Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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night. She saw a black pigeon perched upon her sill, when the lightning flash ed. This she knew was an evil omen, and being terror strickened, locked the doors of her gloomy dwelling, excepting the one on the south side of the house. The Black Cat came hissing around the house, chuckling and muttering to herself, trying every door and at last gaining en- trance on the south side. The thunder pealed louder and louder; lightning flashed, — then all was still for awhile. The hail stones pounded against the window, upon the sill of which was perched the startled pigeon. The stairs began to squeak as the old witch ascended with blood-shot eyes, in search of the treasure. As there came a second peal of thunder, she broke into the room. The Irish lady sat with wdthered hands, clasped over her thumping heart. She had time to catch sight of the horrible figure, with open mouth in which an ugly tongue was hissing between a few decayed teeth before the wind came through the open door, blowing the light out. In her haste. Black Cat dropped the coins which she had taken but she ran off with some shawls. She lost her balance however, and tripped while hurrying homeward, over a fallen tree. She finally reached her smoky apart- ment, stirred the sizzling embers and nursed her bruises. Nobody ever saw any traces of Black Cat. Finally some daring ruf- fians entered her home and found her dead. They believed her death was caused by the sore on the side of her head. The same day that the Irish lady heard of Black Cat ' s death, a pair of doves fluttered to her sill and cooed joyously. The End walked slowly up the wide gravel path with tall drooping elms making a perfect arch- way overhead. This path led directly to the mansion. It was a low building and, like many such homes, was white. Ivy vines were climbing on the stately pillars of the broad piazza, where so many parties had been held. There were a number of gables and a large cupo- la crowning all. I walked around the house, through the orchards with their drooping trees, overladen with their green fruit. There was the kitchen, with its crumb- ling chimney, and I could just imagine the odor of pies and cakes that the old mammy had made. Going through the grai e arbors, I came to the servants dwellings. There were five or six low huts around whose doors many little pickaninnies had played. But the thing of most interest to me, was the old fashioned flower garden. The hon- eysuckles, gladioli, china astors, and colum- bine, seemed to rejoice in their unkept state. Maybe the mistress or master had come out before some party to pick one of these for belt or button hole, — but the flowers lived on, even though unpicked and uncared for. Following the uneven paths, that led under a white arch, covered with roses, I came to the stable. There were the large doors, through which so many shining car- riages had been drawn by carefully groomed horses, to the door of the mansion. I fol- lowed the winding path that the horses had trod to the entrance, and turned for a last look at this southern mansion and grounds. — Emily Boody, ' 20. A SOUTHERN PLANTATION FACTS OF THE DRAFT OF 1917 In one of my strolls, one warm after- noon in July, I came upon a grass filled old road, which seemed to invite me on to see what secrets of olden days it possessed. Fol- lowing this road, I passed by fields and woods where the birds were twittering and scolding. Turning a corner, I came upon a large southern mansion with its acres of land, and its many buildings. The end of the grounds next to the road was inclosed by a high stone wall, with a large iron gate thrown open in front. The grass had grown around this gate and dirt from many storms had washed against it. I entered and Nothing has done more towards winning the war, than the passage of the Selective Service Law. Hundreds of thousands of men have been sent overseas to do their part in winning this world conflcit. During the Civil War, a modified con- scription bill passed Congress, and was in effect for a period of two years, but this could hardly be called a success. Men in this draft could escape it by the payment of bounties or hiring substitutes, which really tended to make it a means for add- ing inducements to volunteers. It was re- ceived throughout the country with an ill grace of riot and protest. It resulted in 16

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with food and rations, and paying tribute to his nation. The Kaiser had been in this long sleep during four years, and when he awoke and found that his ambition should be made of sterner stuff, he threw up his hands and turned his empire over to the Allies. Let us conclude that ambition cannot be used as a toy to be played with, but must be used as a tool to further the welfare of man- kind. — Francis Maguire, ' 19. THE BLACK CAT THE LANGUAGE OF THE TWO AMERICAS I wonder if, when we are speaking this language which we use now in America, we realize that there have been twelve hundred languages spoken in the two Americas. This number setnio very largj to us when we think of the few that are taken up in the schools. The many tribes in these two countries have changed their vocabularies, but the identical method of putting words together has survived without any change. One striking characteristic is the frequency of long words, which is illustrated by the Az- tec word, used for letter postage — amat- locuilolitquit catlaxtlahuilli , the literal meaning of which is, the payment received for carrying a paper on which something is written. By comparing and classifying, this great number of languages has been put together in a few great groups: the Tumeh group covers the northern part of the Rocky Mountains; the Aztec group has its seat in Central America and in Central Mexico; the Maya group has its seat in Central America and Yucatan; the Appalachian tribes include all those with whom the Eng- lish and French first came in contact from the Atlantic to the basin of the Mississippi, and also the tribes of the northern part of South America; and finally the Amazonian tribes occupy a large part of South Ameri- ca. So when you have one of those lessons in English grammar which seems to be so difficult, just think what it might be if those numerous languages hadn ' t been grouped together; then you will realize that the lesson isn ' t half so bad and can be done very easily with only a little good concen- tration and thought. — Margaret Anderson, ' 19. She was small and haggard looking. Her countenance revealed