The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-28
UNFOLDING MR.. SWEENEY
Pupils Of the High School Meet
to Protest Against His
Removal.

For the past week the pupils of the High
School have been in a great state OF fermeu-
tation and all because the members of the
| Board of Education had requested Principal
| William 8. Sweeney's resignation
Time was precious and something must be
done to arouse the people and induce them
to save Mr.. SweeneY's head.
Accordingly four of the most engaging
sweet girl graduates took it into their pretty
heads that a anvas Of prominent people
| asking them to attend a mass meeting to
protest against Mr.. Sweeney's removal would
be just the thing. 1t was at once put into
execution and these young damsels coaxed,
wheedled and managed to persuade these
| gentlemen to allow their names to appear as
| speakers on the occasion :-lsaac Romano,
Geo. Watson Cole, Frank O.. Cole, Rev. j.
l.. Wells, Chas. C. Black, Dr., L.. Gordon,
| Otto Grouse, John A. Griffin, judge. Nc
| Grath. Robt. Hudspeth, Judge II. Puster,
Cornelius Cronin, Judge j. Kenny and Rev.
Mr.. Cronin.
i The meeting was fixed for last evening in
| Woods Hall, Barrow street, and out OF the
above list of orators only two put In an ap-
pearance. The hall was crowded with pu
pills, and modestly remaining IN the back
| ground, just to see what was going on, we've
Principals Rhinehart. Jocelyn, Town, Dur
| yee and Purdee, besides some of the lady
| teachers of the High School.
Director of Education Obergfell was at the
back of the hall surrounded by some of his
friends, pupils in the school.
As it was long past eight and the meeting
| had not started the young men engineering
| the gathering were at their wits end to know
how to begin. They worked first one then
| another to take the Chair and each refused.
| At last one of the young pupils espying
| Judge Kenny sitting near the door with
| Judge McGrath, stepped onto the platform
| and in trembling tones proposed Judge
| Kenny as Chairman. This was seconded
| and carried amid the applause of the pnpils.
Judge Kenny mounted the platform and
said that he was present to take part, SO Tar
as possible, in preventing Mr.. Sweeneys re-
| moval. 1t is a dangerous thing, he said, to
Interfere in the schools for partisan or po-
litical purposes. The Judge admitted that
| he didn't know why the board proposed to
dismiss Mr.. Sweeney, but he did know that
| no teacher should be removed unless charges
| made should be fully investigated. Every
| teacher should hold his position during good
behavior.
eWho will you have for secretary?" asked
the chairman.
Half a dozen voices cried Captain j. F.
Kelly. Great laughter and the remark
from Judge Kenny that it would not be
| polite to select the Captain.)
"A DuDlI lht1Su @ttII1duu III 6iCCOCus
JUDGE M'GRATH'S SPEECH.
Chairman Kenny then seeing that only
! himself and the secretary occupied the plat
form begged Of Judge McGrath and ex-Di-
rector Garrison, who were sitting in the
| audience, to come beside him.
Judge McGrath was afterwards called
| upon to speak, and he began with the ex-
PLANTATION that as he did not know the issue
he could not speak intelligently concerning
it. He paid a l~eft-handed compliment to
those who promised to attend but did not,
and assured the meeting that when he said
he would do a thing he did do it. Great
| applause from the pupils.) Touching the
| question at issue, which he does not know
anything about, there seems to be no good
| reason why Mr.. Sweeney should be removed.
| There may be and the pupils would then be
In the wrong.
Does anybody know that the Board of
Education will remove Mr.. Sweeneya" he
asked, and the pupils looked p%erplexed.
This was a poser. Resuming. he said, speak
ing for himself, that he believes it is for the
! welfare of Jersey City that Mr.. Sweeney
should remain in the High School.
Secretary Hermann then read a letter
| from j. L. Scudder, in which that divine
| said that he is panied to hear that a few in
dividuals are trying to depose his excellent
friend Mr.. Sweeney, n he assured his dear
| Young friends of the High School that he
| had known and admired their principal for
years and it was a shame to remove him.
Mr.. Scudder's letter was received with
| tumultuous applause, Chairman Kenny all
| this time was vainly peering among the au-
| dience for someone to speak, and at the sug-
| gestion of Master Hermann, the secretary,
called ON a young pupil named E. Cameron,
who explained that Mr.. Sweeney was to be
removed because he smoked cigarettes and
| drank beer.
| NEVER SAW HIM DRINK BEER IN SCHOOL.
Master Cameron was sure that for five
| months he had never seen Mr. Sweeney smoke
| cigarettes in school, and he was equally sure
| that, he never saw him drink beer in school.
| Loud applause) He is not, the speaker
said, addicted to cigarettes because he has
induced the boys to join the Anti-Cigarette
| League.
ttIts a SHAME" he concluded, "to present
| such a tiimsy pretext when other men drink
| a glass of beer"
Mr.. Frank H. Cole and Secretary Her
mann praised Mr.. Sweeney and pitched into
| the Board of Education for not stating the
| charges.
When these speakers were through,
| Chairman Kenny, ~perceiving that the audi
| ence was dispensing, put a resolution to be
handed by him to the Beard of Education
| tonight. 1t is as follows: g sa4e
.Resolved, Thati it is the sense of this meet
| ing that the Board Of Education should re-
tain Mr.. William s. Sweeney in the position
he now holds, and which he has SO honorably
filled for many years."
The audience did not wait until the reso-
luton was formally carried, but filed out
cheering for Mr.. Sweeney,