Bristol High School - Green and White Yearbook (Bristol, RI)

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THE GREEN AND WHITE 11 there was evident, but how did they get there? Did the lightning, through some freak or other, drop the sliding panel, which dropped the boxes, or did thieves attempt to take theih away? SAMUEL EISENBERG, ’23. SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY GOES TO A BRISTOL BASE BALL GAME I was standing in front of the main gate at the Sylvester Oval, when who should come strolling up but my friend Sir Roger de Coverley. We shook hands, and after discussing the weather which at that time was rather unsettled, we decided to take in the game. Just inside the gate we found a ticket booth, where Sir Roger purchased the tickets for both of us, and after he had deposited them in his pocket, we started to cross the diamond. We had taken but a few steps when we were hailed by a voice in the rear demanding our tickets. Turning around Sir Roger said, “I have just bought them at twenty-five cents apiece and do not intend to part with them just yet.” At that the ticket collector grew angry and insisted upon having them, saying that we could not go a step farther until we handed them over. After a short talk Sir Roger was made to understand that all tickets must be handed to the collector before entering the grounds. At last we managed to get safely seated in the front where we could see every part of the field, but our good fortune did not last, for a terrible shout from the well-known voice of “Faker” Hughes broke in saying, ‘‘Vacate there; those are reserved seats.” We finally managed to find seats which satisfied us, and here we sat in perfect peace, except for the interruption caused by a man throwing peanut shells into Sir Roger’s stove pipe, which had been left on the ground beside him. At last the game started. A man came into the field and announced the names of the different players, ending up with “batter up.” Sir Roger asked me who this last man was, but I was as unfamiliar with the name as he. At last the first man stepped up to the home plate .swinging a bat, but struck out, saying that the umpire was wrong in calling that last ball a strike; finally the first inning ended with great cheering on the Bristol side, for the score was two to nothing, in fayor of the home team. The game went along smoothly except for a few interruptions from Sir Roger who stood up, and told the umpire that the man who had stolen to second base was out. but he was forced to sit down. At the end of the eighth inning the score stood nine to nine, the visiting team was the next up to bat. The first man reached first base, and stole to second, when the pitcher threw the ball to the catcher the second man hit the ball into center field making a two base hit, and giving the man on second a chance to reach home plate. The score then was nine to ten in favor of the visiting team. The next man up to the bat bunted the ball half way between the home plate and the pitchers’ box, also giving him a chance to reach first base safely. Sir Roger jumped up saying that it was a foul ball because he thought it rolled outside of the first base line, but he could not change the umpire’s decision. At last a young fellow who could not stand the umpire’s decisions any longer stood up. and shouted to the umpire, “Hey Ump, did you take a correspondence course in umpiring a ball game?” The umpire could not stand this last remark, so he called a policeman, and ordered him to take the boy off the grounds. The latter with a farewell statement said, “It’s too bad that they have to go to India for ivory when there is so much running loose.” Leaning over toward me, Sir Roger said, “It is really too bad that a person could not spend an afternoon at a ball game without having to listen to foolish headed boys talk in such a shameful manner.” JAMES GOFF. ’23. BRISTOL IN THE EARLY DAYS Massasoit. who was chief of the Wam-panoag Indians, owned from Cape Cod to the head of Mount Hope Bay. His oldest son, Philip, was in charge of a tribe on our Mount Hope. Roger Williams, who founded Providence, soon became friends with Massasoit and although the Chief’s land soon was nearly all in the hands of white men, he never broke his friendship. But a year later Massasoit died and his son Philip became chief. Philip, who hated the Whites, soon declared war. Though he had prepared carefully, the news soon leaked out that Philip had banded together a number of tribes. The Whites formed companies of militia and Captain Benja-shed the first blood would be defeated, they first shots were fired. The first man killed min Church was put in charge. It was on Sunday, June 24, 1675, that the was a Wampanoag and as Philip’s wiser men had told them that whichever side were disheartened. In this case it proved true. King Philip was killed while crossing a swamp on Mount Hope, and his braves soon fled. In the next few years the growth of the town progressed rapidly. Unlike the people who settled Newport, Plymouth and

