Woonsocket High School - Quiver Yearbook (Woonsocket, RI)

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THE QUIVER 11 109 Monroe Street, Woonsocket, R. I., March 19, 1915. Dear Miss Mowry: I think you will be interested to hear of some of the work I do outside of school. Since I have been in high school, I have spent mv vacations working with a surveyor, thus having many new and interesting experiences. I found the work rather hard and perplexing at first, but my employer taught me carefully and I soon gained a good idea of whai 1 was to do. Besides learning to use and adjust a transit and to make accurate measurements, I gained additional knowledge of mathematics, carpentry, woodcraft, building construction, and many other things j ertinent to civil engineering. Most people never see a surveyor at work except on a city job, on house-lot work, or some other comparatively easy branch of surveying, and they are always inclined to think such work is very easy and simple, though there is much more to it than appears on the surface. In the country the work is harder, and I have passed many a long day chopping a line through mile after mile of swamps and woods, under a blazing sun and tortured by myriads of insects. Often it is miles to a drink of good water, although one’s clothes may be soaking wet with water, mud, and slime, in which he is working. The winter has its discomforts, also, in the way of wet feet and numb, stiff hands. The pleasant side of surveying, however, far outbalances the disagreeable. In summer the best place is out-of-doors in the open air. The outlook changes from day to day. Cities and villages, farms, woods, and swamps, all form part of the scene in their turn. To-day we work in Chepachet, to-morrow we are in Mansfield, forty miles from Chepachet, and the next day we are on a farm deep in the quiet country and far from the beaten roads. So it goes, a kaleidoscopic whirl of change, ever new and ever different. One of the most enjoyable days I passed this winter was a Saturday which we spent surveying. We went out to Mansfield, where we had spent most of last summer running a power transmission line between Mansfield and Foxboro, and went over the entire line, using only tape and pins. The day was bright and intensely cold, and the sky was so blue, and the sun so bright and golden, and the air so keen and bracing, and the snow so white and clean, that it was a joy merely to be alive on such a day. The cold was not sullen and deadening, as it sometimes is, but it seemed as though Jack Frost were in a merry mood,

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10 THE QUIVER are placed on the table. ' I am always thinking of the wholesome, appetizing foods that had been “thrown out” to please the “swell” company, who, I believe, eat corned-beef and cabbage when they dre at home. About an hour later, the dinner is over. I can hardly stand up, I am so angry. I have lost my appetite and my temper as well. K. FRANCIS KELLEY, ’18. TWILIGHT The shades of night are falling, Slowly, slowly falling; The birds and trees and flowers to rest The Almighty King is calling. The trees their lofty branches -rear Like spectres grim and still. And the golden sun is sinking Far beyond the distant hill. All alone I sit and wonder As the long day fades away, Wonder at the glorious twilight, The best part of the day. Now alone my soul is restful, Free from care my heart doth beat, O’er me comes a peaceful sadness, Sadness 'tis—and yet how sweet! Some do love the cheerful morning, Some the glorious noonday sun; But the deepening shades of twilight Have my heart’s affection won. HELEN H. KELLY, ’16.

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12 THE QUIVER and we breathed gladly and deeply of the frosty air. Millions of sparkling, twinkling snow crystals quivered and flashed gaily in the gray woods, ever mocking the somber dulness of the trees. The brooks gurgled cheerfully under the ice, the snow made shrill music beneath our feet, and the merry tinkle of gladsome sleigh bells came lilting on every breeze. The blood went surging and caroling through our veins with such glowing strength and bounding energy that we felt a power that the gods of Olympus might have envied. The ordinary cares and worries seemed far away and insignificant and were soon entirely forgotten. At noon we pulled our lunches from our pockets and ate dinner, sitting on a stone wall. So we went merrily through the day with talk and laughter, yet wasting not a minute and accomplishing our purpose through it all. The occupation is exacting, for a single mistake may upset a day’s work; but the observance of care and precision soon becomes a habit and is splendid training. I think that every boy who has a chance to do such work should grasp the opportunity. It builds up strength ot mind and body and supplies him with the best kind of money, that earned by himself. He has many experiences that he would gain in no other way; and when the summer is over, he will have money in the bank, improved health, and many pleasant memories. Yours truly, T. BUELL CARD, ’16. LET US HAVE PEACE O God of Mercy! grant to us thy peace In this dark hour of sin and strife. Let not thy ever endless blessings cease. But give to man a purer life. May every soul forget its toil and care, And rally to thy throne above; May every heart bring sunshine, not despair, To thee and thine, O God of Lovei O, let man cease this vain and useless war, And let us join the grand “Amen Then angel throngs will sing, as those of yoie, Of “Peace on Earth! Good-will toward men.” NELLIE R. WOOLLEY, '16.