Upper Iowa University - Peacock Yearbook (Fayette, IA)

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TWENTY YEARS BACK To feel as did Rip Van Winkle, one doesn ' 1 need to ■ I i i ti I a mountain and fall asleep, nor yet to have a nagging partner to drive one away from home. Twenty years ' absence from Upper Iowa gives one the same queer feeling experienced by tlic leading character of that classic. To look aboul and to find all the babies grown and graduated is much akin to being in a trance. First of all. after sightseeing throughoul the West, one begins to scrutinize more carefully the scenery which once, by us. was just taken for granted. We appreciate the wonderful setting of the little college town. We look with amaze- ment upon the grand old oaks, elms, and maples and upon the limestone rocks carved into monuments to Nature as God made her. The work of the Volga in its meandering course fills us with admiration of its part in Nature ' s scheme to beautify Fayette and to instill into the hearts of its people a love for natural beauty. We see at a glance that the classic Volga is worthy of its time-worn appellation and is deserving of the new and artistic cement bridge with which man has spanned it. Unlike the arid parts of the west, this region demands little of man. His main duty here is to preserve, not to create. Arriving at the campus we walk in solemn reverence up College Hill and out among the trees. We see the cement walks so thoughtfully bequeathed by loyal classes and we give particular attention to that one which curves among the old oaks on the north side of the Chapel and leads to the new Gymnasium. How cheery are the lights of the pillars stationed when ' the roadways enter the campus and before College Hall and the Library, symbolizing the love of other outgoing alumni. (Well do ] remember when, as a young, unsophisticated preparatory student, I was told that in case an arc light on the north road enter- ing the campus failed in its duty, the light would come again if the post were vigorously kicked. One dark night 1 tried the experiment. Imagine my surprise when, as if by magic, the light came at my summons. Xow all such scientific investigations must he confined to the laboratory. The arc lights have been replaced by masonry of adornment.) Had we not been here in 1901 we might have thought that the class of that year had outdone all ti.- others by donating the Henderson Library, for it bears that date on its cornerstone. And so we visited and enjoyed the campus a number of times before any of the buildings drew us in. For were not all our old friends, the trees, beckoning to us. ' A few we missed amongst the number. Where were the old cottonwoods that used to shed their wonderful down, ready for the next campus cleaning day - -the seeds, parachutes which floated about the class room to divert our atten- tion when the staid professor was not looking? And where is the little one- sided tamarack near South Hall which was always so convenient as a lesson in Botany on the effects of sunlight and shade upon the growth of a tree. and. incidentally, as a type of a one-sided student ' s life; one who misses the sunshine of student friendships ami activities, and of Christian and social contacts, seeing only the pages of his books. ' Either the little tree has been crowded mil or the obstacles to an even growth have been removed. Upon approaching The Sem, now known as College Hall. from the wesl we slop to read on a bronze tablet the list of names of ( ' pany F, Third Iowa Volunteers, ami to note the stars. As we see a similar tablet listing the students in the Twelfth Repa ' mont of Iowa Volunteers. Then, almost doubting our own senses, we become aware of a warmth of atmosphere all about us and ritrbt in the midst of a cold day! Could it be possible that there is steam heal even here