Rutgers University - Scarlet Letter Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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them, and still another was a member of the class long enough only to encourage us with his presence. A short recountal of the events of the Freshman year gives us a keen insight into the truth of the saying that a thing well begun is half done. We began well. Prex. invited the class to his reception. I-Ie asked each one in the class if he were the youngest member. Every one was the youngest. VV'ith this reception we were launched on the social sea and have since, thanks to fate and fortune, had Wind and tide in our favor. Prex. invited us to several receptions afterward, but he didn't receive us with those embracing arms and that soft- breaking smile which distinguished the formal affair. Ninety-One has always stood up for formality, and severely condemned the acts of the President of Rutgers College in calling men from college duties for an informal conference. lVIatriculation gave us the unalloyed pleasure of signing the pledge- the pledge not to carry canes for the purpose of inflaming the Sophs. IVe signed the matriculation roll, and secretly resolved to keep the promise so long as our rights were not curtailed. Introduced to study, we were soon engaged with a delightful schedule. The most instructive subject of the Freshman year was extempore debate. The instruction was in learning to talk without saying anything. This exercise gave Billy a chance to state that the question was a very important one, that it was agitating some of the greatest minds of the age, and was constantly growing in importance. In every debate thereafter, Billy used this gilt-edged argument for just sweet consistency's sake. On the question whether it was ever right to lie, we concluded that it was not, unless absolutely necessary. The necessity often arose in going over to Pete to explain absences. Any physical ailment from jzhfhzlvzlr jmlnzomzlzk to Spring fever in VVinter, and any mental disorder from love to suicide, sufhced to secure an official excuse. It has often been a source of wonder to many that although 'K Pete was a great chemist and analyzed alkalies, he could never make a correct analysis of the common, every-day excuse lies. Pete has left us, with no farewell spoken and no encomium pronounced, but the memory of the successful Way in which he gave truth to poetry allows us to drop a tear of regret over his departure, and feel a pang of remorse that he has made himself responsible for our sins and our prevarications. In foot-ball this year the Sophs were victorious. A pompous, self-important air marked the pose of the individual second-year men, until our crack base-ball team burst the bubble of pride and placed Ninety-One at the head in athletics. 'VVe have had but one defeat in class games. By 24

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' - :,.,:1:.:. .,x. ',-,nf,m,,- ,,.,nf1.1.1,,,-F :-Bintuhih , h ,-,anim ,s 7 H1sToRY or 91. 1G the. unprejudiced observer it has ahvays appeared that the 1111551011 of Scarlet Letter ,historians was to prove that in the classes the severall' rcbresented were Crreater tl1an , 555,55 Y 3 1 rs E- others, retrospective or prospective. Perhaps their purpose 2 is found in the words of the poet: NYhat we admire, we praise g and when we praise Advance it into notice, that its worth Acknowledged, others may admire too. lt is not the province of tl1e historian to advance conditions without stating the premises. That 'QI is the leading class in honors as well as years is axiomatic. Ninety-One's historian will not force conclusions, he chooses rather to recount the adventures of the class, her noble. victories and signal successes, and leave no alternative judgment to the unbiassed mind than this, that for intellect and muscle, for scholarship and physical strength, Ninety-One has gained the standard emblazoned with the motto: Przlmfzm gm' 11ze7'zzz'z', ffraf. When on a September day in '87 an enrolled member of the Freshman Class strolled upon the College Campus, he observed a bustle and din among the successors to freshmanhood which glued all other collegians to the Jersey soil. What was the cause of this lamentation? Ninety-One had entered college with a genuine class yell. Cn that first day of our college course that yell was heard, it has been heard ever since and methinks above the regions of cloud and snow the cry is heard echoing and re-echoing to eternal heights: f1'0o-Rah! 11700-R000 ! H00-Pa-La.f De-Pfz-Loo! QI. Assembled in chapel, we were greeted by the fathers of old, looking down from gilt frames, with oiled locks and oiled features. From the inspiration born of the sight of this paternity, we listened to a thirty-minute speech from H PreX., who complimented our cheering and said it was a cheering sign for the future. Official recognition! We entered college with hfty-four men. Several were disposed to be specialists even in the Freshman year, and their Wishes were granted by the faculty. Others were born great, and soon bore their greatness away with 23

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that our class was not humbled. Owing to the doubtful, but successful methods of the Ninety men in the game, we were flushed with defeat even -a defeat akin to victory. It is a pleasure to learn how to use the comma, as per Kellogg, but the peculiarity of Ninety-Une men has been in invariably using the interrogation point in the class-room. XVe learned to recognize figures of speech. VVe found that Ninety's claim to all earthly wisdom was an exaggerated hyperbole. Bennie, of enduring fame, endeavored to reconcile us in our Fresh- man year to the beauties of mathematical figures, but he never succeeded. VVe followed the advice of Shakespeare in Bennie's work- the mathe- matics and the metaphysics: Fall to them as you Find your stomach serves you. Our stomachs never served us for this heterogeneous mixture. VVe preferred jzfnizz and not plane food. English literature claimed our attention so far that we wondered what relation the covers of a book bore to the pages when the book was open. The instructor in this department was a true gentleman, and deserved all the respect which should come with reciprocal treatment. This closes the chronicle of the Freshman year. The Sophomore year gave wider fields to the talents of our classmen. One thought to bridge Lethe, and took up the mechanical engineering courseg another thought to mix oil and water, and took up the chemical course: while still another hoped to vivify the dead by electrical action, and chose the electrical course. The classical section continued to wrestle with Latin and Greek. Latin in De .Vafzznz Dearzmz gave them an intimate knowledge of the character of the deities which they often invoked while still studying them. Greek gave the devotee an admirable opportunity of displaying Wonderful second- sight in reading, never possessed by the seventh son of a seventh son. Chemistry was prescribed for the Whole class this year in liberal closes. The subject had its likes and dislikes, its perfumes and odors. Chemistry left us with a better knowledge of water, and one of the classicals, after hearing of its composition, solemnly eschewed its use for all time. A few cases of misunderstanding arose xiwith the Faculty concerning the carrying of a piece of fZg'lZZl77'Z 11z'z'af. The presanctihed custom that any- thing which may be used as a weapon by an irresponsible person in a moment of frenzy or anger, shall be Withholden from him, led a number of our most zealous men to deprive a Freshman of a cane which he was carry- ing as a concealed Weapon. For some reason, two of our men were placed under the ban and compelled to go into exile. A triumphal re-entry to the 25