Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

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IJBANGI 1.f Q.. 45 us somewhat, we finally neared the last and titanic struggle with f'hoate. and hoped for the ,m i 1, best. Frere Blair and Berg, elephant and flea. sang a tremulo version of the school song one PREFECT night, not audible past table three, and we all gave fantastic seconds-before-the-C'hoate-game with straight faces. as we were proud of the fact that we knew nothing of lievo Has- brouck's slide rule. At last the great day came. the Vhoate game, and all the Roman holiday that went with it. The school was let out at recess, and herded into busses of small size and great fragrance of exhaust. Wie had been given lunches which were consumed almost before the busses had passed over the bridge, and the paper bags in which they had been packed began to trace out the path of the fleeing hordes. After the unsuccessful game, tobacco lured us, and whole shops were pocketed and carried away. News of Howe's feat of smoking two cigars at once reached even the third form, but unfortunately Jerry's innards did not hold out against W'hite Owls as well as Norton's. Nips was already building his career. W'ith the passing of the great emotional and digestive crisis brought about by the Vhoate game, another equally terrible event assailed us. W'ith the coming of St. Swithin came rain. The upper forms whispered to one another in our hearing, confidentially, but very loudly, Now don't alarm the kids, but there is a wall of water eighty feet high sweeping down the valley. lt was an old gag. but oh, how it worked! W'e had a sturdy guard posted on the Auditorium wall until nine o'clock, lest the llousatonic should sneak up on us. Uur crises were not over. After a period of moderate doldrums, during which we tried to play in Mr. Millers barn, and were unceremoniously booted ont, there came a change of tone on the part of the faculty. The usual gruffness gave way to a sort of pleading, facetious jollity, except for Mr. llumphreys. who said. Listen, you guys, if you don't get good Latin marks, I pity you next term. Vollier and lland took Mr. llumphreys at his word, and crashed through. The rest of us sat through the exam muttering. but most of us got by. Very soon the fateful morning arrived. and we repeated, sotto soprano, the l,itany for second formers on their first vacation. The train ride was uneventful, if riot can be called uneventful, and we scattered for threc weeks. Vhristmas vacation passed hy. unappreciated except for the first two days. t'hristmas day itself. and the last two days before we returned. during which our minds reared back like a balky horse at the thought of leaving home. Soon after arrival, we Iiiuxm' held another presidential election. We suc- cumbed to the urbane manner. and superior in- tellect of G. Sanderson Hand. and elected him

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FREHO XYhen first the student body, and the sixth I form in particular, cast eyes upon the forlorn group of assorted waifs and strays that com- prised the second form in the fall of 1938, they HERMIN were not Cjudging by the general tone of their remarks? any too favorably impressed. Maturity was conspicuous by its absence. and even adolescence was not too much in evidence. The two exceptions to this general rule were Delhi Tom NYallis, and Ralph Frost, an aged philosopher, w ho was forced to reap a fresh crop of tive o'clock shadows every day. Grumbling, the sixth form showed us to our rooms in the old Reliable Main Building. Our sponsor's letters had mentioned nothing but stiff collars, and the fact that a very rigorous life was led by all at Kent School. They had not mentioned the size of the cubbyholes into which we were thrust, which seemed as if they could hold nothing more than our roommate, who had already taken possession, and two brooms. and a green tin dustpan. After spending the first afternoon hurling clothes and our assorted treasures in- to ramshackle bureaus, we ate our dinner in respectful silence, and then went to meet Pater in the study, as per custom immemorial. We listened carefully and sleepily, and found especial joy because we were a class of distinction. numbering among our little throng the son of the first senior officer of the school. Anson Gardner imme- diately took on added stature among us, and the effect did not wear off for some time- Following a week or so of wholesale slaughter in what was euphemistically called a study hall, Herbert Yan Wie Bergamini, six three in the laundry bags he used for stockings, was elected to guide us through fall term. Although Berg's wagon-tongue right arm rose and fell with precision, the brothers were under slight control, and discipline was a word to be conjured with. However, there were other things occupying us that fall, besides the circum- venting of the desires of Herbert Yan VVie. About the beginning of the second week of the term, a deep voice was heard crooning the strains of Music, Hlaestro, Please, these booming chords and throbbing basses belonging to the brutal and invariably well-barbered Jerry Howe, who could be seen on the midget field every afternoon, frightening the opposition for Coach St. Johnls Blue team. lYe remember well our first lesson in cooperation, as Coach St. John, gazing with wonder at the great man, said to the rest of us lowly peons, 0.K., fellows, just sit back and let Howe run the ballf' Wve sat back, and relaxed. The Blues did not win anotherigame. lvndiscour- aged by this turn of events, we followed the ex- ploits of Berg and Westy Westlake, of the lofty juniors, with avidity, and talked in small whis- pers about the godlike heroes of the first team. Although one game after another disappointed Hosrx B xL1,oox

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xt our leader. Sandy acted exactly like a floor- fascinated by his sophistication. Immediately following his election. G. Sanderson declared :YS Q walker in a very high-toned store, and we were 1 Q3 martial law. and with the help of other willing IA... , 2 , A. NNIHTMX helpers, kept the volca11o capped. The winter was memorable for being the last in which the No Visiting rule was enforced. No one but the spiteful had ever paid the slightest attention to it as llS6flll for anything but protection against West Hall. Also, this winter term saw Anson Gardner building delicate model airplanes, illlll Willard liuther and liilienthal Levering indulging their be11t in the upstairs room over West Hall. This duo barricaded themselves against i11vasio11, and went happily about their business, while fifth column- ists dismantled one wall of the room, and the remainder of the form stormed the door. Imagine the youthful airmen's surprise when their bastion crumpled, under the attack of Legs Kerr and Jock Lafferty, a11d they were inundated with water bombs. After an unsuccessful hockey season, during which the shifty defense was developedfa system better i11 theory than practice-the spring vacation drew 11igl1, Zillfl with the possibility of vacation came the awful reality of term cleanup. YYierum and Luther entered fully i11to the hygienic spirit, and threw Vtesty VVestlake's bedding out of the window. The culprits were brought to trial, convicted. and corporeally chastized by Schmidt illltl Read, the intrepid inspectors. Spring vacation went its hurried way. In the spring presidential ltose 0'Day Wallis, then known only as ltosy, was elected, due largely to Sl1af'fer's repeated i11- junction that the corn-fed candidate was The l'eople's f'hoice. In that last term invention flourished. Janboy Ilarvey, the boy electrical wizard, who was later to graduate to full-fledged death chairs, developed the ultimate in brooms, complete with fiashlight, bulb-and-hose attachment for blowing away the dust. and a bell to war11 passersby of his presence. Deviltry reigned supreme up and down Main and XYest Halls. liafferty and Kerr headed the West Hall legions, a11d fought with Buzby, Fhild and Boyd, who also fought with Balsam, Blair, a11d Bowman. These biblical encounters were not very good for Jimmy Child. as at that time Jim was of a micro- scopic size, knew no more than five or six languages, a11d was only kept alive by large doses of a mysterious white powder, which he secretively swallowed twice a day. Also, one night a delegation from the third form dropped over, and showed the brothers how to escape from the Blain Building by means of the window ledges, and frolic o11 the triangle during the soft and balmy spring night. Jerry Howe, who had take11 up My lteverief' made the second baseball team. to the accompaniment of cheers, while the rest of us puttered around, on diamond, court, Zlllfl BIGGY Dust 131:11