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10 THE GREEN AND WHITE struck by lightning? One thing certain was, that there had been a robbery. The towns-folk had come to a decision, and that was, that the matter must be thoroughly investigated. The Jameson Manufacturing Company’s building was very large, and only the top floors had been badly damaged. On the first floor, .towards the center of the room, was a large, square, trap door, unnoticeable, because the grains of wood of the door coincided with the rest of the floor. This was the place from which all the stock to be shipped had so mysteriously disappeared. It had been all packed up in the large square and now the square was empty and everything upset. The large square, with its secret door leading to the cellar of the building, was very slightly burned by the lightning. How could it be that the robbers had escaped from what we might call, “Heaven’s wrath.” The cellar, or foundation, contained a spoiled water pipe which (and only when it rained) connected with the large brook of the village, and as the result, the cellar of the building was, most of the time, filled with water. On the day following the fearful storm, the cellar was filled to its capacity ( not very large in contrast to the size of the structure.) On account of its size, the company rarely used the cellar, and thus the secret panel, leading to the cellar was of no use. Officials of the company, detecives, town’s policemen, citizens of the district—in short —all of the law protectors and the gossips of the town had been working on the case for a week, but to no avail, for promising clues had been followed, onlv to find that they were on the wrong trail. Outside districts had been scoured for clues, but all in vain. The detectives had lost all hope for the capture of the miraculous thieves, if such they were, and the days came and went without any results. Three weeks had passed since that terrible storm. The company had decided to record the robbery in their book keeping department as a partial loss, since some insurance had been recovered. The detectives claimed that they could obtain no reasonable clues, and decided that the robbery was not human, but super-human. Perhaps it was for the conditions surrounding the case seemed to be uncanny. Many of the citizens had already remarked, “You cannot overcome spirits, so do not try to arrest them.” There were many other remarks of a similar nature, all of which produced a fixed idea among the people that it was “a ghostly robbery.” Such were the conditions surrounding the case as the third week came to an end. The robbery of the Jameson Manufactur- ing Company formed a baffling case to all parties concerned. Harvey Johnson was walking down Williams street at 7.30 in the morning just three weeks later, jingling a bunch of keys, whistling a tune, and muttering to himself, “place must be haunted” as he looked at the partially destroyed structure. Drawing closer, he saw three men. surveying the building. At the first sight, he suspected thieves, and muttered wildly. “I have caught the thieves.” He ran down the streets in high spirits, in the hope of capturing the suspected thieves and obtaining the $1000 reward, and he began to see his picture on the front page of the daily paper. . .... On coming closer, his heart sank within him; all visions of success disappeared from his mind, for he noticed that the men were merely three detectives who were still working on the case. The clock of the district was steadily winding around its surface, every tick counting a second, every second, slowly winding into minutes, and the minutes slowly, steadily, irresistibly rolling into hours, and yet the robbery was still a much discussed event. The business men, all the people, in truth, were still trying to solve the case, that is to say. to determine whether the place had been visited by “spooks,” or whether it was merely a plain robbery. Four weeks had elapsed since the terrible storm. Repairs were just being made to the badly damaged story of the Jameson Manufacturing Company. Carpenters were busy on the outside—plumbers were busy within. It was about noon when a plumber entered the President’s office. “What’s all those boxes doing in the cellar under the water?” he demanded. “It’s up to you to take ’em out.” “What boxes?” asked the President in surprise. “I don’t know, “came a rough reply, “but I do know it’s up to you to take ’em out.” A hurried investigation of the matter soon disclosed the fact that the boxes were those which had so mysteriously disappeared four weeks before. How did they come to be there, in the cellar, and under the water? The manager called for the other members of the firm—the detectives hurriedly assembled—the gossips too—all were there —to examine the boxes and to admit that they were the ones which, four weeks before, had stood on the first floor of the Jameson Manufacturing Company, ready for shipment. How did they get in the cellar? The detectives conferred and cleared their throats, but said nothing. The gossips shook their heads mournfully—the owners were silent. That the boxes were

