Page 53 - 1940

to recuperate from scholastic work. Almost Papen on the tennis team; and Myers,
three weeks of ecstasy. But they soon flew, Ames, Hedges, Hobbs, Baldwin and Dodds
and we struggled back to school to get rest­ on the baseball squad. We had some smart
ed from our fun-making. After our return fielders and rugged batsmen to be proud of.
to the world of knowledge, we settled down Almost before we realized it, Father and
to subjunctives, theorems, and themes. Son Day was upon us, and we listened to
With New Year’s resolutions no doubt Vice-President Adams of Brown, who need­
fresh in his mind, Coach almost sternly ed no megaphone. Then the trial boards
warned the boudoir athletes that they must were upon us. As the long-desired end of
exercise and check out. This brought out school approached, the pressure became
such prominent members of the radiator intense.
club as “Zeke” Nevin, “Fireman” Kimball, In the midst of our travail, we found
and the midget-like Earles. that Fletcher Burton had been elected cap­
Turning from the Spanish athletes to tain of football and shared track with Park­
more serious sportsmen, we find that Hank er Driscoll. Sanford was captain of swim­
Dunbar, Bob Martin, Bill Bellows and ming. The new Delphian had Will Hedges
Whitey Papen carried the burden in the as editor-in-chief. We were writing the
tank. In the Angel’s pastime, we had Cap­ last issue soon afterwards.
tain Arnie Post and Jerry Myers. Taking We then watched the impressive gradu­
our winter and outdoor track together, we ation ceremony, which meant that we were
had Fletch Burton, Charlie Scovil, Pave now in line for the top division of the school.
Marshall, and Pop Driscoll as featured That is, if we got by the boards. After the
performers. Prom, we buckled down to the worst part
Among visiting lecturers we had the blind of the year, getting ready for the boards.
lecturer, Mr. Hanks, tell us how it felt to We took them and wearily straggled to our
be blown high by exploding dynamite and summer sojourns to become revitalized as
hounded by King Opium; the former wrest­ we forgot the shadows of the elms for three
ler, Mike Dorizas, explain all systems of months.
government in terms of cows (he looked as FIFTH FORM
if he could toss a cow clear to the back of
the room easily); and the politician-like Last year’s seniors had told us all about
Gaylord Douglas, sell pamphlets. it—about the hardships, the struggles, the
With all these diversions to liven up our terrors, and the laughs of the Fifth Form.
afternoons or cut out that darned fourth- I suppose we believed them when they said
period class, we finally managed to sur­ that Fifth English would finish most of us
mount the staggering pile of days to the and that “Raines has a wonderful sense of
spring vacations. We saw the annual Lin­ humor and all that—but wait until your
coln plays and were out. Out for ten pre­ first written.” At any rate, I don’t think we
cious days! We scurried off to our respective felt much more confident after Mr. Paxton
abodes and licked our wounds. had assured us on opening day that despite
Lovely spring weather helped to tone all we had heard to the contrary, Fifth
down somewhat our malaise at having to English had never yet killed anyone. Still,
get into harness once more. The pleasant I think he meant it. . .
crunching “give” of the cinder track, the To lend us moral support in the class­
“feel” of lacing out a smoking liner, the rooms and physical support in extracur­
thrill of a sizzling serve—all these helped to ricular activities, several new fellows had
minimize the effects of a return to discipline arrived and soon took root among “the
and books. We put Coffin, Bellows, and shadows of the elms”—Bob Berry, extreme-
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