The Messenger, Vol. 42, No. 4

Page 1

THE MESSENGER. Entered at the Post-Office at Richmond College, Va., as second-class matter.

VoL.-'- LII.

J

ARY, 1916.

WELCOME STRANGER. L. 1 '17.

un et and mi t bank, And a cloud of golden light; A cooling breeze, the fallen leaves, A murmur 'mid the naked trees, And day is done-'tis night . A sable robe and formless world, Unbounded eas of dark, The nap of frost, and panes embossed, Another summer now is lost; Dead silence now, but-hark! A turning gate, a rusty hinge, A step upon the stair; A gentle tap, a louder rap, Increasing wind, a shutter's flap, Some stranger lingers there! Sunrise and mist bank, And the crystal air is till; Friends die away, guests come to stay, May they be friends for many a day I New Year remain-until-

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FOUR HUNDRED FEET DOWN. Vade Sylvis 1 '16.

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HAT'S that? Could it be an explo ion? o, it can't be that. Who ever heard of any ga. in thi coal mine? I'm shaky and nervou . I think I'll go out ide and quit work for to-day. ¡what' the matter with the main-line motor, and-God! what's happened to the lights? It i a dark a pitch. There i omething wrong somewhere. I wonder-I wonder, could it have been an explo i.on of that dust off third and fourth left? Mine bo said thi morning that it wa dangerou . Where' my trnn it? I'll bet some fool carried a carbide lamp in there. They ought to u e safety lamps in that du t. It can't 1 e much farther to the switch now. "Let's see, Tom Mills ought to be working in this room. No, it's the next one below. Hey, Tom! He doe n't an wcr. Can-canOh, God l the whole mountain ha fallen in. What havoc! Everything-from here out-three hundred men-all dead. Am I the only one left alive? Is there no other way out? Wait! Haven't they driven that entry through to No. 3 mine? No, that entry starts in below the fallen mass; I can't go that way. I'll have to wait until the rescue party breaks through-that is, if I don't starve to de.ath. They ought to get through in five days, and, if necessary, I can go hungry longer than that. I've read of men who starved for a month-almost . "What's that? It-it smells like- My God! it's afterdamp. It was at the Red Bank explosion. I remember it well. It's getting stronger and deadlier. Gad, it's coming through in volumes. I've got to do something or I'll suffocate. What can I do? I can't think. I can'tWall myself up. That's it, but where? I've got to have time. Can I beat that gas back up to the main heading and wall it out? How fast does afterdamp spread? How did I answer that question at school? Let's see-after-damp, specific gravity .89-ordinary air-pressure, twenty-eight feet per minute. That gives me a world of time.


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That wa a low top where I bung tho e center this morning. It ought to be about th be t place. "Here' the place and plenty of loo e late in the gob. I can wall it up in thirty minute , and the ga won't spread this far in two hour". And I can fill the chinks with wet coal-du t if there i any water. Plenty to drink, too, and I never thought about drinking water. What if I had forgotten about water and there had been none here? "Ten minute up, and it' not a foot high. I mu t hurry. I've got to be careful, and eal it tight, or the ga will come through. Twenty minut -I'm not half through. I wonder how many were killed? Al op, Ju tin, Harvey, Doak, and the re t. Wonder what Ed's doing? Gue he ha already ent mother a telegram. I wish she knew that I was safe. Twenty-eight-ten minute , more, and I'll finish it. They watered down that dust ye terday. There must be fire-damp up there, too. It sure was a big explo ion, becau e it jarred me, and I wa in the main heading, a half mile away-and twelve trap door between. "Finished! Whew! I'm out of breath, and my knee are wobbly. Any more chinks? I'll daub it all over anyway, and then I'll know I'm safe. It mu t not leak through or it'smy chance are slim anyway. They know I'm back here, but they think I'm dead Will they try to break through or will they shaft from above? How long will it take them? "I mu t be economical with my light. Flask is only half full of oil and practically none in the lamp. Four hours-maybe six, with a small wick. Four, SL'<,nine, eleven matches. My pipe, that's a little comfort, and I won't get so hungry. I'd better blow out my lamp now. Gad, how dark! How still! Not a sound-maybe I can sleep awhile. Let's see if any gas is coming through. It urely ha spread this far by now. Everything tight and safe. Eleven-twenty-it's time for the relief train from Cto arrive. I wonder what they are doing around the drift mouth'? I'd hate to be out there listening to those women and children. But better there than here. It's awful, though, to stand around and Ii ten to their cries and moans. Some of the women had to be carried away from the Red Bank mine. "This oppressive blackness! This intense stillness! I can't


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tand it. But I have to pa .. the time om way or oth r. If I c uld only lecp! h r <lid I put my oat. Th r , that's better. lather ha heard th n ws by now. Probably sh is on h r way up her . fothcr, don't worry; Im af . od! I vd ·b he knew it. It will n arly kill h r. h didn't want me to take up mining engineering-alway wa again t it-and told me veral time that he wa afraid thi would happ n. 1 0 did arah Lee. Wonder if they thought to t lcgrapb h r? I w going down to ce her after pay-day, but now-w 11, mayb , if he knew of thi he'd come h r . I know he would, becaus he said he loved me, and-she' too good to lie. I wi h that wewere together-count star-the teps-mother. * • • "Eight forty-five! I've been I ep nine bou . iy head i bur ting. I wonder why I feel o groggy and dizzy? y mouth and throat are parched and burning. I mu t have water-ah! Lord, how weak I am, and drowsy ! I think I could go to leep again. Maybe it' the ga , but I can't smell it. I can't undertand it. What i the matter with me? Oh, God, tbi silence! I believe I'm going insane. I can't remember; I can't think. My bead turns around and around. My throat hurts. Will the rescue party never come? But I have only been here about fourteen hours. Five day of this! I can't tand it-I can't live through it, but I don't want to die. I can't die-I'm not prepared. Oh, God! spare me a lingering death back here. Only let me see the God-ki ed sunlight once, and arah Lee. Die and rot in this black hell! Only let me hear one human voice, and"But if I have to die I'll face it like a man and not a crying baby. There's no help for it. She wouldn't want me to be a cringing, faltering coward, afraid to meet my fate. I'm only nervous and overwrought; there is no real danger yet. I'll cheat death, and laugh at my fears. This air is close. Breathing seemed easier when I was laying down. Oh! that's better. I wonder what time it is? But I'll not waste a match. I'll need them all. Hush! Is that the stroke of a pick-axe? Could it be the rescue? It sounds like some one digging somewhere. They can't be coming yet. They haven't bad time. It must have been my imagination. It's stopped. Oh, heavens, if they would


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only come! Why don't they-but they are doing their best. I mu t wait-wait. Ye, mother-in a-minute. • • • "Have I been asleep again? omething is wrong. This horrible tighening of the che t! Thi difficult breathing! What is the cau e of it? Oh, God! I can't breathe. A light! Why, it won't burn! Air-air-I must have air. What have I done? There must be air 'Omcwherc. What-I I've walled my elf up in a thirty-foot room and all the oxygen i, u ed up. The light won't burn. Why didn't I notice it before? Water! Water! Oh, God, air! I'm choking-I can't see. There is air-beyond the wall. God I I can t tear away the e rock . I'm too weak. It moved. ow! The gas! The ga ! It choke -me. I'm suffo-1 can't-<}an't--stop-it-now. Air-mother-air-air.''


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CONCERNING AIR CASTLES. R. Taylor oleman, '18. " o to live that when th un f our exi tcnc 'ink: in night M morial sweet of m rci 路 done lay hrine our namC'' in m mory' light, And the bl -t eel' we scattered bloom A hundr d-fold in day路 to come."

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AY after day, and hour after hour, house of hewn stone are rising in this land of our ; the toil in the "canon of the money-grubbers," a. 0. Ilenry ha it, b come more tense and ti fling, and the grip of commcrciali路m more binding and tyrannical. And from this very condition of affairs we need to build for our elvc crutl sin the air, habitations far away from the smoke of factory chimney and the clank of the wheels of indu try. They hould be dwelling路 of the . oul, places to which we may retreat to erase ome of the grime of life and to gain a clearer view of things. The m re mention of such castles, however, bring to mind dire memories of the dreamer and the unpractical one; and, thinking of them, we take caution, and build not for our elves castle in the air. We continue to rear earthly castle of all kinds here, glad that we may do it, and rejoicing in the thud of the coin on the counter of trade. The idea of air castles is somehow, sad to say, repugnant to th mass of us-it gets too far away from our avowed commercialism. Yet, in taking this attitude, and in so thinking, we fail to appreciate that air ca tles are, after all, but ideal ; that "gold is but the guinea stamp"; that life, in its beauty, is the ultimate thing; and that, without ideals to hold before us the best and noblest, this were but a weary world, a place where achievement would count for little, because there were no air castles to storm and occupy, and then go on to one still higher up the mountainside of perfection. And these air castles are not to be mere bubbles either, we


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rt. They should be structures . oliclly and well built, wi h to not the creation: of foggard an<l dreamers, and not blotches of hazin .: · or pulT- of :mokc. Air castle , a all real ca.tie·, hould be foundation dwell; but they -hould have the additional groundwork of Firm R solv and Hewing Per.:everancc. Yet even this i not nough. They mu ·t be built us if they were to lat to eternity, hut, on occasion, mu.t be abandoned at a fla 'h-when the id al which i. the heart of the ca ·tic i.' realized or found to be ignoble! For we are going to talk, we a- ..urc you, of noble castle in the air and ca. tlc" that, a· soon n • inhabited, mu ·t be forsakena ties h re on earth, no matter how deeply rooted, for a better. may be hla -ted by storm· and go down with a era h. But only the builder-you, perhap -can demolish ca 'tie in the air. o, with a few of the mi t and, we hope, prejudice cleared up, we may now pass on to a. consideration of the kind of air castles and th mark· by which they may be di tinguished. We have reduced the everal types to two-ca tics of elf and ca tie of ervice. The fault· and quaking construction of the former will hine in trong contrast with the ca tle of ervice, the like of which very man houl l build for himself in hi' inmost soul as a pattern, and ideal, if you wi. h. Of all of the type~ of self ca ·tles, that of the politician, the ordinary politician, i a ·suredly the most daugerou ·, and the one mo t detrimental to the general welfare. A politician is, or hould be, a ervant of the people. Repo ing confidence in him, the ma e trust to him to serv them. But, as it too often happen , he betray the tru t; he cleverly schemes, deceives, lies, and servesself! Ile has no ideal, no purpo e, but to gain much for self; he think of the time when he may afford to be defeated, and live in his hou e, with the front of brown stone, built by his unwitting "Only elect me to this office," he orate , with constituents. "and I'll get privileges and reform which tongue, his on guile under his breath he of before"-and dreamed you have never of gold." All his hoard my and me mutters, "that will benefit and all the poliaggrandizement, thoughts are on self and its of a more promiions vi tician' waking hour are ·pent, in part, in nent place for himself-nothing more than air ca ties of self. The capital at Albany, in our great StaLc of New York, is said to be


