Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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SPECTATOR 31 You never saw a more motley crowd than that which collects around the festive board at Miss Sandes. Of the 29 incumbents, 28 speak both French and English, 3 German, l South African, l Dutch, 1 Russian, and 1 Esperanto, and we make no more progress than the would-be builders of the Tower of Babel. The last mentioned linguist is a jewel. Small and slight, his face is provided with a most wonderful coat of shaggy, unkempt hair which waves in the wind of his own conversation. Believe me, there is no rest for the weary. He is a professor of Esperanto somewhere in Eng- land and he finds the call of the world language too strong for his conception of the eternal fitness of things. So he talks it in the morning, about it in the afternoon, and in spite of us in the evening. No matter what the topic of conver- sation may be, he always turns it into Esperanto. Like a chameleon, it is adaptable to local color. No, there is one exception, that is sanity. ak :oc af Now we'll forget him. Next in interest are the women. Most of them are of the better class, for the cigarette cases which they bring to'the table are sterling silver and real gold. I had to decline the young ladies' offers of a smoke even though they failed to see how any man worthy of the name could do without his drinks and smokes at least'once a day. ' Extracts from a letter of Carl Haller, '12: I read with much interest, in the Johnstown Tribune, where the High School Spectator was going to publish a war number with data and information about those of the alumni who are in the service, and I wondered if it would be possible for me to get a copy of that issue foril am very much interested and I am sure that information would help me locate a number of the boys whose whereabouts I have lost since we are in the army. ' I am now located in the so-called 'Sunny South,' but I think the sunny part must be a myth for it is as cold as the north, and yesterday we had a snowstorm which would

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30 SPECTATOR crawl out of a tent to secure the flaps against a night wind, nor roll up in blankets on the cold ground. NVhat I shall do is to tiptoe down the hallway and out to a good hot shower, then open my window to get enough fresh air, turn out my brilliant electric light, and grope for the springs of a won- derful iron cot. , With best wishes to The Spectator 4 CARL E. GLOCK C105 Lieutenant 316th Infantry, National Army. L.- .. Extrarta Elirnm Erttmi nf Alumni in tha Sernire Extracts from a letter of William Byron, 1911: Were it not for the pleasure of writing you I should al- most regret my refusal to answer the call of the sun and the wind and the thoughts of the greenest grass and the trees heavy with foliage. But then the inside is comfortable, far more so than the last boarding house. There, while the room was comfortable, the woman in charge took just as much interest in the boarders as was necessary to assure prompt payment of the weekly bills, whatever they happened to be. In my case it was 35 shillings Q35 times 24 cents equals 38.405 for room, breakfast and din- ner. In English Private Hotels lunch is seldom served and if tea is desired it must be ordered in advance except on Sunday when the steeping takes place at 4:30. I discovered that a mid-day meal was absolutely unnecessary since the housekeeper at the office serves tea every day but Saturday and Sunday. To be sure the tea is the product of fifteen minutes' hard boiling with the addition of a little milk but the tissue paper slice of bread and the half slice of cake-oh! very crumbly cake-are edible. Since the law prohibits the making of nflakey pastry currants and raisins are largely used to hold the crumbs together. This meal lasting from 4 till 4:30 is sufficient till we go to our respective boarding houses at 7 o'clock. '

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32 SPECTATOR make some of our northern ones take a back seat, the only difference, however, is that it never lasts and tomorrow one is liable to bake. The flying game is very interesting as well as exciting and I have just left the instruction list and am flying solo, so I shall be able to put in much more time now and finish up and get to the other side and get into the thick of things. Extract from a card of Carl Coleman CIZJ to Mr. Stock- ton: 4 Received the box of tobacco this afternoon, and it fits in the right spot. My sincere thanks to those responsible for the gift. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ! Extracts from letters of De Witt Curry, ex. 1912: I see by your letter you are having your troubles at school. I hope you do not do as I did, get disgusted and quit. You are having the same trouble I had. I would study my English history until I was sure I knew it and when I would be called upon to recite I couldn't say any thing. I think you will make a big mistake if you quit J. H. S., be- cause you will have to take the same studies all over again. ' if 4: :sf W e appreciate the action the congregation took in our behalf. I often think of the people of Willow street, but there are too many to mention in my letters. wk wk wk We certainly can make good use of the handkerchiefs. The Government doesn't issue any and you can't buy any for less than a franc Q20c.j. . ff wk af Crawford got one of his old maladies. Can you guess what it is? It's the hives. When I went over Sunday morning his head was about twice its normal size but by evening he was feeling well and the swelling had gone down considerably. Crawford and I invested in the Liberty Bonds. Our