Waltham High School - Mirror Yearbook (Waltham, MA)

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Class Histor f, 1916 HELEN HUFFSES IFTI-I AYENLIE was rayed in the fashions gloriously ar- of early sum- mer. and Broadway. blazing with light and color. announced the latest Follies But it was not the lure of the Great XVhite VX'ay that had brought me from my home to little old New York. Indeed. as I sat cown to rest in Central Park, l could not at iirst recall just why I had come. Then I remembered. The cause of my ap- pearance in the great Metropolis had been an anonymous invitation urging me. a former member of lX'altham High School, class of IQI6. to attend an an- niversary performance at the greatest motion picture theatre in New more, as a member of the glorious class of York. Further- IQI6,-I was entitled toa reserved seat in the balcony for the muniiicent sum of one jitney. XYas it any wonder that l hastened on my way with little thought of sightseeing in New York 7' Upon reaching my destination. I gazed in awe and admiration at the magnificent thea- tre and then-my eye fell upon the owner's name in blazing letters. and I no longer wondered as to the writer of that anony- mous invitation. I had long ago heard that Mr. XYard had given up the lot of the poor school-teacher for a more lucrative position in that field of his one-time delight, the moving pictures, but until now I had not real- ized to what fame he had risen. I was debating upon the subject when I heard a stentorian voice issuing orders from the lobby. and I hastened inside to greet my former English instruc- tor. Mr. Ward. He was directing the raising of posters announcing as the next days thrilling masterpiece. The Hor- rible Haiiucinations of Helen in twenty-three reels. and well-knowing how stupendous his task. I passed on. taking my place in the gallery just in time to rea-'l the title of a special four-reel production. The His- tory of the Class of Nineteen Sixteen. At 5 that moment the orches- ef tra struck up. The XYearing of the Green. but the music was drowned by such a rousing cheer that I looked about nie. half expecting to see the team coming trotting onto the stage: in- stead I heard a chorus of familiar voices. and turning. recognized scores of friends and classmates. There was scarcely time for greetings before our attentions were drawn to the screen and we saw ourselves as others had seen us. on a certain September morning in the year nineteen-twelve. Such angelic innocence as was pictured in those 214 faces' .Xnd the Green Grass Grew All .Xround. proclaimed the orchestra. most z-ppropriately. Truly the grass had been green that morning. but of the mildest tint compared with the greenness of that fresh- man band.

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PROPHFCY ers and went to sleep and did not wake until Geolhfrion, our postman. rang the bell the next morning. XYheu l got down stairs there was a package for nie, about six by nine by one and a half and it bore a Canadian stamp. l opened it and found a battered Copy of Maxi' 's book and an explanatory letter froin Phila Mills. This book. she wrote, fell .11 the front walk a month ago and it nearly hit Lola Nelson, who is living with nie while she reeuper- W4 Rx n- Q, FV- ates from her last sickness A postcard alzlreegsed to you was inside, probably lor a hook mark. NYrite me whether or not it is yours and tell me something about XYalthain, and then the letter went on and told of the beautiful Saskatche- wan Spring, l,ola's returning health and envling with an invitation to all l9l6 peo- ple to eonie to visit her if they ever passed through or sailed over her country. K -50 07 4: 9, bl 1 1 Q x E 14 Q1 1 Y xl 5 -' 4 X dn N ' n 0 6 5 0 9 .BM HL' Z'7 Ea

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H H ISTORY NVe had left our homes, stiflly immaculate in-our gingham dresses or consciously proud of our tirst long trousers. Wie left with eager steps and scornfnl glances at such of those sophomore friends as had magnani- mously olfered to --see that we got there safely Y And then we had arrived. had tried to saunter unctincernedly about among our friends in the upper classes until, totally ignored by dignified seniors, humiliated by condescencling juniors and tortured beyond endurance hy those worse than senseless things. the sophs, we had crept back to home and mother. chastened but by no means subdued. No wonder we had had in our hearts a feeling of genuine sympathy for Miss XYhit- ing and Mr. Tonkiu. who joined our teach- ing force about this time. lYe recalled the many horrifying blunders of those first days of school. remembered how we girls had searched distractedly for our coats in the boys' dressing-room. and how we had been warned from the public press not to appear upstairs in bloomers. lfow manv times we had mistaken our study periods for recitations. or, worse still. had sauntered absently into a class-room filled with grinning sophomores! lint these embarrassing mistakes had become less fre- quent as time went on. And as the days had passed, so passed the pictures on the screen before us. Qnce again we saw the assembly hall as it had first appeared to our wondering eyes. Me saw. too. the line of lidgeting nnfortunates. who. having missed the rush seats, stood with flaming cheeks and down-cast eyes be- fore the scrutiny of the upper classmeu. Tlien came a change of scene and we started with delight as we saw ourselves within the peaceful confines-of Room 5. It was a Special llelp period and everyone was bendinff over his books. To be sure. all N were not text-books. but silence reigned. and that was saying a great deal for Room 5. Then all of a sudden. the silence broke, As an aeroplane Hew down: A nd no one knew from whence it came , Fave innocent Ringo Towne. At that moment the hgures seemed to diminish in size and we realized that Mr. Hodge had iixed his eagle eye upon the culprit,-hence the shrinkage. XYe next saw a view just outside the room, where Marion Gill and Mildred Neill were receiving special help from two manly sophomores. At sight of this fa- miliar scene. someone whispered, Special Help-them was the happy days Y And the words were echoed by a reminiscent sigh. l .lust then the recess bell sounded and as we saw the little group who remained at their desks, we could almost hear Elliot Rutter lnim softly, The hours I spent with thee, Mr. Hodge. ' 1 The next picture called to mind those happy periods spent with Miss Seabury in the mastering of Latin verbs. while a moment later the scene changed, and as we heard a familiar voice inquire- plus or minus F some of us shuddered, remember- ing our Waterloo. At this juncture was shown most appro- priately. a group of cheerful faces whose very optimism proclaimed them members ofthe famous Bone-head Division with slow but sure its motto. It was said that the loss. at promotion time. of a large ma- jority of this class was the cause of Miss Frosts resignation the following year. And when we think of the delight and amuse- ment afforded our teachers by the bone- headsf' we wonder that all did not resign. Fortunately. however, they did not, for what a calamity it would have been had we missed the study of physics and Mr. l1urke's jokes! The next Hash on the screen brought to mind the time that Charlie Qlney had bequeathed to our physics class a mag- nificent. though slightly worn. green silk petticoat. to be used for experiments. since our teacher agreed that education should come before the Salvation Army.