Page Two
THE POINTER
Tuesdav, Oct. 30, 1928
THE POINTER
Published Every Tuesday by
HIGH POINT HIGH SCHOOL
(charter
Member)
STAFF OFFICERS
MARY ELIZABETH HARLLEE .Editor-in-Chief
MARGARET YORK Associate Editor
GLADYS CULLER.. Associate Editor
KENT DOUGLAS Associate Editor
THOMAS CARPENTER Associate Editor
JAMES LADD Club Editor
SAM CLAPP Boys’Athletic Editor
VIRGINIA HUNT Girls’ Athletic Editor
CARL SMITH Business Manager
MARION WILLIAMS .Club Editor
ALMA ANDREWS Exhange Editor
HARRY COBLE... Humor Editor
MARION SHIPMAN Advertising Manager
DOROTHY RANKIN Assistant Advertising Manager
ROBERT DAVIS Assistant Advertising Manager
ELOISE BEST . . r II" I - - Copyholder
MAYNA ALLEN Proofreader
WESLEY JONES Circulation Manager
EDGAR SNIDER Assistant Circulation Manager
MISS HELEN DERRICK Faculty Manager
M. L. PATRICK Faculty Business Manager
It is gratifying to those who sponsor the clubs to know that so
large a per cent of the student body is taking part in the different
organizations which are opened to them. Many boys and girls will
take delight in pursuing a hobby through their club this year.
The Little Store is esentially a high school project. On the school
depends it success. Articles bought here cost no more than they do
down town and any profit gained from the sales will be put back into
service for the school. Remember that, and patronize it!
TRADITIONS OF
HALLOWE’EN
ON HALLOWE’EN
Last Thursday our schoo. had a very distinguished guest, and
we are g.ad of it, for no one is prouder of our bui.ding or more anxious
to show it to visitors than the students themse.ves. After all, it is our
building, isn’t it? We are the ones who work to keep it nice and en
deavor to reward those who were responsible for the building of it.
Why shouldn’t we be proud? Come back again. Dr. Chase, and all
others to whom the high school has something to show and justly
take pride in.
Recently, there have been on several of the bulletin boards car
toons, or what were apparently meant for cartoons, boosting one or
the other of the candidates for which the students will vote on the
straw election this week. The objection to these drawings lies not in the
fact that they are expressions of opinions of the artist, presumably a
member of the student body, but that they were to all appearances
posted without any thought given to their suitability for school bulletin
boards. Little good was done by these “campaign boosters’’ and prob
ably a good deal of ill-feeling was created by them. The campaign was
not even on in the school, at that time, registration not being in order.
No doubt the drawings were made and put up by an over-zealous
worker, who, needless to say, did not sign his name to his work of art.
If we are going to have politics in school, and it is necessary and bene
ficial to us that we do have them, then they should be fair and square-
and stand on their own ground, rather than trespass with unnecessary
“thrusts’’ and “hurrahs’’ on a piece of school property that was to all
appearances not intended for them.
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS
IN OCTOBER
As strange as it may seem, mem
bers of the chemistry classes have
been celebrating. Whether it is
Christmas or not, we do not know;
but just one peep into 302A would
have revealed beautiful bright col
ored flames leaping forth from wide
necked bottles.
White lights! Blue lights! Yellow
lights! We have produced every
color of the rainbow in some way.
We often hear the expression “the
lights of New York.’’ Our group
being a young crowd of promising
discoverers must not work too
much in this phase of the work.
If we do, we will be referred to
as “the lights of High Point high.’’
Sparklers were made in labo
ratory when the lighted sulphur
wrapped in the end of a piece of
iron picture-wire thrust into a
bottle of pure oxygen, flamed forth
with a surprising brilliancy, throw
ing off sparkling particles which
resembled our Christmas sparklers.
Alagnesium ribbon burned with
a dazzling light, when thrust into
a bottle of oxygen, which momen
tarily blinded us.
The bright, white light came in
a flash like lightning. The flames
were beautiful but did not last
long enough for us to appreciate
them to the fullest extent. Each
time the light was gone we wanted
to try it over and over again.
Sulphur, burned, produced a
bright blue flame. We could not
gaze on this one all day either.
Too, the odor is such, that it makes
people feel as if they were quietly
and without struggle, passing into
another world.
When Christmas comes we will
still be celebrating. We will prob
ably make Christmas bells, sleighs,
and Santa Clauses in bright colors
by crystallization, using door bell
I wire and our old stand-by chemic-
I als, such as copper sulphate, potas
sium dichromate and alum. If
anyone is inquisitive enough and
wants to know more about chemic
als, solve the problem easily. Take
chemistry.
