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

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DECEMBER 1934 Coach Casey, after viewing him in action, kept him on the team. The first game found him installed as a part of the heating sys- tem on the bench. Polly did his job well but not better than the Varsity, which, gain- ing power and confidence in every game, was emulating last year ' s undefeated team. In mid-November Polly became conspicuous for something other than football. He was more than mildly interested in a certain freshman, Pauline Winters. His teammates, hearing of it, subjected him to a good old- fashioned riding which left him blushing with rage and jealousy— jealousy especially, for some of the varsity had announced that she was very good-looking and that they were go- ing to make a break for her. When practice time arrived the next day, he dressed, and, going on the field glimpsed several glimpses of the Varsity backfield, plus two linemen, busily talking to a girl whose clear laugh and animated gestures Polly recognized even at that long distance. It was SHE! Polly ' s jealousy and strength increased tenfold. In scrimmage he crashed the inter- ference with great disregard for his person, hitting the running guard so hard that the latter asked Polly to show a little respect for his gray hairs. Polly also blocked two kicks and so hurried the Varsity passers that not one aerial thrust was successful. After practice this gained a few words of praise for him from Coach Casey. That night at a blackboard talk, the coach said, Men, we ' ve lost four players because of quarterly marks. We have only two games left. Tomorrow ' s with Broadwood is the im- portant one. A victory for us means that we practically clinch the state championship. We ' ve got to win! Gagnon! You ' re starting at left end in place of Trainor who is ineligi- ble. His voice droned on naming the other starting players. The miniature bowl in which the Eastbrook team played was a sea of waving banners the next afternoon. The sun shone down benev- olently from a cloudless, blue sky on ten thousand students and old grads. Meanwhile, after preliminary practice, Polly, sitting nervously on the bench, only half hearing the coach ' s instructions, caught sight of the foot- ball-mad crowd and turned away shuddering. Polly was frightened and sick before this, his first starting game. Hampton, an all-state teammate, grinned at him sardonically, Not scared, are you Polly? he asked. Then de- liberately bating him, Guess who I ' ve got a date with to-night? Shut up, snapped Billy so savagely that Hampton shied back. Only asbestos could have cooled Polly off as he awaited the kick- off on the field. He had forgotten his fear, the crowd, and everything except his anger. At the opening whistle Polly ran down the field like a streak and tackled the enemy ball- carrier so hard that he knocked him back three feet. Two shots at Polly ' s side of the line decided the offensive team to kick. Billy waited tensely on the scrimmage line, watch- ing the ball. When it was snapped back, he charged in ferociously and, leaping, crashed into the ball and then into the punter with such force that both sprawled on the ground. Polly bounded quickly to his feet, and, cover- ing the ball, was buried by a mob of players. It was Eastborough ' s ball on their opponents ' thirty-yard line! Hike! Hike! An off-tackle smash! Polly hit the opposing tackle with all his strength; the wingbacks did the same and the tackle was driven completely out of the play! A gain of ten yards! A short pass with Polly on the receiving end! Hampton was so hurried by the enemy ends that he threw wildly! Polly leaped up, caught it in one hand and spun, twisted, and slashed his way toward the goal line with an opponent hold- ing on! Touchdown! The try for the point with the crowd roaring! Kick-formation called with Hampton back! Plunk! Leather hit leather to send the ball twirling over the crossbar! 7 to o in favor of Eastborough . . . Neither side scored again in the first quarter as Polly showed clearly that he was the best player on the field.

