UNDERGRADUATE ACTIVITIES DAVID KAUFMAN, '23 ALTHOUGH, according to Dr. Rowe, Technology is unable to put out a big collegiate team on the gridiron because of the pressure of studies and the lack of funds, nevertheless, the undergraduates are raising their Alma Mater to a prominent position in the intercollegiate sporting world. They are waking up to the importance of sports and this year the banners of Technology have invaded every large college of the East. Technology's ability to produce winning teams is now becoming as famous as her ability to put out high-grade engineers, and the undergraduates are now doing all in their power to boost the Cardinal and Gray. The second term bristled with almost daily games, and hardly a day passed without new glories and new stars. Looking back on the activities of the past term, it is hard to distinguish which team drew the most attention. Hockey and basket-ball together with indoor track took the lead in Institute sports. After a relapse of ten years, basket-ball suddenly awoke, starting with eighty-five former shooters. Hockey christened the new Boston Arena in a clash with the champion of the north. Both teams covered themselves with glory and both fixed a definite place for themselves on the sporting map of Technology. The track team swamped its up-street rivals more than once, besides emerging as New England champion in the intercollegiate races. Our prowess was exemplified particularly by the athletic carnival held during the week end of February 21, when seven games were staged at the same time. Tech Show 1921, starting with a monster smoker on November 17, wound up with a grand success on March 19. "The Purple Dragon," the title of this year's show, was given for the first time Thursday afternoon, March 17, at the Academy of Music, Northampton, repeated there in the evening, and was then brought to Boston, where it was produced at the Boston Opera House on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a matinee on Saturday afternoon. "The Purple Dragon" is the work of Malcolm Johnson, '22, assisted by Frank Gage, '22, Amos Stevens, '22, J. H. Randall, '21, A. H. Fischer, '22, W. C. Groce, '23, H. W. Reinhard, '21, J. J. Murphy, '22, and L. F. Jenness, '23, music and lyric writers. The scenery and costumes were under the direction of C. Carver, '21, G. R. Wiren, '22 and Miss Cornelia Nelson, '21. G. R. Wiren, '22, a Russian student at the Institute, painted the poster and program cover, while M. F. Farren, '21, designed the score cover. The production was under the direction of C. H. Hillman, cast coach, Miss Lillian Dennis, chorus coach, Miss Virginia Tanner, ballet coach and William Howard, orchestra coach. The "Purple Dragon" is a musical comedy in two acts. The plot deals with the adventures of Reggie Marston, who is left a fortune on the condition that he live for one year on a farm in Vermont. Country life is too tiresome for him and he seeks the "gay white way" of New York. There he has a terrible time dodging an Institute professor, who is executor of the will. The professor has his troubles in avoiding his wife, who does not approve of New York in general. A Bohemienne, the proprietor of the "Purple Dragon Inn" in Greenwich Village invites Reggie to a masquerade ball, to which the professor is also persuaded to come, although unknown to Reggie. The complications in mistaken identity are humorously unravelled and eventually everything comes out well. The ballet was an artistic production set in a robbers' cave in the fastness of Slavia. CAST Sir Frederick Cholmondeley, of Old New England E. W. Booth, '21 Sylvia Vernon, Reporter on "Town Topics' The Mysterious Menace. Pilbeam, Mavis' Butler. J. P. Keegan, '22 Lucille Hendry, of Antwerp Roof. The Professor of our Institute. The Northampton performance was the greatest triumph in years. The demand for tickets by Smith girls literally swamped the show office. To satisfy Smith, the Tech Show departed from its usual custom and staged two performances at Northampton. The biggest hit of the evening performance was made by W. S. Groce. He sang his "Wonderful Lines" eleven times and still Smith roared. Twenty-nine hundred filled the Opera House on the first night of the Boston performance. The applauding audiences greeted "The Purple Dragon" as the finest production in the history of Tech Shows. Junior week commenced with the firing of the first paddle for the start of the Annual Technique Rush on Thursday morning, March 17. W. W. Quarles, Jr., '22 won the first paddle. The reception and tea dance in the afternoon given by the Institute drew five hundred couples to Walker. The Musical Clubs established a precedent by holding the spring concert in Walker. The whole building was reserved for the affair on Thursday evening. "The biggest dance ever held in Walker!" said the crowds that departed at 3 o'clock in the morning. Two large ballrooms at the Copley Plaza and a separate tea-room were engaged to hold the five hundred couples who attended the Junior Promenade. 