Vanderbilt University - Commodore Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

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T'tn Gomel. '5 SAM rfATORV V ■: •: — - !•: now oiler to our friends, and to the public in general, the second volume of The Comet, with the hope that it will receive impartial consideration from every one, and with the request that due credit hi accorded it for whatever merit it may possess. For several years there had been considerable talk as to the expediency of projecting into our college orbit an object of this character, but nothing was ever effected until ’87. when the first volume of Tiik Comet came from the press, in a garb as to finish and literary merit that did honor to our I'niversity. It was, however, allowed to fly into its orbit in a negligent and careless way. Accurate data were not taken for determining, even approximately, its condition, and when ’ 8 rolled around the fraternities found the course of their offspring of last year tracked by such financial disaster that a repetition of the enterprise seemed of doubtful expediency. Astronomical prognosticators felt assured that the periodic returns of The Comet were not annual, while to the casual observer the eccentricity of its orbit seemed so great that the conclusion was at once arrived at that another Lost Comet was to be recorded. Put the second volume, which we now give to the public, proves the error of both these theories, and we believe sub- stantiates the truth of the prophecy, that Tub Comet is a periodic one, and that its periodicity is that of a year. We also hope that these two volumes will convince the college world that The Comet is to be recognized among the best of college annuals as it should be as a representative, to a great degree, of a I’niversity which is gradually falling into rank with the best of American institutions. Whether it has increased or decreased in brightness since its first appearance it is not in our province to say. If in the judgement of our readers it has maintained its former worth and beauty, we shall feel that our work has been well done; if, however, impar- tial criticism must decide that it has waned as time has waxed, we shall confess inca- pacity rather than attribute such deterioration to neglect of duty. In conclusion, we would say that we have no apologies to make to the powers that be.” or to individuals, for anything that may appear within this volume. It is not the