Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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2 $ climbed the hill, entered chapel, and were mustered into active technical ser¬ vice as the Class of Eighteen Ninety-Nine, on the afternoon of September 16th, 1895. jfreebman U?ear. After being carefully dissected into four divisions, our young efforts were turned toward the pleasing pastime of finding the localities known as Free-hand Drawing-Room, Mechanical Labs.,” “Mathematical Parlor, Salisbury Labs.,” or Cell Eighteen, Boynton Hall.” Alas! we know where all of them are now,—not slightly, but too well. We next turned our attention to the time-honored custom of grinding,— we wanted to get a good reputation with the faculty, and, incidentally, we then thought that these old and valuable school customs must and should be preserved. During the first two or three months we received our introduc¬ tion to the various mysterious things which may be found, in a frame, in the first part of the catalogue under the title, Freshman Year, First Term.” Under the fatherly direction of Danny, we entered the realms of Chem¬ istry, and soon learned how to turn litmus paper red, white and blue, how to poison people by feeding them arsenic disguised as wall-paper, or find out if our stomach contained phosphorous by boiling it in a wash tub; and it is safe to say we got more enjoyment out of those chemistry lectures than from any other subject of our first term. Can any of us forget the roar of laughter that shook the room when Dan tenderly pulled the featherless carcass of a pigeon from the preserving charcoal dust and observed, thoughtfully, It’s a bird ”. As a side issue, in the chemical laboratory we bent glass tubing into all sorts of fantastic shapes, made all sorts of gases and acids, testing the latter on our note books, or desk, or clothes, or anything else of value which happened to be around when the stuff got spilled, and we can certify that the beauty of our concoctions and the deep yellow color of their odors have never been surpassed by those of any other class. In the mathematical line we tackled college algebra with Dr. Conant, and juggled with all sorts of progressions, permutations, combinations, in- determinates, and equations, whose roots extended all over the lot. Here we learned the circumstances under which Archimedes first made the dis¬ covery that water is wet, how Pythagoras juggled Geometry, and why New-

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M We are nearing the end. At the same time, we are approaching com¬ mencement. Soon we shall stop climbing the Hill of Tech and tackle the Ladder of Life. I seem to hear the old familiar order, “You may lay aside your books and take your papers.” I have laid aside my books,—a Junior gave me seventy-one cents for the lot. I will take my papers and try to gather together from out of the shadowy memories of the past some of the events and incidents in the History of the Class of Ninety-Nine. Our entry into the sanitarium for the Prevention of Rest was under the most auspicious of circumstances. The Engineering Laboratories had just been completed, and the Power-House was nearing a finish. A kind friend of the Institute had presented the shop with a new grindstone and had prom¬ ised a pair of pliers, while the Electrical Department had received a large coil of wire and a bill for repairs on the three-volt voltmeter. Furthermore, the Trustees had about made up M. P’s mind that students could not rise on elevators,—that is to say, that the student’s mind could not improve on the low range of work offered by elevator construction ; M. P. was consequently getting ready to pick up his dolls ($) and go. In fact, everything was booming, and the future was of a gorgeous golden orange shellac hue, when, with implicit faith in the pleasant little extravagancies of the catalogue, we

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26 ton invented the art of thought. Dr. Conant’s favorite trick was to assume a balancing position perched on the arm of one of the class-room chairs, and with his hands clasped tenderly around one knee attempt to bluff us into be¬ lieving that he didn’t understand a blackboard demonstration, with his inno¬ cent Well,—now,—let—me—see, just how is that?” I must now touch upon a tender chord,—it is Rhetoric and Composition. It has ever been a sad subject with us, and sorrowfully do I mention it now. It brings up memories of gallons of ink and reams of essay paper utilized in agonized attempts to construct a tale of a Humorous Incident.” It conjures up phantoms of gigantic bluffs, and recalls Kinney’s celebrated progressive arrangements of the largest words in the dictionary in essay form. We shall never forget the quiz-ahs ”—but we are glad they exist with us now only as memories of the past. Across the corridor from the quizah torture chamber we read several in¬ teresting French dreams, under the direction of Professor Coombs; Le Pacte de Famine and Le Pecheur D’Islande,—which latter someone translated The Sinner of the Island ”—being thoroughly chewed (about) and digested by us. The remaining subjects which we enjoyed during this springtime of our existence were Free-hand Drawing, Elementary Mechanics, and Ethics and Hygiene. The latter was the most enjoyable, because we never had any. Elementary Mechanics used to amuse us muchly, especially Joseph’s efforts to explain that second per second per second business, while the beautiful little experiments” and earth-weighing acts, introduced on the side by Doc, did much toward keeping us from falling into a somnambulistic state. Of our initiation into the mysterious and gas-tly rights of Free-hand Drawing, much might be written. We were the last class to come under the direction of Professor Gladwin, and we did him proud.” We drew on the blackboards, on paper, and on the models, the latter not being appreciated by our instructor. We investigated the laws of gravitation with respect to the fall of pipe fittings, old valves and scrap iron through space, and pinched the vanishing point in the act of vanishing. Much of the remainder of our time was spent in shop, sleep, and socia¬ bles at some of the Worcester churches. Early in the term we organized as a class, electing the following officers : President, C. W. Kinney ; Vice- President, F. W. Putnam ; Secretary, A. C. Vinal; Treasurer, A. A. Kent.