Wyandotte High School - Quiverian Yearbook (Kansas City, KS)

Page 12 text:

HE crisp, light air of early january high in the Montana Rockies splits easily. Cn one cold, fra' gile night man was sending out his complaining challenge against the deathflike silence of the canyons over the passes of the jagged range. At 11:45 it came, roaring, crashing, and thundering. Soft-almost indisl tinguishable at first-louder and louder it grew till it rose to a clamouring roar. Then with a shriek and a mournful wail it died away again. It could be heard moaning in the distance like a lost soul in purgatory. Then it was gone. On flew the manfmade thing careening around curves, clattering over trestles, and dodging into tunnels only to reappear again, bringing its noise with it. It was a gliding mon' ster of steam and steel. Its long tongue of light, cutting the night and bearing intently on the road ahead, never wav' GM ered. At intervals its gills opened mo' mentarily and helched red flame that ref flected on the canyon walls and hid its slim gliding body from view. By three o'clock it had pushed its nose cleai' ol' the granite cliffs and yawning chasms, and with a last long sigh and wail it settled to skimming over the flat pushed the elevator button beside a gold inlay label that read, Thirtyfsecond Floor. D. C. Breckenridge, Breck to the grain traders, leaned forward, sighed, and shifted his stock figure to its full height. He walked to a window and poked his bulldog jaw in the direction of the Michigan Boulevard traffic. He had hated to lose the diamond. True, he got nearly its full worth out of the postal insurance, but it was valuable for other reasons. Well, I was a fool to send it to Seattle to get it cut, he told himself, and raised the window to let in the icy lake breezes, accompanied by the grumbling Russell Zumwalf Divi e and lwarren waste lands. Un that par' ticular night of january 12 a rare thing happened. Its glaring radium tongue of light focused on five dark forms between the steel ribbons of track a mile distant. With a squealing of set brakes and a hiss' ing of compressed air it ground to a stop. One of the five forms climbed quickly to the engine cab. The four ref maining scrambled to the tender. There was a flick of lightg the men dropped from sight. A dull explosion was accomf panied hy a flash. The men reappeared and entered the blasted end blind door of the mail car. Sleepy mail clerks looked into the muz' zlcs of four Mausers and did as they were told. Drowsy passengers, who were shaken from comfortable positions in their berths by the sudden stop, raised their heads and blinked out at a snowfbound, windswept plateau, bathed in moonlight. They shivered, turned over, and curled up, wondering absently why the North Coast limited on which they had paid extra fare had stopped in such a Godfforsaken frigid zone. When the wheels began to click softly under them again, they fell back to sleep. They did not know that the mail car had been robbed and that two clerks lay dead on their train. C. Breckenridge signed the affidavit, leaned back ' in his swivel chair, and squinted at the assistant postmaster through blue cigar smoke. The assistant post- master thanked him, turned, and retreated through a heavy, walnut door that led into a tiled hallway. He I0 A sudden flash of steel from a rustic Zulu, a falling object, a long and weary trip down a long mountain trail, a huge diamond used as a bullet, and 55,000 reward, all combine to change a discouraged and heart-sick life into a happy, care-free one For Dave Tuttle, our young hero. noise of traffic. Savagely he slammed it shut again. He could never figure out which he could stand the better, silence with stuffiness or fresh air with noise. At any rate, he mused, I'll post a 55,000.00 reward for its returng mail robberies are dangerous and they may keep it on ice a long time before they cut it up and try to sell it. DAVE Tuttle drained the last drop of coffee from his cup and deliberately set it down in the middle of the saucer, thereby finishing his meal. He raised his eyes slowly across the rough pine board table until they met Eileen's. Then his gaze wavered and concentrated on the battered long wall with its array of spotless pans and cooking utensils. Presently his eyes met hers again. There was something queer about Eileen's eyes. When a person looked at them once, he always looked back. They were blue with a depth of expression The QUIVERIAN

Page 11 text:

