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

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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION NIGI-IT. REPORT at the Broad Street Station at 7.30 was the cry all during election day. At the time appointed four members of the M. T. S. had lodged themselves under the Station to wait and talk of the election. But some changed the subject, and began to discuss those never-failing subjects: Is mar- riage a failure? and Do we know we exist? The most distinguished debaters were Messrs. Simpson and Wl1eeler. Wliile these Well, look y' here and Yes, that's so, but-U are going on, more members of the institution arrived. But these newly-arrived fellows had never had the experience of marriage, or they didn't care whether they existed or not, so long as they got the fun out of the evening's excitement. But why was the cry Oh made P when the pretty damsel Qof how many summers - - - P ? Pj betook herself with stately tread toward the Union League, and which would have resulted in one less of our number if we had allowed him to depart. 'But at last the old chestnuts- Attention I Mark time, left! were given, and we proceeded southward to see the fun. But where were the High School? Echo answers, Wl1ereP For nary a scalp could we find. And Normal School maids-the history we could unfold. But to come to our original story. We fought our way to Ninth and Chestnut. Along our way we would find obstructions, hard to overcome, but by hard squeezing and tight hugging Qand I believe this was the first time. Kavanagh ever hugged a girl in his life we proceeded thence to the Union League. Here it was that we did the Red Bandana up, that is, we tossed it up. Then some of the party proceeded to the Dime Museum. How Hughy Gates and Ol Dick did look at that girl and hats off! The rest of the crowd kept on marching about town under the directory of Lieutenant-General W. Bauroritif These fellows met the University, and after giving the yell received a return salute. This wasn't anything new, for the college fellows were yelling at every old friendly lamp-post they met. After a bit the familiar cry, Do not push Qbut push l' had no 'X' Don't take this for Billie Barrett. 44

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science and art, and even emotion, butfm was scarcely thought of However, this was one of the Professor's pleasant surprises. Mr. Henderson was inclined to look upon trees asjfiefzds, rather than as mere abstracts, scientific appellationsg dwelling particu- larly upon the stately elm of the Granite States, the pleasing maple of our own State and its neighbors, and particularly upon the solemn pine of the Coast States, with its weird music. The Pro- fessor spoke of the difference in the trees of the country caused by the various soils, and also of the general good of trees to us. But the value of trees as pleasant objects to the sight was especially dwelt upon. He closed with a few words as to their value in manual training, and with a very delightful poem at the end, containing some further thoughts on the same subject. After Professor Henderson's address the school was favored with a recitation by Mandell, and another by Mitchell. SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF Tl-IE NATURAL HISTORY - ' SOCIETY. ON the evening of Friday, October 19th, the Society celebrated its second birthday. The weather was such that our expecta- tions regarding the attendance were only half realized, however, this did not prevent the celebration from taking place. The exercises began with a short address by the President, followed by the Secretary, who read a history of the Society, together with an account of its present condition. The Chairman of the Outing Committee gave a report of the progress of the Outing Club, with an account ofa Representative Trip. The Curator next read a paper on the Change in the Relative Abundance of Certain 'Species of Birds, with also a brief notice of the English Sparrow Question. Mr. Thomas Walters, the orator of the evening, gave an interesting address regarding some various kinds, of Natural History, well sprinkled with humor and good advice. Since Professor Sayre, who was expected to deliver an address, was not present, the exercises closed. After this the members and their friends enjoyed a quiet social even- ing, and the company disbanded at about IO o'clock. A 43

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significance on this night, for all saloons were closed, all cops dozed and all Democrats soldj, After recovering our senses we went to seek the other part of the crowd, which we soon found, giving the good, old, steady- Wiff! Whack ! Red and Black ! I yell Man-u-al! Hiss! Boom! Rah! We now marched again to Ninth and Chestnut, thence to the Public Buildings. As the small, wee hours of the morning were approaching, some of the boys, under the supervision of papa's rod, decided to engage themselves in peaceful slumber, instead of longer pressing bricks and chewing airl So we dismissed. YULE-TIDE. THE old English custom of making the Christmas-tide a season of feasting and jubilation has been taken up in the same strain in this country. - But one of the most marked attributes of American character is love of novelty and change, and the Manual Training School, thoroughly American in all its senti- ments, was no exception to the rule, when in place of the tradi- tional school exercises it substituted a little entertainment arranged by the scholars, which they held at Carpenter's Hall on Chestnut Street, Wednesday evening, December 19th, 1888. Those who attended will not accuse us of egotism if we insert a programme for the benefit of those who were unable to be present. A very pleasing display of skill in legerdemain opened the entertainment, leaving all in pleasant expectation for the next act. After a pleasant interlude of recitations and singing, highly Havored with jokes, came a little take off upon the care- less boys of our school, whose scarcity renders them particularly noticeable. We would not inflict upon the reader a list of the d77'lZ77Z!ZfZlY pevfsofzfe and the parts which.they represented. Suffice it to say that the spirit of the whole play was fun, pun and mummery. Any former ideas we may have had upon the subject of spir- itualism were quickly shattered by Mr. Dickerson's display of skill in the performance of those tricks usually ascribed to the instrumentality of spirits. ' '45