Moses Brown School - Mosaic Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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Mr. Morton, realizing the folly of trying to teach us math, concentrated on telling us about the Ponzi scheme. The class of '45 first showed its prowess on the friendly fields of strife when its Bumblebee team was trounced by the Fourth Intermediate. That spring we had a considerably better baseball team. The main excitement of the winter occurred when a select group of indi- viduals from our class tossed Sears Ingra- ham into the swimming pool, fully clothed. There was a great commotion over this crime, and the whole class had a meeting with Mr. Thomas. VVe were duly impressed with the seriousness of our deed. As spring slowly erased the bleak look of the school campus, we came to consider ourselves full fledged Upper School boys. VV e swaggered with the best of them, attending varsity games, which we planned to take over in a couple of years, with the proper school spirit. When the end of May arrived, most of us even went to View the Lower School field day with a half-amused, half -bored and entirely superior air. When, at last, Commencement arrived and we saw the class of '41 solemnly shake hands with Mr. Thomas and jit, I'm afraid that we acted slightly over-boister- ous, but we all really looked forward to that summer and even to the next year. SECOND FORM Old-timers is the word that best suited us, we thought, when we returned to face the problems of the Second Form in 1941. Scornfully we looked down upon the group of former Lower School bosses, who seemed to be a bit bewildered at the sight of so many upper-classmen. Although we were seated far enough back to get almost out of the category of small-fry, we were still referred to by our headmaster as young-hopefuls. On the faculty bench in front of us we were fascinated by the arrival of a new face with a most beautiful mustache: we were told that the man's name was Oyster or something like that. I 29 Also the science department was filled out by two new teachers-Mr. Pedrick and Mr. Huttong and to assist Mr. Herman in explaining the intricacies of X and Y, Mr. Reese wielded the chalk. In our class there were thirteen new young-hopefuls, in- cluding: Manager Barber, Mat-man Cook, Lord Horrell, Rus Knibb, Pole- vault Sleicher, Al Nazareth and sev- eral others, who for one reason or another didn't survive the four years to seniorship. About October, when the uneasiness of unfamiliarity had worn off, the class elections were held. Rus Douglas grabbed off the presidency, with Nate Fales assist- ing. Bill Miller took on the writing job, and Eddy Lownes handled what folding money he could muster. In the sports program Coach Eyster discovered many Second Formers coming out to support Easton, Bowersock, and Joslin tour stars from the third formj on the Middler gridiron, and the swimming team was aided by the daring young diver, Paul Cook. Christmas vacation and a fine perform- ance by the players of the Proscenium Club rolled around: and before we knew it, we were slicking ourselves up to glide CPD across Alumni Hall to the sweet tones of Ed Drew's Orchestra at our Lower Form tea dance. There were also several other incidents which helped to break up the monotony of that long winter grind. Dr. Mike Dorizas, whose interesting talks and im- aginative yarns have come to the school for many years, showed us some good news reels and added many bits of information. Although we were still wee, and our wings weren't very strong, yet we did manage to catch hold of Mike's fascinating accent. Also we were pepped up by our hero Fred Brunswick, who kept dreaming that he was a Marine on Wake Island. He finally had to stop eating those pickles before going to bed. Before long we were suffering with very serious cases of spring fever, aided by the l ',l,,'.. 1 , f 2

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i , . that year, which was an extravaganza based on a radio program depicting the opening of the Mt. Whitney-Death Valley Highway. In the Third Intermediate, after the initial confusion caused by two eye-filling teachers named Miss Evins and Miss Evans, we settled down to a fairly normal year. The ancient history that Mr. Brigham tried so hard to pound into our heads in- fluenced us to perform on the stage a play entitled The First Marathon, in which future cross-country star Dave jencks unsymbolically was not Pheidippides. The climax of our work that year was the writ- ing of our autobiographies, of which we were unjustly proud. At long last the object of all our toil was reached when we entered the Fourth Intermediate, where we were soon living in constant fear of Mr. Allen's tables- tests. Feeling the superiority that comes with advanced years, we yawned when Mr. Brigham tried to teach us American his- tory, sighed when Miss Evins entered the room for our English class, looked bored when Mr. Hoyt came in with his geography book, and did as little work as possible in preparation for our biweekly French lessons under Madame Warge. Extracurricular activities assumed a new importance for us when, for four bits, we were allowed to join the Bicycle Club. After the initiation on Leaping Lena and the other oddities collected by Pop Allen for the purpose, we spent many happy hours pedaling from point to point of interest around Rhode Island. A highlight of the year was the Boston trip, when we stretched our sea legs on Old Ironsides, climbed pantingly to the top of the Bunker Hill monument, and were properly impressed by the shrivelled mummies in the Peabody Museum. At the end of the year we were honored by a visit from Mr. Thomas, who told us something of what was in store for us when we entered