Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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I 5'f+ fr-'J-:sri-....-.g.4..lf. 'aw-,smfqm - .V V ,L-3, - - 1 mf-.- -.,.... .,--.. -.,- . -, ,,,,,,, i in , , ,, N Q 7 p -V .-. -. . -...- ,. ...x ,.':5i!' Q Zf..i.E?tF'f!'F9rl:-!', i-:-19.-'Ti:Q-:m12'3'g:-g:d?? - i 'jr - y -'rg1ygfg1giq:s:gfr:'p::z:3hageggggsr-g3y::,seeign-1--5-r1.my . gi jr ay, f, gs . - 4- . . xg -I-H .1- 2111 1 ity in .en :he fts so .st- of ars .lg- ads eek HHS ' -..... .,. , I v:,.. ,a..s..,....4...,--..-...... THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 3 But one thing, I warn you, ' ,Tis surely a. crime To give any lessons O er holi-day time. Then he turned to Miss Wilder And quickly did speak, Why torture these pupils With Latin and Greek W But before she had time p To give her reply, To Miss Stoner he turned 'With 'a wink of his eye. MMCL foi, Zllaclcmoiselle, Est-cc-que vous cies ici? Why the tasks are not easy I now ,plainly seef' Daniel Hullps jolly face Brought the fire from N ick, s eyes, For to find such la teacher Was quitea surprise. f With a tug at 'beard I And a shake of his head, , He scowled on wee Harnden And savagely said, is a sin that has neter new forgiven as yet, I -CC DT This one, like the rest, Xou shall ever regret. The one next in line Was our friend, Miss De Witt. But Nick did not notice The lady one bit. When he had come A To the end of the row, He made a short speech And prepared to go. ffWho e'er to the pupils Gave outf' said he, 'fliessons ojer holidays, Come, follow me. V - .Then down to the furnace I He hurried again With all of the teachers, Women and men, I Drove them into the Haines, Sprang in with a shout, And they all disappea.red i . Like a candle gone out- But I heard him exclaim, Ere he passed from my view, 'cMerry Christmas to all And a glad New Year, too? V Alma Cutter,-908. A CHRISTMAS AwAKENiNG. I do not imagine that the expression on my face, as I left the train that after- noon at the little cinder patch in' the northern Wisconsin woods, which marked the existence of Razor Back Lake, to the train oflicials-I do not imagine, I say, that my countenance bespoke any great amount of enthusiastic joy or brilliancy, in fact it could not have, for it was un- mercifully cold. I am sure the thermom- eter must have registered somewhere be- low zero, and the dead, gray clouds above me, showed serious signs of snow. As any one knows, who has visited the pine woods of the north country, they are not too joy-inspiring, even in summer, when the sun lends some warmth to their cold and dismal solitude, but in winter these forests are in every sense of the word awful. At least, such was my opin- ion on this particular afternoon as I 2.-...2 5.:g.5o....f.aa-.,.4.:..-.-:4...a.....a-..a.:4.:...,,.-..,.- .Y-..:,.,......--. -,-. .. - - . ,, .,.. - -. Q. ,... ..---. trudged moodily along the narrow trail. I must have presented a rather un- usual appearance, for I was dressed in fur from my head' to my feet. In one hand I carried a small traveling bag, and the other was buried elbow deep in my coat pocket. It was nearly three opclock, and there were four lonely Wisconsin miles between me and my destination, so you may picture my facial expression for yourself. For ai distance of perhaps two miles, I walked briskly along, thinking and solil- oquizing. The forest is a splen-did place for thinking, but a very bad place indeed to be found alone with one's conscience. I am sure I remembered every thing I had ever done in the course of my life, whether good, bad or indifferent, and iinally having exhausted my past experi- ences, my imagination fell to working

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llfllll W CHRISTMAS I ., Since the fifth century, the twenty- fifth' of December has been agreed upon as a suitable day on which to celebrate the birth of Christ. This day is celebrated in all Christian lands in many different ways. These dif- ferent customs have been blended in the United States until those of sending gifts and Christmas cards, and that of decorat- ing a Christmas tree have become the most common. The exchange of gifts, so universally engaged in, is a relic of heathenism, although the Christians have an example of this in the gifts brought by the three wise men to the infant Christ. ' 4 The sending of Christmas cards is an innovation intro-duced within the last fifty years. The Christmas tree originated in Rome, whence it went to Germany, then to Great Britain and from there to the United States. In our country, the exchange of gifts and the Christmas tree have become so closely associated with the idea ofChrist- mas that sometimes the real meaning of the word is forgotten. Of late years Xmas being substituted for the orig- inal name. The first syllable, X, stands for Christ, and it is taken from the Greek letter in Christos,v which means 'tthe anointed. . SAINT NICK'S REVENGE. JTwas the day before Christmas, And through the school house N ot a teacher was stirring, Green, Bign-ey nor Shouse. In class rooms and study hall. At pupils to stare, Each had seated himself In a straight, armless chair. The pupils were delving In musty text-books, Or casting at teachers Disheartening looks. Their thoughts were on Christmas And little they cared For the difhcult tasks , All the teachers prepared. When up from the basement There arose such a clatter, I sprang from my seat To see what was the matter. Away from the clas'-room I lied like a flash, Away to the basement From whence came the crash. The janitor stood By the furnace in fright. And there fell to my view A bewildering sight. For out from the glow Of the red