Virginia Polytechnic Institute - Bugle Yearbook (Blacksburg, VA)

Page 26 text:

As HRC l:LllLlV6 Will See Them. HE future of the Class of '98 is to us a sealed book. For the time it must remain such. Yet looking out into the vast unknown we may be able to divine some indications of the fate in store for them. Our prophetic vision 'nay see beyond the dark clouds that envelop us. Through some rift we may be able to catch a glimpse of the glories and honors awaiting them. Prophecies are usually associated with dark-browecl gypsies, burning cal- drons, weird caves and fantastic lights, All visions of the future that are prophetic seem to originate from some such source. And yet this prophet has no such surroundings. No dark, mysterious cave, with writhing serpents and solemn-eyed owls is the place of his abode. No weird incantations, no witches' mixtures, have assisted in his divination. No charms have laid bare to him the dark mysteries of the future. The silent witchery of the night has not sharpened his prophetic power. No communings with His Satanic Majesty have given him access to the great unknown. Nor have the angels of darkness contrived to render him aid. But under the most ordinary unprophetic surroundings, influenced by no power that is commonly attributed to the delineators of the future were the prophecies made. Above smiled the broad, blue heaven, below lay the beautiful green earth, the lofty mountains towered high into the air, the birds were singing sweetly in the blossoming trees, the warm spring sunshine was over all, and nowhere was there indication of those hideous accessories to prophesying. But the prophet, though desirous of any associations that will make clearer his prophetic vision, has no desire for aid from the powers of darkness. The beauties of nature and the companionship of man are too much admired by him for him to secret himself in some dark, mysterious cavern in order to learn the mysteries of the future. Aided by the bright sunshine, looking out into the dim unknown, he sees the mist of the future rolled away, and to him comes a vision of the men of '98, when the years at college have long been added to the vague, irre- vocable past. H' Beginning with our Roll-call, Adams, the class comes trooping by. Jack, shy and bashful, will always endeavor to shun the fair SGX. But there 27

Page 25 text:

I Qgy M.

Page 27 text:

will, one day, come to him, when he leasts expects, an arrow from the bow of Cupid, driven with unerring aim, and our misogynist will be transformed into the most obedient, hen-peeked -P His electrical ability and fondness for catenary curves will enable him at some future day to succeed in his highest ambition g namely, to reach the head of the electrical department in Lynchburg. They say civil engineering holds many promises for the future. Behold a future engineer, Barnett, surveyor of the long promised railroad from Christians- burg to Blacksburg. This will be the stepping-stone to higher things, and his future, as I see it in my vision, will be as free from care and trouble as the road- bed which he surveys will be free from obstacles. His aims run in another direction, too. Who would have thought that our Despot was journal- istically inclined? But he is, and to his other honors will be added that of editor of The Radford Advance, an organ supporting woman suffrage and the I-'rohibition party. Baskervill, who did not succeed in sending any one to regions unknown while acting as the physician's assistant, will make this his one aim in life. Beware of the Black Pills and physic of any sort which he shall offer you. He will endeavor to do his utmost for the recovery of those who are rash enough to commit themselves to his care, but he will at that time have a very weighty matter under consideration, making him oblivious to the needs of his patients. Better for them in the end, perhaps. Another civil engineer appears, but he combines with his engineering so many other things that my vision is blurred, slightly. But, first, I see him leading to the altar the fair damsel who years before became the object of his youthful affections. Perhaps this is the highest ambition of his life. But I see him assisting Barnett in that wonderful survey, then his aspirations mount- ing higher, he spans the historic James with noble specimens of his designs. His ambition not yet satisfied, he seeks other fields to conquer, and from the masterly hands of Burruss, the great civil engineer, We have one of the most celebrated novels of modern- times. Still desiring to mount higher, he accepts the chair of civil engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and then- sinks into oblivion. Bush and Brownie, whose lives have been so closely connected during their Senior year, start life's career together. For some years they will be fixtures in the chemical laboratory at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Then the pension appropriation being exhausted, they will be compelled to withdraw. Bush will once more assume the office of steward for the college mess, where he will feed future Seniors on growly U and strap. His favorite pastime will be relating to future students of the times when he was inspector of the First Division. ' 28