Philadelphia Manual Training School - US Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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the recitation hour, and jimmy had a peculiar method of study- ing out loud. There was a bench directly in front of Hering's desk, and Mastbaum and Lawrence often sat on this bench. They scribbled peculiar nicknames on our worthy professor's desk. One day Hering found some of these nicknames out. These, if I re- member rightly, are some of them: Porgies, i'Shad, Herring, Fish, Boiled I-Ierring on the half shell, Shrimps and Her- ring. The professor stood shaking his head in that peculiar way he always had and said, Boys, I don't spell my name with two 1 sg it's just one-I-I-e-r-i-n-g. It is sad to remember the affection we wasted on the Doctor, how we used to adore every word which fell from his lips. There was one mistake made during that first year. It was in Dr. Thorpe trying to teach us civil government. One day the Doctor was explaining to us at some length the exact manner of voting. In the course of his explanation he came to the part in which he told us of the duty of the judge at the polls. I-Ie said thatsupposing a dispute should arise about a man's vote between the inspectors. One of the inspectors would say to the other, You're another, and the other would reply, You're another. And between the Doctor and himself he explained the whole manner of carrrying onthe dispute and of the settle- ment by the judge. At the Christmas entertainment given on Thursday, December 23d, there were certain parts of the programme which were ex- cellent, while others were exceedingly poor. Yet it will be seen by scrutinizing the programme and recalling the scenes that what '89 had to accomplish was Well carried out. just before the school closed that year we had one day a visit from a distinguished Englishman, Mr. Mathers, lVI. P. I-Ie wished to speak to the school, so we were gathered together, and great was the rejoicing, partially because we were to be addressed by a dis- tinguished man, but largely because we were enabled to cut the hour in algebra.. There is a feature of the school which sprang into existence during 1886. It was the Natural History Society. Many of our fellows-bright, promising fellows, too-were enticed into joining . 31

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etc., were contested by members of '88, and, of course, nearly everything was lost, even those contested with the High School. But there is one thing '89 could do-paralyze those celluloid pies of Mrs. Everett's-specially Mumford. ' To go the round of our curriculum might be a means of re- calling to some of us our life in that year. In those days, for the study of literature, we used to congregate up in the third story and listen to the remarks of Professor Henderson. Wliat a rumpus we raised when we found a desk that was not secured to the floor. McCafferty used to sit at it, and received more muscular exercise than mental by trying to upset the fellow who chanced to be seated in front of him. One day we reported to the professor for our regular lesson in literature, when we found out that some peculiar force had been at work. Henderson decided that he wouldn't give us any lesson, but that we might spend the hour profitably in conversation. This conversation was to consist of the telling of anecdotes. It is needless to state that the boys had never before heard of such a peculiar mode of obtaining knowledge. It is also needless to state that we made good the opportunity offered. We look back now and wonder how we ever lived through that hour. I am sure that if some of those jokes were repeated, I would certainly undergo feelings which would far surpass in pugilistic power those which one experiences so often after removing the stopper from the bottle of ammonic hydrate. Wl1y,tl1e other dayI stepped up to the bottle of NH3 OI-I, expecting to meet a friend, when what should I encounter but a blow in the eye which nearly blinded me. I really thought that a ring had been made, and that I had the gloves on with Yank Harder. It is queer how some fellows form habits, so quickly-sort, o' P. D. Quickly--and how long those habits will cling to them. The habit of forming and practicing poor jokesbecame so imbedded in the characters of some boys during that one hour that they have never gotten over it. During our first year I-Iering taught us geometry, and when he called up for recitation such fellows as Miers, then there was a flow of wisdom, for jimmy Molloy sat near the blackboard, and jimmy had a peculiar propensity for studying his lesson during 30

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it. The Natural History Society is rather a peculiar organization, It has some bad traits, and some good ones For instance 2' some of its good traits are: --. From the Society the Outing grew into existence. This club takes long walks. The walks are very interesting QFD, and are usually published at some length in the Argus, and they help fill up space, so that the real benefit of the N. I-I. S. is derived by the editors of the Argus. Another good thing about the Society is that it occupies a great deal of Simpson's time, in which he might be engaged studying bookkeeping. This would cause him to show better books, and thus deprive the Class of some of its archives, viz., Simpson's Ledger and Journal. The bad effect of the Society is that it has always chosen Henry Curtis to be its president. And thus Curtis has the idea that he ought to run everything he gets into. Indeed 'tis a wonder that he has not tried to run the Class cash. But considering the few scrapes the Society has gotten into, and the extreme youth in mental power of Curtis, we will overlook his faults. When we became members of BH we had an idea that by this time we had inherited certain rights and privileges. We felt more contented in our lot. There is one good thing that can be truthfully said of 'S9: we never chastised 'go as much as they probably needed, but were very considerate of their small heads, sporty tendencies and lackof courtesy. I say we overlooked all this, and they cannot say that '89 was ever very hard on them. This second year we began to find out who and what we were, for, if it must be confessed, some of us were sort of seedy as to the proper way to carry on anything. The opening of this year added a new man to our Faculty. Mr. Odenatt was presented to the school, and although '89 was not, until Senior year, brought into connection with him, we were always much attached to him. Very nearly half ofthe Faculty be- long to '89, for they came into the school when we did, and have certainly found us in hearty co-operation with them. But Rondy from the first used to crush us on all occasions. In looking at an old Azgzzs I Find he said that we are not particularly bright, but only average boys. Some parts of '89 made great progress during the second 32