The Helena independent. [volume], November 22, 1891, Morning, Page 13, Image 13

About The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
uY JOJ4 bCHANDIR RA/U
WRITTEN ESPEC1ALLY 'OR THE HELENA INDEPENDENT.
CHAPTER I.
cON IfA WE1LL MAlcrS VSTAMT.
U B POSTOFFI JR
in the middle of the
Georgia village of
Iiillsborough usedto
be a queer little
plece, whatever it is
now. It was ftted up
ib a cellar And the
postmaster. who was
an enterprising gen
tieman from Con
ecticut. had arranged mattoes no that
one who went after their letters and pa
`re could at the samn time get their gro.
ryoupplies.
b)pr against the wall on one side was a
ded gresn sofa. It was not an inviting
at; for in some pisces the springs peeped
rough, and one of its legs was broken,
lying it a suspicious tilt Against thu wall.
ut a certain little boy found ose corner of
o rickety old cots a very comfortable
lace, and he used to opri up, there nearly
cry day, reading such stray newspapers
he could lay hands on, and watching the
ople come and go.
To the little boy, the stock of goods die
layed for sale was as c srions in its variety
e the people who called day after day for
e letters that name or thet failed to come.
'o some dainty person., the mingled odor
f cheese, camphene and mackerel would
ave been disagreeable, but Joe Maxwell
at was the name of the little boy
ad a healthy disposition and a strong
omach, and he thought the queer little
ostomoe was one of the pleasantest places
the World.
A partition of wood-work and wire-net
ug cut' off the postomoe and the little stock
t groceries from the public at large, but
uteide of that was an area where a good
any people could stand and wait for their
tters. In one torner of this area was the
iokety green sofa, and round about were
hairs and boxes and barrels on which tired
ople could rest themselves.
The l4illidgeville papers hail a large cir
ulation in the county. They were printed
t the capital of the state, and were thought
be very important on that account.
'hey had so many readers in the neighbor
cod that the postmaster, in order to save
me and trouble, used to pile them up on a
ung shelf outside the wooden partition,
here each subscriber could help himself.
ou Maxwell took advantage of this method
nd on TIesdays when the Millidgeville
apers arrived, he could always be found
urled up in the corner of the old green
ofa reading The Recorder and The Fede
al Union. What he found in those papers
interest him would be hard to say. They
cre full of political eassaysthat were ponu
r in those days, and they had long reports
f political conventions and meetings from
11 pa rts of the state.. They were papers for
rows people and Joe Maxwell was only 12
ears old and small for his ago.
There was another place that Joe found
pleasant to visit, and that was a law
er's office in one of the rooms of the old
avern that looked out on the pillared ver
nda.,.Itwas a pleasant place to him, not
fesluse it was a law ofilce but because it
as the offiec of a gentleman who was
ery friendly to the youngster. The gen
leman's name was 1%lr. Peometari and Jon
aIled him Mr. Deo, as did the other peo
Ia of Hillsborough. He was fat and
hort and wore whiskers, which gave him
peculiar appearance at that time. All
he rest of the men that Joe knew wore
ither a full beard or a mustache and an
merial. For that reason Mr. Deometari's
hickers were very, queer looking. He was
Greek and there was a rumor among
he people about town that he had been
ompelled to leave his country on account
f his politics. Joe never knew until long
fterward that politics could he a crime.
ea thought that politics consisted partly
a newspaper articels signed "Old Sub
eriber" and "Many Citizens" and "Vex
opuli" and "Serutator;" and partly in ar
uments between the men who cat in flue
'eather on the dry good boxes under the
bins trees. But there was a msystery
bout Mr. Deometari, and it pleased the
ad to imagine all sorts of romantic stories
bout the fat lawyer. Although Mr. Deo
etari was a Greek, there was no foreign
wang to his tongue. Only as close an ob
erver as the boy could have told from his
alk that he was a foreigner. He was a
ood lawyer and a good speakar, and all the
ther lawyers seemed to like him. They en
RAN YELLING INTO THE CAlMnP.
