Bridgeport Central High School - Criterion Yearbook (Bridgeport, CT)

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THE CRITERION Miller. Casimir informed me that all the vegetables were obtained from the farm of Dorothy and Iilliott Smith down in Fairfield. After lunch, Henry was obliged to return to the boiler factory where he worked and I was left to myself. Al- most unconsciously I wandered across the street to Poli's theatre and read the bill for that week. The headliner was a musical skit entitled The Palace of Beauty in which that dainty come- dienne, Marion Sherwood, took the leading part. She was supported by such well-known stars as llen Spivak, Mabel Morrissey, Kitty Brown, Marion Healy and Alice llarrigan. The special novelty act was Cole and Rosenthal. This pair was guaranteed to speak twenty thousand words in ten minutes without stopping to take their breath, There were also on the bill Meehan and XYise, the famous cartoonists and the Misses Hangs, Cowles, and Mc- Maun presented a playlet entitled Stout, Stouter, and Stoutestf' I could not resist the temptation to attend such a notable performance and accordingly stepped up to the box office. Seeing no one around, I rapped sharply on the window and a voice from somewhere near the Hoor shout- ed, f'Dat's all rig-ht. don't get excited. I'll be up dere in a minute. Soon a woolly head ascended to the level of my own and I beheld the rosy coun- tenance of Fuzzy'l Ostrow. A closer investigation showed me that Fuzzy was obliged to use a stepladder in order to be on speaking terms with the patrons of Poli's popular prices. I asked him how business was for that afternoon and he replied in a confiden- tial manner. Positively great. All sold out except the first twenty-six rows. l purchased a ticket and entered. Cliff Comstock, with a nice gray uniform and a goodly quantity of brass buttons to make him look nice and big, held the position of ticket- collector, while the Misses Hall, Kil- course, Landry, and Treadwell acted as ushers. I went immediately to my seat and started to read the program. From this I learned that Hugh Taylor, Art Keating and Kenneth Christie were the scene shifters. Among the advertisements was that of Lonergan and Shannon, up-to-date clothiers. At this point, the performance began and it surpassed by far my expectations. After the conclusion, I stepped out upon Main street. A man advanced toward me, tapped me gently on the shoulder and asked me for a dime. It was Eric Begg. I could not refuse to aid an old classmate. so giving him a cent, l continued on my way. On the opposite side of the street was the pho- tography shop of Harold Adams while above that was the Colonial llall Room managed by 'Iames XValsh. Feeling rather thirsty, I looked around for a drug store, and seeing one only a short distance away, I approached it. A sign over the door announced that Morgan and XYhite were the proprietors. I en- tered and took a seat at the soda foun- tain. Maurice came forward and, after exchanging greetings,I asked him what was good for quenching the thirst. Ile informed me that Luippold's Luscious Lemonade and Murray's Malted Milk were on a par. I became sporty and took a glass of both. XVhile Maurice was waiting on another customer, I picked up a newspaper which was lying nearby. Opening to the woman's Eighteen

