McKendree University - McKendrean Yearbook (Lebanon, IL)

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1920 THEMcKENDREAN 27 Platonian Literary Society THE Platonian Literary Society was founded on the night of April 20, 1849. Since that time the society has not only been an important factor in college life but has been the place of training and inspiration for more than twenty-two hundred men who have gone forth from the halls of Plato to places of honor and trust in all walks of life. The first session of the present year was held on September 26. At that meeting twenty-eight old members were gathered. During the year twenty- five new men have decided to follow in Wisdom ' s Way. The presence of so many old members has had an exceedingly good influence on the literary productions. One of the most interesting meetings of the year was that held February 27, at which a number of the former members of Plato gave an exceedingly instructive and entertaining program, supplementing the regular program of the evening. This program was given by Brown, F. C. ; Stroud, R. C. ; Stroud, F. D.; Howard, C. W. ; and Hardy, D. M. At the annual banquet, May 1, the society was exceedingly fortunate in having present the old Plato Quartet, composed of Clucas, Sager, Sabine and Van Cleve. J. B. Sager was toastmaster of the evening. The success of Plato in helping young men find themselves has been to a large extent the means whereby so many of our former members have become prominent in civil and military life. The respect in which some of the old members of Plato hold the society can be realized by what they have written about their experiences here: Have just now shaken hands with General Merritt and indulged with him in pleasant memories of the early days of the Republic and at old Mc- Kendree in ' Plato Hall, when youth, and valor, and hope, and health and ambition were ours. — General John A. Halderman, former minister to Siam. Had I received no training save that which I received in Plato Hall, as I attended McKendree, my time and money would have been well in- vested. — Professor S. J. Curlee. My experience in Plato Hall was of great value to me in after life, for, unlike most army officers, I learned to ' think standing ' and could always make a stagger at an impromptu speech. — General Wesley Merritt.

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26 THE McKENDREAN 1920 The Old College Literary Societies WHO that has dwelt on or near College Hill has not been thrilled by the musical notes, long drawn out, of the cries on the campus: Phi-lo-o-o, Pla-to-o-o, Cli-o-o-c ? — cries suggestive of more things than one, of things quite different, when contrasted? At first, a warn- ing notice, stark and clear, now a challenge, strong and bold ; again, a war whoop quick and shrill, at times gaining in volume until anon a chorus of mingled yells and cries like bedlam loosed awake the sleepy town to a consciousness of Friday evening and the halls taking up. To one who hears the tones and volume of these cries and interprets the moods of the souls that have prompted them, they are full of human interest. The note of the partisan, the candidate, the thoughtful, the unthink- ing, and of the statesman, preacher, rival and teacher, all this and more may be surely detected. These are cries that have meant so much to good men and women who have gained their most helpful experiences in college life in these truly splendid old literary societies. May the spirit of the noble past inspire the strong souls of a greater future to serve their fellow men well with the knowledge and experience gained here, and let the old oaks and elms resound through the ages with PLA-TO-O-O, PHI-LO-O-O, CLIO-O-O-O!

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28 THE McKENDREAN 1920 fc PLATO t ■ijf ■ ..