Barnard College - Mortarboard Yearbook (New York, NY)

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The marvelous brilliancy of ' 97 is no longer a subject for fond prophecies, such as the unparal- leled precocity of our Freshman year inspired. It is an established fact, and thoroughly familiar to the public. But as one cannot say a true thing too often, we are thankful for another opportunity of assuring our numerous admirers that their approbation is well merited. We would cheerfully give specific examples of our ex- ceptional scholarship, were we not unwilling to rouse anew the jealousy of the other terms of the comparison. By degrees we are growing accustomed to hearing it said, This is the best class I ever had. Other classes boast of a quasi originality : but for the practical elaborations of these embryo ideas, purported to originate in their brains, we are invariably resorted to. Other classes are vaguely said to be bright : but with us it is some- thing more substantial than mere scintillating sparks. As for — but why prolong examples ? We dismiss the auda- cious Freshmen with a warning that bustle is not industry. We rejoice in a motto taken from Euripides, the late lamented tragedian, aXXcc yap iativ tovaa xai rffiiv. When it was first chosen, the usual committee was appointed for the purpose of ascertaining its meaning, if possible. One editor was found to render it, spirit of inquiry. Taken in this sense we have certainly lived up to its spirit. Almost any day, though the centigrade thermometer be below zero, one may find the laboratory windows doubled and the room filled with villainous odors which enthusiastic students working extra hours appear not to perceive. If 20

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III. YEAR CLASS. Sapere Aude. YELLOW— CHRYSANTHEMUM. Officers. President, BERTHA STEELE VAN RlPER. Vice-President, Gertrude Wolff. Secretary, Ada Hinde Hart. Treasurer, CARRIE HAMMERSLOUGH. Historian, LOUISE PLACE. Members. Chase, Alice Goddard, Brooklyn. Clews, Elsie, New York City. Hammerslough, Carrie, New York City. Harris, May Bradford, Flushing, N. Y. Hart, Ada Hinde, New York City. Kinsila, Juliet, Port Jervis, N. Y. Mellick, Anna Cole, . Montclair, N. J. Meltzer, Clara Rebecca, . New York City. Place, Louise, New York City. Potter, Eva Sherwood, Brooklyn. Roper, Mary Rogers, Pelham Manor, N. Y. Stettheimer, Ettie Walter, New York City. Stone, Mary Matilda, Brooklyn. Sutphen, Anne Janet, Newark, N. J. Van Riper, Bertha Steele, Brooklyn. Wendover, Jessie May, Newark, N. J. Wolff, Gertrude, New York City. 19

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they were required to do this as punishment, there would be indignation meetings and resolutions. Our acts of charity are many. We confer an inestimable benefit upon posterity by the invention of a never-failing method of getting up history. We generously announce it to all the world, simply evolve it from the inner consciousness. ' Twere vain to trust to reference books which are scarcer than the dodo. We are versatile and are represented in every college organization. We are the criterion in the matter of enter- tainments which we tender profusely and for which we shall receive the reward promised in the Scriptures to those who give without return. A record such as this necessarily excites envy and satirical comment, but, like the old picture of St. Sebastian bristling with darts, we smile complacently through it all. One of the most powerful enemies which annoyed us as Freshmen is no more — Father Time himself. We write themes now and have managed to kill him. 2 I