Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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As Thespians several members of our class trod the boards in the college play. Owen A. Gallagher, Walter A. Comerford, Henry F. McKenna, Jr., George Olesen and William J. O ' Connell were in the play from ' 23. Coach Jack Ryder, a man loved by all who know him, took our runners in charge during 1919-20. Since that time Boston College has climbed higher and higher in the track world. Jack is a maker of runners. He does his great work on raw material. Men who never put on a track shoe before are his specialty. Under his tutelage Jake Driscoll broke the world ' s record for the indoor 500-yard run in 1920; our relay team won their class championship at the Penn Relays, with Billie Nolan, ' 23, competing; and the Eastern Intercollegiate championship was won at Springfield by a lone point. SOPHOMORE Second round; Frs. Keating, Becker, McGarvey, McQuade vs. Class of Twenty- Three; fight to finish. In Frosh we received our baptism of fire in the form of Analytic, otherwise known as the Sower of Death. While we were yet in the throes of said bap- tism, lurid descriptions of what awaited us were poured plentifully into our tired ears. Several baptisms of blood were ahead, it seemed. However we applied a little philosophy in observing that if the then upper classmen had survived the ordeal, it had no terrors for us. Into the maelstrom we plunged. The scholastic year of 1920-21 was unquestionably the very .greatest in the annals of old B. C. We were firmly established in athletic supremacy by the mythical eleven lead of Lukie Urban. The feats performed by that team have never been rivalled, to our knowledge, by an exclusively day college in the history of American Intercollegiate competition. Ever since that time B. C. has maintained that supremacy unthreatened and promises to do so for some time to come. Who does not remember the Odyssey of B. C. to New Haven? Personally we went in an overcrowded motor truck which made the journey in about fifteen hours. We patronized all the hot dog emporia and Waldorf Lunch rooms. Sleep was out of the question going down; and coming back it was raining. If you came back by train you may forget the rain, but if you came back over the road you won ' t forget it. But the joy of victory made the price light. In the middle of the football season, Father Rector announced that a Building Fund Drive would be made in the Spring. The objective was $2,000,000 for the erection of a chapel, library, gym and science building. By the enthusi- astic cooperation of Alumni, Philomatheia and Student Body together with that of a host of friends of Boston College throughout New England the Drive went over the top, the biggest cash drive ever held in this section of the country, not excepting the Liberty Loan campaign. We had a pyrotechnical class election in Soph. Several het-up speeches were made and the final returns showed Owen Ambrose Gallagher, president; Edward C. Dullea, vice-president; Jeremiah O ' Brien, secretary; Francis Hickey, treasurer; and Cecil McGoldrick A. A. representative. Page twenty-five

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Retrospect FRESHMAN In the Fall of 1919 our Class entered Boston College in the role of Freshmen. The college generation following that event has included the four greatest years in the history of Alma Mater, — years of astonishing achievement and bold ini- tiation in the multifarious fields of collegiate endeavor. We came to a pro- vincial Boston College and we leave an Alma Mater nationally known and re- spected. We have witnessed the Great Metamorphosis in the life of dear old B. C. Modesty forbids us drawing the inference that specifically from our arrival resulted this spectacular rise of the Maroon and Gold, — we merely present the fact. Genial Joe Comber from the little hamlet of Lawrence was chosen President of the Class. No less a personage than Al Lashway, himself, in person was elected Vice-President; William Cadogan, Secretary; William H. Daly, since departed from the Class, Treasurer, (Bill did not depart with the funds, be it said ) ; and Jack Lyons was chosen to represent the Class in the A. A. When Major Frank Cavanaugh signed a contract to coach the B. C. football team, the first great advance was made in athletics. How great a step forward it would prove to be, the most delirious B. C. optimist had not dreamed even in his wildest moments. The story of that season is history, — a glorious story which you will not fail to recall. Yale, in looking for some peaceful games that Fall to lead up to the alleged