eyed his company so well that it was only
ocasionally that Joe found him in bie
Mee alone. Once Mr. Deometari took
rom his closet a military uniform and put
t on. Joe Maxwell thought it was the
oat beautiful uniform he had ever seen.
old braid ran down the eides of the
rouneers, gold cords bhug loosely on the
reast of the coat, and a pair of tremen
one epaulettes surmounted the shoulders.
lhe hat was like something Jos had seen
n picture booke. It was caught up at the
ides with little gold buttons, and trimmed
ith a long black feather that shone like a
igeon's breast. Fat as Mr. Deometari
as, the lad thought he looked very hand
ome in his fine uniform. This was only
us incident, In his room, which was a
large one, Mr. Deomatari had boxes packed
with books and he gave Joe leave to ran
ack them. Many of the volumes were in
trange longues, but among them were
ems quaint old English books, and those
he lad relished beyond measure. After a
bile Mr. Deometa I closed his ofice and
eit away to the war.
It would not be fair to say that Joe was
studious lad. On the contrary he was of
in adventurous turn of mind, and lie was
o tat all fond of the booke that were in
is desk at Hilleborough ecademy. He was
till of all sorts of pranks and capers, and
hare were plenty of people in the .little
oewn reedy to declare that he would coma
some bad end if he was not more fro
qbently dosed with what the old folks used
to call hickory oil. Bome of Joe Maxwell's
ranks were commonplace enough, but
'there were ingenious enough to Rive him
luite a reputation for humor, and one in
artsoular is talked of by the middle-aged
ople of Ilillaborough to this day.
The teacher of the academy had organ
eod a military company among the pupils
it was just about the time when rumors
and hints of war had begun to take shape
and a good deal of interest was felt in the
organization, especially by the older boys.
Of this conlpiny Joe Maxwell was the
fourth oorporal, a position which gave him
lilee at the foot of the company. The
illeborough cadets drilled every school
day, and sometimes on tlttardaya, and they
soon grewto be very proud of their pro
icienoy.
At last after a good deal of maneuvering
on the play grounds and in the public
square the teacher, who was the captain,
concluded that the boys had earned a vaca
tion, and it was decided that the company
ahould, go into camp for a week on the
oonena river, and fish and hunt and have a
good time generally. 'The boys fairly went
wild when the announcement was made,
and some of them wanted to hoiu the
teacher, who bad jard work to explain that
an attempt of this eort was not in accord
with military tactic. or discipline.
All the arrangements were duly made.
Tents were borrowed from the Rillabor
ongh Rles, and the drum corpe of that
company was hired to make muelo. A half
dozen wjgona carried the camp outfit asid
the email boys, while the larger ones
marched. It wasl an entirely neW experi
ence for Joe Maxwell and he enjoyed it ad
only a healthy and high-spirited boy could
enjoy it. The formal and solemn way in
whichthe guard was mounted was very
fanny to him, aand the temptation to make
a joke~of jt wia Ipo strong to he resisted.
The btent were pitcbed facing eauh other,
with the officers' teat at the head of the
line thiisformed. At the other eandof the
laneaand a little to the rear was the bag
gage tent, in which the trunks, boxes, and
commissaries were stored. Outside of all,
the four sentinels marched up and down.
The tents were pitched in an old field that
was used as a pasture, and Joe noticed dur
ing the afternoon two mules and a boie
CRIED OPT THAT SATAN DAD COME.
browsing around. He noticed, too, that
these animals vere very much disturbed,
especially when the drums began to beat.
and that their ouriosity would not permit
them to get very far from the camp, no
matter how frightened they were.
It happened that one of Joe's mess
mates was to go on guard duty at 12 o'clock
that night, He was a fat, awkwark, good
natured fellow, this meismate, and a heavy
sleeper, too, so that when the corporal of
the guard undertook to arouse him, all the
boys in the tent were awakened. All ex
cept Joe quickly went to sleep again, but
this enterprising youngster quietly put on
his clothes, and; in the confusion of chang
ing the guard, slipped out of the lines, and
hid in a convenient gully not far from the
Camp.
