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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1894)
THE HES practically. If somebody could only follow the curve out but we mortals arc so pressed for time that no one has as yet undertaken it. You can sec that it would be a simple matter; follow the curve out pass through infinity come back on the other branch and hand in your report to be printed in the "Journal of Mathematics." But there is so much else to do, time is short so we have put it off from eartoyear. It is a great loss to mathe matical science." Derrick watched sharply to see the effect of his words. The ears nodded vigorously; the piece of chalky earth began a rapid cal culation on the wall trying, Derrick knew, to find the time necessary for the experiment; the skeleton arm was waving unsteadily. Had he gained his point? Derrick listened in tently. The voice of the arm whispered shrilly, not to him this time but to the rest, "I have thought," it said, "that we, my friends, might carry out this vast undertaking. Time is of no value to us; a few years more or less spent in the interest of mathematics can not shorten our livesour lives are minus quantities. What say you, my friends, shall I request our mathematician here to start us out on some general hyperbola-like curve? Shall we start now?" The others shouted aloud. The room fairly whistled in Derrick's ears. He was feverish now and his fingers trembled as he took his pencil and scrawled on the wall. The air crowded around him and jibbered unintelligible words. High up he drew, higher and higher. His finger slipped and the pencil fell. In an instant the air lifted about him. He swayed dizzily and caught himself by the table at his s.ide. A moment he stood with his face turned up, white, star 'g at the black ceiling. Then he shivered and laughed wildly. "It was .a parabola, a parabola, not a hyperbola at all," he half shrieked under his breath. "Thsy will never come back, they can't. They didn't know. They can't, they can't." He sank into a chair. The lamp was out, everything was black. His head whirled and P E R I A N. 9 he leaned against the table. They were gone As his eyes closed and he heard the clock be low striking the half hour, he sighed content edly and went to sleep. Annik Prey. Something About the Library rriisaw sometnmg in tne journal tne lp la J other day which did us good. It j "J wasn't very long, and it was very re served, not telling more than a quarter of the whole truth, it being hardly possible to make people comprehend the whole truth. The article in question was just a short, quiet "appreciation" of the work done by our librarian and her assistants. Ever' student appreciates, in some degree at least, the direct assistance given to him by the library workers. But very few understand the great amount of work and worry, of planning and managing that has been required of Miss Jones since she came to the library. The work going on behind the scenes is telling, and we begin to see a real library growing up about us with all the helps and side lights necessary to make it a library. But in spite of all that can be done by untiring labor and zeal, the crippled condition of the library grows more apparent every day. We want more room, more light, more equally distri buted air. We must have that new library building. And a very substantial way for students to show their appreciation of the work done by Miss Jones and her assistants, will be to work in every way they can for the appropriation for the new building. That doesn't mean to give the yell every time you pass a legislator. Keep that yell out of sight most of the time. And don't, .stop them on,' the street corners when the thermometer is breaking its lower record, to talk library building to them. You'll get a cold shoulder sure if you do that. But if you happen to know any man who is doomed to make Nebraska laws this winter, talk sense to him, and get him to come up here and look at things. We think there is no doubt that the appropriation will pass if all students do what they can. w Ml H L n ill M 1
