St Xavier High School - Tiger Yearbook (Louisville, KY)

Page 10 text:

The first portraits of the graduates were not taken until 1874. But one interesting item occured on Sept. 3, 1883. The absentee rec- ords tell us that many were afflicted with sud- den but brief illnesses. The fact that Barnum's Circus' came to town that day was probably no more than a mere coincidence! In '84 the year of the Ohio River flood, the School day went from 8:30 to 1:00 with a short recess at 10:00. It was on July 9th of that same year when the Alumni Society started. It elected St. Xavier's first grad, Francis A. Mann, as its president. The young school boys of those days heard their elders talking about names like Carnegie, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt, and of the yellow iournalism of Pulitzer and Hurst. A man named Edison was soon to begin toying with the idea of light without flame, and a Mr. Ford had some crazy notions of a buggy without a horse. Cramped in their Fourth St. location and un- able to expand, the Brothers bought the New- comb estate in 1890. This property extended from Broadway to Jacob St. On Jacob, a brick stable was torn down and replaced by a build' ing which contained eight classrooms. But the gaunt old man with the scythe labeled 1900 was unceremoniously ushered out by a bounc- ing baby replete with banner proclaiming the arrival not only of a new century, but of what has become known as the Good Years. By 1900 a new building appeared on the lawn of the Newcomb estate. This was the new St. Xavier, and it included a gymnasium and a swimming pool in the basement. These were eventually replaced by science labora- tories and a cafeteria. This original building was a rather impressive one, consisting of six- teen recitation rooms, eight on each floor. On the third floor was the auditorium with a ca- pacity of 1200, it was the largest in Louisville. This, too, was eventually replaced by class- rooms when further expansion became nec- essary. The schoolboy who set out for 118 W. Broadway wore knickerbockers and carried his books slung over his shoulder with a leather strap. His mother could buy a shiny brass- rimmed bed for 353. His father went about the house all day grumbling about something called the CW income tax. The newspapers spoke about the Boxer Rebellion, the Big Stick and Bigger Business. The North Pole became an important part of his map, and he heard many stories about the different ways a hatchet BRO. JAMES, C.F.X. The principal of St. X for nearly twenty-five years. THE FIRST FOOTBALL TEAM-VINTAGE 1910

Page 9 text:

BRO. PAUL, C.F.X. The first principal of St. Xavier. or milk fcalled 'mush'i. lt was a very popular dish. Neither was the school year a short one: ln 1865 we opened school on the first Monday in August . . . we closed on June 30th. As the Battle Hymn of the Republic faded into the past, new chapters began to be written in the chronicals. By 1870 the Brothers had taken over nine parochial schools in the city as well as the Institute St. X was the small- est of their schools with an enrollment of 60, St. Boniface was the largest with 575 boys. lt was that same year that saw the beginning of the General Competitions at St. X: the six best boys from each of the Brothers' nine schools were tested in reading, 'sums,' gram- mar, penmanship and composition. The chronicals note that on Feb. 7, 1870, the young scholars were given a half-day free to see the opening of the Ohio Bridge. The care- lessness of Mrs. O'Leary's cow in Chicago was the big news at the opening of the school year in 1871. But news of a more somber sort sent at :ii. W, g,..,+,i,1,Q,,,.pts-141 xi .pi .i..'4-ai-.qw s 5- itVip,1ii:sgWvg5ipfigiii-,A4, -Uwe: -M1 Wfs:1 ,iss-.gi 1 'Wii- sl mwjmr Eiffiiff35:31:T523fif.f,iif 'fifzfixzfiiiSwiftfl.fgffiiiifizi2?ggiifZ.aLLJiri-.!3gisi.ff!!tsJ1.f'f.'!4f.!Q.ff' Qi ..' .,, ..,.., ..i..s-Q si.f i .,---: We s,-f it1-+i,1fwi....Yffexi4i,w-2.1-iffi ,.., ii if.. .,,.t,i,.-iffsiw--1 V- -A--iff--is fi''yfii--wiiigifuii.:ffi:sQ:irfigi- f,gf.ii,isQ, iggif5i5'iapLr1i '1wHf+ -ff -jgwipiwi- 7 aitrfag 2 ai-r iitfsfpg ififfig,iftrfi?-litiaweasFfigififfffiis2fi?i3istffi?E3ssfff2f,.5f1??'i!1'i,1:gSf1rfff1i?P-3921 J .,:. ii. T.,-.. ,,i' ...Lif.g-. ,,,.--e.,i,f.i-W' ,,',,.,.aiJi,f-iiaiw . .ii 4, W . ,,. if.mi.i.4,M.,,,..i.1ii ii isa .1 f v ,f.. , .1 ,.,.i..,-, , ......, wi... ,,. ..,, iw. .., 'ifficiiizis3?p521252itlifimiiwigir,ifiiifiemiisiiigeragaefafzauwasifieiiaiiefisgpwsiisgei zimiixisziiasiwfsfsifas tiss iaaazfwfiafeaiiiigcifIsis2iQe2f1s4aiiasii2i+.Q.i1Maasfgriifezsfi . . . like one big hospital was the way Bro. Philip described the city of Louisville dur- ing those hectic days. Thousands upon thou- sands of Civil War casualties were treated here. School, however, went on with a business-as- usual attitude. Food was scarce and expensive. In- stead of coffee we had to use parched or roasted rye-nicknamed Lincoln Coffee. The average meal consisted of bread with molasses, or cornmeal seasoned with molasses 6 the school into mourning, when on Dec. 21 of that year, Theodore James Ryken, the humble and saintly founder of the Brothers, went to meet his God. On New Year's Eve of '72 pipe-smoking was introduced among the brothers when the su- perior bought a dozen white clay pipes for 1.10. Ten cents was big money in those days . . .how dimes have changed!

