Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

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Wlsnv been ltose 0'Day for many moons. Fodder llod- der even had a cheer all his own. Boyd had the longest name. as he answered grandly to the title FISH of Squirt-me-with-the-skunk-scent. When not active academically. the brothers studiously pur- sued their hobbies. Anson Gardner was now known as Hot , and he had forgotten airplanes and sailboats. Anything that rhymed with moon and June was his hobby. XYhew Buckingham spent his days recounting the feats of his favorite football player. and almost severed relations with his classmates when they intimated that his hero was a flop. Shaffer, when not making bets that he could reduce to 175 pounds, swapped accents with Lewis. Atkin and YYilliamson. the Sequoias of the form, had evolved a check list. replete with red and blue lines. to deter- mine whether their numerous girls had written them lately. Prickett devoted himself to higher things.such as the relativepower that a sixth former can wield. and the degree of ego to be found in his roommate. Symington. Jimmy Crane, member of the Year Book board. struggled manfully with syntax. Lafferty and Lewis just plain struggled in getting the News out every week. Ogden was now playing the violin. He could play any two tunes in ten minutes. Edward Dewey. the lawful president ofthe form. was always on hand to smile. and Is that right. to the amazing assertions of Fodder Hodder. who yearned for a good hot presidential campaign. Bird and Janboy. uninhibited Kentucky boys, had resorted to football pools in their unceasing efforts to wean the public of its dough. Dick Jones and fonnolly manipulated dumbbells in the Library building. they being converts to muscle. Peake and Howe waited like vultures until Hloose Voste left for the Army. and then leaped rabbit-quick into his vacated suite. The second floor south of the library harbored Dick Little and lVierum. Dick will be remembered in Spanish circles as long as there is any distinction whatsoever between the partitive and the general. Opposite this pair lived Swansdown Silvers, whose smiles were as rare as triple plays. and his roommate Vhild, lover of the obscure in culture. Un the other side. Nevill Smythe. photographer of yawning hippopotami. pursued his artistic talents. Harrison Took. he of the easy golf swing. and foe of physics, roomed alone. liuzby. now bringing up his second-form brother in the ways of truth. was another inhabitant of this corridor. In the class room. new vistas were opened before us. In English class. while the rest of us learned all sorts of strange and wonderful things along with our good hard English. Figgis strove desperately to keep his mind unsullied by erudition. The Deacon was always good for an awful tale, and he always made things easier by saying. YYell. these two fellows got 96 and 97 on this test. and rw they graduated with BIS. lhey eouldn't do this problem. No one has ever done it. You have SAPPHIIH-I Iflxq I-Rx

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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

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AB., it for tomorrow. lint the Deacon also said. .Xh. yes. we like Saturday, because the next day's Sunday, so we got along famously. W'ith poor El Senor Volmore. things were different. Mr. Volmore held out as long as he could, and UAF then was forced to resort to guerilla warfare against Shaffer and Little. supreme exponents of classroom undertone. ln the field of organization, extra-curricular, we had the dramatic club. the private empire of Fish Warren. and the Glee Vlub, whose members Gardner and Vollier, warhlefl uneeasingly. W'ith the coming of fall term exams, we looked forward to a long winter vacation. However, due to the heating situation, we soon found that this extra-long vacation, which was again extended, made us want to get back to Kent all the more. All of us. that is, except the residents of the frigid Norge Dorm. which even Fharley. the demon night-watchman, was afraid to enter. W'hen we came back to Kent for four months of solid study. we found that our numbers had been decimated. Mouse fntler, Ed Dewey, and llame Harris had gone to college and cram school. Donkey Dickson was in the Naval Air Vorps. As this is written, Tom W'allis has been called to active duty in the Naval .Xir Vorps. The prefects have moved up, and .Xns Gardner has been appointed sub-prefect. .X casual reader might well suppose that the gradual dissolution of the form. the flux in which we constantly find ourselves, would lead on our part to impatience and confusion. and dissatisfaction with Kent. For us who remain, we are thankful that this is not the case. The peculiar quality of this class has been its individuality. its dislike of regi- mented action. Our personal consciences have always been our guide, as opposed to any mass feeling. Father Vhalmers, in this present crisis, compared with which those crises of other years seem infinitesimal, has been of the greatest help to us, in steadying us down, aiding and guiding ns, and telling us to rely on the dictates of our heart. W'e are proud of fellows like Tom Wiallis and Bob Dickson. and we are proud, too. that we are still here. to finish our job. W'hen our job at Kent is finished. we will go out to help finish the job in the world. Simplicity of l.ifc, Self-Reliance. Directncss of Purpose are all important in this war. and they will be important when this war is won. lfut most of all. when this war is won. there will be needed the principles of Uur Lord Jesus C'hrist. W'e have learned these principles here at Kent, in fhapel. and from Father Sill and Father Vhalmers. W'e have been cynical about them in the past. but now, in the face of Fora Al-'l'l 1lt Tllli l'ilYti hate and terror. we realize their meaning, and we are grateful to Kent, for our years here, and for having shown us the way of right. .Ks boys we 'Q were shown that way: as men we will follow it as best we can. Q .. 'X Lvnm