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About The Nebraskan. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1892-1899 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1896)
? JL THE RASKAN 71 Vol IV. No. ia UNIVERSITY OF NEllKASiqj LINCOLN, FBimUAttY II, 1S00. PlUOE, 5 Cknts JN HjJBS OUR ORATORICAL AFFAIRS CONTEST TO-MORROW NIGHT. Interviews on tho Advisability or With drawing from tho Inter-Btato Xtoasuo ltn Opinion. Tho annual contest of the university oratorical ttssoclatlon to select a tide (jAto to represent tho unlvoralty 4n tho state contest will take place Saturday night. February 15, The contest prom ises to bo very spirited as tho orators haw boon working hard. Yot not much Inter has boon manifested In tho coming event, owing to other festivities taking place this week. An admission fee of 10 cents will bo charged as usual. THE PROGRAM. VocaI solo (a), "My Lover Will Come Today." R. DeKoven. (b) "Tho Silver Ring," Chalnhwde, Marie Pollard. Oration, "The World Brain," H. R. Alexander. Oration, "The South and the Race Question," S. W. Plnkerton. Oration, "The Dean of American Statesmen," Snowdon Summers, Vocal solo, D. N. Lehmer, Oration, "Mirabeau," P, B. Edgcrton. Oration, "Trtal by Jury," H. W. Qualntancc. Oration, "Senior Dollvor," L. J. Abbott Jr. Music Decision of judges. The Judges are: On manuscript, Judge E. P. Holmes. Judge A, S. Tib bets and W. M. Smith; on delivery. Ytoss L. Hammond, Hon. A. R. Talbot. The third Judge on delivery has not yet been selected. The Question of withdrawing firowi the interstate oratorical association Is becoming very pertinent In view of the lack of Interact manifested in the com ing local contest. As usual, th& majority of students have thought Uttle about it. The only prevalent feeling Among most of the students seems to be indifference. Mas? Xt"SMOt fcstt-nMat Mnethtcig should be done ito revive the somewhajt lagging- interest. That if a chance In tife entire system would accomplish this end Ut should be tried. University people ore crowing tired of seeing a college of 200 send down a delegation of twenty with a lot of horns ito blow their rustic orator to victory. It la a shock to the dignity of a state uni versity to see such institutions placed on a. level with it and it 4s certainly no compliment to the chosen orator of a university of 1,800 students to make him compete with a half a dozen fel lows flrosh from -their training at tt country spelling school. If this Is the real clause of the lagging interest in the state university in oratorical matt tens, steps should be immediately taken to remedy it. Many students advocate the new system, a few still stay by the old and a. very goodly number sug gest dropping ithe affa'ir entirely. They think that unless the Interest of the student body can e roused ithere is certainly o reason fv? .taking up the proposed ayvftem, but if the new system is not taken up the old one should be dropped. It Is time itme university of Nebraska had erased to identify her Belf with Gates and Cotner. Robert Graham in on Interview said that for several reasons he thought we should not withdraw from the inter state oratorical association. First, it would preclude the eastern style of oratory, which is most pleasing to the public, second, it would destroy the ex isting relations that holds us In touch with, eastern education. These are tfhe primary causes, but there Bins others. All of the oratorical schools f any note are east of Chicago, and 40 keep dn the reach of these we should not Withdraw from the ln'ter ntxtiatmi association. It would have a tendency to nwike us narrow to with draw and osfcajblteh a more local associ ation, vnd thei are very few benefits to be derived from the change. iMr. Batoer, In substance, said. "I think thalti it i very advisable that the asocatki Should withdraw trom the s-tatte assoolaltton for the fact tOialt the majority Of colleges whioh belong to .tWe association are in reality no more thaJn high schools. The univer sity has (reached that standard in which wo may be letudtTs in education and public (thought. The assoclaieion in re certt years Jius been oanried on not for the (bast Interests of oratory, but for selfish motives. It Ba time that the, uni versity of Nebraska become a member of an association in which omittvry can be developed In tho broadest and noblest sense ot the word, Tho mem bers of tho present state nasodatlcn do not pretend to corm up to our standard ot looming. Their Intervals aw dif ferent from ours. "It is very desirable that the uni versity of Nclttudta should continue Its membership In some onMbrJoal as sociation. OrntoVkul art belongs o col lege life. Then It Is the duty of tho oratorical association to form an as sociation in which the art may be cultl voted and developed. "Yes, the state universities should form -themselves Into an association since they have a common Interest, The ultimate purpose of our state uni versities Is primarily the Fame. The ob ject is not only to keep pace, but to be loaders of the broader and Vxtttor education ot today. SJnce Ihe system of education Is different from thos of denominational colleges U Is ap parent that the greatest results can bo accomplished by tho friendly co-operation of the state