Radcliffe College - Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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A History of the Army of 1916 Its Radcliffe Campaigns 1912-1916 Km, 55 OR a great many years, prominent people had been complaining of the - 55:5 if evils in the world. It was decidedly a place that needed reform. VVhen the little army of 1916 set out with this mission in view, it undertook an U 'J entirely praiseworthy conquest. The army, though small, was well-fitted for its task. The parents of its soldiers had always expected each of them severally to conquer the world. More- over, there had been, just before the launching of the expedition, much talk of preparedness. High school teachers had advocated it firmly, over and over again. Examinations had been held and had proved that the army was prepared. The world is a strange place. Within it there is plenty of easy and rapid transportation, but when one approaches it, to fight with it, one has to come on one's ,own feet. If this were not so, the present history would never have been written. It is an account of the preliminary adventures of our army on its long march into its destiny. Now, as any one knows whohas ever tried to conquer the world, there is a very high wall running all the way round it, with no gate, and people call that wall Knowledge. 'It is impossible to get in and fight the world without first scal- ing this wall, which stands there of its own accord, for the folk already in the world rarely make use of it. When the army of 1916 realized that this difficulty lay before their actual conquest, they began to cast aboutfor a means of sur- mounting both the difficulty and the wall. The first question was to determine the best line of approach. The army began to consider the ways that led to the wall. Among great highroads through populous lands there seemed to be no choice, but there was a narrow path through a tiny country that the army presently perceived and considered. This place, Radcliffe, of which other historians may have written, was dreadful of access and f n o ull of tortuous mazes that rendered passage difficulty, but it had one great advan- tage. As such lands went, it was situated in a very lofty altitude. The standards raised b th d ll ' ' ' ' ' y e we ers on 1ts mountain peaks floated high in the a1r. In short, the general level of this land was nearly as high as the wall itself, to the edge of which it extended. That w h th it tried to enter the world. as w y e army chose, to go through Radcliffe, when FIRST CAMPAIGN-THE IN VASION OF RADCLIFFE O The subjugation of Radcliffe alone took a year. Mustering from all direc- tion? and marching knee-deep in valley mud, the army raised its eyes to the stan- h - ' . . . ar s on t e mountain tops, and resolutely began 1ts 1nvas1on. 26

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On the twenty-third of September, 1912, they arrived. To reconnoitre, they borrowed the neighboring altitude-or do I mean attitude?- of Harvard, and looked down on Radcliffe. What they saw was six mountains forming a circle. In the center of this, a small desert, and on one side of the desert, an oasis consist- ing of a fountain, with two trees growing beside it. The army then marched through the ive passes into the land, and this was simple, as the passes are guarded only on one day out of every three hundred and sixty-five, and that is Class Day, at the other end of the year. Once inside, they determined to seek out the rulers of the country and ask if they might pass through unmolested. The rulers had their headquarters on the highest mountain of all, one had to climb it by means of the celebrated Fay House stairs, and it was further protected by an opposite Volcano, a place full of chemicals which might explode any minute. Braving these dangers, the army of 1916 went within at the ap- pointed time. . I Both potentates and inhabitants welcomed the invaders warmly, as soon as they had been made to state in full who they were and what they came for. The potentates, however, gave them gently to understand that their passage through depended largely on their own efforts, and warned them to learn to fight after a new fashion. The Radcliffe armies fought with their main forces in concentration and with their scouting and reconnoitering parties in wide distribution over the field. 1916 accepted this method, and set out to attack the Library, a fortress on the mountain nearest the Knowledge wall. . On the way to the Library, however, it encountered new distractions. Every epic army meets with sirens, and so did it. I have already mentioned one volcano, the third mountain on the right is also supposed to be volcanic, and is bountifully supplied with fire-alarm bells, which ring at every threatened eruption. To induce people to dwell in this dangerous place, it was granted more privileges for enjoyment than the rest of the land., and had come to be thickly settled with gay and friendly classes of folk. These kept the army in delight for nearly two months, while they entertained it on every convenient Saturday. First, the Radcliffe Guild, artisans in brotherly love, gave it a party. Then the City of 1913 on which it was quartered gave it a baby party, the City of 1914, though inland, pretended to take it on an Ocean Voyage, and the progressive City of 1915 held an Exposi- tion in its honor. I Meanwhile, those soldiers of 1916 who had found quarters in the forts on Shepard Street invited their fellows to come and get acquainted on Hallowe'en, and on November 12, the army elected officers to preside over its reorganization. Madeleine Brewer was General, Adelaide Nichols, Second in Command, Elizabeth Almy, War Correspondent, Elizabeth Burrage, Charge of Supplies, Betty Lazenby, ambassador to the RadcliHe Student Government, Dorothy Hildreth, commander 27