Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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44 OUT- DIRE the island, would see only a few hotels and sum- mer cottages clustered at one end. and at the other end. a line of hills, with here and there a few poles, covered with a network of wires, Stlg- gesting merely a wireless station. llut under- neath these innocent-lottking hills are the deadly cannon, for Fort XYright is built entirely under- ground, while behind them. in the harbor, are a number of long. black battleships. Shielded hy the tirst line of artificial hills are the parade grounds, the barracks, and the ofticers' quarters. The parade grounds present a marked contrast tu their surroundings, for they are sandy, hard, and dusty-looking, while on all sides are the fresh, green, cool hills. To the right of the grounds are the barracks. square red-brick buildings, with long porches stretching across the front. The officers' quarters are separate houses, on each side of a shady street, where the officers and their wives. for many are married men, live in a little village all their own. livery morning the summer hoarders are awak- ened at sunrise by the reveille, whose clear notes can be heard almost across the narrowest part tif the Sound. Then the fort suddenly be- comes alive. Subordinate otiticers in dark blue suits and the privates in khaki all stream towards the niess-halls. No black coffee and hard tack for these men. but fresh eggs. rich cream, and corn mutiins. due tu a nearby farm which also supplies the fort with fresh vegetables. Squads of men are then detailed to clean out the inner chambers of the fort, to oil the guns and other implements, and in general to prepare for the day's work. :Xt ten tiitxlticli, three days in the week, target practise is held. The tow-boats drag the targets. great, red, cone-shaped wooden HULIIS. which rise about twelve feet out of the water, a mile or a mile and a half out to sea. Then put- ting on full speed, they draw the targets past the fort. Men on the tops of the hills signal the dis- tance and the rate of speed of the boats to those at the lnittont, These signal lu the gunners, who, without even seeing their target, make the calcu- lations and tire the guns. .N terrilic report, which shakes all the window stnftl1Cl1L'iglllvti1'il1ghtrtlSes, is heard: mud flies in all directions, and a huge projectile whistles through the air. :Xlmost a minute after the report, the projectile strikes the water, and a geyser, from three hundred to four hundred feet high, shoots up near its target. But this kind uf practise is most expensive, for every time a sixteen inch diameter shell, one of the largest made in the United States, is shot, two hunrlrefl or three hundred dollars of Uovernment I I P5 money sinks to the bottom ot the seas, The afternoon is mainly given up to drills. The inspection officers gather in the stand at the end of the grounds. All along the street, facing the grounds, are the villagers, -the ofheers' wives and children, and the soldiers off duty. To keep these from crossing the grounds, or hindering the man- oeuvres of the soldiers, two sentries pass up and down, saluting their superiors as they pass before themf Then the band strikes up, and, with the band-master leading. the columns of soldiers go through their paces. Let a man lose his step, lower his gun too soon, bob his head, or commit any other breach of discipline, and he is instantly ordered to leave the lines. These clelinquents are often put to work cutting the grass, cleaning the streets, helping the gardeners. or smoking out the mosquitoes in the lower, swampy parts of the island. This is considered the worst kind of dis- grace, and the soldiers would much prefer so many hours' detention in the guard-house, or marching up and down, up and down, with heavy muskets on their shoulders. At six o'clock the sunset gun is tired as a signal for the end of the day's work. In the cool of the evening, the ofticers in white duck suits, attend the hops in the nearby hotels. and the pri- vates, in navy-blue uniforms, lounge on the porches, stroll along the beach. or have a gay time indoors, smoking or playing cards. lf we compare this peaceful scene with the tu- mult and the hardships of men on the other side of the ocean, how grateful we should be that our country is at peace, how uncomplainingly we should bear the trouble caused by the lack of im- ported goods and by the falling off in commerce. and especially how willing we should be to help relieve the sufferings of those who a1'e sick or wounded, who have no homes, and who are en- during all the evils caused by war. E. R. 't6. AN INDIAN STAMP DANCE. .Xll the way the hot, dry Oklahoma dust blew up into our faces, burning our eyes and parch- iitg our throats, while the old surrey rattled and shook, constantly bumping us up and down in a most uncomfortable manner, but we did not care, for we were on our way to see a real lndian stamp dance! Few white people were allowed to watch this dance, as the permission of the indian chief-a most careful savage- had to be gained, and this, as we had found, was no easy matter! But our party was well supplied with passports, and so, finally hav- ing come to the end of our journey, we had no trouble in entering the camp. Our Hrst feeling was one of disappointment. N

