Westbrook High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Westbrook, ME)

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Westbrook High School lf, 21 raised or lowered at the pleasure of the captain. Each boat had a cabin, also, into which three or four men might crowd. The crew slept and ate there unless someone preferred sleeping on the deck above. The boats were easy to handle and comfortable enough for the rough type of men following the rivers. Twenty-seven locks had to be gone through besides Songo Lock: two guard locks, one at the harbor entrance, the other at the head of the canal and the other twenty-five in between. On the trip down, the lower gates of the lock were closed and the boat was run in: then the upper gates were closed and the lower ones opened by long beams. This method was followed all the way down to Portland. All these locks were ponderous affairs, sometimes taking two men to open them. After the canal reached Saccarappa it branched off to the right and entered the harbor on the north side of the present site of the Portland Gas Company. There the boats unloaded and took on a cargo of merchandise, such as molasses, flour, sugar, tobacco and rum. The boats were towed back again reversing the order of the locks from the trip down. The canal was about thirty feet wide in most places so that boats could easily pass. In 1856 the canal was sold to three merchants living in Portland, who used it in trading with the inland towns. It had fallen into disrepair during the few preceding years and it was now necessary to patrol the canal once a day to see if all was well. Sometimes in a big rainstorm there would be washouts on the line, so the agents were kept busy most of the time. The canal boats went twenty miles on the canal and thirty miles on the rivers and lakes. The trip took two days each way and more time was allowed for loading and unloading. The canal man had good times and some rough ones, too. It would be surprising to cross the lake after big storms: the waves would run high, and on a dark night it was no fun. When the Grand Trunk Railroad started and ran to Oxford it crippled the poor old canal, and the Ogdensburg line gave it its deathblow. In 1870 the canal was abandoned. Now, one can see traces of the old ditch and the bones of the old boats strewn along the canal, and the Songo River. Huge pickerel swim slowly back and forth now in undisputed possession of the staunch old crafts, the sole reminders of a once prosperous business. B. T., '30. ,,1 ..1. SCHOOL DAYS I came to Westbrook High School Three years ago last fall, And found I would have been a fool To leave the school and all. I spent the first year studying, The second year in fun, And when my third year had ended My fourth year then begun. The fall of '28 had started And football was the sport, The school didn't back the players, And we ended at the foot. The winter, which did follow, And 1929 came in, Basketball then started, And Westbrook tried to win. The students lacked the interest, The boys still ploughed their wayg The basketball season ended, With the championship tucked away. Spring was in the limelight, And baseball drew the crowd: The people shouted, The team's all right, As the Westbrook yell rang loud. We were planning for graduation, Which was only a few days away, And when the time came to us all, Farewell we had to say. A. G., '29, WHY SHOULD I VOTE? We have been asked to write an essay on Why Should I Vote ? This subject interested me. I have given it much thought. Why should I vote ?-an obligation, or a privilege? Well, I conclude that it is both. Surely, it is an obligation on my part to study the question: Study my country's interests and problems, and acquaint myself with the duties of the men for whom I must vote, and who have the fate of our great country in their hands.

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20 SELECTION FROM OVID THE FoUR Amis, ltTHE FLooD, DEUcALIoN AND PYRRHAU In three of his poems. namely: The Four Ages, The Flood, and Deucalion and Pyrrhaf' Ovid tells a story very similar to that read in Gen- esis. Instead of the God in whom we now believe, Ovid wrote of the old Roman gods. There were supposed to be many of these gods and goddesses, each one of whom had his special field. The Romans prayed to one god about love, to another regarding war, and so on. The Four Ages tells us that the flrst years of the earth were called the golden age. Then there was no need of law or punishment since every- thing was right. No war ever waged. The people lived contentedly in eternal spring weather and only had to gather their food. The silver age came next with the four seasons which we now know. The people were obliged to make homes in caves and to plow the ground to raise produce. This era was followed by the bronze age, which in turn was superseded by the iron age. Now all wickedness burst forth, including war. I The next chapter of the world's history is told in The Flood. Iove, the highest of the gods, looked down on the world and decided to punish the people for their evil doings. He did not wish to send fire as it might burn the homes of the gods, of the sea, he sent a Hood. The earth was com- pletely covered with water. The poem Deucalion and Pyrrha tells of the two people left upon earth after the deluge. They prayed to the goddess of prophecy to Hnd out how they should people the world. She told them to cast the bones of their great parent behind them. Deucalion and Pyrrha interpreted this command to mean that they should throw certain stones in back of them. They obeyed orders, and at once the rocks turned into people who thereafter inhab- ited the world. These works of Ovid are widely read and en- joyed. They are short poems written in dactylic hexameter. Each line is composed of six feet, most of which have one long and two short syl- lables, and is accented thus: The Blue fr VVhite HP0.Yff1Mfl711' Safurno fencbros in Tartara Missa. It is easy to see how vividly this can be read and how much the meter adds to the value of the poem. The verses seem to swing along clearly and simply, yet to tell an interesting story. There must be something in Ovid's poems to have made them last for about two thousand years. It is hard to define this something as a single quality, but probably these poems are remembered now as much for their interesting simplicity as for their depth. M. P.. '29. God fashioned the earth with skill, And the task which he began He gave, to fashion after his will, Into the hands of man. But the l-Iower's uplifted face, And the sun and the wind and the sea, Bring messages still of the beautiful place, God meant the world to be. H. S., '29. CUMBERLAND AND OXFORD CANAL In writing up this old abandoned canal I will give a short sketch of its beginning and comple- tion. It was begun in 1820 and finished in 1829, only one year short of the time it took the Amer- icans to dig the Panama Canal. The canal was constructed for the purpose of carrying freight into and out of Cumberland and Oxford counties. Factories were located in Harrison and Bridgton, the products of which, together with large ship- ments of timber and cordwood, formed the chief cargoes to be carried to the coast. Teams were used to carry this cargo to Harri- son to be loaded onto the canal boats, which were sixty feet long and from ten to twelve feet wide. They had sails to use in crossing the lakes and men to pole them down the numerous rivers to the big Sebago Lake. From there they went by canal, drawn by a horse attached to a sixty-foot towrope and walking on a towpath made especially for him. The horse was sometimes driven by a boy: usu- ally, however, one of the men sitting on the boat would throw a few rocks at him. A man at the helm steered the craft by an old-fashioned rudder. The masts were set in jaws so that they could be

