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

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DECEMBER, 1947 been so long since he got his last furlough, isn ' t it? Now, mom, you promised you wouldn ' t look like that every time I mentioned the service. Gee, don ' t worry, look how Bill ' s been taking care of himself and just to please you, the first time I see him, I ' ll make him promise to duck every time a bullet comes his way, how ' s that? Then a telegram arrived with its unbelievable news. At first it didn ' t seem possible but after a bit of sane calculating, the parents of Bill Broadwell came to be- lieved the unwanted truth. In Eddie ' s case, he simply wouldn ' t believe it and wouldn ' t even think about it. When the priest came to talk to him, he finally broke down and went all to pieces. The thought of having lost his only and practically inseparable brother, gave him a great urge to fight and kill. During that week of Eddie ' s unconscious wander- ings, Mr. and Mrs. Broadwell had strongly decided that they couldn ' t bear to lose their last son and were determined to do everything in their power to prevent his joining the service. Eddie, pulling him- self together, decided to join up immediately, and taking the place of his brother and carrying on where he had left off, although it was entirely against his parents ' wishes. His mother cried constantly and begged him to stay at the factory where he could be deferred because of the importance of his knowl- edge of airplanes. Still, although it worried him, Eddie was determined to do as he planned. Yes, here it was a cool bright morning but Eddie, as I said before, didn ' t see all this. His mind was too engaged with the thought that this morning was his last day at the factory and in the afternoon he would enlist. Thus, he would leave for his training base the very next day. With that in mind, Eddie should have been contented but somehow or other his thoughts were interrupted by his mother constantly begging him not to leave as Bill did. That afternoon, Eddie passed his examination and was classified as a soldier in the Air Corps. On his way home, Eddie actually found himself whistling, There ' s a man that came to my house, the song that he and Bill continuously whistled while togeth- er. He immediately stopped when he saw the hag- gard look on his mother ' s face as he entered the house. Oh, if there was only something I could say to make them understand, he thought. He ate only part of his supper and soon went to bed. Just as he was about to doze off into a troubled slumber, a low voice spoke to him, Eddie, Eddie, it called, don ' t go to sleep now, I want to talk to you. Eddie sat up in bed very abruptly. Why that sounds like Bill ' s voice only more matured and not merry like it used to be, he thought. Bill, is that you? Where are you? Let me see you? I ' m right here beside you, Eddie, and you must listen to me. Don ' t appear for induction tomorrow. You must continue your good work at the plant, understand? Bill said forcefully. But I ... ,1 have to, don ' t you see, I ' m already in. I joined up this afternoon. You ' re not in until you appear before your of- ficers tomorrow, and you must not appear. Believe me, Eddie, I know what ' s best for you. The work you ' re doing now is far more important. Don ' t you realize that you ' re saving thousands of lives with your in- ventions. Do you realize that if you had designed and completed that new rudder before today, I would be alive today? Why, what do you mean, why do you say that? I merely mean that if I had had that new rudder that could not stick on my plane, I would be alive tod ay. You see, the rudder got stuck and I couldn ' t stay out of the enemies ' target. I . . . you, Bill. No, no, Eddie, take that thought out of that blonde head of yours. You are not responsible for my death. It was fate, that ' s all. But what is important is that you must continue inventing new parts so that you may save other fives and at the same time look out for mom and dad. Your life is not your own, Eddie, it belongs to the life that is in all the other boys in the Air Corps. I must go now, but before- L go, promise me you ' ll do as I know is right. Tell me you ' ll not do as I did. Don ' t stutter, promise, promise! I . . . , I . . . , I promise. Thanks, pal. I always knew you were the better of the two of us. What Is A Tree? SHIRLEY A. DiFEDERICO ' 48 What is a tree That stands so tall and green With branches reaching out Like one Begging for love. What is a tree With soft winds Blowing its silver leaves Murmuring and whispering Sweet phrases. What is a tree Standing above you As if it has power Over you, As we have power over Some. But yet it stands With everlasting beauty Throwing light On the helpless, Giving some Strength. What is a tree? Far, Far Away PAUL WOODBURY ' 51 It will be heaven when we get there — those won- derful days when I become one of the masters, a senior. Then some freedom may be allowed to us and best of all we can think of horrible things for the poor fresh- men to do on Freshmen Week. Ah, but such days are far, far off! I have four long years ahead of me — four hard-working (maybe) years. As You Like It HARRY DESROSIERS ' 49 Of As You Like It (which I don ' t) I ' d make a comment (but I won ' t). You read this story, then you ' ll see just why it did discourage me. The book is dull and rather dreary, There are no murders to make it eerie. The only character that is good I think, Is good old Touchstone, the rest do stink, As for dear Rosalind, as the plot doth thicken, Her mushy romance makes me sicken. Even as I sit here sad and pale, This is one quarter that I will fail. Now I ' ll leave you one and all, As you are walking down the hall, For now to English class, I ' m heading — And that ' s a place I sure am dreading. That darn old book is still there waiting. Anyone here wish to go skating?