—Helen Wilson
How many of us ever wonder on
Hallowe’en night when the witches
are abroad and black cats are
backest just from where these
old traditions that we associate
with Hallowe’en came? This ques
tion can only be answered in the
light of some long-ago centuries.
Many, many years ago in Eng
land, before the time of written
history, there lived priests who
carried on quaint rites in the
forests. These priests were called
Druids because these cremonies
they carried on were directed to
oak trees called “druids.’’ These
mysterious rites also paid homage
to the sun, on which life depended.
These Celts divided the year into
two seasons, the first beginning
with May 1, the coming of spring,
and the second beginning with
October 31, called Sanhain, inter
preted “summer’s end.’’
Thus came about the date on
which we have our joyous celebra
tions with smoking caldrons,
witches, and broomsticks.
But the first celebrations these
Druids held in the forest were not
the joyous ones of to-day. They
were long, solemn, and dreary
celebrations. Sacred fires which
had burned upon the altar for the
past season were extinguished and
new fires built, embers of which
were sent to each home to relight
the home hearth-fire. Evil' spirits,
supposed to be abroad at this time,
were charmed away by sacrifices
upon the altar and by the sacred
black cats.
The the Romans came as con
querors to England, bringing with
them their old Harvest Day,
“Pomona’s Day'.’’ “A joyous cele
bration always took place on this
day, signifying the joy for bountiful
harvests.
As was natural, these two cele
brations, Sanhaim and “Pomona’s
Day’’ became one. So now had
developed a merry celebration with
pumpkins, fruits, witche , and
broomsticks.
In the fourth century after
Christ, a day was set aside in the
church to commemorate the early
Christian martyrs. It was decided
to hold the event on “Pomona’s
Day, for then enough food would
be in the cities to accommodate the
crowds. This gathering was termed
“All Saints’ Day,’’ or, as we have
it, “All-Hallows Day.’’
In no other country in the world
today is Hallowe’en remembered
so merrily as in America. We use
the signs and rites of the old Druid
ceremonies, but the gay spirit of
the occasion is our heritage of in
dependent America’s spirit.
—Anna Gertrude Douglas
The spooks are out on Hallowe’en,
And old black cats are often seen.
The clowns look funny and very
gay—
On Hallo we en.
The old witch rides on a slender
broom.
High in the sky, and near the moon.
There’s plenty of funny sights to
see—
On Hallowe’en.
It is very black on Hallowe’en
night.
And the gost and golbins are surely
a fright.
The people are wary and they look
askance—
On Hallowe’en.
—Mozelle Robertson
HALLOWE’EN NIGHT
In days of old.
As we’ve often been told.
This night was held in fear;
Not a soul dared go out.
No one walked about.
For witches, ghosts, goblins were
near.
The children all kept by the
fireside
With curtains drawn tight
And candles alight.
While witches abroad did ride.
Now Hallowe’en night
Is a time of delight
As ghosts flit from door to door.
There passes a clown.
And a king with a crown.
Tramps, beggars, shieks, sailors
galore!
While the rain of confetti falls
fast.
Whistles shrill and horns blow
As if they would show
That we’ve outgrown the fears
of the past.
Ruby Hicks
WHAT THE PUMPKIN SAW
Friends, if we be honest with our
selves, we shall be honest with
each other.—George MacDonald
A friend is worth all hazards we
can run.—Young.
On a cool frosty night about half
past eleven,
A ghost chased a spook across the
dark heavens.
They couldn’t walk, they didn’t
They seemed to flit across the
sky.
But down on the earth—O, miles
below—
There was only a field where pump
kins grow.
A LEGEND
OF THE BLACK CAT
Be yourself—if other people will
stand for it.
Once upon a time, so very long
ago that probably even our great-
great-grandmother could not re
member, there lived a brown dog
and a black cat. Now the dog was
in love with the cat but she turned
traitor to him and broke his little
heart. Each night the dog would go
out into the garden and howl his
misery to dear mother Moon, who
understood and sympathized with
him. One night while the poor dog
was wailing to the moon, and she
was shedding her soft light over
him, the guardian spirit of puppy-
love took him away to the happy
hunting-ground, but the cat he
punished sorely by making her an
omen of bad luck to anyone whose
path she crossed, consequently
making her one of the least lovec
animals of the world. And every
year, between the hours of 11 anc
12 on October 31, the ghost of this
unhappy dog haunts all black cats.