It was-his intention to worry if not to
frighten his mesemate, and while he lay
there trying to think out the best plan to
pursue, he heard the horse and mules
tramping and ;snorting ;nut, very far off.
Their curiosity was not yet satisfied and
they seemed to be making their way to
ward the camp for the purpose of recon
noitering. " Joe's mind was made up in an
instant. He slipped down the gully until
the animals were between him and the
camp, and then, seizing a large pinebrush
that happened to be lying near, he sprang
toward them. The males and horse were
ripe for a stampede. The camp itself was
an object of suspicion, and this attack
from an unexpected quarter was too much
for them. hnorting with terror, they
rushed in the direction of the tents. The
sleepy sentinel hearing them coming fired
his gun in the air, and ran yelling into the
camp. followed by the horse and one of
the mules. The other mule shied
to the right when the gun was fired, and
ran into the baggage tent. There was a
tremendous rattle and clatter of boxes,
poti, pans and crockery ware. The mule,
crazed with fright, made a violent effort to
get through the tent, but it caught him in
some way. Finally the roues that held it
down gave way, and the mule, with the tent
flapping and flopping on his bank. turned
and rushed through the camp. To all but
Joe Maxwell it was a horrifying sight.
Many of the boys, as the saying is, "took
to the woods," and some of them were pros
trated with fright. 'these were conses
qusnces that Joe had not counted on, and
it was a long time before he confessed to
his share in the night's sport. The re
sults reached farther than the camp. In
another part of the plantation the negroes
were holding a revival meeting in the
open air, preaching and shouting and
singing. Toward this familiar scene the
mule made his way squacling, braying
and kicking, the big white tent flopping
on his back. As the terrified animal cir
cled around the place, the negroes cried out
that Satan had come, and the panic that
ensued among them is not easily deesribed,
Many thought that the apparition was the
ushering of the judgment day, while by far
the greater number believed that the "old
boy' himself was after them. The uproar
they made could be plainly heard at the
camp, more than a& mile away - shrieks,
sorersn. yells and cries for mercy. After
it was all over and Joe Maxwell hadcret
quietly to bed, the thought came to him
that it was not. such a itse joke after all,
and he lay awake a long time repenting the
night's work. He heard the next tlay that
I nobody had been hurt and that no serious
damage had been done, but it was many
weeks before he forgave himself for his
thoughtless prank.
Althoagh Joe was fond of fun, and had a
great desire to be a clown in is circus, or to
be the driver of a stage coach-just such a
red and yellow coach, with "U. B. M."
painted on the doors, as used to carry pas
smngers and the mails betweeni Huilleoroaah
and Buokville-he never permitted his mind
to dwell on these things. He knew very
wall that the time would soon come when
he would have to support his mother and
himself. This thought used to come over
him again and again when he was sitting in
the little postofficesreading the Millidge
ville papers.
It so happened that these napare grew
very interesting to both old and young as
the days went by. The rumors of war had
developed into war itself. In the course of
a very few months two companies of voluit
teers had gone to Virginia fioim Hillsbor.
ough, and the little to en seemed to be lone
lier and more deserted than ever. Joe
Maxwell noticed, is he sat in the postofmiee.
that only very few old men and ladies ease
after the letterss and papers, and he missed
a gre t many faces that used to smile at
him as he set reading, and some of them
he never saw again. He noticed, too, thatt
when there had been a battle or a skirmish
the ladia and young girls cante to the post.
elleo more frequently. When the news was
very important, one of the beet known citi
zens would mount a chair or it dry goods
box and read thb telegrams aloud to the
waiting and anxious group of people; and
sosmetimes the hands and the voice of the
reader trembled.
One day while Joe Maxwell was sittisig
in the puetoillee lookinig over the Millidigs
viile papers, his eye fell on sit advertise
snent that interested him greatly. It
seemned to bring the whole wotld insaser to
him. The arlvertlsemeiet set forth the fast
that next 'Iuesday the first number of this
Coustlrytian, is weekly paper, would be
-published. It would lie modeled sitar Mr.
