Hutchinson Central High School - Calendar Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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OUR PRINCIPAL M. SMITH THOMAS

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::...' q---v-..,..g: 4 Iz.. ,IE-E Zz: i 1', f 1515? ' Self-15 - 2 2 :,N pgs .zql fig g. g in Q'.1I:-W1 ',.. , ' ,'f2'-fiiff ',- if -2 X 0 N ,XX if A K ,,q, ,i:., E in q1A, , . .ZAI ,,4,q ,A:,, ., zi, 3,1 ,V :,, is 1 uiqu ' A i .b:, . : 1 'fuf A,' ,i'.Vbb g , , .. . V. IQ, g, Q .5 ,,...'g A..,:-, ::: l I X4 5 ffg 5 .,1E,: :'11 fgl 5 425 We Illustrate Some time ago in the country whose symbol is here shown, there was born a boy who was named William E. He was educated, along with his seven sisters, in the Dominion schools of Hamilton, Ontario, until he was fifteen when he went to work. In the next few years he had several diferent types of experience as factory worker, foreman, and clerk. This varied and wide experience was all to prove most helpful in the years that were to come since it brought understanding of the problems of others. Early he saw the business possibilities of those trained as secretaries, and he decided to attend night school to learn shorthand. Obtaining a position with the Canadian Pacific Railroad in Mon- treal, he attended the famous Canadian University, McGill, for ad- vanced work, that he might be ready for any promotion. In 1892 the man we are here honoring Cyou've guessed it now, haven't you? It is our retiring assistant principal, Mr. William E. Weaferl came to Buffalo, and entered the employ of the freight department of the Lehigh Valley Railroad under General Manager Peter C. Doyle. A year later, he accepted a position as private secre- tary to Howard J. Ball, general passenger agent of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. The year 1895 was notable not only for another promotion, this time to city passenger agent, but also more especially for his marriage to Miss Daisy Mcllroy of Hamilton. During this time also he became principal and proprietor of the Columbia School of Short- hand in the Ellicott Square. In 1901 the late Superintendent Henry P. Emerson of the Buffalo schools invited him to teach commercial subjects in the Old Central Evening Session on Niagara Square. Success led to the day course. An epochal conference was called one day in 1904, Mr. Weafer recalls, Princ'pals of the three public high schools, Frederick A. Vogt of Centil, Frank S. Fosdick of Masten, and Arthur J. Detmers of Lafayette, attended with Dr. Emerson and me. Mr. Vogt saw 'the handwriting on the wall, and added business subjects to the curricu- lum. I was appointed head of the commercial department January 31, 1905. We had 93 pupils. Old Central on the Square, however, was located in a section which was unusually noisy. Not only were the Niagara Falls street cars switched back just outside Mr. Weafer's classroom, but the regular street traffic also was noisy. Added to this, his room was divided off from Miss Kenyon's English class only by three curtains, so that being heard became a real problem. Mr. Weafer overcame this ob- stacle by the use of the megaphone here pictured. Soon his classes grew to such size that in the evening session he had 250 in a single class in shorthand. His first typewriting class was in a room up in the cupola. Twelve machines were arranged in a hollow square.