University of Maine - Prism Yearbook (Orono, ME)

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QlllA3lEnim iiig, hastily assembled, that the kidnapped Ciceros were spending the week-end with Bashful Tim at Pushaw. On to I ushaw ! ' ' was the cr -, and on to Pushc.w the}- went, hotly pursued by the great body of the Sophomore class. To put it mildly, war ensued. Spirit ran high and wide, vvliile cottages were rated pretty cher.ply. At last the Skulls and Masks hove in sight and an armistice was declared. The Freshmen hostages were released; Mark X ' ernon was located in So. Brewer; and it was all over — did I say all? Well, not quite, Al ; Jannie stamped the whole affair as most regrettable and trusted that it might never occur again. He reserved the right, however, to excuse cuts caused by the aforementioned service at the front. March jth was a day of swelling chests and proud memories. . t last our championship football team, the firm foundation of our now famous clean up year, recei ed their Iron Crosses. These Iron Crosses, ' the gifts of the student body, were gold football watch charms, handsomely and appropriately engraved. Every time I look at one of those charms I think of the afternoon you and I sat or rather stood together (for none remained seated that day) out there on the old north bleachers and watched Maine, a ,Vto-i loser, according to all dope, wallop Colby 31 to ( . That was a great day! Military Hop! Does it suggest anything to you? Well, it happened again. Same old exhibition drill and crowds of Freshies in full dress suits overjoyed in the realization- of that long visioned first formal dance at the college. This time of the year you will recall times are dull about the campus. Chum- mie insists on outside reading and study of current events right at the time the boys are sitting down waiting for spring vacation. Terrible state of affairs ! But somebody had a bright idea and one sloniiy night the Woodrow Wilson Demo- cratic club of the University of Maine was formed. A wave of political fervor (or WES it fever?) swept over the campus and next night the Republican club was formed. Such worthies as Driscoll, Lawry and McCusker came gallantly to the front to take up the political burdens. Chummie was appeased and the crisis averted. When we came back after the spring vacation. Bananas came back with .Art .Smith to take charge of spring training at Webster. An epidemic known as spring fever seized the campus and we soon learned with sorrow that Prof. Daggett had become affected. Windy failed rapidly until one Saturday night (it happened to be a Shakesperian anniversary), more than a score of co-eds, stagehands, etc., saw him enact with telling ett ' ect the bal- conj ' scene from Romeo and Juliet. It was necessary to distribute free haircuts and Stillwater baths to the Freshmen quite promiscuously for a few days, as a result. A dual meet with Colby was a model affair, in fact there was no contest except between Maine men. As Pat French would say, It proved a fair work- out. .At last came Junior cek. . ome of the l)oys had waited nearly three years for that celebration. Well, it was worth waiting for at any cost. The minstrel show was fine, the Hop the most brilliant ever held and the Junior chapel was the best ever. As an added feature this 3 ' ear we had more pretty girls, and more pretty girls. The Co-ed stock went way down, Al. There is one more feature of Junior Week upon which I cannot fail to comment, and that is the 10

