Central High School - Brecky Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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After I got there, I asked a policeman, who was standing on one of those funny little platforms with an awning over it, directing traffic, How can I get to Sugar Loaf ? First I tried English. No sabel Then German. Still to no avail! Finally I got desperate and tried Pig-Latin. I forgot to try Spanish! Anyway, Portuguese is spoken in Brazil. Then I got disgusted and plunged recklessly into the devious windings and narrow streets of the old town. I gave up Sugar Loaf temporarily, I thought, but I'm sorry to say I didn't ever get a ride in the cable-car up the mountain. Eventu- ally I lost sight of Sugar Loaf, lost sight of every- thing, except that my feet were beginning to hurt from so much unaccustomed walking, and that I wanted to find a policeman who spoke some language of which I had even a smattering, and who could direct me back to the Avenida Rio Branco, from which I knew the way back to the ship. I finally found one who spoke English of a sort. He stood six-feet-something-or-other and really looked handsome with his flashing white teeth and bushy black mustache. His, by the way, were almost the only white and well-cared-for teeth that I saw -in South America. Apparently most South Americans, or at least the ones with whom I came in contact, never heard of dentists or toothbrushes. Their teeth were horrible. This policeman set me on the right bus, and I thanked him whole-heartedly. He was the type of officer of the law that really commanded respect. There can never be too many of his kind. Rio reminded me somewhat of Washington witn its broad avenues, breath-taking vistas, and reck- less drivers. Even the Washington motorists, though, are not as reckless as those of Rio. They never go slower than thirty-five, if they can help it. If they see a pedestrian attempting to cross the street, they seem to take a iiendish delight in coming straight for him at full speed and making him run for safetv. The side streets are a couple of centuries be- hind the main thoroughfares, however. They are paved with cobblestones and lined with blank and solemn houses, which come all the way to the sidewalk, and whose ground fioors are open- fronted shops. Bars and shoe-stores predominate. Otherwise, the side streets are just as narrow and colorful as anything in the travel folders, only dirtier. Thursday, July 28 Tonight we sailed out of the harbor, past the Brazilian Navy Yard, past Sugar Loaf and the rocks guarding the entrance. It was just dusk. Everywhere lights were going on. By the time we reached the outer harbor, it was pitch dark, and all we could see of Rio de Janeiro were lights twinkling like jewels in the fast-increasing dis- tance. It is about ten o'clock now, and already we are far out of Rio and well on the way to Santos, the great coffee port, which we shall reach in the morning. I To be continued in January issue Q Calling all Centralites! Here's the opportunity you're looking for! Would you like to see your name in print? Would you like to join an important and growing organization? If you want to write for this magazine, or if you de- sire any sort of work with the editorial, business, or art staffs, we're looking for you. It's an invita- tion! Calling all Centralites! Calling all ----- THB REVIEW WE

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time each watch. What a life! A notice was put up today, telling about a crew musicale a week from today and requesting ama- teur talent to be prepared. I guess the life of a sailor is even more fun than I thought, except for the hard work. W ednesday, July 20 Today we made Barbados. It looks like the kind of West Indian island you see in the pictures, waving palm trees, white sand beach, cerulean blue water. The crew, for some obscure reason, was not allowed ashore, and we had to get our view of this gem of the Carribean from our an- chorage in the harbor. All we could see were the red roofs of Bridgetown, shining out among palm trees and mountains. I saw plenty of the natives, though. Last night everybody was advised to lock all the doors and keep everything out of reach of the natives. Ap- parently they'll steal anything that isn't screwed down. They come out in bumboats and climb on board to try to sell things to the crew. There are usually three in a boat, the bumboats down there are merely rowboats which the natives rent from a concessionaire on the island. There is a woman, who will dive for coins, eggs, apples, or anything you'll throw into the water, one man or boy, to come on board and try to sell horns mounted on wood, birds carved out of horn, and other such trinketsg and the third person, another boy or man, to ' handle the boat, which he does with amazing skill. Everywhere I went If found that American cigarettes may be used as coin. Since they cost only six cents a package on ships, sailors every- where use them to buy things. Even the beggars ask for American cigarettes instead of money, as they sell down here for about thirty-live cents a package. This morning the crew cook, and everybody on the forward deck at that time had a lot of fun but the First throwing down eggs to the