Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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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

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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 -Y-v 0 PERCY ROBERT CARPENTER Head of Department of Physical Education A.B., Harvard, 1907; Hitchcock Fellow, Amherst, 1906- 09; Assistant Dean, 1908-10; Instructor in Physical Edu¬ cation, 1909-10; Assistant Professor, 1910-11; Associate Professor, 1911-16; Professor of Physical Education, W. P. I., 1916-. “Doc” is a most ardent soccer fan, or at least so it seems to those who shivered in the cold afternoon wind in the late fall as he had us hoot the ball around — and called it exercise. Maybe some of us had to exercise our imaginations con¬ siderably, but nevertheless those were the happy days. Great was the excitement when “Doc” would start to mix up in the game and some sub¬ ject to his reign would playfully trip the old boy himself. Of course it was only accidental. Percy has been a leading spirit on the Hill and his efficient management of the Physical Educa¬ tion Department speaks for itself. “Doc” “Percy” 2AE “Doc” 23 J?BK RAYMOND KURTZ MORLEY Head of Department of Mathematics A.B., and A.M., Tufts, 1904; Ph. D., Clark, 1910; In¬ structor in Mathematics, Univ. of Maine, 1904-07; W. P. I., 1910-11; Univ. of Ill., 1911-12; Assistant Professor. W. P. I., 1912-17; Professor, 1917-21; John E. Sinclair Professor, 1921-. Perhaps the most profitable hours that any of us Teckers ever spent on the hilltop were those during which we listened to “Doc” as he expounded the Theorem of Mean Value, The Law of Probability, and a host of kindred sub¬ jects. Profitable they were, and entertaining, too, for “Doc” never failed to accompany his talks with the famous Morley Clog, a step in which the feet weave intricate patterns on the floor. He used to retaliate, however, by making us dance to the tune of his hi-weekly quizzes. But when we remember how he had to labor to push through our well-nigh impenetrable skulls the principles which were later to prove invalu¬ able to us, we can’t help marvelling at his pa¬ tience and kindliness. 15