skipping __init__ and using exploiting a class member instead

[Peter Cacioppi]

>  You certainly don't have to write a constructor for a subclass in C++. 

Ahh, this message board is so collectively well informed (once you get past the trolls)

The C++ project I worked on was religious about always overwriting parent class constructors. I had assumed this was because the language proper forbid it, but apparently it was just project protocol. 

Thanks again!