dancing name, I A frowning old fellow With awful mien came, His beard, long and white, His face, fat and round. He jumped past the coal hod, Which he did in one bo-und. From the looks of -the fellow, So fat, yet so quick, I knew in a moment It must be Saint Nick. He spoke not a word But went straight to the hall, And, ringing the gong, An assembly did call. The teachers he seated Along the front row, And, once on the platform, He bo-wed very low. He addressed all the pupils With thanks for their work, And then to the teachers He turned--with a jerk. When on Mr. Bigney He first cast his eye, There escaped him, I noticed, A very deep sigh. Said Nick, Disappointment Olerwlielms me-to look On such a fine man Whofs a slave to a book. l V V -I l . I I I I . I I on n noon nortl the c train that amot in fa mere' eter low 5 me, s A the p are n when cold these word ion 4 ' S' I A 'T' 'Gu' f ': '?':-4+-9--isa-11.51-ifisqaz-: '-:arm-ms- : 'Y al ff--A--M .. .. . ' ' - - 'Q-f if-----was-4.,....-..s.:a..:..q:a,.1a: --a..a..., -V-ha s . .. - - A - H ,g . - - - . ,.. ...,,,Y .,

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f W ,,...-S:a..k.s.:.z-1.-ef-easigsausdizia. P-P -'I-r eff:-111 . A--sz-gngasgeenqu-:gvfp9guw,pzfrAezer4 - --uv' 4 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. most admirably. I had never attributed to my disposition a poetic side, but I am sure it was only the poetic which could have turned that forest into so many strange and fantastic designs. The snow had begun to fall and was making rapid progress in trans-forming the landscape. First, I noticed the sim- ilarity between my surroundings and a scene in a-musical fantasy that I had seen the week before 5 there were the same tree trunks with the miniature drifts at their sides, and overhead the branches met in just the way those on the stage had done. Then I became aware of the fact that this forest might have been Spen- seris fcForest of Error, only I could not remembers' any snow in the latter. Then I noticed the whiteness of the trail before me, and I remembered hav- ing attended a wedding somewh-ere in the misty past, where the aisles had been carpeted with pure white canvas, and in- voluntarily I began to search out the rest of the picture. A sudden turn in the trail ahead of me left the dead trunk o-f a tree which had fallen in the shape of an arch across the trail as the entrance of the chancel, it was easy to make an altar of gray marble from the trunks of three trees directly beyond. Branches of Arbor Vitw covered with snow, made gar- lands and festoons all about my imagin- ary cathedral. Then in the melancholy music of the wind in the branches above me, I could pla.inly detect the notes of a wedding ina.rch. The twigs of the shrubs and the aspen trees were nodding and bending in the wind, just like so many human beings in their pews, twist- ing and turning to catch the Hrst glimpse of the bride-elect. It is well that my physical being in- terfered then, or I might have seen the bride, a snow queen, probably, and per- haps I should have married her, right there and then in the cold forest, had it not been that a fierce gust of wind cut harshly against my face and brought me back to earth. After this the miles seemed longer and I was numb with coldg my feet seemed two lifeless stones wnich I lifted and pulled after me. My nose and hands were cold, too, and finally I began to believe that my brain was frozen. All at once I became conscious of a possible shelter which suddenly appeared in the road. I knew there was- no such hut on my own claim. I had built a decent shack of logs, for I had expected to use it during the game season-but this was a cabin of small dimensions, with a chimney from which issued smoke, real smoke, that told of the presence of a wo-od fire. I donpt know how I got to the door, but evidently I did, for it was opened, and I remember being lifted inside and carried like a baby across the room. Then everything was blackfa curtain fell be- tween life and me. When I next opened my eyes, it seemed that I had been asleep for hours. I was lying comfortably upon a couch of pine wood, and beneath my head was a pillow of pine needles, which flavored the air with their sweet -dreamy perfume. The room wa.s small, the walls rough plastered, and the floor of split logs, cov- ered with furs and skins. A table upon which were a few well-worn books, a huge armchair, and the couch upon which I was lying, were the only furnishings. A bright fire of birch logs burned in the large brick fireplace and cast a warm glow over everything. All this I coul-d see without turning my head, but by a slight. shift in po-sition I discovered that there were two doo-rs, one an entrance into another room and the other evidently the outside -door. My observations were b-rought to a standstill by the opening of the latter and the en- trance of my benefactor. f'Well, well, I 'ni glad to see you look- ing so spry. How are you ?', he asked, striding across the floor and grasping me by the hand. You've been sleeping like a baby ever since I got you to bed last night, and here it 's afternoon again. You canit think how inquisitive you ,ve made mef' All this, as he pumped my arm up 111141 down. I 4 as gia he fac at son an: dow fiei oug d oi UP sta fre hat fox adi If 3I'Il I c cor pea not to the me hai I c tell yor pl if his ant fu tale I s he pos no jus tra' . . . ...f 9.4, ..:.:.:, .::g,,.,::1..5,,:V'4.,:, -V: vu, --up 55' .QU .pi.q.wA:wJ:6- 1 In is - F ,W A MK- Y - -- -' .-1-1.-....-....f-mfr-vs: apmgiivqzdiq ,I ,-gf, ,,, W za: H i. KH, A F g - '--- ----mwah -4.1 ..... ...-...-....... ...-.,.,..,4...,..,....,g..s,,g,:gf1 . - vs.,