Warsaw High School - Tiger Yearbook (Warsaw, IN)

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THIS- TIOEI iiin (§vn iHattrr LA short story wrilU-n b.y one of Warsaw ' s Alumni, Howard Brubaker, ' 99, now a journalist and author in New York City.] OiH ' o there was a lii ;h school — I iiieiitioii no names — which fouiifl itself racing ' certain defeat in the ajjproachin.i; footf aii jjame. The coach had done his best but tlie team was rather a soitv outfit; the line leaked like a sieve and i1 look the backs a lony time to pass a j iven point. The coach mediated sadly [ )o] these things on his way home from afternoon practice. It Ava.s, clear tliat evei-ythin i was lost including; honor. Sudden- ly, down in the ))usiness section of the town, he saw something that iiiteix ' sted him very much: and when he ent home his face was wreathed in smiles. When the team lined up for the big game there was a stranger in the midst, a high, wide stranger, built ijifhor upon the lines of the Koseiuskt) County couit house. His name, it seemed, was Young and he had to be introduced to the other members of the team because he had nevei- foiuid it convenient to go to the High School. It is a painful fact that coaches were not as particular in such matters then as they are today. Now, Young was an experienced milker and a champion pitcher of hay but he had never per- sonally met a footl)a!l game. The coach tried to give him the fine points of the game but nothing seemed to soak in very fai ' . Finally the coach in despair told Yomig that there was only (Uie thing to remem- ber: that he nmst i ut the ball over that east sjoal line as early and as often as possible and try to avoid manslaughter if convenient. AVhen he once got the hauif of the thing the im- ])oi ' ted player pT-oved to he a very powerful ally. He tossed the hated enemy about as if they were bags of oats. It was to his cus- tom of personally stepping ' ui)on the op])Osing team that the nameless High School owed the one touchdown they got in the first half: whenever the enemy tried to gain it found Yoiuig s ' iving an imitation of a barn door and slamniinff himself shut in their faces. In those days the teams changed goals oidy at the beginning of the second half. Everybody in the woi-ld knew this except Young. AYhen he srot the ball he knew that tliere was only one thing to do with it : they were facinsr the other way but they coiddn ' t fool him. So he tui-ned and ran toward the east goal. The crowd broke into a roar of dismay but Young thought it was meant for applause and redoubled his efforts. Both teams .started after him but they nevei- had a chance. Finally in desperation, the coach darted out from the side lines, tackled him and bro ight him down. The visiting team protested but the referee could find nothing in his book to forbid a coach tacklinir a member of his own team. He held that they had already ]ienalizod themselves enough to satisfy the law. And so the locals saved themselves from an inirrowinsr touch- down and finallv ■ on the ' ame. But Youusr wotind up his academic career tlien and there and went home. HO VARn BRFBAICER. [It has been rumored that this a true stor of Warsaw ' s first fooiball team in 1S96. featuring Henry Schade.] — Editor ' s Note. HO VARD BRUBAKER : Sr:ftQ£l5Xz A feUow m.ay siiiile and smile and still he wearing a w.atcli-ljracelet, too [138 more

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THE TidE67];Q ®l|0 JSf fugpf T was (. ' hristmas day on one of the hloody battle-fields of Europe. Within sif lit of each other the aniiy of the Germans and that of the Allies lay in their trenches. Pwiemies? Yes, in one sense the bitterest of foes ; in another, they were merely men who in the j rip of circumstances over which they had no control, were fi«rhtin{r because they must. On this Christmas day in nineteen-fifteen, the spirit of peace on earth, good will to men exerted its influence over even these pooi- soldiers in the tienches. A truce was declared for the day, and all hostilities were laid aside, ffermans and Allies spent the day to- gether, swapping tobacco, spinning yarns and talking of the good old days be- fore the war. More than one expressed the wish that he had gone to America before this dreadful war began. But when the day was over, its spirit, too, de- pai ' ted and once again the (ierniaiis and Allies Avere men of opposing armies. Among the ranks of the Allies was Tom Gray, a Scotchman, about forty years of age. He did not want to fight, but like thousands of ftthers, was com- pelled to serve his country thus. In a battle, some time in the spring of nine- teen-sixteen, Gi-ay was wounded and left lying helple.ss on the battle-field. Here he was found by the Red Cross people, and taken to an army hospital. Upon investigation it was found that he had a bullet wound in his left side near his heart, and in his right side a wound made by a bayonet. Week after week he suffered in the hospital, with only such rude attentions as could be given one anunig the wounded hundreds. When, at the end of three months, he was once more able to walk about, he was given a three weeks ' furlough to go home and visit his family in Scotland, for in that far-away country he had a wife and three daughters, whom he had not seen for over two years. So he started for home, but when he reached Glasgow, an unexpected opportunity presented itself for him to take passage on a vessel bound for America. Now came such a struggle within his own mind as Tom Gray had never imagined. Should he seize this opportunity of escaping from the bloody bat- tle-fields of Europe, and risk the chance of capture and death for desertion? Or should he go home and spend these few days with his family, then return to the soldier ' s hated duties and probable early death? The strusrirle was brief; he recalled the express desire of his wife that he might escape to Ame- rica where, when the war was over, she might .ioin him. He thought, too. of his older brother, Roderick, who for fifteen years had been living in that land of plenty, and this thought decided him. I ' ll go to Roderick, Avas his conclusion. — I ' ll take out my papers for citizenship over there, and never more will I go back to fight those for whom I have no feelings of enmity. His mind once made up. he hastened to dis- guise himself as fully as possible. Going to an obscure second-hand store, in Glasglow, he bought himself a suit of clothes and an old suit case, drew a small amount of nu)uey from the bank where his wife had placed it at his dis- posal, ami boarded the vessel bound for America. Five other Scotch soldiei-s. released on furlough at the same time with Gray, l)oarded the same ship in an attempt to escape from further duties in the army. Going at once to his state- l SrftuUXLZ If brevity Is the soul of wit, our financial condition must be real humorous [136 more