Fitchburg High School - Boulder Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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CLASS HISTORY. debate. But the glowing eloquence of Geoffrion finally overpowered the feebler defense of Hubbell, who insisted that such an innocent-looking prisoner could not be guilty of such an atrocious crime. After a sitting behind locked doors the jury rendered the verdict — guilty. Naught remained but for Judge Knight to pronounce the fearful penalty. The crowded throng in the court room listened with bated breath as His Honor, all dignit} and austerit q slowh rose and spoke the sentence, “Thou shall not bestow up- on any of the participants of this solemn trial, nor upon their friends, nor upon the entire Ninth Grade, any demerits furthermore during this school 3 ' ear.’’ This sentence explains why “many of the partici- pants of this solemn trial” are still in school. By the time we became Freshmen our reputation had grown to be as boundless as Prof. Cobb’s in- finity. The upper-class men watched our rapid devel- opment with admiration, which was not unmixed with jealousy. How could thev help being a little envious? Was not the truth slowly but surely dawn- ing upon them that we were their superiors ? No Sophomore dared invade our sacred precincts. Even the Seniors did not seek to impede us, nor trip us up when we walked through “Lover’s Lane” to the school library for reference works. Nothing ever heard of equalled our popularity as Sophomores. Scholars and teachers alike had learned to respect us. The material in our class was match- less, our resources unlimited. Several of our men did •excellent work on the track team, notably Hardy, Grubb, Knight, Hubbell and A. C. Mayne. Hosmer and Schragle upheld the honors of ’02 in the basket ball games. The football team would have been incomplete without Ryan, Moran, Downie and Grubb 15

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CLASS HISTORY. Class History. I X Septeml er of the year 1897 the present class of ’02 entered the high school as Ninth Graders. Although not yet members of the high school proper, we soon distinguished ourselves as the class of ’ 02 , and at this earh period of our existence made a name for ourselves which would continue to be sounded through all eternity, even had we not been continually adding fresh honors to its fame. We immediately became familiar with all phases of high school life and mastered all the m3 steries of the building, with the possible exception of Prof. Hartwell, who puzzled us not a little at first, but we soon came to realize that he was there mereW for our amusement. Miss Hunt was so impressed b3 ' the subtlet3 of our intellects that she dubbed us the “ Slipper3 ' Innocents,” and many a heart has quailed at the mere mention of the ‘‘Slipper3 Innocent Gang.” One winter’s morning Miss Hunt (we called her “Featherweight”) slipped and fell on the wa3 to school, which was ver3 hard. This was an outrage- ous deed and one that shocked our very souls, so at that recess we held a trial under the charge of destro3dng cit3 propert3c The stern and solemn Knight sat as judge, Geoffrion was the prosecuting cit3 attorne3q Hubbell represented the defendant, while the inhabitants of Room 39 composed the wit- nesses and jur3unen. Long and fierce raged the 14

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CLASS LIISrORV. of ’02. Tlie baseball nine was composed mostly of ’02 men, viz.: O’Brien, Dareh, MeCue, Barker, Ryan and Burdo. A truly reat event ha pened during our Sopho- more year and one worthy of being most carefully noted. Imagine the emotions which swept like a tidal wave through our bosoms as instead of Air. Kimball, dearly beloved and highh ' popular both as a football hero and as a genial master, a new mem- ber greeted our eyes. We can never forget that high forehead, those intellectual eyebrows, that sharp vis- age and those well-molded features. No, we can never forget. Many a batch of “1000 words” was written, many a slip of paper cleaned up from the floor, many a demerit ladled out, but still the suppW was ever ready to meet the demand. At last, how- ever, he showed signs of relenting, and victory, as usual, was ours. The white-winged dove of peace again reigned supreme in Room 23. We were the only class that ever got the best of Mr. Cobb. He has been able to manage those who have since sat in his room with his thumb and forefinger. In that same 3’ear two members of the class of 1901 planned a poster-paint-pot raid upon 1900. Looking for recruits in their own class, they were surprised to find onh one endowed with sufficient courage to run the risk of being “nabbed” (i. e., pinched). Taking pit on them, no less than five recruits from ’02 enrolled upon their side and were direetly responsible for the many dainty deeorations which appeared in prominent places the next morning. Our career as juniors was one continual blaze of glorv. We practical W supported the whole school. Without our assistance any new scheme was doomed to failure, but if we chose to lend our aid and sup- 16