Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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W is for Wakefield with high school so grand, A is for Athletics for which we all stand. K is for Knowledge which we all love to show, E is for English which we all have to know. F is for Failures of which there are few, I is for Idlers; they are scarce, too. E is for Energy with which we all work, L is for Lessons which we never shirk. D is for Debater, the pride of each heart. And never from memory shall it depart. ELIZABETH FINDLAY, ' 29. LABELS By Majar A. Hamilton Gibbs Labels deals with the reaction of war upon a certain English family. Each member of this family has experienced a different phase of the struggle; consequently, there is little sympathy and understanding among them. Sir Thomas had been knighted for his noble work, and had saved the government money in the exchange. As a result, he had reaped a comfortable fortune for himself. Believ- ing he had experienced the war, he felt he understood. Mater, as the children called her. was much too devoted to her husband to dispute his opinion. Because Tom had been an honorable ob- jector to war, he had been thrown into a prison camp. He was not by any means a coward; consequently he had taken his pun- ishment courageously. For him, there was the great ordeal of facing Society as a disgrace and an outcast from an honorable family. Dick, who had won a captaincy, was the pride of the family. However, he was restless and discontented. It was only through his sister, who had served as a nurse in France, that he found actual sympathy. In spite of tlie breach between Tom and Dick , he re- mained a loyal and devoted brother. Dick and Captain Blaike, an American who later married Dick ' s sister, had decided that the labels were all wrong. They actually felt that they, who had suffered in the fight, were so far advanced from the rest of the civilized world, that it would be quite impos- sible for them to live the normal, matter-of- fact life of others. It was only in Blaike ' s sister, Virginia, that Dick at last found free- dom from himself. PAULINE FINDLAY, ' 27. MADAME CLAIRE A fragile little old lady is Lady Gregory or Madame Claire, as she is called by her grandchildren, Judy and Noel. A most fas- cinating character, a spectator almost, she has lived her life and is now content to watch others live theirs. She has three children and two grandchildren in whom we are greatly interested. Her oldest daughter, Millieent, is married, and spends the greater part of her time seeking a suitable man for Judy to wed. Madame Claire ' s son, Eric, has had the mis- fortune to marry a girl who, deep down in her heart really loves him, but who is jealous of all other men and women who praise Eric. Madame Claire ' s youngest daughter, Connie is the black-sheep of the family. She has been very unfortunate in her matrimonial ex- perience. At Cannes her last husband. Count Chiozzi, is fast gambling away what money Connie has left. There is one other character who must be mentioned, a dear friend of Madame Claire, Stephen de Lisle. He had proposed to her after her husband ' s death, and because she re- fused him, he had gone to southern France in anger. The plot develops around these characters, each one experiencing his own particular joys and sorrows. There is one person in whom everyone confides; her kindness, her human sympathy and understanding, her sense of hu- mor, her optimism and contentment with life, all go to make up that exquisite lady, Madame Claire. MURIAL, EMERY, ' 27. OUT OF THE FOG Out of the fog Upon tlie Great Banks Wliere tlie fishing fleet goes. There suddenly appears A great liner. Which looms Gigantic Over a small vessel. Which is in its path. The liner goes on, And, where the fishing vessel once was. There is nothing But the fog. KOCCO GIAQUINTA, ' 28. 22

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He battled on with all his might, Emerged a victor from the fight, By using mankind ' s blessed right to Try again ! BEETHA LINDSAY, ' 28. SMILE When everything ' s gone wrong with you And all your friends seem lost, When you need help the most, just like The ship that ' s tempest-tossed; When all day long you ' ve done things wronj And life itself you dread; Just stand right up with- hopes anew — With courage look ahead. Just smile a bit and tell yourself You won ' t give up tlie fight. And soon you ' ll have yourself convinced Things are to be all right. Whenever things go wrong with you, Ileniember that a smile Will help a lot to lirighten things, And make your life wortli while. EMILY WENGEN, ' 27. THE OLD FARM Two bent forms stood at the gate before a low, rambling farm house. The figures were those of a farmer and his wife who were say- ing a last farewell to the place which had been home to them for many years. It was hard, indeed, for them to say good-bye to the home to which they had come when first they had been married, and to the broad fields they had loved so well. There had been a time when the fruit and flowers had depended upon the care of the little old lady, and the grass and grain had been tended by the snowy-haired man. But now what a change had come ! Why, it seemed as if the little farm no longer needed them. One new invention after another had replaced the old methods. The old farmer was saying to his wife, The windmill i umps the water and churns the butter now. The sheep are sheared by motor and the horses are clipped in the same man- ner. Even the old hen ' s place is taken by the incubator. And the dear old lady answered, Yes, and the mail is left at the door by the delivery man so that you have no longer any excuse to linger in the village store and chat with your friends and neighbors. We telephone for our groceries, which are delivered by a truck in a very short time. Somebody has sold you a new device by which you may cook without a fire. We light the house and barn by electricity and there ' s even a machine to milk the cows. Do you remember, dear, how I used to can the berries every summer? The canning factory takes care of them now. The pleas- ure of mowing the hay is now but a fragrant memory, for there are machines to cut and load the hay and stow it away in the mow. With a last, lingering glance, the couple moved down the road reflecting on the by- gone days before the farm had become so smart tliat it laughed at the two old-fashioned owners and was able to run itself. FLOEENCE BOUDEEAU, ' 