That is why on Hallowe’en you
see them either with arched backs
and gleaming eyes, or slinking in
the shadows of some deserted
house.
The goblin, the owl, and the whip-
o’-will
All crouched silent on the side of
the hill.
The pumpkin saw a shining light,
Two big eyes, burning bright.
Weird shadows gliding among the
tall trees.
Leaves rustling faintly without any
breeze.
The pumpkin shivered and rolled
down the hill
Where he lay breathless, all bruised,
and still.
He then turned around to see
An owl perched in a tree.
And this old owl began to shout,
“The goblin’s ’ll get you if you
don’t watch out.’’
—Jeannette Peterson
FROM THE OTHER WORLD
My grandmother told it to me,
and it is so interesting that I am
going to tell it to you.
“It first happened in October
of the year 1850, when I was only
eighteen years old. My mother
and I were alone except for the
servants, my father having gone
to the bedside of my uncle who
was very ill.
“Then—it was so sudden that
I hardly knew what was happen
ing—there came from the music
room strains of the wildest music
that I have ever heard. In it were
the cries of witches and cats, of
ghosts and goblins, and the hum
of bats’ wings through the air,
blended into one grand whole.
It was weird and awful, but at the
same time beautiful.
“As the full meaning of the song
burst upon my befuddled brain, I
knew in a flash what it was all
about. It was Hallowe’en, and
spirits were abroad. But I was so
frightened that I dared not see
who our visitor might be. Light
must have dawned upon my mother
at the same instant, for she was
looking at me, no longer puzzled,
but seemingly possessed of the
greatest terror. Some of her fear
must have communicated itself to
me, for until that monent I had
been only dazed, but now I began
trembling so that I had to sit down
as my mother had already done.
“So far as the servants were
concerned, we might as well have
been alone, for their quarters were
so far to the rear of the house that
even if they had been awake, they
could not have heard the music.
“Then as suddenly as it had
begun, the music stopped. There
was a moment’s pause, during
which we heard light foot steps
as someone crossed the music
room. At that moment I heard my
mother scream, and then every
thing went black.
“When I regained consciousness,
I was in my bed, and two of the
servants were leaning over me
with terrified faces. They told me
that my mother’s cry had awakened
them, and they had found both of
us in a swoon. As my mother had
not yet revived, as soon as I could
I went to her.
“Within about an hour we had
somewhat regained our composure,
but there was no sleep for either
of us that night.
“The next day when my father
returned, we told him of the queer
happening of the night before, but
he only laughed at our fears, and
told us that we had been dreaming.
“Within a few weeks all com
ment on the epoisde ceased, and
soon we forgot it entirely.
“One year later, my mother, my
father, and I were sitting in the
living room, which adjoined the
music room, when once again we
heard the strange music. Mother
was immediately so overcome that
she could not move; but, although
I was greatly frightened, I was not
beyond the power of speech.
“ Father,’ I cried, ‘see what it
The following was written by
Maxine Kennedy after Miss Hun
ter’s freshman home room had a
contest for the best song written
about “Hobbies.’’
I Have a Hobby
Tune: “Here’s to High Point.’’
I have a hobby.
You need one, too.
I am as happy.
You would be too—so—
Rah! Rah!
I have a hobby.
So you must get one.
Fight on for happiness!
Truth is the highest thing that
man may keep.—Chaucer.
xo .
“My father ,who is afraid of
nothing, immediately followed my
advice, and opened the doors of
the music room. Peering over his
shoulder, I witnessed a sight that
I shall never forget. Seated at rhe
piano was the ugliest man I ever
have seen. The minute he saw
us he vanished, but as long as I
live I shall never forget that dia
bolical countenance.
“It seemed that my father and I
were frozen in our tracks, for nei
ther of us could move. But soon
my father’s fear turned to rage
against the mysterious intruder. He
declared that he would find out
who he was, or die in the at
tempt.
“The next day he set to work to
learn all the past history of both the
house and the piano. The history
of the house threw no light on the
mystery. The story of the piano,
though, told us everything.
“Early in the year 1801, the
piano was first bought by one Mr.
Bartholomew, who was one of the
most celebrated musicians of his
time. Besides being noted for his
musical ability, he was notorious
because of his evil personality. He
was feared by everyone, and had
no true friends.
“On October 31, 1802, he was
found murdered in his bedroom.
(Continued on Page 3)