St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Q .....,, - -...,aW-.. f-ff-f-f-fa--. H e-H----A V'--1-.f,vr--as-r-:fy - f -'I A Upon the third, shining forth as a warning to a lost and benighted world, was the following: Verily, I say unto you: D Except ye eat Mellin's Baby Food in your infancy, ye will surely hzzle out. Bowie, next stop! Change cars for Pope's Creek Line! yells in a fog-horn voice, a little brakeman with a big cap and Roman nose. Aroused from our con- templation of the beauties of nature, we collect ourself and alight. The most conspicuous feature of Bowie, and the one that invariably attracts and holds the attention of travelers, is in the great number of shields or probably coats-of- arms suspended along the fronts of the houses. Let me read you a few: Tivola Qnever heard of itj g Rochester Qsaw the name once in a geographyj g Bartholomay Qsounds familiarj 3 Annheuser Busch Qpleasant recollectionsj ig Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous. Ah! here is the key to the riddle.- We feel an almost uncontrollable desire to perambulate across, but remembering the well- known and time-honored adage: There will be no baseball game today, we choke down our thirst and decide to forego the pleasure of a high ball. Although we feel that we cannot indulge, at least there is no harm in looking at the signs. If we do not see doubly and can count correctly, there are just 67 of these insignias. This is surely an era of prosperity in our history. Long may it continue, may the beer signs multiply an hundredfold and our money never run out. That star-spangled banner Qf freedom, so dear, O long may it wave, VVhile we empty down beer. But here is our train. All aboard! and we are off. WVe chanced to sit beside a gray-haired old gentleman of benevolent appearance, and were soon engaged in an animated conversation with him. He seemed to be well informed, and we discussed several of the questions of the day: i. e., Did Vlfasliington cross the Delaware in a rowboat or a mud scow? Should John Brown have been hanged or electrocuted? VVhich is the better to keep cider from getting too hard, peppermint or sassafras? Hello ,! Here we are at Upper Marlboro. On one side can be seen a frog pond 3 on the other a weather-boarded station and express office, behind which stands a mule hitched to a dogcart. We are told by the old gentleman that the town is just across the hill, and, of course, have no cause to doubt him. We are not ordinarily easy, but where it is none of our business, we are not in the habit of calling a man a liar on a supposition. E After leaving Upper Marlboro our companion, who seemed to be something of a philosopher, broke upon a new theme. My young friend, said he, do you ' I7I -

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A Trip Through Southern Maryland l at I ALTIMGRE, 'Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York, Popels Creek and VVay Stations! All aboard! It is early upon a beautiful morning of Qctober that we board this north-bound express at the Pennsylvania depot in VVashington, anticipating' a delightful trip through Southern Maryland. To the left the dome of the Congressional Library, reflecting the glory of the rising sun, shines like a hemisphere of burnished gold. To the right, against the blue vault of heaven, VVashington Monument stands forth as a pillar of cloud. To the front stretches a broad expanse of water and marsh, spanned by a long trestle. Nightls candles have burnt out, and jocund day stands tip-toe on the misty mountain topf' Had Shakespeare interwoven a Prince George county scene into his tragedy he would have had to be content with a small hill covered with scrubby pine trees instead of a mountain. But Shakespeare seems to have not been impressed to any great degree by Prince George county scenery, probably because he never saw it. George Alfred Townsend once attempted a graphic description of Southern Maryland, and the remembrance still lingers green in the hearts of the natives. Wliile we have thus been meditating upon the vicissitudes of human existence in general and nothing in particular, the train has been flying through woodland and Held. As we glide on, the landscape becomes very interesting. From my Window I count seven hills, two creeks, four negro huts, five rabbits, one snipe, one farm house, six buzzards and three signboards. Upon the first signboard is the following legend inscribed: And he took him unto an high place and said unto him: 'iff thou canst do all things, I command thee to change these stones into bread. And he answered and said, No, thanks, but I will change them into VVilliams' Pink Pills for Pale People, if you wish. ' The second read thus: Wfhen I can read my title clear, To mansions in the sky, I'll bid farewell to every fear, And drink old Roxbury Rye. 17o f l 1 2 l ,i f X. ab ll rr i sf 'l l llo yr- L ll l

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I I realize to what an extent temperance controls the affairs of a people? Ever since the morning stars sang together throughout God's infinite universe, this great truth has been demonstrated to the mind of man. The celebrated Julius Caesar in his famous commentaries calls attention to the fact that temperance is always a virtue-not only in matters pertaining to the flowing bowl, but also in otherthings. Caesar practiced what he preached, and history notes that even in his massacres he was moderate. In Gaul, for instance, when his army defeated the forces of Ariovistorix IH, most Roman generals, had they been in his place, would have slaughtered every savage in the vanquished army. But Caesar, with more fore- thought, spared QQ out of the 307,000, and thus only 306,901 were killed. What was the result? The QQ took to the woods as soon as they were released and spread the tidings of the massacre to every part of the then known world, amply- fying the story as they ran. In consequence, Caesarls fame increased a thousand- fold, and in later years he was enabled to defeat armies triple the size of his own by the mere force of his reputation. Had hekilled every one, there would have been none left to tell the tale or to exaggerate it. The stories of his soldiers would have been set down as fakes, his own official report questioned and himself sum- moned to appear before a court of inquiry. As it was, by exercising a little temperance he made a big winf, We did not remember that passage in Caesar, probably because we had never read more than the first book, so giving the old gen- tleman the benefit of the doubt, we warmly endorsed his opinion. The conversation drifted upon other topics and incidentally he informed us that he once had aspired to the House of Delegates, but both parties had refused to support him merely because he had once served a three-year sentence in Iessup's for taking a mule not his own. Marylandknows not what she has lightly placed aside. i We do not doubt this gentleman could have written a speech upon negrodisfranchisement that would curl the hair, and have delivered it in a manner calculated to freeze the marrow, had he been given the opportunity. But Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear, Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert airf' ' At Brandywine we bid our friend good-bye and leave him to pursue the even tenor of his way, while we change for the Baltimore and Potomacsor Southern Maryland Railroad. A ' Across the road still flourishes th l'ttl B . e 1 e owery, with an Appian way leading thereto. Thither we wend our weary way for a glass of buttermilk, the better to fortif our l ' ' ' ' y se ves against the coming trial. It will be well here to give I72