1922 Junior Prom was unique. It started at 11.30 after the Tech Show performance and continued until 6 A.M., interrupted at 3.30 for refreshments and for the sale of the sunrise special of THE TECH. Reisman's "dreamy jazz" contributed greatly towards its success. The cross-country teams started the season by swamping Harvard on October 30. Both varsity and freshmen barriers sent the crimson "hill and dalers" sprawling in the dust. Captain Billy MacMahan, Elmer Sanborn and A. Flanders were the first three to finish in the varsity race, while Spurdle was nosed out by Harvard for first position in the freshman race. Superior team work gave the barriers a lead of one point over Dartmouth. In the annual fall five-mile handicap both Sanborn and MacMahon won coveted trophies. The cross-country men covered their Alma Mater with glory when they again won the New England championships at Franklin Park, November 13. Bates College trailed with eight-one points, followed by the rest of the New England aggregations. Although flushed with victory in the N. E. I. C. meets, the runners placed third in the twelfth Annual I. C. A. A. A. A. championships at New Haven with a score of ninety, Cornell nosing out Penn for first place. MacMahon placed fifth; Flanders, seventeenth; Stone, nineteenth; Hendrie, twentieth; Hennessy, twenty-ninth; the freshmen placed seventeenth. This run concluded the season. Elmer E. Sanborn, '22, competitor in the famous Hunter mile in the B. A. A. games and in the Wanamaker special at New York, was elected next year's captain. Officially recognized by the Athletic Association on October 5, the Soccer team under the managership of H. P. Kurzman, '23, started the year with a victory over the Boston Rovers. Then there followed a succession of victories and defeats. Defeated by Dartmouth in the first intercollegiate tilt, beating Worcester Academy, losing to Phillips Academy, defeated by Newton Saxonies, tieing with Harvard, and defeated by Amherst - the team closed its eventful season with a dinner. The boxers made their debut on January 14 when they met the Springfield Young Men's Christian Association mittmen. The team was late in getting into action, but it fought hard in the collegiate meets of the season. The Yale combination proved too strong for the local sluggers, and in the navy meet they failed to take a single bout. The unsuccessful boxing season is in some respects accounted for by the loss of a number of the best boxers, including Captain A. D. Addicks. Whatever the mittmen lost, however, the matmen made up. The wrestling team turned in a good account of themselves this season, winning four out of seven meets. The seven-year-undefeated bull dogs of Yale were again beaten by the Institute grapplers. The Crimson wrestlers came in for a good beating in mat meet on March 3, in which Watts Humphrey starred with his favorite scissors-hold. Not disheartened by losing to the Princeton tigers, the Institute matmen handed Brooklyn Polytech the lower end of a 28-3 score the next day. Captain Butler, N. E. I. A. Champion in the 145-pound class, will again contend for the champion honors in the New England Intercollegiates this year. The Institute mermen clipped the N. E. I. A. A. championships on March 12, for the second time in succession. The nearest competitor, Dartmouth, trailed with seven points behind the Beaver fish. The season was a fairly successful one, but somewhat checkered. The swimmers lost to Rutgers but took every event from Rensselaer Polytech. They smashed two tank records at the Wesleyan pool, winding up with a safe victory, but lost to Amherst by a single point, and were then cleaned up by Brown. The Institute swimmers were no match for the strong Middies of Annapolis, but great was the rejoicing when they struck the Crimson colors for a 36-17 victory. The husky gymnasts tied with Princeton in the first triangular meet, while Harvard drew a meager six. Failing to down Pennsylvania and Haverford, the gym team came back strong in the last triangular meet and flew the Technology banner over Yale and Harvard. For the first time in ten years the Cardinal and Gray were seen in a varsity basket-ball game, when the Institute quintet clashed with Rhode Island State on January 15. The team, consisting of Boyer and Tonon as forwards, Breeting as center, and Hubbard and Blood as guards, revived basket-ball by winning the opening game by a score of 30-20. Flushed with the first victory the quintet went after Brown, but Bruin refused to budge. Undismayed by this defeat, the team outplayed Northeastern College. The Mass Aggies gave the five a second setback and a game with Harvard resulted in a crimson victory. After losing again to Amherst and Brown, and then to Bates, the team concluded