natives, one the cook threw was raw, and it splattered all over the native who tried to catch dived into the water and came up clean. When he climbed back into it. He just smiling and the boat, he yelled up to us in his half-cockney, half-negro English to thrown down some more eggs, but to make them hard-boiled this time. Then we threw him the kind he requested, which he ate on the spot with great relish. Seeing this one native getting all the eggs, other natives came around in bumboats, shoved him good-naturedly out of the Tai-: Rnvrsw l8l way, and asked for eggs for themselves. We kept sending them down, with an occasional raw one to make it interesting, until we tired of the sport and went over to the other side to watch some other natives diving for coins. Most of the Barbadoans seem to be extremely graceful and very well built. The men, though slight of stature, are unusually well-proportioned. Most of the women, judging from the ones in the bumboats, although they may not have been a fair sample of the island belles, are too fat. About five in the afternoon, the passengers were brought back on board in motor launches, and we weighed anchor and steamed slowly away. But just before we started to move away, Big Joe, the head man of the bumboat natives, dived off the boat deck about seventy feet into the water. When he rose to the surface, his battered silk hat was just a brim down around his ears. A moment later, the crown floated to the surface, and Big Joe retrieved it. Then he climbed into the largest bumboat and waved goodbye to us. Wednesday, July 27 i This morning I got up extra early to watch us come into the beautiful harbor of Rio de Janeiro. At about nine this morning I got a chance to go ashore, which I did, still wearing my work clothes. I stared at, and was stared at by, as motley a collection of people as can be found, even in Washington. I This was my first glimpse of South America, except what little I had been able to see of Per- nambuco and its surrounding jungles, when we passed about twenty miles off shore 3' so everyb thing seemed very strange to me. There were hordes of soldiers around, even the school children belong to an organization spon- sored by the government which gives them uni- forms, military training, and three or fourmibreis flifteen or twenty centsj a day. The policemen wore very handsome blue uniforms with white and silver trimmings, topped off by a tropical sun- helmet, a whistle, which sounded like the kind that music teachers use to give the pitch, and perfect misunderstanding, accompanied by a most en- gaging smile. In the afternoon, when I had more time off, I changed into my shore-going clothes and really went for a walk around the town. I got lost, but I didn't mind, because I figured I could always take a cab back to the ship. I walked all the way across to the bay in which the famous Sugar Loaf Mountain rears its cable-car bedecked head.

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ear kffow Genfrafifesz Recently the following letter came to the Principal's desk: 'Dear Sir: 'Miss e has applied to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and states that she was graduated from your school in 1935. 'In order that the applicant may receive consideration, it will be appreciated if you will advise us in confidence of any facts you may possess concerning her character, personality, habits, and capabilities. In particular, we are interested in knowing whether she displayed any elements of leadership in school activities and, if so, along what lines and with what success...........' Since the applicant was not known to me personally, I referred, as always in handling such requests, to the young lady's permanent record sheet. These permanent record sheets are kept in alphabetical file in the office safe. Even though a student has spent but a single semester in Central High School, his permanent record sheet is kept on file for any use it may be to him or us at any future time. After a careful examination of the record sheet of the alumnus of the school referred to above, I wrote the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as follows: 'Gentlemen: 'Miss was graduated number 52 in a class of 499 in our June, 1935 class. The best testimony to this young lady's character qualities may be found in the fact that she was selected by the faculty in her junior year for membership in the National Honor Society. This organization, as you know, stresses qualities of leadership, scholarship, character, and service. Miss ....... according to our records is considerably above the average in intelligence, so much so indeed that she would be called exceptional. 'Perhaps from the above you may gather sufficient information to judge Miss .......'s fitness to fill the position for which she has applied.' . Many years ago, as an undergraduate student in the state university, it was my good fortune to sit in the classes of a distinguished professor of botany. Classes were large, and in the oral quizzes each student received only a few questions a semester. If a student failed to answer his ques- tion, the professor was wont to remark in his dry humorous way, as he wrote a zero in his record book, 'I'm writing history.' THE Rlvrlw IIOJ