I covering the re' aowu Mathews quired course for graduation. The phrase, vivid, gay, and colorful persoanity, could be used to describe some of the members of our faculty. They not only have a colorful personality but they exf press this is dress and actions. They add a real joy to the hard days of school when things sometimes go wrong. Then there are the spontaneous, versatile, and enthusif astic instructors who are the very incarnation of the spirit of self assurance. These instructors are an inspirf ation to the students and the students feel after the class a selffassurance in the facts they have gained. These facts remained fixed in their minds. Some of the instructors are admiringly spoken of by their students as the best teacher they ever knew. On further inquiry into their meaning we discover they mean the instructors who have a genuine interest in their work and students, the instructor who can supply information, books, and magazines and can draw from their store of knowledge to satisfy the inquiries of these students. The fact that certain faculty members are very shy of interviewers was revealed after an attempt to gather some information. Can you spare a few minutes, I spoke up. They looked at me suspiciously. Can you? I repeated. For what, they ask. Well sort of an interview you know. You don't mind, do you? They smiled sheepishly not having any definite excuse for not giving me an interview. We need information for the Quiverianf' I explained. They answered the questions I asked but not with a whole hearted response and very little information could be gained from them. So the facts about these teachers are only those that the students observe in the daily classroom. It is rather difficult to make any real choice among the instructors. There is no general rule that can be applied to any two of them. I believe one truth, however, cannot be ignored, simplicity constitutes the straightffor- ward presentation of unity in making up the perfectly organized group. Some teachers are always looking for new things and are very experimental with new methods and courses. Thus their classes never become stale or matterfofffact, but are classes where new things are tried and new ideas are gained. One of the most hopeful signs in the nation today, when times are hard and many are striving to get along, is the new movements and methods of training of the youth by the educators. Some of the history instructors vary greatly in meth' ods and types of teaching. Some make chronicle events a dull and uninspiring study, concern themselves with campaigns and battles, political movements and social def velopment, or lay emphasis upon the lessons to be def rived from the study. Others trying to creat the spirit 19344935 of the period, will present conflicting accounts and lgavc to the student the choice of one that is most plausible They do not act as though they were above the students in mentality but seem more as a sudent and one of the group. Some like to orate, that is if the oration is im promptu or of their own invention. They have extremely large vocabularies and could talk for an entire class per iod on any subject that came to their mind, Those in structors are always ready to lend a helping hand ti whomever may need to draw from their copious supply of knowledge. In some classes the instructors have endeavored to overcome shyness, timidity, and baekwardness of thc students. This was done to take away their fear of speaking to people and to help them in obtaining their place in the world. Because of this training many stud- ents will obtain high honor and will be known all over the world. They will be trained to meet people unf afraid of the startling facts of the world today. They will always carry with them this knowledge they have gained under careful supervision of their instructors. The vocational guidance in our high school has adde.l much to the preparing of students for the problems they have to meet. The choosing and training along a defi' nite line has lead to the block system where only th: subjects that will aid you in your work are taught. This system will lead to a more careful planning of the future before starting in high school and much waste of tim: will be avoided. Many amazing developments have been made in sciences and the instructors have kept the students inf formed and trained them to take notice of the new adf vancements as they are developing. They are pointing to us the opportunities and are showing us where new fContinued on Page 651 ci.A.f:r fnowfpnf , MW e WCANLEJ' .rsmforv Q . CM gf I Jurg 0:5 MR. i TEVIJ' wpphomw-gm Mlff I . l-IOAR frm-rhmpn 9

Page 13 text:

