The Abyssiniometer

By Ken Boateng (Serwah '85)

I once had a conversation with my uncle, an Amanfoo who left the school in 1969. Very interesting revelations, the story is about a senior's invention in the 60's, supposedly in Ramseyer House. This senior invented a device he called an "Abyssiniometer".

What is an Abyssiniometer?
-Well, an Abyssiniometer is a device used in MINING in the dormitory.

Where did he derive the intrument's name from?
-Abyssiniometer comes from the word ABYSSINIA, which is a popular school term that has an equivalent meaning as MINING, and later got derivatives such as SHABBA, and KATANGA, and even CHINA.

What is the purpose of an Abyssiniometer?
-The purpose is even a long story on its own; in those days the school lights used to go out very early, about 10pm in the dorms, so "Boy-Sylla", striving to complete the syllabus by the fourth week of the term, would cut a hole in a box in which he would place a candle and his book, in order to cover as many chapters as possible till the lights go on the next morning.

What are the unique features of an Abyssiniometer?
-The "unique" features, I leave that for you to figure it out: imagine you place a candle in box: that's not just as simple as that, but an Abyssiniometer has a small hole in the top portion of the instrument to allow smoke to escape.

What are the disadvantages of an Abyssiniometer?
-The disadvantage of studying in a candle light is obvious, but "Boy-Sylla" doesn't mind; the real danger of using the instrument is that studying after lights-out is forbidden, so an Abyssiniometer never survived in the midst of its competitors, SHABBA and KATANGA.

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