Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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fills the bill in that particular. Still less have we sought to compile a useful encyclopedia of the Tech. That would require gravity, and the Board, individually as well as collectively, have not acquired a reputation for more gravity than the law allows. Our first intention was to publish something humorous, but, after a thorough e.xamination of the material from which humor was to be evolved, our maiden intentions were thrown to the winds. What we have done is open to inspection. The publication of the book was not seriously discussed until March, and work upon it was not commenced until the April vacation. This statement is not offered as an e.xcuse but as a reason for our not being able to embody many ideas that have since occurred to us. We have endeavored to make the book as artistic as possible, and to that end have spared no expense. As to literary merits, the editors disclaim all knowledge of any such non-essentials and would consider it as very thoughtful to have “gentle reader” temporarily afflicted with like ignorance. The Socialists do not publish this book to show how little they know about such things. They do it primarily to prove that it is possible for a Tech social organization not only to thrive but also to be able to publish a record of their doings, indeed, a class-book in all but name. In conclusion, we have but one request to ask of all, please do not call this “the L’Expose.”

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TASK is finished and the editors hasten to present the results of their labors to an expectant public, trusting the supply of the results will be inadequate to the demand. We anxiously await the verdict of that public, their approbation, their—cash. Having some apprehension of our fate if this work is “persona non grata” to those whose ultimatum is final, the editors beg to deny that any malice, intentional or otherwise, has crept into these pages. We have grinds, it is true; but these grinds owe their existence only to the popularity and prominence of the “ground.” Even the editors have been forced to view themselves in the mirror of nature. Everything has been written in a friendly spirit. We have not tried to make enemies, and in fact have had no time to do so, did our inclinations point that way. For this reason let all esteem it a mark of signal favor if the honor of figuring in L’EXPOSE has been accorded them. There is much more that could have been written up and presented our readers than is contained between these covers. The book is really the result of great condensation. We have tried to dispense entirely with filling, and have stopped short when ideas seemed to lose interest. No attempt has been made to present a list of names and addresses—the catalogue (issued “just a trifle late this year”) ( 2 ) 9

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TEN has it been said that ever since the first issue of the Institute paper, its editors have been continually harried on every side by arti¬ cles from aspiring students upon “ college patriotism,” ” social unity,” and ‘‘class feeling.” The articles usually commence as though the writers were entering upon new themes and as though new argu¬ ments for social unity were being presented for the first time. The announcement in the paper that more editors are needed brings with it a torrent of neatly written and punctuated essays upon that very threadbare subject. New boards have come and gone; new editors have presided, but yet that ine.xhaustible theme has furnished a continuous stream of matter, dilated upon according to the amount of ‘‘filling” required. Solemnly, very solemnly, does each article impart the news that there is a great lack of social feeling within these ‘‘marble halls.” The same subject, couched in different language, appears again and again as though condemned to whirl forever through the unending cycles of eternity. It is impossible to say whether past events have or have not been influenced by these vivid remonstrances, hut it is a fact that something most unexpected happened during the first days of December, 1891. The occasion was the establishment of a social organization, embodying many of the views expressed in the above-mentioned articles. II