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v n now crumbling into ruin, though having toocl but thirty y ar~, whil the cropoli at Rome that oth r capital of a mighty tate, i' tanding, in part, aft r twenty-two hundr l y ar of torm and tr . The on&--the one in our own land-wa · built by men who c ideal , if they had any, w r of lf j th other ro. from the toil of tho who lov d their country, and who ·wi bed to leave om thing to rve tho ·c who w r to follow them, the actual builders. H r we .: in 11 clear light the diffcrnce, the impas able gap, that ~ parat the one from the th •r, the air c -tle of elf from the cast! of crvice. e purpo to pursue the indictment of c tl of i:; lf y t further. Airy though they may b , they tifle lov , and throw an icy pall over human intercourse, the pre enc of which i the beauty of the world in large part. There i the t rnal "I" in cru;tlc of self that kc ps us from reaching out a helping hand to our fellowmen; such structure have only one inhabitant, a modern f udal baron, who sees the suffering around him, but heed. it not; and they are on the eminence, but h d forth no light on the weary sojourner or tho e bowed from the day of toil. uch man ions are too near the ground, and ar early contaminated by earthstains and petty jealou ie . The tim • p nt in their building i worse than wasted-it i degrading. Truly, in our truggle for exi tence there mu t b much of self, from the very fact that no on el e i to. hould r our burden·; nor would we have them do it. We mu t work long and hard for our meed of succe , but we mu t not lose the ideals which . pm us on nor cloud them by . omc scheme to gain a moment's advantage--a course re orted to very clay by those who think only of self. When we come into the country of air ca'tle , the ego should be left on the outside, and the pure gold of a man be allowed to gleam. Thus, in building castle of self, we are outraging our better nature, dragging down our fellow , and trailing our ideals in the dust and grime stirred up by those bound ever and always on missions of self. Now that we have een the false architecture and Lhe rotting foundations of some castles in the air, let us turn to a more pleasing outlook in the scanning of air castles of service, and drawing our lessons and conclusions from them. They should prove soothing


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to mind, eye, and body after our tarrying in the land of the f al e. They hould ·how to u · th b auty of ideal , and give u reason to thank God that we may inhabitate ca tle. of. ervice if we prove our elves worthy. The contra t will b tartling, if we err not, in that it will be the gleaming ilver lining to the mi t that may have been .·he<lover u. by the fear that, perhnp., ca tle of elf were coming to be th mo t common type of eYen air ca tle . s a first ob rvation, w find that air ca tlc of service are mighty timuli to good. Their turret , bastinet , and high place uch ca tles hearten many a on in his climb upward and onward. were doubtlc: in Longfellow' mind when he wrote of "footanother * * * eeing, hall take that pcrhap print heart again"; yet he was referring to the examples of the dead, noble as they may be. But, w would have you know, air castles of crvice arc better than even the e footprints in the sands of time; for what an encourag ment their pire , lit up with the gleam of hwnan love, will radiate around, and how all-inclu ive the circle of influenc will be! The little Chattahoochee, as immortalized by idney Lanier, had the true vi ion of and stimulus for ervice in its hurry and anxiety to reach the barren plains, and turn the waiting mill-wheels in its course downward from the hill of Habersham. It i a poetic example of the true desire for service, uch a is po e ed by tho e who build for themselves air ca tle of the genuine type. Moreover, the very planning and construction of air castles give to the builder-to you, perhaps-a pirit of eagernes that is clo ely akin to idealism it elf. And, animated by thi same spirit, great works may be, and always are, accomplished. When it is communicated to the imagination it produces noble poetry; when to reflective thought, great scientific treatises come of it, as those of Mill, Darwin, and pencer. Can you not almost imagine the zeal with which Milton and Bunyan applied themselves to their work, the one blind, the other in Bedford gaol when his finest book was written? In the presence of such zeal and sincerity the ultimate reward was entirely forgotten. Milton and Bunyan had messages for their generation, and they did not deliver them for the publisher's cheque, but for the sheer love of doing it, and from a realization that they were, in a sense, oracles. Their


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book· wer but m ' en rs from th ir c tie in th air, bringing tiding: to the world that would b n fit it, and that would for v r of id al and how forth the b auty an l th pr ciou privil an xi. tence for other· fir t. With tbi. in mind, w may r garcl "Paradi. e Lo t II and "Pilgrim's Progr .. " in a n w Ii ht, as ·hot -through with th b auty that i' inali nablc with ca. tl · of .·ervicc to mankind. To leave thi ubj ct without a word on hero ~ and their air cru:tle would b to l ave it crud ly lop- id d. For th mo t part, hcroe are ju ·t ordinary folk lik the r tofu., but-cliff rent. They alway have in th ir h art · ·om thing that perh p w have left out. And that i · the vision of ervice. Coleridg om wh r call· it the "unalienabl tr a ure 11 ; we call it an air ca tl of both are corr ct. Toi toi, the premier Ru ian ervice-and noveli t, was, in hi qui t way, a much a hero as any oldi r who has ever tormed almo ·t impo ible redoubt of the nemy and planted the tandard of hi , country victoriou ·ly on the height . He aw the uncomplaining p ant around him in grinding poverty, carcely human b ing . Ile turned not away from them, but he rendered service, as all great men have done. His heart went out to them, and with it his large fortune a a member of the Ru ian nobility. He not only gave hi moral and mental upport, but backed hi ideals with his money, and in so doing pa etl the fire-te t. The la t year of his life were p nt imply and lovingly hoes for hi pittance among the people he called hi: own-cobbling a day, as other lowly hoemakrr everywh re were doing. He early aw the gleam, a did Merlin of old. He pur ued it, and hi name i surely enrolled among tho e who, in the past, have helped correct evil and ea ed suffering, purred on by their soul-castles of service. Just so it is with every hero. Many, to be sure, go down to the grave unhonored and unsung, but they always fought the good fight and finished the course without going over to the side of evil, so alluring ever. Imbued with the surroundings and living in fancy in his castle in the air, the author writes his book to uplift and in pire; the trainman almost breathes life into his engine to get his pas engers there swiftly and safely, and the professor seeks to in til into hls students truths and ideals that will go with them to the end of time. That is the keynote of it


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all, tho.t little word "ideal ," a mall thing to conjure with, but po es -ing po,; ¡ihilitics a big as the world. And thu heroes are tho 'e who go to their work, humble to ome but great to them, with thought of elf ca t aside and with air castles of service rear d large in their heart . ow, at length, we have unburden d our elf concerning air crutlcs. W have ought to bring before you the vain triving and triviality of th fnls ideal' we were pleased to call air ca tles of elf, and the true worth anti life-giving power that came only from the building of castle' of ervice and the later struggle to be fit and nobl enough to even trive to come near to them, to ri e to the e idealistic tructure . elf calls to u with blatant voice to intrench ourselve more firmly here, while the softer but more compelling cry of humanity appeals for our hare in increasing the g neral good. The ca ties of elf and their arrogant builders are ha:t ning the day when might will make right and when the iron foot of the rich will crush more horribly the poor. But let us not de pair, weari ome a the st rife may seem to be. Over there on the heights not even aspired to by the promoters of elf are the habitations of tho e who render crviceand they are the hope of the world. Their ca tle shed forth rays of help and a me sage of peace and good-will to all; they blunt the edge of commerciali m and exalt a purer ideali m, without which we would be but cogs in a machine. Let us then be thankful because we arc privileged to build air castles of service, and arc made to realize that our life is worse than wasted if we hve for elf alone.


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YOUTH . L. M. Latane, '17. "But whe:nI becamea man I put away childish things."-

As the leaves mu t fall At the autumn' call, And their beauty all crumble away, So the youth must part With his buoyant heart, For as men we should never be gay. Now the worlds go 'round, And the stars hine down, And we thrill with the sense of life; But our ideals fade While our life-drama's played, And they're lost in the daily strife . Now our songs are sung While we still are young, And our joy all comes to us then; For we must not ask From life's stern task To be relieved, as men. Then we putter away At the things of a day, And forget the high aims we had, Or our selves are wrought In the realms of thought, And our hearts are lost, and we're sad. And our lives grow old, And our hearts grow cold,

t. Paul.


RICHMOND COLLEGE MESSE

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A we weave our destiny, ith the threads of might, And th threads of right, But of Love there mu ,t not be. But, 0, Lord, may I keep, 'Mid the thing dark and deep, The light buoyant pirit of youth; May I n ver forget That pure Love's greater yet, Than Justice, or Right, or cold Truth.

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FATE . Isaac Diggs, Jr., '17.

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ILLY TH :\IP O ~ was a junior in th niver~ity of Yirginia, and, like mo t Virginians, he wa a p r.:-on that, once he became imbued with th id a to accompli h a thing, there wa ' no re 't until this idea had worked out, or until he had done hi · b . t to accomplU1 it. Billy was al o garrulou , and had gained th reputation around the campu of having a rather vivid imagination. Therefore it was nothing unu unl on one afternoon in late October to have Billy laze into th "frat." lounging room, with a cigarette tuck nonchalantly in hi mouth, his coat con ·picuou. by it ab ence, a watch-chain aero the upp r half of hi ve ·t that put you in mind of convict road gangs, and the heavy outlines of a bulky Inger oll and a large jack-knif in hi two upper pocket.:, for the purpo e of maintaining the chain in its proper po ition. Thi evening we didn't care particularly about hearing anything from Billy. The faculty had just put an nd to soirees and Saturday night hops, and we were all in a ore frame of mind. Billy, however, didn't give a "happy hurrah" about the way any one felt, and when he drew up the big leather easy chair, that had been shipped from home for Billy's comfort, we knew that he was preparing to tell us an experience. Starting off with his u ual rcmini cent smile, which lowly enveloped his whole face, he began: "Y'know, fellows, I had the swellest experience last summer. "Yes, it was on the Canadian Pacific teamer 'Princess Victoria,' which we boarded at Seattle, Washington. I remember, as I was passing down the gang-plank, how that tall, lanky, humorless English immigration officer looked me over, and wanted to know if I was trying to smuggle any munitions of war in, or whether I had any German blood in the family for the last century, and lots of other things that reminded you of a third degree examination or a coroner's jury. After making me swear that I was American, he finally raised his left eyebrow, which I inferred was


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a sign of approv I, and I continued on my way, not dreaming of anything unu ·ual. " Ju t a ·oon ru I landed on th boat I located the rooking saloon, and at down to enjoy om • EnglH1 cigarettes and the oon, however, the pater came down, and informed war new . me that I wa · mi ing ·ome gr at . cencry, and that I had better come up and ee it. Feeling under pecuniary obligation to the old gentleman, I got up and :trolled to the. tern of the boat, and, as I wa gazin at the rug"' d foot-hills and winding coa t line that edged the traits, my eye' fell upon omething much nearer and int nsely more interesting. , itting right within ten feet of me, I aw the prettie. t girl that it had been my pleasure to gaze upon inc leaving Virginia, and then. ome. Well, I am not flirt, but I just had a hunch that that wa. my exactly-er-a fate, spelt with a big F, and o I wandered over in the vicinity of the deck chair where the ai<l young lady wa cozily re ting, reading one of Robert hamber ' late -t afflictions. "I affected to be tudying the cencry very carefully, while, really, with my . eawar<l eye, I wa · gazing on the beauty of omething va tly more intere ting than mountains and straits. She wa nattily dre--ed in a blue tailored uit, with hirrb, white boots, and ju. t a sugge tion of a pale blue stocking above her shoe . Her hat, a small blue and white one, to match the suit and shoe , wa setting at a becoming angle, and her blue eyes and rosy cheeks were surmounted by a suit of chestnut hair. Her general appearance could not be improved on. She was one of tho e girls that makes you think she would be handsome in anything she put on. "While I wa wondering what on earth I could do to start a conversation, she happened to glance up in my direction, caught me looking at her, almost miled, and then continued to read. I sat there stolidly smoking. To butt or not to butt, that was the question. Finally I decided not to, for many reasons. After completing the tenth cigarette I shot the empty box overboard and went aft, seeing that I wasn't gaining anything by the close proximity. "Then I tried to find some friend on board who knew her, but could not find one. She was with her father and mother,


