Chapter 21 Version 1
1943
Jane looked at today’s mail and saw that there was a letter
addressed to her. Her brother Eddy would write an occasional letter to her and
she enjoyed hearing from him. He had graduated from Easthampton High School in
1933 so he had spent his high school years during the depths of the Great
Depression that started with the stock market crash in 1929. The legacy of the
depression shaped Eddy’s career throughout the 1930’s.
Eddy worked as a shader and then as an invoice/packer and
finally a grey tender (a fabric
printer’s assistant) at the Hampton Company with periods of unemployment and
six months as a punch press operator at Paragon Rubber. In June of 1935 after
one of these layoffs in April, he enrolled in the Public Works Administration
and in July was sent to Townsend, Mass to work in the CCC – the Civilian
Conservation Corps. Many of the public roads and buildings in parks were
constructed during this time along with reforestation efforts. Eddy was first
assigned to do “timber stand improvement” for a month but was noticed as
someone with intelligence and a drive to learn and succeed. He was assigned to
run the camp canteen for two months, assistant hospital orderly for a month and
finally assistant company clerk for seven months. “A highly intelligent type of
enrollee, ambitious and dependable, capable of doing a variety of work” wrote
his education advisor with an “excellent” rating on every assignment.Eddy was always doing something extra. Before he took a job as a timekeeper at Watertown Arsenal in 1940, he took an eight month welding course at night at Chicopee Trade School. While a civilian clerk in the finance office of the Boston Army base in 1940 to 1942, he was a night student studying voice and a student teacher at the Boston Conservatory of Music for eight months. He did well in spite of the Great Depression by taking advantage of any opportunities that came his way or making his own opportunities.
Jane examined the letter and noticed that it was postmarked
“Camp Davis – North Carolina”. Eddy went into the army as an enlisted man in
January of 1942, a month after Pearl Harbor. The military again showed its
ability to identify talents of recruits that could be put to good use. So Eddy
found himself in the army as a clerk in the personnel office in Ft. Eustis,
Virginia for ten months. He was then discharged from the army so that he could
receive an appointment to Officer Candidate School in Camp Davis, North
Carolina. The end of 1943 found him as a 2nd Lieutenant in charge of
a platoon of eighty-five men and $200,000 worth of vehicles and equipment. The
letter explained that he was a platoon commander of the 247th at
Camp Edwards but was now back at Camp Davis for additional training with the
247th. Eddy did not disclose that the training was to be using the
new radar searchlight technology.
Jane tucked the letter into her bureau drawer and went
downstairs to greet Aurelia who came over for the afternoon.
“I have an idea that we should both get full time jobs and
quit school. There are job openings down at the mill” said Aurelia.
“For today lets just see what the Ouija Board says about who
we will marry” countered Jane changing the subject.
Jane took the box containing the Ouija Board from the drawer
in the front room. She lifted out the board itself which was a dark brown color
and had the alphabet in a rainbow shape across the center of the board. The
words “Yes” and “No” were in the top corners. A set of numbers were on a
straight line below the alphabet rainbow. Below the numbers at the bottom of
the board were the words “Good Bye”. If the spirit of the Ouija Board was not
going to be cooperative, it would point to “Good Bye” indicating that you
should find a different pastime today. The two girls pulled up two chairs
facing each other with their knees touching and the Ouija Board balancing on
their laps.
The heart shaped slider was then removed from the box and
placed on the board. The six inch heart had just enough room to lightly place
all eight fingers of each girl on opposite sides of the slider. A small window
with a petite metal nail used as a pointer was located in the center of the
slider. If operating correctly, the psychic energy from the fingertips would
move the slider effortlessly across the board stopping to spell words or
indicating yes or no to questions posed. Both people using the slider would
feel like the other person was pushing the slider around the board.
“Who am I going to marry?” asked Aurelia wasting no time to
get to the important question for a high school senior girl. The slider wasted
no time. H–E-N-R-Y was spelled out before the slider came to a halt.
“I don’t even know anyone named Henry!” exclaimed Aurelia.
She repeated the question and the slider quickly gave her the same answer. It
was Jane’s turn.
“Who am I going to marry?” asked Jane. The slider again
wasted no time. Z-Y-W-A-R was spelled out. “No that is Aurelia’s name!” Jane
said and retried the question. Z-Y-W-A-R was the answer.
“Well, we are not getting anywhere with this Ouija Board
today. I know where we can get a card reading for a quarter up on Holyoke
Street” said Jane. Off the two girls went walking past Nashawannuck Pond and up
Cottage Street.
“She told me ‘You will never be rich but you will never be
hungry’ and ‘You will marry someone who is out on the water’” said Jane to
Aurelia after the woman read her cards. “What did she tell you?” asked Jane.
“I am not telling” said Aurelia and Jane never knew what the
fortune teller told her best friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment