University of Maine - Prism Yearbook (Orono, ME)

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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

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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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The following Saturday Maine and Xew Hampshire State played a scoreless tie — our first great disappointment. Between the halves the Masks and the Owls were pledged. The lucky ones lined up on the athletic field to receive the con- gratulations of Prexie and the plaudits of the student body. Then came the bag scrap which of course was won by the Freshmen. The fight which followed at the power house and on the stens of W ' ingate Hall wr.s more fiercely contested than for several years. The Sophs held fast here, how- e er, and not the faintest stroke of the hell nor the tiniest toot of the whistle did we hear proclaiming the victory of the new-born class of 1920. The caps and posters were decidedly late but the Sophs claim they were well w orth waiting for and when they finally did appear their reception was accompanied by the usual ceremonies. Even the Freshies were prone to admire the nobby bean-shields ' to the extent of $1.00 cash, payable on demand — and really. . 1, the demand was tremendous. Now I ' m to give you my version of the football season. It had its joys and sorrows. We had a wealth of new material but few vets. The men worked hard and improved steadily as the season advanced but they simply could not win games. Snap and aggressiveness seemed to be lacking in the pinches. But the student body — you would have been proud to have been here. Xo losing team e er received more unselfish and enthusiastic support. It made no ditiference whether they won or not, the next game or rally was better attended, and a greater amount of real pep was present than in the preceding one. One rainy day we went down to Lewiston and saw poor old Maine go down to defeat before a Bates eleven, by the score of 6-0. Then something happened, just what or how I know not. The campus was a hot bed all week and when .Saturday morning came the greatest Maine special ever, went down to Waterville. We paraded before that game, Al, and what is more important, we paraded after the game. I ' ve heard cheering and cheering but never anything like the steady pounding bedlam of noise that came from the Maine section, never diminishing in volume or intensity as long as the game lasted. And oh, how that eleven did fight I They played all around the Colby team — they played better than they were capable. Maine carried the ball two-thirds of the time, and five times the Maine backs went smashing thru to Colby ' s 15-yard line, only to get over anxious and lose the ball on a fumble. It was heartbreaking, for they fought so hard. The entire backfield was carried to the side-lines : French, Furey, Stewart, and Gorham, one by one. Bill was the last to leave after carrying the ball almost to that last white line in a terrific series of line plunges that could not be stopped. With victory in sight Captain Gorham crumpled, and with him went our last chance to win the battle that meant so much. — A few minutes later we were out on the street sweeping along to the strains of the Stein Song. The score of the game was 0-0, and were we down- hearted because we had not won? No, we were elated. Once again a Maine team had upheld and re-affirmed the tradition that a Maine team fights to the last ditch, no matter how great the odds. Just that, Al, sent us back to Orono jubilant in the knowledge that whatever the sporting editors might sav, the 1916 football team would forever hold a warm place in the hearts of Maine men and women. 12