Clemson University - Taps Yearbook (Clemson, SC)

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Officers of Class ' 04 C. Norton, President S. T. Hill. Vice-President J. R. Connor. Secretary O. M. Roberts. Treasurer Jno. Maxwell. Historian Y. B. Hall, Lawyer A. M. Henry. Po YY. L. Templeton, Chaplain 24

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The Class ' 04 Motto: Doing the right as we sec the right. Sometimes we have the wrong conception of history. If history is such a collection of material as would make a complete story if narrated, then a class cannot have a history until all the material is ready. We do not propose going out of business. The Class of ' 04 is here to stay, and for that reason we shall not call this brief sketch a history. This has been a long, tiresome journey, has it not. boys? This is to you. who enlisted in ' 99. It is so discouraging standing at the foot of a ladder gazing at some coveted height. The sunshine and smiling warmth up there almost mad- den us. who hover under the shadows of dejection below. Of those days we speak hurriedly : of those trials and hardships we wish to leave no legacy to futurity. That father or mother who lias been our stay all these many years would feel deeply grieved were we to give our petty sorrows first place in this sketch. The year sped on. and summer came — how short it seems now. With it came the end of Prep. No one knows the joys that flooded our hearts when we laid aside the dog-eared Geographies and Physiologies. All the summer long we dreamed of the stores of knowledge Fresh had hidden for our benefit. We would be carvers of wood and pounders of iron, while our pens would put to shame the best efforts of Gibson or Christie! Vanity, Vanity, surely thou art a fickle goddess. The last year of the dear old nineteenth century brought us a goodly number of recruits. The firing line was wofully weak, but the timely arrival of the sup- ports was a signal for a grand charge, and away we went into Fresh ! Through wintry winds, spring showers, and summer sunshine, we trudged to the music of Reveille and Taps. When the finals were over we were no longer Freshmen. Every student who has experienced the pleasure (?) of beginning the Sopho- more ' s work at Clemson knows how to sympathize with novices. Reinforced by a few ' Soph rats — the reserve — we again assailed that staid, stately stronghold of chemistry, mathematics, and English. Victory loomed up invitingly hefore us : but something else loomed up. too. How many of our class will ever forget that memorable day. April 20. 1902? Of that brief, bitter struggle between love of class and love of college no one can ever full} ' know who has not been similarly placed. But a kind fate was leading us. and we trod this Gethsemane in safety, if in sorrow. If you are disposed to view our proceedings critically, think of Brutus ' words : Not that I loved Ca?sar less, but that I loved Rome more. The 26