Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

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12 THE CRIMSON AND GRAY desire to rescue was rather a joke. If the boy would keep his wish to himself, all would be well, but he continually repeated, When I rescue some lives. Jim never knew how it really happened, but the general alarm sounded and off they all rushed to the fire. Flames were streaming from the windows and openings of the large apartment house. Crowds were gathered for blocks around, watching the blaze. A loud scream rent the air just as Hook and Ladder Company No. 8 reached the scene. My baby, my baby ! I had her beside me, but she ' s gone ! Such was the piteous wail of a poor mother with her little ones grouped around her. The Fire Chief, in white, walked over to Captain Joe and asked for a volunteer, and said, Give me a young man, a brave man, the best you ' ve got. Old Joe turned to Jim: Here ' s your chance, lad, good luck. Jim ran up the lad- der, and climbed into a window, not yet reached by the blinding flames. No one knew how the smoke felt to the eyes of this coura- geous young lad. He fought his way to the basinet just as it seemed that the flames would lap it. He grasped the precious bun- dle in his arms, but on looking around dis- covered that the red tongues had cut off his escape by the same window he had entered. Out a door he went and into another room not quite so devastated. By means of his hatchet, he managed to get out upon the fire- escape. There was a net ready for him and the baby. With a prayer, the lad closed his eyes and jumped for his life. Then all was black — . When Jim Brown opened his eyes he was sitting in the old morris chair in Station 8. Where am I? Is the baby alive? were the first questions the ambitious fire-fighter asked. Old Joe, who was sitting by the window roared out in his deep bass What? Jim rubbed his eyes; as he did so Hook and Ladder No. 7 thundered past. Guess it was a false alarm, said Joe. Why — Why — where ' s the baby? I don ' t under- stand it at all, Jim stuttered. No, you don ' t seem to. You ' ve been talk- ing in your sleep, too, this from Joe. But what day is it and how did I get here? asked Jim. You came in to work as usual. By thun- der, boys, this is a good one ! and Old Joe called the other men who joined in his laughter. At last it dawned on Jim that he had been dreaming — and he had expected a gold medal at least. Now, years after when Captain James Brown finds a too eager young fire-fighter among his men, he tells the story of an am- bitious young life-saver he knew. Edna C. Pinsonneault, 30 KNIGHTS OF LINDBERGH Brethren, at our next meeting we will elect our annual officers. With these part- ing words, I close the meeting for today. One, (bang!) two, (bang!) three, (bang!). The meeting is adjourned. At the third stroke of the potato masher on the soap box, the meeting of the Knights of Lindbergh came to a close and its illus- trious members gathered outside of the small shack which was used as a club house. There were four members in this sacred order of Knights. In order that affairs might run more smoothly, each member was given an office. Therefore this organization had a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer and a Secretary. Slump was the president. He was freckled, (much to his disgust) a good sport, but the high office of President had slightly gone to his head and he privately mourned the fact that his office was nearing its end. Plump, vice president, and as his name signifies was not what may be termed sylph- like. If, however, this may be called a han- dicap it had its advantages. He always oc- cupied the one and only rocking chair in the club house as the remainder of the fur- niture was not considered in proper con- dition to bear up under his weight. He also held the contents of the treasury in his chubby fists during the time when the treas- urer was making up his accounts, as he was the only one from the remaining three who did not have the ability to run away at an inopportune time. The treasurer was Bump. He held this

