10 / 28
Til
0 T T T I
En
$100,000 Fire Damages U-E Annex
1912
ddition Harmed
by
Fire of
~tyslerious
Origin
cr amingo fire sir ns cut through the fog
~
night. Hurrying
fi~ur
s push their way through
th thick fog. Ghostly shadows and fanta:tic
figur pattern th m ·eh· s on the face. of thP
. mall crowd that haYe gather d in front of
the Union-Endicott High :chool b for the
fire trucks &creech to a full stop.
Flam
ar It-aping from the entire roof
of the new addition on th • outh ast corne1·,
built in
1!142.
A
dull red glow appear: at thi'
windows of th s cond story.
By the time the fir m n hav begun thei
play of water upon the licking tongu s of
flam crowds are milling about watching th
firefighter. do their • tuff. The thrill of seeing
their school books and daily cares go up iu
sm
k
has attracted hundt
d:
of student:
i:t
addition to many an alumnus of old U-E.
But it i. n't mer ly to thrill at the thought
thnt
~here
will be no :chool tomorrow· it'.,
at. o to cheer the fir m n on in their
haza~dou:..
ta.,k of fighting the leaping, r d hot flame:-.,
for the.
c
alumni ha\· be n thinking of the
full they had in that jail, a: stud nt:
:o
often
had call d it.
l're sed against the ropes that hold th •
crowd at bay stands Raleigh Estrada, already
the eminent authot· of a best seller, "The
Essence of Vriting (or How
It
'm lis),"
talk–
int:; with Jame · Engli h, prominent man about
town.
"I hat to
:e
anything like thi: happ
•n,"
lam nts E. trada. ".'inc or ten year: ago
f
would hav •njoy d it hul!ely."
"A.
Nho of us wouldn't have,'' a:ks Eng–
lish. "In those day: luck like this <"<ltlld nc,·er
have come our way. , othing ever happt•ned.
'ay, isn't that Crant Johu:on over there
taking pictures for th • Binghamton
I'
res: '!
i
wonder how he ev •t' leamed to take a
pictul"~.''
"H rc he com s now. Hi, old
~Ian!"
call
Estrada.
Pr
s. r port ,.
John.onclimb: O\'e1· th
rope b hind which th two stand.
"H
llo,
:'·here hav • you been k ping your:ch·es
'!
J
JUst
saw
Ira
Ker ·chn r ·omewhere in thi:-; mob.
The;; t
II
m
he's b en promoted to
consultin~
en!\meer for the
I.
B. .I.'s factories overseas.
" trang , isn't it, what a good fir will
bring out!" ob:en· s E:trada.
"I
ju. t . aw Pauline Tras. :he's com • up in
the world :inc
I
saw her last. 'he's trea:u rer
now at th
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in • • ,,,.
York."
"\Yell I'm not . urpris d. You remember
he was treasurer of our graduating- clm;s,"
anil\\'
rs John:on. "Be •eing you guys again.
Duty calls me
el:
wh rc at the mom •nt. Gi ·e
my r gard. if you . ee any ne el e from OU!'
clas.."
B~
thi. time th fire had progre ed o
rapidly that in spit of all !forts to control
it, flames are now leaping from th roof ot'
th new . ection to th old building. People
are till milling around th rop -protected
area., the lurid flam s plying weird hadow
on their faces.
At the back of the building tand two young
wom n.
If
we f'Cramble through th crowd
and .approach a
littl
near r; \\' •hall finrl
two
m.
eparaul . , BarbHa and lma John on.
"Beautiful fire, thi. ," say Alma.
"YE'~,
somehow,
I
hat to s e th hallowed old
plac bum.
I
wond r if an.' of the plurt arc
h re. They
t
II
m •
at the office that cor s
or
U-E alumni ar in town thi week-end." Anu
Barbara scann d the crowd to s'ngl out h<>•·
old friend .
Let us I
~l\'e
th sc fri nds while th •·
di:tuss old times and draw a little closer
t~l
th crowd where \\' find Iaurice Arthur and
James Atkinson standing tog •th r. Th orange
light fi'Om the b. illiant ftame lights up their
~lo.syr
•d hait· sh dcling; a warm glow ovc;·
their count nance .
''You'd be svrlll'·s
:1,"
!'ay Jam s, "at the
old fri nd. that came into mv re taurant Ia
t
ni!{ht! Practically the entir 'eta s of
'3!)
i in
town thi: week-end."
"'Member Herb rumb
'!"
asks Arthur. '·I
fixE'd his Ford at th garage last night.
H •
says n 's been busy showing off his pur -br d
Gurn:
y..
On of th m won an internationJI
blue ribbon at the Binghamton International
Fair last month."
"I'm
be,.innin~
lo think that our ntirc
cia.
s is
1
1ere," exc
1
aims Jam s. "I s • Lilliau
Dunlap and Ellen Jkpew
O\'
•r ther !"
"And l\lcarle
D
les with th m.
It
must bt·
a convention!" adds Arthur.
L
t'. lea\'e th<'sc two now and push our
way
throu~h
the non! and listen lo th n w
group of the class of '39.
"~Iy,
what a fir !" x ·laims Ellen. 'Isn't
it thrilling,
Lillian·~··
"Yes and
I'm
hoping Leonard is aroun I
som place.
lJ
love· to watch fires."
"Leonard Panaro
'!"
inquire.
Iearl '·
"What's he doing here in Endicott?"
"Whr,
h
's playing" in th ;ame orch tm
as I am. In fact, h
's
th . tar soloi
t.
Haven't
you heard thaL ne\\ . ong of hi.?"
"Leonard, a compo. er?" xclaims Ellen.
"Hi,
kids!" t·alls a ,.o;c in th crowd near
the ropes.
"Speak of th • deY
it
and he'· • ur to ap·
p ar!" :ays
l\I
arle.
"\V
ju, t wer h a ring
about your n .\\' . ong-.
If
,,.c kn
w
what iL
wa , I'd know whether we like it or not."
"It's call d 'Fiddlin' in the
ighl!'
If