big games, had picked out as a prospec- tive victim the then unhatched Eagle. It was a story-book game, with Jimmy Fitzpatrick kicking a 47-yard drop-kick in the last two minutes of play. Score, B. C— 5; Yale— 3. That game was the opening wedge. Fitzie ' s toe spelled doom to Holy Cross in the great 9 to 7 game of that year. It was our third successive victory over the Purple and it gave us permanent possession of the Cardinal O ' Connell Trophy. We played Georgetown that season for the first time and again the kicking prowess of Fitzpatrick asserted itself, even in the mud and rain, and the Maroon and Gold was triumphant over the Blue and Grey 10 to 7. That our Class was responsible in no small way for these victories is shown by our representation on the team. The Heights, college weekly, now such a vital factor in the life of the col- lege, came into being during the week following the Holy Cross game. The subsequent improvement in the standard of this sheet is due more to the efforts of the men of ' 23 than of any other class. ' Member the Bosco Column? Early in 1920 the announcement was made that B. C. was going to expand along scientific lines. Plans were made to build a Science Building, but later they evolved into the great drive of which more hereafter. In the forum or the agora we were represented by the two Joes, Comber and Crane, who appeared in the Marquette Prize Debate. Page twenty-four

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The class was well represented in the Marquette Debating Society. Joseph Comber served as president during the first term and Gaynor Wellings did the honors during the second term. Will you ever forget the banquet at which Fred Mandile presided and the introduction he made when presenting ex-Mayor James M. Curley? Or Olesen ' s imitation of Mandile? The prize debate was won that year by Joseph G. Crane, Class of Twenty-three. Jack Ryder ' s runners won the Eastern Intercollegiate Championship again this year, breaking five records in doing so and finishing seventeen points ahead of the runner-up, none other than Holy Cross. One of these record breaking performances was made by our own Billie Nolan in the running broad jump. JUNIOR There is only one word in the English language which fitly describes the Class of Twenty-three as it re-assembled to begin Junior year and that word is depleted. The rigors of Sophomore had taken their wonted toll, it is true, but we lost many men by transfer to St. John ' s Seminary. Owen A. Gallagher was re-elected to the presidency of the class. Joseph A. Comber was elected vice-president; Myles T. McSweeney, secretary: and Walter Dimmock, treasurer. Jack Heaphy was unanimously elected to represent the Class in the Student A. A. Junior year was made memorable by the visit of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Generalissimo of the allied armies in the World War. Feted by the entire na- tion and hurried from one consequential function to another, the great soldier, graduate of a Jesuit college, found time to visit the Heights and address the students. He was accorded a heart-warming reception and received a thundering ovation from the students. It was Rene Gingras of the Class of Twenty-three who on this occasion ad- dressed Foch in his native tongue in the name of the student body. We had a football team depleted by graduation that year. Tony Comerford, ' 23, captained the team which had rather a hectic season. Cav was beginning to build for another year. Further than that we will say no more. Blot the night- mare from your memories. To give the academic side of the year the cold respect of a passing glance, it is memorable for the philosophy in overalls made famous by the beloved Fr. Boehm, by Fr. McCluskey ' s philosophy in Shakespearian quotations, and Fr. Crowley ' s philosophy in copious notes. The daily portion of comedy was pro- vided by the Physics Class, tragedy being provided for by the oral exams. Many of the boys were on the inside of a taxi, looking out for the first time, when the Junior Prom took place. But if history has it aright, the boys didn ' t waste much time looking out. Argumentatively, the year was a great success. The Senior-Junior debate showed the greatest class up in great style. The Junior team was composed of Ownie Gallagher, Joe Crane, and George Olesen, who imparted his informa- tion to an eager audience in his usual secretive style. But the Seniors with all their Ethics had to swallow the bitter dust of defeat. The Class innovated the Junior Day at the second Fordham game. It was undoubtedly due in large measure to the efforts of such entertainers as Cec