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and knew no one l , apparently. During th r ·t of the morning, and through dinn r, I work d my brain, trying for sum' excu · . If he would only drop h r handkerchief, or g t ;uddenly ick, or do om thing that would r quir chivalry, but sh didn't. "Then a the boat was p ing into Vancouv r hurhor, to the trains of 'It' a Long Way to Tipperary," 1 ·aw that . he was getting ready to get off, and my pirit ro::; a"'nin. i' Iy top was al o Vancouver. ' I followed her down the gangway a lo~ ly a. wa advisable, but a udden jolt in the crowd lo. t h r. I wa. met at the wharf by Dr. p ncer, an old college friend of father' , and before I could catch my breath wa being whirled away in hi' machine. As I wa craning my head to c if I could catch another glimp e of her, I aw a handkerchief wavinlTfrom the wharf. It wa she. "That night my mind wa in a perpetual agony about bow I would ever ee her again. I did not know her nam nor de. tination. But how on earth could I p ak of it to Dr. p nccr, a sedate, old married man? I think that had I taycd in that frame of mind much longer I hould have pitched myself in English Bay, but somewhere in my mentality there Ioclg d the thought that I would see her again. "In the morning the Doctor very kinclly con cnt d to show me the beauties of the surrounding Canadian mountains. I fear, however, my acceptance mu t have been more m chanical than anything else. But I was afterwards glad I went. "As we were passing down King's Highwn.y, and ju tin front of the Imperial Hotel, there she was. I made a mental note of the place. Of course, I could not ask the Doctor to stop and let me get out of the car. "I have a vague recollection of such places as Capilano Canyon, Stanley Park, the Couchant Lions on Mount Victoria, the famous Canadian beaches on English Bay, the giant fir trees in the parks, and so on; but they weren't half so interc ting to me a.s the fact that I now knew where she was. "As soon as I could decently excuse myself after dinner, on a pretext of seeing the business district, I went out, hailed a cab, and went to the Imperial to sit it out.


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"I thought she would never app ar. Three, four, five o'clock, and no Her. At quarter of ·ix ·h came in, beaming with the · they got in the elevator to chiJI of th bri. k air on her fa.c . go to their room, ·he and her moth r, I followed. evcnth floor. A; they got off, I did too. Keeping at a convenient di tance, I found the numb r-. uite 753. 'Then I went back to the clerk, and a ked him who wa roominp; in 753. He looked at roe a though he thought I had jut e ·cap d from an ylum, but finally produced it. Virginia Dillon. Dillon, Dillon, Dillon! Where had I heard that name before? ::\Iy nc:-..'tmove was to the telephone booth. "Y s, that was uite 753, and who did I wish to peak to? Ye. , that w · Mis. Virginia Dillon at the 'phone. Then I lo t my nerve. That trange, uncanny feeling that come to every ome time, that feeling a though man-----emphasison the man-at you are being rapidly ru bed through pace or arc falling from a tall building, only wor e, when you cannot think to ave your oul, came over me. " u<ldenly I wa aware of a de perate rapping of the receiver hook, and hclloed again? Well, who wa that that wanted to speak to l\Iiss Dillon? Billy Tbomp on? And who wa he? "Then I ma.de a clean brea t of it. I told her how I had seen her on the boat, and had wanted to be introduced, and that I couldn't get the nece ary third per on, so I was taking this privilege. Was I the one that had followed her up in the elevator? Ye , very feebly. Well, she wa n't particularly crazy about this kind of an introduction, but, since I was so anxious to meet her, she suppo ed she would consent this time, and that she was socially unencumbered for that night. "I w nt out and got some tickets to hear the English Pierrots, the traveling minstrel , down on the beach, and re-appeared at 8 o'clock. Then came the problem of what to talk about. She received me in a cool, conservative way that made me shed drops of mental perspiration over the task. I started on the scenery from Seattle to Vancouver, but that was second-hand news, since they had seen it all-the whale turning somer aults, and everything. "Then my nerves returned and I wasn't bothered. Soon we got to the beach. The show was unusual, if nothing more.


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a bunch of good ingcr 路 attired like Queen Elizab th 11 To n disgu:ting thing, ourti r 路 wa' not an CY ry-day affair. thou h, wa to ee them laughing at their own wit. "The how over, w wand r cl on back. Th conv r,mtion began to et mor confidential- that ofl, melloW)',6 w of word: and complimcn that can only c me in th 路mall hours of the night, with ju t you two and the moon. "We were at the bot l door too oon. 'You ar going to write to me, Mi Dillon-Yirginia, I mean, aren't you?' "'I gue o. "What addre . 路?' " 'Ju t Billy Thomp ~on, car Beta Tau hou e, at the niv rity. And plea e write oon.' " he he itated. 'And ar n't you going to write to m Billy?' "'\Vhy, of cour e. I wa ju t going to a k your addrc .' "'Billy, look here a minute. Don't you remember, ome year ago, the little girl who u eel to play with you out in the back yard, and with whom you would divid your peppermint candy that your father brought you?' " '\\'hat? Who told you about her?' "Dillon. By George, h r name bad b en Dillon. , ome cou in perhaps. Ye , her name was Virginia. Could it be possible that" 'Are you-?' " 'Yes, Billy, and I am awfully hurt that you didn't know me.'

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Billy rose and started for the door. " ay, come back here, and finish that story for us," " lats" Williams called out. "All right, fellows, just as soon as I write a letter, and, by the way, 'Slats,' do you happen to have a special delivery stamp?"


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COLLEGE SPIRIT AS I HA VE SEEN IT. W. L. Davis, '17. HE phra e, " oil ge pirit," ha long been a familiar one to me. But not until la year, when I fir t came to college, did I di cover that this spirit wa not, a ¡ I had ever regarded it, of merely nominal existence. Everywhere, at that time, I encountered college spirit, or, at lea t, tho. e who told me about it . If I wa bu y, and could not attend athletic rallie , omebody said I did not have college pirit. ometime:-I failed to go to game , because I didn't have the money to pay my way in-all the same, college pirit was lacking. Finding my elf thus bound on the north, east, south, and west by this rather indefinite mind, or attitude, I began at once to try to limit it, that I might be able to put my hand upon somethlng and say, "This i coUege pirit ." Just how far I have succeeded in doing thi i not certain. The effort, however, ha been interesting. College spirit, it should be noted at fir t, is not a simple, but composite thlng. Just as the artist takes features from many different faces and blends them into one in order to express his idea of a face, so here we have a union of many minds and sentiments to form one pirit. This conclusion is important, because it enables us to re olve this mind in question into its elements, and analyze it qualitatively. Every student, then, is expected to be faithful to the interests of his college. When in any way he represents it he must feel that its welfare is in his hands. This is true whether he represents it in the debating hall, on the athletic field, or in any other arena of life. In such a moment as this college spirit makes him feel that his school's honor has been entrusted to him, and that he must bring it banner out immaculate . College spiJ;it is, therefore, essentially loyalty to one's school. I would not say it is loyalty; it is, perhaps, more than that . Certainly, however, anything that savors of disloyalty cannot be called college spirit. As loyalty, then, this mind keeps one true


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to alma mater, make· on faithful to it id al , compel one to cherish it!- tradition ·. In addition to loyalty, colleg ·pirit i · a pirit of co-op ration. The world has many organization. · calling for th co-op ration of men. A coll g i the world in miniature-po,· · · ·ing many varictic · of activity, and dem ndin that the tud nt in it 1 arn the art of working wi. h one anoth r and with other . , tudent · mu t work with profes ·or an l profe, or· with tudent . The player on the eleven, the nin , and the £iv , th m mber· of the debating teams, the pre id nt of the Y. ~ L . A. and hi cabinet, have all to work with and depend upon one anoth r. Behind the various organization i the tudent body, one in int re·t and ympathy with the leader · alr ady mention d. Tb coll g , then, that ha ' the true t ort of co-op ration h the pure t college pirit. Colleg pirit, moreover, i faith in one's chool. For one to have the right attitude toward hi college h mu t believe that it has been founded well and is conducted on afe principle . In pledging troth to his coll ge, a tud nt mu t b licve that his school stands for the best, and is worthy of all that he can put into it. He need not feel that it ha the best equipment or the grcate t endowment, but be must believe that it has the inherent qualities of a worthy institution. But college pirit not only believes in the pa t and pre ent; it also has faith in the future. It believes the ame wi e principles that have steered the past eow·se of his school will continue to guide it in future days. One moved by this mind has unshaken confidence in the future of the institution, so that no matter what service he may render it he docs not consider it lost. College spirit, then, stands up among the in titutions of the world, and says: ''I believe in my school. It ha a worthy past, and while it may not have a brilliant, it has, nevertheless, a safe future." The conclusion just reached is important, because of its relation to the next element we are to consider. A student guided by college spirit will make great sacrifice for alma mater. We have here on our own campus numbers of boys who are contributing a great deal of their time and energy


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for the anding of our Coll ge. The foot-ball squad i an example of tbi . They give ev ral hour路 ev ry day in the harde t phy ical exertion in orcl r to wave the Red and Blue over the other colo in the E torn Lea ue. Moreover, later in the e ion we , hall have men giving their be. t thought and effort in preparing d bat for our triangular conte -t:. All thc:-e, and many :imilar effort , ar the real 路acrific ' our tudents are making. , by are uch offering made by the -tudent body? Because they beli ve in their college-both in its pat and future. They feel that in triving to make new and to maintain old standard for Richmond ollege they are inve ting their live in a worthy in titution. The loyal on of a college, then believe in alma mater, and hold them elve a it willing gifts. Thi is the spirit of acrifice-aud thi i 路 college pirit. But faith in an in titution i not the only incentive for 路acrifice; jealou y for it futur al o move' one to make his offering. And, for ome reason, the tudent ha an earne t olicituclc for the future of bis college. He may have a personal reason for this. He may, perhap , wi h to point proudly to the achieYement of his college, and ay, "I am a tu dent there," or II I wa' a student there." Or perhap his reason is entirely an unselfi h one. He may ay, '' I rec ived my training there, and gratitude compels me to have the very kindest feelings for her future." At any rate, college spirit is a deep olicitude for the future of alma mater. A student rejoice in every acqui ition of his school, whether it be a new trophy or an endowment fund. He covet for it athletic greatne s, material pro perity, and chola tic prestige. Again, college pirit is not parti an. It does not consider the unit that make the in titution of more importance than the in titution it elf. It alway con ider 'the whole greater than any of the parts, and equal to the sum of them all." It does not believe that the college is a collection of i olated and independent parts; it rather thinks of it as a group of interdependent units. It does not say, "Our team lost the game," but "We were defeated." Of course, it recognizes all the different organizations of the college, but at the same time it subordinates them to the good of the whole.


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Finally, coll ge pirit i. not intermittent or cph m ral; it i continuou and abidin . It i not a..ily di ·coura cl. It beli ve in its chool in the hour of d feat a w 11a in th hour of victory. The nthu ia m of men po ·· ing uch a mind as thi doe not flicker and flar ; it, on the oth r hand, burn with a t ady glow. Thi teadine of colleg pirit i tud nt · in colleg ; but it i en in the alumni a w 11. Even aft r they l a Ye the chool, alumni upport alma mater a truly a th y v r did. They do not allow distance and tim to chill their ardor. For example, a few afternoon ago I wa in th tate Library. There at an aged man with a pile of hi old college magaiine ·. He was there keeping hi heart warm at memory' fir . tud nt' leave the campu , but they continue to love their chool-they write for it, they upport it, th y ar true to it. What, now, have we found colleg ·pirit to h ? It i that spirit which, po esed by the on. of a coll g , make · them loyal and co-operative; beget in them faith in th ir cbool, 1 ailing th m to acrifice for it, and creates in th m solicitude for its future. The c elements, inve ted with an unremitting and abiding quality, constitute college pirit.


