Bacone College - Warrior Yearbook (Muskogee, OK)

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36 THE BACONE CHIEF eyed, it does not seem so extraordinary after all. Long- evity was the mascot of Company M, Twenty-eighth United States Infantry, which in 1900 was stationed at Fort Vancouver, Wash. When the company went to Frisco the dog went along and also embarked on the United States transport, Grant , with the rest of the soldiers. In due time the boat pulled out for Manila. During the first twenty-four hours Longevity was as seasick as the rest of the passengers, and it was a pitiful sight to see him chase up and down the decks, howling mournfully for some one to show him the way home. During his blind and sickly rambling he ran into the pointed end of the anchor and had one of his eyes badly torn. He was taken to the hospital where the wounded place was padded with cotton and the lids were sewed up with cat-gut, making a rather pathetic, but funny sight. With the loss of the eye Longevity seemed to lose the friendship of most of the boys, and he soon became a mark at which hard-tack was hurled, but no one had the heart to kill him. Upon arrival in the Philippine Islands he quickly made himself disliked by the Filipinos because of his chicken-stealing ability, and he caused such an uproar among the natives that the captain ordered him locked up. After a week's rest the company went on an eight-day trip to the mountains, taking the dog along. On the third day a ravine of frightful depth had to be crossed. It was about ten .feet wide and was spanned by a single log. Sud- denly the diabolical plan of getting rid of the dog started some whereg the men lined up on both sides of the ravine and Longevity was enticed across. Just as he reached the middle, a slight movement of the log made him slip and fall. Down he went at a rapidly increasing rate. For a mo- ment the yells were heard and then became inaudible. Sud- denly with a noise like a cannon he struck the rushing water countless feet below. That dog must have landed at a mile-a-minute gait, said one. Yes, said another, and enough water splashed up to nearly drown a half dozen of us fellows. With a last look at Longevity's watery grave the company moved on and in five days arrived again at their quarters. As they were all seated around the fire that night, just before taps, some one suddenly shrieked, bringing the com- pany instantly to their feet. Instead of their enemy, there bounded into their midst a large red-headed dog, Long- evity. himself. It may sound strange, but stranger still. was the fact that during his five days' search for the com-

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THE BACONE CHIEF 35 When we had traveled for two days I thought I could see a moon which belonged to some planet, but seeing no other signs of the planet I decided that I was mistaken. After nine days more we came in sight of another planet which proved to be Mars. In about two hours we alighted and found some very friendly little people who were the first we had seen of their kind. We inquired and found that we were on the right planet this time. The people were so delicate that we had to be careful to keep from hurting them when we picked them up or played with them. They had a great number of railroads with trams about three times the size of our toy trams, and al- though we think these to be very much too small to be of any use here, they are serviceable on Mars. These little people lived in small dugouts on the hill- sides. While I was on Mars there was an earthquake which, although not very great to me, was very destructive to my new friends, for a great number were killed and also a great number were left homeless. Two days later Jesse Tiger and Murrow James came to Mars and as I had been schoolmates with these boys, it was not so lonesome for me as at first. On account of this I de- cided to stay another week and attend a field meet to be held by these little people. The day came and one of these small men showed us the field where the meet' was to be held. We were asked to be judges so we started the events among which were the 10-foot and 20-foot dashes, the 100-foot and 200-foot run, the low hurdles and the high hurdles which were about six inches and nine inches high, respectively, the high jump, the pole vault, the stone put Cinstead of the shot putj and the gravel throw. After the meet was over our small friends. said that there were some records broken in the meet. Two days later I secured supplies such as they had and. then told Murrow and Jesse good bye, and left the planet Mars. When we had traveled for a week, we again came in sight of a planet, which on closer observation I decided was the earth. We started straight for it, and in less. than three hours landed in Mexico. There was a battle going on at the time, so I left that country and made my way back to St. Louis, the place from which I started. H. G. GARNER, '17. ABSOLUTELY TRUE. Longevity is a rather fancy name for a dog, but when the particular dog is a large brute, red-headed and dreamy-

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THE BACONE CHIEF 37 pany the cotton had disappeared and both of those hand- some eyes looked up at the staring men as dreamily as of old. Any member of the company stands ready to corrob- orate this story. Yes, gentle reader, you may shake your head and say Incredible, but- SIMON M. HANCOCK, '16. THE PASSING OF SOCIAL. Every year the 'Dearly Beloved Social Hour has been slowly dwindling away in Bacone because,-well, for reasons too numerous to mention. But the chief realson is-we have all come to the conclusion that it drew our attention from the daily routine of school work. Nevertheless there are few who have not been heard to say, Oh dear, I wonder how it would seem to have a few moments of Social Hour ?,' At times we may see lonely girls casting longing glances toward Rockefeller Hall, or eager boys running about the campus in hope of getting a sweet smile from some inmate of Sacajawea Hall. But all this is in vain. Oh, yes, it has passed away long ago, and we have come to the conclusion that school is the place to study and concentrate our minds on mathematics, English, Latin, etc. Sunday afternoon is a dreary time for those who in- habit Bacone. It happened to be one of -those dreary Sunday afternoons, when the hours dragged by with aggravating slowness, that I dreamed a dream that could not be. I could see Dear Old Bacone transfigured into a most beautiful place, surrounded by stately trees which lifted their heads with great dignity into the balmy air. The cam- pus was covered with soft green grass which had never been trampled by enthusiastic boys practicing baseball, football, etc. Surrounding the Heart,' was a beautiful walk shaded by dark, overhanging trees. p Here and there I could see happy boys and girls stroll- ing down the path enjoying the cool, enchanting breeze and occasionally glancing toward the great ball of fire which was slowly sinking behind Fern Mountain. How happy they all seemed to be, but I was sorry to see things so changed and found myself longing for the Bacone I once loved. I heard a bell pealingg its echoes returned from afar, I wondered why it was ringing, suddenly I heard some one saying: Awake! the supper bell is ringing! and my dream was over. I found myself glad that Bacone was the same, and had not changed as in the dream g and you, dear reader, I am sure would have felt the same Way. IVA L. MOSIER, '17.