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OUT -I IRE 43 ground and pumpkins are ripe in the corn helds, when maples redden and beeches turn golden in the sun. Dry leaves rustled down from the trecs and the spicy smoke of bonhres was in the air. The day was as warm as summer, so that every- one for miles around had come out to enjoy the varied sights of the county fair. I happened to be jostling along with the rest of the happy- go-lucky crowd on the dusty fair grounds. .Xt a distance a great ferris-wheel revolved slowly on its ten minute rounds, but I was trying to steer myself towards a gilt and scarlet mcrry-go- round and though this was not far away, to reach it seemed a very ditlicult matter. Once headed right, a balloon man attracted my attention by advertising his wares in such a persuasive penetrating voice that no one could resist. At lirst the voice seemed to belong rather to the large bobbing bunch of red and blue balloons than to a man inside. But looking closer one could see an inconspicuous pair of gray clad legs protruding below, then a still less conspicuous coat sleeve with a thread-bare el- bow. This disappeared into the pocket of a faded coat above. Poking itself out of this same pocket was a red polka-dotted handkerchief and that was all one could hnd out about him. Nearby, in a stiffly starched white dress and a wide grass green sash, stood a young girl cling- ing to the arm of a country boy. Both were chewing gum in open-mouthed admiration ot the passing crowds. XVith her free hand she twirled a souvenir paper whistle decorated with a curly green tickler on the end. A large be- flowered hat drooped over her face so far that she could just peek out underneath. But her round rosy cheeks dimpled as she giggled at her companionis witty remarks and she was having a very good time. But what of her escort? He was a tall, loose- jointed youth with a friendly freckled face, blue eyes, and a nose tilting cheerfully upwards, and looked as if he might be good company. IBN' profession he served as postman for the R. F. D. route No. 13, and was a social star in the community. Qften some good housewife or daughter burned her week's baking in the oven while he leaned comfortably against the front gate post and gossiped with her. Since this was a holiday he appeared in a bright blue suit, stiff white collar, new oxfords and a Haming red tie which rivaled the color of his hair. A Roosevelt button on his coat lapel proclaimed his political beliefs. I sympathized with a fat old lady near me who elbowed her Way breathlesslv through the jam towards the Hall of Household Arts. ...,,,M K X 3 lleii bonnet had been shoved askew and wisps of Hutty white hair escaped, clinging to her warm liushed face. llerilously near the tip of her nose was balanced a pair of large steel bowed glasses over the top of which she 'gazed helplessly. ller progress had been hindered considerably by a big cotton umbrella clutched under one arm and a bulky bundle containing a, patch work quilt in the other. This quilt took, annually, lirst prize at the sewing exhibit. I'robably when not tlustered she had a beaming grand-motherly expression and undoubtedly knew all the remedies for the attacks of croup, mumps, and toothache of the village children. Slightly apart, with hat in hand, a stranger stood watching her efforts, a keen business-like looking man with ii'on gray hair. Ile impressed me as a man of alfairs to be honored and re- spected, though he was conspicuous in a dark suit with a gold watch fob at his waist. .X fraternity key hung from the fob which he hngered ahsently. In his hrm black eyes was a reminiscent look as if he were recalling the time when he too came to the fair with a rosy country sweetheart. As I at last reached the merry-go-'round, I nearly ran over a small boy with tangled curly hair and tear-swollen eyes. lle had lost his ma and any mother would have had trouble in recognizing him. Iloth cheeks were streaked from a burst green balloon, while tears coursed down them through paint and dirt. ,X sticky lolly-pop had remained mostly on the out- side of his mouth, his hat was lost, strawberry lemonade had worked destruction to once white knickerbockers, and in his chubby hands a furrv Eskimo doll and two pop-corn halls were hope- lessly mixed. I still dream of having a trip on that merry- go 'round, for instead of riding, the lost boy and I went in search of a parent for him. F. tl. '16, rbi... FORT WRIGHT. In this time of war. a great interest is, of course, taken in learning the daily life of the sol- diers, in the drills and target practise carried on in the forts all over our country. XYhile all these forts are necessary, and the drilling of men essen- tial. let us hope that the guns of the former need never- go into action, and that the training may continue to he training for many years to come. On a small island, guarding the entrance to Long Island Sound, a very important strategic point, stands Fort XYright, .Xnyone approaching