universities. Not only would the oratorical art bo better de veloped, but it would bring the state universities into closer relations and upon more friendly terms, The stand ard of oratory 4s pmdrtcally the same and I believe that It Is the duty of the universities to put forth every effort to perfect such an association, "So for the committee has corres ponded with the heads of the Kngllsh departments of four state universities and iUie answers that we have received show that all of those unversltSes are anxious to form such an association. A prominent student and one who nas won the state oratorical contest said tliot the principal reason for withdrawing- from the interstate oratorical association was thalt we did not con sider the smaller colleges to be in our class. He said that as far as his ex perience went, however, the smaller colleges had good departments of elo cution, and tiwCt their men were as hard tto beat as those of the larger colleges. In factytfee. winners, have not usually been state university men. The present dissatisfaction began when we were losing, and has been smouldering ever since. The only valid reason for withdraw ing from the present association ia that the local contests have been financial fa'flurei. If we go into a contest with Missouri, Kansas and Iowa the ex penses wM be lessened, as there will be no state contest. Probably more in terest will also be shown, at least for a while. The building association of the state university held Its usual temi-annual reception Wednesday n'lght in the con serva.tv0 This was the first of the exer cises of Charter week. The rooms were comfortably filled with the merry com pany, although many members could not be present on account of their school duties. The number was in creased at 10:30 o'clock, when the li brary closed. The object of the gathering was re creation and enjoyment. It is needless to say that this -was not lost sight of from the first arrival until the end of ithe evening. Games of many poinds were played in lne parlors, the practice rooms and the hall. Bach one on en tering the building was given I u name of some celebrated man or woman. They also received numbers, by which they selected partners for the different games. The Ideal mandolin club fur nished some lively music that pleased the students. The club had seats in the office and played from time to time through the evening. The building society is collecting its forces gradually this year and thinks that it sees its way clear to the plans that have been outlined for a hall in which the literary societies may meet. Some corresponding is being done and the officers think that if Nebraska has a few good crops the society can soon begin the erection of the 'building, which will be its glflt to the state. ELECTED A MANAGER. At a meeting of the university ath letic board on Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock W. H. Oury was elected mana ger of the football team for the coming year. Mr. Oury'B ability as a rustler is well known and there ia no doubt but that ho wdll make a first raite manager for the team. He haB already shown capacity as a business man, Boa Cameron's lunch South Eleventh street. counter, 118 PROF. MAITIU'S LECTURE AT THE FUHKJB LAST NIGHT. Tho EistinguUhed Editor Makoa a Solon- tifio and Scholarly Addrusa-A Brief Bkotchiof His Ltfo. As n prelude to the festivities that will attend the Inauguration ot Chan cellor MnoIcan atxrtho celebration of Jxrthe celebration of , X&rtln, editor ot the trrof New York city, it at the Punke opera Charter dny, T. C Klectrloul Knglno lectured Inst night house on "The Development ot Power at Nlagra Falls.' He was Introduced In a vary easy and pleasant manner by Chancellor Mtoljonn. As n preface to his remnrks Mr, Martin spoke of tho fket that he had come across tho con tinent to lecture on his subject for tho purpose of awakening an Interest In electrical engineering, and also to aid those who were studying that branch of engineering to understand what was being done In theltj line of work. He stated that he ras a personal friend of Prof. R, R. Overs, the head ot the department of electftcal engineering In the university, hiving known him dur ing his undergraduate days and also afterwards In the 'ost. He further stated that he advised Professor Owens to come to this university at the time had the offer. Mr. Martin will be In tho city until Saturday mornlng.and will at tend the exhibit at the university. He Is an entertaining speaker, and handles a technical subject. In a way so that the uninitiated may .readily understand. It is a singular fact," said Mr. Mar tin by way ot introduction, "that among the national glories of this western world Niagara aloneUnotossoclatedwithsomc great work ot art ,vr literature. Such being the case, It will not seem wildly fanciful if I venture to think that here after the great work ot genius that Is to associate itself In.Vhc world's thougnt with Nlagara,ls to be',a piece of engineer ing. This will in io way belittle its splendors nor che&tten Its chaims. Par from apoloffrlsg for the pres- ence-of modern cM.t intern Va this realm I of natural masterpiece, 1 would urge we have here the promise of the part eltctriclty is to play in the large recla mation of