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' The Blue 6- White 22 A privilege, surely, to know myself as one of the nation's voters. VVe have a perfect right, and a privilege to affirm or to veto the passing of important legislation, when we are called on to express our opinion. I have been interested in the picture, a carica- ture fif you wish to call it suchj of President Hoover, showing him as a big, broad, intelligent, kindly-looking man, at the helm of a large ship. Beside him sits Uncle Sam with his usual smile fyet, with a certain sternness, that other countries have learned means muchj and his hand on the wheel beside the president-a fine pair. Surely, it is both my duty and my privilege to be a part of the big body of voters. We, the unknown Americans, some one of us, some day, must sit at Congress. Some one of us must stand or sit at the helm! My aim, then. is to be a true American-to vote for my country and its interests, and to be ready to vote when I am twenty-one. E. S. YOU'RE IN LOVE AND I'M IN LOVE Jeanine I Dream of Lilac Time ln My Ohio Home, When I am Lonesome in the Moonlight- Just Me and the Man in the Moon. u Girl of My Dreams, when you're alone, Think of Me Thinking of You, If you do I'm Sitting on Top of the World Doin' the Racoon. an I Can't Give You Anything But Love, So It All Depends on You When we meet in Constantinople 'Neath a Carolina Moon. D. H., '30, THE IMAGINATION Romance! the response which the nerves of the mind give to the mere sound of this word is amaz- ing. The term contains a depth of meaning which immediately sends some compartment of thought into action. Why is this true? Merely because romance is a product of the imagination, and the imagination is the most responsive nerve within the human brain. In order to clearly understand the imagination one must have an idea of its function in the human intellect. The imagination is that part of the mind which modifies and develops the concep- tions. For instance, a slight idea occurring in the mind is absolutely worthless unless the imagina- tion readily performs its work of developing that idea. A writer could deal with the subject of the imagination in an entirely theoretical manner. The result would be far too deep and difficult to easily comprehend : therefore, we will consider the functions of the imagination as they arise in our every-day lives. There are three stages of the imagination: first, the imagination of the child: second, that of the youth: third, that of the adult. A child's imagination is the elementary develop- ment of that organ. VVithout doubt the child de- rives more pleasure through his own imagination than by any mechanical toy or by any entertainer. To verify this statement let us take a glance over the back fence into the play-yard. Let's play Indians l a tiny boy suggests to his little playmates. It will instantly be seen that through his active imagination this child has one of the necessary qualities of a leader. All right, let's l the others agree in chorus. I'll be the big chief, and you fellers can be my lightin' Indians. Betty can be the squaw what stays home and keeps our tent. Play Pal was my horse and Brownie was the bear and Spot was the tigeru are a few of the many bright suggestions made by the children. Thus, the game progresses in a lively fashion, and each child strives to create more fun by adding to the game. Such a healthy imagination is necessary for the normal growth of every child. The imagination as found in the minds of youth is a problem of serious consideration. The bud of life is just bursting at this time, and it is ob- structed by many difficulties. Youth appears to be the most carefree stage of life, yet this is en- tirely wrong. At no time in life do more difficul- ties and struggles pass through the mind. The mind of the adolescent is uneasy and discontented. Accordingly, the imagination is adapted to suit such minds.