFT STAMPS! Buy some stamps and show your thrift. Give your Uncle Sam a lift. Just a quarter, ' tisn ' t much When the cause you serve is such. Don ' t put off until tomorrow. Even if the cash you borrow. If at first you find it hard. Very soon you ' ll fill your card, Then in dollars, you ' ll have four. Which in time will bring one more. For in nineteen twenty-three II will all come back, you see! Margaret Rowland, ' 20

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Sergt. Clifford Sawyer 1915 Edward A. Sexton 1915 Pvt. Millara W. Thresher 1915 Pvt. Alec. Williams 1915 Pvt. Elliot Zwicker 1915 Pvt. Malcolm Eaton 1916 William Wanamaker 191C Frank Glynn (1st CI. Seaman) 1917 Pvt. Roy E. Luken 1917 Pvt. G. Dudley Sargent 1917 Med. Dept., U. S. A., Camp Stewart, New- port News, Va. Troop C, Mass. Cavahy, France •305th Motorcycle Co.,, Am. Corps, France Co. B, 101st Engineer. ., France Co. A. 102nd Machine Gnn Battalion, France Co. A. 102nd Machine Gun Battalion, France West Point Military Academy U. S. S. Shark 5th Co., 101st Sup. Train, 26th Div., France Hdqtrs. Co., 101st U. S. Inf., France J. Gersinovitch, ' 18 JUNIOR RED CROSS At la.st Wakefield High School has begun work for the Junior Red Cross. We are, perhaps, somewhat late in this matter, but the facilities for Red Cross v orK are not numerous here, and many pupils are mem- bers of the Junior League of the Special Aid Society. Room 12 was the first ..oom to attain 100% membership, room 5 second, and room 13 third. Of 461 pupils in the school, 8 rooms had attained 100% membership at the end of April. The first week one hun- dred and five dollars were paid in member- ship fees. Already much work has been done. Twen- ty-four refugee garments have been begun and some are finished. The members have brought in squares for afghans, cardboard squares, eye bandages, pin cushions, gun wipers, eye wipers, and scrap books. The school is divided into divisions with a teacher in charge of each division. These teachers plan and give out work to their own division. The finished work is sent to Miss Gilmore, in charge of the work in the High school. There is some work for each one to do, so let each do his part. Bertha Brown, ' 18 THE COMMUNITY KITCHEN During this great conflict, in which food plays such an important pai-t, gardens must not only be planted, but their products pre- served. A few fruits and vegetables can be kept in the cellar during the winter, but those that spoil easily must undergo a pro- cess of preservation. Wakefield, like several other towns and cities, is about to establish a community kitchen, where girls of the seventh and eighth grades, together with the high school girls maybe taught earning during the sum- r.ier months. The kitchen of the Wakefield es - tate is being equipped for this purpose. The classes will begin on July first, and each class will be given half a day a week until the opening of school in September. The frequency of the meetings will depend upon the number of girls who enroll. Two able instructors will superintend eat:i class. The girls may can either the products of their own gardens or products provided by the officials at the canning center. If they do the latter, they will be given for each half day ' s work, the facilities for canning three jars. For all jars over three they will bo charged at the rate of five cents a jar in order to cover expenses. The pupils may provide their own jars, but will be obliged to buy rings from the center. It is felt that the girls who enroll should enter into the spirit of the movement ju.st as the boys who enlist in the army enter into the spirit of war. They are, therefore, expected to attend every meeting. This is a splendid oportunity for girls to serve their country, and at the same time gain a knowledge of something that will be U!:eful to th ' .m during their whole lives. Sarah Burwen, ' 18 Little Tommy Tucker Sings for his supper. What shall he eat? White bread and butter! White bread and butter! Oh, no. no! If he can find no substitute Hungry he must go. Selma Roach, ' 20 11

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WHY BUY LIBERTY BONDS? Two of the most important factors in car- rying on a great war like the present one, are men and money. The men, the flower of our nation, have gladly offered their lives for the service of their country, and for the maintenance of the sacred principles of democracy. They have offered up their all, their business po- sitions, their loved ones, and if need be, even their very lives. This is the supreme sacri- fice! We, at home, in comparison with the boys over there , take life easy. They fight in the mud of the trenches, sleep in the muck of the dug-outs amid all kinds of vermin, en- dure the stench of the battle-field, often liv- ing on the poorest of rations, and being shot down by thousands of hostile bullets. We speak of the hard times, of the high cost of living. So it is, but how small and cheap a sacrifice we make, in compari- son with our boys, over there. We let them do all of the fighting for us, and let them endure all of the real, bitter hardships. Why not look at the situation, as seriously as we should if invading armies landed on our shores. There would be terror-stricken refugees, fleeing westward from all parts of the invaded territory. As the troops marched inland, our dwellings would be looted, and burned to the ground. As soon as they had their clutch on the nation, they would not let go! They would place a Ger- man officer or magistrate in every individ- ual town and city! Their troops would be quartered and maintained at our expense! To emphasize the barbarous methods used by the Germans, I will quote a passage tak- en from a diary of a captured German. This is true. In the. night of August 18-19, the village of Saint-Maurice was punished for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by the German troops (two regi- ments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The village was surrounded, men po.sted about a yard fi om one another, so that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape ; only the greater pai-t of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone who ventured to come out, was shot down. All the inhabi- tants left in the village were burnt with the houses. (From the diary of Private Karl 13 Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Ijandwchr Infantry.) Therefore, should we not, as loyal, patri- otic Americans gladly lend our money to our government? Should we not buy as many Thrift Stamps, Liberty Bonds, and War Savings Certificates, as we possibly can, even if we do have to sacrifice a little? It is a vital question!! Vital to all of us!! Are we going to allow Prussianism to choke, strangle, and literally trample the life out of everything that is noble, good, pure, and righteous; or are we going to fight the Hun, till the last ounce of our strength is spent, and the last drop of our blood is spilled? Frederic B. Snyder, ' 20 To buy or not to buy: that is the question; Whether it is less patriotic on the whole ' io invest your gold in Liberty Bonds, Than to take up arms against Autocracy, And by opposing, end it. To buy — to invest, — and thus by buying To say we do our part to end The heartaches, the miseries Of this unrighteous warfare. Miriam E. Crosby, ' 18 WILL IT HAPPEN HERE? NO! A group of wounded officers were sitting- together in a Canadian hospital. Some of them had been hurt accidentally, some wounded in battles overseas. They were talking of their experiences and the horrors of war. They told how the soldiers had no way of changing their dripping clothes, of the terrible vermin, how the men were forced to shave in their daily ration of tea, and how they sometimes found a little rain water in a shell crater, witli which they washed their muddy faces and hands. One man told of the racks in the trenches, where the men occasionally had a chance to sleep. These racks were narrow boards, about one half inch apart, one board allot- ted to a man. Some of the restless chaps fell overboard, down into the mud, and their clothes had to dry on them. Another officer, a Belgian, anu a mere boy, stepped forward and said, My mother and father were murdered. My little brother ' s right hand was cut off, so that he could never use a rifle. They held me and forced me to watch these cruelties, but I have es- caped. A quiet, sad man then spoke, Would you