29. THE ORIGIN OF AIR-FIGHTING IN THE GREAT WAR About ten years before the Great War, a French inventor and a German aviator were working together to perfect the airplane. When they w-ere beginning to reach their goal, after many years of study and toil, the Great War came, the war that shattered the hopes, not only of individuals, but also of the world ' s most powerful nations. Immediately both aviators gave their serv- . ices and planes to their respective countries. The two friends became scouts, flying above the enemy ' s lines to bring back information as to their position, supplies, reinforcements, etc. Every day the Frenchman and the Ger- man would salute each other in passing, while below, the great conflict was being waged. One day the German aviator was unable to fly over to the French lines, therefore another scout took his plane. When the two scouts. met, the Frenchman raised his hand in the customary salute. The other, misunderstand- ing the motion, fired at him. This was the- Ijeginning of fighting in the air. From that time on, one or the other would devise a better way to fire, until it became a case of hatred among the clouds as well as on the ground. When the first German scout was able to fly, h e was greatly grieved and incensed that his friend answered his salute with a shot from a gun which was attached to the side of the plane by an awkward con- trivance. Day by day, the air-gun was im- proved until the regular machine gun, which is now used, was developed. Thus two friends were estranged and, through their estrange- ment, the air battles of the Great War were begun. ELEANOE GLEASON, ' 28. 21

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THE CAMERA— DETECTIVE OF THE SKY There an- three eyes through which we cau watch tlie magnificent and mysterious spec- tacle which we call the stars, but which is really the mighty universe. One is the human eye, wliich sees only a short distance, compara- tively, and tells us almost nothing about what it does see; that is, the eye cannot make a permanent record for future reference. The second is the telescope lens, which may be so powerful that it brings the sun, moon, and stars hundreds of times nearer to us. But it is the eye of the camera, aided by the eye of the telescope, that has revealed undreamed-of marvels. During the past twenty or thirty years, the camera has contributed more than anything else to our knowledge of the uni- verse outside the planet on which we live. In the astronomical observatories there are men who have spent literally years of time sitting beside a camera, making pictures of the wonderful objects in the sky. Perhaps most of us wish we could have such an agree- able and easy occupation. It certainly seems like an easy job for the photographer, but the real story is very different. Take comets, for instance. A plate may have to be exposed for five or six hours to get such a picture, and, every second of that time, the photographer sits beside the instrument, guiding, as it is called. Through a small tube attached to the telescope, he focuses ac- curately on the head of the comet. Then, minute after minute, and often hour after hour, he sits there with his eye on the eye- piece, his fingers on the attachment that con- trols the motions of the telescope, keeping the same point of the comet from deviating a hair ' s breadth from the position it had when the exposure began. Suppose you make a bright spot on a piece of paper and try to keep your eyes fixed on it for ten minutes. Imag- ine what a strain it would be to do this for hours at a stretch. Yet even this would be less fatiguing than the strain of guiding. The astronomers themselves, as well as their photographic plates, endure exposure, though of another sort. There must be no artificial heat in the dome where a telescope is being used. If there were heat, it would cause a current of warm air to rise through the opening in front of the, telescope lens, distorting and blurring the images of the stars. Because of this, the air inside the dome is sometimes only a few degrees above zero at the cold season of the year. This shows wliat hardships the photographers endure for the sake of Science, and with what concentra- tion and alertness the astronomers pursue their work of trying to fathom the mysteries of the universe. Here is a reason why the camera is so valu- able. If you look into a telescope under favor- able conditions you will at once see the faint star or planet it reveals, but the longer you look, the less you see, because your eye grows tired. But the longer the camera looks, the more it sees. It may take an hour for it to see what your eye catches at first glimpse. Tliat is, it may take an hour for rays from an immensely distant object in space to record its image on the photographic plate. But it does not stop then, it goes on adding fainter details, which you would not see if you looked for a long time. It even reveals many ob- jects which the human eye may never see, ex- cept on the photographic plate. Moreover, it records what it sees permanently and faith- fully. These records can be kept for many years and studied by scientists all over the world, so that new records may be compared with them, to discover whether any changes have taken place. Imagine what it would mean today if astronomers two thousand years ago had been able to leave accurate photo- graphs of the heavenly bodies! If the Wise Men long ago had known about this wonder- ful process of making pictures of the stars, and could have photographed the Star of the East which they saw through their tele- scopes, we might now be nearer to solving at least one of the mysteries of the universe. In short, the camera plays the role of a great detective, watching with more than hu- man patience and endurance, and penetrating to depths of space which even the most pow- erful telescope cannot reveal. GEETRUDE REILLY, ' 28. THE ICE PATROL The Titanic catastrophe shocked the entire world. This ship sank in 1912 after a collision with an iceberg, with a loss of more than 1500 persons. A demand arose from the people of the United States and of the leading countries of Europe, for a patrol of the ice area. The Navy Department of the United States detailed two cruisers for guard duty in March of that same year and kept them in this service until the last of the bergs disappeared from the steamer lanes in late June. The following year two Coast Guard cutters were sent to carry on the patrol. 23