Goshen College - Maple Leaf Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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L70 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. JUNE I'd got a introducition to him before tizme and so says he just take that front seat, and he gave me a book. There was four ,girls inj that class and about ten boys. It was purty quick after dinner and they sure took a plen ty of time to get in there. They'd come meandering in one after another, some few big blustering fellfows and from that on down to a couple of short dried up lookin' lads. But say, talk about learnin! That professor can just start in on any- thing you're mind to give him and make it come out history. They'd try to get him cornered on something along the line of politics in Genmany. I-Ie'd sort of symore around in his chair, pu't his hands over his head for a minute and then he sure would ex- pound that thing about right. And you could see the histfory connection of it just as plain as day, too. Then they -got up some question albout religion in Germany and you'd be surprised how anybody but a man particular versed in bible could make religious questions clear up and every time it wfould come out history too. Now I alwalys had the idea that history was mostly bloody battles and all kinds of fighting but there wasn't a thing said about war that day. I guess maybe that professor's dfown on iight- ing and cuts out all that kind of read- ing. But the firing question wasn't all one way neither. Maiybe he didn't shoot some hard-ones back at them! Apparently so anyhow, because I couldn't see what he was driving at and the fellow he proposed it tlo didn't seem to know much more about it than I did. You could see, thfo that the boy was a doing his best to think of it, and the proifessor haint no un- reasonable man neither, so he just sort of sat there for awhile and wait- ed. I-Ie did get a little riled onct tho and got off of his chair, shoved up a couple of winders, pulled down a map as they had up there and dis- cussed some on it. The thing wals mighty impressive too, the way he had it wrote on the blackboard and the whole class looked purty much interested in what he had done. I-Ie sure is a dignified, independent looking man, when he ,gets his spirits up a little. Makes the fellers in his class look like they didn't know noth- ing when he tackles the point they're tryin' to explain. I-Ie surprised me tho when he quit. It was mighty in- teresting and he was just explaining something twixt Russia and the Turks when the bell rung. He d'idn't hesitate a minute about stopping. One of the fellers was a watchin' for it I guess, for he appeared to be ready with a book and in less than no time the next lesson was all Hxed up and the profes- sor said excused just as composed like as if there hadn't been no mix-up. There's some kind of learning I dion't care nothin' about but if I ever can do it, I'm going off for a year or two sometime and get his-tory by heart like that pr1ofessor's got it. l....4 'Ilhere's one other thing I'd like to speak of, but it's so queer like, I hard- ly kno-w how to put it, It was the next day after I come in the evening and I had quit noticin the classes and was just gaing out for astroll and as I was going to say, I heard some of the bloys talking about playing ketchf

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 169 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. QThe following are reminiscences of a student upon his first visit to Go- shen College. They are inserted here in order to shlow the usual frank and intelligent attitude of persons who areplaced in circumstances which are entirely new. The natural dialect is 'preserved in order to portray his na- tive characteristic as he relates his ex- 'periencesj 1.-4 VVell sir, today I chanced upon a most adrmiring discovery. It's some- things so different from anything we Montana peoplels been used to that I lfeel jist like telling everybody about it. As I was goin tio say, it happen- ed like this: I was riding on one of them new sort of cars called interur- ansue and just as we come in sight of Goshen the cfonductor yelled out, Go- shen College, next stop! Maybe you think I w'asn't surprised for I'd been hearing so much talk about col- leges and was just hlankering to know what they did at such places. They had been telling me it was for educa- tion. VVell I don't go much on this educating business so far as I can see it, but yet when a fellerls been livin out there among tihem Mfontana mountains all his days, he's mighty glad for and interesting change. So when that feller bawled out about Go- shen College, I begin to grab my things and to make a quick rush for the door, I don't have time to tell y'ou all about the appearance of things but I must say ift's a purty nice