St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Tom being a very polite little man, always used to conduct. his cousin, another Annapolis boy, called Dug Howard, up to the Halls of Learning. Dug and Tom never felt so happy as when they could bring up a large box of home-made cara- mels for their friends. They usually had more friends than caramels. Dug and Tom were general traders of good sense,' and both had a pull with the fair ones of the City of Anne. It seems to be a painful duty to interrupt these awakened memories by recording that very recently our good friend Dug has left us to prepare for the entrance examinations to the Naval Academy. .We have lost a bright scholar., a fine athlete and at general good fellow. VV'e voice the sentiment of the whole school in wishing for him a happy and useful career in Uncle Sam's Navy. Leaflets of 'Freshman history again unroll themselves and the finger of merit is pointing to a name which has come to be honored amongst tis-Wilson Gal- breath. I remember how one day we wasted two hours and ten cents worthj of firecrackers in trying to awaken him from one of his regular naps. He is always napping. And although he never has allowed the Profs. to catch him, he did get caught once by the police of Annapolis. Garey, the man who has been sweet sixteen? for ten years, was looked upon as the one Freshman who was sure of social success. Upon his handsome face were evident marks of future greatness, and a convenient age. We'were all becoming well acquainted and fairly well satisfied with ourselves, when in- the second term we were startled by the sudden appearance of Patrick Dougherty, a native of Paris, who sprung up in our midst like a meadow mushroom on a spring night. Dots was immediately applied to his name, but at his request we changed it to the uncommon Irish title, Pat He was soon followed by another specimen of Baltimoreis greasers, Mr. Fritzy Seward, who came sliding through space on one of Heinz's pickles. This finished our Pandora Box for the first year, Gott- siedanktf' ' -In the course of nature and luck, in spite of mathematics, we became Sophomores. Knobs of importance fast developed upon our heads, for proud were the first few weeks of our novel position as leaders of that Awful', Organization, known to Freshmen as the G. G. H. They say pride goeth before a fall, and in seeming realization of this fact the Freshmen behaved themselves so well that we had to suspend hostilities indefinitely. VVe soon hadffo Substitute Civiliiitv for enmityg gradually this civility grew into a strong liking, and today the classes of '04 and '03 are closely joined in the ties of lasting friendship. But like all other Sophomore classes, we did not have all our Freshmen classmates with us to share our new responsibilities and experiences. Weiliave missed them greatly, At the opening of our Sophomore year, however, several sons of Maryland resolved to 64

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knowing that there was much' danger of lowering our dignity as the leaders of the G. Q. H. Besides, Sophomores like to keep such things a secret. We never had a classmeeting that didn't end in a fight. At that time everything we did as ia body turned out to be a f1zzle. COur class colors, for instancej But, now we always say that this was on account of the poor example set by the class above us. - It is ,amusing to think over the first impressions of our classmates. I well remember little Amos Woodcock in his knee breeches when for the first time he crawled up to Tommy's desk. . If ever therewas a sad picture of homesicknessand insignificance he impersonated it. Little did we think that in him lay the qualities of mind and character that have made him such an honorto our class. His Fresh- man roommate, Bip Tilghman, 'was also a child in years, a baby in size and an infant in manners. Many a night have I been compelled to put to sleep these two children with the soft, sweet strains of my trained voice. Next Slew-foot Beatty came, dragging his big feet up the College walk. Wlieii he had safely housed his ponderous and momentous steppers he immediately began to bone lessons, hidling captiously behind his matchless groundworks, so that we saw him only at the table. By the way, he was punctual at meals. I can still see how the plastered locks of hair, so' inappropriately concealed from view that recognized mark of intelligence, which Si Cummins has possessed from birth-his high forehead. He was the only Freshman who spent his time, his money and his artistictaste upon- the walls of his room, and then wrote long letters about it to every female he knew. He has nourished these traits of character, and in this particular he is still the whole thing in a nutshellf' Then there was theonce awkward and clumsy John Blecker, who surely struck our fancy as being a very handsome youth. But time works many changes. This odd person has lived throughout his whole course upon theluxury of his imagined ambition, but through his bad taste for study he has come to misfortune in more than one exam. ' Despite susbequent failures and mistakes, how pleasant it is to talk of these days of our irst meeting! How fanciful and incomplete these records are! But how much more forcible than the treacherous chronicles of the memory! Doesn't it pay to write a history? Are not these boyish foibles, which in after years will have a charm for us? Then let us continue further in our dream of the past. I None of us are any longer certain as to whether '2Neewy Reed was regarded asa Brownie or a Pigmy, but time has developed that he is the Missing Link. There was Pat Wood, born and raised on Market street, Annapolis, and though he had been in the Prep. school for seventeen years, he was a new acquaintance to the majority of our class. He impressed us' as -Annapolitans only can. And there was another little tot from this ancient city. Tom ,Handy was his name. 63

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cast their lots with the class of 1903. These were two high-heeled Harford county lads, 4'Cholly Hollingsworth and Tom Hall 5 two Carroll county aristocrats, Rily Elgen and Miss Cranky Cronkg one general nuisance from Rohrersville by the name of jim Rohrer, and still anoflfrea' escaped Howard Countain, who call- ed himself Paleface Clark. A ' With such reinforcements we began to feel strong as well as proud. Then, ah then, it was that we started upon our course of record-breaking, brain-bursting, and heart-smashing 3 then it was that we began to enjoy our studies, and to long for our meals, and our drill period. Then it was that we began to dream of our Rat Tat. We started right in for all athletics and developed. 'men who have distinguished themselves upon the field. . There comes a swelling of pride when we relate that in the inter-class contests last May we won second place, the juniors being Hrst. Hall brought us a peculiar distinction by breaking the College record in the half-mile run. A. Garey covered himself with glory as a swift and graceful runner. ' Beatty and Rohrer added several points to our credit by gaining second place in two events. . Coming now to the Military Department, we would sayvthat we had always taken a particular pride in this business, and, next to studying, it was our favorite duty. But owing to the large numbers and large ambitions of the Junior class, we could not secure many promotions in' rank. However, the Ice-Wagonf' Blecker was made a corporal. , I i After nine weeks of heated discussion we adopted a class-pin, but it is not satisfactory to one member of the class. QOne more of our class iizzles. j In June, when the standing of the classes was announced, nine certificates -of honor and distinction were awarded to the men of 1903, showing that we were making good use of our time. - But our history must not be all sunshine, there are shadows on the brightest days. During our Sophomore year we lost several good men not before men- tioned in this history. Some left college, some 'gfell by the wayside and are now wading through the quagmire of lost hope. We are sorry to lose these, our fellow- strugglers. ' , , With the glorious advent of our Junior year, we came to find that all juniors inherit the right to three privileges : CID An overdrawn ambition, Czj a penetrating opinion of the Seniors, and Qgj a swelled head. , We have made good use of the second, but were not much surprised when Miss Fortune refused us our share of the first and third privileges. For we had expectedthat last year's Juniors had already abused them 'beyond further avail. We warn future juniors against too much ambition, and too much swelled head. However, we have a good supply 65 N