Add ieon'y little paper,e the 8~eatatOitj rtV
@oldsmte's little paper, beie, sunit
1roed be isteu oe = l~ 4 011e'
editor nine ola es notr°e
dread t'iii adnem tlbisyet over a dogen timed.
ad it, was with a gtet r deal o hiepetiRo
tl"t le' wai d fot '4he a e butsuday to.
9015)5. a2,.`
"e3uvt the d' dl4 .ome, orw n wth it thef
dthieee Cof'.x115 untrm ab, oore read
u4 e from be ! n d Jtold him ertioetmento
apd allanthoh ght ot wen bet moatray
tortainong little paner hd had aser ansn
nosnemneut bythe ediorbthrb ae hwante d
boy to learn the printing business. Joe
borrowed pen and ink and eome o apmr
from the friendly oetmesteer and wrote' a
letter to the iditor, ese tsgat he would
be glad to learn the printing buseness, The
letter was no doubt an awkward, one, but it
herved ie purpose, for when the editor of
;'he Countryman came to Billeharough he
hunted Joe up and told him to get bqedyto
go the plantation. The lad, not without
seome misgivwigs, put away his taep ard
marbles, packed his little belongings in an
oldfhashioned trunk, kiseed his mother and
his grandmother good-bye, and qet forth
on what turned out to be thle most import
tint journey of hie life.
bAitting in~the buggy by the side of the
editor and publisher of The Countryman.
Joe Maxweil felt lonely indeed, and this
feeling wea Incraseds an he want through
the little town and heard his sehoolmates,
who were at their marbles on the public
square, bidding him good-by. He could
hardly'keep book. his;teare at this, hut, on
looking around after the buggy bad gone a
little way, be saw his friends had returned
to their marbles, and the thought struck
him that he wes already forgotten. Many
and many a time after that ho thought of
hislittle pompanione and how quickly they
had returned to their marbles.
The editor of the countryman medt have
divined what was passing in the ladi's_ mind
(be was a quick-witted man, and a' clever
one, too), for he tried to get up a conversa
tion with Joe. 'But the boy preferred to
nurse his loneliness, and Would only talk
when he was eompelled to answer a ques
tion. Finally the editor asked him if he
would dreve. and this Joe wae glad enough,
to do. for there is some diversion in hold
ing the rains over a spirited horse. The
editors horse was a large gray, nanied Ben
Bolt and he was finer than any of' the
horses that Joe bad seenat the livery stable.
Feeling a new and unaccustomed touch on
the reins; Ben Bolt made an effort to give a
new meaning to his name by bolting cure
enough. The road was level and hard, and
the horse ran rapidly for a little distance
but Joe Maxwell's arms were tough, and
before the horse had gone a quarter of a
mile the lad bad him completely under
control.
"You did that very well," said the editor,
who was familiar with Ben Bolt's tricks.
"I didn't know that little boys in town
could drive.'?
6rOh, sometimes they can," said Joe. "If
he had been scared, Ithink I should have
been scared myself; but he was only play
iug. He has been tied at the rack all day,
and ha must be hungry."
"Yes," said the etitor, "he is hungry, and
he wants to see his mate, Rob Roy."
Then the editor, in a fanciful way went'
on to talk about Ben Bolt and Rob Roy, are
if they were persons instead of horses, but
it did not seem fanciful to Joe, who bad a
strange sympathy with animals of all kinds,
especially horses and dogs. It pleased him
greatly to think that he had ideas in com
mon with a grown man, who knew how to
write for the papers; and if the editor was
talking to make Joe forget his loneliness,
he succeeded admirably, for the lad thought
no moe of the boys who had so quickly re
turned to their marbles" but only of his
mother, whom he had last seen standing at
the little gate smiling at him through her
tears.
As they drove along, the editor pointed
out a little log cabin near the road.
"That," said he, "is where the high sher
iff of the county lives. Do you know Col.