looking dis- riict out there. There's a purty little meadow or campus fthe college folks call itl right in front between the v buildings like and the grass is kept all nice and smooth. Thereis a round bus- iness in the middle that's always spouting up water and there's some Hower beds or something such-like scattered round at different places. The Howers are nice enough but there's one thing about it I never could Egger out and that's this :-Some of them beds is chuck full of scrub bushes, buck-brush and the like. I said to myself when I seen it, Let em come to my home out in the moun- tains and I'll show 'em all the buck- bruslh they want to see already plant- ed and growed up itself. Then as I Hrst come up the middle walk along about six oiclock there was la bell being rung on one of the porches and in a minute I saw people strinlging in from every direction. Some came from the buildings, some from down the road and some from the back pasture and every which way. And there was all sizes from liittle bits of boys and girls to big growed up folks all laughing and talk- ing as happy as you please. XVell sir, I must say, in spite of all my criticising on colleges and educa- tion I had to fall in with them people and enjoy myself like the rest. It's al- together different when a feller's right almong things than when heis off look- ing on and hearing about them. A fel- ler will learn new ideas now and then and I guess Itm no exception to the rule. in I want to give a couple of my observ- ances at one of the classes in this col- lege. It was a class in history of some 'kind and the teacher was a midling big gentleman-looking fellow. By the way,

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 171 VVell, I never did fancy this ball play, even for ketch, lbecause its so rowdy like, but them college boys thinks it's perfectly safe and useful to their health. VVell, I don't expect to argue about that but I must say what I saw was purty interesting. But I didn't stay there long cause there was some other kind olfplaying at tother end of the pasture. This was the part that appeared to me -s-ort of queer-like. The fellows had some fans or something such-like with strings stretched through 'em and they used these for hitting some white rufbber balls. Then they had sort of a net midway between 'em and kept knockin them balls first to one side and then to the other. They got all excited about it and made the 'balls whizz purty fast. The place where they was playing was all nice and smooth without any grass ibut with white lines running each way. I says to myself: That sure looks like child play, but as I kept watchin' 'em it got purty interesting. One of the play- ers Was a short black-haired chap and' the other a tall man with silver gray hair who looked a little more gentle- man like. Now you'd be surprised how he made that little feller skip around. First he'd knock the ball on the right side and then on the left and the little chap just got all fagged out running every which way after it. I says to mysellf: f'It sure pays to be made up on a long pattern for that lit- tle runt aint in it at all. I watched this playing for a long time admirin it more and more. As I come to think on it, I don't blame them college boys for wanting to play sufch games as these. Iustlmagine how you'd ,feel after being cramped up in a chair reading books all day. When they get into them games they're just like colts being let out to pasture. Say 'but wouldn't I like to be going to one of these colleges for awhile? H M sei M OBSERVATIONS BY COLLEGE VISITORS. Dear Winnifred:-Last evening Lucile rushed into my room and asked go with her Bird class today excursion into the fields and me to for an woods. Such a proposition was de- lightful indeed but when she Set her alarm for four the next morning, I al- most declined tihe invitation, How- ever, the next morning I was so com- pletely aroused from mfy slumibers, not alone 'by the tremendous alarm oif the clock, but the continued bustle and noise of the ,girls in the halls, who also were going, that I decided to go anyway. The paraphernalia-nets, books, bas- ke-ts, boxes and field glasses-these girls carried with them, was such as suggested a seasonis outing or a trip abroad. The journey once begun, every bush, tree and field was eargerly view- ed for the coverted sight of the first new bird. I7Vhen at last Marjory call- ed to the others to look at her dis'- covery, there was a breathless rush to the place. Mary thought it a war- 'bler, jane a vireo, iLouise rather timidlly suggested a crane, whereupon a general shout of laupghter arose from the crowd. Kate who had not said anything about it as yet, felt quite safe to suggest a sparrow. A spar- row it was indeed, but now the pro- blem had just begun, for how were they to know what kind of a sparrow