The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-13

The constitution of the Perseverance, Club
called for regular meetings every three
months for the election of officers.
Special meetings were to be called by the
president whenever necessary. so many
special meetings had been called that 1t was
finally decided to have q regular meeting
every Friday evening.
In accordance with this plan the boys met
at O'Clock every Friday evening at the
clubhouse, and after the routine business
had been transacted, reports of officers READ,
ETC., literary or musical program was gone
through, followed occasionally by light re-
freshments. The idea of a weekly social
meeting was suggested by Rex Ticknor, who
was proud of the fact that his elder brother
belonged to the college fraternity of Alpha
Chi Rho. The fraternity met at his brothers
college every Wednesday evening.
The new features of the meetings proved
a great success Many of the boys could
play instruments, sing or recite, and vocal
quartet was formed, which gained fame
under the name of the Perseverance Quar-
tet. Walter Gladwin Qeader) and Joe Stein
were first and second tenors, with Charlie
Olmstead and George Graham first and Sec
ond basses, respectively. They were con-
stantly learning new pieces, and now and
then they appeared at outside entertain
ments, in this way earning few dollars for
the treasury.
In addition to these features, George Ora
paper, which they called 1.-The Perseverance
Log Book" Its contents included editorials,
stories, poetry and humorous paragraphs,
all written by the members themselves.
The editors sewed the copy together and
adorned 1t with a fancy cover drawn by one
of the club artists. George read 1t aloud
to the assembled boys at every other meet
Ing. The contributions were very creditable,
considering the age of the writers, and the
humorous department. much OF which was
tinged with a personal flavor, was received
with shouts Of laughter.
At the first meeting held after the victory
over the Golden Knights at basketball the
question of suitable gymnasium apparatus
was discussed. Aleck McGregor convinced
the boys that they could make most Of the
apparatus themselves, and his plans seemed
SO feasible that the treasury was drawn
upon to the amount of S12 for materials,
leaving a balance of 50.
The necessary materials having been Sc
cured, the boys got at their task They con-
structed 10 sets of chest weights by pass
Ing clothesline through swinging puleys
clamped to the wall, old iron being used for
weights. A tough, well-seasoned piece of
wood was used for horizontal bar, secured
by strong wire stanchions fastened to raft
ers and floor In such a manner as to be at
tached or detached at will. The parallel
bars were very hard to make, but the ambi-
tious young workers succeeded at length in
turning out a serviceable piece of apparatus.
Vaulting standards were made by boring
holes one-half inch apart In poles one and
one-half inches square and ten feet high.
The poles were made to stand upright by
foundations formed OF two mortised cross
beams two feet in length. Pegs inserted in
the holes supported a cord stretched be-
tween the standards, making a complete
equipment for pole vaulting and high jump
ing. punching bag and platform were
constructed and placed In corner of the
inv hn I'm m
leather, sewed In the proper shape by strong
cord, sallmaker's needle being used for
this purpose. The boys made padded mats
by sewing up excelsior in canvas. A rope
ladder was made and hung from the ring
pole. This simple outfit served all the pres
ent needs of the young athletes.
Twenty calisthenic wands were made out
of broomsticks and odds and ends of lum-
Der. Terry O'Brien's mother made two
pairs of boxing gloves for the use of mem
bers who wished to become expert in the
art Of sef-defense. A pole for yaulting
was bought of a local dealer.
To encourage interest In gymnastic exer-
cises the boys decided to hold an indoor
athletic meet about two weeks after the
apparatus had been finished. In order to
make the meet more interesting the yari-
Gus events were declared "open" to any
the Perseverance Club. Four Riyerview
boys entered the meet-Teddy Ensign,
Frank Carson, Roy Rogers and Jack Hen
ierson. The Golden Knights agreed to
play the deciding game in the basketball