hitherto wasted forces of nature a process of utilization that will give us light, heat and power without grime and dust, and pure air in large manufacturing cities. "As erly as 1725 the water of Niagara was used for power, but 150 years elapsed before any systematized effort was made to harness Its forces. "At that lime tho prosont hydraulic canal was dug. It has long been obvi ous, however, that even an enormous extension of this system would not answer for the proper utilization of the Illimitable energy contained in the vast stream and lofty fall. The ordinary overspill of this Atlantic set on edge has been determined to be equal to about 275,000 cubic feet per second. The gigantic power seen here is the equivalent of that embodied In the 200,000 tons of coal dug up daily for the ues of mankind. "It was Thomas Evershed who first unfolded the scheme of taking a large amount of water from above the falls and after using it returning it to the river below them. In five years J5.000, 000 has been expended in bringing this plan into operation. "The Hi at plan was to construct a canal and situating factories all along it allowing each t take its power direct This has been vastly Improved upon by the present plan of erecting a great power house where the water power is turned into electricity and then trans mitted to widely diverse points to be used by factories situated in dry, heal thy places and In places close to the supply of raw material." Here Mr. Martin showed a series of stereoptlcon views showing the stages of the work of construction during five years. Following these views he de scribed the Origin of the canal, power house and tunnel and their rapid ad vance to completion. Then taking up each he described its parts and ex plained Us advantages over other nys-tc-ms. "The power house," he said, "is 200 feet in length and three dynamos are now lr- operation in it All the masonry 1b most solid. The water enters the house by way of on open canal leading almost ait right angles from the river above the foilB. It enters by way 'of gates, which regulate its flow, and falls down a well 13C feet-deep, at the bottom of which it strikes the turbine wheels These are attached to shafts leading up to tho dTynnmo. After turning tho wheels, the vntr Is turned Into a tun nel which leads past tho falls and empties below thorn Into tho river." Mr. Mnrtln advanced rapidly from tho technical description ot the plant erod ed at such nn expense and risk at Niagara fulls, to the possibilities ot Its future use and somewhat of Us prosont use. "Having reclaimed all this truant en ergy, It Is tho next thing to put It tn use. It la delivered to the ieople by way ot a s Itchbonrd, whloh Is a mam moth affair erected In a separate build ing. Prom hore It Is delivered to the various factories and railways which use It. Already a large number of fac tories have located near Niagara for the purpose ot getting cheap power. One factory came from a place whore coal was. 50 cents porton and finds Niagara electricity cheaper." Having very fully described tho Im mediate vicinity of tho power house and falls, the speaker spoke ot the iossl blllllos of using the Increased power at distant points, showing by Illustra tions that Niagara electricity could com pete with steam as far away as Al bany. "A number of miles of the Erie canal is already under electrical operation," said he, "and before long Its entire length will be operated by power from the plant. Not only this, but also the. railroads are fast seeing the advantages ot this power and in a few years many ot them will use It entirely. "This use of some ot the water that dally flows over the falls may help to keep the scene from losing Its beauty by the constant wear, but be that so. or not so, those ot us who are lovers ot erglneering can now at Niagara gratify find with them renewed pleasure and delight in the majestic, organ-toned and than ourselves love natural beauty, and that taste In the unpretentious place wrero some ot this st energy Is re claimed for human use and then, as ever. Join with those who, not more eternal cataract." A NOTED ELECTRICIAN. Prof. T. C Martin of New York, who lectured on "The Development and Utilization of Power of NJagrora Falls,' la one of the most eminent electrical auihoriUes in the country. Professor Martin's early training was for the church, but at the age of twenty-one he left his home in England and came to this country to become associated with Mr, Edison. His early work was on the phonograph, and while at Menlo Park ne partdciivated in the work on auto matic telegraphs, telephones and micro phones and the beginnings of electric light. Later Professor Martin turned his attention to journalism. He edited a daily paper in the West Indies for cwo years, and was also correspondent of the London Dally News and New York Times. For the last fourteen years he has been engaged in electrical journalism. With Wetiler he vrote, "The Electric Motor and Its ApplicaJ tions." He was one of the editors of Appleton's "Cyclopedia of Applied Mechanics." He "was the author of "The Inventions, Researches and Writ ings of Nikola Tesla," a collaborator with Mr. Sachs in the writing of "Elec trical Boats and Navigation," editor of a book on "Electrical