Germantown Academy - Ye Primer Yearbook (Fort Washington, PA)

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+4++++++f+++4 ' With the addition to our ranks of those stalwarts, Bud Stier, Benn Foster, Bill Cooney, Dick Henkels and Herb Lawrence, our athletic prestige was heightened, notably in track and on the court. Henkels, who had made an enviable reputation as a miler, brought new glory to us as Fourth Formers by placing in the Swarth- more, Penn and Princeton meets. In another field, too, he showed his speed, being runner-up in the Oratorical contest, held at the school. On the scholastic side, about this time we were battling with College Board requirements, and here, too, '27 rose to the occasion, for after the smoke of the June examinations had lifted, most of us, it was found, had survived, though Il little shell-shocked, and in due time came missives from the ogres of the Board testi- fying to our general success. By the way of dramatic relief our school life in the Fourth Form period was varied and its routine set off by an event the haunting mystery of which has never been fathomed. It was at the height of the hatless craze, as if there were a con- certed movement to throw the hat trade into bankruptcy. G. A. Boys were regularly showing up at school with their shining morning faces but most of them without the semblance of a lid. Soon the masters became involved in the rising action of this tragico-comedy. The climax came in the middle of the third scene of the third act when the hats and caps of the Mathematical Department disappeared sud- denly and utterly on the Wings of the Morning. 'Not at one fell swoop, but one by one with deadly regularity to the Nth degree until X equalled absolute zero. Hurly-burly: confusion worse confounded, excited discussion, meeting of the Senior Council, dread mutterings from the powers that be, but no signs of the missing, they had gone to the undiscovered country from which no hats ever return. Yet sud- denly as if by magic the tense situation was relieved, the excitement died out, and the affair was speedily forgotten in the sweep of other events. Today, however, a lofty police box of burnished steel ornaments the room of each Master to serve as a storage warehouse for his headgear against a return of the mysterious juggler. And now our Senior Year-last scene of all in our eventful history. At the very outset matters started with a vim prophetic of the great things to happen. First, our Senior Council got off to a good start and has since functioned so effectively under the firm hand of the president that it has enabled '27 to make a noteworthy contribution to the value of student government. Our public speaking during the past year was centered in the Prize Debate, held in March, the question being the independence of the Philippines. Into the details of this debate I do not purpose to go, and I cite it only as an example of what real class spirit can achieve in other fields as well as in athletics. Most of the eight contestants had not previously gone in much for debating, but the repu- tation of 1927 being at stake, since their predecessors had won fame in this activity, all the debaters went to it with a six-cylinder enthusiasm that overcame all natural handicaps and placed the class high on the roll of Philo. And in the Held of sports, what a glorious year! It was late in the afternoon of the 13th of October when suddenly the old bell of G. A. began to ring, and ring, and ring and far into the night. In fact, its joyful peal continued, old grads, wild with enthusiasm, began assembling, a bonfire was soon blazing, the crowd, growing ever larger, was harangued by prominent alumni until the welkin rang with cheers: now just what a welkin is I admit I am not quite clear, but the vital fact is that it did ring and rang loud 44-

