Monmouth College - Ravelings Yearbook (Monmouth, IL)

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ass of 1893 IT had been the Babe ' s birthday, and the Soph., the Strong- Man and the Other Fellow were returning- with hira from a little diversion at the Babe ' s expense. The nig-ht was cloudy and moonless — the wind moaned throug-h the roadside hedg-es, and occasionally a spectral g ' ust came rushing- through the dark woods with a wild, hysterical laugh. ' • That night a child might understand, The Dc ' il had business on his hand. Vears ago, along this road, said the Other Fellow, ' ' the Girl in White used to halt belated travelers. I ' m afraid we shall see her to-night, and ghosts are murderous things to meet. Yes, replied the Soph., ' • Scotch spirits killed Bobby Burns. ' ■ ' Shish! no joking, said the Strong Man, the Babe, you know, had an aivful experience one night in the hollow away out on East First Avenue. Three moaning-, headless spectres pursued him with a red-hot trident, bags of sulphur, and eyes as brilliant as ' Annex ' editorials — p-arsued him even to the middle of the bridge, and snatched the tail from his overcoat. Ahl hal exclaimed the Other Fello-iv. 1 never knew before what made that overcoat so ghastly white and so short in the back. The Babe muttei-ed something about ■■ getting even with them ghosts yet, at which the Soph. cleared his throat contemptuously, while the Strong Man and the Other Fellow pulled lovingly at their black Perfectos, and agreed if Hobgoblins were met that night the Babe would probably lose another strip from the rear of his coat. The carriag-e approached the long- hill east of Monmouth, where the road winds down through the woods and crosses a little stream. The Strong Man and the Babe were driving, while the Other Fellow strained his ingenuities to .prevent them turning and counting the occupants of the back cushions. Supernatural sounds were in the air. and once the long weeds at the roadside crackled as if some wild animal were keeping pace with the carriage. Suddenly the horses snorted and reared and — horror of horrors ' , there, not ten steps away, in the middle of the road crouched the Girl in White. The Strong- Man screamed, the Other Fellow fainted, but the iJabe, clutching the tails of his overcoat in one hand and a carriag-e whip in the other, made for that ghost. Then, 0! Pluto! Fates!! and the Furies!!! how ghostly howls and human ana themas mingled with the quick snap, snap of that whalebone whip. Over and over rolled the Ghost and the Babe; deeper and deeper into the mire they wallowed; mud to the eyes, mud to the ears, and mud in their mouths, till the hot glowing epithets could escape their lips no long-er. After a while, the Strong Man and the Other Fellow came up and pulled the Babe, the Soph, and a sadly discolored earriag-e robe out of the ditch. Ralph Pringlis, 48

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6or)t€sts. JN Monmouth College the developemert of oratory and the general power of public speaking is largely, in a directive ca- pacity at least, in the hands of the student. Formerly there were what were known as Junior and Sophomore exhibi- tions. These were held under the direct supervision of the Faculty, and came annually. But it .seems that the student body of the old time were not just what they might have -been, not strictly commendable in all things. They got out bogus programs, filled the gas-pipes of the College with water: in fact, a Sophomore exhibition could call out all tne latent meaness in the whole student body The Faculty had a theory to the effect that if the student were given the initiative in developing the talent of public speaking, the increased sense of responsibility would do away with so much foolishness They saw that the several societies maintained their contests, declamatory and oratorical. If sufficient attention were paid to these, the time of the student would be fully occupied In test of this theory, oratorical exibitions were done away with. To this fact is due the import- ance of our oratorical contests, all held under the direct supervision of the students. That the chanfe was highly satisfactory to both students and faculty, there can be no doubt as to whether it was for the best interests of all concerned. There are, of course, arguments on both sides. True, all Ao not get the training, as was afforded nnder the old system. But it is well, we think, that this exercise be elective somewhat, and certainly all who desire can have ample opportunity to display their talents. Besides, the spirit of friendly rivalry between societies, incites the respective members to do their utmost to make up a contest that shall compare favorably with the opposition. Philo decla- mation is compared with Eccritean declamation contest. The Eccritean-McKelvey Oratorical contest is compared with the Philo-Elliot-Cleland Oratorical contest. Aletheorian Declamation contest is compared with A. B. L. Declamation contest. Philo representatives on Preliminary are compared with Eccritean representatives. So effective is this rivalry in point of bringing out a full representation of students in contests, that we think the new system cannot be far behind the old in this regard. Too often does it happen that the decisions are unfortunate and highly unsatisfactory. But neither does this fact inveigh against contests. The mere fact of gaining or loosing a decision is not the criterion of the contestant ' s success If he has done well, done himself justice, he will generally discover the fact in an appreciative audience, some hypercritical judge to the contrary notwithstanding It is certainly well for the itadent to place little dependence upon the judges decision in determining his ability as an orator, and when he goes into a contest he ought to be fully aware of the fallibility of the human judgment. Generally, however, decisions during the past year have been satisfactory.