Ohio College of Dental Surgery - Alethian Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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Q 5 5 a OO Off 'O2 Egotismf' Q0 ,QQ OI' have all, no doubt, heard of the Dutchman who was going to jump over the mountain. In order to accomplish this wonderful feat. he went back two miles and ran at xi break-neck speed, that he might have suflicient momentum to carry him over its giddy heights. XVhen he arrived at the foot of the mountain he was so completely exhausted that he sat down on a rock to rest before making the final leap, that was to win him such honor and distinction, He did n 't get over. Now, to imitate his example. I will start my subject out ahead of me, and when I overtake it, I will then attempt its discussion. As a natural result of such an experiment you may expect a termination similiar to that of the Dutchman's jump. Having been chosen Historian of the class of 'o::, I undertake the task feeling in no little degree my incapaa bility to crown it with success, and with a full apprecia- tion of the old adage, that, From nothing, nothing comes. Is the gloomy story conceived in the empty nut of a junior, of the fall of our class. indeed a true por- trayal of our future? No, it can not be! Our Divine Creator never intended it to be our sad fate, after all our trials, toils, and struggles, to tramp forever round and round in the same beaten circle, to climb the long ascent from the degradation of Freshman life to the heights of Senior renown only to descend again to the lowlands of despair. The gloomy idea that our class must fall springs from the dark and dismal regions of Junior fancy and imagination, yet how devoid of romance when it is made applicable to them! Vile may traverse the pages of history from the primeval state of man when he held communion with God in that Elysian paradise, the Garden of Eden, until the present time, and observe with a scrutinizing eye, the millions and millions that have formed the populace of this world, and passed silently away to that great unknown beyond, and you would notice that any selec' tion by comparison with this illustrious class would turn green with envy. XVe have reached such a height that we often find respiration very difficult. 'T is true to the casual observer that we have obtained an exalted position in the minds of the Faculty. XVe the Cradle of Learning and the mother of the witty Reardon, present to the unsuspecting students of history a beguiling influence that tires their soul with illustri-

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ous examples of obedience to our counselors and devo- tion to books.fg?l To them we present an appearance whose grandeur is unexcelled by any class under the sun of God. The semblance of class love and devotion stands most conspicuous of all our attractions. Let us look back through the states and behold with a sad, sad feeling the failures of those seemingly great and glorious classes that have passed from our halls, the ones with Whom we have been compared, and we dis- cover that their downfall has been the result and outcome of the ignorance of the members forming their populace. Can the Junior, after observing how we profit by the Comparison, again with his siren voice of delusion, whisper in your ear, and conscientiously predict our de- clivity? No! For we have builded a fame acknowledged by every member of the Faculty, and will sink into oblivion only when time ceases to roll and where to be a member is greater than a dean. XYhen the reality of the situation dawns upon this peace-disturber, he will, I conjecture, stand aghast and shudder with horror when he contemplates how we could present such an intellect- ual exterior when within our Caputs ignorance reigned supreme. The sun of enlightenment to-day sheds its brightest rays upon the Senior Class, who three years ago were untied from their mothers' apron strings to roam upon the green pasture donated by our liberal Dean as a suit- able soil for our cultivation. Here upon this verdant spot was cast a new seed of seeming ignorance unnoticed by our elder brothers, until in IQOI she appeared above the horizon exhibiting marked symptons of Mental Dyspepsiaf' fAnother proof ofour studious habits ll A new star was thus added to the constellation of classes and by its brightness it guided the footsteps of its followers, illuminating their pathway that the stones might be removed. Our birth and growth have in every way been phenomenal. Born as it were when class discussions disturbed and shook the very foundations of the College, she seemed to take a lesson, and established a record rarely equaled and never excelled by any class in the history of the school. Not only has she carved this reputation, but she has obtained recognition from every Professor, and to-day when she unfolds the Black and Red to the breezes, it brings joy and happiness to our hearts to know that under this banner their reigns the largest and most brilliant class that ever adorned the corridors of O. C. D. S. But what is to be the prospective future of this mass of protoplasm? How is the picture so well begun to be completed by the anualists of posterity? As to present achievements we have already surpassed the expectations of the Faculty.l?J Even the visions and dreams of our fathers have been eclipsed by the luster of actual accom- plishments. One year from to-day, I beg you, dear reader, to look abroad over this country and mark our extent, from the turbulent-tossed shores of the Atlantic to the calm and placid beach of the Pacific, and from the frozen lakes on the North to the warm and balmy gulf on the South. I have paraded the talents of this class before you possibly in such a manner as to cause comment from this censorious world of fashion, because of a seeming self-confidence and conceit. But it has been wisely said that the true historian deals strictly with facts, and I will