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY 11 of Abraham Lincoln looks out over the water of Lake Michigan and its long beach. People bathing in the heart of the city? Unheard of! But there they were, great crowds of them covering the beach and the lawns of the park. Now we realized why we had seen so many people in bathing clothes down in the business district going in and out of de- partment stores, on all bus tops and even into the hotels. The municipal beach re- ceives thousands of bathers daily. With a feeling almost akin to pity I looked at the gray, distinctly dirty water and thought of the blue Atlantic with its tang of salt. At this point we stopped to look at the clear cut skyline where the tall hotels, office buildings, and apartment houses were out- lined exquisitely. Now that my desire has been gratified I have changed my impression of Chicago for it seemed no more wicked than most of our other large cities and I feel rather disap- pointed for I secretly longed to see some show of the notorious gun wars. Kathleen Burns, ' 30 THE SHORTAGE OF LUMBER IN THE UNITED STATES The United States as a nation is suffering from the great lumber shortage. Due to the lack of protection we are feeling the need of lumber. The people have not taken care of the trees and so they see what the result is from their carelessness. The government has taken upon itself to start protecting the trees. In most of the states the government now has forest re- servations, where trees are planted and taken care of. There are lookout stations which are situated on a high altitude where men watch day and night to see if any fires are destroying the trees. If they do locate a fire they take all possible means of preventing its spreading and stopping it. You can travel along any highway in the west as well as in the east and see the bar- ren track of land that has been deprived of its beauty. Usually the cause of trees being burned is the work of some careless person who happened to throw the stub of his ciga- rette on some dry leaves or who left a camp- fire burning. Disease destroys thousands of acres of forests. An example of this is the insect which breeds on the gooseberry and current bush and is attracted to the roots of the firs and destroys the trees completely. Another cause is the waste of lumber in the cutting and preparing it for market. The people need the lumber so badly that they cut the young trees which are not fully grown. If the trees were left to mature they would produce twice as much as when young. The decrease of the forest is the cause of so many floods in the United States. The trees bind the soil together and hold the moisture in the earth thus preventing the rise of water into a flood. The shortage of lumber has raised the cost about two thirds of the original price. None realize the shortage so much as the furniture and box manufacturers. They have to import much lumber to satisfy their needs and as a result of this, prices have to be raised. Some people do not realize the value of the trees beside the commercial use. The trees not only beautify a place but also puri- fy the air. As a whole the people are recognizing the fact and are doing what is in their power to better the conditions of the forests. Gertrude Schwartzberg, ' 31 AMBITION Clang ! Clang ! Whiz-z-z ! Down the streets tore the huge red monster. Steam spouting from its nose, and its huge silver mouth jubilant in noise, proclaimed the message — Fire! To Jim Brown, sitting at the window of Station 8 watching the truck from No. 7 go thundering by, every one of the well- known sounds sent a thrill of expectation through his young body. Never yet had the young man rescued a human life, for in his eight months of service he had been con- fined solely to the extinquishing of the fires. Suppose a general alarm is sounded, said the boy to Old Joe, the gray haired veteran. Don ' t be looking for trouble lad, you ' ll be having your name printed for bravery soon enough, was the answer. To the older men Jim ' s somewhat eager

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY 13 office merely because he was the only mem- ber who could add without the aid of his fingers. Bump was the smallest and live- liest member. He was the leader in pranks and had a never ending- source of bright ideas with which he kept his associates amply supplied. The last member, and consequently sec- retary, was Rump. He was a new arrival from England but as the treasurer ' s funds enlarged, he had found it impossible to be secretary and treasurer and had therefore admitted Rump as secretary. He possessed a good hand for penmanship and thus was extremely useful in decorating the club house and making numerous signs and notices. Do you know, I ' m quite fond of politics. My Dad says that when I was born I had President written right on my face, said Slump. Yeah! Maybe you did, but I guess it went out of existence when your freckles came in, was Bump ' s mumbled addition. Well, my mothaw says, — began Rump. ' Say fellows, said Plump, what are you all standing here talking about what your mothers say, like a bunch of girls. Let ' s take what our conscience says for a change. Mine says that I ' m badly in need of nourish- ment. So over they trooped to the drug store of which Plump ' s father was proprietor. After consuming two ice cream sodas apiece, they trooped out. Say fellows ! said Bump. See that old fence over there of Pereival Highbrow ' s? Well let ' s get a can of green paint and a can of red and one of yellow. We ' ll paint the whole thing green and then put some red and yellow decorations on it. Suiting their actions to Bump ' s words, they set out for home after paint and brush. Soon four small boys in overalls could be seen splashing paint in large dobs on the old fence. It may be added that there was as much on themselves as on the fence. After continued labor in silence, due to the fact that there was considerable fear of getting paint in their mouths if they talked, the task was completed. Well boys, said Bump, I call that a good start, but wait till we get the decora- tions on. Then it ' ll be worth looking at. What do you say we lie down for a while? It ' s 0. K. with me, said Plump. I never was much on standing up long at a time. Time passed and as it passed the boys dropped into the sleep of the just while waiting for the paint to dry. As the clock struck five, the four boys awoke with a start and lo and behold! There was Pereival Highbrow himself viewing the recent paint- ing. Well, I swan, said he. This is the first time I ever saw you boys do anything that amounted to anything. I ' ve been going to have this fence painted for quite a while but I haven ' t got around to it. Guess I ' ll have to give you a little something for doing- it for me. Having said this, he thrust a five dollar bill into the hands of the nearest Knight and went into the house, still mumbling, Well, ' I swan! The president of the Knights was the first to recover from the shock of being paid for what was intended for a bad deed. Well, Knights, said he, I make a mo- tion that Bump, whose idea it was to paint this fence, be made President of the sacred order of Knights of Lindbergh. Amen, agreed the other two voters. Doris Claflin, ' 30 KISMET One bright fall morning a letter reached the offices of the firm, Abbott and Anderson, lawyers. This letter said that : — Frank Hall ivished to look over the farm of the late Nathan Robinson with the view of buying it. A friend of his, a Mr. Brooks, was going to meet him to- morrow at the farm and they would go through it. Would the lawyer kindly give Mr. Brooks the enclosed letter, which contained directions for reaching the house, and the key when he called for it at five o ' clock the next day? Above all would they please stress the neces- sity of getting there as soon as possible. This house had been left to David Robin-