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12 THE GREEN AND WHITE Providence, the early settlers did not come because of religion; they came simply to start a real seaport town. These settlers were men of wealth and good standing. The four original owners were Nathan Hayman, Stephen Burton, John Walley and Nathaniel Oliver. Walley was a member of the council and later became Judge of the Superior Court. In 1712 he returned to Boston and died there. But the most prominent owner was Nathaniel Byfield, whose father was an English clergyman. He came to this town with the first settlers, remaining here for nearly fifty years. He chose for his home the peninsula across the harbor which was then known to the Red Men as Papoose Squaw Point. But like Walley he returned to Boston to spend the remainder of his life. We have Colonel Byfield to thank for our broad shady streets, our first schools' and the common. When the town was laid out, land was set apart for the support of the ministry. The first meeting-house was built from trees hewn from the common and was built on the site of the court house. It was known as the First Baptist Church. The interior was surrounded by a double row of galleries and the floor was covered with large square pews. In 1681 the people had assembled and decided that the town should be named Bristol, for that was the name of the second most important center of commerce in England. At the same time Richard Smith was made the first town clerk. Some of the most important settlers were Benjamin Church, Nathaniel Paine, Nathaniel Reynolds, William Ingram, George Waldron, Jabez Gorham, Uzal Wardwell, and Benjamin Bosworth. Another settler of Bristol was soon made Senator. His name was Burnside, for whom the Burnside Memorial Building is named. His home, which still stands, was on Ferry Point overlooking Mount Hope Bay. There is also a large statue of him on horseback in front of the Union Station in Providence. The growth of Bristol’s trade increased greatly in the next one hundred years. But then came the Revolution! Bristol and its people suffered greatly. In the first year of the War the town was bombarded by a British fleet and in May, 1777 troops marched into Bristol, burning homes and meeting houses. Saint Michael’s Church, which then stood on Church street, was burnt to the ground twice. But Metacom, brother of the dead King Philip, was a friend of the Whites and did his best to help them. During the fierce struggle the Town Hall, which is now the Pastime Theatre, was used for a signal tower; the Artillery Hall was used as a blockade house. A young Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette, who wished to help Washington, lived in the Reynolds House on Hope street. It is to Walley, Byfield, Hayman, Burton and Oliver that we are indebted for our town. In later years streets and schools were named in honor of these gallant men, but we are not allowed to forget the very first people of Bristol, for Metacom avenue was named for the great Chief s youngest son and we also have King Philip’s chair and spring on Mount Hope, Rhode Island’s only mountain. R. MORRIS, ’22. BRISTOL AS IT IS TODAY Bristol, one of the oldest Colonial towns of New England, was settled in 1680, and incorporated January 27, 1747. Its charming location, combined with its broad, elm-shaded streets and. handsome residences has won for it the name, “Beautiful Bristol.” The town has a population of 13,000. Bristol has a fine harbor and about twelve miles of water front. The town has more than thirty miles of macadamized roads, and the main thoroughfare to Providence, is in care of the State Board of Public Roads. Bristol. Rhode Island, the county seat of Bristol County, is located 15 miles southeast of the city of Providence, with which is is connected by two lines of railroad, the N. Y., N. H. H. R. R., and a suburban line over the highway. The motive power for passenger service on both lines is electricity, affording a most comfortable and speedy means of travel. Trains run every hour on each line in either direction, with additional service morning and night. There is also steamboat service to and from Bristol, Providence, and Fall River, and a ferry-boat, which also carries automobiles, connecting with an electric railroad to Newport, the fashionable summer resort. Bristol has a modern sewer system throughout, with ample, up-to-date water supply, electric lights and gas; a branch of the Industrial Trust Company of Providence with a capital and surplus of eighty million dollars; American Railway Express; local telephone exchange; Western Telegraph ; Rogers Free Library containing 19,500 volumes in its own building; three good hotels, one for summer guests; two moving picture houses; excellent stores; a semi-weekly newspaper; several garages; churches of all denominations; four efficient volunteer fire companies with two motor fire trucks; and an efficient police department; children’s play grounds; tennis clubs; a large common with two base ball diamonds. The Schools of Bristol are its special