University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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QS. VICE-PRES-I DENT Chas. F. Cowan Louis C. Lightuer A. H. We11e11sick F. L. Sward PRESIDENT Chas. P. Craft John T. Milek E. F. Suaveley R. C. james SECRETARY R. C. james Samuel Rees, jr I. M. Armstrong R. J. Anderson

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awhile we are Jfere We are not egotisticalg far from it! VVe are only exponents of the great virtue of truth. So when we calmly assure you, gentle reader, that you are even now perusing the printed record of, per- haps, the best all-round class that ever left the Law School, you must bear in mind that we are simply telling you what cold candor and justice to ourselves compel us to say. Pray lend us your ears. lt was in the fall of 1902 that we first commenced work to- gether and had our nrst political scrap. Although we are veterans at the art now, that first melee is still fresh in the minds of most of us. It was then that Pfeiffer made his first political appearance and first propounded his parliamentary rules. It was there that McReynolds' bell-metal voice first made itself known. It was there that Shumann's forehead assumed its first frown. It was a memora- ble time! The result of it all was the election of C. P. Craft as president. And then came the calm, and we caught our breaths. For the first time our attention was turned to worldly things, and we heard the earnest voices of Dean Reese and Professor Rob- bins come fioating down to us from somewhere in the distance, to remind us that we were there for other purposes than practical politics. That all happened long ago, when we were juniors, for it has only been this year that the ignoble title of Freshman has been applied in the Law School. The first year slowly spread itself out before us, and as slowly came to an end. But many and weighty were the things that hap- pened in the process. To a few, the experiences of college life were a new and untried field, but to the majority the paths had been trodden plain by years of academic training. Some were then -but not now-friendless. It took a year to get acquainted, and another year to hnd out what really good fellows embryonic lawyers are. How the ideas of some of us must have changed when Dean Reese called us together and gave us our first fatherly talk. In- stead of the harsh, stern old chancellors of the wood-cut, we learned that after all lawyers and judges are but men, with manly feelings and kind words as other men, and somehow we were glad to find it out. Witli the beginnings of the second and third terms Professors Lobingier, VVilson, and Cook in turn found their opportunities to 34

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make us work. And how we worked! Syllabi were ignored be- cause we were told we should not read them. Wfe read the cases then, every word, and if, perchance, we happened to run across one a hundred and thirteen pages long, we only sighed and sailed in. VVe knew our duty and we did it. And when Professor Lobingier told us that we should know the cases well enough to discuss them without notes, we simply philosophized that the way of the transf gressor is hard-and learned them. In short, we did as we were told. As for the present,-well, let's stick to the point. We are not done with the juniors. VVith the second semester came renewed political activity. I., K. Milek was chosen class president, and we all had an opportunity to severally contribute fifty cents toward a baseball team that lost every game it played as gracefully as we lost our hard-earned half dollars. But we are learning. This year when the annual hold-up came, the students one and all smole a smile of wondrous size and squinted their left eyes at the crest-fallen collector. And so ended the first year. The second found an entirely new regime. The venerable judge was gone, and Dr. Roscoe Pound illed his place. We missed our old dean, even as we honor our present one. Professor Lo- bingier is also gone, but Professor Cook's work has been so in- creased that we really are not so lonesome after all. The cases we have always with us, donft you know. The year opened with the usual amount of button-holing and sweet smiles from the politicians, and an equal quantity of swelled head for the rest, who suddenly found themselves possessed of virtues they knew not of. Vxfhen the 'smoke of battle had cleared away, the beaming face of E. P. Snaveley confronted the class and Victory named him president. ' Early in October a subscription, endorsed by a unanimous vote, was taken, and a cane presented to Judge Reese. The entire class witnessed the presentation and cheered the touching response of the ex-dean. It ill behooves us to speak of the selection of the board of edi- tors and managers of the Year Book. You, kind friends, are the ones who may best say whether it was well done. Late in the liTSt semester, the first court appointments were made. The supreme court was composed of Messrs. Waltman, Cowan, and Rees, with Knapp as clerk and official fee-taker. Messrs. Armstrong and I. P. Hewitt presided over the district 36