the Upper School. So it was with a feeling of sadness that we bid adieu to our honored position of top men in the Lower School to become the insignificant and undignified 'fgentlemen on jit's left. FIRST FORM Contrary to the usual feeling about returning to school, most of us as the sum- mer wore on almost anticipated that fated day when the Upper School would reopen and we would be accepted into the clandes- tine folds of its activities. However, we never imagined the intricacies which this involved until that first morning when we entered school again and met that austere dignitary in the soft tweed suits whom we had heard so much about-later known to us as jit. Study Hall, which previously had been known to us only'as the room in which every one sang in bass voices at 8:30, seemed to be the intersection of a busy cityg and amid such a scramble of exciting events, reacquaintances, assignments, teachers, and bells, we were completely lost. But after the first day had passed, we gradually settled into the routine and became used to being considered as inconsequentials and small fry by the rest of the school. I think that it was under the able tutelage of Blackie Markarian, our Latin teacher, that the boys of '45 Cthey hopedj learned that all was not a bed of roses. If I remem- ber correctly, at least half of the class flunked the course for the first two terms, and it is doubtful what the final outcome might have been-had not Cupid's Arrow claimed our teacher. From then on, he was more lenient Cfor I'm sure we did no more workj. In one respect we were lucky. That was in not having heard the supercilious legends of Wild Bill Paxton's reign of terror in the English department. So graphic were some of these that I am sure many of us would have called it quits rather than try to pass his course. But as it turned out, he wasn't half-bad, and I'm sure we achieved a strong foundation in grammar. We were introduced into the complexi- ties of general science by Mr. Kerr, while . lzsi , ,

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balmy breezes which drifted in among the pennies whining around Study Hall! After a delightful Father and Son day, at which time we refreshed our not yet faded mem- ories of Lower School competition CI am also told that there was some undercover betting on the racesj, we endured those long-dreaded final exams somehow. Then still gazing up with awe at those dignified seniors, we took part in our second gradua- tion, and then went on to freedom for another summer. THIRD FORM The Third Form year opened with a bang when the appointed day in September rolled around. The Sophomores upstairs were guided into the new school year under the watchful eyes of Mr. Kite and Mr. Huganir. The corridor proved to have plenty of vim and vigor, with Chubby Swindells and El Roberts bunking together up at one end, Jerry Swartz and Bob Mathieu holding rooms in the middle section, and Eddy jarret and Sted Naden inhabiting quarters at the other end. We soon got settled down to a steady diet of plenty of fun and, shall we suggest, work, and all of us soon became acquainted with the queer ways Cso we thoughtj of our different masters. Mr. Paxton kept us stepping, high, wide, and fancy in English: Mr. Cate and Mr. E ms, a new addition to the faculty, held down those hopefuls in the modern language field. Mr. Waughtel, who soon became Coach to the new fellows, was on the job, still trying to grind some Latin into us. Mr. Hutton was there teaching us the ways of the amoeba and other little do- jiggers connected with Biology. And thus acquainted with our able instructors, we entered among the shadows of the elms eager to catch the pearls of wisdom thrown to us at the rate of one bushel per forty minutes, and we thought of the wealth we would have upon graduating. The class elections were held, and Bonny Barstow Bates was chosen as our l nip 30 president, with Russ Douglas, the home- town boy from Maine, taking over the vice-president's chair. Francis Small was elected secretary, while we placed our piggy bank in charge of Eddy Lownes. The Third Form was well represented in the fall sports activities. Dave Maier was prominent in j. V. Football, while in the Middlers Sted Naden starred in the back- field and was ably supported by Cooky, Fales, Swindells and Capt. Lindblad, holding positions on the line. Petit Beaker Dave jencks, who later became plain Beaker, started his great Cross Country career, along with Russ Knibb, Ed Lownesg and Roscoe Phillips, the Shape. Before we knew it, the Thanksgiving Turkey had been killed and well digested, and we were anticipating Christmas. The Proscenium Club wound up the old year for us with three plays, which entertained all. After Christmas we were back again with renewed ambitions. jencks, Cook, Horrell and T. Gifford represented our class on the wrestling mats during the winter sea- son. They could be seen any afternoon out in the Gym pounding the mat with their Fists and with fire shooting from their nostrils. Middlers' Basketball steered its way through a successful season under the leadership of Coach Hutton. Douglas, Small, Brunswick and Beede were out there every afternoon dropping the little old egg through the hair-net. The Chess Club, as well as the Orchestra and Glee Club, was graced with members from among us, and we all know the swell job that they did entertaining themselves as well as the rest of the school. As the leaves began to appear and spring activities commenced, we kissed Old Man Winter goodbye and looked ahead to summer vacation. Captain Bob Mathieu led the Middlers' Baseball to a successful finish, as did our Sophomore contributors on the track and tennis squads. As june came nearer and those masterful l