Theodore Roosevelt High School - Saga Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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ii- 1 it I 1 X , ' I I if Q F - 3 VAI- making fun of the classical teacher. I was innocent of any such attempt, but as the French was lacking and the Latin was wrong, I lost caste with both departments. Forty-five minutes is not an infinite period, and at last I was in the corridor breathing freely, for only chemistry and gym re- mained. In chemistry we had been doing experimental work. I could get through that easily, and who's afraid of gym? Much to my distress, however, in chemistry, Mr. Branson, the instructor, asked us to sit up in front, and there he promptly sounded our wells of knowledge for information. Iosephine, he inquired, what happens when you pour hot concentrated sulphuric acid on zinc? Iosephine knew! Not the answer to the question: no, no! She knew that she did not know and said so. Mr. Branson said something about too many pink teas, getting lost in the fog, etc., and passed the question on to me. I also knew that I didn't know, but I didn't say so. What I did say was: Well, sir, you get a chemical reaction between the hydrogen of the acid and the hydrogen of the zinc, forming water and evolving carbon dioxide gas- Oh, you do, do you? satirically from Mr. Branson. 'I'hat's news to me. Yes, sir, I went on, encouraged, the residue, zinc hydrate and hydrochloric acid, unite to form hydrogen sulphide and lead sulphate, an insoluble salt- What! An insoluble salt, I repeated, to gain time to think. If you want to continue further you dissolve the lead sulphate in the water and add the combination of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen in the hydrogen sulphide explodes- Explodes? he interrupted witheringly. That's obliging of it. Yes, sir, explodes and scatters sulphur all over the room, while the oxygen puts out the fire- Oxygen! Puts out fire! Yes, sir, puts out the fire and the carbon forms in pink sticks along the ceiling. Pink sticks of carbon! Great Scott! Well, Benjamin, he said, glowering at me over his glasses, thank you for the recitation. It confirms me in the mark I have thought of giving you for the term. And that was that. Well, anyhow, I thought, gym is next and there I shall make a good mark. But the notice on the gymnasium door read simply: TO TI-IE SENIORS. NO GYM TODAY Mr. Dreeben At least, thought l, he won't have to spend the afternoon to compute my mark. BENIAMIN ZIMNEY 8

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LA DEIQNI ERE CLASSE Ting-a ling-a lingl I rolled over and gradually came to the realization that today was Friday and that the final marks were to be computed that afternoon. Well , thought I, if I shine in my lessons today, they'll give me a good mark for the term, maybe. Five seconds later I was gulping scalding cocoa and munch- ing a roll. Ten seconds after that I climbed on a bus to dash to school to do some homework. What earthly good homework at such a time could do, I can't now possibly imagine, but, at any rate, that thought entered my head and stuck. Never before or after have I ridden on such a slow bus, but at last I reached school, raced to my locker, put my coat away, picked up a book and began to study Latin. The bell rang, interrupted my studies and brought back to my mind the fact that we would not have Latin today because of a meeting of the language teachers. With a dejected air I went to my class, took out what was supposed to be my mathematics book, and waited. Benjamin, said Miss Deutelbaum, addressing me, please read the first paragraph on page 287. I opened my book to page 287, glanced at the first paragraph and began, That make the bells of Heaven to peal Round pillows frosty with the feel Of Death's cold finger tips- The laughs of the class and Miss Deutelbaums expression made me turn the book overg I saw the title, Contemporary Poetry, Edited by Marguerite Wilkinson. Well, Benjamin, said Miss Deutelbaum, thank you for the rather flowery mathematics so early in the morning. Louise, will you please read the paragraph? Needless to say, my chances of a passing mark in mathematics were wrecked by that episode. Thoughts of the next period were more cheering. Our art class was going to look at slides of Roman buildings and such, which left me in the dark anyway, so I had a little nap. My glimpses of the Coliseum, Parthenon, and the like helped my appetite and, despite the misfortunes of the day, I ate a hearty meal. With my vocal chords carefully adjusted to the intricate mechanical effects required by him who would converse freely in the French language, I swallowed hastily the last bite of a baked apple and hastened to the French class. There I was called upon to conjugate some French verbs. Perhaps the presence in the room of Mr. Flood, the teacher of that lovely language, Latin, confused me, at any rate I construed some Latin, much to the delight of the class, who thought I was 7

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ONE LUCKY POET CLEMENT an elderly 1111111 who has Income prosperous in spite of his eccentricities CAROL an American girl, intensely practical and cannot therefore, be expected to appreciate the romance 0 her surroundings PETER a Bohemian poet, extremely idealistic and intensely romantic POVLOFF a Russian with an inzfentiot turn o mind who has been trying to invent a collapsible soapbox so as to be able to carry it with him at all times AMELIA Clement's friend PATRICK HENRY SAMUELS an .flnzcrican ex senator whose chief virtue is in his being the father o Carol Scene The play takes place in the dining room of a small castle in Bohemia. The castle stands on a hill, and is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a handsome llussar. It is evening In the dining room the darkness has been exiled to the corners by means o candlelight. As the play opens, the guests are seated at the table AMELIA Cshouting across the table to Carolj And how do you like my country, my dear? CAROL lt's very nice, but it's difficult to find chewing gum to buy. AMELIA But, my dear, you are in a castle Why anything could happen here. CAROL I don't believe in fairy tales. CLEMENT Do you believe in ghosts? POVLOFF l believe that some day the ghosts of the capital ists will- CLEMENT Cinterrupting rudelyj We have a ghost in the place here. CAROL Tell us about him. ls he handsome? CLEMENT Extremely so. He was a l-lussar a cavalry sol dier, Who loved a beautiful girl in the village below and one day the Baron from this castle saw her and immediately fell in love with her. She spurned him and told him she loved another This, of course, angered the Baron and he determined to get rid of his rival, the soldier. One day he was falsely accused of stealing and, in spite of the denials of his guilt he was convicted and hanged. And it is his ghost that Walks the castle with the noose still around his neck, looking for the Baron SAMUELS You couldn't get the people back home to believe a story like that.