St Johns Cathedral School - Chimes Yearbook (Paterson, NJ)

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SAINT JOHN ANNUAL val' mm Four Year F liglot OMMANDER GENERAL FACULTY : Well done, my son, well done! A four year 'good will tour, completed-and now, well-earned success is yours. If you'll sit down there and tell me your report I'll be much obliged: Commanding Officer, Class of 33,': Very well sir. September, 1929, at approximately eight o'clock, all hands were reported on board for service. A little later we were aloft, started on our cruise. If you remember, sir, there were four ships in all -ours, because the least important was nicknamed, 'Freshmanf This name, however, did not remain long. For in one year our crew was manoeuvring the ship with such skill that we were officially renamed 'Sophomorel' Soon our acts of valor were noticed by our base com- manders and as a result we were promoted to the rank of 'Juniors' It was during that year that we, as full-fledged upper classmen, with a nonchalant air, steered our ship over uncharted air routes. We landed at Religion, where we were treated most cordially by the Fathers of the Church. After receiving their blessing, we continued on our jour- ney. Scarcely had we taken off when we had to make a forced landing in the land of an ancient people-Latins. One man, whom we later learned was named Cicero, was giving an oration against the conspiracy of Cataline. In spite of the unforeseen landing, we were treated most respectfully by those strange people. Our ship repaired, we were once more on our way. None of our crew will ever forget the delightful ex- perience we had when we were entertained by Sir Roger de Coverly, at his country home in English. No, our journey wasn,t always as easy going as you are led to be- lieve. There were times when all hands were called into action to avert a fatal crash, while flying over the eruptions of Chemistry and again when we had to fly 'blind' through the stormy nights over the ragged coast of Algebra. About this time we sent a scouting expedition of some twenty-six planes to fly east over the 'Commercial Continentf These scouting planes kept in constant contact with the mother ship, and it was 'through this method that we learned of their every move. They made personal visits to King Arithmeticus of Arithmetic, Emperor Spell, of Spelling, Presi- dent Hook-Curvus, of Shorthand, and Premier Keys, of Typing. How- ever, they were not always treated kindlyg for instance, while' in Short- hand, several members of the party crashed, and President Hook-Curvus flatly refused to aid in the reconstruction of the ill-fated ships. As a re- sult of this unkind treatment, the scouting expedition had to go on with- out them. Several days after the scouting party went out, looming on the Horizon, was the island of History, with its shores beckoning to us. Up- on landing, we were thrilled beyond expression to find Christopher Colum- Twenty-four

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SAINT JOHN ANNUAL .-,M MN the jam where the logs were grinding against each other in the churning waters. He heard the yells of warning. Hi, Steve! Look out! Jump! Two logs closed in on Steve's log. They hit it from the opposite sides and from behind. It shot into the air like a plane going up. Steve gripped frantically with his feet, but they went from under him. He went sprawling into the water and disappeared. When he came up he was near the jam. Grant didn't hesitate. He went into the water as Steve reappeared. He swam swiftly towards him. Steve disappeared again. A cut in his head was bleeding. He was unconscious. Grant re- membered grasping Steve by the hair and fighting with him to the shore. And he remembered what Steve said to him that night, standing twisting his cap, in the office. Boss, you save Steve's life. Not much of a life, but you save it. Sometime, I pay. Grant sighed. Those were the days, the days of his youth. His sec- retary came in. There is a man here and he insists on seeing you. Here is his card. Grant read it. Anastasius Asoupopulisf' I don't know him,', he said, but send him in. The man who burst through the door was short and enormous. Above his paunch a barrel of a chest ran into massive shoulders from which protruded an egg-shaped head lighted with brown eyes and crowned with thin black hair. ' A Mr. Grant,', he said briskly, I represent a Greek syndicate. We want the opportunity of handling any loan you may wish to float up to thirty millions. Thirty millions, Grant said, his mouth gaped open. Why, man, you must be crazy. Do you realize that this is the Inter Commercial Bank? And that we are about to close our doors? I realize, said the enormous one, that this is the Inter Commercial Bank, but I did not realize that you are about to close your doors. You are not, because you, John Grant, are the president. 'lWhat's that got to do with it,,' waved Grant. Lots, boss, the enormous one grinned suddenly. Don,t you know me? I'm Steve. One day you saved my life. I have come to repay you. Hours later John Grant still sat shaking his massive old head with its thick batch of iron gray hair. He hunched .his great shoulders and gazed, with his clear gray eyes in the year-scarred, strong hard-lipped face, ab- sently out of his oHice window into the Inter Commercial Bank building, at the East River and the panorama of modern towers that hurled their steel and stone toward the sky. WILLIAM BAKER. Twenty-three

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SAINT JOHN ANNUAL VN IN bus, the noted navigator and explorer, surrounded by a court of adven- turous explorers, to greet'us. Farther upland we met Napoleon con- ferring with Frederick the Great, while Machiavelli and Talleyrand looked on smilingly. Sorrowfully We left that enchanted island of past deeds to go pay our respects to French. This land was a fascinating place, but the pronunciation and the construction proved very tricky and in many cases the French treated us cruelly. Shortly after leaving French, we were reunited by the scouting ex- pedition, and it was then that We had the greatest social affair of the trip -the Junior Prom. This affair was given in honor of our Senior Ship in the luxurious ballroom of our stately air ship, The Alexander Hamilton. Cares and worries Were forgotten for that night and couples swayed gracefully to the tuneful melodies of the orchestra. Immediately after this affair all hands worked from sunrise to late after sundown--for our ship was then passing through the storm section of Final Exams Ca dark and stormy areaj. Completing this dangerous leg of the flight, we landed at Vacation for a two months leave-and, sir, we had a jolly good time! September, 1932, we resumed our journey, this time in the Senior Ship. How smiles did beam on every face those first few days-how dignified and happy all the oflicers strutted about. Yet we had a right to be happy-and dignified! Hadn't we made wonderful progress in four years? Starting in the ranks of Freshmen and promoted to Seniors? There we Were, flying our good old air ship-lofty and stately, followed closely by the Junior, Sophomore and Freshmen ships. Due to the large scope of territory We had to cover, we still maintained a scouting expedi- tion of approximately thirty planes-which returned to the mother ship at regular intervals. At no time during this last year did the trip get monotonous. The B division, during the Harvest season, gave their nov- elty 'Harvest Hopf The A division followed this up with a lavish dance, more appropriately called the Senior Dance. To add to the excitement we formed a debating team of distinc- tion. Before approaching the last leg of the trip, we were invited to a Junior Prom, given in our honor by the junior crew. We were rudely shaken after this affair, for our ship ran into the worst storm of our en- tire journey. Charts, books and brains came into use-time and time again we nearly crashed into the perilous cliffs of 'Final Senior Exams' Then as we pulled out of this storm We sighted our home He1d-Gradua- tion. Commander General Faculty : Well, son, I suppose you and your crew are very happy to be back? Commanding Officer, Class of '33 : Well, sir, that is a rather difficult question to answer. These past four years will always remain imprinted upon our memories. Now, sir, we had better get going- for there are other worlds to conquer and We are beginning with a clean slate. Twenty-five