Groton School - Grotonian Yearbook (Groton, MA)

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W. C. Loring and Spencer, passed through the box in a steady stream, but still the hitting was heavy. In the last inning, the Mossites were trailing but were determined to win. Martin hit a home rung Coogan hit a home run, Sheerin hit a home run 3--all of them to right field. Then the Moorons moved Wrenn out of right field, and the Mossites lost the season by one run. Soon after the baseball season came your first Memorial Day parade. You drilled every evening after supper. You ordered white ducks and a straw hat. You were meas- ured for the hats during one afternoon period. You all came to period after being measures,-that is all of you but Wrenn. There period was nearly over when in he came. Where have you been? was fired at him before he was halfway in the door. The answer was a series of wild gesticulations around the head. No words were necessary. You knew that the hatter had been faced with a crisis, and that it had taken 30 minutes to find a solution. The year drew to a close with the Rector's announcement to the school at supper on June 13th that the Rev. John Crocker had been elected to succeed him as headmaster at the end of the next year. The previous February the Rector had written the Trustees, The time has come when it seems wise to express my intention to resign from the position of headmaster of the School . . . The Weekly reported the election of Mr. Crocker in these words: We are very pleased 'to hear that he has accepted, and, despite deep regret at having the Rector resign, welcome him to the School. During the last weeks of the Spring Term, you went to Baddacook nearly every day. In the evenings you listened to the Rector's reading on his steps. You reviewed for exams. And you began to look forward to being old boys in the near future. Second Form Year When Second Form year opened, you were joined by Simons, Harrell, Biddle, Ce. Browne, Rimmer, Walker, Walser and Gwynne. The names of the last two you learned in an unforgettable scene in Mr. Robertson's Science class. Mr. Robertson was entering the names of the new boys in his class book when he came to Gwynne. What is you name? he asked. Gwynne replied in sounds that might be recorded as follows : ' 'Uh-u h-aah-er-ah-Gwynne-sir.' ' Now let me see, said Mr. Robertson, do you spell that G-W-I-N-S-E-R? A roar went up in the room, and when the correct spelling had been discovered he turned to Walser- And your name? After some hesitation, Walser replied, ''Uh-uh-aah-er-ah-Walser. Oh yes, said Mr. Robertson, W-A-L-L. ' Mr. Strachan was away on Sabbatical this year and his place was taken by Mr. Calhoun and later in the year by Mr. Philbrick. The war had just started and seemed far removed from your lives at Groton. On Armistice Day the Weekly editorialized, . . . As we think of war-torn Europe, and of those brave men that died and are dying on the blood-stained battlefields, we ought to thank God with all our hearts that we are not also involved in this Second World War. Football began on the first Monday of the term. Key and Amory were on the First Wachusetts, and Grant and Kerrigan on the First Monadnocks. On the Second Clubs, Simons, Goodyear and Coogan were outstanding on the Monadnocks, and Gray, fl28l'

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Some extraordinary essays were written in the First Form Room that year. One by Martin was entitled Sum Malus Puer and was a form of penance for having done a dreadful thing. I did it, so the essay goes, by holding a book up i11 front of the one I was reading .... Already I hear Lucifer snarling, 'Deceivers are the worst kind of invertebrates there are. Throw them into the fiery furnace' When I think of this, my meagre courage leaves and I'm ready to ask forgiveness .... Adieuf' Another by Gray grew out of an unfortunate experience of reading the encyclopedia during morning school. When asked to write an essay on what he had read, he wrote, I read all about geraniums and Germany, the gila lizard and the ginger plant, giraffes, girl scouts, glaciers, gladiatorial combat, gladiolus and the University of Glascow, gliders, globe fish, gloves, glucose, glue, glycerin, gnats, goiters .... Gray rather distinguished himself as a writer that year. His answer to the Rector's test question, What was last Sunday's sermon about? has become one of the classic Sacred Studies papers in recent years. It was a rather long paper, very neatly written, and went something like this: I always like it when Mr. Williams preaches in Chapel. I like the sound of his voice and the way it goes up and down. But more than that I like the way he sways back and forth in the pulpit .... I don't know what the sermon was about. But not all was play. A lot of woi'k was done. On Prize Day it was announced that Erhart and Sheerin had ranked first and second respectively in the Form. Grant received the woodworking prize. Shortly after the St. Mark's game, Gray was elected Secretary of the Form and Scott and Erhart Councillors. This marked the formal beginning of your participation in school affairs, which was to grow as the years went by. It was typical of you that you went out for everything. When the Band was organized, Ch. Brown and Grant became charter members. Sheerin, Scott, Amory, Millet, Grant, Sprague and Means joined the Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps. - You organized your own activities, too. When the Spring Term opened in a spell of bad weather which postponed baseball, you engaged in cops and robbers with great enthusiasm. The initial announcement of this game at roll call brought down the house and you were very sensitive about it, but it did not dampen your enthusiasm for chasing each other over the grounds every afternoon. The ladder box behind Hundred House became a favorite hiding place and so did the grating around the basement windows of the Chapel. The latter hide-out was particularly maddening to the cops, because you could be seen behind it but not tagged through it, as Spencer discovered in great anguish. When baseball did get under way, almost all of you except Goodyear, who was already showing his pitching prowess on the First Clubs, were on the Third Clubs. You named the two teams after the coaches-the Mossites and the Moorons. The games, which were played on the campus, combined violent debate, mayhem, and a little base- ball. Most of the debating was carried on by Erhart and W. E. Loring, while the rest of you engaged in the mayhem and the baseball. Erhart and Loring were rival first basemen-although feuding would describe the relationship better. Each one fol- lowed the other around like a hawk waiting for him to strike out or commit an error, and then the argument began. During the course of the season, Kerrigan and West were carried from the field in a semi-conscious state. Somehow Kerrigan was hit over the head with a bat. West was knocked out by a wild pitch from Martin. The final game was almost unbelievable. Everybody got a hit. The pitching staff, Davison, Martin, f27l