RICHMOND COLLEGE MESSE1 GER.

WAR. J. W. G., '18.

Fight ye, ob! Christians, in the fray, heath n fought of yore; Lu t ye, oh! nation of to-day, For Europe' vital gore? erve ye the Christ, the crucified, Yet u e the baleful word; Know ye Hi name, the glorified? Oh! ye barbarian horde! hould nations plant IIi holy cro In war and bloody strife, Or rai e that tandard to the lo t, Their hope, their country's life? Oh! Progre , nations' kingly crown, Where sits thy throne of fame, On soil of Europe' battle-ground, Among the sick and slain? Ri e up! ye bles ed, one and all; America! sing His praise; Christ hath redeemed thee from the thrall, With peace hath crowned thy days. He's led thee o'er dark seas of war To promised lands bedight, Where thou halt gleam, celestial star! A beacon through the night. Then shed abroad thy light, 0, star, And pierce to every clime, Till rising nations see afar, And praise thee through all time.

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ondemn the wrong, uphold the right , 0, hurcb of od, mov on; For th e we battl till he night, Through th a nation' born. D c ndant pirit, rul th band That guid our •hip of tat , L t ·h , on Europ '.· w rring tran<l, B doom d to d atb and fat . To him we rais a prean tru , To hri ta willing ·oul; 0, God, protect the Red and Blu , And lead us to Thy fold.


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THE TAIL OF A COAT. W. H. B., '16. T wa u. cle.-· to hold back. He might as well ·tart right mpt for uch foolbh fear:, and return off, :-how hi · cont<> for the promi ' d jug of cheap whisk y. Jim Gray on hucl accepted the chall ngc to ent r \Vhitc Mar h hurch t hat night. The fact that the old brick tructure wa reputed to be inhabited by uncanny figure in white wa lo t to Jim as he faced his companion . The fact, too, that worker , ome years before, had giv n up th idea of ever repairing the old church, because one of th m had plainly heard groans coming from under the altar, where the body of the old rector wa laid to re t, meant nothing to Jim now. Jeb inclair, the tavern kc per, had opened hi tingy heart, and had promi ed him a full gallon of "Tip Top Rye" if be returned alive from the old haunted church. This was more than He swore to go up to the altar and Jim' " appetite could re d. drive a nail through the very plank that had, o the carpenter declared, emitted the fear ome groan in the strange hollow tone of White Mar h's last rector. Rest," it The men in the dingy old tavern-"Cross-Roads was called-crowded about Jim, and made a hasty exit into the night. They were the ame faces that were seen about inclair's bar night after night. They gathered there to gossip, to tell tale , and to spin yarns. As tillers of the soil, their life wa simple but kindly, and, as uch, was filled with a strange essence of fear and super titian. As they filed out of the tavern, some eight or nine of them, they made a grotesque-looking group, and none more ungainly looking than Jim Grayson himself. He was tall and lank, and had a long, pointed nose and a keen eye. He might easily have been mistaken for Ichabod, of Sleepy Hollow, as he strode off, leaving his friends tanding there solemnly in front of "Cross-Road Rest ." They followed him with their eyes until his gaunt figure disappeared in the shadows, bis long, black,


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w llow-tail coat, thr e gen ration

old, beating time above his a he walk d. ' Jim ray-on' got more n rv 'n anybody in th · part , anyhow," aid ol<l man inclair. "I woul<ln' go in that 'ar bantecl church t'night by my lf for all th' corn whi k yin Talbot." "Y 111 an ·wer cl one, who long legs had ft n born him in saf ty past White ~Jar h after night-fall. " om folk. :ay they clon't b'liev in ·piri ; but you can't fool a ·h Pickl . I ain't !iv d 'round this here neighborhood fifty- ix year., thirteenth day o' next June, with m' y clo · <land m'car ·topp d up." "Wal, h, you w · alwu · ·e in' thin that nobody I. e ever eccl," said another, "an' I gues it war fittin' and proper that you hould, bein' a. how you war born on the thirteenth day o' the month." "Let's go inside, anyhow, an wait till Jim come back, if he ever clo,11 ai<lthe tavern keeper, moving lowly toward th door. "He' ·wore on his honor to turn the trick, an' Bill, you an' me can go down in th' mornin' an' cc if the nail i druv in that 'ar plank. If it i I Jim Gray on g t · hi. b t, an' no kick comin' from me neither." "All right, Jeb," Bill r plied. "I'll go, but, for my part, Jim's word is good 'nuff. That place ain't none too healthy even in broad daylight." In the meantime Jim was making his way swiftly over the narrow wooded road toward the church, some two mile distant. He wa not, by nature, a man of great courage, and the thought of his long, dark journey, with the much-dreaded church at the end, cau ed his knee to shake unsteadily beneath him. His pre ent venture was due, in large part, to the feeling of bravado which the jibes of his friends had excited. And, too, the alluring reward bad wrought its effect on his unsteady mind. Spurred on hy these feelings, Jim had impulsively agreed to make the trip alone to the church. And Jim, above all thing else, was a man of hls word. He bad been disappointed in love, and now, at thirty-nine, was reckoned a hopeless old bachelor. His innate w akness was an extreme fondn ss for whiskey. Only twice bad he been known to drink to the point of intoxication-once when old Tim knc


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Lan 's claug;htcr had turned him down, and again when he had old his half- ·tarrn,l riding hor:e and made a trip to the city. Jeh inclnir, n ·Y rthel ::-;,had no better cu tomer at Cro -Roads Hest than Jim. He wa. a 8teady drinker, and mo ·t of hi pare chang found its way v r the tavern bar. On his countenance, weak and ·allow, he ,bo wed plainly the trace · of hi con tant inclulgenc in ~pirit · too hot and fiery for hi w 11-being. His LI arc<l ey s, lit up too often with an unnatural glow, were al o unmistakabk signs of too frequent vi its to Jeb's bar. A· Jim moved along now hi eye rov d re tie ly from one siclc of the road to the other. A faint light made it way through the thick growth of tree to hi right, and, a he peered far in that direction, he w able to catch a la t glimp e of the autumn moon, fast inking to re ·t. Everything was so till and quiet that the silence wa oppres. ive. Jim was tartl cl by the ound of hi own footfall. He glanced nervously back over his shoulder, and beheld his hadow, tall and ghost-like, creeping along at hi ide. "Goel! How dark and gloomy thee woods is to-night," he mutterecl un<ler hi breath. He move<lfaster and faster, and was soon breathing heavily. He could hear his heart pounding again t his ide, a if eager to break from it· mooring . A feeling of fear, which he sought hard to uppre s, wa stealing over Jim, and, as he looked into the gloomy stretch of woods that yawned like a dark spectre out before him, he bemoaned the impulse that had made him start out on such a hazardous trip. "God! How dark and gloomy these woods is to-night," he muttered again. A dog howled mournfully from a distant part of the woods. The dismal sound in its di tress was not lost on Jim, for he fed his imagination on wild fancies of the poor dog's plight, afar off there in the dark, as he picture<l some unfriendly midnight prowler intruding on the animal's domain. He could ee tall white stones now that dotted the old churchyard toward which he wa walking. What strange, weird tales he had listened to about that burying ground, and how real those things appeared to Jim as he drew nearer to the church! Yes,


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h really believed that robbers had broken op n a grave there to get a valuable ring from th ir victim, and he no long r doubted the story that be had come back to life, and, later, to her home, wh n they had cut her finger. He would pass near the very grave where he wns buri d. He pau ed for a moment in the road, for he had reach d the path which led up through a thick growth of tree , a hundred yards or more, to th door of the church. It was gloomy and dark up through tho ¡e tall oak , and Jim' pirit ank low ancl hi heart almo t cea ¡ed to b at a he count d the co t of tho e few pace from the road to the church door. The frog croaked in olemn accent and the crickets chirped their mot grew ome tone , a. if to warn Jim and end him flying back in fear to the tavern. He hesitated for an in tant only, and then, walking stealthily, a if half afraid that he would di turb th d ad, he mad bis way toward the little building, almost hidden by the trees and underbrush. As he drew clo er he wa uddenly tartled by a fluttering of wings and the imm diate retreat of an owl from it perch. The uncanny sound which this creature of darkne made, as he darted off into the night, almo t unnerv d Jim. Cold beads of per piration stood out on his for head. He looked up at the old brick structure. It was partly covered with ivy, and was fast falling into a state of decay. Ominous shadows lurked under its eaves, with a foreboding of evil within. Jim approached the door, and it moved slowly, creaking on its ru ty hinges as he sought to open it. He stood on the inside, and his moky, ill-trimmed lantern lighted up the rear end of the old-fashioned meeting hou e. An unwholesome dampness pervaded the place, so that he could hardly discern the nearest objects by the aid of his dim light. He started up the aisle toward the altar. The boards creaked and bent under him as he crept closer toward the fateful plank which had groaned under the carpenter's touch. His mind pictured the old rector in the pulpit again, with his piercing eyes looking through him as he came up the aisle. He stopped. This was the plank. He let his hands run over it, and, for one instant, fancied that he was caressing the bald head of the dead clergyman. He stooped hastily, and, in the darkness, broke the awful silence of White


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Marsh hurch. He had driv n the nail, and, half frightened by the ound of the hammer, he tarted to hi' feet. As he aro ·e he was jerked back ·uddenly from b hind with terrific force. Jot a word pas ed Jim' lip . Hen ver saw hi. antagonist, for ho foll back to the floor-<l ad. Jim Grayson wa no more. Hi friend found hi. body next morning. It wa' lying where it bad fallen near the altar. Th y raised it, and, as they did, di covered the nail that Jim had driven-it wa holding the tail of hi long wallow coat fa t to the floor. The coron r gave a verdict of death due to heart failure, but Jim Gray on' friend knew that it wa · ' spirits" which really took him away.


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ANTI-JUDAISM. M. Glass, '18.

