Hollidaysburg High School - Chimrock Yearbook (Hollidaysburg, PA)

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DIVISIONS ADMINISTRATION CLASSES ATHLETICS ORGANIZATIONS MUSIC FEATURES A DVERTISEMEN TS L..

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-ji-- FOREWORD O portray, on this the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the found- ing of the Hollidaysburg Public Schools, that de- gree of progress which has been attained in a half century of patient endeavor is the humble purpose of the 1929 vol- ume of the year book, The Chimrock.

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C.: .., THE I 5, - F F,,.- -: f- CI-IINIROCK1 1 - HOLLIDAYSBURG HIGH SCHOOL IN 1879 IFTY years ago! The pupils in the schools of today could not imagine the conditions which prevailed then in the Hollidaysburg schools. Everything was drab and uninteresting. No baseball, football, basketball or musical organiza- tions. There was not even the enthusiasm which numbers incite. The high school had two classes. The Iirst class was started by Professor B. F. Pinkerton, Principal, in 1877, and the members pledged to remain in school for that year and the two suc- ceeding years. The course of study was arithmetic, algebra, geometry, language, rhetoric, physiology, physical geography, orthography, etymology, the Constitution of the United States and music. The latter was the one bright spot. The first class, with the addition of Elmer Rooney of the second class, formed a very creditable Clee Club. On many a night from the town ucornersn resounded the strains of Swanee River, I Was Taking Nellie Home, 4'Farewell My Ladyn and other popular songs of that day. The rooms were heated by big bellied cast iron stoves burning soft coal. Every boy had a yearning ambition to poke the fire and leave as much smoke and gas into the room as possible. Generally, those sitting close by the stoves were too hot, while those near the windows were too cold. And who of that time can forget the water bucket and tin cup? I have often thought that either there were no germs, then, or nature graciously supplied immunity. On the top of the building was a cupola for the accommodation of the bell. To ring the bell was a chore seized at every oppor- tunity by pupils-but alas! if they uturnedw it, it was taken for granted that the act was intentional. The bell has been discovered and bears the name of my lone sur- viving classmate, John H. West-mute evidence that John was where he ought not to have been. The old desks and other furniture bore the initials of several past generations and other cabalistic symbols, the work of many sportive barlows. High board fenc-es separated the school yard from adjoining private properties, while from the rear of the building to the alley was a like fence, dividing the girls, from the boys, playground. But the trusty barlows had provided numerous holes for vision, the passing of love missives and conversation. The play grounds were covered with cinder or ashes. In dry weather there was black dust, in wet weather, black mud. After a recess of rough and tumble sport, it made little difference to the feelings of the teachers whether the pupils came in adorned with dust or mud. Across the street from the schoolhouse, as appropriate scenery, stood the old Ramey Barracks. A grim spectre, never to be erased from the memory of one who saw and knew it. A vast ramshackle, paintless, weather and smoke blackened build- ing. From my earliest memory, it was unoccupied, except by bats, vermin and spooks. The doors and windows were nailed shut with boards and only occasionally were pupils able to force an entrance to explore its dark and mysterious interior. The teachers were Professor B. F. Pinkerton, Mrs. Martha I. Tucker, Misses Martha Neville, Kate M. Stewart, Nettie Maus, Lucretia Kennedy and Lucy Young. A faithful band who, under most trying and heart-breaking conditions, did the best they could. They had under their care and supervision, I would say, about four hundred pupils. Have I painted a dismal and gruesome picture? Well, I think the facts war- ranted it. Yet, hopeless as it might seem, out of the muck and roil went many boys and girls to become fine men and charming women. In the year 1883, I was teacher of the grade school which occupied the upstairs room front in the old building. With the closing of the schools for the holidays, as iggipmltmhuuiummdlimwthnthvlvmnv . l- -if' Page Six