Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

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Fino Some of us calne back early for the opening of the term. Uthers came the day before the ,sk deluge, as per instructions. Un one train that day , were Jones and Figgis. lt was hot and dry. and BILL Figgis swore that he had a thirst that was con- suming him. What he would not drink in Dan- bury was not fit for camels. Danbury appeared around the bend. and the thirsty lads leaped off the train. The bartender of the local bistro said tothe handful hardy enough to enter, Hey, boys, where's all yer friends? Figgis and liegs Kerr quietly drank a quart bottle of orange pop. Arriving at Kent. we hastened over to Aunt I'Illen's fora steak repast, and imitated Artie Nicolai with eclat. We were glad to be back. We crossed the bridge to school, received our instructions on how to handle brats, and waited. On the morrow they came, three for every one of us with what seemed legions of twins. We showed them about, and retired to our large rooms, replete with arm- chairs and Hoor-lamps. to consider the situation. Once settled, we looked about us and took stock. Lucian Baldwin was not with us. He had forsaken us for college and cashmere coats. Balsam had disappeared. Bevo Hasbrouck, with a satchelfnl of slide rules, had gone to Yale. Ajax, man of mystery, had disappeared no one knew where. Never more would he wear his seer- sucker suits in the dead of winter, and flaunt his ringing, But Sir, in the face of authority. Harry lNIcKinlay, the galloping one, and his roommate Van Yoast, co- founders of the ADQV, and Algo Uuting Association. were no longer in evidence. Whitely. the long suffering Englishman. was at Williams. Earlius W'ilson, origi- nator of nncounted plots, was at cram school. Our only acquisition had been our new Uaf, W'illiamson. The form was hardly big enough to fill the study, and we found ourselves huddled around the pool of light over the C'hief's desk of an evening, like campers in the Wild West, afraid of the dark region about the magazine table, where only the semi distinct forms of Shaffer, Warren, Vollier. Kerr and Vonnolly could be seen, nnnnbling the rituals of bridge. Nevertheless, our strange form spirit, composed mostly of rampant individualism. and a dislike of doing anything en masse, gave nearly all of us a desire to do our jobs as sixth formers right, even though we were spread thin. Uccasionally however, Bill Nadal would have to get up and point out that to his certain knowledge, the door mats of the Main Building had not been swept fora month. Also. 0. G. Derr was forced to invent worse and worse penalties for lateness to Assembly, and Frere Blair thereby became Kent's own Bulova, and every morning announced the correct time. Biunor: Our immediate hopes lay in some sort of a football season. Athletics were favored with all the old standbys, and some new addicts. includ-

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Ravlxo DAY raid' all the way to the bottom, and walked back up the rock unscathed. Uthers were struck with vertigo and inched away after the slightest ven- ture out onto the trembling log. Ajax Jones, as a 4, I i f 'ff 4 ll ii Q 'Q i 'Q M lil lil' last gesture, brought along hammer and chisel, ,xq-'rg.ggDAyCpg IX THE D, intending to immortalize himself in stone. The project fell through, as the chisel was dull. Everybody but Wallis and a few of the faithful took their turn, and slipped away to attack the ice tea in the study, but at last the job was done, and a few remembrances collected, these being the time-honored snippets of rope, daubed with paint. The balance of the rope was, on Blr. Titus' advice, saved for next year's fifth form as an economy measure. W'hen night came, W'allis was booted up as senior prefect, Howe as second prefect, Dickson as third pre- fect and Peake was elected sixth form council member. Jack Lafferty headed the News, and Symington the year book. We put the lower formers to bed in a rosy glow. We were in! The enterprising boys immediately began to pester Father fhalmers for ice tea every day in the Study. They had fallen in love with the stuff after the morning on the rock. May rolled away quickly into June. The form crew, with Lewis at stroke, Shaffer anywhere between four and six by way of ballast, and many others, including Nevill Sniythe, Monty Harris, ltame Harris. Jambone Peckham, lovers of the foaming brine all, set up light housekeeping by the dam, under the tutelage of Larry Filson. Some of the more inept brothers were so mad to row in any boat, that they took over the Barry and Finn , and stroked the third thirds. Jerry Howe made a great record as pitcher for the ball team. Balloon Atkin and Pat Humphreys were on the tennis team, as was Frereo Blair. Uaf W'illiamson, a new comer with spring, com- bination bear rug and Vlark Gable, lent his towering build to the first crew. Monkey Dickson and Windy Wierum were on the second crew, Monkey as stroke and Captain. The'l ifth Form crew was king of the river. a far cry from the old days. and we were very proud. ,Ks the term exams came, we took them without qualm. Fido Phelan flashed through to lead the form, and Wierum copped the history prize. Swansdown Silvers flitted away into summer clutching the chemistry prize. After short vacations, most of us settled down to summer jobs, both for pocket money, and the realization that we could do our bit to help the war effort by taking any job available. With the middle of the summer of 19-I-Q, there came a letter from Father fhalmers. asking to write our letters of sponsorship. W'e remembered those letters that had come to us iz Ilsmu' .lnmoxrz so long ago. and how they looked so grown up. W'e wondered if our missives would look the same to their recipients.

