Page 99 - 1952 VES Meteor

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A THLETIC EQUIPMENT MUSIC DEP ARTMENT
PHILLIP'S BROS.
I ncorpor1.ted
•
906 Main Street
BROWN-MORRISON COMPANY, Inc.
• PRINTERS- STATIONERS
718 Main Street
True Strange Facts Of Life of Jo Banks
(This is an article reported for the Meteor by Mr. Magill when he was a student here. It is taken from a No- vember, 1942 Meteor.)
Joe Banks was born on April 3, 1898; and he tells us that he died on October 13, 1942. He attended the
first and second grades of grammar school after which he was forced to leave and pick cotton. His mother died, and his father married a second time. His step-mother treated him SJ cruelly that he ran away from home and eventually reached Wales, where he obtained a job in a coal mine.
A terrible explosion in the mine caused a cave-in, in which, Mr. Banks reveals, he perished the first time. This, no doubt, explains the realism with which he reads "0 r a cuI a." Through some method which he re- fuses to divulge, though it would, no doubt, interest us at least as much as " King Henry IV, " he materialized on this side of the Atlantic, once again in Tennessee.
Having always been frail and threatened with halitosis, he could not stand the climate of Tennessee and so came to Virginia. During the first W orld W ar, he took a post-graduate course in barbering at the University of Virginia.
A fter the United States entered the war, he was duly inducted into the army. He saw action only once - h e wounded an American sergeant with a dishpan while on K. P. duty. Enemy agents learned of his enter- ing the army and immediately trans- mitted this information to Berlin. The
terrified German high command at once sued for peace; and so Mr. Banks went to V. E. S. instead of to Europe.
He had long wanted to continue hi~ education; but, as he felt he would be out of place in the third grade and had heard that a good way to learn was by teaching, he sought a position here and was readily accepted.
Unknown to most of his pupils is the fact that he has a cork leg and a glass eye. His keen hearing enables him to detect any disturbance in class. His relations with the faculty are, so he says, a little strained-half the faculty won't speak to him, and he won 't speak to the other half. W e find the animosity strange, for the faculty is deeply indebted to Mr. Banks. Most of them, to be sure, coach some sport or supervise some school activity; but Mr. Banks is the only one with enough fortitude to undertake the training of the choir.
He reveals that he has no musical abilit y whatsoever; and he merely charms his Sunday listeners into think- ing he is playing correctly. This, no doubt, explains the frequ ent need of repairs on the organ.
He leads a peaceful and domestic life in the little green bungalow be- hind the infirmary when he is not busy with his English "clashes." Here he interests himself in his chickens and other pets, among which he includes Hathaway and Johnson, C. He owns several farms; and some day, when he feels that he has at last become satisfactorily educated, he will retire to one of them and spend the rest of his life as a quiet gentleman-farmer.
Why I Like To Read
The ability I most treasure is the ability to read and enjoy it. Many are the hours I have spent at sea, involved in the furious sea battles of the War of 1812. Many times I have sailed a small boat through a narrow channel in a gale. How many hours have I spent with Rommel, Alexander, Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Washington and other leaders famous for their cour- age in action. I have also found en- joyment in following the explorers on their trips into the unknown. I have gone on trips with the Johnsons into the wilds to capture on film wild animals. I have fought the Indians for my home and paddled a canoe five hundred miles to trap beaver, otter, mink and muskrat. I have done all this without leaving my seat at the fireplace.
You ask, as you well may, how this is possible. My friend, a book is able to take the miseries of war, the happiness of victory, the despair of death and the joy of luxurious living into your own life. Its powers are amazing. I om able to live with the characters in a book. I am able to enjoy their happiness and look after their welfare, although I have no hand in the destiny of their lives.
Take the records for proof of the enjoyment found in reading. Millions of books are sold in this country each year. I daresay not a thousand would be sold if people did not find reading enjoyable.
Then is it not evident that a good book is the best form of entertain- ment?
-Lynn Franklin.
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