Monmouth College - Ravelings Yearbook (Monmouth, IL)

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J esftn an 3ustorty. FRESHMAN CLASS 1902. Pres — Mr. Paul McClanahan. Class Colors — Dark red and pale blue. Yell:— Rat a to thrat to thrat to thrat, Terra to lix to lix to lix Kick a ba ba Kick a ba ba, Nineteen-five! Rah! Rah! Rah! Early in the fall of 1901 glaring-headlines appeared in the lead- ing dalies, calling attention to unusual events. As these throw light on the origin and composition of the class of ' 05 we give a few of them: BANK PRESIDENT RESIGNS. ENTERS CLASS OF 1905. Boer Generals Raffle Off British Scalps. Proceeds used to send a member to class ' 05. Left Wall Street. Noted Speculator Joins Freshman Class. Special to Oracle. Cable by way of Hong Kong and London. Snip sighted. Three brothers, one cousin aboard. Only intelligible words were Freshman class or die! But alas, we are not all noted. For many of us reared in humble obscurity in the swamps of the Mississippi valley, heard the bullfrog- croak as we left. Let ' em pass, Let ' em pass, It ' s raw material, For the freshman class. But ere long we who had considered ourselves successful were tempted to envy when the time ' for enrollment in college came. What to do with those cards! In the first place they were expensive things, for after the required disbursment we found our pocketbooks just a little heavier than vanity. In addition, it was demanded that we peregrinate the college building and premises in order to secure the signature of every man, woman and professor in the vicinity. But as cost determines value, we esteemed this slip of ' paperbearing- our full name [ not initials ] worth its weight in patent leather. By this time we were entered, and began to realize into what we had entered. We found although we had crossed the Styx, we had not entered the sweet Elysian fields. But when the first agony had abated, all went smoothly for a time. Then some sinister being, Mephistoor a Sopho reminded us that a freshman social was demanded b} r custom. Accordingly arrangements were made. But in the meantime it was rumored that certain of our elder brethren had planned a similar carousal to occur a few days previous to ours. We took immediate

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1904. Chni, chni hot licks Yo ko homa chop sticks, Chupe sue chop kowi Neg ' e sege ch ase, Hop long- bop Sophmore! ! Sophmore ! ! 1904! ! ! Colors — Blue and gold. Pres. — Ross Hume Once more do we get a write up in the College Annual and well do we deserve it. They all talk about the Sophomore of college having the swelled head. Now we resent that, we do not have the swelled head, we don ' t feel near as big nor as smart as our inferiors, the Freshmen. But we are here with the goods and we are going- to stick it out and be in at the dea»h. We are not near as large as we were, last year, in regard to num- bers but what we lack in numbers this year we make up in noodlism. We are still too many for the Freshmen who out number us three to one. Did not every one of our m ambers get to our social? didn ' t one of our members being tied break away from them and come to the social with his hands tied behind his back? And on Feb 22 the day of days for the Freshmen when their hearts were in their mouths didn ' t this little Sophomore class give three worthy members of the Freshmen class who had toasts at the banquet, a nice three mile ride in a lumber wagon and were we not kind enough to let them walk back so as to be there in time to see the banquet break up ' ? Was not Monmouth College repre- sented at Toronto by our class president? Is not one of our members managing this victorious base ball teatn? If it were not for our love for old M. C. you would see every tree on the campus painted a beautiful Blue and Gold, a flagon the cupola and the good old ' 04 shining- out again on the auditorium but we must hang on to ourselves and not let our love for class over-run our love for college. The only thing we feel bad about this year is that all of last year ' s members are not with us, to be with us when we cash in. But we have added several new members to our flock this year and all good ones too and when we finish we will finish strong-. Looking up last year ' s record you will find we were a class of the right stuff but this year we are small and things have taken on a differ- ent hue, so we will cut this out with the statement that the ' 04 can still be seen on the auditorium and a new stair has been put in the cupalo and its door leading to the attic has been fixed, there is blue and gold paint on its rock on its campus, the ladders in the auditorium have been replaced and the window fixed and a guard is now posted to guard the building from any similar attacks this year. Silence reigns and ' 04 is studying, watching and waiting for a time and chance when there will be something- doing. Albert Foland.

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steps to procure a stay of their proceedings. Armed with a writ of habeas corpus, a few coils of hemp, a bull ' s eye and other parapherna- lia we secured a mingling, howling quartette of the enemy. These we detained and entertained to the best of our ability. When finally we judged that the scarcity of viands would ensure temperance, they were escorted to the scene of banqueting by a freshman delegation headed by our president. On reaching the place our freshman luck deserted us for our executives command Sit Lux was followed by total darkness in the banqueting hall. Notwithstanding the fact that one of our number collided with a rapidly moving piece of coal, we passed a delightful evening. Time elapsed and brought the freshman spread. Following Shakespeare ' s advice. Speak softly, carry a stone poker and you will go far. All reached the hall in safety. Sampling the bottle of milk donated by the Sophomores [ a remnant of their feast ] we found what these Ctesars fed upon that they had grown so weak. It was skimmed, turned and skimmed, split and skimmed and diluted with aqua impura. During the winter we enjoyed an ideal sleighing party, the only casualty being- that one of our number was struck by a brick or more probably by a comet as he solemnly declared he saw stars. After this followed an interval of peace and quiet until the 22nd of February when the freshman banquet claimed a place in the worlds history. Wonderful heroism was displayed by our class on this oc- casion. It was a thrilling sight to behold a solitary freshman stand- ing off a thousand (miles or less) Sophomores, dcgs, thug ' s and other varmints. But the transcendence of the Freshman was most apparent at the evening banquet. The radiance of the halls beggared descripti n. Shortly after midnight of Feb. 23d several of the class, while in- specting the auditorium, saw a spook. Not of the kind that vanish into thin air upon the approach of flesh and blood, -but a substantial, mer- cenary messenger of wrath, who like Banquo ' s ghost, refused to down until his demands were satisfied. In athletics we are leaders. Monmouth owes to the Freshman class the glory won on the football fields. We claim not only the Goliath of the team but also a greater number of men than any other class. We confidently expect to win distinction on the diamond also Bnt mind ' s the measure of the man. We are preparing to fill more important places than those just mentioned Already one of out- number has run for town collector. As to the ladies of the Freshman class, they are the climax of culture, the acme of excellence, the pinnacle of perfection — yea more but lang ' uage is bankrupt in the effort to describe them. In the drawing room as on the gridiron, in the class and in the class scrap, the Freshmen remain, with malice toward none and charity for all. Monarchs of all they survey. Paul McClanahan.