Newport News High School - Anchor Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

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- l ' N b N ,- A Vagabond's Dream By Lee Dickinson It is 1950-believe it or not. I have just returned from a wonderful vaga- bond journey around the world. I either saw or heard something about every member of the June 1932 graduating class. My first destination was Atlantic City, and the first person 'l' bumped into was Fay Priddy, rolling a baby carriage with twine down lille boardwalk. 'We talked over old times and then I walked over to a museum which had statues of famous people. The very first statue I came to was a inodernistic one of Mary Lewis and Marthella liiarston, the two dancing sisters, who had gained fame and fortune in lValt-er Satchellls theatre near Lower Gloucester, I read -an inscription beneath the statue olf!Catherine Dunbar, Susie Dickinson, Evelyn Clifton and Edna Daniel, famous fefinale quartet. 'lt said: Catherine sang tenor, Susie sang soprano, Evelyn gang contralto and Edna sang terrible. Virginia iVil- lianms and Bernice XVright owned the museum. I s-aw a rocket that had been shot to Mare and back carr fino' I-Iarr f Saver 7 a D 5 D 7 IValter Smith and Alfred Monfalcone, three world famous scientists. Their feat was made remarkable by the fact that all three had left the hospital-the Eastern State hospital-to in-ake this trip. Very soon I reached the :steel pier and went to see a. minstrel. I sat down right beside XValthall Rogers, who was taking a vacation from the stage in New York City. The female impersonator in the niinstrel wats plenty hot, and strange as it may seem-it was Edgerton 'Evanis, our old classmate, who used to tickle the ivories. ' l' went back stage to see Edgerton and he took me to -the end men's dressing room. There were Lindsay Bigger and Stuart Grubb, end men in the minstrel, and I hadn't even recognized them on the stage. I asked them 'chow come and they told me they were always at the end of their classes back in high school and thought they should make good in this game. I went over to another theatre on the pier, wher-e I saw the niftiest chorus of girls. There were Rose Johnson, Ann Hundley, Ethel J anik, Agnc:-1 Eiehel- berger and Eisther Cutler. They could sure shake a mean limb. Elwood Seybold, famous actor, was the headliner. He imper-sonated Spen- cer Plinnnier giving Farm Relief-you see, Spencer was President of the United States John Munnikhuysen was master of ceremonies. He introduced the cracked quart-et composed of Hugh Lipscomb, Robert MacDonald, Raymond Michie and Edward Millner. The quartet was .supposed to stand on a cake of ice and sing a. song called ln Sunny South -but they got cold feet and walked out on the show. Elwood Seybold told me he had seen James Boutchard and Mary Diggs in the audience one day. They were 'on their honeymoon. A circus was progressing at the end of the pier-so I took a look. Lawrence Pullen was doing the strong man act-pushing little ducks overboard. Irene Fiseh gave an aquatic demonstration. She had recently won. the world 'S dog Il7l

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' E i , flea 'JB-E eGQeN:-fe--e-- fl?-.1.4.':::a::1ffi-L-:L e g, ,-e I g R, ,..., . i -.- paddle title at Hampton Creek, in competition with Leah Peltz, Dorothy Teese and Blanche Pittman. Elizabeth Rogers and Vera. Tilman were tight rope walkers, and Betty Kincaid dived off a forty foot tower on a mule. Virginia Mayo, Mildred Meeks, Margaret Mclieen and Dawn McDaniel were known as the four sensational trapeze artists. They flew through the air like graceful birds the cxcitd throng looked on with their mouths open a.nd their eyes closed. I strolled down to the beach to get a change of scenery. Allan J ones, famous artist, was painting Elizabeth XVQ-iss, popular model in Helen Honick's million dollar dress Shoppe. VVay up over the Atlantic ocean, a man dropped from the wing of an air- plane and floated down beneath his spreading parachute as twenty thousand people gasped and inarvelled at his nerve. Some lady said that it was Jack Cur- tis, daredevil of the ether, making his 300th parachute jump. Before long I tired of Atlantic City and h-eaded for the metropolis by freight. I met a couple of other bums in my private box car. They were both hid behind a bale of untamed whiskers and fI'd never have guessed it was Spindler Krause and Roy Muse, traveling for experience. An empty stomach was their only experience so far, they said. I got a job on a cattle boat when my train. hit New York. I was surprised to find so many of my old schoolmates on this boat. Apollon Orphanidys was leader of an orchestra called the Bovine Syiicopatorsf' Ralph Baker, Richard I-Iebble and James Henkel play-ed the saxophones, while Slater Holland, William Gleason and Fred Nevin played trumpets. James Rich beat the drums and Robert Scull would ha.ve played the piano if the ship had not forgotten to bring one. I wondered why th-ere was a jazz orchestra on a cattle boat. I learned that music kept the cows contented. Edwin Thomas, a former bull fighter, was ship veterinarian. Andrew Abbitt was the salty skipper of th-e cowboat. Joe Siegrist, first mate on the boat, pointed an island out to me a.nd re- marked that Russwyn Otis was living there alone. She was gathering material for her next novel, which she was going to name Robinson Crusoe Did It- VVhy Can't I? Our first stop was an island named Harpersville. George Blanchard and VVinthrop Gay were battling for possession of the island. Perry Breon, Charles Barclay, Walter Barry and John Deal were fighting for Gay, and Donald Del- linger, Robert Etheridge, Vincent Foretich and Lyman Haney were battling for Blanchard. Vilillard Schreck, the wittiest boy in our graduating class, was making a fortune in the taxi business on the island. Edwin Pharr and Billy Powell were his chauffeurs. Sherwood Spivey was war advisor to Gay, and planned all attacks on Blanchard. Frances Ames and Jane Bowen were representing a jewelry firm on the island, patiently awaiting a king to be declared so they could sell him a. crown. The cows began getting restless-so we pulled anchor and headed for South Africa. We turned on our radio and heard Ethel and Melva. Nelson, the Syll- t23l