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THE CRITERION unusual haste. My fears were soon al- layed when Henry calmly replied that he was just going out to lunch. I quickly accepted an invitation to ac- company him and also suggested that we add Frank Smith. Henry's soulful eyes immediately filled with tears and 'he led me in silence to the corner. There stood the old store of Radford R. Smith but its counters were bare and its windows untrimmed. A few articles of furniture were scattered here and there as if in a vain attempt to produce a homelike appearance. Standing over a stove in the corner and surrounded by several howling chil- dren stood my old friend Frank. I gazed at Henry and convulsed with grief, we both burst into tears. Henry sobbingly uttered three words which conveyed to me the terrible meaning of the sad picture before our eye, Florence Hanson-suffragcttef' Quietly we left the scene but our spirits were soon revived by the dis- tracting character of the adventures which befell us. Directly ahead of us, a Salvation Army meeting was in progress. Abe Schwartz was in charge of the drum, while the Misses Chichester, Conklin, Gallagher, and Hamilton did the singing. XYe arrived in time to hear Abe shout, Ladies and gentlemen, I take great pleasure in in- troducing to you a man who has been saved from the deepest depths of per- dition through the infiuence of this or- ganization. Allow me to present Mr. Louis Blumbergf' Amid thunderous applause, Louis rose, and with a gen- erous desire to let all the company gaze more easily upon his rescued soul he started to step majestically for- ward, but unfortunately he tripped and Seventeen fell on Abe's drum which collapsed like paper. Abe angrily demanded who was to pay for the damages, but Louis shouted that he would have Abe hung for attempted murder. Having be- come used to such occurrences in our school days, we did not wait for the outcome of the affair but proceeded up the street. A peddler whom I recognized as .lack McLeod tried to sell us a neck- tie, but as he had nothing but red ones in stock, we refused. Next we met Marshall De XVitt, who, without even greeting us, offered to fight us singly or both at the same time. XVe told him to call around after lunch and con-- tinued on our way. By this time we had arrived at the Waldorf lunch room. I expected that this would be our stopping place, but to my surprise, Henry walked right by. In answer to my inquiries, he said that the place was managed by the Misses Hopkins, DuBois, Beers, and Judy and was the Hnest restaurant in the city as well as the most expensive. I asked Henry to give me some idea of the rates which they charged. Chl they have no special rates, he replied, when you enter the door you just give them half of all you have in the world. I remembered that it always did take a lot of coaxing to get any- thing to eat out of the girls even in IQI3. At last we reached the Stratfield and proceeded at once to the dining room. From the menu cards, I learned that H. and C. McElroy were the managers and that the Misses Howe, McNamara. Shey, Newstrom, and Shine were in charge of the culinary department. The waiter was no other than Casimir

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THE CR page which was conducted by Miss Fennell, I read with interest Miss Allen's Daily Talk to Busy VVomen and also Miss Katherine Hill's 'fBeau- ty Banterf' Next I turned to the sporting page which was run by Howard Phillips, dean of baseball scribes. Large headlines announced the coming fight for the heavyweight championship between K. O. Russell and Kid Black. Last of all, I turned to the editorial page and learned that Don Root was the editor. There was an instructive article which was evi- dently a product of Don's brain for it was entitled The advantage of the bow tie over the four-in-hand. Among the advertisements, I read that Miss Beard was appearing in Shakesperian repertoire and that the Misses Carey and Colby were conducting a sanita- rium where rest and absolute quiet were assured. Maurice now came up and told me that he would be busy for the next half hour putting up a bottle of Castoria for a customer. Ac- until cordingly I departed, but not after I had inquired what had become of my old friend Bob Bishop. Maurice informed me that he was ticket agent at the local railway station and there- fore I bent my steps in that direction. The shades of night were just falling and the glimmering lights afforded an excellent background for the picture which at this moment met my eyes. Tenderly embracing a lamp post was old Bill Connelly. His pea green hat was tilted on one side of his head, his pink and green necktie was torn from his Devon collar, and in many other ways he looked sad and sick. But as I approached him, his poetic nature, ever imperishable. welled up within him Nineteen ITERION and he sang in that sweet, tender voice of his: H The stag at eve had drunk his fill, Where danced the moon on Monan's Rill. I smiled at Bill's honesty and straight forwardness and walked on in hopes of finding Bobby Bishop. In a short time, I had reached the station and I stepped up to the ticket window. A very pretty young lady stood ahead of me in the line, and when her turn came, she coyly asked Bob for a Strat-- ford ticket. After fumbling about for some time, Bob blushingly stuck his head out of the window and said apolo- getically, UI am very sorry to inform you, madam, that we have no tickets for Stratford, but we have some very, very nice ones for South Norwalkf' The girl hesitated for a moment and then replied that she would try some of the other stations first, and if she could do no better, she would return later. The girl was Dorothy Smith. I greeted Bob and congratulated him on his easy job. He admitted that it was fairly easy but complained that he encountered some very unreasonable people. As the man behind me was becoming rather impatient, I walked on. It was just six o'clock. The streets were crowded with pedestrians, their footsteps mingling with the clattering carts and rumbling trolleys. Main street lay before me with its myriad lights. How natural and how good it seemed. I glanced at my watch and saw that it lacked half an hour to dinner-ample time to take a look at the new High School. I hurried on with boyish expectancy and enthu- siasm. I pictured the imposing en- trance, the massive columns, and the X 1