that demanded more than a casual glance. Between them was set a remarkable nose, maybe a trifle too wide, but it lent the needed strength that the sensitive mouth lacked. Dave smiled wistfully. After receiving a smile in return, he rose automatically and strode to the corner where coats and hats hung from nails driven in the logs. Placing a battered sombrero on the side of his head, he turned halfway and said to the stove, Guess I'll drop down to Dobson this afternoon and see what's new. Be back for supper? asked the sensitive mouth. He turned and regarded its owner with a slight twinkle in his eyes. Yes He stepped forward, stooped, and, raising a curly lock of brown hair, pressed his thumb hard against her forehead where a perfect complexion and an admirable spirit were making a hard fight against faint lines of worry and discouragement. See, he said, removing his thumb and regarding the print that it left, I've got designs on you so you'll be here when I get back. With that he turned, tilted his head slightly, and went out the door. He was so tall that he had misjudged his own height when he had built that door. Usually tall men are awkward but one needed only to watch Dave mount Nappy who was rangy and ill at ease to know that he was an exception. Want anything? he called as he passed the door, it was just his way of saying goodbye. Nappy liked spring and showed his appreciation by making good time. After crossing the last deadffall and breaking out of the timber into the open trail, he snorted and beat his legs savagely with his ridiculously short tail, trying to break into a stiff lope instead of a trot. Sniffing the fresh breezes laden with the odor of jack-pine and melting snow that drifted down from the peaks, Dave tried to feel happy but couldn't. APPY objected to being tied between a shining new Ford and a bedraggled long haired mare in Dobson and promptly made known his dislike by biting the mare on the back of the neck and kicking her in the flank. Local loungers succeeded in stopping the fray only after it had died a natural death. Then each in his casual way began to narrate how he had stopped it. Never wanta excite a hoss when he's mad, drawled a rangy lad with round shoulders. You mean you never want to make him mad when he's excited, growled a onefeyed, bowlegged, squat character that belonged in Treasure Island. After some discussion on the merits and drawfbacks of each of the subdued animals, the conversation drifted to the only natural course that the occasion presented- Dave Tuttle. Anybody or thing that presented itself in Dobson was the object of local discussion first by the men, who would handle the subject dubiously and quizzically, poke it with sticks and Whittle on it with jackfknives. 19344935 Then the women would take it up, maltreat and tear it apart, and maybe cause a new sensation. The odds were three to one that he wouldnt There was no actual betting, but after all, it's the odds that foretell the outcome of events, not the money involved The loungers knew-as everybody else in Dobson knew by this time-that Dave was in the back of the bank try' ing to get old Hirshly to ex' tend his loan. The frame structure that could not pos' sibly be taken for a bank had it not been so labeled, seemed to radiate by some unknown grapevine telegraph the words spoken by the two inside because the men loungers in front of Hannon's gen' eral store had already taken their conversation apart, formed a verdict, and discarded the immediate subject for the present. The general feeling was that of sym pathy for Dave with the absence of the traditional hard feeling for a forefclosing banker. It was just one of those things-old Hirshly had to have his pound of flesh or his depressionfsappcd banking bus' iness was going to die. He had loaned Dave 31,000.00 on his rocky homestead when the discouraged young engineer who had just returned home from Kane sas City had first staked it out. It had taken some per' suasion on Dave's part to get it in the first place. He was a good stockman and a hard worker and old Hirsh- ly finally let him have it purely on his faith in Dave and his hope that cattle prices would go up-which they decidedly didn't. The conversation lulled as Dave came out of the side door of the bank and the closing of the door left him standing on the narrow board walk. His very pos' ture and every move showed defeat. The undue inf terest in the grocery list he drew from his pocket, the way he nervously put it back, the slightly toofhigh tilt of his chin as he squinted into a sky that contained nothing but blue-all efforts to conceal defeat-screamed of discouragement more than complete supplication would have done. The remains of a tailorfmade cigar- ette that old Hirshly had given him reposed forgotten between his fingers and sent a steady column of blue smoke up the back of his hand till it struck the cuff of his shirt where it broke into curls and waves and drifted off to disappear. One of the curves found its way to the nostrils of his high narrow nose. The queer magic of scents put him back several years. It had been a long time since he had smoked a tailor' made: 1926, a graduate of engineeringg 1927, highway bridge construction in Illinois, 1928, construction in Kansas City-good payi 1929, his first individual conf tract, met Eileen, married, lived at the Plazag busy, joyous days, happy evenings, plans for the future, the savings account they were going to start but never didg 1930, Ethel born, contract finished, hospital bills, no job, left Plazag 1931, nobody wanted engineers, moved ll