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Literature What Do I Look Forward To In High School? JOAN LAKIN ' 51 Here in high school I ' d like to accomplish things I didn ' t accomplish in grammar school. (Sort of start anew.) While I ' m busy doing this. I look forward to games where I can shout my lungs out and get rid of some of that extra energy which otherwise I ' m bound to use during some class when it doesn ' t quite fit in. Dances and socials don ' t rate second to this — no siree, not with me. High school is what I dreamed of in grammar school and I am going to make the best of it. True Love DAVID BOUDREAU ' 48 She is beautiful, about the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Her hair is blonde, soft, and lustrous. Her eyes are big and blue. Her hands are soft and pink. When I hold them, they are always warm. I love her voice; it makes me stop whatever I am doing to listen. Whenever she speaks to me, it is with all the sincerity within her. When she speaks to me, it is to me alone. On Sunday afternoons when we go walking, she always wears the black shoes and blue coat that I gave her for Christmas. I feel proud when I walk along with her, because everyone who passes by notices her and smiles. Every night when I come home from school and open the front door, she is there to greet me. Her soft arms about my neck proves she really loves me. She is the most wonderful kid sister a fellow could have. If I had one! The Strife BARBARA ST. MARTIN ' 49 There was a warrior brave and true,. A sword of steel at his coat of blue. He had seen many a bloody fight, But none as fierce as the one this night. Returning from a battle on the shores of Kree, He met a foe as brave as he. Their swords were drawn without hesitation, All others had been killed, and they held the fate of a nation. The strife went on from night till dawn, Nor did they stop at the next morn. They fought in the sun and their throats were dry, Ready to dispair they looked toward the sky. A re you curious as to who won? I ' m sorry but now my poem ' s done. Forced Decision NITA LaROCHELLE ' 49 The morning was cool — the sun had not, as yet, absorbed the dew drops that were still dancing upon the leaves. The quiet streets of Allenville seemed bright and merry. Nevertheless, Edward Broadwell could not breath in all this surrounding glow. Five years ago at about this time, the neighbors had still been complaining that the two Broadwell boys ' merry laughter at 6:30 in the morning always woke them. up. In the space of 780 days, a life time had occurred. He and his brother. Bill, had gone to enlist in the Air Corps, but on the way to the examination center at Elmbrow, they had met with an accident which left Eddie hospitalized for eight months. When he returned home quite well, but not well enough for the Air Corps, he started working at the Brooks Aircraft Factory at the opposite side of town. Since he too, like his brother, was a licensed pilot, he had a great many ideas about designing and bettering airplanes. In practically no time he was an em- ployee. Being with airplanes increased his interest to a large degree and apparently decreased his disap- pointment of not being able to be in the service. Although he never confided his thoughts to anyone, he still had hopes that some day he and his brother would again reunite as pilots serving for the United States of America. Never a day passed without Eddie spending at least two hours doing every exercise imaginable. By exercising daily, his physician had said he might be able to bring his bones into their correct position, thus making him a well man again. Night after night he could be seen in the basement, which he had turned into a gymnasium while his parents looked on admirably because he had such faith; yet they bore very hopeless expressions. Even their physician had been very doubtful of his recovery, but had encouraged Eddie so as not to put him in too low a state of mind. Finally, after six months of continuous exercising, his cramped posture had returned to its familiar posi- tion and Eddie was completely well. The first thought that entered his mind with his returned health was to enlist in the Air Corps imme- diately and hoping that some day he ' d fly with Bill. For that request he knew he could do nothing but pray for and praying had gotten his health back so Eddie couldn ' t possibly imagine why it couldn ' t bring him to his long-missed brother. Nevertheless, even though his body and mind were filled with anxiety for the Air Corps, he permitted himself to be urged into staying at the factory for another week because he had designed a new part for a P-32 and as he said, After all if I ' m going to fly a P-32 some day, 1 want to make sure that that rud- der is exactly the way I want it to be. Meanwhile, Bill had gone ahead and joined the Air Corps. It was during that long week that First Lieutenant Bill Broadwell had met with fate during his second bombing mission to Berlin. On that twen- ty-third day of |une, Eddie had remarked, Golly, mom, there ' s only three more days before I ' ll be in and then I ' ll be getting nothing but closer to Bill. It ' s

