North Central College - Spectrum Yearbook (Naperville, IL)

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NOBTHVVESTEEN SPECTRUM poked away back on the back shelves. But so it goes. I am glad for the old College-glad it has grown. We used to divide the students into three classes in those days. The Keep-ups, the Catch-ups, and the Give-ups. I generally belonged to the- Hark, what was that? The old chapel bell, to be sure. That puts me in mind of an old poem one of the fellows wrote once about that bell. I was secretly hoping he had remembered it when he began: While the wheels of time are rolling There my weary soul found healing Oft my thoughts are homeward strolling, In that good old chapel kneeling. And I seem to hear the tolling With a pure and holy feeling Of that good old chapel bell, Do I love that chapel bell. Fast my youthful days are going, As I speak the tears are flowing, And the night wind softly blowing, Brings an echo from that bell. Now, though far away, I wander, O'er those sunny days I ponder, And in mem 'ry cling still fonder To the sound I love so well. lt was there our voices blending And thoughdistance now may sever, ln a prayer to Heaven ascending, Yet I will forget it never, That we vowed that never ending May its warnings come forever, Sluuld our songs His praises tell. Warnings from that chapel bell. Well, I must be agoing, my son is here about the place and he will be looking for me. You are a student? Then love your College well. Little will you realize her worth till you have lived your lifef' He turned to go, when down the steps came a tall, dark complexioned gentleman. Ah, here you are. I 've been looking for you well onto two hours. Come father, we must be going. 'CI beg pardon, sir, said I, but your father was telling me many inter- esting things of his college days. I am sorry he has been detained. College days. replied the gentleman, How little they mean to a stu- dent, but how very much after one has gotten out onto the stream of life. How the lessons come back with renewed force, how the little incidents help to brighten days of toil and sorrow! It doesn't seem like the old college of my days even, and father no doubt notices many more changes. I was here in the 90 's. The four story wing to the south was built in that year and the Commercial Department was changed from its room in the basement in the chapel wing to the top floor of the new wing. The janitor moved from the old The Chapel where we rested. . 16

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NOETWWSTERN- SPECTRUM The Old Office. I remember so Well when the societies began to take in lady members. A reporter came out here from a Chicago paper to learn the real facts and the next day the paper came out with a long column on 'Co-education, the Ad- vance of the Day,' and Went on to state that at North Western College at Naperville ladies Were even urged to take part in public exercises. And now, nearly every day We read of Women who are managing big business houses, voting at elections and all that sort of thing. I Wonder if that reporter is still living and what he thinks now. The Museum was moved into larger quarters from the room right across the hall from the chapel to the top floor. Some made a big fuss about having so much room, but just today the curator Was saying, 'We need more room, l haven 't room to Workf The Commercial Department grew especially large. They had their rooms in the basement of the chapel wing. We used to go down to the old library, can it be-yet it must be, it was that room up there Cpointing to Prof. Smith'sj, and While We couldn't boast of more than a few hundred volumes, they were used. I was down in the fine building that is the library now, a short time ago, and those dear old books that We used to love and pore over are now The Bird Room of the Museum. 15

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Nolail-IWESTEIQN SPECTRUM part over into the new wing too, and say! I must tell you the joke we played on the new janitor. This all happened on a Sunday night, well no, it was by rights Monday morning on the lst of March, 189-. It was a wild night. A crowd of us fel- lows met at one of the rooms and togged out in rubber-soled shoes and masks. Of course, this had all been planned out, and so very quietly and unobtru- sively we made our way over to the college building. We entered by a basement window in the Commercial room that was then in the basement of the chapel wing and lit our dark lantern, then single file we marched up the stairway of the new wind, and passed the ladies' dor- mitory on the second floor. We had to go up mighty quiet, so we climbed upstairs on our hands and knees and into the chapel where we rested for quite a while. Finally all plans were accomplished and single file we left the chapel, climbed up the society stairs and into the Museum. Here some were left to stand guard and one climbed up into the tower, removed the clapper and tied the loose end of the rope to a beam-but the toller was left free. Well, it was exciting to say the least, for those boards were a little loose and any mis-step made an awful noise. We came down very quietly and went back into the chapel where we hid the clapper in a place we were sure wouldn't be used until the next Sunday. Oh yes, . and l forgot to tell about those big doors up to the society floor,-we stuck the key- hole full of shavings. We found we hadn't quite expended all our energy, so we decorated the trees on the campus with the chairs from the chapel, then formed a circle under the big tree right out here in front of the steps and took an oath never to make this known. 4'Say! there wasnft much sleep for us the rest of that night. The next morning much to everyone is dismay there was no rising bell sounded at five o'clock. Of course, there was a new janitor and first it was thought that perhaps he had over- slept, but no, he declared he had gone to ring the bell but there had been no re- sponse. An investigation was started at once. The basement rooms were searched, every nook and crevice that could be l thought of was carefully searched, but all l to no avail. There was no bell but the toller, and solemnly and mournfully the tones echoed about the college community. The Faculty was mystified-the new janitor was not able to cope with the situation, so the old janitor was sent for, special Faculty meetings were called at frequent intervals. It was even thought best to engage a detective from Chicago. HMy! I tell you, I've had some hard things to bump up against in my life, but I think having to sit there in Prof. Heidner's classroom while the bell tolled its solemn news that the clapper was still unfound, was the hardest. Finally they began to blame the commercial students, so one of our crowd sent an unsigned card to the janitor telling him where the clapper could be found. For a whole school week it had been lost and we were all really glad to hear of its return. Oh, how those memories all come back to me! 17 President Kiekhoefer. I ig h ,, Am, ,Al ,Jw I Y