Knox College - Gale Yearbook (Galesburg, IL)

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fl' 1 ,I , ,i 5, M 1 ,' 'I K L w , ff 41 f I Q the excellency of the play itself that night, it was because we thought so intensely of the players. Surely, we felt proud of the seniors. Of course, we were prejudiced, but outsiders who had seen noted pro- fessionals in the same cast declared that our actors were every whit as skillful as the genuine performers. Knowing ones saw long hours of careful preparation back of the work, the uninitiated realized that the actors before them had really left their familiar student world and had become for the hour, real characters of a wholly different nature. We all united in giving our heartiest praise to the class, to the trainer, to the actors and all. The undergraduate was perhaps somewhat elated at the begin- ning of the anniversary week to learn that no chapel exercises would be held. But it is one thing to go to chapel every day and it is another thing to walk thru the familiar door of old Beecher after several years of absence. So on VVednesday morning the alumni gathered for chapel services. There they recalled the days when they sat in anx- ious suspense for exciting announcements. There were the well-known initials carved in the seats, the dusty old cushions and the worn stairs. Perhaps the present student wondered why the alumni seemed to en- joy themselves. But there is a difference between the alunmus and the student. After chapel, the great reunion banquets of Adelphi and of Gno- thautii were held. The reluctant Freshman who had hesitatingly paid his society dues felt recompensed for his noble financial sacrifice as he listened to the brilliant toasts of the literary men of old. He gazed proudly into the eyes of the fair one by his side and felt innnensely im- portant at the thought of his connection with his society. Perhaps the meetings, few and far between, had somewhat lessened his enthusiasm for the pursuit of the classic, but he promptly decided that the society was a pretty good institution after all. The speeches of the alumni resounded with encouragement to the present members. The speak- ers told of the prosperous days of old when the society rooms were crowded and when terrific applause thundered frequently at marvel-

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ns that lively timcs were in progress. Certainly, it was a meeting the like of which Ailclphi or even Gnothautii have not experienced in many at clay. The alumni ol' thc college anal ol' the conservatory caught the spirit ol' the time and hclcl class reunions about the campus anal ai supper in Central Clmrch. At night the various classes camc together at the Auclitorium for the Melting Potf, thc Senior play. A certain thrill always runs up the spine of the theatre-goer lil' he has not become hlasej when he sees the curtain slowly rise and the orches- tra strikes up for the overture. A pronounced thrill of expectancy runs thru the house and people settle clown to hear, to see, and to criticise. All the usual flurry and excitement of the play were present when the asbestos rose above the lurid moon on Lake Rice-H, and the musicians rattled off a popular waltz. The play is surely an interest- ing one, no matter who the players might he. But il' we thought ahout

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lous bursts of oratory. They drew no discouraging' inferences from what they had seen and heard of the condition of the literary societies at Knox since they had graduated, but niost of the active inenibers who heard their interesting stories of the past felt that not only the floors and windows of the East and VVest wings of Alumni Hall needed occasional attention, but that perhaps society spirit and en- thusiasm needed awakening. Gnothautii feasted at the Ellis Club where wit and hulnor thrived under the skillful influence of George Fitch. Adelphi had been provided for by the ladies of the Baptist Uhurch. Professor Griffith acted as toastinaster. Hon. John P. lVilson, Professor XVilliani G. Caskey, of Oberlin, and Edgar A. Bancroft told of the value of the training they had received in Adel- phi, of the practical worth of oratory and debate to the lawyer and to the teacher. They made it clear that the literary societies had some- thing definite to offer to the nian who sought a broad education.