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Sheerin and Scott starred for the Wachusetts. It was the longest Second Club season in recent years, extending 10 days after the St. Mark's game. Gray led the Wachusetts, but in spite of his able leadership and accurate passing, the deciding game went to the Monadnocks, 6-0. Other events of the Fall Term were: squibbing, in which Gwynne was portrayed jitterbugging in front of a radio, breathless paper chases with Mr. Williams 5 Key's departure from Studio for the remainder of the year Cthis became a custom during the next two yearsj-and Spencer's UBROWNIES l l l which nearly took the portraits off the walls at supper one hight. More dramatic talent was unearthed by Mr. Beasley when he decided to put on three one-act plays at the end of the term. Martin, who was an old hand at it by now, had a lead in The Pipe 'in the Fields, and Amory had a lead in The Old Lady Shows Her Medals, although Stackpole and Millet nearly stole the show as two eharwomen. Off-stage tragedy was portrayed by Wrenn, when, after spending several terms setting a page of St. Anselm by hand, he dropped the galley on the floor. Nesbitt joined the Form in the Winter Term. Shortly after the beginning of the term, the whole School took the Time Magazine current events test. Sheerin lead the Form with an 85, and Martin was second with a 72. The play was Charley's Aunl. Stackpole played the leading role, and Stephens, Amory, and Martin all had supporting parts. Fives was very popular. Goodyear, who had won the Form competition the year before, won the lower school tournament this year. Owing to prolonged sick- ness, the School was in quarantine all term and the dance had to be postponed and later called off. This was a great disappointment to Goodyear, who had set himself up the previous year as the official candid cameraman, thereby gaining admittance to the tea dance. Probably the highlight of the Winter Term was the gigantic snowball fight in the field by the Nashes. After building a fort that rivalled Tieonderoga, you challenged the combined First and Third Forms. Little did they know that you had used all the snow within throwing distance of the fort in its construction, and that their fire power conse- quently would be weakened. But they were not to be outdone. They dragged over chunks of ice from the Hallowell's house and engaged in a fierce combat that resulted in many casualties and stained the ramparts of your fort red. You would have lost the battle had not the Fourth Form appeared miraculously Cwas it planned?l and turned the campaign into a melee that lasted until the outside rang. The long-awaited Spring Term finally arrived. Cops and Robbers appeared again, as well as baseball, swimming, marching, after supper ballgames and the Form picnic. But this Term was different, for it was to bring to a close the R,6ClfO1',S head- mastership of the School. During the year a movie of the highlights of the year was made, and Mr. Nichols compiled a book of anecdotes of the Rector and Mrs. Peabody. During the Spring Term, the School was visited by a writer and a photographer who were preparing a story on Mr. Peabody for the Saturday Evening Post. On May 7, 55 graduates representing each Form in the history of the School returned to express their gratitude to the Peabodys and to wish them every happiness for the future. Your Form distinguished itself in baseball when Goodyear pitched in the St. Mark's game and won his letter. The Wachusetts won both the Club baseball seasons. During the season Coogan lived a sort of nomadic existence half way between Second and Third Clubs. After informing the umpire of a Second Club game what you need is a i291