John B. btith?"
"Yes," said Joe, "but I thought he lived
in a large, fine house. I don't see bow, he
can get get in at that door yonder'"
"What makes you think o eis ton big for
the door?" asked the editor.
"Why, the way he goes on," said Joe,
with the bluntness of youth. "He is always
in town talking politics, and he talks big
ger than anybody."
Well'.' saidihe edittor,. laughing, "'that
is the 'house. `When you get a little older'
you'll find people who are more dissapoint
ing than the high sheriff. Boys are some
times too big for their breeches, I've heard
eaid, but this is the first time I ever beard
that a man could be too big 'for his house.
'hat is a good one on the colonel."
Ben Bolt trotted along steadily and
rapidly, but after awhile dusk fell, and
then the stars came out. Joe peered ahead,
trying to make out the road.
"Just let the hose have his way," said
the editor. "He knows the road better than
I do," and it seemed to he so, for when
heavy clouds from the west came up and
hii the stare, and only the darkness was
visible, Ben Bolt trotted along as steadily
as ever. He splashed through Crooked
creek, walked up rthe log hill, and then
started forward more rapidly than ever.
"It is a level road, now." said the edi
tcr. "and Ben Bolt is on the home stretch."
In a little while he stopped before a large
gate. It was opened in a jiffy by some one
who seemed to be waiting.
"Is that you, Harbert?" asked the editor.
"Yee, marster."
"Well, I want you to take Mr. Maxwell
here to Mr. Snelson'sh"
" Xauer," responded the negro.
"Sep leon is the foreman of the printing
office," the editor explained to Joe, "and
for the present you are to hoard with him.
I hope he will make things pleasant for
you. Good night.
To the lonely lad it seemed a long jour
ney to Mr. Snelson's-through wide pianta-'
tion gates, down 'narrow lanes, along a hit
of public road, and then a plunge into the
depths of a great wood, where presently a
bfore. Thim' inomthe darkones ah musical
whareloo, wherenin, aspomplya. ieco
camlie as hiearyresonse fromithe hrous wtha
just the faintest touhiof the rish borogue
"Ao.andiht'steyugmalJm.ih
KITTY, MY COLLEEN.
Kitty, msy collen, 'tis you that took winsome
iApinoin' til wool, with yoar bheatiful smile.
Laoe olt snd let yohr old hrandmothor spin
I've 0ouetlIin' to whisper yot out at tho stile,
Troth) with your looks, luve, rodaintily ourlij',
Your lips, that kee hunimnin' a fortunate
And your whenhy white handsr, that aretwistin'
and twirlin',
You're windin' my heart on the spindle aroon;
Arrth, tint, otitty,
itos you that look prolty,
8'ated so owee at your cold splnnin' wheel;
Wineonme and wionlo',
Sh, witile you keep splnnin'
My fate, with your nate little ankle and hee'l
You nred't mind 1ur 5m' your tresses so flaxen
Itegorra, thop'r f dr as a fortune o' goldt
And your hantd, Kitty, drar, im 0 wleesy and
waxen,
The eoggarlh should give It to some one to
An' ityrtot sore kisred it lthy'ro redder than
And an armesuro wao wado to enoire a waist;
haixl your lips our so liko a hunch o' ripe her
I'vm thio hsn' manana, of tvyin' at t eahte.
Arrah. thtin', i nitly,
lt's you thatt look pretty,
B'oted 00 sweet at potr tou hit nulol' wheel;
~V income land Wittltllil
'Ato while you lepep t mumi
My rule wolt) yotsr note I ittlpo ankle and heel.
'.)'ttder and lurfi il's a saelao beyond slenin'
it'silg tiheforcohresto P'ove sit tiheir
Whin the moioo and thsoir bourisale pssep In at
the Ioort
lu bouat to yottr Btarney, 'my derlin' so wlu
route
Ahi Ktitly', you're breatlo' soy htoart wills your
em ilo'-.
W'hichl alsy, croon, lot your grantdmothsor opus
I've soteottlon' to whitper poe out at the sthie.
