Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-26
JUNIORS WON 1T.
Interesting Prize Gymnasium
Contest at the Academy
For a Silver Loving Cup Trophy Given by
Well Known Worcester Firm.

The members of the gymnastic
classes at Worcester Academy showed
themselves to be proficient and fin
ished lot of youthful gymnasts Friday
afternoon. 1t was the first time that
gymnasium exhibition and prize drill,
or in fact anything Of that sort, had
ever been given at the school, and for
that reason the almost perfect work of
the classes was doubly praiseworthy,
Likewise the exhibition reflects no small
amount of credit upon Gymnasium Di-
rector S. A. McComber.
The affair was the result of an offer
of an elegant silver loving cup present
ed by the Pinkham & Willis Company
of this city, to be given to the class
whose representatives upon the gymna-
sum floor should make the best appear
ance and show the most proficiency, TAX
ing into account, of course, the length
of time they had been drilled in gymnas-
tic feats. The class winning it twice
out Of three times becomes permanent
possessor of the trophy.
All five classes were represented in the
contest and while there may have been
individuals in the classes that made
slips occasionally, for squad work it
was excellent. The judges were DR.. D.
A. Sargent of Harvard University, Jas
O'Neil of this city and o. L. Hebbert,
gymnasium director at Brown Univer-
sity. After watching the classes go
through their exercise and taking into
consideration department as well as ac-
tual work, the judges were unanimous
In the opinion that the possession of the
cup for the year belonged to the junior
| class Evidently their award was in
| keeping with the decision of the major
| ity Of the spectators, for when Master
! Ralph Abercronl'bie stepped up to re-
ceive the trophy from the hands Of his
/ father, Principal D. w. Abercrombie,
| there was a hearty round of applause,
/ above which could be heard vocifeFous
| cheering on the part Of the boys of '99.
| AS for applause, there was a great
/ deal of it-and none was undeserved-
during the afternoon. Each class got
| a good hand at the conclusion of its
| special exercise, and several times dur
! ing the execution of some pretty or diff
! ficult feature, appreciation in the shape
! Of applause was manifested. In addi-
tion to the class contests, there was
some special work done by students who
are more advanced than the others. This
| consisted Of work in tumbling and upon
the flving rings by Messrs. Kimbrough,
Hallett, Brown and White, and parallel
! bar exercise led by w. L. Anderson,
| '01, whose father is the physical direct
or at Yale University.
The exhibition was under the immedi-
ate supervision Of Director McComber,
| and he used the counting system in di-
recting the execution of the various
movements and exercises. The follow
| ing was the full program:
| Preparatory class, w. D. True, leader
! -(a) Marching calisthenics; (b) dumb
bells; (c) potato race.
/ First year class, w. l. Anderson, lead
er-(a) Calisthenics; (b) Indian clubs; (c)
| gymnasium game, Three deep.
Parallel bars, w. L. Anderson, '01,
leader; T. Johnson, L. Kimbrough Abb
ercrombie, Hodge Hallett, G. johnson,
Second year class, F. NJ. Hodge, A. r.
Keeline, leaders-(a) dumb bells; (b) ap-
paratus; (c) gymnasium game. Dodge
Ball.
Junior class, R. Abercrombie, leader
(a) wands; (b) spring board jump; (c)
ten yards dash.
Senior class. t. johnson, L. Kim
brough, leaders-(a) single sticks; (b)
wrestling.
Tumbling and firing rings-Hallett, F.
Kimbrough, A. Brown, Anderson, F.
i White.