Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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THE AFTERMATH Head of Department of English A.B., Amherst, 1888, and A.M., 1895; Instructor in English Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, 1888-89; Univ. of Virginia, 1889-90; Clerk and Assistant in Languages. W. P. I., 1890-92; Instructor in Modern Languages, 1892- 95; Assistant Professor, 1895-1901; Professor of French, 1901-03; English and Modern Languages, 1903-13; Sec¬ retary of the Faculty, 1910; Professor of English, 1913-. Coming around the corner of Boynton Hall with P rofessor Coombs the gymnasium heaves in¬ to sight with commendable regularity. Due to his active interest in the affairs of we and our fellow classmates he is one who we are all well acquainted with. Coombsie has grown up with Tech and is al¬ ways ready with some historical anecdote of its past life. He was our guide in our daze as un¬ derclassmen and under his direction we debated ZELOTES WOOD COOMBS at fever heat the evils of capital punishment and “ Coombsie” prohibition. But harken I hear those three AA I smart raps and the man who has left us many pleasant memories has just risen in his place so I must close. N. B. You folks turn smiles into tears by telling ns there are errors in the J o above. We know it. TBIl “H. B .” ■V ? BO 11 HAROLD BABBITT SMITH Head of Department of Electrical Engineering M.E., Cornell. 1891; Adjunct Professor of Electrical En¬ gineering, Arkansas State Univ., 1892-93; Professor, Purdue, 1893-96; W. P. L, 1896-. You can ask “H.B.” anything short of an in¬ quiry on ampere-turns in a Business Methods Quiz and expect to get a helpful answer. The re¬ ply is usually so lucid that you haul your mental self up on the carpet and ask, “How can one man be so dumb?” He is also a national figure as an engineer and a scientist, a leading man in the A. I. E. E., a consulting engineer of note, and one of the originators of the condenser insulator. In be¬ tween times he has traveled over most of the known world, and his travel talks, featuring some of his 4,000 personally collected slides, always form a welcome surcease from engineering. 13

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THE AFTERMATH GEORGE HENRY HAYNES Head of Department of Economics and Government A.B., Amherst, 1887; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1892; In¬ structor in Modern Languages, W. P. I., 1887-88; Mathematics, 1888-89; Modern Languages, 1889-90; Pro¬ fessor of Economics and Government, 1893-. We knew “Jinny” by reputation alone until our Junior year when we found by personal ac¬ quaintance that this favorable reputation was well deserved. His connection with the Institute antedates that of anyone on the Hill and judging by his ten minute quizzes his acceleration increases as the square of his years and he wishes ours to do likewise. Long after Tech has been left behind we shall still conjure up a vision of a contagious smile and twitching moustache which are sure signs that a choice bit of characteristic humor is about to emanate from one of Tech’s best liked pro¬ fessors. “Jinny” ' LB K 2H ARE WALTER LOUIS JENNINGS Head of Department of Chemistry A.B., Harvard, 1889, A.M., 1890, and Ph.D., 1892; As¬ sistant in Chemistry, 1890-92; Parker Fellow at Univ. of Berlin, 1893-94; Assistant Professor of Chemistry, W. P. I., 1894-99; Professor of Organic Chemistry, 1900-. Our first acquaintance with “The Kaiser’’ in Qualitative indicated what the chemists might look forward to in their work at Tech. Here we became familiar with his unerring accuracy and skill in manipulative work. In Organic Chemistry “The Kaiser” stands supreme; his eight o’clock classes were a revelation of his never failing enthusiasm, remarkable knowledge, and personal interest in each man. Our great¬ est indoor sport consisted in trying to outguess him in regard to the dates of Organic quizzes; it couldn’t be done. We leave Tech with the re¬ membrance of Dr. Jennings as a most excellent teacher, respected by every student who came in contact with him. ‘The Kaiser ’ 12

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i ' A W- THE AFTERMATH ‘Uf. JE ilmer” SS $2K ALEXANDER WILMER DUFF Head of Department of Physics B.A., Univ. of New Brunswick, 1884, and Univ. of Lon¬ don, 1887; M.A., Univ. of Edinburgh, 1888, B.Sc., 1892, and D.Sc., 1901; LL.D., Univ. of New Brunswick, 1920; Professor of Physics, LJniv. of Madras, 1889-90; Univ. of New Brunswick, 1890-93; Purdue, 1893-99; W. P. I., 1899-. “Lights Albert,” “Run up the curtains, Shedd.” How A. Wilmer has kept from shaking himself loose from his hands in all his years of explain¬ ing Physics experiments with that peculiar mo¬ tion in both wrists is more than we can see. The height of Wilmer’s glee is reached when, during the first lecture of the year he requests that the curtains be drawn to show his “movies” and some innocent soph jumps to fulfil his request, only to be met with disappointment as the shades slowly descend by themselves. Those lectures have always been an inspiration to us, and to you, Dr. Duff, we wish a happy life unless you try to step off the top of that ladder again. ARTHUR WILLARD FRENCH Head of Department of Civil Engineering C.E., Dartmouth, 1892; Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, 1895-98; Professor, W. P. I., 1899-. Ask any Senior Civil whom he likes the best and the answer is “Pa.” His expressions, “Oh! pshaw!” and “Not by a-sight”, will never be forgotten, nor will his list of articles necessary for a Civil Engineer, namely: slide-rule, Car¬ negie, and an extra pair of “draws.” In his classes, when “Pa” gives the boys his slants on life, they all listen, for “Pa” knows where of he speaks, having made many obser¬ vations at first hand; in Abstracts “Pa’s” off¬ hand comments are more listened to than the speakers themselves. In leaving, we feel that Pa’s biggest problem “Pa” was engineering us through Tech. 2a TBIT 14