University of Vermont - Ariel Yearbook (Burlington, VT)

Page 27 text:

26 THE ARIEL, 1908 VVhile he listens to the invitation of the springtime, he is lost in a dream: for, far ahead he sees the summer's bounty, the fields of grain and grass: and over all the veil of the mysterious future is hung. So, in various ways, spring calls to the earth. children. She cries to those who are quick to hear and patiently eutreats those who have deafer ears and more sightless eyes. She calls to the student poring over his booksg and think not that she does not also Whisper to the professor trying to arouse enthusiasm over the study of a dead language, or the discussion of a grave problem in meta- physics. To truly heed the summons of the springtime, one must leave his tasks behind him, forgetting the pettiness, the cares of life in the great enfolding, soothing presence of Nature and her works. And rewarded and pardoned is he who, for a day may be faithful enough to this persistent call of the mysterious, to go out under the blue sky and in close communion with the great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,' find peace' of mind and body. l

Page 26 text:

THE ARIEL, 1908 25 Tlibe Qllall nf tbz pringtime I-TEN the silence of winter has begun to pall upon one's sensesg when the cold, tight grip of the frost-kings hand starts to loosen, when once more the days grow longer and the nights shorter,-then it is that the call of the springtime summons all peoples. This E voice may not be nearly as audible as that of the conscience telling one to do some kindly deed for others, but it is much more irresistible. Fig- uratively it lifts man off his feet: and literally, it makes his step lighterg and as he meets his fellows, he greets them with a smile, gladder than he has had for months. Sometimes in the eyes of others he catches the light that shows that they also have heard the call. The voice bids him come forth from his tasks out into the good air. It calls him to helds where last year's withered grass is beginning to show through the now dingy covering of snow, to the hilltops where the fresh south wind touches with careless fingers his browg to the sides of brooks and rivers where icy ex- panses slowly become porous under the warm sunshine. There is in the invita- tion of the spring, something which calls back to man's savage instincts, com- manding him to love each beautiful thing of nature. There is a note that calls back to man's boyish instincts for the changing and the new. And where does one hear the call? Tn the dripping of the melting snow from the roofg in the gentle falling of the first raing in the songs of the early robin and bluebirdg in the sounding of the wind through the pine-branches. And not alone does he hear it, but he sees the spring beckoning to him. The sunset has a softer, more mellow light shading its colors: the twigs of the willows are yellowing the whole trees, the distant mountains are palegpale blue as if they held the tint which would later deepen in the violets of the fields. Yes, and he feels the springtime take him by the hand. The very atmosphere says, 'fCome. And at night under the starry heavens he feels the spell. In the soft, far- off murmur of swift-flowing brooksg in the air which has in it some of winters chill and more of summer's warmth, spring speaks to him.

Page 28 text:

THE ARIEL, 1908 27 Qllaptain fyeniw Qtsnapz, ur Sahel: hp at inch By C. B. SORNBORGER I. ARLY in his Freshman year, Hiram Adolphus Jenks, '96, determined to seek distinction in some one of the more spectacular forms of college activity. Failing to secure a place on the football team, he devoted himself earnestly to the study of military science. Mr. Jenks made rapid progress. He was soon entrusted with the important duty of clean- ing the muskets, and was frequently seen in uniform at church suppers. Having decided upon a military career, soon after graduating he joined the National Guard, where his thorough knowledge of the science of modern warfare gained him rapid promotion. Thus we find him in 1898, at the begin- ning of our little war with Spain, Captain of Company Q, State National Guard. He was accustomed to all the dangers and privations of war, never having missed an encampment, and could subsist for weeks at a time on embalmed beef, cigar- ettes, and lemon pie. At the destruction of the Maine, the anger and patriotic ardor of Company Q and their bold Captain rose to a white heat, and they swore that if the chance came they would free Cuba and sweep the Spaniards into the sea. At last came the expedition against Santiago, and Captain Jenks started for the front with fond visions of conquest and glory, having prepared himself for the exposures incident to modern warfare by purchasing a camera containing fifty yards of film. But, sad to relate, in the confusion of boarding the transport at Tampa, he was stepped on by an army mule and, with broken heart and three toes badly! crushed, was compelled to exchange his sword for a crutch and return to Bur- lington without having taken a single picture. The shock and disappointment, together with the sickening thought that he might never be able to waltz again, brought on a severe attack of nervous prostration, and his physician found it necessary to order him to some place where he might recuperate in absolute quiet and rural seclusion. The Captain found a convenient place exactly filling these requirements in St. Albans, the capital and social metropolis of Franklin County, Vermont.