Morris High School - Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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Q ATALE oetwo flirt 3 BY HARRY kaamsow i' '55 A WXTH APOLOMES TO CHARLES DxcKEN5 .3 swowms had the best of times-we had the worst of V' times, we had four prepared-we had no pre- ps- A pared 5 we had first lunch-we had no lunch, , Q l J- we had teachers-we had substitutes. It was 'T 3 the age of the revival of learning. We were freshmen! It was ia the Latin period. All students of psychology know that queer things are bound to happen in a room where a dead language is being vivisected. More so, when it is the last period of an afternoon class of freshies. At the time to which I refer, one could hear heavy groans coming from Room 417. It was not the dead language suffering under the cruel treatment of the students-no, it was only a phonographic treatment of Hidein, eadcm, idernf' Everybody joined in the chorus, includ- ing the teacher, whose bass voice could be heard above the shrill tones of the younger ones. Yes, it was a heavy groan, but in a good cause! Tl1c second stanza had been reached, when the door was hastily pushed open and the Principal, accompanied by Madame Garage, the head of the Latin department, entered. Perhaps it was modesty that prompted the music to stop so abruptly. This was the first visit of the Authorities I leave to the reader's imag- ination the effect of it upon the room. Madam Garage took the seat which the teacher offered her- and began knittingwher brows. The Principal also seated himself in a position where he could hear Qand seej a few recita- tions. When he had heard a few, he advanced and took charge of the class. Madam Garage still sat knittingvher brows. 29

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- A FRIGHTF UL JO URNE Y preeipice in the darkness. NVe thought the end was at hand. Each time We heard that distant sound of thunder, we thought of the robbers and the tramp of their horses, and every time we heard the sound of the driver's voice, it seemed to us like an order to halt the coach. If one of the other passengers happened to glance in our direction, we felt if he were considering what disposition to make of our bodies. No one spoke, silence reigned in the coach, and therefore every sound from outside sounded like the explosion of a bomb. Even the rustling of the leaves on the trees, which we eould hear through the half-opened window which was supposed to admit some air into the coach, suggested our doom. And so we sat, rigid and breathless for almost two hours, which seemed two eternities, and the first free breath that es- caped any of us, accomplished that feat when we again felt the solid ground beneath us, and saw the lights in the railroad sta- tion at Reno. If we had not been too frightened, we might have appreciated the humor of that grotesque situation, when we saw the driver, his companion, and our fellow-passengers, each with difficulty releasing his suspended breath, after our having pictured them as belonging to every class of criminals that could gain admittance to the Rogues' Gallery! HFIRBIINE E. NEUSTADTL. Mott Avenue Annex. l 28

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A TALE OF TWO SYNONYMS The first victim was the heaviest boy in the class, who was sent to the board to translate a sentence. Strange to say, he succeeded in this task. He showed his relief by smiling, an action which registered itself without difficulty upon his hearty countenance. Madam Garage still continued to knit-her brows. Then came a girl, who had the reputation of being able to recite Hqui, quae, quod, without the slightest pause between the singu- lar and plural. She succeeded in translating the assigned sen- tence, The man works diligently into Latin. She used the word vir for man, Madam Garage did not stop knitting- her brows. The Principal then discussed the word vir and asked for another Latin word meaning man, The girl answered, Homo, At this point, the Principal wished to demonstrate the fact that many English words are derived from Latin, so he asked her to tell him what word in English referring to man, and having the same sound, was Hhomol' similar to. Before he had time to finish this complicated question, she had answered, HoboV' It is needless to mention what happened after that, but for the sake of preserving historical records for future use, I will say that Madam Garage knit her brows no more! 1- , u .sal , 5 rg, :1 ,, ,, Jgiie . CDesfgns by the authorj 30