Artith, thin 1(itty,
It's yen that look pretty,
Wated so eweet at. your suohd splnelo' whteel;
Wiosomso and wgloom',
'i'heo whitl you keopts Oltllttl'
My fate willh your neto lithle stukltr anl heel.
'-N~ovormhor Ventsury.
I\\Lill 1SVEN II[N~fRi CO9LbGE GIRLS.
wo ,I N AMUYSBfMXN'T AT WE L1 SL]i Y.
WRITTN ES1GIALY Oi TIlE# J[ELEN4 1NDEI'ENDENT.
ELLEcSLEY, MASB., NOV. 18.
Somebody told me, just as I was
getting on the train for Welles
lay, that the college is about a mile from
the station, and that you go out to it on a
barge.
I wondered whether this barge would be
bauled by a mule, canal boat wise, or pro
pelled by oarsmen, and thought of Cleopa
tra and other antique parties who were ad
diated to gilded bargeswith silken awnings,
etc.. ate., bat whef I got off the ,train I
found diy land in every direction, and that
the "barge" referred to is a sort of go-as
you-ploase street ear without a track.
I was enchanted with the beauty of the
college grounds from the moment we drove
into them; and almost at every turn, acroes
green grass and under shady trees, there
COMPOsITi oF THE CLASS OF '91.
was some different beautiful view of the
main college building, the lake, or some of
the halls and ~cottages. It is an ideal spot
for such an instittution; green, sequestered,
salubrious; just what you imagine Tenny
son's "Princess". college should have been.
Here and there we met or passed girls,
singly or in groups, pacing soberly in the
shady walks, intent upon open books or
hurrying to recitation or lecture.
This impression that I was in the domain
of "The Princess" was deepened when I en
tered the main hall, then in succession, the
reception room, the Browning room and the
various offiabs and parlors, and encountered
only feminine faces on every side. "With
prudes for protectors,, dowagers for deans,"
came irrisistibly into my mind when I was
presented to President Shafer, Dr. Webster
Ya q ý .. +ý-'7;
"\ ý \3ý a + ` :. a -
-iu ;^ t
c.+ sF ý 1 A'
4; I - 1 .lmI ` , ,\ \ " 1
,~CLS OF/ -491.4
(a Ph.D.), Professor Bates, Professor Stod
dart-all women,, But when we got into
the elevator and I found the elevator boy
was a girl, it really seemed too funny and
"Secret laughter tickled all my sonl."
"Oh, yes," said the bright little freshman
-a sixteen year old western girl who was
going up with me, "that was, the original
spirit of the institution. It was so marked..
that this story of the founding of the col
leges was manufactured and got to be n
standing joke among the girls."
"When Mr. Durant was looking fos a
placi to build a girl's college, whore they
should be entirely removed from eight and
A W1t UESLIEY FRESHMAN CR1DW.
hearing of man and eduouted toording to
his )dos-whihb wvero, to put it mildly, on
posed to ceaederation-he dieaovered the
village of WVellselsy. He wan uleaeedl wilt)
the place, but, though n Mina; ouiatts
village, there wero nmoe it; inhnbitanti
four real, live, human yoing ieni. But one
almost iwuadiatel v went to Europe.
Mr. Durant waited a yeur and one
of the three ramaining died. Ho
awaited reloeitlesely another year; the
presesre wes too much for one of
the earvivote and ho weakened and died.
'Tlhen Mr. Duraut built hIis collago; so this
is not mn entirely Adamlees Edou; and any
man you may ohance to nieet upon the
atreet you are at liberty to regard ie "the"
I attended chapel in the morniae. From
the gallery, where tbp efaculty, the
"specials" and any guests are Heated, I I
looked down on, what wgs to me a novel
end interesting sight, seven hundred girl
ish heads, black, brown golden and red.
The responses were made in seven hundred
treble voices and the hymns sung all in a
great semi-cieorus of soprano and alto.