,,(I BERE

i.· a certain p .ople :ru.ttcred abroad, anti di:,;pcr.,; d among the peoples in all the province: of thy kingdom; and th ir law: ar diver: . from tho:-;c of every p ople; neither keep they the king'· It w ." Thus quoth Haman unto King h 'Ueru , and by virtue of hi word· earned the di tinction of being the founder of " cientific" anti-Judai m. Centurie before him a king of Egypt had broken ground for this foundation when "he aid unto hi people, Behold, the people of I rael are more and mighti r than we; come, let us deal wi ely with them"; and "wisely" have the p oplc · of all nation. dealt with th Jew ever inc . He has be n hound d, robbed, exiled, tortured, and burned among·t all nations in all age and clime . The Jew becam respon. ible for all dil-astcrs and uffered for all. When the ma es groaned under the yoke of the ari tocracy they vented th ir rag upon the Jew ; when plague raged the Jew wa sacrificed, for wa. it not he who poi on d the well ? Mobs coming from pa ion plays, which depicted the life of the Saviour of mankind, pillaged Jewish home: on th irway; crusad rs, setting forth upon an expedition to reclaim the tomb of the Prince of Peace, began their mission by slaughtering Jews. The Jew was a deicide, a descendant of lepers, an ally of the devil, a purveyor of filth, an enemy of the kingdom of God and of man, a consumer of human blood-an execrable villain; he wa greedy, clannish, usurous, averse to work, and lacking in patriotism. This catalogue of sins, in one form or another, was, and is, the excu e and assigned cau e of literary, legal, and popular manifestations of anti-Judaism. Let us briefly examine these causes, grouped under four heads-religious, economic, racial, and social. Anti-Judaism, caused by religious difference, is always present; sometimes it is the predominant and characteristic form, while at other times it is only latently present, and serves to intensify other causes, but at all times it is a factor in the breeding of pre-


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judice. In the eye· of a Chri tian world the Jew wru guilty of deicide, and for that crime d · rvC'd the unappea able ,nath of humanity for et rnity. The arly 'hri ·tian 'hurch, in it struggl toward universality, found the '' ob. tinate Jew" in its path, and attack cl him with fierce outburst· of pulpit oratory, pamphlet , and excluding laws. Aversion to the Jew, the ncmy of Je u , wa' plant d in very on , from hi: cradle day· to hi· death, by mother, nur ·e, teacher, preacher, and ruler. In time this aversion became in tinctivc, and hatred of the Jew was one of the nece~·itie of nature. But force is always regarded of a two-fold character-the reaction mu ·t follow. The Christian hated the J w, and th Jew hated the Chri:tian. The gulf between the two wa. con tautly widened by two oppositely-directed forces. The Jew i charged with being a di turbing element in economic circle . One of the roo't popular conception of a Jew i that of an unscrupulou u ur r, a money-king-a non-producer, averse o belief is to manual labor, and eager in pur uit of business. more firmly implanted in the minds of people than the faith in the Jew's wealth, and yet no conviction L based upon more hallow ground . Hundreds of ghcttoe and Ea t ide bear witness to the a ertion that the Jew arc probably among the poore t people ix million Ru ian Jews, half the total Jewi h populaon earth. tion of the world, are steeped in the mo t abject poverty, and, in a les extreme manner, the rune i true generally of the Jew in other parts of the world. That the Jew is a manual laborer is proved by the fact that certain trade , such a garment-making in America, are almost monopolized by Jewish workcrn. Furthermore, Jews are scarcely ever given employment in factories and shop , but are largely driven to the lowest forms of manual labor. True enough, the Jew posse es exceptional commercial aptitude, but that trait is the heritage of centuries of per ecution and exclusion, when the Jew wa, forced to earn his livelihood by his wits, and to accumulate wealth in the form of money, a commodity which could be easily moved and hidden. Money was the sole constant friend which the Jew had; is it trange that he should have sought to amass it? The Jew is charged with forming the capitalist class, but have not Socialists drawn their founder and greatest leaders from the Jews? The Jew's commercial ability


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i a factor in th material pr p rity of any 1 nd in which he i.· given opportunity. an it b d nied that th mi: crablc cl clin of 'pain i partly du to th expul 'ion of th J w.? Arc not the pre ' nt endeavor of , pain to r call the J 'W an officiul att >:'tat ion to hi· value? Antagoni . m on racial groun Is bring u to anti-. rniti. m, the modern, dignified form of anti-Judai:-1m. Anti- cmiti ·m a word invented by philo -opbical German p danb , hold · t hut th re ha been throughout all hi tory a . truggle for uprcmacy h •tween the Aryan and emitic race:, and tha, thi. cont t i · now in its an indfridual mo t important stag . Th J w i looked upon of a forei n race, unpatrio ic, ho tile to hri tian civilizntion, incapable of adapting him If, and alway forming a ma LInation within the nation of hi adoption. Racial anti-Judai m ha , been a matter or politic ince it inc ption. It i employed by a de potic government, uch a Ru sia' ·, to afford th burcl ned people with an outlet for their gricvanc ... Th Ru · ian Government, eeking to divert the attention of the ma .. cs, organize ma sacres of Jews, and inveigl the poor pea ant into the belief that the Jew is his grcatc t enemy and the ourcc of all hi privavations. Judging from the number of ma :acre , th chcme is succeeding excellently. Anti- emitism i repugnance, but it is mingled with fear. Russia complain that wer the Jews given an opportunity they would soon capture all cntcrpri e and From Germany comes subjugate the 150,000,000 native-born. the plaintive cry that something must be done, for the Jews are gaining control of the country. I it not a compliment to the Jew that a great power fears that a small fraction of it population will subject it? The contentions of anti-Semitism are mainly fallacious; its very basis, the doctrine of the existence of pure rac s, is false. All modern nations are blended mixtures of diver e clements. The oft-repeated charge that the Jew is incapable of patriotism has been branded maliciously untrue by the blood of tens of thousands of Jewish soldier which has stained the soil of every country engaged in this great war. If the German is deemed patriotic for bating a Frenchman, how much more so is the Jew who is arrayed against his brother Jew? Anti-Semitism is only a


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veil behincl which li · hidden the ordinary, time-honored hatred of the Jew, for thf' lu.tt r i, attacked evC'nwhen be seek: to remedy the fault· with which he i · charged. It is the old, olcl tale-the Jew i.' alway to blame. "If he woulcl mingle with th native, he is regard cl forwarcl u.nd obtru ·ivc; if h kc ps to bi· own, he is held to be unsoeial;le; if llC'attPmpt: to take an interest in politic~, he is branclr<l ambitiou · and ·elfi:h; if he take no intere t, he i branded unpatriotic." Anti-Judaism. pringing from. ocial cau e i a natural consequence of human nature. The alien i · nowhere regarded with favor, and i · generally mi under tood, e·pecially when he refuses eparated from all theorie and superficialities, to assimilate. the alient explanation of anti-Judai.m lie in the barrier-like exclu~iveness of the Jew. That which i hidden arou es the curio ity of man, and an unsati fled curio ity breed hap-hazard conjecture and fa.lRededuction. . There lie in man an in tinctive nYer ion for the unknown; it i human nature to di tru t recluse , and it is a truism that hermit are never popular. The rigid unsociability of the Jew thu made him an object of popular di Under trust and the center of a circle of maliciou fabrications. all circumstances the Jew in i tcd upon adherence to hi own laws, custom , and religion, and gradually began to be looked upon a a foreio-n clement, incapable of a imtlation. A number of factors contributed to cau e the isolation of the J cw, chief among them being the law and the Talmud. Faith in his predestination and election a the chosen of God led the Jew to view the Chri tian with arrogant contempt. Intercour e with the Gentile wa trictly forbidden, in order that Jewish nationality might be pre erved and physical and spiritual contamination The law wa exalted above everything; might be prevented. the Talmud provided for every emergency; thinking was partially eliminated, and outside study was forbidden. Israel was tran formed into a sullen reclu e. Ghcttoe appeared; the auto-da-fe followed, and teacher, Talmud, and Jew were burned. Persecution tightened the bonds of exclusiveness, for now hatred and prime characteristics of the Jewish peopleobstinacy-those had added their potency to the forces of isolation. The Jew believed in Jerusalem as the only true home of God, and in Pales-


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tine the olc land really worth while. The id a generally inculcat d among Jews wa , that th y wcr everywb r in exile, captive among nemies. Thi Jewi h cxclu ·iven ·, it rnu. t b mpba ize<l, w by no mean' a feature productive of evil re ·ult olely. It i tru that it has cau:ecl the J w untold ."uffering, but it ha pr erved him in the truggl for exdencc; it h · made of him a wander r, but an eternal wanderer. Every nation has a right to it exi't nee, but only the fitte t urvive. Any mean that will aid a people to be among the fitte t i l gitimate, and must nee ·arily be invoked. Hi -tory tells of a multitude of nation , once mighty world-rulers, now only memorie . Where nr the one -faro d Mede , yrian , Babylonians, Macedonians, Greek , Roman I and Carthaginian ? They have ru ·imilated and have di app ared. imilation i ynonymou with death. The Jew lnwe, for nineteen centurie , been scattered over the fac of the ear h, have been subjected to temptation and per · cution . 1 and have been buffeted by many an adverse wave, and yet they urvivc, stronger than ever! Wherein lies this elixir which has kept th Jew alive? The far-seeing teacher of the law had provided him with an inurmountable wall, which bas resi ted th on !aught of timeand that wall was exclu iveness. Of course, it may be asked, wa it worth while to preserve identity a a people at the cost of so much suffering? Thi· question mu t remain unanswer d here. At the present time there i still another force which i developing anti-Judaism-the nationalistic spirit. Much is heard of hyphenism, pan-Germanism, pan-Slavi m, and o forth. What is the import of these artificial words? They are the expression of modern ultra-patriotism. Every land is now beginning to take an inventory of its stock of "foreigners"; the civilized nations mutually hate each other, -and invent theories of racial inferiority to account for tho hatred. Each deems itself the pure t and best, and considers the others the most degraded and vilest. The Jew is regarded as an outsider by all the nations. The German hates a Frenchman for being French, even though the latter is bis blood relation and co-religionist; is it strange that he hates a Jew, who is fundamentally different in racial and religious features?


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Theori and peculation· regarding the fate of anti-Judaism are profu~e and ingenuou ·. Anti-Juclai m will urvive a long a there are J \\" L the claim of one group; let the Jew renounce his exclu ·ivene -~, hi· chauvini:m, and hi' ob tinate patrioti m, and let him assimilat . with bis n ighbor:. The Jew i living upon hi pa. t, they ·ay; h i' cheri:hing an illu ion in believing that he i de~tined always to exi ·ta' people; he i the victim of a chimerical dream when he claim that be ha· an ternal mis ion to fulfill; hi persiRtent belief in hi· rejuv nation as a nation in Pale tine is ridiculou ·; "dead nation never ri:--e aaain." Why truggle again. t fate? R ·ign to de tiny, merge with the nations, and ome, on the other end tbi · centuries-old p r·ecution and hate. band, believe that anti-Judaism will cca c only when the profes ors of the creed of Chri tianity will become Christian. Je u taught that one hould love hi fellow-man, even hi enemy; He advocated the offerin of the other cheek. Do the followers of Chri. t apply Hi teaching· in th ir treatment of the Jew? I not the attainment of true -hri tianity the olution of the Jewi h problem? Anti-Judai m, a pecics of the genus prejudice, thrive in the failings of hwnan natur ; it i · merely one of the manifold external evidcnc · of an internally decayed ocicty. It will die a natural death in the course of time, when the present religious and political institution of mankind will have been reconstructed upon an entirely differing ba i . In the meantime, until that di tant, emi-me ianic epoch, that never-de pairing wail of the Jew, which has echoed through twenty centurie of hi tory, will continue to re ound-"How long, 0, Lord, how long!"


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SORROW 'S SONG. L. 1 117. Oh, wi <lorn' waif, who through the world go wand ring in woe, Devoid of hop , dcvoi<lof ch er, and c king a you go om fount of knowledge or of truth, om random thought of time, That, flickering from the throne of love, can touch that heart of thineCome unto me and rest. Tear fell like torrent. from thy eye wh n di appointment fell, But they w re tear of, lfi h love, and wrought a vacant pell; But some day thou halt f l the call of sorrow for a lo ideal, And, being lo tin maze v ~t, hall end me thy appealAnd then be ble t. He troll d amidst life's joy and laughed-was glad to ee And know the pa sing thrill of love with fickle company; Friends vani bed, life gr w blank, and t ar b gan to flow, But now the prings of agony his calling <lonot knowFor they are dry and parched. Ob, tear-wrought toil, oh, tireless trail, beneath the trees of doubt, I thank a gentle Providence for candles that are out; They were but flickerings of love, not deep and strong and true, And in the place of idle sighs life bur ts upon my viewWhere narrowness once marched. These musings, child of sorrow, bring and lay them at my feet, And I wi11teach thee where the old the fuller new can meet; I'll show thee that the thread of life runs through the throbbing whole, And where was seen an empty void there was a sacred soulThen come to me and see. Beneath the things that disappoint and make a shudder come, I'll find for thee a ray of hope that points thee to thy home; For sorrow leads thee to thyself, and tears are like a glass That, casting back a shadowed world, reveal life as they passLife and eternity.


