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HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
TTCK MISS PIS PI A
The Palladia!! flail of Early Days.
Tin- following Is mi extruut from n jmper read lie fore the
I'lilltullmi oclcty "Mny 2lt, IBH. ly Demi T Smith, W
Some who ave now active members of
our society commenced their Palladian
life in a no more auspicious place than
the medical room down stairs, the pres
ent armory. Here the Palladian society
began its existence in the fall of 1871.
In this room the monotony of plastered
walls was unrelieved by picture, paper or
painting. The bare pine floor responded
heartily to the tramp of feet, while the
arrangement of seats and the little fur
niture that the room possessed gave a
stern and intellectual air to the Avhole
surroundings. Through the kindness of
the faculty a rostrum had been erected
across the north end of the room, on
which was a table extending nearly across
il. Behind this table the class for the
evening, including the debaters, were
arranged and remained during the whole
of the exercises, not 'even coming out to
recite nil arrangement that had some
good points, as awkwardness and shak
ing knees were not quite so conspicuous.
Kesides this long table thero were two
lesks in the room, one for the secretary
mid one for the critic. These were
ought by the society.
Nut that which shows the character of
the early Palladian morolihan anything
W, was the seating. The seats were
'up: benches which woreJbrought in from
"le recitation rooms. They were ar-l-ttugod
in two rows, one on the east side
tui,ig north and extending from the
loi to the rostrum, the other a single
''v of seats plaood end to end extending
,,,0g the west side and facing east. The
j,).vh occupied the east row, the -girls 'tthe
west row facing them, nndoaeh 'held :to
llKr her domain ,os stuietily ,asflo 'tihe
spw in a country church.
ho first stop in tluwayof 'improve
ment was the purchase of a carpet for
the rostrum and a strip of matting 'ex
tending down the middle aisle to 'tihe
door. A couple of years later a carpet
for the whole room was secured. This
year also marks the first move in the way
of ornamenting the h..l. The ornament
was "Joe," who was accepted of tiha't
branch of the co-ed's society which joined
the Palladian after the . breaking up of
their own organization. If you want ito
know "who "Joe" was, ask some old Pal.
Next was tno securing of some pictures.
Some were bought, others were donated
by members. T might add here 'tiha't
nearly all the pictures in our hall have
been given to the society by members.
In 1875 the society's first big purchase
was made. This purchase was an organ
worth $150. It was afterwards exchanged
for a $225 instrument. Later, when the
Adelphians present Unions bought a
$250 organ our folks traded their organ
for a piano.
In the summer of 1880 we moved, so
to speak, but the fact of the case is 'there
was little except the Palladian spirit to
move. Some furnituro, a few pictures,
and "Toe" were about all that were
carried over to the new home. The
whole hall had to be fitted and furnished.
But the Pals, were equal to the occasion.
They paid, or promised to pay, $150 for
chairs, $150 for a carpet, and $100 for
painting, curtains, etc. But no judici
ously was the money, or credit, used,
that the new hall had really a fine -appearance,
and when T entered school in
the fall, after eight or ten years offa
miliarity with sod houses and dugouts,
the Palladian Hall seemed to me about
the finest place 1 had seen.
In the fall of '82 .the society bought 'tihe
big chandelier for $80 and paid $W for
curtains, fixtures, etc. In '88 the Hi nil
was wholly remodelled' and brought ito
its present appearance The expenses
were -a mew carpet, $350, papering .and
decorating $200, extra curtains, small
chandelier and sundries $fi0, in all $G1'0.
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