An informal reception was given some
distiguished guests the day I arrived; so I
was fortunate enough to see teachers and
stodents in festal trim, and hear the latter
give their college call of,
The rooms-bed room and sitting room
are always furnished by the college. I saw
several of these suites, each with the same
arrangement of two sinule bade, two bu
reaus, etc.; the sitting room brightened
and made attractive by the addition of
books, i ictures, cushions, and occasionally
a pretty desk or other bit of furniture
brought by the occusnnte: but apparently
there was not a disposition towards the
costly and luxurioua furnishings and dec
orations wealthy college men sometimes
affect,
"How do the girls regard corsets and
tight dressing?" I asked, and was told what
indeed I could ese for myself, that a con
siderable proportion of them wore no cor
sets all at or some of the more comfortable
compromises, and that, if one might judge
from appearances, there is no tight lacing.
Lake Wahan, within a stone's throw of
College hall, is a beautiful little sheet of
water, and surely never did little lake sup
ply more enjoyment to the gallon than it,
in the way of skating and boating. Each
class has its boat crew, and nearly all the
girls row more or less. "Float night" is a
great Wellesley occasion. It occurs about
the first of June. All the crews, with their
guests, float about the lake, singing and
enjoying themselves. At six o'clock all the
boats are moored to one buoy, the new
songs for the occasion are sung, and great
hilarity prevails, The lake and surround
ings are illuminated with calcium lights
and floating lights are thrown upon the
water.
Racing has not been allowed, but the
matter pf an intercollegitte tathletic associ
ation is now being discaseed at Wellesley,
Bryn Mawr, and some other women's col
leges. If this idea is carried out I suppose
there will be boat racing among the girls,
as well as contests in other'kinds of sport.
An article in the Wellesley Prelude, the
college publication, says: "It is eminently
true that such an association would encour
age athletic sports and lend an interest that
does not always attend them. Wellesley
offers fine opportunities for all kinds of
sport to her students. No wonian's college
in the country can boast of such a body cf
water as onr~own Lake Waban, and the fine
roads in the vicinity ofter great induce
ments to the wheelmen."
The writer then goes on to complain a
little humorol.sly of the boats, calling them
"arks or tubs," and to say that the times
and places of meetswould be a troublesome
question. as their college duties could not.
according to precedent. be interfered with,
the girls not enjoying the same privilege on
this score that their brothers do. This, she
says, would leave them only their vacation
to choose f:yna, and they do not occur at
suitable easons. But when once this part
of the longle is unravelled the rest would
follow easily enough.
One of the Airet pretty pictures I saw be
fore I reached College hall was t group of
.pliant, rosy-faced, young lehes coming up
fromu the ltake with their thin, curved
bladed oai e onr their shoulders. A little
to one side were the tennis coourte, whore a
tournament was in progress (it being a half
holiday), aod I thought what a contrast it
all was to the seleet seminary of Diekenta'
and hThaekoray'e time, when the young
ladies were warched out daily in solenmn
procession, jealously bedregoned, and with
little pinched wnitit and thinly shod foet,
to take their countitutional.
Ditcycling is vary popular at Welleeley.
In nt w walks about the wounds and in the
villa)e I mnt girls ekimeming along on bicy
cles, with rosy choeks and sunburnt noces
as wherefore not? for there isn't a masculine
thing about for whose sake to ohorisli and
pfotseoa ftirnd tUlelS atoeR thpIk I
bicycles at the caolleg or ohire, and'
of the girls have their own maohanthij
as those eslpolaily f>ond, of, w 0h
their own be a.s-wfiitn, oflt~'kyl eo
pen also to be able to afford it.
"And how are you on slang, gitsla I
asead somue of them.
a0, W uste a oa deal of it," the said.
"Lots of it th rat year, not so much th*
next, gid by the time we get to be seniors
we findwe can talk quite satisfactorily and
intelligibly without ny." here: I never sny
any girl chewing gum while I was at Weller
{lay; and, from my own observation of them
as well as from report, 1 should think that
as a body they would regard gum chewing
with about as much favor as the United
iitates senate.
