Indiana University - Arbutus Yearbook (Bloomington, IN)

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In 1890, the Seniors were loth to undertake a serenade which was sure to cause a riot, but several reckless spirits- among them Maurice Moore, Frank Post, Roll Madison, james Cook, Bed Sudbury, Will Cravens, Walter Howe and Isaac Loeb-decided to give the serenade at all hazards. They engaged the May Belle, Ca heavy picnic wagonj and a colored band, and soon after leaving the livery stable had nearly all the rest of the college at their heels. The streets were repeatedly blockaded, and the horses were almost maddened by the noise. Several under-classmen were taken to jail g the colored band was gradually wrought up to the razzer point, and one of the negroes finally shot into the crowd, striking Hall, an under-classman, in the leg. just north of Sixth street, on Walnut, a little bit later, james Simpson, a freshman, and others were trying to place a carpenter's bench in front of the prancing horses, when the driver, a town tough, jumped to the ground and, with a large board, struck Simpson in the face, frightfully lacerating the boy's lips and knocking him senseless. This ended the serenades for good. Simpson was carried to the doctor's office on that same carpenter's bench, and his wounds sewn up. Hall and Simpson were both popular fellows, and the Seniors who had originated the lark, as soon as they heard that some one was dangerously hurt, forsook the wagon and hurried back to offer their assist- ance. .-Y. . F1 .. ,. v 7 'n:.T:l - ' - ff. !Q , ,, S -6-X, f-Lil-it 'T K'-T4 -1, I ax., .:?: x Z' rA, :L-J H 5 Tis 'L-: 4.11-5 - 1-, 4 ,sb ,1, -1 Q- N IX i, . WC' I gy V, - I ' ek- . 1' iill- fum W ,liiwfly liilllll T wfarr i-af f f: l iz l i ' f-' V .. 2' H W-, Q f f f f i-:' ' i i fi i -W Yi Nl. ?f'f yWi W V 1 A ' W , MODERN PEDAGOGV.

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The Senior Serenades. l Away back in the sixties, in the days of Commencement orations and Senior vacations, the Senior Serenade was a very pleasant custom. After examinations were over, the Seniors used to select a moonlight night, and go about in wagons, serenading the professors. Sometimes they car- ried an organ for accompaniments, and they spared no encort to make it a real musical treat. In '69 there was a lady in the class, and by 371 the ladies' voices were prominent in the chorus. Until ,74 the annual serenade was a delightful affair, both for Seniors and pro- fessors. But in that year the juniors and law students turned out in force on the night of the serenade and took a too active part in the joyful exercises. They followed the Seniors up East Second Street to Dr. Wylie's, where, after a few minutes of ear-splitting pandemonium, a truce was declared. The junior wagon started back down the hill, but a Senior, James jefferson, very foolishly seized the horses' heads. Many blows and the plunging of the team at last shook him off, and in a passion he drew his pistol and fired into the wagon, strikingxggzal Montgomery in the arm. The town authorities imposed several fines, the Faculty refused Jefferson his diploma, and prohibited Senior serenades. They were revived later in the seventies, and by 1880 had again become a regular part of Commencement exer- cises. The Seniors always had a brass band or an orches- ii tra in their wagons, and the under-classmen took a fiendish delight in following on foot and helping the band. They used all sorts of ingenious and hideous devices for this purpose, but tin horns and pans were the standard instru- ments. Sometimes circular saws were carried about, in spite of their weight and inconvenience. One famous in- vention was twenty feet of wire strung at intervals with tin cans, which, when dragged in front of the horses, would render them perfectly unmanageable. Fire-crackers were often used for the same purpose. But the triumph of devil- ish ingenuity was the horse-fiddle, a nail keg with but one head, and that of rawhide, through which a rosined string was passed-and knotted on the inside. A gloved hand drawn over that string would produce more noise than any two bands. For several years the custom was merely a great lark for the boys and a nuisance to the community, especially to the Faculty. New professors, on being surprised by such a noise, sometimes imagined themselves gravely insulted. But from a conflict of noise to actual hostilities was but a step. The buzz-saw performers attempted to smash the instrument of their great rival, the bass drummer, and fre- quently provoked a charge from the whole company of musicians. Then, too, it was laborious chasing the wagons, and the practice of blockading streets grew in favor. The police had to interfere on several occasions to secure a free thoroughfare.

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The Presidents. NDIANA UNIVERSITY has been particularly fortunate in her presidents. They have been able men, and they have guided her safely through manifold diiiiculties and misfortunes. To Presidents Wylie, Ryors, Dailey, Lath- rop, Nutt, Moss, Jordan, Coulter and Swain, Indiana Uni- versity is indebted for her present position among the edu- cational institutions of tl1e land. OUR FIRST PRESIDENT. ANDREW WYLIE, D. D., -1829-1851. Andrew Wylie was born April 12, 1789, in Western Pennsylvania. He entered Jefferson College at fifteen and graduated with first honors. He remained at jefferson as a tutor until the following year, when, although the young- est man in the faculty, he succeeded to the presidency. In 1817 Dr. Wylie resigned his position at jefferson to accept the presidency of Washington College, sin miles distant, in the hope of uniting the two 5 but he was disappointed in this, and soon after resigned. He was elected President of Indiana University in 1829 and continued her faithful pilot until his death in 1851. Dr. Wylie was a learned man and a good teacher. He was loved by all his students and his death was universally mourned. SECOND PRESIDENT. ALFRED RVORS, D. D., 1852-1853. Alfred Ryors was born at Philadelphia in 1812. He graduated fro111 Jefferson College i11 1835. Before his elec- tion to the presidency of Indiana University in 1852 he held the following positions: 1836 to 1843, Professor of Mathematics in the Ohio State University, 1843 to 1848, Professor of Mathematics in Indiana University, 1848 to 1852, President of Ohio University. He was President of Indiana University for one year. Subsequently he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Madison, Ind., and Professor of Mathematics at Center College, Ken- tucky. He died May 8, 1858. THIRD PRESIDENT. WILLIAM M. DAII.EY, D. D., LL. D., 1853-1859. Our third President, William M. Dailey, was born in Coshocton, Ohio, in 1812. This same year his father moved to Indiana, and settled in Franklin county on a farm. The son became a pastor in the Methodist Church. While sta- tioned at Bloomington he attended college, graduating in 1836. In 1853 he was elected President of the University. It was during Dr. Dailey's administration that the main v