Wittenberg University - Witt Yearbook (Springfield, OH)

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measley Budget issued at a time when measles were rampant among the Ferncliff Hall tribe and with cover most luridly representing the epidemic. Where now Prexy Tulloss reigns supreme and where Dean Martin guides the wayward toward their duty was once the recitation room of Prexy Ort where Juniors and Seniors assembled to recite perhaps, and to listen to Doctor Ort always, for the Doctor’s eloquence and oratory were irresistible, and whether the undergrad understood the substance of the philosophy expounded by the Doctor or not. he was always held spellbound by the doctor’s exposition of the lesson. Now the room is divided in two and the powers that be. decide the destiny of a student and the policy and good of the college there. Even though the old grad has the advantage in years over both Prexy I ulloss and Dean Martin, still I can fancy that there might be a slight weakness in his knees when first he returns and visits the room where he was on the carpet for some misdemeanor in days gone by. The first Wittenberg Glee Club was organized by Professor Hiller. He also originated the college, colors, cardinal and cream. The Alma Mater song is of his composition. In the extreme northwest corner of the campus, that corner bounded by Plum and Cecil Streets, was once a cemetery. There several people of the im- mediate community were buried, but the bodies were afterward removed to other burial places. Fifty years ago, a student on entering college was rushed as earnestly and as fervently for the literary societies as today the student is rushed by the fra- ternities. It was about that time that the men students had two boarding clubs, namely the Saints and Sinners. These clubs were conducted by the students who took turns in acting as steward. C ooks were hired from the outside. The fare was simple but nourishing. Meat was served once a day, butter not at all (at least not by the Saints). Board for the Sinners sometimes cost two dollars and fifty cents a week. I he Saints paid from one dollar and seventy-five cents to two dollars, varying with the food and management. Sam Keller, Professor of Mathematics, always looked at his thermometer as he entered the class- room. If the mercury hung low, he dismissed his class without parley. The thermometer was sufficient authority. One morning as he came into class he consulted the thermometer and found it hovering near the freezing point. The weather was mild outside but classrooms

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Isaac Sprecher, principal of the Academy, and Mr. George Sprecher who gave Doctor Prince his first lessons in Latin, made up the number. The college grounds extended south to the cliffs of what is now Cliff Park. There were only a few houses north of the creek and the campus was fenced in because the townspeople pastured their cattle along the creek and they were always alert to the possibility of one of the gates being open. Gone are the days when I teas young and gay. Gone arc the friends who arc now so far away. Gone arc the landmarks of my college day. hear the newer voices calling. Pay your bills. The Girls’ Gab Room of the Nineties is a thing of the past. The giggling and gabbling that issued from behind the first door to one’s left upon entering Recitation Hall is silenced forever. The click of the typewriter has taken its place. In the days before the regime of Proxy Tulloss this room was the femi- nine stronghold and whatever feminist movements arose at Wittenberg were hatched most likely here within what is now The College Office. An old grad would be lost and I doubt not would hesitate to enter for the first time what in his college days was forbidden ground. The inscriptions adorning the walls have likewise vanished under some coats of nice clean paint. And where is the carpet that was always in tatters? To be sure, there might be seen a whole carpet in all its splendor each year when college opened, but a week two weeks and every girl in college learned to step lightly and warily on those spots which were the pathway to the cloakroom, for to the knowledge of those who trod over that carpet, there never was a carpet which could stand the wear and tear of that room’s use. Dancing? Well, it was forbidden and it is not for those who now have sons and daughters under the rules of this Wittenberg College to tell how we outwitted Prcxy Ort, or if we ce. The carpet wore out. so that's that. The old if underneath the click-clack of the typewriter, t a murmur of the fun of the days that arc gone; with the murmur, there arises above it once in a the lilt of See-Saw” and Come to Me. Sweet e.” Well, perhaps that is just because those were best sellers in the popular music line in those days, nd the old Girls’ Gab Room served for many years as the place where Euterpia held forth in debate, essay and recitation and here it was that the grandmother of “The Witt” held spellbound those who attended Euterpia. The Budget’ was a great little paper and scintillated with all the spice and wit then abroad at Witten- berg. The writer can well remember the

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are cold places sometimes even in mild weather so the class was not detained for a recitation. After they left, the mercury ascended again to the normal position in which the students had found it before they packed it in ice. A tardy rule was in force thirty years ago and more. In order to maintain it. Sam Keller. Professor of Mathematics, locked his door after the bell had rung. One day the late comer was Sam Shaffer ’94. who, when he found the door locked, took time to push under the door one of his calling cards. Pro- fessor K. appreciated the joke, took the card but did not open the door. A day or so later one of the Lipe brothers tried the same thing. This time, how- ever, the strong arm of Professor K. reached out and grabbed the late one by the collar, pulled him into the room with a yell that could have been heard at the old Dorm, lake your seat.” I hat particular tardy rule went the way of others. No better actor ever attended the college than W . Once upon a time Brother W. was called upon to appear before President Heckert for some more or less serious infraction of the rules. Doctor H. proceeded to give W. the drub- bing he deserved. W. took his punishment humbly and promised to remember and to observe all rules of the college. Not long after this Doctor H. was invited to attend a Dorm party. Among the stunts was one arrayed and carried on by W. The scene was Doctor H.’s office with a student upon the carpet for breaking the same rule W. had been arraigned for. The part of Doctor H. was taken by W., and Doctor H. had the pleasure of seeing himself impersonated admirably and of hearing a precise recounting of every word said at the meeting when he had acted as judge. At least one man in the audience enjoyed the show and that, of course, was Doctor Heckert. For many years, it has been the custom to plant an oak on the campus at commencement. One year the young man. who was appointed to procure the honored tree, experienced some difficulty in obtaining one to suit his rather discriminating taste. Finally he went down to Clifton on his bicycle, hoping there to find a tree worthy of the distinction which his class would naturally give it. He returned triumphant with his little tree. At commencement it was planted with fitting ceremony. Time passed and the tiny tree grew, but such is the perversity of Fate sometimes this tree grew, but not into a sturdy oak it had started scrub ash. and scrub ash it remained. The field house on the old football field was for many years the gymnasium and stood along the extreme western boundary of the campus, between Recitation Hall and the Library. Did you ever attend a dance or a keg party in the old gym? Some students did.