I saw a room with the legend "Society
Hall," printed upon the door, and was toid
it is the hall where the secret societies hold
their meetings.
So the girls have secret societies, and they
are secret. This is a final, sweeping and
wholesale refutation of the assertion that a
woman cannot keep a secret-a monument
to the fact that even at an early age she can
and does so.
The various activities of Wellesley are
charmingly portrayed in the annual pubil
cation of the senior class, the Legends.
The volume for this year, with its 200 pages,
its picturesque binding of rough leather,
its score of full plnge photographs of scenes
on the campus, of the banjo ciub, of the
prettily costumed rowing crew and of the
college glee club, and the many cartoons
and secret society devices is full of sparkle
and interest. lint quite as taking as the
illustrations of the volume are the prose
writing and the poetry, In prose the supp*
riorgiri and the girl who talks Is bit off
along with the faithful student and the uo
COMPOSITE OF THE FACULTr.
avoidably delayed girl, As to the rhymo
ing, here is a specimen of it:
There wae a young man at the float.
Who rowod with a meaid in a boat
TIbtir positio~n was quiet,
For they both han to etesr.
And 'twas quite hard to manage that boat.
'Twss a dear little maid at his side.
And betwixt them the eptce was not wide,
Cruel calcium light,
TVo reveal that sweot eight.
Aed make them both eager to hide.
I had talks with several students on the
subject of matrimony, asking them how
they thought the girls generally were dis
posed to regard marriage end wh9t they.
would, as a rule, consider a proper mar
riageable age. They all agreed that twenty
four or twenty-five is young enough for a
girl to marry; but they didfered upon the
other question. Soms of the younger
students with whom I discussed the matter
were disposed to think there was a large
percentage of the girls who definitely
intended not to marry, but to devote them
selves to some siseiea career, some chosen
art or profession. But a senior to whom I
put the question-a young woman of brains
and observation, nud who bee written quite
extensively on college topics as well as in.
other fields--assured me smilingly that this
was a mistake.
"Our girls marry," she said. "That is
just what they do-they marry. Some are
engaged when they come here, when, of
course, they are apt to marry almost immes
diately after graduation, The proportion
is large-very large-of graduates who
marry in a comparatively short time-say
one or two or three years-after leaving
college. The per cent. of girls that are
here, fitting themselves for some chosen
career or profession, is smaller than you
would suppose. I know I collected statis
tics upon this subject some time ago; I
haven't them here, and cannot trust my
memory to give yon the percentages as
made up fronm the reports of several hun
dred alumnae; but 1 know the relative pro
portions are as I have told you."
Many with whom I talked expect to be
self-supporting after leaving college. It
struck me very forcibly as being: with all
its opportunities and facilities for healthful
exercise and recreation, a place for honest,
straight-ahead hard work. This was de
cidedly the attitude of those teachers and
students with whp& I talked, and the spirit
of the institution as opposed to that of the
fashionable boarding or finishing school.
Indeed the work done seemed appalling to
toe. But my views on education are very
unorthodox. The idea of sending young
people to college (after ten or twelvo years
at piimary, grammar and preparatory
schools) where for four years they work up
to, and many of them beyond, their
capacity, to crowd into their minds enor
nious quantities of knowledge, in a number
of tfilds, as history, science, niathematies,
languages, literature, etc., etc., which is
bound, from its very quantity mnd variety
to ho (the bulk of it) eventually useless and
forgotten and the acquirement of which,
leaves no opportunity for any practical ax
perieoee of the world-this imlee of an ede-"'
cation-this plan of education, rather-+
always seemed to me a one-sided one, for'
men or for women. A/erer MA~owAcN.
Copyright.
IjlWILDEtE D.
Ant if I asked a eoniinuriler.
And lto may wuodering hr'iil,
A erairaeter irreermid a lgiirmlumii,
Anid l be wildered elarol;
Arid If I acted the Urinct
)laist torieriie a araer,-
Arid it ehouilid lift its purple dikes
And shatter nie wihi dap