Measurements," contributor to the North American Re view, Century Magazine. Cassler's Magazine, Engineering Magazine, and editor of tne Electrical Engineer for the Oast six years. Professor Martin was one of the founders of the American institute of electrical engineers. As they sit upon the sofa A familiar time she trills; "Draw me nearer," 'Is the whlspar, The enraptured youth fulfills. Ex. Burlington's personally conducted excursions to Utah and California. A Pullman tourist sleeping car will leave Lincoln every Thursday at 12:15 .p. m. for Denver, Salt Lake, Ogden, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Only 55 for a double berth Lincoln to Los An geles In one of these cars. Remember there Is no change of cars. For full In formation and tickets apply at Bur lington & Missouri depot or city ticket oflloe, corner Tenth and O streets. G. W. Bonnell, C. P. & T. A. Remember thalt Francis Bros, have re opened ithe CapMiaJl Cafe, 121 North Elevenlth street. Short order meals are jtneir specialty. PHI BETA KAPPA HONORS WERE ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY Tho Chapol Filled to Overflowing Tho Fortunate Onoi- More Names to bo Announcod Itator The Inauguration of the Alpha chapter ot Phi Rota Kuppa will tako placo at the homo of Chancellor MacLean on Saturday morning at 11 o'clock. The chancollor announced at chapel last Thursday morning that the members ot tho society would be elected from the culture departments. The members ot former classes who are entitled to mem bership wilt be announced some time In May, ns also the remainder of the present senior class. The following members ot the class havo already been elected; J, V. Searson, Ralph Bene dict, Ernst Betsey, J. E. Almy, Miss May Whiting and Miss Sarah Taylor. The following are the charter members of the 8001015': Chancellor MacLean. Williams college; Dean Sherman, Yale; Professor Edgren, Cornell; Professor Davis, Johns Hopkins; Professor Lees, Western Reserve; Professor Hodgman, Rochester university; Professor Word, Williams; Professor Taylor, Harvard, Dr. Clark, Williams. Also the following have been elected to membership for ospeotal distinction in the sciences Prof, C. E. Bessey, Prof. Lawrence Foss ler and Prof, O. V. P. Stout. DR. WARD'S LECTURE. Dr. Word's lecture Monday morning on the scope and aims ot Phi Beta Kappa, the new scholarship society, a chapter of which has been established in the university, -as listened to by the largest crowd that, has gathered In the chajvel this year. The lecture was listened to with the closest interest throughout. The doctor devoted a considerable ot his time to the origin and early history of ihe society. Born in -the historic college ot William and Moat in Vir ginia ubo.it the time of the Revolution ary war. Phi Beta Kappa soon bTunched-ui-.into-c4hlcrHtCOllees-. J:L Tfs first a. strict literacy society, hold ing its meetings weekly, consisting of essays, declamations and debates 1!ne weekly meetings were soon merged inio annual meetings. In 1SS1 the national council of Phi Beta Kappa was formed. This council is now made up of some of the most prominent edu cators of the country, such men as Angeil of Muchigan, Adams ot Wis consin, Northrop of Minnesota, Thwing of Western Reserve, E. E. Hole, Colo nel iiigginson and Bishop Poller. Phi Beta Kappa is strictly a scholar ship sooloty. Members are lected with out regard to age, sex or nation. Of course the members must be men and women of unimpeachable character. The society is wholly unlike the aver age college fraternJty. Its name Is the only thing that Phi Beta Kappa has in common with the college fraternity. In every college and university where a chapter of the society has been estab lished, the students have been encour aged to do better work. Professor Ladd, formally the head of the psychology department ait Yale, will fill the chair to the graduate depart ment of Harvard, made vacant by Pro fessor Palmer, who is now in Europe. Miss Weston of Beatrice and Miss Bonneil of CMcago attended the junior Prom, and will stay over Sunday and olttend the Kappa Alpha Theto. spread Saturday night. THE JUNIOR PROM. The dining room of the Lincoln hotel was brilliant with decorations on last Wednesday In honor of Ui& long-looked for junior prom. The chancellor's pic ture hung dn a prominent place and Lincoln and Washington looked down on the brilliant assembly of gay young people. The national colors twined with the scarlet and cream looked brave amidst the groups of fraternity and class colors. 'Ittie Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsllon, Phi Kappa Psi and Beta Theta Pi were represented by emblems and colors and the Union society had a motto and colors. In the centre of the room hung a large football of cream and purple, the class color, antl on the top was ithe figures "7." About slxty-flvj couples were in at tendance and the affair was impressive and most highly enjoyable. The pat rons and patronesses of the promenade were: Chancellor and Mrs. MacLean and chancellor's mother. Regent and Mrs. Morrill, Captain Gullfoyle and lady, MIsb Ellen Smith, Mr. and Mrs. L. C. RichardK, Professor and Mrs. Ansley, Professor and Mrs. Fling, Pro fessor and Mrs. Barbour, Dr. and Mrs. Ladd and Professor and Mrs. Taylor.
