No School on Monday
(A free day in Louisville)
Screen 1 of 3No classes were held on Monday at Kentucky Military Institute when I was a student there. The school week began on Tuesday morning and continued through Saturday afternoon. Sunday was devoted to church services, study, letter writing, and leisure-time activities--all of them on the school grounds -- and Monday was a free day.
Most of the cadets not under some kind of school penalty would spend this free day in nearby Louisville. Since the students were not allowed to keep automobiles on campus, our only means of transportation to the city was an interurban train. The one-way fare was 20 cents, round trip, 35 cents.
After making the necessary arrangements, we could leave the school as early as 8:30 on Monday morning but were required to return that same afternoon no later than 5:30. We always enjoyed the short ride on the interurban, chiefly, I expect, because we were not under any direct supervision. Still there were some restrictions, mostly self imposed. Since we had to wear our military uniforms when in public, we could be easily identified; and therefore we were very careful on such occasions to conduct ourselves properly. Not only did we not want to bring discredit on the Institute, but perhaps even more important to us, we did not wish to be "put on report" or deprived of any of our limited privileges. Consequently, we restricted our activities on the train to the usual teenage joking, bragging, story telling, and laughing. Only occasionally would the conductor find it necessary to caution us about being too loud or boisterous.
The cadets found many different things to do while in Louisville on this free day. Some whose homes were there would spend part of the time with their parents or friends. Others attended athletic events or movies, or took short boat rides on the Ohio River; and it was generally rumored that a few of the cadets sometimes visited houses of prostitution (we called them whore houses) .But since I knew none who did go to such places, I cannot say whether the rumors were true.
My own schedule was about the same each Monday. After arriving at the interurban station in downtown Louisville shortly after nine o'clock, I would either walk or take a street car to the Conservatory of Music, where after about an hour of practice I would take a piano lesson from Professor Richborg, a very patient man who tried very hard but never succeeded in making me very proficient on the piano.
After the lesson, I usually went on foot to the little White Castle Hamburger stand (one of a large chain) at the corner of Broadway and Third Street. Here I had a lunch consisting of a bag of small hamburgers (six for a quarter!) and a large glass of milk for 59. (Since national prohibition was still in effect, no kind of alcoholic drink was available for public sale.) This quite ample lunch cost me only 30cents, an incredible bargain which I probably just took for granted.
Shortly after noon, I would quite often walk a few blocks to the elegant and almost legendary Seelbach Hotel, located at Fourth and Walnut Streets. For several decades, this hotel had been the city's most popular overnight stopping place for well-known actors, actresses, musicians, politicians, and other famous persons.
Usually alone at this time of day on Monday, I would sit in the homey lobby of the Seelbach and watch the people come and go, while pleasantly recalling the earlier times I had stayed at this hotel during the years my grandfather, W. J. Gooch, was secretary of the Kentucky State Fair and speaker House of Representatives in the Kentucky Legislature. Even now as I write this story in 1981, almost sixty years later, I remember very well the night my grandfather took my mother, my brother, and me to the beautiful Rathskeller restaurant just off the Seelbach lobby. I shall never forget the fancy six-course dinner we had there, the first and last time I ever ordered Long Island duck. The serving was so large I could not eat it all--and besides I found I didn't like duck nearly as much as I liked chicken.
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