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They do not make, they but r veal, what elf had badowed o'er, The strains of love ar wa he<l with tear¡, and, wa bing, are made pure; You waken from the dream of lif to find the vision true, And what app ar d a vacant bowl you find wa really youJo wonder you are thrill d. And yet o oon the beauty com s, and darknc s peed away, That pre ently you sink again and lo. the light of day; 'Tis then you a k, and, in dc.-pair, .eek for the reason why, And, an wering, I purge again your oul ¡ I pa byy our heart once more i filled.


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LIKE A THIEF . W. R. , ., '17. HERE wa an intimation of age in Rofton and it.· on • tr t. Thi:; . trcet, beginning at the, tat ion, pa.-~C'd th p . t-office and the way-bark <l hank. Then Ihm ~ cam a run of old hou . . , with gnrd n and con_·idt rahlr elbow room, and, finally, a colta"'e with a gray roof and n big wi:taria in th front yard. But th . tr ct kept du ·tily on, and b came a road , clown which cam the team tcr · from th e c·umps. On thi morning two women wer talking in front of the cottage. Mary Brown's e>-'Presion was tearfully defiant; her hand were clenched, and the un bone gloriou .·ly on her red hair. "Of cour ·e, honey," (and the go. ip mouthed her word . a · if they were deliciou tid-bits,) "Jim ain't no ing ingcr, but they do ay- " "It' a lie," aid Mary bortly an<l to the point-th gos. ip left. But Mary walked lowly into the hou · , and thr w b r ·elf on a bed. "Jim a thief and a jail-bird-Jim-Jim-my Jim-" l\Iary stifled her sobs in the pillow. Then he began to think of their short married life, of the night when the tall tranger trocle up the aisle in the meeting-hou e, of court ·hip in the golden ::;ummcr days. Mary had never asked of his part life; it wru possible-but, no, Jim could not be what they said. Mary r-mik·<l tremulously as she watched Lbe train crawl across the far-ofi n.cudo\\ s. When the train pulled out from the .-tation Hcd l\like slipped deftly from the rear trucks . His overalls were infirm, and his sturdy young beard had seen many suns, but no razor . Mike walked up the street, and, for no conceivable rca on, ntered the bank. His quick little eyes took in the bank at once, but when he saw Brown there was a gleam of recognition on his face. "Dickey, you ain't fergot you r pa l?" asked Mike, thickly. As Brown approached he began with his crisp, "Well, sir ; what may I do for you?" "Do fer roe? Looky here, you ain't got fergitful ince you cut

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the gang and turn cl goody, and got 路pliced, have you?" growled Mike. Brown paled 路lightly, and gra. pcd the counter for upport. Then hope cam to him, and a he put a dollar in Mike' hand, he whi:per d, "Tak tbi and go; I am Jiving -traight now; don't peach, man, for rod'' ak ." Mike lean d over th count r until hi: whi:keyed breath blew in Brown' fac . "I'm goin' to bu~t thi' chick n coop-it's dead ea y; so hand over the coin, or-" He laid a finger on his lips. Mik left as 路ome men nt red, and Brown breath d ca,-ier. When darkneo: came on Brown tarted home, heart-heavy. The mortgage wa due on th cottacre; be 路i<le i\Iike had appeared. A hadow glided from a doorway and confronted him as he turned a lonely corner. "Quick, Dickey," Mik aid; "l 'll let you in on half for old time ." For a moment Brown wa, tempted, but when he pictured the night of hi onversion, and Mary, there came upon hlm a loathing of the old life. He truck fiercely, but l\Iike wa too quick omething hard and heavy truck his bead; things got for him. dizzy, and all became blank. A passer-by found him after he had lain there an hour, and around him a crowd promptly gathered. Brown tirred, and muttered "Bank rob-" then fell acrain into uncon:scioune . Forthwith the crowd set off for the bank. Birnamwood came to Dunsinane, and Mike found himself locked in the arms of two duty-loving hcriff . A little later Brown wa at home, telling Mary how it happened. "That f llow 1ike i my uncle," he was saying. "He taught me how to st al and pick pockets until I was fifteen years old, and then I ran away." Here there came a fla'h of joy in Mary's face. She hardly Ii tened as he went on, "Look what old Thomas left," and be fingered a deed to the cottage. "Good fortune comes-" "Like a thief," said Mary, softly.


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INVOCATION TO MINERVA. H. A.

I., '16.

(Written on December15lh, by one who "bones.") Hail, Minerva, wi.¡c, divine, Thy uppliants are we for a tun I H r befor thy . eat of 1 arning, Thir t for know! dge in u burning! Wave thy branch of oliv o' r u , Bid depart the fear b fore us! For many day. we followed plea ure, Ignoring thy un ounded treasure. Fun amu ed us for a while, Laughter did our time beguile, But, while we were having lark , Dwindled piteou ly our marks. We turn u now from gods of pleasure, We ignore their bounteou tr a ure. Here before thee let u ¡ tay, or kating lure our thoughts away! Let not our re olution falter, Nor "movies" move u from thine altar! Nay, a. the serp nt charms his pr y With beady eyes into bis way, So, goddess, by thy chilling glance, Our minds are held as in a trance. With sickening groan, heart-rending sigh, W e the bated days draw nigh. Speak! Is it too late to save"? Leads our pathway to the grave Of desperate Hope, where gaunt Despair, With fearful ravings tears her hair? Speak I Is it too late to mend Our woeful ways, too late to spend Long, weary hours at thy retreat, To sit in meekness at thy feet'? Haste, goddess, baste, and bring with thee, Goddess, pray, at least a "D." Hail, Minerva, wise, divine, Thy suppliants are we for a time !


THE MESSENGER. Subserip ti o n Pr ic e , $1.00

per Annum.

RICHMOND COLLEGE DEPARTMENT. EDITORIALSTAFF. BOARD OF EDITORS .

Philologian. RonERT L. BAUBUM, '17 .....•-··--·-· ..·····-·-······ ..-········- ..-····-·.Editor-in-Chief W. K. ALLEN, '16 ........-··--···-······-·············--···-·····················Assistant Editor PRoF. J. C. METCALF .•..••........ ·-·-··-· ·-···-···-·····-······ · .......... _.Advisory Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS . Philologian. E. W. MILLER, '18..••..Short St-Ories W. L. DAVIS, '17...--- ···--·.Ezchanges G. T. TERRELL, '16··-············Alumni A. C. CBEETRAM, '18-·-···-···Poems Mu Sigma Rho.

I

W. E.

WmTE,

'17......·--···-···.Essays

MANAGERIALSTAFF. Philologian.

W. E.

'16 ..·-----·····························-·······-···········-.Business Manager Mu Sigma. Rho. H. BAGBY, '17 ··-························--················Assistant Business Manager

DURHAM,

WILLIAM

EDITORIALS . As suggested by our tit le, we are recommending the adoption of a system new at Richmond College. It is not new to some colleges, but what if it were? Good LITERARY SOCIETY things are always new-at least, onceCREDIT. and the best ones never get old. Nor is it anything of doubtfu l value; literary work has, from time immemoria l, been fixed in the minds of


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educator 11. of prime valu . The work of th lit rary ocicty is thrce-fold-<l buting, oratory, and writing. All of th ·e are tau ht in r gular cl · s with mor or 1 . r gularity to large numh rs of the .tudent. . Thi·, alone, would prove th stat ment lbat they ar con.idcr cl of valu to the av rag -tud nt. The present situation in literary :o ·i ty work is un. ati. ·fa tory in many ways. It may h argued that wh n the work i · purl'ly voluntary and "c:,.1:ra-curriculum" it will b a mor · v r train on the man'· m ttle, and will, th rcfor , xclu<le tb car l and indifferent. Thi i true, to some xt nt, but, on the other hand, ther is a tend ncy also to xclude those who want the training, but can't afford the time from their degree work. oil ge men ought to b far enough along in lif not to ne cl compul ion, but they houl<l receiv prop r r cognition and reward for work well done. The work of u. thorough literary ociety i , undoubtedly, worthy of recognition. It i right in line with the other college work, and, with a proper amount of upervi ion and direction, would form a very valuable adjunct to the branches already pur ·ued. Again, the sy tem i unsati factory because the men are not only expected to do the work gratis, but th y are exp cted to do it and keep up ix full day of clas -room work in addition. It wa not so bad when we had mo -t of aturday off, but now that Saturday is practically a full day, it is almo t impo ible for a man with Saturday classc to take Friday night off for the literary society work. We have been granted eonce ion in the matter of atur<lay te 'ts, but test come comparatively eldom, and are of far 1 s, import in this matter than the daily recitation . . If the objection should be raised that the work might not be of sufficiently high tandard to warrant credit, we need but to say that it can be kept up to any de ired tandard by proper supervision. If student judges were not considered capable, Faculty judges might be called in from time to time, even as they are in many inter-society debates and contests; or they might look over pap rs, just as they do in English classes. If a credit of one point should be giv n for very man making a certain standard in the literary society, it would be some decided incen-


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tive to the worker. The mu ician might ay, with true feeling, "I play on it.' .-trin" when my heart goe maying, I play, I play for th rapture of playing," but there arc not many who ar willing to live and labor for the love of art. Only the truly great can do that, and college i not intended mC'rclyfor th geniu~c:-;,hut for the rank and file of 'inC'er and determined men and womC'n. The real reu~on- it L¡ not an objection-why credit has never been givC'n i. that the authoritie have never taken ufficient interest in the literary . ori tic~ to bring them up to the desired standard, and then ptl:'!1 through the matter. Individual members of the Faculty may lie v ry willing to e 'POU c thi eau e, but the majority arc not; if th y were the ocietie would not be scrambling along on all four , a they now arc. Literary ocicty er dit would greatly improve the quality of THE MEssE GER. Thi paper, a all will agree, i one of our be t medium of advcrti ¡ing. Other chool and per on form opinion by what we give to the world, and thi i one of the public pre entation of work. With a group of men regularly employed in literary work, the paper would become a banner production in a short time. This can clearly be een whenever a class in es ay or hort torie i given-the paper at once rise in that line. Perhaps we have said enough to et some one thinking more ome member of our Faculty seriou ly than before. Perhap will tart the ball rolling in official circle , and perhaps we shall sec the dawning of a new day in Richmond ollcgc before many more terms have roll l by. v came tly hope this will be talked of and worked ov r by Faculty and tudents until some conclusion can be reached. For the creative mind there is no end to improvement. It is but the sluggard who rest when he ha done a good piece of work. Thus, although we may have good Trrn THOMAS systems of teaching, that is no sign that we LECTURES. may not have better. And, indeed, unless we do have better, we shall soon have worse. Recent educational tendencie in America arc, perhaps, stressing


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cience , and removing the empha. i from languag s. There mu t be a rca on for thi . One will say that th Am ricans are a practical and mat rialistic people. Thi may be o, but they are ¡hr wd people al o, and mu t have a v ry ke n n of what i be 't before they mak many change . t I t, cience are r ceiving the mpha i , and w hop it i for the b t. It i with the full consciou. ne of thi tr nd in ducation, and with the knowledge that cienc tudie ar oft n thought tediou ', that we delight to be able to quot ucb an excellent account the following of o nt rlairung and helpful a eries of lectures a was delivered at Richmond ollege recently. "THE

THOMAS LECTURES

AT RICHMOND

COLLEGE.

