University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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rest of the world is justly conscious of his noble bearing- and his unexceptionable tailor. It is but rig-ht that he should scorn the g-round beneath his feet. But let that self-same dust be made to seem uppermost, and all the g lor}- of the man is chang ed. His very cane goes spinning- off in fragments, and his head, brought low b} ' the impertinent magic of the win- dow pane, is but the object of dersion to observers. What a pity it is that all this turning of the universe upside down is in truth such an unreal and unsubstantial thing. It is bad enough to be made to seem ridiculous by some un- avoidable circumstance. Few men would be reconciled to such treatment, even by the entire revolution in the course of the universe. But to be held up to ridicule by so trivial a mocker as this must task the endurance of even a wise man. There have been two men gazing into the window pane and indulging themselves in much merriment at the expense of their brethern. They were both philosophers, and had dis- coursed long and profoundly upon the foolishness of man and the ease wherewith his wa ' s could be made to seem ridiculous. Whereupon, the younger and therefore the less heedful of the two cried out: O, sir ! go you down below, that I may look upon 3 ' ou through the magic glass ! For surely, to a man of such parts, a moment of seeming discomfiture can be of no importance ! But the elder of the wiseacres remained silent and looked darkly upon his companion. And when they both departed, behold they went not past the window, but betook them home by another way. — Written for the University of Californina Maga- zine by Grace H. Crabbe. Normal and the War. HZ?OW often have we sat by the fireside and listened to vl V the tales of war told by our grand fathers. They have told us of the call for men to fight for country, of the gathering of the boys from all the homes in the land, of their sad parting from home, of the swelling of patriotism and pride in each breast as they marched proudly through the streets amid tears and cheers. Our grandsires have told us of the long, anxious waiting, and of the message which came at

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to look upward, remembering- the fastening- which hang-s over- head, like the sword of Damocles, threatening- momentary destruction. Whereupon, a transformation is effected which certainl} ' savors of the unusual and unnatural. The small dog that persued his way so sedateh ' a moment since across the ground below — lo ! there he is in the pane above you, scamp- ering head downward, with his feet pointing- upward, and to all appearances traveling- over a firmament of green grass and dusty road, in which the roots of trees spread out amaz- ing-ly, and A-arious other strang-e phenomena occur that were surely never seen in the heavens befor.e ! A motley company of dog-s follow this first, all with tong-ues lolling, not down but up, and with waving tails erected with a vast show of happiness, not up but down ! Close on the heels of the wrong- headed animals, comes a man in haste, treading this strange, unearthl3 ' -looking road, which is undoubtedly above his head. The puzzle of the ancient wise men who disputed the assertion that the earth was round, for the reason that, in such case, the dwellers on the lower side must walk head downward and with their feet in the air, now shows itself yet the more unan- swerable when the marvel is really seen in operation. The strangeness of the procedure is not lessened, but vastly increas- ed when it is actually brought from theory to observation. But there is scarcel} ' time for wonderment over the first ap- parition of dangling heads and upraised feet, when, in the far regions of the glass, there appears a strange medley of detached members. Arms in pairs and singly-, but no bodies, heads and feet, mingled in most unwarrantable and bodiless fashion, now begin a journey across the mysterious road, gradually losing their detached appearance, and seeking their proper places as they proceed. To be sure, this horrible separation of nature ' s handiwork into disconnected fragments is nothing but the trick of a defective glass, and the turning of the world tops -- turvy is a yet more simple matter. But the very simplicit} ' of the whole maneuver is its most appalling feature. Is it for such an undoing b} ' the most transparent of frauds that man- kind carefully cherishes dignity and cultivates an impressive appearance ? Just notice the being with a cane down 3 ' onder. If you give him the advantage of his natural sphere, was there ever a man better created to excite admiration ? He and all the

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last bring-ing- sad news of the dear one lost in battle. This has caused our eyes to fill with tears of sympath} , but our faces have beamed with gladness as they told of the home- coming- of the boys at the end of the war. They were the same boys who went away, but all had grown older and some carried battle scars. Thoug-h we have seen old soldiers from our earliest child- hood, war has always seemed a stor} ' of the dim past, and of a people less enlightened than our own. But what was once only a tale has become a stern realty. We, too, have seen the muster of troops in the cause of country ; we have felt the stir of patriotism and have shed the tears of patriotism and of parting- as our boys marched away to war ; we have received the sad news of the death of some, for country ' s sake, though not on the battle field ; we have rejoiced at the return of some, and are now looking forward to meeting- those who have actually smelled the smoke of battle and have seen the destruction of war. We are proud that we have had a part in this fight for a noble cause. Thoug-h our brothers may not wear the blue our classmates do. When the call came, many of our boys were ready to go. But because of certain obstacles only seven of them became soldier boys, and two of these were so unfor- tunate as to be a part of the ill-fated Seventh. The others belong to Batter} ' D, Heav}- Artillery, and have now been in Manila nine months. No one who was in Normal June 7, 1898, will ever forget that time. The morning was spent in joining in the farewell to the Seventh Regiment, and the afternoon in sa ' ing good- bye to our own boys who were to leave the following Sunday. Our eyes were filled with tears to think that they might not come back, but our hearts were full of pride in our soldier boys. That we loved and honored them was shown by the applause on commencement day, when Professor Pierce held up the diplomas tied with red, white and blue, of the three who were to graduate. The boys in Battery D have shown themselves worth}- of our respect, by the favorable reports which have come from Captain Steele personally, and from the fact that three of them are officers.