Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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HZTIUYQI qi the Class ef '96. 9 undergone. As we looked upon such manly forms as those of Buck Hall, Jake Beam, Dave Edwards, 'K Pop Faile, Joe Miller, Bill Hearn, Gordon Johnston, Fitzy Fitzgerald, Billy Parsons and Beef Turner, not to mention Farmer Thomson, Abe Roberts, Danny Glenn, Homer Snitcher, Sim Overton, Pip Frazer, Syd Bunting, Tom Gaskill and others, our bosoms swelled with the glad con- sciousness that these mighty men of valor were members of our class. There, too, we saw, with their faces already 'fsicklied over with the pale cast of thought, such men as Johnnie Trout, Poller Bishop, Buck Waters, Lloyd Smith, Hiram Doolittle, Billy Bush, Fred Loetscher, Bob McElroy, Ed Hamilton, his room-mate J, J, Nell Gaskill, Ned Hodge and Phil Churchman. When our eyes fell on them we felt that the forensic and literary ability of Ninety-Six would be equal to the best. Presi- dent Patton did not detain us long with extracts from his sesquipedalian vocabulary, and escaping from chapel we de- parted to our several domiciles in the stealthy manner charac- teristic of Freshmen. A That night was, in one way, rather uneventful and the Sophomores, as a whole, must have kept very low, for the historian can find but few accounts of any games that took place. Perhaps ,QS was overawed by the ubiquitous Topley, who was new that year and Wanted to prove he was not quite so green as the other newcomers. Some of the gang that roomed at Vanderbilt's on University Place were so emboldened by the apparent absence of Sophomorical enthusiasm that they determined to get up a little expedition on their own account. So Brownie Orr, Fred Howell, Billy Leonard and two or three others, all more or less affected from prolonged contemplation of the moonshine, started over to haze the Seminoles. On Mercer Street they were discovered by a band of Sophs, who

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8 Hz'sZo1g1 qf zfhe Class ey' '96, . Aleck Fordyce also came fussing down from Newark somewhat prematurely, in order to get off a few of his Cfuturej chemistry conditions by way of anticipation. These men and others were on hand to meet us at the station, but when the gallant Three Hundred arrived they were as naught, for there came Josh Billings, one of the real Green Mountain boys, Pin Dennis, the future vice-president of the college, Tommy Galt, the man with the Jupiter voice, sweet-faced Bertie Milbank with his eye already on the Senior presidency. There, too, loomed Louis Gray, this is not 'Gene, Shape Adams, the woman half-back 5 Biffy Lea, whose Sandowian fame was even then exciting the alarm of the Sophomoresg Chub Chandler, the lanky giant from New Jersey, Susie Sterry, the ladies' pet 3 Napoleon Godfrey, who furnished William Mulligan Sloane with his original inspiration, and C ye merciful godslj there for the first time we saw Amos Bissell. Amos lost not a moment, but on that very morning he collected a writhing coterie about him at the Nassau Hotel and told them of himself and his adventures at Exeter and Podunk, how he made this eighty-yard run and that phenomenal catch, how Hector Cowan begged him to come to Princeton and what inducements Yale offered, how Amos put out the i'iery lamp and how Amos missed his train while visiting his girl. At three o'clock on that same Wednesday of our appear- ance in classic shades we gathered together in Marquand Chapel. There President Patton doled out to us various warn- ings, diluted with a trifle of friendly admonition, in case we should dare think of such a wholly illegitimate thing as a rush. Oh, no, of course not. To tell the truth I do not think any of us paid much attention to either form of the discourse. What we did heed was each other's looks and general appear- ance, striving to find encouragement therein for the heavy trials of Freshman year which some of us realized must be

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IO Hzkiarjy of Zke Class Q' '96, gave chase with loud shouts and a pair of mastiffs. Brownie and Fred being hard pressed down Mercer, dodged into Mar- quand's, thus throwing their human enemies off the track, but not so with their four-footed pursuers. These ferocious beasts ran them up through the Rookery, and there Brownie, who owns a clean pair of heels, escaped altogether. Fred Howell, however, must have fallen by the wayside, for he did not show up at Vanderbilt's until nearly three A.M., and then his clothes would have been a disgrace to Fred Parker, and his face was torn and wan. I tell you what, fellows, he said, with that peculiar waving motion of his hands, I don't mind dog, nor I don't mind barbed wire, but barbed wire ami dog is too much. The next day, which was Thursday, we all attended recita- tions and were there notified of a 'meeting of our class to be held at twelve o'clock in the old chapel. We were also again warned, by Sammy Winans, I think it was, not to participate in any row either then or subsequently. ,We began to think this must be a very warlike sort of college if even the Freshmen had to be begged not to iight. We felt proud of ourselves and, of course, went to the class-meeting en masse. The object of the meeting was disclosed by prominent upper-classmen and we were told just what was right and what was wrong for Freshmen to do. We had small regard for the prohibitive clause-s at the time, but they were impressed upon us forcibly at a later date. When nominations for class-presi- dent were called for, no less than seven, all honorable men, were named, but as the stalwart form and handsome features of Langdon Lea ascended the platform we knew there was no need to seek' further. For, you know, a Freshman president rnust be a fighting man, not ex-Wjcio but gbso facfof besides, Freshmen always like a good-looker to represent them in order that the upper-classmen may perceive what a fine lot they are. Hence Biff was elected temporary president without much