Ohio Northern University - Northern Yearbook (Ada, OH)

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were a series of “hatchet buryings “with appropriate ceremonies.” They did lit¬ tle to stop the combat, but the ceremo¬ nies were at least amusing and gave student orators a chance to practice their talents. The battles continued until World War I made them seem less attractive. No bloody rivalries have occurred since then in such a large scale. The flag pole rush between freshmen and upper classmen and events such as Sig Olym¬ pics are the only remaining evidence of that era. In the early 1900’s, lack of entertain¬ ment often caused the students to re¬ lease their frustrations in heated rival¬ ries. 1905 found the Juniors and Seniors in frequent battles. One such battle was held in Dukes building. The Seniors had secured the attic and roof and were close to being invaded by a strong force of Juniors. To protect the class colors from capture, a rash Senior named Fred Zimmerman placed the colors under his coat and leaped from a third story win¬ dow of the building. He was seriously injured. Members of each class went to great lengths to avoid capture. Many stu¬ dents hid in the country for days at a time, living in barns or sleeping in ditches. Capture by the rivals meant a dunking in a muddy water barrel. Also involved in a rivalry were the pharmics and the engineers. Banners were circulated by the engineers de¬ scribing the pharmics as being “as effective as a stump-tailed bull in fly time.” The pharmics of course retaliat¬ ed with their own insults. The rivalry did not remain only verbal. There are many accounts of bloody battles that could have ended fatally. These battles continued for many years. Just before World War I there 25

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To help ease the boredom, Lehr or¬ ganized the literary societies that be¬ came so important in the earlylife of the school. These societies joined the social and intellectual pursuits of the stu¬ dents. In these societies students found an outlet for oratorical and literary tal¬ ents and a chance to identify with their classmates. These clubs were also a source of fierce loyalties and intense competition. In 1871 two groups were formed, the “Franklins” and the “Philomatheans.” Lehr even divided his personal library between the societies to aid them in their start. Eventually, the societies gained a great deal of power over stu¬ dent activities. They gained all rights and privileges which the faculty did not control. This caused Lehr quite a few probelms in following years. He was constitutionally powerless to settle dis¬ putes between the societies. To add to the confusion, a third literary society, the “Adelphians,” was formed in 1880. Each organization had a lavishly deco¬ rated meeting hall and a library. Every third or fourth week, entertainment was held in the halls. A typical program in¬ cluded music, debates, and “papers” which were humorous caricatures of students and teachers. “Pay entertainments” were also held the last week of each quarter. With the admission charge the halls were fur¬ nished and the libraries expanded. These events led to bitter competition between societies. One year the groups could not reach speaking terms and re¬ fused to appear on the same commence¬ ment. In spite of Lehr’s pleas, each so¬ ciety held its own commencement day program in its own hall. Lehr admitted later that “the third society destroyed the interest in the literary contests ...” A shift in the interests of the students finally killed the literary societies, which were replaced by the Greek letter fraternities. 24

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Ohio Northern University’s sports history started under Thomas Smull in 1905. Mr. Smull had an impressive rec¬ ord at ONU as student leader brilliant athlet and later as Dean of the College of Engineering and business manager of the university. While serving as the faculty manager of athletics from 1905 to 1942, he was known as the “father of intercollegiate athletics” at ONU. Dur¬ ing those years, Smull pitted the foot¬ ball team against the powers of Ohio with creditable success. In 1931, the Polar Bears even took on Army, with less happy results; the Cadets gave them a 60 to 0 drubbing. 1934 was a good year for the ONU Bears . The football team was undeaft- ed in their seven games. This was a remarkable effort, considering that in 1933, the team lost every game and only scored seven points. 26