the season with a victory over Boston University in Walker, which was partly filled with Boston University co-ed rooters, and a game with Harvard during Junior week. With the turning of the sea-plane hangar into an ice-rink and the opening up of the new Arena in Boston, hockey stepped into the front line among the minor sports at the Institute. The Institute's hockey team christened the ice at the new Arena on January 7 in its opening ice-battle with Kings College, champion of Canada. The Canadian skaters just nosed out the Beavers in a close score of 4 to 3. The visitors obtained their winning tally in the last few moments of the game. Then there followed a succession of week-end games. The Institute puckchasers lost the first Boston College game, and won the second game. The Crimson game resulted disastrously for the Institute men, but Dartmouth was unable to break through our defense. Our hockey team was not destined to win the Arena management cup, however, for Boston College captured the honor in the last game of the season. Nearly one hundred and seventy-five candidates answered the crew call for candidates. The crew will again be put on the Institute map. The golf club was recently organized and is now practicing at the Winchester Country Club. W. M. Freeman, '21, is president of the club. A new 75-foot rifle range was recently completed next to the track field. It was formally opened on February 8 and rifle practice is now going on in full swing. The indoor track took on a new form when more than one hundred athletes began training for the Boston Athletic Association games. The relay eligibles were gradually narrowed down to the required squads. Downey, Gurney, Bardes and Chittick made up the one mile relay team which gave another stinging blow to the Crimson runners when it left Harvard's aggregation fifty yards in the rear in the Boston Athletic Association games. In the same games MacMahan, Hennessy, Stone and Snow trailed Syracuse and were followed by Dartmouth in the two-mile relay. Both MacMahan and Sanborn were entered in the famous Hunter mile, but failed to overcome Cutbill, the flying parson. There were also a number of other Technology entries. Chittick, who was "clocked at fifty-one seconds for his quarter," failed to overtake the lead of Penn and Syracuse starts in the intercollegiate one mile indoor championships at the Millrose meets in New York City, and the relay team obtained third place in the meet. MacMahan and Sanborn ran in the Wannamaker Special, which Joie Ray captured. Yale proved to be too strong for the Institute two-mile relay squad in the American Legion games. During the athletic carnival, the one-mile team was at Baltimore where it beat Penn for the second time in succession at the Johns Hopkins games. Activities is the one word that best characterized the all-Technology smoker last October. The monster demonstration was the signal for the opening of competitions and the starting of the social life at the Institute. After the relays for supper, and the wrestling in the gym were over, manager Winter Dean, '21, called upon R. H. Smithwick, '21, president of the senior class, to start off the speakers. He was followed by H. C. Ham, '22, speaking for Tech Show, D. F. Carpenter, '21, who outlined the work of Technique; C. H. Talcott, '21, who briefly told of athletics; R. A. St. Laurent, '21, telling of the opportunities on The Tech; R. G. Pettengill, '22, for T. E. N.; G. F. Fargo, '21, telling of the work of the T. C. A.; W. M. Thomson, elaborating the advantages offered by the combined Musical Clubs; R. F. Officer, speaking for T. A. C.; A. D. Harvey, '21, telling of Voo Doo; L. W. Conant, '21, speaking for the professional societies and W. R. Barker, '21, talking on the point system. Dean Burton then warned the new-comers against going into too many activities. Frank Gage, '21, gave his musical specialties, intermingled with Tech Show sketches. In the last chance to set the numerals on field day cup, the sophomores made a clean sweep of 13 to 0 and smashed the crew and football records in the annual scrap with the freshmen. In the general clean-up the sophomores clipped 1 1-5 seconds off a three-year crew record and rolled up a football score of 25 to 0. To complete the excellent job, the sophomores snake-danced into Boston at the close of events and disbanded on the Common, at the same time attracting a large crowd of citizens by their cheering. "As You Were," starring Sam Bernard and Irene Bordoni at Ye Wilbur Theatre was picked out by the Tech Night Committee for the conclusion of Field Day. Mr. Bernard wrongly interpreted the enthusiasm of the high-spirited assembly until someone shouted "Go ahead, Sam!" Then the show went on without a hitch. Frank Gage supplied the local humor, while the chorus was decked in Technology colors. The Class of 1923 celebrated their field day victory over the |