Drury High School - Class Book Yearbook (North Adams, MA)

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well as our standings by going, so a number of Drury loving members trudged up on the hot days to pour over books. But our Sophomore year was far more exciting. We had hardly gotten over the effects of being down on the second floor when it became the fashion to use soft coal, and of course Drury followed suit, with the result that the furnaces which had stood everything before, refused to be insulted in such a way. They sent the black smoke up through the whole building until it became unbearable, and then for a while our sessions were out short and we joyfully went home. How many of us then echoed in our hearts the words of seniors, God bless the man who first invented soft coal. Soon we had an opportunity to behold what orators we had in the class at rhetoricals, although there were but few who wouldn't have given up the opportunity when it came their turn to speak. In the fall of our Sophomore year was that never to be forgotten football game with Pittsfield, but we will not dwell on the injustice done Druryg it is enough to say that all athletic relations between the schools were severed for nearly a year. This same year, the Faculty took away from us our regular monthly reports and instead sent little leaflets to our parents, telling what our standard was, and if it was low, the cause was given. And what was worse yet, the Faculty decreed that yearly calls must be made on each pupil. Oh, what horrors they were. How great was our satisfaction when the imaginations of our sage instructors gave out and they were unable to invent any more reasons for our deficiencies, and we went back to the old monthly reports. But the fear of pastoral calls hung over us all of our course. One morning in February. 1903, just as we were starting for school, the fire alarm rang and everyone hurried to get a glimpse of the fire. if possible, before going in school. but how great our surprise was to see smoke pouring from the windows of Old Drury and flames darting around. The spirit of old Nate was again trying to throw off the disgrace and gain a new building for us, but in vain, it succeeded only in putting the long suffering High School pupils in the still older part of the building and making us endure the discomfort of the infant department seats until they could be replaced by larger ones. It is needless to say much about the strike, how we were deprived of a holiday and refused to stand for it, is

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CLASS HISTORY 92 A long time ago. so long that we can hardly remember it, in the fall of 1901, we were routed out of bed in the wee, sma' hours one morning and told to hu1'ry, as school novv began at eight o'clock tand we have been hurrying ever since to get there on timej. '05 was an especially noted class whenit entered because of its size, or should we say sizes. We ranged from Baker's mountainous heightdown to Johnny Burn's few inches, but in spite of the variety, who can say that a better class ever entered?, Early in our iirst year, one of our class members gallantly called a class meeting for the purpose of electing class officers, but some of the haughty Juniors. claiming that the meeting was not carried on under parliamentary 1'ules twith Windover in the class too,j insisted on another, and then Harold Braman was elected our first president. The boys formed a class football team with George Chase as captain, and for the first time held up '05's reputation by defeating a Freeman School team with the score of 5 to 0. During ou1' Erst winter as High School pupils, who can fo1'get the fun we had, the numerous sur- prise t?j parties, the grand long slides down the banisters, and the excitement of our first exams. It doesn't seem possible that we ever asked such questions as Do we have to come up on the days when we don't have exams? But then we were young and foolish. In the spring a tennis club was started and many of '05's members joined. What fun there was then on the campus tas Mr. Hawley would sayj on pleasant afternoons, the tournaments and chasing balls over the bank among the poison ivy. The Spirit of Old Nate Drury, tired of waiting for the city fathers to decree that we should have a new building, and insulted by the old one, made an attempt to destroy Drury in our Freshman year by sending the plaster tumbling down, but it was in vain, for the fathers simply had it put back to tumble down again some time. When June came, bringing the graduation of '02, we Freshmen had the extreme pleasure of gracing the top row of the wonderful bleachers built for the occasion. That summer, some of us found out for the first time that a summer school existed and that we might improve our minds as

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still fresh in our memory, and always will be. At the end of our Sophomore year. we suffered a great loss in Mr. Memrnottss leaving, after only having given us a year of his excellent teaching. When we came back as Juniors, a large number of the members of '05 had wandered from the fold, never to return. but the rest of us entered for a jolly good time. We held our first hop under the direc- tion of Peter, and made a grand success of it, not only as a social event but linancially,-and with 13 on the committee too. How awful we all thought it was to have our Semi-Final exams sent to the St. Louis exposition and it was whispered that not even Margaret was excused from the exams, after all her studying. What injustice! Old Nate again tried to set tire to Drury this year, but succeeded only in getting us out of the building while the small flames started by an experiment in the lab were quickly put out. One of the most mysterious things of our Junior year was Where did the short-hand pencils go? We wonder if Tower knows. The Academe had the good fortune to fall into Emigh's hands and under his management still kept up its high reputation. By far the most exciting time in our Junior year was when the Seniors tried to keep their iiag up on Drury. We Juniors found out where it was be- ing made and kept a close watch on it, trying to prevent its going up, but the Seniors finally succeeded in raising it early Monday morning on the day of the exams, after a long night's struggle. Then began a contest over the banner, long to be remembered. Even the senior girls, layed aside their dignity and mounted the tower to aid the fellows in their defense. Nevertheless about noon. the Seniors were so hard pressed by our Junior boys, that in their last extremity, they cut the rope of the flag, and in trying to throw it to a safe place, threw it down one of the chimneys, from where we rescued it, only having allowed the Seniors to keep it up for about six hours. As the time drew near to open school last September, when we as Seniors should enterin a dignilied way and with solemn mein Qthat is, when not eating lollypopsj, an excitement prevailed in the city, never before experienced,--small pox. On account of itQ the school could not be opened until October, with the exception of the Senior class which was allowed to start two weeks early. When it was whispered around that we would not have any rhetoricals this year, 0'Hearn felt so badly, it is said, that Doctor