Bowdoin College - Bugle Yearbook (Brunswick, ME)

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a scholar, an orator, and an athlete. Bowdoin is to be congratulated upon the acquisition of a man of such brilliant genius and versa- tility. A H. Gilpatric is another man whose talent has forced a recogni- tion of its due. Very early in the fall his classmates sized him up for a sucker, and unanimously chose him president of the class. He accepted in a well-turned speech in which he said that he had never sought the office and did not understand why so much honor should be thus publicly thrust upon him. VVhere ignorance is bliss, ,tis folly to be wiseng and President Gilpatric is even yet supremely happy. But it would be a mistake to suppose that these leaders, born and created, are the only notable members of Ninety-six. Even in this short list, we must not overlook Master Marston, the good little boy, who is trying so hard for the picture-card offered as a-prize by Prof. Houghton to the one who should be neither absent nor tardy during the term. Perhaps the pleasantest little boy in the class, however, is U Shorty Fessenden, whose fresh young face and art- less prattle must often have caused his mother much anxiety lest he should be kidnapped. And this fate actually came near overtaking himg for, on the evening of the Democratic parade, a wicked mar- ried Woman, whom he had innocently engaged in conversation, de- coyed him into a dark side street and seized him by the back strap of his ulster with the evident intention of carrying him off by force. At his childish appeals, however, her heart relented and she let him go. Not to go into further detail of a biographical nature, we feel sure that Ninety-six possesses members capable and fz'c.vz'1'aux of lill- ing all the varied positions of college life. The only hindrance to their assuming the responsibilities for which they are so admirably htted is a lack of experience. But they seem to be getting this in good, wholesome doses, if we may mention Eastman's experience in attempting to kiss a young lady whom he had escorted home from the 'fKirmess in the Shipping City. 20

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. 1'5 'S l' 'i vs'-'Le'-ww fs014'2v'1Wsv1 ww-s-1-E'-wif-1':V---'ww ,f meas.f,,,afm.,,sm.iss:: ,y Q 1 ---- '. .o ., A alba isforg of 'QS 'lil is certainly a difficult thing to write up .a satisfactory nstory of a class so new to college life as is Ninety-six. V. We can hardly be expected to give a connected account of each individual member from the time when he left the cradle un- til now, when he has toddled across the threshold of Bowdoin. Yet as 'L the child is father to the man so there are certain indications which go to show that from the puerile class of Ninety-six there is destined to arise a race of intellectual and physical giants such as has never been seen outside of Bedlam. A natural modesty and diffidence arising from their recent en- trance into a strange school keeps boys like Willard and Robinson from doing the best that is in them, although the latter is already showing up in great Mapa and is a promising candidate for the posi- tion of eternal assistant in the gymnasium. But not all of the class have been thus handicapped by bashfulness. From the very lirst day of his arrival, Mr. Ordway has been busy developing a large- sized bump of self-complacency, which, owing to the absence of any- thing else to be developed, has nlled out like a milk-fed pumpkin. His only rival, I. Clair Minot, Esq., had previously undergone a similar process, with most rlattering results. In proof of this he came armed with credentials clipped from the columns of the CVUIZMI' Sfmz'mz' and other leading papers of the day. He is at once a poet, 19

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So far as class matters are concerned, the manoeuvres of last fall were conducted with the greatest skill and ability. After a most crushing defeat at foot-ball. Ninety-six rallied, and retired in good order, carrying their heroes with them. Next morning. by a tremen- dous exertion, they succeeded in dragging a heavy rope clear out to the gate-posts of the campus, where Brown cut it in two as it was getting to be too heavy. He afterwards apologized to the juniors. to whom the rope belonged, and offered to pay for it, but has never had the manliness to do so. That very afternoon they met and put to rout that wonderful aggregation of star players sometimes digni- fied with the title of Ninety-hve's Base-Ball Nine. After this the1'e was only one more game to be played- a regu- lar Rugby game with Ninety-live. lf. B. Smith was chosen captain of the Freshman eleven, and had his men in perfect training up to the very day of the contest, when he suddenly discovered that with the glasses he was using he could not see the back of his neck, and posted off to Portland for a better pair. His men, thus left without their leader, fell easy victims. lt seemed too bad that he had not discovered the defect in his glasses long weeks before. But such little things as this defeat will not be allowed to check the progress of the class. Indeed, with such prodigies as have been named above, the future history of Ninety-six cannot but be a glorious one. At any rate we leave it in their hands, although there appears just now to be a great deal more room for it in their mouths. ., f 2 4 236