Alton High School - Tatler Yearbook (Alton, IL)

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so many Freshmen bathe therein. But this is not the truth, this year at least . I hen comes the “Procs big yellow posters pasted on everything by the “Sophs and ‘‘Freshies reviling each other in many languages; also the painting of numerals on houses, barns, and walks. This class fight ends to a great extent in the color rush that comes off in the middle of October. About that time, or even before, the celebrating of football victories by all the men together has formed a sort of bond between the two lower classes where most of the rivalry exists. I hrough the winter there is little doing, but spring brings base ball, track work, tennis and last and best the interscholastic tie, that is, the event we reckon every thing to and from. There is a rumor that the “Sophs have made the assertion that every Freshman absolutely must have a Bone yard bath before he becomes a Sophomore, and these big doings are to add to the excitement of the interscholastic week, so 1 still have something to look forward too. for so far I have escaped the slimy creek. In ending 1 wish to say that this university life is a great life, and I sincerely hope that every Senior who possibly can will go to college, and I ask them to come to Illinois, for there is a true song that we sing here which has for a chorus: Sing a song of college days, And tell me where to go— Northwestern for her pretty girls. Wisconsin where they row; Michigan for chappies. Purdue for jolly boys, Chicago for her Standard oil. For good fellows, Illinois. ASHLEY TAYLOR, '07. It is now two years since I graduated from Alton High School, and tho the time has seemed short, I have noticed with pride the steps which have been taken to make the school one of the best of its kind in the state. Life at the university is quite different from that at high school. The students, being away from home and thus in a certain way dependent upon themselves, become self reliant and enioy certain liberties which are not allowed in high school. There is no assembly room as at high school, all of the studying is done in the students room, and the buildings are devoted almost entirely to class rooms, laboratories and offices. The recitations begin at eight o’clock in the morning, and, excepting an hour at noon, continue until four o’clock in the afternoon. The student has an average of from five to six hours of recitation or laboratory every day. and the rest of the time can be spent as he deems best. 29

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Greetings from the University of Illinois. I felt surprised as well as honored when 1 received a letter from the editor requesting me to write an article for the '08 Tatler, concerning my university experiences. 1 might well begin by defining my position and the position of almost any Freshman entering the University of Illinois. In the first place, you are a Freshman, usually a certain obnoxious kind, in the next being a Freshman, you are supposed never to have “been no where and never to have ‘‘seen nothing;” in the last place, you must never presume to anything before an upper class man, a “Soph.” in particular. A thing that impressed me with wonder was the rapidity with which an old man” could distinguish a Freshman. I had never thought that I displayed all the greenness that was in me. but I was soon convinced that I did. Hut to get down to my subject. The editor suggesed that I might compare university life with high school life. To begin with, in the Engineering College, to which I belong, the Freshmen have eighteen and nineteen hours, the first and second semesters, respectively. An hour is defined as two hours of study, and one of laboratory work per week. Hut the recitations that you are supposed to prepare in the two hours, never take less than that, and in the case of mathematics, a five hour study, often four or five hours are required. unless a fellow is what is styled here a “shark.” The rest of the eighteen hours are taken up with draughting or shop work, where we put in the full three hours, for one credit hour. Then there is “military, and 1 think any man who has matriculated at the I'niver-sity of Illinois, would approve of whatever favorable comments I might make about it. especially after an hour and a half such as I have spent this very afternoon. Wearing a very heavy tight-fitting military uniform and carrying a sixteen pound Krag rifle with accoutrements, I chased myself with eight hundred others around a field until we were hardly able to amble home. Now if 1 were to stop here, you would set me down for a pessimist, so I shall tell you also of the fun we have. It starts about the first week of school when some Freshman takes a bath in the “Hone yard,' an evil smelling and looking little creek that makes its way through Champaign and Crbana. I shall digress a minute to tell you how the university came to be founded at Urbana. When the State Legislature asked for offers of land and money from counties which wished such an institution, Urbana sent her offer, with a picture of the grounds. 1 hru the grounds wended a magnificent stream; on the stream floated a big ship, this stream was the Hone yard on paper, while in reality the creek is the size of the one that flows by the C. A. tracks at home, though fouler a thousand times. The “Sophs ascribe the foulness of the waters of the Hone yard to the fact that 28

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Ill the evening the time is usually occupied in preparing the lessons for the next day, and it is often eleven or twelve o'clock before the work is completed. The majority of the students have classes on Saturday morning, but the afternoon brings joy and freedom from work until the following Monday morning. So much for the studies, but all work and no play is not considered a good motto, and so there are various kinds of “play. Athletics occupy a prominent part in the life here. Of course only a few of the students are star athletes, but the others all help to win the victories by their unfailing support of the team, whether it be winning or losing. In fact Illinois has gained the reputation of having the n ost loyal band of “rooters” in the west. There are numerous lectures and assemblies during the year, at which can be heard some of the most prominent speakers of the country. Dancing is the most popular social pastime, and is conducted under the supervision of the university authorities. Such is a brief outline of the student life at the I’nversity of Illinois .and the training gained here is invaluable later, when fighting the battles of life. A. L. JOHNSTONE, ’06. “Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low; an excellent tiling in woman,’’ Florence Kuhn. “I’m bashful and afraid of girls,’ Nelson Schweppe. “Stand and unfold yourself,” Harold Curdie. High School Bureau of Information,” Eldcn Betts. “Much learning shows how little mortals know,” Joseph McMullen. I s Wicked.” James Wilson. “Oh! dear! How these bows do tickle my chin!” Said a coy Senior girl one day. The boys looked askance, Then jumped at the chance, “Oh! tell us, fair maid, now, which way?” Shakespeare’s Prophecies. FOOT BALL: Then you and I and all of us fell down,” Julius Caesar. THE BICYCLE: “To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first,” Henry VIII. THE AUTOMOBILE: “The spirit of time shall teach me speed,” King John. ROWING: “Good words are better than bad strokes,” King John. —K. M. 30