Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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ZELOTES WOOD COOMBS “ Coombsie ” A A $ $ B K The professor whom every freshman knows, and the professor who knows every freshman—that is Coombsie. And notice the way we wield the “who’s” and “whom’s” without worry or disaster; it shows that Coombsie has met with some success. It is said that every freshman has the idea that Professor Coombs is President of the Institute. Certain is it that he plays an important part in our first two years on the Hill. And we know that when we come back years hence to visit the old school, we will find Coombsie awaiting us with a hearty hand¬ shake, and our name on the tip of his tongue. Coombsie’s years in the classroom have been productive of several historic expressions and his “bulletin hoard coming along the corridor” is almost classic. Coombsie has the interests of Tech always close to his heart, and is one of its most ardent supporters. HAROLD BABBITT SMITH “H. B.” B©n 2H t b n It is one of the peculiar tendencies of human nature for those of us who enjoy some special privilege in life to take considerable pride in our good fortune. And for that reason the Electrics take great satisfaction in being the only ones who have had the opportunity of meeting H. B. Smith in the class room. We had hardly begun our Junior course in Design before we re alized that we were dealing with one of the “big men” in Electrical Engineering, and that the notes, which a knowledge of short hand would have helped us to take down, were the result of many years of practical experience in Electrical work. Both inside the class room and anywhere else that we have encountered him, “H. B.” has always shown his willingness to cooperate and help us out of our difficulties, and on no occasion has he shown any impatience or lack of good nature. 21

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GEORGE HENRY HAYNES “ Jinny” A K E $ B K 2 H Jinny, the king of B19, is a character whom we will long remember. We can not soon forget the long, lean figure, as he hurries into the room, passing papers wildly about marked red or white, draws up his drawing-stand to its topmost limit, and prepares to give out one of his ten-minute quizzes. Then the pencils fly madly, and the recently- crammed ideas take hectic form across the pages. Jinny always managed to make the lectures mighty interesting, and whenever he began to see eyes be¬ coming dim, mouths opening, and attention wavering, the slight twitching of his upper lip and the ap¬ pendage thereo n would indicate that a story was coming. Everyone would wake up violently, make a desperate attempt to see the joke, and laugh loudly whether successful or not. WALTER LOUIS JENNINGS “Hughie” ‘ ' The Kaiser’ “The Doctor” “The Kink” 2 H We have been somewhat in awe of “The Doctor” since Qualitative Analysis, but the awe gave way to respect and admiration as our associations with him increased. His exactions in note taking in Qualitative bothered us, but his perfect manipula¬ tion was a stimulant. In Abstracts he gave us a final exam that Dr. Calhane had already given us twice, for which we were grateful. Extreme happiness on the part of “The Kink” meant hut one thing; some one had been given a “razz.” He was as thorough in this as in every¬ thing he did, and the recipent was always sick of life in general when the “razz” ended. If Dr. Jennings was proficient in Qualitative, he was a master in Organic Chemistry. He presented his lecture course with a thoroughness and interest which was unsurpassable, and a student who failed to learn the subject had himself to blame. 20

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ALEXANDER WILMER DUFF “ A. WArner” 3 2 K 2 E Do you remember the day that “A Wilmer” grabbed hold of some high-frequency and the sparks shot off his coat-tails? And the Sophomore Banquet with Dr. Duff, and his ghost stories and poetry? These are just some of the high spots which stand out in the picture which his delightful personality has im¬ pressed indelibly on our memory. Of Dr. Duff’s ability as a scientist, little need be said. After hearing him speak casually of experi¬ ments and research conducted in various univer¬ sities all over the world, and after hearing his “Physics” denounced in glowing terms by unam¬ bitious students in many American colleges, we could but realize how fortunate we were to be under his guidance. And we, who recited under him, and saw him do complicated mathematics in his head more caught a flash of the uncanny ability behind his ARTHUR WILLARD FRENCH “Pa” 2 H As underclassmen, we knew “Pa” only by reputa¬ tion and by sight—and neither was at all reassuring. But the intimate personal contact of the Senior year turned all our early misgivings into a hearty admiration and respect. Strict we found him to be in insisting upon a man’s best effort, and uncanny in his ability to uncover a bluff, but always abso¬ lutely square, and never too busy to assist in straight¬ ening out a difficulty. And his class-room hours will be recalled quite as much for the principles of plain common sense there laid down, as for the technical knowledge gained. “Pa” has little regard for solutions-by-formula. and the “pocket-book engin¬ eer”; and the ability to attack any problem through a firm grasp of its fundamentals, rather than by rule- of-thumb methods, is a large element in the heritage of his Civils. accurately than we could on paper, reputation. 22