University of Pennsylvania - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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when my duty is done all those who are interested will have some knowledge of the honorable career of the Class of '9o. When we arrived on the scene of action, numbering somewhere in the neighborhood of seventy-ive, we were accorded the usual pleasant reception that is tendered- annually, to Freshmen by the genial Secretary of the Faculty. This reception is held not so much for the purposes of examination as to enable the Secretary to determine the names and ancestral records of his victims, and to iind out just how many come from jersey. A bright-looking youth, with glasses, who was then among our number, somewhat inadvertently remarked to his companion, Oh! say! who the deuce is that old cuss over there with the gray beard ? It is said that jackson overheard the remark, and that explains why john Barker is not with us to-day. Perhaps if john had done nothing more, matters might have been smoothed overg but his luck was proportionate to his size, and was always against him. About the middle of our college course the Executive Committee held one of its periodical sessions, and Barker was among the in- vited guests. john had been slightly irregular in his attendance, and jackson, who felt a kindly interest in John after his remark about him, had sought to discover from John's paterfamilias the reasons for his non-attendance. But john had arranged matters with the postman, as the If not delivered in five days, return to F. A. I., University of Pennsylvaniaf, clearly indicated the source of the letters. After considerable questioning John finally ad- mitted that aletter had come to the house that morning bearing the mystic signs. What did you do with it, Mr. Barker, said jackson, in his softly-modulated accent. Why, replied john, father was away, and I threw it in the waste-basket. I thought it was an advertisement P' The occurrence widened the breach between them, and john left us rather than make things disagreeable for Jackson by remaining. But this digression is somewhat premature, and I shall return to the opening of college in September of 1886. It may not be out of place just here to state the fact that the Faculty, with an eye to the eternal fitness of things, proposes hereafter to open college on 30

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fx,-fro! z If a f Q ,I 0 7 e f e Q W9 X ret to exft Q FA ,f K ' .if-pizy' Q3 S Q rx ' 5 4 Q ry at E J is Ng,-ff' Inuit ' 4, be JAMES HARTLEH' MERRICK. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: A BOUT this time four years ago the Class of '90 made its iirst appearance on the stage of Old Penn. Since that time we have developed many original characteristics, but our start Was made in a thoroughly orthodox manner, and Without any of the thrilling incidents that sometimes attend the dibuz' of a Freshman Class. As the humble historian of the Class of 790, I cannot lay claim to more than the average number of names, nor can I promise you an exhaustive history of the YVharton School and its members from the time of its glorious inception to the present day, as has been the custom of late years 3 nevertheless, in the face of these disadvantages, I shall presume to hope that 29

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October the ISt, instead of the 2ISt of September. The reason for this becomes at once apparent to those of us who have taken Dr. Kendall's course in Astronomy, inasmuch as the Zodiacal Sign for the month of October is Capricornus, or the Goat, and all those who are born into the University under this sign will of course re- ceive J'ackson's special supervision and attention. There were five classes at the University when loo materialized: the Senior Class, the Junior Class, the Sophomore Class, the Freshman Class, and the Frazier Ashhurst Class. The latter was by far the most numerous, and held all the important college oiiices 5 but circumstances over which it had no control Qzle., the Facultyj compelled it to disband, and in consequence We were forced to stand its early loss. A Of course the first thing, or one ofthe first things, a Freshman Class does is to forin a Class organization, and 'go immediately held a meeting for that purpose. We Were all of us youngand inex- perienced, and were anxious to elect a President who would be an ornament to the Class. The meeting was becoming disorderly, when somebody in the room spied a large red mustache. That Was enough. A rising vote was taken, and the red mustache was elected President with acclamation. It turned out, upon inquiry, that the red mustache belonged to Billy Hart, and it is enough to say that Billy was not only an ornament to '90, but that he would have been an ornament to any Class. Billy was one of those men who became sated with the gayeties of life at an early age, and even the Wild, tumultuous excitement of an hour with Schelling palled on his jaded taste. He had a bad habit of interrupting Schelling, during recitation, with questions that did not always bear on English literature, such as, Professor Schelling, what do you consider fast time for a horse to trot a mile in? or, U Professor, do you prefer champagne-cocktails to mint juleps ? and the like. I am afraid Schelling did not always take these questions in the spirit in which they were asked, as he seemed to feel bound to consult With Little Lord McElroy with regard to Hart's purpose, and the subsequent threats of Faculty case, gentlemen, etc., that came from the little back room were not reas- 31