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10 THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Bacchus TOM STOUPIS ' 48 Long before the flowering of the Creek and Roman civilizations there lived in Attica a very skillful wine- maker named Timotheus — his friends called him Tim- my. Timotheus made the most potent wines in all Greece, Troy, and Persia. Timotheus wasn ' t as fortunate as one might expect, for he had three sons, Eustratius, Philopomenes, and Bacchus. Eustratius and Philopomenes were the old- er sons. These two always kept their father in debt by gambling away all his money on the chariot races. Bacchus, the youngest son, sympathized with his father for the situation his brothers had placed him in. He did all he could to help him by picking grapes in the vineyards, pressing the vintage with bare feet to extract the juice, and learning how his father made the wine. This was all well and good because together they made their expenses — that is until a new game was invented in the elephant country of Persia. This game played with a pair of small ivory cubes swept Greece like Monopoly. Eustratius and Philopomenes could be found, at any part of the day, under the shade of the grapevines rattling the ivory cubes. Oh, what could poor Timotheus do now? His money was all gone, his wits were gone, and how he wished h-is sons were gone, too. Bacchus came to his aid again. He took a large urn of the best wine he could find and started out for the forbidden Mount Olympus on which the gods lived. Now, he thought, the gods will surely cancel my father ' s debts when I present them with this gift. Up the mountain he scampered and when he reached the top he was awed by the beautiful marble palaces, large statues, and brilliant gold ornaments. As he stood there amazed, he heard a great rumpus. Losing his nerve, he dropped the wine urn in a large vessel and ran down the mountain side. The rumpus was caused by all the gods coming out of their palaces to assemble for mess in the dining hall. What no one knew, though, was that the large vessel into which Bacchus had thrown the wine was a con- tainer for nectar, the god ' s substitute for our staple seven. Finally the gods were collected and Zeus, sit- ting at the head of the table, ordered the main course, nectar, to be brought in. They tasted the nectar, ate a little more, and then finished a whole serving. Why this was the best nectar they had had in thousands of years, it was terrific. They all looked earnestly at Zeus and he allowed them to have more. A state of mirth seemed to permeate the atmos- phere of that regal mountain. Zeus told them all a joke which resulted in laughter, but Aphrodite in wifely decorum exclaimed, Oh. Mellow and ex- pansive, the gods relaxed their sovereign dignity. Generosity,, tolerance,, good-fellowship, abounded. Athena, emboldened by the unaccustomed elation, asked Zeus ' permission to give mortals some wisdom. After all, she said, they have been-our slaves long enough. Why not give them something to help them along in life? Yes er, erra, replied Zeus, let them be wise. In fact I was going to say that we — Give them freedom of the seas and let them be- come navigators, interrupted Neptune, magnani- mously. Yes, that ' s exactly what I was going to say. You took the words right out of my mouth. Yes, e-hem, of course! That ' s how it went on, one god after another be- stowing what he had in his power to the people of the earth. Immediately the world was affected. Institutions were built, things were. invented, geniuses were born all over the world, and the people became cultured as we know from history. The gods almost made the people better than themselves. When the gods became sober again, Zeus was in- dignant. He called a general assembly to investigate the changed conditions. All the gods came to the conclusion that the nectar was the heart of the solu- tion. The nectar maker was summoned, but he knew nothing. Consequently Zeus concluded a mortal had disobeyed the law and tricked the gods. Mercury, thundered Zeus, calling his messenger, go to every port of this sphere which we rule, and seek out the mortal who dared to defy the omnipo- tent gods. Mercury, traveling at 286,000 miles per second, the speed of light, circulated the globe investigating all types of people. At last he came upon Timotheus. Telling Mercury about his wines, Timotheus men- tioned the missing urn of his best wine. Where could the wine have disappeared to? asked Mercury. I don ' t know where, in the name of Zeus, it went to, responded Timotheus, but I ' ll ask my young son, Bacchus. Bacchus was extremely frightened and, at first, said nothing. Mercury, using his godly influence, com- pelled him to confess. He told about his purpose, his plan, and his sudden fright. Mercury took poor Bacchus to Olympus for trial. Again the gods assembled in the temple of Zeus to decide the punishment. We are assembled here today. the voice of Zeus solemnly rang out over the assembly, to have lustice done. This boy has disobeyed a divine law. What is to be done with him? Your highness, you know how dull lif e has been up here before this event occurred. Our nectar never was so good before and, surely, we did enjoy ourselves. Do you think we can keep him here to make wine for us? suggested an unrecognized god. Better still, we can make him god of wine. He will have all power over wine, remarked another. The gods voted and it was passed unanimously. So you see Bacchus became the god of wine. It was de- creed that Bacchus should remain on Olympus eter- nally, to make wine. Money Isn ' t Everything ALYNE EAVES ' 48 Money! What a handy thing it was! At least Mr. )ones thought so. He was just an average man whose salary barely covered the family needs. Oh, how he envied the wealthy. One night Mr. jones had a strange dream. It was almost unbelievable. He, Bill )ones, of little un- known Waiteville, had won the Irish sweepstake! He was rich! Now he could have all the things he had ever dreamed of — cars, servants, and a big house. Ah, yes! Bill Jones was in seventh heaven. But before he became used to the feeling of wealth, things began to happen. The Revenue man did a little cal- culating and claimed a tidy sum of the winning for Uncle Sam. Oh, well, what were a few thousand dol- lars! Then came other visitors. There was a man ask- ing for a donation for the orphanage. Surely a small amount for such a good cause wouldn ' t be missed. Then what was a few hundred dollars towards the new hospital? People were constantly hounding him for various and unheard of organizations. Mr. Jones never had a moment ' s peace. Bill had been received in all the leading social clubs, and his wife had become a gadabout. The chil- dren seldom saw their parents, and when they did,