"The fall cour e of lectur ' on the Thomas Foundation, in Richmond ollege, were delivered on Thur day and Friday, December 9th and 10th. The lecturer wa Profe or W. S. Franklin, recently Prof e or of Phy ics and Electrical Engineering in Lehigh niversity. "While the lecture dealt with certain topics in phy ic , and the applications of these in mod rn life, the very unusual thing about them was their great intere t and attractivene to per ons not specialists in science. The sp ak r ha the happy faculty of choosing illustrations that really illustrate, and bis model for demon. trating the fca8ibility of u ing the ame wire for both telephone and telegraph communication at the ame time cannot soon be forgotten by any member of the fortunate audienc . "Profe ¡ or Franklin spoke to the Department of Phy ics, and also to the student body at the chapel hour, and the largest audience wa pre cnt at the last lecture in the series. To have it established, beyond question, that a science lecture need not be dry nor unintelligible, nor uninteresting to any one, however literary hi or her ta tes may be, will certainly be a great boon to all the science departments, and an inspiration to all teachers in our College."

"R. E. L." Recently there has been sweeping the campus a subtl rumor


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of ill-defined but grave natur . We wer fir. t introduced to it in :l mot uncC'remoniou · manner whrn it wa.<, A Rm10R. announc d thut certain ones bad decided that 4 p re nt. of a cla!<.·:-hould get "A," 22 per cent. "B," 50 per cent. " ," 20 p r cent. "D," and 4 per cent. "E." Since the e ones had decided that thi~ was the proper p r cent., it wa foreordained, pred •stiu d, and deer cd that such :,;houlcl be the ca e. We , incc•rely tru~t that the rumor grew in the backwood and will tak a fever in the wamp and die! We further hope that the ones who peri t in tanding by this bit of child' play will-but what' the us ? There i in the above, however, :l note of hope for the member of certain cla. e where ahout 50 per cent. have usually failed. Of cour e, our friends \\ill be con i tent enough to insi. t on a trict adherence to the THE HEIGIIT OF THE rule, upward as well a downward! But RIDICULOU. trouble will be e:,,.--perienccdin ome clas e where the number of tudent is small. For instance, in a certain clas it wa decided th:it the "A" and the "E" (as making a little le than one-tenth) would have to go to one man-they dr w traws to find out who should be the goat of the class. We have in mind four of our honorable in tructors whom, rea on, we will call "lvl," " '," "O," "P," and we obvious for to peak quite frankly about their cla ses. All of like would these gentlemen are commonly spoken of in the highest terms by their students. "M" and ''N" have been decidedly above the average set by the omnipotent ones, and "0" has been below, while "P" has about ranged around the sacred line. "M" bas a cla of students who, for the most part, are select and erious. They come there to study. They find the courses exceedingly intcre ting, and make excellent marks. Now the professor faces a dilemma-either be must give some men lower marks than they deserve, perhaps casting lots or taking turns successive month , or he must turn poor-teacher, so as to hold the average of his cla s down. We confess we would not care for the gentleman's position if the ones are going to insist on their hobby.


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" r ' happ n to have Jar~ r cla · ·r · than " 1," in g 'nPral, though he, t o, h · sot small cla ·L· • that will ~i,· th ~mnc prob! m.· 111 ntioncd abov . Ile i n fine prof · or, an,l ha hC'l'Il rath r liberal with hi· . ch la.tic furnr - rath r, it :h, ul I 11 ore accurat ly be ' aid that h ha , taught hi. ubj ct , ·ell, and, for thi. · crime, ha · made him.- If r pr h n. ihlc t th, alk ·eing ones. W' b liev' in ta i:.:tic. , hut we don't int nd o I ' i d t o th tail of a 2. , om tim · w wond r wh th r .-tati. tic· w •re made for mun or man for . tati ·tic . Anyway, we wi: h '• - " w 11, and bid him b firm. We ·upposc the ones would in:ist that no cla. · should b come a" cinch" cla ·. That i · true, but \YCdon t h ,ti ,·cth r is •riou · dang r of :uch a thin ! t 1 at, w in.·i t that it would be hC'ltcr to hav a few "cinch ' than to mak th obtaining of a dcgrc·c .. m re matter of Iott ry-hand in your name to the profcs ·or, and trust to your lucky .·tar , to k ep you from dru, ·ing an "E" or a "D." If a man know a thing he .·hould h • given er dit for it! What of it if his neighbor ali-o gt>t.-credit? I. n't thcrl' nough II er <lit" to go around? \ wonder- . ifontly, however- if om of the .-teem d ones arc among th "0" class, and are trying to level things <lown, ~o that, th ir own rrc:onl will appear le::; u piciou . If ·o, we would .·ugge -t that th y 1 arn a fundamental rul of evolution, common sen ·c, .-oeiology, and all nature-namely thi ·, worthy thing , u 'Ually rrow up, not clown! B tter hitch your wagon to a :tar than to hitch the star to an anchor and ink it in th bottom of the ·ea. As we were just saying, "0" happen to have a difficult subject-i. e., difficult for many student:. The re ult is tbat they go in there and come out without much more know! dge of the subject than they bad before. This is not "O's" fault, for we an t stify that he i a good profc or; it is mer ly an inevitable re ult of the subject, coupled with a peculiarity of human nature. "P" comes right close to the line. This is well, but he is not the only good teacher among the four. On th contrary, we are absolutely sure that if you were to shift the four m n around the grades in the four classes would run about the same under the new instructors.


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ow are we clear? \ c don't h liev in any uch mechanical fa hion of dealing with li\·ing m n and women. ,re arc not going to in:titute a tirade ugain. t the ones, IN Co CLUSIO. '. nor arc we going to call them any ungentlemanly nn.m ·. Th<':::ecolumns are too dignified for that. We don't know who they are-indeed, we wouldn't say bad thing about th m if we did! ,vc hope th y are merely misled. Let them take note that all th profc~sors who arc in the" M ' " "type are known to b goo I teacher~, while the poorer ure to be in the ' 0" class, teachers-if we hav any such-ar Ioral: "Folks who liYe in gla. or, at lea t, the "P' cla · . hakespeare would ,ay, "The pro,·crb is ·omewhat house-" musty." We hope that we may clo ea we began, by saying that there it be nothing more. Let's nip it in the bud is a rumor-let before it spread it poi ·oncd p tals to the autumn breeze and contaminates ome of the perfect intellectual blo. oms which grow on the academic tree of Richmond College.


CHANGE Wirt L. Dat'is, '17. The R s ·ion ha now progr . cl far enough for u. to take a general urvey of our magazine , with th bop of s tting a -tantlard for our future work. Thi tandartl i not the whim of a theori t. It i' not a criterion arbitrarily ·uprr-impo:ed upon our publications. It i the g n ral average which w ha,·c cYolvc<l in our book. already i8. u cl. We hould ·tate that, in arriving at the following averages, we have, beca.u ·e of their . imilar tructur , cla '"' d . hort-storics and ketchc tog ther. e have al:0 1 for the sume rra. on, count d eirays and oration a s. ay, . With thc::;e cautionary statement , we shall set forth th mathernati •ally av rag• magazine of our exchange Ii t. Average Average Average Average Averagr Average

number numb r number number numb r number

of page ___ of poems . ___ of short-stories . ___ of e ay of articl s __ ____ of writer .

34

3½ 2 7-11 2 9-11 10 8

With this standard in view, we make som observations about our various periodicals. The University of Virginia Magazine, Davidson College Magazine, and The Wake Fore t Student are the most average products on our table. There arc only two magazines that fall short in every point. They are The Ouachita Ripples and Nassau Literary M agazinc. We were happily surprised to find that TuE R1cI1MOND COLLEGE MESSENGER alone is above the average in every particular of this quantitative analysis.


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Let u · here ron"idcr, aL·o, me of the wcah.7le.·,-c:and evil tendenti · of our work .-o fur. To IJC'ginwith, thcr • . rm:--lo le no uniformity in arranging th e table of content-:. ,,omc c•ditor.- lab I every contributed lhcr. only so cla.:.ify their ver · . article as ven;e, essay etc. Still other editor .· haY n mixed .·y, tem-cla. ·ifying some article f th · plans, the first , eems and leaving .:om unda ·. ifi d. We feel that the best; the second,: <'ond be ·t; the third, wort. reader i plca1-ed when he can ca: t hi · <'ye do,,n the table of contents and learn, without turning the page , what each piece of work i. Perhap one of the wor.-t tcndencie noted in a careful review of the colleg magazin · in the p t three month i that of majority of looking to a faithful few for all our ·written work. the writers app ar in very iR-ue of our books. Moreover, a single writer i allow d to put in ju ..t aR many article a he may have time to write. For example, the fir t numb r of the Canisius Monthly had thirteen contribution , and only seven contributors. One writer put in four article , another three. We cannot, of cours , lay thi chara at the door of a single editorial staff; all of u:, at time . , offend in thi point. Furthermore, in justice to our editors, we houlcl . ay that they are not re pon ible for this condition. The tudent bodies are not alive to the value of the college p riodical, and, therefore, they fail to u e their writing abilitie ' for the college publications. Among our weakncs. e- i ob erved, al o, a tendency to put into single is ue too many productions from those not students in our in, titutions. Th October number of The WashingtonJeffersonian, with eight contribution , had only four from the student body. It is emin ntly desirable to publish in our college papers certain p eche , memorial po m , and other items of local interest, but let us avoid their congested use in individual issues. Again, in arriving at this general average, certain magazines were omitted, because it is patent that no effort is put forth to make them normal literary productions. The Georgetonian in November had not quite five page devoted purely to literature, societies, and but nearly thirty pages to local matters-jokes, Local criticism. like to fraternities. The Buff and Blue is subject


22

RICHMOND COLLEGE n!E'- E 'GER.

matt ' , hould n ver he overlook cl hy our editors; but if our work i rich in local inter st it will probably be po r in g ncral inkrc t. The exchange brotherhood i: int r . t d not primarily in what happ en on your campus, but in what kind of lit rature you can produc . From the fore oing consid ration s w :hould lik to u ge~t, for our future effort:, a ·tan<larcl that is, p rhap. ·, lightly above our pre cnt a veragc magazin : Av rag e number of page. --·--· __ 36-40 4 Average numb r of po m. ···- ---··-· ·-·veragc number of ·hort- torie --·-··3 Average number of says ___ 3 Average number of contribu ion, ·--10 Avcrngc numb r of authors _ _ _ _ 9 But we do not wi h to I ave tb impr ·sion that mathematical average produc good ma,gazine . -or would w timulate our editor. to cram in tuff to rai c th av rag of their work. uch a proce s might easily lower th lit rary quality we have already attained. Better a few genuine piece of art, and two of them by one writer, than ten piece of tuff all by different men. Let u raise the quantity of our work, a alr ady ugg sted, but let us not do thl at the expen ·e of quality. For the future we hope to confine our critici m to the literary merits of our exchange publications. W c welcome at our de k: The Messenger,Loui iana College; 11ampden-Sidney lll agazine, The J11ercerian1 The William and Mary Li,teraryMagazine, Nassau Literary Magazine, The X-Ray, The University of Virgim'a Magazine, The Canisius Monthly, The Missile, The Washington-Jeffersonian 1 The OuachitaRipples, The GeorgetownCollegeJournal, The IntercollegiateStatesman.


