Denison University - Adytum Yearbook (Granville, OH)

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(he oldest established Chaptei-, and Barker, for Beta Tlieta Pi, was business manager. We had frequent meetings, and 1 recall that, the dictionary was pretty thoroughly examined for a name. I think Will Shep- ard and I suggested the word Adytum , because we worked together in many things. We found this meant a place for myste- rious hidden things, and we thought it an appropriate designation for a hook which was to be so full of hidden things of mystery as we planned ours to be. The printing was done at Colmnlms, under long distance difficulties of supervision, or rather of want of supervision, because Columl)us then was much further from Granville than it now is and we could not afford much travel. The Dickinson College chapters of our two fraternities had, owing to some college quarrel, just published elaborate Annuals, a feature of each of which was a very fancy border on the page. We copied this idea, and had a bright red border. Our Woodcuts were made by a Columbus wood eng raver, who had married into a Granville family. While we used some stock cuts there were a number of original designs, J. E. Andrews and F. D. Barker, contributing good sketches. One or two quite amusing things are still fresh in my mind. The account of the Young Men ' s Christian Association was written by Fred Barker, now a leading physician and surgeon in Dayton. He had been president of the association and so was deputed to write some- thing about its work. He was somewhat disturbed to find in the printed book the sentence, The most that can be said of this asso- ciation is that it furnishes more men for the college choir than any other organization. His copy read The worst, etc. , this jibe at the choir being well deserved, but the long distance supervision difficulties mentioned above played havoc with the proof-reading. ■ The firm that printed the Adytum printed also the Makio , the 0. S. TJ. annual. We wanted to use one cut, taken from that book, and so on the copy we pasted a picture and marked from Makio , meaning that as a direction to the printer where to get the cut. The intelligent compositor found the cut all right but he set up the words from Makio and ran in cut and all in a most conspicuous place. In another place our proof-reader wrote the letters U. C , meaning upper case , but the printer inserted the letters, so that Economy became U. C. conomy . One of the most interesting features was an account of Omicron Omega written by Frank M. Stalker, now professor of Philosophy in the Indiana Stat« Normal School at Terre Haute. It told in verse of the initiation of a verdant prep who wanted to Join a fraternity, and for whose benefit Omicron Omega was cre- ated, its chapter house being the northeast room in the old gym- nasium. Some of the things in the book probably cut, and as we found later, some of them cut badly. I have looked through my copy and thought again of those whose names were mentioned, and while after the lapse of twenty-two years, if I were to be editor again, some of the things would never be included, yet on the whole it

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Cbe Hdytutii. TBE Adytum Board had intended to compile an historical account of the Adytiim, but the amount of correspond- 1 ence necessary could not liave l oen completed in time. Only a short resume will be attempted. The subtended letter from Francis W. Shepardson. ' 83, gives an excellent account of the Genesis of the Adytum. After the vohime of ' 82 no annual was attempted till ' 88, when E. J. Price, W. L. Thickstun, J. Sinsel, J. H. Williams and C. H. Bosler issued the Adytum through the press of Kussmaul and Shepardson. The ' 88 editors recommended that tlie fraternities unite in making the Adytum an annual publication. In 1891 the three fraternities, I X, B 6 n and ' t ' r A acted on this suggestion. After 1891 annuals (for a few years annuals in name only) were issued by the Seniors of ' 93, ' 97, ' 99, ' 00 and ' 01. The experience of the class of 1901 showed that the Adytum could be published to better advantage by the Junior classes, and beginning with 1902 this cus- tom has been followed. To the ' 00 Adytum belongs the honor of first including Shepardson College within its covers, and to this Adytum, the Conservatory of Music. Chicago, January 32, 1904. Mr. Ralph B. Miller, Granville, Ohio. My Dear Miller : Replying to your letter about the Adytum I will say this. When I was a boy I saw an Annual published by the Kenyon College students. It was full of the insignia of various college societies, all of which seemed to me very mysterious. I used to look over the book again and again, wondering about this and that. When I entered college I always hoped to see a similar book published by the Denison students. After I joined a fraternity, particularly after fraternities were again recognized by the Board of Trustees, I did what I could to arouse interest in such a publi- cation. It did not take long to discover that others, Will Shepard, for example, and perhaps Ed Olney were interested in the same thing, but we were all somewhat afraid of the financial problem. Finally we had a Board of Editors chosen, F. D. Barker ' 83, F. W. Shepardson ' 83, and W. C. Shepard ' 84, representing Beta Theta Pi, and J. E. Andrews ' 83, E. J. Olney ' 83, and C. M. Taylor ' 85, Sigma Chi. Andrews was made editor in chief, Sigma Chi being

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seems to me, considering the lack of college spirit, then, that the first Adytum was a book thoroughly representative of the Denison of that day, and that it was a good beginning for a series which I hope will be permanent. Yours trul} ' , Francis W. Shepardson. March 1, 1904. Mr. Charles K. Chapman, Editor of the Adytum, Granville, Ohio. Dear Sir : When President Roosevelt suggested publicity as a remedy for the trust evil, the initiated caught a ray of his college training and his one-time connection with a college annual. No trust magnate fears to have the searchlight of publicity turned on his business methods revealing, perhaps, small dealers forced out of business, common stock holders deprived of their investments and laborers searching in vain for their accustomed labor, more than the recreant Denisonian fears the appearance of the Adytum. What pugnacious prep, smarting from that reference in last year ' s Adytum to his awkwardness or his disastrous call at the Sem., or his involuntary visit to the hydrant, does not impatiently wait for his Junior College year when he can vent his wrath, and even scores by means of the Adytum. The Salmagundi and Et Cetera may serve as a temporary safety valve but the Adytum with its more permanent record and wider circulation can alone take care of the exhaust. The politician fears the publicity of the press. The collegian fears his college annual. For woe be unto that Denisonian, be he dignified Prex. or quaking prep, instructor, occupying the point of the crescent on the chapel platform, when the Adytum lays him bare. I doubt not that many a professor has shortened his assign- ments and many a Sophomore has concealed his importance and many an occupant of the Dormitories has failed to empty a well filled bucket on the unsuspecting passer by, and dare T add, many a walk through Spring Valley has been abandoned, by reason of the Adytum. When Tom Eeed defined a Statesman as a politician who is dead, he stated the tendency of the press to under-rate our public men. The strongest characters present the best opportunities for caricature and uncomplimentary editorial, but the deserving sur- vive and are purged thereby. Public life is not the place for weak- lings, neither is college. The Adytum has ever been true to college life. It has never to my knowledge descended to Yellow Journal- ism nor has it failed to reveal the weaknesses, as well as the strong points, of our Denison. Mr. Editor, the Epitome of my recollections of the Adytum is Pul)licity. Yours respectfully, John A. Chamberlain. 9