Page 11 text:

l could be used when The names of Two young ladies, Carrie NaTion and Lizzie Borden, ap- peared in The newspapers. UnTil 1909 aThleTics played no parT in The school life aT ST. Xavier. ThaT year, however, a baseball Team was organized when The prin- cipal, Bro. James, finally gave his sancTion To sporTs. FooTball, baskeTball and oThers were soon To follow. Soon The wanT of a proper place To pracTice and play baskeTball led To The building ofa gym in 1915 on The siTe of The old school building. IT was The biggesT and besT in The ciTy. FuTure Tiger aThleTes were To make ST. X The home of champions. In 1926 X won iTs firsT sTaTe baskeTball TiTle, defeaTing Danville, 26-13. Since ThaT year The school has amassed a sTaggering ToTal of fifTy-six cham- pionships and Two NaTional CaTholic crowns. However The real purpose of a high school was noT forgoTTen, and ST. X conTinued To Take seven-league sTrides in The field of educaTion. The arrival of a new principal, Bro. Benjamin, in 1917, heralded some changes. FirsT he made LaTin, which had been opTional, compulsory, and Thus esTablished ST. Xavier as a sTricTly classical school. Secondly, he decreed ThaT The school would funcTion for high school sTudenTs only, before iT had included every grade from The primary To college level. Then came Jack Dempsey and Mary Pickford and a flying machine known as The SpiriT of ST. Louis. All The sTudenTs were humming Over There, and soon each had pinpoinTed in his geography book a place called Chafeau Thierry. BuT There were several oTher firsTs for The school in This decade. ln June 1924, The Tiger, The ST. X yearbook, was issued. The school enTered inTo inTerscholasTic debaTes for The firsT Time in 1926. Two years laTer The Xavier News wenT To press for The firsT Time. lT Ain'T Gonna Rain No More was heard by Charlie Chaplin, Barney Google, Al Capone and Babe RuTh. Jazz was popular. So was bobbed hair. And So's your old man! And Workers of The world, uniTe! One Thing ThaT wasn'T overpopular occurred on OCT. 24Th, 1929, when The Roaring TwenTies wenT ouT wiTh a whimper. ln 1940 The Tiger BoosTers came inTo exisT- ence. Their special aim: To improve aThleTics and aThleTic faciliTies. Bro. Edward Joseph or- ganized The Band ParenTs Club ThaT year. And The annex, disrespecTfully known as The dog- house, was builT. So was a new field house. On June 7Th of ThaT year we had The firsT Senior Prom. AT The sTarT of The school year in '41, The BroThers' quarTers became so cramped ThaT They purchased The former ConservaTory of Music on 720 S. Brook ST. for Their living quarTers. The school was also overcrowded 111481, so The BroThers used The CaThedral School for Two freshman classes. These alTernaTed every