Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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Cije Cla0£ Creat Bacon, in the Novum Organum, insists that only by a scientific method of procedure can satisfactory results be obtained. The Class of 1908 must have had this maxim in mind in the choice of the class animal and motto, so deliberately and methodically did we approach the task. First, all the members of the animal kingdom not yet appro- priated by other classes were marshalled forth for inspection. Of these only six seemed possible. Two of the six, the bee and the ant, found great favor among the more diligent and ambitious of the class, but were quickly thrown into disrepute by the hint that they were too suggestive of nursery proverbs. Next the unicorn was championed, because of his aesthetic appearance. Though many contended that to choose him would be to follow too closely in the footsteps of 1905, still feeling was strong in his favor, until suddenly the hideous suggestion was made that so me succeeding class for its animal might choose the lion! When, after a brief debate the next two possibilities, the cricket and the spider, were disposed of, the one as too flippant, too offensively cheerful, the other as lacking moral character, all hopes centered on the last choice, the blue heron. So strong were the arguments against him that at one time it seemed as if he too must be discarded, and the whole array of beasts must be reviewed again. The first objection, that his neck and legs were so long that no ring could possibly contain them, was at last refuted by instancing the skill of jewelers. But the second charge, that he did not mean anything, had no deep symbolic significance, seemed un- answerable. Then did the class appreciate the practical value of the classics: a student of Greek proclaimed that Homer calls the blue 10

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Ct)e political 2®te Meeting There is one memory of our Freshman days to which we will look back with a reminiscent smile, in the years to come — perhaps when we cast our own vote in our own drawing-room; that memory is of the political mass-meeting - . In those days, before the time of Mrs. Cobden-Sanderson and the Equal Suffrage League, we had not aspired to be suffragettes, and at that stage of our careers would have shrunk from contemplating the interior of a prison. But we did have brothers and fathers who were at least tolerably interested in the elections, and most of us had begun Pol. Econ., so we felt a thrilling suggestiveness about the very words political mass-meeting; and the results justified our expectations. Of course the upper classes had most to do with the management of affairs, for our verdant newness forced even 1908 to be content as also-rans; but we cheered the transparencies (politely ignoring the fact that they refused to stay lighted), added a large share to the uproar, and joined lustily in the hoarse question, What ' s the matter with Roosevelt? and the equally hoarse but exultant reply, He ' s all right! Who ' s all right? would pass down the line, and Roose- velt came ringing back the answer. After marching around the campus, while William Armitage set off fireworks behind his little hedge, we adjourned to Taylor — headed by a band most fearfully and wonderfully clad, and there listened to soul-stirring and persuasive speeches by Swallow, Carrie Nation, and other footlight favorites basking at that time in the ephemeral light of the public eye. They are now merely names — some of them not even that — and the future college classes will know them no more. But to us, though the indi- vidual heroes are forgotten, though Roosevelt and Fairbanks — for whom the overwhelming majority of us voted — have become an impos- sible political combination, yet the memory of our Freshmen dabbling in politics — a blaze of lurid transparencies, shouting, tin-pans, fire- works, caricatures, and clever speeches — will remain for us a confused but permanent recollection of one of the good times of our college days. Mary A. Kinsley.

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heron the bird of good omen, Athena ' s bird. All opposition ceased. There were cries of question, question, and the motion was car- ried by an overwhelming majority. Then came the necessity of providing a motto fit for so noble a bird. Again the Baconian method was followed — but it is unneces- sary to review each detail. That extreme care was taken is proved by a note in the minutes of a class meeting at that time: It was moved and seconded that the Class of 1908 accept for its motto ' Glau- kopis, ' if ' glaukopis ' means ' keen-eyed. ' Mayone Lewis telephoned to Dr. Sanders about the meaning of ' glaukopis. ' Then came a discus- sion of other matters, then Mayone Lewis returned from telephoning and reported that ' glaukopis ' does not mean ' keen-eyed. ' Thus one after another were mottoes chosen, and rejected as unworthy. Finally the truly Homeric Empedos was proposed, and approved, as com- bining the lofty traditions of the heron with a fitting watchword for the class. So at last the class gained the reward of systematic labor : — not only the satisfaction of possessing a crest which is obviously beautiful, but also the more refined pleasure of perceiving that the uninitiated do not understand the subtle significance of the emblem, but exclaim when they see it, A Greek motto. Of course that doesn ' t mean anything to me, but the bird — how attractive! — a stork! Anna King. 11