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OUT-DIRI2 45 for, notwithstanding our fears to the contrary, we had arrived early, and most of the Indians had not yet left their wigwams. However, the disappointment did not last, for an old, bent squaw, who had been sitting quietly under a tree doing nothing when we arrived, rose and slowly started towards us. She was dressed in the typical Indian costume, with a brilliant red and yellow blanket thrown about her shoulders, and a tan-colored beaded skirt reach- ing just above her ankles. Iiather hurried to meet her. to ask her to take us through the camp. She spoke very broken Iinglish, but we were soon able to understand that she would act as our guide for ten cents,-paid in ad- vancc. XYe then made our way through the little settlement of Indians, often poking our heads through the small low openings in the tept es. and, just as often, quickly drawing them out again! They were dirty and very close, and as a rule, smelled disagreeably of paint. Iior days the braves had been decorating their bod- ies with any sort of paint that they had been able to secure. Outside of one tent, hanging between two tall trees. was a small, queer ham- mock made of twigs, in which an old squaw rocked a papoose. In many tents beads were sold, and we were just buying a string of very commonplace ones from an old Indian, who had persuaded us that they were very odd, when we heard in the distance a deep, rather musical rumble. This, our guide told us, was the music of the tom-tom, a peculiar instru- ment much like our drum, on which the musi- cian beats with two sticks tipped at each end with a small ball. Since this was a signal for the Indians to assemble to begin the dance, we turned and hurried in the direction from which the strange sound was coming. For this stamp dance a larffe suace had been - C 1 b I L cleared and surrounded by logs. Later we tried sitting on these logs to rest, but we were immediately ordered by the chief himself to rise. as, he anfrrily explained, the logs were for old squaws only. At one end sat the musician, swaying to D the use of the of the clearing and fro in time to the slow music of his queer instrument: at the other end, almost one hun- dred young squaws were lined up in three rows. They were dressed mostly in blankets, with fringes, strings, and tassels of beads. They, also, were swaying from side to side with a slow, rhythmical movement, patting their feet softly on the ground, and advancing slow- ly, Indeed, they advanced so slowly that, though the dance lasted way into the night, they had only reached the other end of the clearing when it was over! just as we reached the scene of the dance all the braves rushed from their wigwams into the clearing, and then commenced to creep here and there, closely in- specting the ground. Suddenly, there was a yell. one of the braves, evidently, had found strange foot-prints on the damp earth. There was a hurried consultation around the huge tire and then all the Indians separated and ran into the forest. Later, having one by one re- turned and gathered around the fire, they held a long and earnest pow-wow. The warriors finally, apparently having come to a decision, all joined in their regular war dance. This was by far the longer and more interesting part of the performance. The Indians danced wildly. waving their arms in the air, stamping fiercely upon the earth, and never once ceasing to yell. .Xltogether it was a sight of which we seem- ed unable to tire. Ifor hours we walked about or sat still, sometimes trying to escape the rather dull, monotonous drumming of the tom- tom, at other times straining our ears to hear better this same music. when the musician him- self seemed to feel the wildness of the scene. and so played with a savage fierceness, as though he were trying to express his wild feel- ings through his music. Always we watched the peculiar, savage-like movements. and often tried to puzzle out the meaning of some action that seemed to cause especial attention. Later it was all explained to us. The dance represented a revival of the war between the pale-face and the savage. The Indians had been notitied by scouts that strange men had entered their country, and all the bravcs left their tents to look for some trace of them. Af- ter their search in the woods. they returned to their camp-fire, and having discussed the in- formation that they had been able to gather, they declared war on the pale-faces. Then en- sued the war-dance. NYC had a picnic tea in the woods. and then. although we had not at first intended to, wait- ed till the moon rose to start on our trip home. In the fiickering light of the fare, the Indians. against the dark background of trees, seemed more primeval and savage than ever, and so it was with a little shiver of fear, which we were unable to repress. that we took our departure from the camp. A. I... ao.