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Pn5nriA (Hj A StiiiiniT iif the Hear Campus, Orotic), Me., Feb. I, 1917. Dear Al :— A dinky little calciidav iipnii the corner of iny desk kccp.s shouting Feb. ist at me, and Fm reminded that you left us just a year ago tonight, and that I made you a promise at that time. You ' ve probably forgotten, but I haven ' t, for some reason or other, perhajis because the bunch around here won ' t let me forget. The argument ran like this, I believe. On Feb. ist, 1917, I should write a letter to you giving you an inkling as to how the old Col has been run a whole year without either your services or advice. Having roomed with me three semesters you doubtless know that I keep a diary. But I solemnly promise to set down here only the most general survey of the year ' s campus activities, leaving to you, who knew Maine long before I did, to glimpse the minor e ents, guess at names, and read between the lines. The semester started off like a comic supplement with the beginning of the interclass basketball free for all. It was sure funny, Al, to see such old vets as Purington, Ike Webber and Tim ' ' Bonney, in their nondescript uniforms, the leavings of four tough years, slammed all over the gym by the w-ildest bunch of basketshooters ever assembled under Freshman colors. But we had hardly done laughing at this little diversion when the Campus came out with the sad story of the loss of the state relay championship at the B. A. A. meet. Maine won her trial race in two and three-fifths seconds better time than did Bowdoin. It looked like a cinch, but just then Charlie Ziegler pulled a tendon and Maine was out of the finals. Yes, it was tough, but you know there h;.s been another B. A. A. meet since then. Friday night, Feb. 11, the M club held its annual poverty ball, and say, Al, it was rich. Why, for several days preceding the event. Bowery clothes sold at Fifth Avenue prices, and when the fatal hour arrived, the crowd of beaux that trooped into Alumni HalU would have made Coxey ' s Army look like a million- aire convention at Atlantic City. Along about this time Mike called a student chapel to discuss track prospects. It was a thriller, The best band in the state played, — oh how it played! Mc- Cusker said Fight ' em until we could all feel George Kirke ' s funny feeling running up and down our spines. The fact is, Al, we were still a little sore over the outcome of the B. A. A. meet. As the i8th of February approached the atmosphere became charged with apprehension — the Sophs were prejiaring for their Hop — the Freshies for their Banquet. Absolute secrecy surrounded the whole aiTair, but somewhere there was a leak ' ' and about 11.30 P. M. Feb. 17, a half dozen wooly Sophs swooped down and made away with nearly all the Freshman orators. . n hour later the Freshmen retaliated and Mark Crockett, the Sophomore tloor director, was whisked away to parts unknown. So matters stood until high noon of the iSth when a faithful scout bv the name of Hussey galloped out of the bush to report to the TM ' eshman class meet-

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splendid appearance of the 1917 Prism. The hoard uplicld the standard of pre- ceding classes and set a new mark that will be difficult to equal in the future. The baseball team under the leadership of Rabbit Lawry hr.d been doing wonders and aus])ices began to look favorable for another leg of the cleanup cup. It was soon time to hold our night before rally for the str.te track meet. What a rally that was. Al ! All the boys, Bell, jim (lannett. Joe, Puiington, and Haskell, made stirring appeals for a good delegation to attend the meet ;.nd stirred up a great deal of pep for the next day. And such a meet ! There were clean-ups for Maine in the dashes, new records for Maine in the broad jump, high jump, and shot-put. When night had closed in over Whittier Field, Alaine had run away with another championship. The score was : Mai)ie Oi ; Bowdoin 39 ; and Bates and Colby 13 each. We cele- brated in Portland and when I say celebrated, I mean just that. You know how a ; Iaine man celebrates a championship. There is one thing tiiat we who cheered the blue and white on to victory that day will never quite forget — the superb running and clean-cut sportsmanship of Captain Roger Bell. He ran both the mile and the half-mile, and was the sensa- tion in both events. The next red letter day on the campus was rising day. The rope pull was something of a farce. The picked few of the infant class seemed to have suddenly lost all their strength, when the representatives of an honorable class stood before them. Perhaps it was past their bed-time, and the surroundings were strange by bonfire light. Anyway, the water was wet and the mud sticky. It was in a new place, too — a temporary mud-hole in front of Balentine — where the co-eds could see. But the next day. Oh. my, Al ! What a miracle had come to pass! Every blooming Freshman smoked a pipe, wore a derby, kid gloves and innumerable sweaters, while a blushing co-ed, the kind you used to rush, drooped from the left arm. I may say right here, that a campus without a Freshman is not all that it should be. Commencement time found the campus a lonesome place for all except the Seniors, old grads and invited guests. Personally, I found it unbearable so I packed, with a mingled emotion that was neither joy nor sorrow, and w-ent home. My last impression of Maine thru the car window, was that of a shifting pano- ■ rama of green lawns, vine-clad buildings and scores of happy Seniors. Some were clad in flannels and playing tennis, but by far the greater number were capped and gowned and carried canes, and strolled in twos and threes along the shady walks. Vhen registration came around the Joth of September, the same familiar scenes were enacted. Hundreds of Freshmen of ever) ' type, from the raw-boned, lanky youth — away from Pumpkin Centre for the first time — to the dapper lad from back in the Berkshire Hills, who claims the Hub as his residence. The likely ones were rushed for a few days and then everybody began to calm down to a watchful waiting [lolic)- — It has its merits, A), take it from me. The night shirt parade was a bloomins: success from the minute the first Freshman left his downy cot until the last fleeting figure in Zebra ])aj;.mas w-ent down before the violently gushing fire hose. This year the yield of blue garters and pink night shirts was far above the average. 11