jealousy, wickedness, and ruthlessness. She possessed weird ways and owned a small garden patch upon which she fared. It was a question wheth- er she was half-witted, or whether she had a sound mind. She doubted everybody, and judged them most foully. The neighbors frowned, and looked upon her with suspi- cion and awe. Black Cat, as the neighbors called her, lived with a girl whom she had lured from her former home. This small girl was called Owlet. The old witch educated her in the rudest way, teaching her to deceive, lie, and abuse the surrounding inhabitants. The two gardened all day, and roamed about the country during moonlight nights, listening to the fro gs, owls, and plaintive cries of distressed birds. The old witch was dreaded by all in the village. She and Owlet would meander, toward dusk, along dusty roads, scaring children to such a degree that they ' d flee, dropping their parcels or whatever they were carrying. This was one way in which she managed to live. Often times she ' d procure a gun, put on a slouch hat, and would, with wizzled face, scare berry-pick- ers, who with great terror and shrill cries ran like idiots through the dense forest, leaving berries, pails, or clothing for Black Cat. She chuckled to herself, gathered them up and waited for her next attack. It was no wonder that she was feared. Peo- ple would run past dark places on the road while the howls of the wind added to their terror. When they heard a snake gliding through the dry leaves or were startled by a toad, they ' d let out smothered shrieks. If Black Cat were in the bushes, she ' d stick out her head, moan sorrowfully, and she de- lighted in watching her victims hurry on. One of her most evil doings occurred on a dreary night while rain was falling heavi- ly. Previous to the storm the crows trav- elled in flocks, swine squealed, frogs croaked, and winds moaned. The person whom she intended to in- trude upon this night was a kindhearted Irish lady, who lived beside her. Black Cat ' s purpose was to get, with the aid of Owlet, the woman ' s treasures. She made plans with the girl and finally set out across the open space between the two houses. The Irish lady feared staying alone that 15

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the actual conscription of 46,347 men out of 776,829 men drafted for service. These are reasons why people saw a total failure of the Selective Service Law, which was enacted by Congress on May 18, 1917. However, in the eighteen days interven- ing May 18 and June 5, a great adminis- trative machine was set up. The governors of states, mayors, and officials of the coun- ties were called upon to help. The system they set up comprised 4,000 registration boards with over 12,000 members, employ- ing registrars, and assistants to the num- ber of 125,000. In one day the entire male population, between the age limits, presented itself at enrollment booths with a registered result of nearly 10,000,000 names. Within forty- eight hours practically complete registra- tion returns had been assembled by tele- graph, in Washington. On July 20, by a great central lottery in Washington, the first national quota of 687,000 men was drawn. By September 1, the Selective Ser- vice System was ready to deliver to the cantonments, a total of 180,000 selected men. The total cost of the Selective Service System to the United States, was $5,211,- 965.38, a cost of $.54 per registrant. The cost of a man accepted averaged $4.93. The cost per man called was $1.69. The cost per man per quota due was $7.59. This lat- ter in Massachusetts was $6.02. There is nothing more to the credit of the United States than the thoroughness and efficiency which was shown in the great task for which it was totally unprepared. — Gardner Clemons, ' 19. A DREAM One night I was going home down Al- bion street, with a friend. We arrived at the comer of Albion and Railroad streets and stopped to say a few parting words. Just then we heard a lot of talking and listening a minute, we decided it came from the Corner Market Store. Then be- coming excited and leaping upon the steps, I opened the door and entered followed by my friend. We found to our amazement the whole store in an uproar. First, we tried to calm the combatants, but the attempt was useless; then we tried to find out how the argument began, and the only one who could give us any infor- mation was the fairy in fairy soap, and the story that she told is as follows: It seems there were two old hams hang- ing on the wall and they began to discuss who would be sold first, and they made so much noise that a couple of Cold Shoulders who decided to get fresh, told them to keep quiet Then the four began to argue and this resulted in waking up the hammer who was asleep in the tool chest; he was so mad he threw saivdust in the potatoes ' eyes and finished by knocking the heads off of the nails. The saw could not bear to see the hammer treat his friends this way, so he came down from the hook on the wall, and walked around angrily showing his teeth. He ran into the mule from Borax City, who became so excited that he kicked the umbrella and broke three of its ribs. We arrived just as the cheese, who was very strong, was carrying the umbrella out of the back door. Then the plane tried to smooth things down, and when he failed, the sandpaper tried the same thing, but also failed. Then we decided to call the police, who upon their arrival, asked help from the broom.,, the Gold Dust Twins and the Woman in the Old Dutch Cleanser and in about one hour they had everything cleaned up, and the store was ready for business. I suppose you are all wondering what became of the umbrella. It was sent to the hospital and had its ribs set, and later I had a letter saying it would be out the next good rainstorm. — Francis Maguire, ' 19. A SKETCH OF OUR SCHOOL Eaton ' s History of Reading, says, It is a source of credit to the town of South Reading that it was disposed to establish a high school so early in its municipal course The high school was started in this town in 1845 under the name of South Reading High School, and its first principal was James F. Blackington of Attleborough, Mass. This institution first met in the old South Reading Academy building which the town bought in 1847. The school house stood on Academy Hill where the Lincoln School is now. It may be of interest to note that this building is the present Grand Army hall. In 1860 a three-years ' course was arranged and the pupils were divided into three classes. In 1863 the first class, numbering twelve received their diplomas, which were provided by Cyrus Wakefield, 17