Rutgers University - Scarlet Letter Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 27 text:

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

Page 26 text:

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

Page 28 text:

halls of learning left the affair without a sting, and those concerned canon- ized in story and song. Analytic geometry is an enrapturing study, so Bennie says. But we never analyzed the subject, and the subject never analyzed us. For two terms we were on the rack, and the only consolation we had was ultimate revenge. This we had in due measure. The trembling form of the culprit was reduced to ashes and evanescence at a grand festival proclaimed in honor of the victory. No more of velocipedal parallaxes. No more of parallel bars and trapezes, of rings and ladders, except in the gymnasium. There was a slight disagreement internally in Ninety-One's class organi- zation, in the Sophomore year, which may be mildly designated as the late unpleasantnessf' VVhatever animosities may have excited the 'class at that time, certain it is now that unity is the watchword, and that through the knowledge of the weakness in factions, the bonds of good will, fraternity and fellowship, have been firmly welded together. Of such matters it is better to say, H Let the dead past bury its dead. lt was in this year that Cupid alighted in the midst of us, stretched his bow and shot his arrow deep into the heart of one of our most unsuspecting .and unsuspected youths. His heart has been impaled from that moment. Two conquests have since been made by the roseate-hued god, making three whose hearts are transiixed by the same shaft. To them it can be said by their brethren of the class, our fears, our hopes are with you all. Continued advancement in athletics, a decrease in earthly wisdom, and an increase of humble knowledge, mark our progress in this year's course. The advent of a tile, spick and span new, with one of Ninety-One's men under it, in the latter days of the third term, dazzled the college and is responsible for that hypnotic power which our class ever afterward exercised over all the other classes. Thus endeth the chronicle of the Sophomore year. No longer under classmen, but, with the prestige of seniority, as it were, although juniors only, we looked forward to the same uniform line of conquests in the second half of our college career as had distinguished our Freshman and Sophomore years. The study of Mental Philosophy was not necessary for us to know that we had intellectual power. VVhen asked as to our preference between the two doctrines of metaphysicians, a majority said that it was not material. Pleasant remembrances come to us. The delightful lectures on German opera, the time-killing stories of the professor, the questions interjected at very frequent stages. The examination was the cause of the downfall of 26