Yale University - Sheffield Scientific School Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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CLASS HISTORY 75 that this necessary activity was not, after all, a thing to be taken lightly-a fact which was made increasingly evident throughout the year by the enforced departure of many of our numberj, we man- aged to take in a few games. Bates, Chicago, and Princeton were tied, while we lost to Brown and Army. The IinXl' was once again proved to be invincible, and few of us will forget the aquatic revel- ries of the encounter with Harvard, which team was literally and figuratively swamped by the fast swimming Eli gridsters. Another memorable event of the fall term was the blanket probation cast over Entry E. This deplorable happening was due more as a result of the necessity of repaneling the doors and generally renovating the halls than to any scholastic failings. With the approach of winter we witnessed the overthrow of the Grand Old Party and spent much enthusiasm on the Beer by Christmas campaign. All hope along this line was soon smotheredll and our attention was claimed by Rush Week. Wilbur Buds and cigars for Pop Lane were only incidental to the ultimate choice, which, when finally made and confirmed, lifted a weight from our minds. We were now full-fledged members of the Shelf social sys- tem which we found-and still continue to find-to be quite real and in no way emasculated, as the board of the Oldest College Daily would lead us to believe. After this week of nerve-shattering experi- ence came a week of comparative calm-a week which was utilized by the members of one club to recover from a particularly poor grade of oyster served at their pledge dinner. Christmas vacation was not long in passing, and we returned to New Haven to await the results of the inauguration. These were not long in arriving, and for some week-ends it was necessary to forego the usual excursions to Vassar or Smith owing to a general tie-up of funds. This tended to cause us to fall out of sympathy with the Democratic party, but our recalcitrance was terminated by the renewed promises of beer. In February came the Iunior Prom with the melodies of Glen Grey and the warblings of Peewee Hunt. Also, by way of recognition of a feat well accomplished, it might be allowed that things ran smoothly and that as a result of the whole thing a substantial profit was recog- nized. Spring finally arrived, and we were once again subjected to the inclemencies of New Haven weather. What we had thought to be unusually bad weather Freshman year was now accepted as a tradi- tion, and we resigned ourselves to its whims and to our colds. To help us out in our dilemma the Legislature finally did give us the

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74 CLASS OF NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE S. AND E. thoroughly initiated and learned in the ways of New Haven. Conse- quently, with the advent of spring, we were ready to push on to newer ground. This we found on the campuses of Smith, Vassar, Connecticut College, and others, and the habit of the week-end exodus from New Haven was firmly established. With spring also came the necessity of deciding between Ac or Sheff, and many were the arguments advanced for both. Finally, deciding that reading pe- riods were not all that might be desirable in life, we decided to cast our lot in with the Sheff boys and to try out the vagaries of a sci- entific training. Next of importance on the Yale calendar of events comes Derby Day, but owing to the reprehensible nature of the un- dergraduate celebration on the preceding year this most important event was not held, and we had to wait until another day in another year to witness our first Derby Day debauch. Perhaps the most seri- ous event of the Freshman year was the series of 240-minute quizzes which terminated the career of so many of our number and which served to install the rest of us in the halls of Van-Sheff. The exam period itself was fraught with much excitement-beach parties, mov- ing pictures, mid-week excursions from New Haven, and what not -but it was in no wise comparable to the enjoyment of Engineer- ing Camp, to which many of our number repaired immediately afterwards. Here in the sheltered calm of East Lyme many of us managed to pass the most memorable part of the year. With Clif- ford's advice to the faculty members, Bancroftls idea as to the func- tion of nails on batter boards, and Brainard's unfortunate experience in the drawing room, together with New London and the boat races, we managed to spend a most enjoyable three weeks. At the close of the course we were, however, glad to break camp and return to some hot water and a good long stretch of vacation before taking our leap into S 0 plz om ore Year. Returning once again to our old haunts in the fall, we looked about us with the object of becoming more thoroughly acquainted with our new environment. It was only a matter of days before we were thoroughly at home in the halls of Van-Sheff, and we soon ventured out once more into the fast mad whirl of New Haven life. We bought a few textbooks, met the Wolf of Wall Street, became lost in the new Gym, and settled down to forecast the results of the approaching football season. During the football season itself, in ad- dition to a slight amount of studying Qfor we had begun to realize

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76 CLASS OF NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE S. AND E. long-promised light wines and beer, and although the state of Con- necticut was slightly behind in the rush, the state of New York was only a short distance from our classrooms, and many were the enter- prising young smugglers to take advantage of the proximity to the source of supply. With smuggling, of course, comes hijacking, but, although much of it was undoubtedly accomplished, there is only one outstanding incident on record. The story concerns itself with two budding young engineers who adopted the device of a pair of coat hangers used as a lifting contrivance and purloined therewith one case of Iacob Ruppert's best from the very window sill of its rightful owner. Many Saturday afternoons were spent marveling over the new yeastless bottles, and we began to look forward to the day when, instead of asking for a cocola with a dash of lemon, we could walk up to a bar and with our foot on the brass rail call out in a firm voice for a mug of sudsf, Now could we have our beer picnics and a real celebration at Derby Day. On this day we donned our old or fancy clothes, rode out to Derby, and watched the various forms of hilarity-and incidentally the boat races. The parties in the evening were the climax to the week-end, and after the weaker sex departed on Sunday we settled down to some real concentrated ef- fort in the form of preparation for Hnal examinations, which came and went in much the usual fashion, leaving a few of our number in sorry scholastic plight and many of the rest of us with obligations of tremendous magnitude to one tutoring school or another for its interest in seeing us through our exams and well on the way to the poorhouse. With the last exam over there was little else to do save start out on a summer's vacation, which being a good idea, widely accepted, we put into immediate practice, thus leaving the calm of New Haven undisturbed for a short time until we should return again for our fzfznior Year. Those of us who did not return until the end of September found a sad and bedraggled group of Mech Tech boys waiting and wish- ing for a vacation. These would-be engineers had already spent the greater part of the month roaming about factories and shops, note- book in hand, much to the amusement of the employees. Nothing in the form of a vacation being forthcoming, however, they all joined forces with the rest of us and thus helped to start the year off in Hne style. Perhaps the first observation that we made was that no longer