By Beverly Clinkingbeard

The “Eyes and Ears of W.H.S.” was “Published bi-weekly by students of Westboro High School,” 1938. The editorial staff was made up of: Editor-in-Chief George Laur; Assistant Editor Alonzo Storey; Featured categories – Warren Vette handled editorials and the Art Editors were Hazel Long, Elizabeth Morgan and Betty Utter; News Flashes were Doris Chambers and Marion Chambers; Humor was Gwendolyn Tourtelotte and Jean Elizabeth Beck; Music and Dramatics was Maxine Shelby and Betty Teague; Charlie Winstead and Don Baker handled the sports report; Leta Collins and Clara Sipes reported on Alumni; Wilma Johnston and Mary Crawford the P.T.A.; and the typists were Jean Elizabeth Beck, Edith Honeycutt, Clara Sipes and Gwendolyn Tourtelotte.

The printing method was the Ditto machine. Today, give Google the information and one comes up with a laser-type printer that boasts the capacity of handling many accomplished printing challenges. However, the Ditto machine that the “Eyes and Ears of W.H.S.” was printed on was a spirit duplicator. It was invented by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld in 1923 and today is described as a “primitive photocopier.”

For those who have never copied with the Ditto machine, a master copy was made on a typewriter. Accuracy was essential. This master copy was clamped onto a drum with a wick and as the drum rotated the clean paper passed through and a duplicate copy made. The felt wick was saturated with pungent smelling clear solvent, oft called “Spirits.” Today the solvent and aniline (the pigment making the purple color – it printed in purple) is considered toxic. The Ditto’s competitive printer was the mimeograph machine. Both had the capacity to try the patience of the user (just ask a teacher).

Under the columns listed for The Eyes and Ears, there was a short editorial on the inside page. At issue was the importance of studying history, another on benefits of studying, etc. Music and Dramatics reported on programs and accomplishments. There was a Lagniappe Dramatic Club, High School Minstrel and Speech Class. Of course, there was a Sports page. Scores were reported – it wasn’t a particularly good year for the Westboro Wildcats. The lower grades also were given a page and at Westboro, the elementary grades were together, i.e., seventh and eighth, fifth and sixth, etc.

Seventh and eighth grades had kept notebooks on poultry production and learned about insurance. They found room for a few jokes, too. Fifth and sixth grades were studying volcanos. Third and fourth grades made a scrapbook of valentines and Washington’s poems were included. Grades were recorded: third graders averaging an S were Eddie Flack, Doris Bennette, and Lyall Gage and Glenn Bargman had an E average. The fourth grade averaging an S were Belva Cox, Carrol Green, Mary Lou Goutsch, Doris Marquart and Maurice Sipes. (At that time Missouri used E, S, M, D and F for grades.) Flu was making the rounds at school and those absences were mentioned. First and second graders played in the snow and they, too, were making valentines and learning of Washington. In a March publication, the first through fourth graders studied pioneers and made booklets. A Mr. Dunham (no first name offered) visited the classes and told of, “Pioneer life in this part of the country. He told about seeing three hundred Indians going along the old trail east of town (that followed the ridges) to Dan Green’s farm to hold a Pow Wow. Mr. Dunham and his father got across the trail just in time to avoid waiting for the procession of Indians to pass . . . Mr. Dunham said he remembered seeing a caravan of forty-five covered wagons traveling the old ridge trail east of town . . . Many of the school houses in his time were made of logs, but the school Mr. Dunham went to was a rude frame building . . . The pupils certainly enjoyed his talk.”

News Flashes reported on upcoming school events, honor roll members and miscellaneous news. Porter’s Lake was a great place to party. (It still is 82 years later.) News items, such as, “Sonny Hopkins was removing a cap from a bottle of shellac, Wednesday afternoon, and the bottle broke, cutting two arteries in his hand.” “Thurlow Herrick had the misfortune to have his wrist thrown out of place and several ligaments torn loose when the car he was cranking kicked.” “Percy’s bus had a blow out Wednesday morning and Chet’s [Barrett] bus brought the students in from Hess.”

The last page was made up of a short story. In one issue Betty Teague wrote “The Episode of a Tornado,” but it doesn’t indicate if all stories were penned by a student. The back page was of P.T.A. and Alumni News. The latter included news notes of alumni (some penned with a bit of wit included), such as, “Abraham Lincoln, Ferrell Herrick and George Washington aren’t the only ones who will have a birthday in February hereafter. Mr. and Mrs. Bill Stevens are proud to announce the birth of their eight and a half pound son, James Leroy, on Sunday the 13th. Come up’n see us some time, Jimmie.” In another publication, “Mr. and Mrs. Jim Chambers have a boy.” (No mention of name, but in 1938, that would be Denton Chambers.)

The wedding of Helen Adams and Melvin Rolf was described. They were married at Biglow, Missouri. “The bookkeeping class is completing their second set of books. We know now something about what red ink means.”

Jokes were prolific and oft times fellow students’ names were incorporated in the joke. Obviously, the publishers of Eyes and Ears had a sense of humor. Little did these students realize that in a few years they would be, directly or indirectly, defending our nation against aggression of World War II.

To close is to share a final joke from “The Eyes and Ears of W.H.S.”:

“Mr. Laur – ‘George, who was riding with you last night?’

“George – ‘Why, Kenneth Nuckolls was.’

“Mr. Laur – ‘Well, here is Kenneth’s vanity case. He must have forgotten it.’”

George, today’s reader might want to know, “What is a “vanity case?”

’Til next time.