Central High School - Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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of the journey appeared a dilapidated sign bearing the fearful and blood-curdling name, Crom-a-boo. QPronounced in a whis- per.j The broken condition of this board was due to two amateur actors who had passed that way? This highly poetical figure was ob- jected to by Paul Rosenwey, the poet QQ. But knowing that Thomas Hardy is the only author he has read I decided not to alter it. But I am wandering from the subject. We all arrived at the scnool at 'Y a.m., and after waiting until 11 Samuel Dutton awoke, puied out his cheeks, tolled the bell, and let us in. We were seated in alphabetical order among the steam-pipes in the back of the lecture-room by Prof. Miller, and here is one of the many errors of the school which I would like to correct. The Freshmen are seated at the windows facing Broad Street, where is aforded an excellent view of the passing multitude. Now the average Freshman is too timid to look at a girl, and so a valu- able opportunity is lost. I remember Harry Lallou and Billy Lam- bourne were the only ones who ever turned their heads, but they were born under the constellation Virgo? The Seniors are seated under the very nose of Prof. Thompson, and every time they open a book to study CPD during a declamation, are stopped by a tattoo played by the president on the arm of his chair, which interpreted means, Leave the room. So seat the Seniors in the back of the room, and give them the beneit of co-education, and put the Freshmen up front, and so keep them from studying too hard. We were told that all good boys joined the A. A. 5 and hearing that we would get 15 tickets for the sports, we allowed our names to be en- rolled, and ever since we have had the hard task of begging other stu- dents who don't belong to accept a ticket for the sports. About the Christmas time Engineer Johnson was called away on important business, and the business was so pressing that he never came back. The whole school went into mourning for a month, and sent him a set of resolutions, begging him to come back. But he decided that the journey would be too dangerous. The school was without a president, and we thought we would have a cinch, but the next morning, to our chag1'in, Prof. Hopper quietly paraded to the pulpit, and in a chewing- gum voice 'I' read the Bible, and announced that he would administer justice until they should induce council to appropriate enough money for a new president. Profs. Houston and Christine both said they would be willing to save councils that expense, but they were told that it was U C. 0. D. N Fx-om Snydor's My Father's Farm. 4' Patent applied for. 2I

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moment, and cause one of those rushes we had heard about. But our fears were groundless, and we were soon ushered, or rather driven upstairs by Samuel Dutton, Vice-President of the Janitors. We looked like a flock of sheep driven to slaughter, whose verdant wool had not yet been cut. ' We were then assembled in the dormitory, otherwise known as the lecture-room. With the ringing of the gong President Johnson en- tered. He wore a pair of light-colored pants, negligee shirt, and flannel coat. We nudged each other and whispered, Ain't he sporty! fWe donit say ain't now, it makes Prof. E. Lacy nervousj Johnson gave us instructions about the examination, such as Q15 Help your neighbor as you would be helped by him, Don't get caught cheating, Q3j Chew- ing-gum or any other form of tobacco forbidden during school hours. Chrissy patted each of us on the head, tickled each of us under the chin, and told us to be good little boys, and then we were conducted into our respective pens. Here we were examined in pony-riding, sausage- eating, and how to run a gas-engine. Strange to say all the boys in the present class were found proicient in these arts, and we all passed the requirements. We were then dismissed for the summer recess. All of us went to the World's Fair, except a small majority who couldn't stand the tedious journey. 'P f' ,f-4' . N 'TI-'-Fw- ' '-'?..112f' In September we assembled, and the train of '97, known as the Rusherj' was started for the graduating terminal. It was composed of five through Pullman coaches and one day coach for those wishing to go half way. Prof. Johnson was the engineer, Prof. Hopper shoveled coal 3 Prof. Holt was brakesmang Prof. Shock was conductor, and he certainly did his duty, for many of us were put off, as ducks or other live animals were not allowed on the train, Prof. Smith was news agent, Prof. Straube, pretzel and 10-cent lunch man, and Prof. E. Lacy was put on the cow-catcher so that his brilliant remarks might light up the way. They accomplished their purpose, showing us several sign- boards. The Hrst had the word Ohatterton painted on it in red and yellow letters. Then came Rinaldo, and near the end 20

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too great a sacrifice to allow them to make. An advertisement was put in the New York Journal, and the next day a cablegram was received from the Emerald Isle from a certain Mr. Thompson, of Scotch-Irish descent, stating that he would be willing to accept the position. Find- ing his character to be all right, they sent him word to come on at once. In a week he arrived, and passed through Quarantine with little diffi- culty, but was held by the immigrant official as he had no visible means of support. But he showed them his book on political economy, and they let him through. He came to the school next day, and the verdict of the fellows was, Hefs easy. We have grown wiser. About this time Prof. Houston left us with nothing to remind us of him but a ive-cent chromo with his autograph, which we passed off on the ice-cream man for three-centts worth of frozen bacilli. His position was filled by Benjamin Franklin Lacy. No! he isn't of blue blood. He is a brother of Ernest Lacy, the playright and lyric poet fcontemporary with Wm. Shakespearej. It seems that there was a general sweeping out of the faculty that year, for Chester Nye Farr was oiered the position of assistant errand-boy to the City Solicitor, and deciding that that was more profitable than teaching historical English, he sent in his resigna- tion. We were sorry to lose such a sporty professor, and presented him with a life-size portrait of the class. At our recommendation Dr. John Duncan Spaeth, A.M., Ph.D. QLeipsicj was appointed to his place, and we are certainly proud of our protege. The Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia from Chicago, and we were visited by a delegation of citizens, asking us to escort the bell to the State-house. We marched through the city to the great delight of the populace, and were given hot coffee by the business men. While passing the councilmen we sang We want a new High School. They were so impressed by our manly grace and beauty, that right there and then they decided to grant our request. The next morning we received a check sufficient to dig the cellar of the new High School. The site at the southwest corner of Broad and Green Streets was purchased, and one ine Saturday Prof. Thompson broke the sod. We have that piece of clay carefully preserved in a glass case in the library of the school, and from it is springing the beautiful new structure. It will be in full bloom, we hope, in time for our grand-children to have the honor of being the first class to graduate from it. A We received some benefit from it, however. The cellar had scarcely been dug when a severe rainstorm occurred, which .filled it with water, 22