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r tx. 'ff 'lf li -. -N - . ' ., , A .. t ' V' .:.-Lv -l' . ' 1 .4 7 , va. , - W .. ,, 4, ..,',e.. if i.. . . , Q , , f. ,. '- Jil- .. - ., j f.'f:, 511- I ' . - z- - me , . 4 , - l I , , , I -, . . , . L Q, wi- '3 5 - .., if . ,' ' - ' ' L l 4--r-ra-4-Jgfagn-4-+4 . the upper floors of the main building. The splendid gift of Moore Hall had not yet been made. We made our first dent in history by organizing the Hurd Club better- known as the 3 cube club, because of the class numerals. Inspired by our genial and dynamic Mentor, we did our bit for Education by contributing a huge set of encyclopedias to the school library that were not only impressive by reason of the cubic feet of space they occupied, but did us yeomen service when it came to writing original compositions of 300 words on any subject you may choose. It was on the social side that the 3 cube did its best work in promoting goodfellowship and spirit. Our meetings, held at the various houses, were always joyous affairs, per- haps overjoyous, but we who were present will not forget the spirit of these occa- sions when Peter Pan, he of the angel smile and velvet brown eyes, and another member whose saintly visage recalls Il Penseroso, uproariously enacted the roles of the Lords of Misrulef' On the principle of suspense, the most thrilling event of our intermediate career took place towards the close of the final year. VVe made the trip to Wash- ington, as most of the Intermedes and Persiansn had done before us, and like them, we distinguished ourselves by ill-managed merrimentn and riotous merry- making, not unusual, I may say, at the Kid Age. Great was our resentment because the President had thoughtlessly left town without waiting for our arrival, but we made up for our disappointment by shaking the hand of'Congressman Darrow and by nearly raising the roof of our hostelry at the witching hour of midnight. Here let me pay a tribute to the superb courage of Mr. Hurd who undertook to conduct the flalning kid of '27 to Washington and back again, safe and sound, to home and radio, but he turned the trick and here we are to-night. As we went into the Upper Forms, however, with their wider activities, the 3 Cube Club fell gradually into the discard, hut it had served its purpose and served it well, and its spirit is reflected in the present Academy Club, one of the most honored of G. A.'s organizations. It was about this time, when our ranks were greatly increased, that we began to make history. Initiative and leadership were well represented in the new material that came to l927 g Lee Berkman, Clinton Miller, Bill Eberbach, Bill Craven, Sid Woody, Joe Ingle, Bill Newman, alloc Hustead and George Hoft, our honored president, from that list of newcomers, brief as it may seem, came four prize debaters, a prize essayist, a playwright, two notables in the Colonel Potter book competition, four members of the football squad and our great Triple Threat in athletics, known doubtless to all of you. After we were duly organized as the Third Form, we came rapidly into the light. One outstanding event was the winning of the inter-class football trophy-- a victory all the more notable because we downed an eleven led by the redoubtable Kelly and McDevitt, now of Lehigh. The winning of the trophy, however, was only the forerunner of a more desperate conflict. Surreptitiously in the dead of night at a time when, as fantasy has it, the ghost o'f Hilarius Becker, all beruflled, glides up the old stairway past the grandfather's clock, our antagonist, stung by defeat, stole into our lair and with dastardly hands removed our prized banner from the wall. This challenge to battle we joyfully accepted, our clan was speedily marshaled under the valorous Hoft and an internecine war was threatened, but the school authorities intervened with a firm hand, the trophy was mysteriously returned, and the rival Formers shook hands across the bloody chasm. Happy days! 4-3 I, .I-,fp fa. ai ggi. .lm Gsvefk' ,.,.. 1-4.5 v tt, awww- V-1: r-in I'

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44-Ar++1L.e-+4-+4 enough to waken the Hessians lying deep under our Eastern goal posts and make them wonder whether or not a second battle of Germantown was raging round them. All this delirious celebration was the sequel to G. A.'s victory over her old- time and honored rival, Penn Charter. Long will that contest be memorable in the annals of the Old School, not soon will those who saw it, forget the lifetime thrill when at the start of the fourth quarter, the score, 7-0 against G. A., the heady Hoft picked up the pigskin after a blocked kick, and nursing it carefully under his mighty arm, breezed over Penn Charter's goal line. Our time had come and the victory fell on us-15-7. Then soon came the victory over Haverford-16-13, Chick White, '28, with his educated toe, kicking the decisive points. On the track Henkels has continued to flash by taking about ten points in each meet. This spring, also, G. A. has taken to aquatic sports, and for the first time in its history the school has been represented on the Schuylkill by a crew, in which two '27 men had seats, Bud Stier and Charley Morris. Their first race was a spectacular aifair, Joe Hoover, '28, breaking an oar-lock and plunging into the river to lighten the shell. And now, let me say, in concluding that, if my recital of the deeds of the Class of 1927 has seemed to border on boastfulness, my one purpose has been to do full justice and pay a well-earned tribute to my classmates who have given of their best for the glory of the Old School. May that glory never be dimmed! WILLIAM McL12AN RAYNOR. f-E',,3,, g:,lfse.. ' LE' ,ie A pig,- ff f is - ...E-f-st.-twist ' THE WYCK HOUSE 45