WesthamptonCollege Department. EDITORIALSTAFF. BOARD OF EDITORS.

E . JAMES, '16.------····-··· ·····································-- .Edilor-in.Chief '11-----·- ····· ····-·- ··-·-···-- ···-·--· ······- ....A.slistantEditor ·-· ·······-······· ·····-· ·····.Adiisory Editor -----······· DEAN MAY L. KELLE,~-

MARGARET FLORENCE

BosToN,

ASS OCIATE EDITORS: ETHEL SMITHER, EMILY

GARDNER,

'15.---- -··- ·-·······--- ------······ ··- ·- ···················-········-.AZumna, '18.·-···-·-·· - ···-················-····- ·- ····-············-··-·······.Exchanges

MANAGLRIALSTAFF. FRIEDA D IETZ, FLORENCE

' 16.------ ···························-· ··························...Business Manager '17·------- ···············- ······-·········.Assislant Bu~ness Manager

SMITH,

EDITORIAL. Examinations are over, and pas eel-we trust; Christmas has come and gone-we are sorry; a whole week, with a few more days thrown in for good measlll'e-a A NE W YEAR'S whole week of rest and pleasure, and, oh! so W ISH . many things that only Christmas holidays seem to bring-all arc gone, as they have, for years and years, and will cont inue to come and go for years and years. J anuary 1st has passed, too, and now we are fairly into the new year, 1916. Have we all tmncd over a new leaf? Well, if we haven 't, it can't matter much, because, really, the


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E.YGER.

leaf ha b n turned for u , and th only part with which we are concerned is how we are going to writ up that leaf. In a coll ge girl' life a multitud of opportuniti . -opportuniti · for good, for bad, for indu try, f r indolenc , for work, for play, for help , for hindrance-all thc ,.c, th one and it · oppo it , off r th m elv every day. Tb r i no g tting around it. ·wbatver anybody' thought on the ·ubjcct may be, facts are facts; they will confront you at every turn, and th very be t viclcncc of the truth of the alternating opportuniti R Ii in what will be ·written on the leaves of the Y ar Book of You. I did the right thing when it would have b en far ea ·ier to have done the wrong. I spent well those few minutes wh n I might o a ily have idled them away. I did my work y tematically, and then there wa always time for play. I helped ome one when it would hav b en far • ier to binder- e. g., ugge ting something not in accord with di ·cretion, the often-overlooked guiding principle of our , tud nt Government Association; loitering around in her room, and keeping a girl from working; doing things myself which I kn w would influence another girl, and not in the right direction. A college life is an advantageous place for "bringing out 11 a girl. She grows and develops into a woman-a b ttcr on I or she doesn't. A college life, lived under self-government, is the most efficient place and carries with it the be ·t opportunitie in the world for a girl to bow by her appcaran e, her mann ers her words, her acts, and, above all, by her attitude, just what is in her-just what she is. Most truly w r thee words spoken: "What you are speaks so loud that I can't hear what you say." May the closing of this session find us all progress <l far and well in doing our best, and in helping others to do their best, so that our new leaf of opportunity, which was opened to u anew this past January 1st, may be full and written well of every opportunity turned to some good, and not bad, for ourselves and for others. Speaking in general, it seems that, on the whole, athletics


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ha been indulg d in enthu ia tirally and well. With the many form 路 of athletic open and opening up to all the time, and no particularly wellwomen . ' TIC E ATHL ollege by guided form in \Ye -thampton it director, athletic popular ren , haw, our ffici nt and Mis this of out t !cf be ecm a Imo t impo 路. ible that any girl hould most necc '. ary department of college life-unlef- , p rchance, by her own choice. But there i pleasure and profit in it, and it i so much d sir d that every girl nter this new year, thi new term , with th r olution to make her athletic count for omething. It can help you in o many, many way , and there i only danger of over-doing one caution that mu .t h ob. erved-tb the thing on the part of ome over-enthu ia. tic per on, at the en 路e of her health and of her college studie . . Let u all e:,;,.1) try, above all thin , to keep our elve well-balanced, in work and in play, always. Eccentric , grnui . , prodigies, fanatic , erratic , and all such, rarely vcr make the world brighter, happier, or better, th e main rea~on b ing that they do not want to. It i , after all, the normal, well-balanced per on, whether man or woman, working and playing 'y 路tematically, that i happier him elf, and who, in the proce s of getting happy, of nece ity, i making other happy. There ha app ared in two or three i ues of THE l\1E SENGER mention, either short or prolong d, of the proposed organization of . cveral supplementary clubs. It is with great delight that we note the oruanization of the e CLUBS. clubs. The organization having be n perfected before the holiday season, it i earnestly desired and expected that, under the leadership of their cho en officer , a definite line of work be immediately undertaken, and that the progress and growth of the club will be marked. They can take a most influential and profitable part in college life, and it now rests with the girl , who will give their sympathy and their support willingly and well, as to whether such will be the case. THE MESSENGERextends a hearty good wish to all for a most pro perous and profitable new year, and pleads so earnestly that some of the "prosper" and the "profit" be given into THE MEsSENGER's keeping.


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DEPARTMENT.

Ethel mither, '15.

Thi. month we wi h to write to you about cla- co tum . II r tofor , at the alunmro luncheon, h Id during 'omm n ment week, th various alumnro have att mpt d no <lcfin:it ffort to cla 路路 r union. Toww feel that th re i no time during all the coll giat ycn.r which bould mean o much to alumni and alumnre a onunencement week, the time at which another cla i 路 being welcomed from undergraduate to graduat ervice for alma mater. We feel that no stone hould be I ft unturn d in or<l r to make Comm.enc ment week the cro,vning time of the year for alum.nm a well a for und rgraduate. Jow, to accompli 路h this, we feel that two thing are nece sary-fir t, each alumna bould feel a clo e individual bond to the ollege; econd, that the intere ts of the class, as a whol , should b dir cted by a chairman, ju t as in college th y are directed by a clas pre idcnt. Now we feel that if the formal r union , uch as triennials, etc., were observed, and special cla s costumes arranged for that the interc t of the individual would be greatly increa d. We wi h to make a plea to the clas chairman of each cla , a king that she do all in her power to have h r own particular lass choose their co tumc. Thls, of course, applies to all clas e before 1915, for with that clas. all clas e will graduat with class costume already chosen and worn for four years. Wc a 'k your interest and co-operation in this matter, which we feel should interest every alumna.


EXCHANGES . Emily Gardner, '18. We were glad to receive, although for the firtil tim , The .,.ovembcr number contained two pl nclid , hort stories, a well a, several good sketches. "The Artistic TemperaThe Smith ment" wa ' a rather odd story. It wa CollegeMonthly. written chiefly in the dialect of the old Briti h pirate , which wa ,veil carried out through the entire story. A pirate tell- a talc, and, a on would uppo:;e, it is of the deathly, blood-curdling denomination so characteri tic of pirates. The tale i of the rivalry of the captain and the first mate of the "Morning tar," their ¡hip, for a la, whom they both love. The first mate kills the captain; the teller is the witne~ . The unu ual thing about the story i the conclusion. The writer does not attempt a long and tediou ending by e:xplaining how the murderer escaped or wa killed, but ends abruptly and in a noYel manner. The introduction i rather long. The setting could have been realized in less space. "Button , ,, might be an advice pill to be swallowed by young ladie that are stfr,i11g to win the heart of some great professor. Be sure to be domestically inclined. The description in several of the sketchc wa good. Then, finally, we wish to congratulate Smith College on its poets . Their poetry is of the best we have received.

Smith College Monthly. The

The November number of The Tattler was not as good as we might have expected. In it were three tories, one sketch, an e say on 0 . Henry, and several short poems. "Polly Peace," one of the stories, was fairly The Tattler. rough, though, in the well written-rather construction of sentences and paragraphs. The plot might be


234

RICH fOJ. D COLLEGE ME

E 'GER.

on ·id r cl imp .·.·ihl , f r could a man, , ·ithout . C'C'inga young lady, only h aring of her ont , and haYing n k11owl1•d"l'of }wr hut ha\"ing :.;c('n her flow r garden , fall dC,'})l'rately or totnlly in lov wilh her? Probably the \HitN hud in mind that th r •:ulc•r would be highly imaginative. "Tomato ,' oup" wa, ruthu pointlc:-. - am -riacl of vugu idea.-, with no 1 •al tangihlP thrc-:l<l. n wonder ,vhat the author really nwant. "Crn h : " wa · a good account of what a ntim ntal, dar -devili,h olIC'gt•girl might do. Th ketch on . Henry was w 11 handled. The di..cu ion of hi popularity as a .·hort-.tory writ r, au I why it probably would not last, wa lcarly hr ught out. Wh thcr it i true will be hO'\\'Dby tim . ~ow, may we ~a , Ha.ndolphMacon, a. a si ter colleg , get bu:y. Y u hav nough material there, if you will put it into action. monthly lit rary ruugazin is e ntial to a college, and do not overlook it welfare. The ewcomb Arcade is an exceedingly neat, good-looking magazine on the out ide, and, on op ning it, W<' w r m t, fir.-t by equally a good material. A prize c. :-ay The wa th fir t article - an intcre ·ting, foreeful Newcomb Arcade. argument, which plainly how d the ne cl of this day for more Hkill cl labor r. ·. H further howccl how to obtain such la.borer~. The industrial schools in various places, th ir m thods of t aching, and the like, were di cu ed, and the writ r' sta.tem nt wer well backed by both statistics and facts, shown by men who arc supposed to know about the need of th Lime'. Following this es. ay was an amusing story, "The Family Jonah," an account of the attempt of a little sevcn-year-olcl mini ter's on to ee a wedding. The theme was, "Be good and be happy, but you won't have any fun." It was witty and cleverly written, the best story in the magazine. ow we com • to the tragedy of the magazine. While th other stories were good, they were too short. We were orry to see that, instead of having an ascending motion, the material began to dwindl clown. We fear that the ketch, "I Couldn't Think of Anything EI e," was too true. The trouble with most college magazines (we arc not excluding ours) is that there is not enough spirit behind them.


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235

\V write :-;tori ' mer ly to fill up . pace, with no idea that they are r pr s •nting the b .t of our talent. We ay we have no time. How about the tim we loaf, doing nothing but go ip? If we could get . omc of th lazinc ( hall we ay?) out of the e young

genui,:e , there would be different magazines. The editor would not look . o haggard. Remember, college i ters, you and our magazine ¡ ar repre ' enting our college . We acknowledge, with plea ure, The Woman's CollegeBulletin, The Focus, The Concept, The Bessie Tift Journal, The I saqueena, The Tennessee College Magazine, The Hollins Magazine, The Lesbian Herald, The Wellesley CollegeNews, The Vassar Miscellany Monthly, The Wells College Chronicle, The Sweet Briar Magazine, The Mary Baldwin Miscellany, and The Winthrop Journal.


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The session of eight months opens September 30th. Excellent equipment ; able and progressive F acuity; wide range of theological study. If help is needed to pay board, write to Mr. B. Pressley Smith, Treasurer of Students' Fund. For catalogue and other information, write to E. Y. MULLINS. President. In answering advertisements mention Tam

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