Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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lf3i8tov of the Ecabemic (Bvabuatino Class of ' 08. I HAD intended to write the history of this immortal Class in Latin, but I fear lest some reader may not have had the privilege to have come under the sway of our Latin l rofessor ' s genius, and so lose this important addition to the world ' s history. I shall, therefore, suffer myself to write in a less universal language of seholar- ship. I am to write a history of the Class of ' 98. I could better do this fifty j ' ears hence for then indeed we shall have carved our names high up on the ladder of fame, or have failed in life ' s high purposes. Xow our history is short; but it is bright and replete with the most happy circum- stances. Our later history will be made up of disappointments and reverses; but now we stand upon the threshold of a new life. It is not my purpose to go into tlu ' years that await us and assume the attitude of a prophet [ ' evil: Ijut rather to cast m}- e -es back over the lew Inief years which we have passed together. We all remember the first arrival in the liistorie town. It was Septemljer four years ago for the majority of us. After a must delightful trip down the James River we were told to change cars for Lexington. We hoped to change, but there were no cars and we were told that we would have two hours to ' ' take in IJalcony Falls. So charming were the sights that we were loath to leave when we were told to get aboard a freight train for Lexington. This train proved to be the only original Virginia Creeper. After a pleasant sto]i of two hours at Buena Vista, the train at last started in earnest for our destination. In a very exhausted condi- tion We reached Athens the Second, and were immediately taken in charge by the college politi- tians. We were overjoyed by the heai-ty reception we were given by the genial wirepullers ' and I, for one, pledged myself to three candidates for final ball president in as many minutes. I was totally irresponsible for anything I did or said for forty-eight hours. Poor, green, freshmen I little did we .suspect that our friends would leave us when they no longer expected our vote. We

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GRADUATING ACADEMIC CLASS.

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have learned by hard experience that there is such a thing as politics in college, and some of us can greet a freshman with a right cordial smile. After the first few weeks, our freshman year was uneventful. We had learned how to bat Old Alec ' s eye out and score a max in junior Math. We uow knew what a flunk was and at the end of the year we found out that the flunking process had decreased our ranks for the second year. I shall not take up any other particular year, but shall mention a few things of historic interest. Every year at college is very much alike and a history of each would be a great deal of repeti- tion verbatim. Of course I should mention any one of our number who is especially worthy of note. First and foremost stands Pratt, the phenomenal twirler, athlete, and mathematician. He has two sheepskins in his vest pocket and is a candidate for Ph. D. this year. He has been known to spend many a night before a baseball game in making a scientific size-up of the men he was to pitch against. He not only has the theory, but can wrap the ball around a man ' s neck three times. Next to be mentioned is .Jimmy Mason, the fat man. He matriculated at sixteen, but what he lacked in years he made up in pounds for he had two hundred and thirty-five of them. In four 3 ' ears he has fallen oft on account of hard study and now only weighs two hundred and thirty-four pounds. He is a good all-round athlete and a fast sprinter. Liv Smith, the tall man, towers above us all in height and probably in intellect. We would like to mention every member of the class, but I have been instructed by Pat to be brief. Yes, we have enjoyed these years of study, and our pleasure has been unalloyed except by a few flunks. These flunks have been heart- lessly administered ; but we have stood them with the soliloquy : Oh ! what a noble mind is here o ' erthrown. The professors have greatly aided us and we all appreciate their labors. Professor Ourrell has added to our store of words greatly, even though he does not consider the human mind as a receptacle for the holding of curious erudition, and he always instructs us not to spin out the thread of our verbosity longer than the store of our argument. Doctor Quarles has carefulh ' instructed a few of us in philosophical speculation and has taught us the use of Occam ' s razor: Entia non sunt multipUcanda -prater neces- sitatem. Each professor has done his duty and done it well and if we are lacking it is not their fault. Let us not close this historj- without mentioning the two presidents under whose administrations we have labored. When we