DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

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o Ediitevietoefogtj o N the ceaseless round of affairs, with their kaleidoscopic changes, there always appears upon the scene of action a protagonist equal to the occasion. In View of these facts the class of j87 steps forward and takes its place in the van by being the projector 0f the present enterprise. Having received the most cordial co-opemtion on all sides, we deem it due our many friends to give an insight into our past, and hazard 2L prediction of our future. I It has been aptly said, tt There are four things in this world that can never be recalled-a spoken word, 2L spent arrow, past life, and a lost opportunity? therefore we can look back upon one of these With mingled feelings of regret and sadness. Our past has been by no means a. path of roses, yet it has not been totally devoid of pleasures. Our class mustered one hundred and twenty-one; but, alas, time, death and misfortune have thinned our ranks, but still the same old Spartan spirit is among us. In our Freshman year we were as noble a set of Romans as ever trod the halls of u 01d Asburyf, In fact, our deeds of prowess during this epoch seem more like the exploits of some feudal times than alight else, in the memorable battle Of itbrains vs. brawn? in which the noble General McNefF went down before a ti straight from the shoulderi: Of an i87, and was vanquished with a perti-colored optic, and his courage oozing out at his fingers, ends ; after which iight the ti treaty of W0n t be naughty againt, was signed, and thus ended one of the bloodiest encounters that ever was settled ttimmejitlyt after- ward. Thus we found ourselves suddenly famous. The class of ,86 ever afterward held us in awe, while t85 looked long- ingly at us, and murmured, Hwe yield the palm we have hitherto borne? t84 sat in speechless amazement, unable to comprehend the situation. Chapter the end. We entered upon our Sophomore year with great zest, and, like all Soph- omores, soon we proved to be, as one has expressed it, Wt

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pompous lot, each in turn a duodecimo of precious conceits, bound in calf-skin.w We ransacked all the wells of ll English undeliledli and Mvith such jewels as the exploring mind brings from the caves of knowledge we prepared tt our little speecheslt for our Soph performance, and delivered them to a delightedm audience. Nothing further happened of note during this period, so we hasten to the conclusion. The 78678 bore us a reminiscitory Spite, and it was with much chagrin that they beheld us steadily advancing, but putting on our ttseven-league bootsW we will now consider briefly our present status, which is recognized as unapproaohable, both in numbers and scholarship, and, as to athletics, owing to the excessive use of our excellent gymnasium, we are rapidly approaching the mathematical. definition of a straight linee length without breadtheeach appearing like some ghostly apparition as we near that goal of every studentis ambitionea Senior. A Senior, did we say ?eaye, what a world of meaning there is in that word Senior! He is generally a humane and benevolent biped, a stif man, starched with self-eeteem, and gene 'ally weari 11g an aii'able smile of supreme indifference, and ofttimes will wear a sort of vacant look upon his face, or, per- haps, may affect to look down in a complete reverie of dim remembrances, so as to impress all observers with. his profound erudition. The average specimen of this kind Ofttimes aspires to be a sharp-fauged satirist, and to astonieh all With the extent of his rudeness and renown of repartee, and who says: uI ,value myself on my common senseethe very antipode t0 genius, you know, according to the orthodox belief? The educated world rarely yields its admiration to such a one, but to him who uses his classical weapons with a scholaris dex- terity and not a pedantls inaptitude. WVe propose to steer clear of any such specimens in our ranks, and look forward to a future in which l87 will represent the ideal man the world is looking for, not one of those numerous gentlemen- the etoek-Howers of the parterreewho stick themselves up against the wall in the panoply of neek-cloth silence, but a man of culture and refinement, and one who has not lived in the world without the world being the better for it. Be- sides, with all our hopes and ambitions, we still. strive 0n, and eventually may we hope to gain our reward, if not here, in the world beyond the grave, where there is life out of the Chrys- :tlis sleep of death. ll.