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY The discovery of the screw propeller was a great step in the improvement of the steam boat. It made greater speeds possible and it was not as easily broken as the paddle-wheel. Without the screw, the huge liners of today would be impossible. The present liners have up to sixty thou- sand tons draft, as compared to one or two tons in the earliest vessels. To give an idea of the speed, the earliest route from Egypt to Greece, covering six hundred and ten miles, took six days to travel, or at that rate it would take thirty days to cross the Atlantic, a distance covered by the modern de-luxe liner in five days. In the not far distant future, passenger travel will probably be made by airplane and dirigible, but it will be many years before freight traffic will take to the air. Though the latest inventions have brought to sailing, comfort, luxury and smoothness, the thrill of the. sea must always cling to the old days of adventure before the mast, when wind and wave and the ingenuity of man struggled for the victory. Lynd F. Tillyer, ' 37 SHIPS TO THE WORLD Instrumental in the development of the human race, the ship is outstanding. Man, dating back to the Stone Age, early learned to use this means of transportation and communication. From a log, the earliest stage of a ship, to a massive hulk of steel shaped and fashioned into one of the crack present day liners embodying all the refine- ments and equipment of a modern hotel is the progress made. In between the initial and final stages came the raft, the dugout, the Greek, Roman, and Viking craft manned by oars, and the Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese sailing vessels of the 15th— 18th centuries. Ships have, without doubt, immeasurably hastened the development of the human race. Imagine for a moment the state of despair in the world if it were suddenly deprived of this necessity. International commerce would be annihilated. Civilization would suffer a severe setback, especially in those countries not fully civilized. Poverty and suffering would surely take a sudden leap, more so, in countries dependent on others for most of their food supply. Each country, or countries bordering each other, would have to take measures of becoming self sustaining and sup- porting, of course having to do without many of the articles, products, and conditions to which they were accustomed. Furthermore, and far from improbable, the world would nowhere near approach the stage of devel- opment it has now attained. Also, it is safe to state that we would have no Columbus, no Caesar, no Washington, no North America, no South America, Australia or Africa were it not for the ship and its important role in the events of the world. When one reads a few of the many books relating to ships, it is then, if that person stops for a moment to meditate, that the full real- ization of the ship and its importance to the world dawns upon his understanding. Al- though the development of air travel will tend, finally, to supplant the ship as a major means of transportation, the ship will, never- theless, never become entirely obliterated. Walter Remian ' 35 THE RISE OF A BENCH-WARMER ■V 7ILFRED Gagnon was an end— not much of an end, but still an end on theEasE- borough High School Football Team, the champions of the state. His was an awkward figure especially oh the football field. He measured only five feet five inches in height and tipped the scales at a mere one hundred twenty pounds. It was on account of his face that his teammates dubbed him Apollo. Unluckily this was short- ened to Polly by which hated handle he was forewith hailed. However bad his playing was, he did not lack courage— attempting again and again to stop the plays sent around his end with crushing finesse which left him reeling, bat- tered, and bruised.

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Second quarter! Broadwood recovered a fumble at the very outset and, with steam- roller power, marched up the field into the shadow of the Eastborough goalposts. There the Eastborough line tightened and three successive times threw back the Broad- wood ballcarriers for losses 1 . . . Fourth down! Eighteen yards to go! A pass! Polly charged in, leaped desperately in a vain effort to block the pass which was caught by a Broadwood end standing across the goalline! Touchdown! A roar from throats already raw from shouting swept down the field like the North Wind! Broadwood lined up in kick- formation. Hike! Polly rushed in, evading the fullback and jumped high, with his arms extended, before the place-kicker to receive the ball squarely on the temple! A galaxy of stars flashed before Polly ' s vision as he fell into a dark bottomless pit. Liniment-laden air and water leaking from a sponge onto his face brought him back from dreamless sleep to a consciousness of a throbbing head. How is he, Doc? he heard Coach Casey in- quire anxiously. He is quite all right save for a headache. Bring him to my office tomorrow, said the doctor. Did we win, Coach? asked Polly weakly. Sure, Polly, your blocking that kick won the game for us, said the coach. Then with a twinkle in his eye, There ' s someone out- side who wants to see you. Then he ordered some of the players in the locker-room who were crowding around Polly, congratulating him, to help him change. After wearily putting on his clothes Polly slowly walked out of the building and . . . met her on the steps! Wilfred, you ' re not ingry at me are you? she inquired anxiously, then added quickly, are you hurt? Billy slowly shook his head from side to side. She was smiling as they walked away to- gether. Lionel Proulx ' 36 ART THOU? TN THIS day and age of which the elders speak so disparagingly, our attention is con- stantly brought to bear upon numerous sub- jects of a cultural nature, one of them being ART. Now, when this insignificant three- letter word is impressed upon your mind, you invariably think of the Venus de Milo, rich old portraits, or natural scenes of pastoral life. But today such reactions are definitely passe and decidedly inartistic! Art in the twen- tieth century is something radical, something indefinable, something bizarre! If you will closely examine the accompanying rare speci- men of art, you may glean an inkling as to just what you are to recognize as ART in order to be a well-educated citizen of the United States. The title of this inspiring work is Life, although if Life is anything like that, we ' re quite willing to give it up right now. The first object at the left certainly resembles an overgrown layercake but we shall suppose it is a ship on the rocks. The dainty creature in the gym-suit is probably searching for the young lady whose features are so generously sprinkled over the canvas. She is evidently all broken up over something— probably either the shipwreck or her lover ' s dangerous pose. The pine-clad mountains which rise so abruptly from the depths of the sea are a sym- bol of something, probably Faith, Hope, or Charity, while the moon and stars typify the (Continued on Page 10)