Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-08-20


Posed on the Roof of Harvard Me-
mortal HnIl--A weird Decoration
For n Statue of Justice.
I'm all az rs,' said the man who OBJ
serves. be- have been boys. and II
at times Their play may smack of bru-
tality, ct others it is amusing and even
clever Some years ago at Harvard
q cart containing bricks broke down in
front of Memorial hall. 1t being then
late. the driver left it there for the
night. The next morning, securely
resting on the ridge of the roof of
Memorial hall. was that self same load
OF bricks. although how it got there
is to this day mystery. The scuttle
to the roof was far too small TO admit
the body of the cart. On the other
hand. the cart was too heavy, it seemed,
to have been pulled up by hand from
the outside, and besides neither wall
nor roof showed any sign of its pas.
sage. Yet there II was and there it
remained until at considerable expense
to pockets and temper the college au.
tborities had II removed and restored
to its clamoring owner.
THE preparatory school to which
I went was In a small country village.
A fire was looked upon as great
affair and was attended by the stu
dents in body. Once there our Gus.
tom was to hurl ribald remarks and ad.
vice at the various tiremen by name.
To get even 1t was their habit. at un-
expected moments. to turn the hose
upon US. A few duckings taught us
caution, and we at length were, usually
able to scamper away without q wet.
ting.
"One bitter winter afternoon we
gathered at fire and engaged in our
usual occupation of batting the fire.
men. At length they tried to reach
US with the hose, but having antici.
pated the move we were without its
range. But iunnoticed behind rs had
been standing the principal of the
school. On his august person the
stgeam of water descended like an
avenging fate. and before the panic
stricken firemen could turn 1t away he
was wet to his respectable skim The
water froze as it struck. and we were
presently gazing upon human icicle.
''At length we recovered sufficiently
to go to his aid and. wrapping him
in coats, drove him rapidly to his
home, during which the entire school
shook in its shoes. while the wretched
fremen were for resigning in body.
But he was thorough good fellow,
and beyond few words as to the
wrong we were doing in interfering
with a public servant in the discharge
of his duty he allowed the incident
to pass by unnoticed.
"The town hall was one Of those
hideous and bleak structures so COM
mon In the New England towns of 20
years ago. where the only attempt at
decoration was q funereal cupola in the
exact center Of the roof, on top Of
which was a large figure of Justice.
To the horror of the selectmen the
town awoke one morning to gaze upon
a transfigured Justice. A light blue
crinoline skirt and red shawl enwrap-
ped her figure. and she looked coquet-
tishly out from beneath the shadow
of an immense poke bonnet. AS a
particularly happy thought, she was
weighing two babies In the scales.
"Then came an awful row. The
town had no hook and ladder truck,
without the aid of which no one could
be found to remove the garments. The
nearest hook and ladder company was
~ miles distant and required not only
permission of the town council but the
expenditure of cash to bring II over.
The selectmen declared that as it was
manifestly u trick of the students the
faculty should pay. The faculty firm
ly refused. holding that there was no
proof that such was the case. For
ten days the controversy ragged, and
then the selcctmen gave way and paid
for the hook and ladder truck, The
day the hook and ladder company was
lasted for three days. When the god
dess was finally stripped of her cloth
ing. the dyes had run. and she emcrg-
ed tinted with all the colors of the
rainbow. She had TO he painted afresh,
the selpctmen footing the cost with
sullen faces.
"rhe secret was successfully kept
as to how the goddess was decorated.
The night previous to the occurrence
there had been a show In the town
hall. When 1t was over, the captain
of the football team and two fellow
consprators had sneaked beneath the
balze fronted stage. When all was
quiet. they had assembled to the roof.
Once there one end Of long rope had
been attached to the captains waist
and the other to that OF one OF the
others. The third man accompanied
the climber to the base OF the figure
with the bundle OF clothes, The skirt
and babies were easily placed, but
the shawl and bonnet came MS harder
work. the figure rocking fearfully on
its base. The idea OF the rope was
that in case the dresser fell he would