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At this time of the year various state
societies are holding their annual
meetings on the University of Nebras
ka campus. Recently the State
Teachers' Association, the State His
torical Society, the State Horticultural
Society and the State Farmers' Insti
tute have convened.
The Electrical Engineering Depart
ment of the University of Nebraska
recently purchased a storage battery
of twenty-five cells for experimental
use, and also a new direct current
dynamo of low voltage by large cur
rent capacity for making testa such as
electrotlytic separation of metals.
There is some agitation in Lincoln
in regard to a University Club, the
membership of which shall consist of
all wu are or have been connected
with any higher educational institution
in the country It is the intention to
ask the Board of Regents for a site for
a club house on the campus of the
University of Nebraska should the
plan materialize.
The State Teackers' Association
held a very successful meeting at the
University of Nebraska on December
27, 28 and 29. The programmes as
carried out were interesting, and the
discussions of papers showed more
than usual enthusiasm on the part of
members. The meetings closed on
Friday night with a lecture, "Dewey,
Manila and the Philippines," by the
noted journalist Murat Halstead.
The German department of the
University of Nebraska has recently
imported two handsome life size busts
of Goethe and Schiller. They are in
tcrra-cotta, excellerit copies of the
most famous busts in the Ducal library
at Weimar. Prof. Fossler is making
an effort to have a sort of German
Pantheon. He is just now in corres
pondence with a house in Germany,
looking toward securing good busts of
Lessing, Herder, Heine, Kant, Bis
mark and others.
On Wednesday morning Clement
Chase, of Omaha, of, the class of '83
made a few remarks m Chapel and
presented the University with some
important documents, including the
anouncement issued before the open
ing of the University, the first by-laws
of the Board of Regents, a number of
early catalogues and various reports.
These are now very rare and will con
stitute a valuable addition to the li
brary in the Chancellor's office. He
also presented a number of important
manuscripts relating to the early ac
tions of the Board of Regents. Mr.
Chase's remarks were thoroughly ap
preciated by the students.
The preliminary debates held at the
University of Nebraska for the pur
pose of choosing students to repre
sent the University in Kansas, Mis
souri and Colorado, closed Saturday
night after a close and interesting con
test. Places were awarded to Miss
Austine, Messrs. R. S. Baker, C. C.
Crouch, A. L. Deal, F. G. Hawxby,
S. G. Hawthorne, H. A. Meier, E. H.
Smith and G. D. Talbot. Miss Meade
and Messrs. Duff and Traphagen were
chosen as alternatives.
Ignace Paderewski, the most noted
living pianist, has been engaged for
a recital to open the new auditorium
at Lincoln February 12th. This is
the great artists only appearance in
the state and an excursion rate by the
railroads entering here is all that is
necessary to bring thousands to hear
him in this new and commodious pub
lic building. We are indebted for
Paderewski's visit to the untiring
efforts of Prof. Willard Kimball,
director of the University of Nebraska
School of Music.
Dr. William W. Hastings, of the
Department of Physical Training at
the University of Nebraska, has re
turned from Mexico after a month's
leave of absence where he has been
conducting some anthrophometrical
investigations. Material obtained on
this trip will be used in the preparation
of a paper in thq Physical Education
Conference which will convene during
the Paris Exposition. Dr. Hastings
was considerably hindered by lack of
knowlege along this line of investiga
tion and the limited time at his dis
posal, but those secured are quite
satisfactory, representing about 400
individuals who were examined as fif
teen different qualities. One hundred
were school children and the remain
der Mexican soldiers of the regular
infantry and cavalry stationed in
northern Mexico. As these soldiers
come from all parts of the Mexican
Republic they form a satisfactory basis
for. comparative study.
The report of Acting Chancellor
Bessey to the Regents showed the
University to have had a very pros
perous year. In most departments
there has been 3. marked increase in
the attendance as indicated by the re
ports made by the professors the lat
ter part of December. The following
is a summary of these reports: Art
59, Agriculture 7, Animal Husbandry
6, Botany 153, Chemistry 526, Do
mestic Science 13, Civil Engineering
54, Electrical Engineering 70, Elocu
tion 78, English Language and Lit
erature 1,556, Entomology 25, Geol
ogy 100, German 629, Greek 172,
American History 271, European.
History 299, Horticulture 17, Latin
407, Law 151, Mathematics 545,
Mech. Drawing and Mach. Design
140, Mechanical Engineering 251,
Military Science 473, Astronomy and
Meteorology 30, Music, 240, Peda
gogy 135, Philosophy 287, Physical
Training 510, Physics 348, Political
Economy 215, Romance Languages
328, Zoology 160.
The Y. M. C. A. of the University
of Nebraska has submitted its budget
for the years 1899-1900. It shows
necessary expenditures . of $746 for
the salary of General Secretary, Gen
eva delegates, missions, improvement
of rooms, socials, printing, telephone,
state and international committees
care of the sick and incidentals. The '
necessary resources are membership
fees $225, subscriptions already
pledged $2.00, subscriptions needed
$321. During the year 123 positions
have been secured for young men
some permanent, others for only a few
hours. The sick committee has had
under its care one or more students
almost the entire time since school
opened. The public telephone, main
tained by the association, is proving
of valuable service to the students.
The faculty and students directory,
giving home and city addresses, is now
ready for free distribution. Fifteen
hundred of elegantly bound books
have been distributed aniong the
students. A general secretary is em
ployed by the board of directors, who
gives fully one-half of his time to the
work. One hundred ten men arc in
Bible classes average attendance at
Sunday meetings, one hundred.
Prof. Conway MacMilan, of the
University of Minnesota, an alumnus
of the University of Nebraska, has
presented acting Chancellor Bessey
of the latter institution with a hand
some volume, entitled "Minnesota
Plant Life." This book, published
in an edition of 10,000 by the Uni
versity of Minnesota, is a superb
work, beautifully illustrated and con
taining four fine plates of plant life in
the northern state. It is written in
clear, simple English, meriting the des
ignation of popular and yet scientific
to the extent of choosing one of the
great realms of living thirtgs, the
kingdom of plants. The plant world
is presented as an assemblage of living
things and the different kinds of plants
in Minnesota are briefly reviewed in
their natural order. Some plant struc
ture and behavior are elerrientarily ex
plained as adaptations to surrounding
nature. Finally certain plant indi
viduals and societies are brought be
fore the reader as having life problems
of their own, not as mere material for
economic, anatomical or classifacatory
industry. Writing to Chancellor Bes
sey, Prof. MacMilan says, "I have
spent some labor not only on the bo
tanical side, but on the printing and
I think vou will admit that I have
done something to raise the standard
of public documents in the state of
Minnesota. How do you like the
title page viginettc? I spent a couple
of weeks figuring on that with the
help of a designer, so you can imag
ine how muoh attention to detail it
required to get the book out in such
shape."
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