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Nav ing Mouse Cutler, and Brandreth. Brandreth suffered a broken arm in the first weeks of the season, and retired gracefully from the scene, but Mouse hung on tenaciously. Gillie's athletic t v Lilies were the benefactors when the entire News Numa Board joined up. plus most of the dramatic society. Lewis, always torn between the use of his face on the boards, and his hrawn on the field, had decided on the sock for this term. and got his exercise by acting as assistant ballerina for Gillie, before his Grimace Hour. We had numerous interclub games of a knock-down, drag-out sort, and finally two outside games. Captain l'iko l'eake's cohorts gained the victory against Berkshire, with Atkin-to-Gardner working beautifully as a pass combination. Against Taft, the foe stood off our late-period attacks and won, but no one who saw that game left the field without the feeling that for plain guts and tenacity, Peake's team was never excelled. For a normally easy- going group, they fought like demons, and we were again proud. Un the evening of the Taft football game, the annual dance was held in the Lower Library. The affair was a great success, and its every detail had been thrashed out with the Chief, who had borne up bravely under the strains of hot arguments about such points as Will the cakes be round or square? The chairman ofthe decorations committee. a fiend for pine sprigs, had done his job well, and the setting was attractive indeed. Birdskin Caldwell tapped some hidden springs of power during the evening, and for some fifteen minutes the assembled guests were treated to the spectacle of Bird, with drawn pale face, and legs going like scissors, dancing madly to the enslaving music of the band. It was at this affair also that Gather ye rosebuds while ye may Gard- ner. heretofore a cynic, lapsed into a world of his own. oblivious of his surroundings. For the rest ofa blustery term. we concentrated on hot tea in the study. During the week, we drank our own rank brew. and then, with cries ofjoy, we sipped Miss Sill's tea of a Sunday. Sunday afternoon in the study was always fun. Either Prickett or Lafferty would be listening to the symphony, and ignoring side remarks by those who yet remained unappreeiative of culture. Child and the Chief did the Sunday crossword puzzle. The Chief held the pencil, and Child reeled off the answers. The rest of us sat around, manipulating our willow ware, and waiting for Figgis to explode, or ribbing Hooper, or bargaining with Miss Sill for more of the heavily rationed sugar. When not in the study, we visited Pater, and drew him out on the days when men were men. Aside from our many bull sessions. we had also a system of musical nick- names. Peckham's was Harry .lambone found a 1DR,,FEgg.,R Rose in Brooklyn . W'ard's was lting-a- dingdingu. which we fondly called an old Cos- saek number. Jock Lafferty had his own theme song, to the tune of Frere Jacques. Wallis had 3 ,,. . SWANHE