University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD said. What we need is activity physical or mental; and in truth because physical life is more natural and therefore more wide- spread, it is for mental activity that our voice should be raised, not necessarily for the kind exemplified in Tennyson ' s St. Agnes ' Eve but for thought, constant, systematic thought, and for con- templation which begets thought. Physical life is now as never before cultivated with universal zeal,but the soul, as I said, in open- ing this little attempt, the soul is in danger of death from starva- tion while we are pampering the flesh. W. J. McKagney, Soph. Spec ' l. NOT INSPIRED (TRIOI.KT) I intended to write But I was not inspired; I started in spite, — I intended to write. But, alas! it was night And my muse had retired; I intended to write But I was not inspired. RAUI. DE I.A GUARDIA, ' o8.

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THE REDWOOD selves of the uselessness of toil and trouble. In their quietude, they would above all things be left alone. Death is the end of life; oh, why Should life all labor be? Let us alone! Time drive th onward fast, And in a little while our lips are dumb. Let us alone! Thus sing they as they lend their spirits to mild-eyed melan- choly. They find some pleasure in recollections of the past, but to be ' propt on beds of amaranth and moly and thus propt To watch the long bright river drawing slowly His waters from the purple hill — is far more delightful than memories of the past. Now if we consider the circumstances governing all this, we may arrive at a true estimate of this kind of repose. The scene is in the afternoon in an isle where it seemed always afternoon. The full-faced moon stands above the valley and looks down upon streams that make their way to the slumberous sheet of foam. In the distant west three mountain tops are seen, three snow- capped, sunset-flushed pinnacles. The air is heavy, the mariners are fatigued, and the Lotus begets weariness. Their condition therefore is what might be called a species of our modern ' Spring- fever. To indulge for a fortnight or more after their toilsome voyage might have been legitimate; but though they have homes far away, they vow to return no more, they swear an oath to lie, like the gods, beside their nectar, careless of mankind; in brief they long for continual absolute repose. This is the element which we must study. Absolute repose is possible in sleep alone. Sleep is a neces- sity of nature and legitimate merely because it is a necessity; to seek it in excess is morally wrong. The Lotus-Eaters therefore represent a species of culpable repose; it is culpable because unnatural, just as on the other hand unnatural activity, when not forced, would be culpable. Where then do I differ from him whom I intended to refute ? Merely in this: We need more ' Galahads ' and more men of the ' Ulysses ' type. ' he concluded. That is truly said, but all is not

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lo THE REDWOOD THE ADVENTURER INVISIBLE, (An Orientai, Extravaganza) In looking over last evening ' s mail I came across a most re- markable letter bearing the post mark of Port Arthur and dated June 25, 1904. The writing on the envelope was unfamiliar and, when I opened the letter and read the signature, I found that the writer also was unknown to me. His name was Roger Wilkins Dodge and had it not been for my personal interest in the matter I would have thrown the epistle aside and have voted Mr. Dodge a thoroughbred crank. As it was I read the letter through several times and I have determined to give the contents to the public just as they are, fearing that I would be accused of insincerity were I to narrate the substance in my own words. The letter runs as follows: Port Arthur, June 25, 1904. Mr. Sampson Gables, New York City, New York. My Dear Sir: Having read several accounts of your wonderful discoveries, I take the liberty of addressing these lines to you, in order to re- late the marvellous experience I have had. To begin with, my name is Roger Wilkins Dodge. By profession I am an operator in the employ of the American Wireless Telegraphy Co. On the twenty-first of last April I was sent with two others on an expedi- tion to India for experimental purposes. One evening on board the steamer I wandered into the smoking salon and picked up a copy of The Scientific World, which contained one of your articles on Phceba and its remarkable transforming properties. I became interested in it at once, for though it seemed strange and fanciful at first to think that a colorless fluid made up of but a few chemicals could produce the wonderful effects mentioned by you, yet I was convinced after serious thought that there was some- thing in your discovery, and determined to give it more than pass- ing thought. To add to my interest you wrote that the chemicals of the compound were to be procured only in India, the very country