Hartford Public High School - Classbook Yearbook (Hartford, CT)

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hh.. 282 THE CHRONICLE siasm of the entire class, and had more of the former been on the first eleven, New Britain would positively never have 'gotten away with it' that season. Two youths with long arms, and with the letters 'B ll B' emblazoned on their broad chests, were kept busy instructing their comrades in the art of 'shooting baskets' successfully. Three boys claiming 11115 as their foster-parent 'banked their corners' in the relay, while four pit-a-patted about the indoor track, waiting for the coming of spring, when the same number worked in the open ozone, 'counting the ties' on the outdoor track. The ice at 'Elizabeth' received such hard usage during the hockey season that it fairly 'cracked under the strain' of two of 1915's men, the caretakers at 'Popes were busy all spring and summer rolling the courts where the junior twins on the tennis team had insisted on making their victims 'bite the bally dust.' Une lad, 'Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea,' caused the baseball team to be widely known, upholding class dignity. Mainly through the efforts of certain juniors, a golf team was founded, and out of the six 'clubmenf four were of the same class. Kilts, too, became quite popular that term. But all this time, the weaker sex, and the more intellectual of the stronger sex, were by no means idle. 'O ferque beati' was the Girls' Mandolin Club, while six times blessed was the Boys'. Only nine of the eighteen who had sung in the Boys' Glee Club while Sopho- mores retained their membership that season, possibly because their leader feared lest they should drown out the pianist, but more prob- ably on account of the fact that the youthful voices of said individuals were changing rapidly-too rapidly, indeed, to be relied on in moments of stress. In that gleeful and, accidentally, musical body of young ladies known as the Girls' Glee Club, ten juniors administered the much needed Hrst-aid to the other members. Both boys and girls were very active in the literary realm throughout that year, as is befitting Juniors, and that exponent of 'English-as-she-is-spoke'-be it more or less correctly, instructively, and interestingly-The Chronicle-became famous through the lucky thirteen articles, mastmfpiecvs, which appeared between the ornate covers of that august, conservative and, ordinarily, sensible periodical, under the signatures of the growing geniuses and budding bards of the justly renowned junior class. ,

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THE CHRONICLE 281 Club had grown so strong that no more were needed to augment them. Likewise the same two boys were still picking their way in the Mandolin Club. Ohl I say, in the athletic field the wonderful ability of the prodi- gious class was exhibited to the best advantage. Three of the boy-s, like Dutch Cleanser, 'took the rub out of the scrub' on the second foot- ball team, so that the first shone far and wide, even as far as New Britain, and the Hve stars that the planet depended upon were 1915's men. After having made such a pretty debut on the football field, 1915 thought it best to stretch its ability to cover all helds, so it divided its energy by allotting one man to each the indoor track, the relay, the basketball, and the hockey teams. During all this time The Chronicle was subsisting on the literary material of the Class of 1915, for besides enumerating the victories won through the untiring efforts of the Sophomores alone, it contained seven first-class articles written by Third Class men. In the last edi- tion of that Fountain of Culture were three articles by Sophomores, leaving an impression that more and greater things were forthcoming from them the next year. A shell has just exploded very near our tent, and although that is becoming quite customary, I' fear I shall have to delay writing further, until the excitement of my tent-mates has quietedf' Out of the wreck I rise, and again take my pen in hand, to con- clude the outline of the achievements of the Class of 1915 of the Hert- ford Public High School. No, not to conclude-for a conclusion, don't you know, implies a completion-and certain it is that no man living can attempt to complete even an outline of what such a tre- mendous organization has done, or is likely to do. I believe I left it at the close of its Sophomore year, and now, three hundred sixty- nine strong, the class becomes of age, and is allowed to take a more active part in the running of the school. And, indeed, it gives the latter a 'good run for its money.' The Junior year, ordinarily devoted somewhat to the higher mathematics, found our heroes taking a pugnacious, and, from the view- point of the other classes, a dangerously lively part in utlzlctics as well. Nine men on the second football team were endeavoring to imbue their two stalwart brothers on the first with the strength and enthu-

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THE CHRONICLE 283 As for scholarship-take for example the ten boys ushering at graduation in 1914, who were so closely and highly ranked that the faculty could decide only with the greatest difficulty as to who were the guilty ones. Indeed, it was suggested, only momentarily, to be sure, that they depart from the usual custom by choosing the ten with lowest marks to pay the penalty for their negligence throughout the year, by having them 'cater' to the graduating class. They-the teachers-rejected this proposition, needless to say, as jarring too much on the fierce fand fierce in more ways than onej spirit of liberty which had distinguished the entire class from the very outset. 'Thus the banquet ended,' and 1915 scattered to mountain, river, and ocean, for a brief respite in preparation for the coming fall, when the excruciating toil and the tremendous labor, promised them for their Senior year, would be upon them. But, along with the hard work, there was destined for them what was no less inevitable than it had seemed when they first set foot inside the H. P. H. S.-glory. We shall see. The general sentiment of each member of the class as it merged into seniority followed those famous lines of Macbeth: 'I dare do all that may become a Seniorg Who dares do more is none? But it is apparent that, during this last year, the line established to govern the behavior of the highest classmen has been stretched to take a new shape, to fit the class itself, to embrace new or broader activities. For they fulfilled, and then went beyond the requirements made of ordinary Seniors, in actions dignified and exemplary for those who need to be shown. Perhaps the first opportunity they had to 'Hash' their colors in athletics was in the New Britain game on October thirty-first, And, even if that had been their first, last, and only chalice of showing their worth as sportsmen, 'twould have been sufficient. It was a rare treat to read of how A 'They reel, they roll in clanging lists, And when the tide of combat stands, Perfume and flowers fall in showers, That lightly rain from ladies' hands'- of how bravely the blue and white fought against the overwhelming odds of precedence, breaking down a thirteen-year-old tradition, bury- ing it Cand New Britainj, we hope, forever. Nevertheless, there is