University Medical College - Scalpel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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N,- trly-1-upiuu-we:1:wmsgpe:!f'w?'r-.rwffmr,..,:L-..... ., -,,-,,,..f. ..- . ,. -- . ... .f 5 D Glorious were the days of our Junior year, and with regret we saw the close barkeep.l' of the term and bade good-bye to our 'tpalsft S i rs! Lord, how our heads went up and our bosoms swelled out as we strutted en o around those first few weeks and tried to realize that we were really Hit! f'Who are those fellows over there?y' said a stranger. Freshies, I guess, I don't know them, we answered, and with what a world of dignity and contempt we said it! I remember one day during the opening weeks of this important year-important because we were Sen- iors-a fellow came up to me and, after a few remarks on the weather, said he had just entered in the Sophomore year, and asked me if I were a Soph or Freshman. I imagine I 0' f foot taller and I could swear the fellow trembled with awe when I pronounced grew a the one word Senior, I could find no excuse why that fellow should continue to live, and never did like him after that. As the year wore slowly by we were a busy bunch. Our private practice was amazingly large-that is apparently-and we had to give much time, care and attention to clinics. The early morning hour-s found us in class rooms or hospital, and the mid- night hour found us digging away in our studies. After the holidays the days seemed fairly to fly, and finals and State Board and commencement were subjects for much study and more talk. Shall we wear gowns or dress suits? t'Where are you going to locate? 'tVVonder what old R-- is going to hand us in his next exam. And so it went, and all too soon commencement day was at hand. NVill we ever forget those good fellows of the Senior year? those last few weeks? the day we said, Good-bye? How happy we were when all was over, and yet with what a feeling of sadness we looked for the last time on the old school and the old boys! Bidding good-bye to those old hall-s seemed like saying farewell forever to an old friend.

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A Hiatt in the Alma illtlater T BY LLOYD A. CLARY, B. S., M. D., '06. T looks familiar, yet what a change! I had j0UFIlGyed back to the old Alma Mater, for the longing to pay my respects againlto these dear old walls and halls was +1 strong within me. It was here we used to fight, rowdy, dissect, Josh clinics, cuss medicine in all its phases, talk on profound scientific subjects with all the wonderful wis- dom of the Medical College undergraduate, and do all the various stunts done by that happy, downtrodden, freest and most irrepressible bunch -medical students. In these halls we had spent some of the happiest, most carefree days of our lives, though at the time our responsibilities seemed wonderfully grave. We were a part of that fine company called medics -a company ever changing, yet always the same. As a f'Freshiei' how awed we were as we gazed at the dignified Senior, and with what wonder and reverence we listened to our profe-ssors as they revealed new truths to us and delved into mysteries of which we had never dreamed! With what pride We yelled for our football heroes, and with what despair we gazed upon the pages of our Gray! It seemed to us the year would never end, and the road to graduation looked even longer than some of the names we had to learn. Friendships this year were of more or less fleeting variety, thought we came to know some very good fellows, and even had a speaking acquaintance with a couple of upper class men. As 'tSophs we looked down with infinite scorn on the poor Freshman, and pitied and bullied and fought him to our heart's content. A small amount -of dignity seemed to be trying to settle on our shoulders, and we did our best to give it a proper resting place. The janitor was not nearly so important a per-sonage, and our respect for the property of the school diminished so rapidly that we now broke up seats without hesita- tion. Yet our patriotism grew with every day, and we willingly marched miles across town to Hscrapi' our rival school and break the windows out of their buildings. The policeman was no longer a representative of law and order to be feared, he was merely a cop to be shunned and dodged. We were more separated into cliques and crowds: each man being chummy with one or two of his fellows. The ties that bound us to each other and to our school were being welded more firmly and we were fast learning to lo th ld ' ' ff ' H ve e o building even though we tore it up so often. The summer passed and as Juniors we returned. The change was great. We now took up more interesting studies and began to see the practical side of many facts we had previously learned or made a bluff at k operations and attend some of the clinics with the Seniors. Why, we even pounded a few chests and 'fassistedu the doctor in charge of the internal medicine clinic in arriving at his diagnosis-that is, we looked wise and agreed perfectly in all he said. The instru- ment house was honored with numerous orders for Obstetric bags, and almost any day some enterprising Junior could be seen rushing down the street, with one of the afore- said bags, on his way to see an imaginary case. Toward the latter part of the year we rose to heights of bliss sublime. The Seniors were so busy they could not attend to all the 'tclinicsj' so we were sent out occasionally in squads of two or three to look at some siefl1zt11iig'ger, hand big words back and forth between us, give the poor cuss some do e an 0- 1 D en go ovei to the corner saloon, buy beer and talk medicine for the benefit of the nowing. We now were permitted to witness h l

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And now we're back again. There's the old stairway we used to climb day after day, and there's the corner that was our favorite lighting place during the scuffle. How hollow the echo of our footsteps as we wander around and look in vain for a familiar face and listen for a well known voice! No songs and shouts and laughter! Nothing but stillness! There's the old 'tpit, and there the old seats. As we close our eyes and try io conjure up the past we can almost see our favorite professor standing down there talking to the boys. It must be a delusion, yet there's HRed over there pestering the man in front of him, and just beyond him we surely see old Shorty making the fel- lows about him laugh at his funny drawings. And over here's the i'Parson all atten- tion and setting a lovely example of all a t'Stugent should be, but isn't. But it's all a I W,- dream. O! what wouldn't we give if it could be true, and all the fellows could be back on these benches again as of old! But no, it cannot be, and we turn away with a sigh and see, standing near, the old janitor who has come in during our revery. At least he hasn't changed, and we rush up to him and grab his hand and shake it heartily. VVe chat a moment but our conversation is brief, for we are now longing to get away and shake off this pleasurable-sad feeling. At the door we meet a youngster coming in with his Obstetric bag. He's on the staff of course, and we talk together like school boys for a few minutes. Then with the indescribable feeling of gladness because we cause of the thoughts and memories the deserted halls bring forth, we turn our backs upon the venerable shack and say, 'Good-bye, old Alma Mater-Good-bye. came, and sadness be-