Till IIKHI'KRIAIV STVIHWT.
HESPERIAN STUDENT.
LINCOLN,
HKPTKMBKR, US?t. :
The HEtrEiiiAN Stchknt. ii Colleuo organ, ,
published monthly bv tho tudent8 ot the Ne
braska but? Uiilviroltv. Term 75 cent peri
year, in . no . Subt-ilptloiiP will hi received '
at J. K. Adams Now bland, next tloor north of
Post Otllco.
ComniunlcUiors nro minted from nil tho stu- ,
donts flml our '.lends lr general. Address tho ,
Hesperian Student. 1 O. 15 -x Lincoln. No- ,
biaska. V. II. SXriLL. Kdltor-ln-Chlof.
UHACn II, HENToN, l...t.
Lutiiku Kuiii.man. f Associates.
THAT GREAT DUSEIIT.
wo remember the short and withered com I chalk beds, those deep canons, which
that was raised there. When plowing lof necessity result Irom such formations? I
how often wo were compelled lo revere Why! ll would be alums! impossible toj
the horses to draw Ihe plow fiom under i raNt- beans! And If lhc underlook toj
some of (hose large and troublesome i plnt Ihem, Ihey would have to spilt them -rocks
so numerous in that region, in 'ml plui.t ihcm edgeways then carry ihe
riMMilllinr thfMo mmi ovimt. wi. must eon ' soil from some ravine tir ctcek boltoiu a
'-"""-' j.--i ...,,.., . . . ....... ..-.,
elude the State University of Ntbraxka i.s
located in tho groat Oaxi's of the Amori
can Continent.
in :tik;tiouiaiti.
"Tho University of the Desert was
opened last fall and now has in attend-1
ancc 1JJ0 students. iMjj'aycttc Monthly. '
Tho foregoing paragraph is taken from I
the journal published by tho college in
Eaton, Pa., and no doubt has reference to
our Slate University. "Where that great
desert is found is a conundrum we are j
unable to solve. The University of Ne
braska was opened last fall with as favor-1
able piospoets as any of our leading insti-1
tuthms. Jt has a rich endowment of over
one million dollars, and is composed ofi
six departments, viz : A College of An-'
cient and Modern Languages, Mntho
unities ami Natural Sciences; a College i
of Law; a College of Medicine; a Col-,
lege of Practical ScionccrMcclinnics and j
Civil Engineering; ta College of Fine j
Arts; and a College of Agriculture. The i
lirst department has been opened and now j
is in u nourishing condition, and even in !
this desert wo have opened the Depart
ment of Agriculture this fall. At present
wo have a Faculty composed of old and i
experienced teachers from many of our j
'jading institutions, who are putting
:orth their united efforts to establish j
a college interior in no respect to
any. Several thousand dollars have ,
aiready been expended for a library;!
which, year by year, will be increased. J
Of the Cabinet, Laboratory, etc., we need
noi speak; but will only say additions are
King daih made to this department, and
I e former has already become an attrac-1
tiou to many. I
Wo are aw.uc that the older geogra- i
pliers described this country as tho Great j
American Desert, and by the ignorant is
ftill supposed to bo a vast sandy plain,
whoso scorching sun bleaches the bones
ot men and animals that have perished of
hirst and stnivation. For such gross
ignorance wo have but little sympathy.
In an ago with such great advantages as
tils, where one extteme east and west are
united by an unbroken iron band, whore
the magnetic wite is spread from State to
Slate, when the substance of periodicals
5s go easily masteied, we see no excuse for
making so ridiculous a blunder as that
we have quoted above.
The chemist has pronounced our soil
to lie lite i iehest in the land, equal in
every respect to that of the Ithine valley.
At a ftuit climate wo have but few supor-
ors, having borne off the palm at the last
National Fair. Our broad prairies have
already become celebrated as the
jreatest for grazing in tho Union
The statistics have proven this to
be as good u corn-growing State as II
linois;o ur wheat crop, on the average,
being far superior From many n hill,
nido bubbles forth the clear living spring
of water, while our valleys are made pic
turesquc by winding streams, along whoso
banks are. often seen forest trees of all
varieties.
It has been our lot to bo a resident of
Pennsylvania for several years. "Well do
half mile oil' for covering. The High
laud cattle would starve to death on such
pasture. Kven the goal which has lived ,
on the rocky crag would cease to be. I
Still less would be tho chances for manM
however enterprising he might be. The I
same is true of this continent. If Ihe1
deposits of the Hocky Mountains extended '
over the entire extent of tho country, or if
the mountains of the west were on the j
east, then would Ihe whole be as b.ire and
With bright anticipations did wo enter
upon the first term of the second session.
While the halls of the University n
sounded with greetings and joy; while
the sunshine was dispelling the clouds,
and the Goddess of Pleasure held iudom-! desert as that on the western slope of the
liable sway ; misfortune hung over ' rocky crag is to-day.
us as we received the sad intelligence of I Mining, which at this day is carried on
the death of our former fellow-student, 1 very extensively in this country, has its
Owen G. Whipple. Never again shall we i basis and foundation on geology, for
hear his voice mingled with ours; Tor the i through it we have discovered thai gold,
icy hand of Death has led him over the silver, etc., lie in veins instead of strata.
cold and stormv Jordan. And ere
constantly but mil always systematically
or correctly. A revolution Is needed.
Teachers and youth should begin Abe
beginning. When they do litis weWill
not see many of our most learned men,
esteemed scholars and authors of rcputa
lion, violall.ig grossly the elementary
rules of punctuation. A market woman
of Athens was able to detect Ihe national
ily of a Greek philosopher by his mispro
nuneialion of a common Greek work. It
is to be regretted that this race of market,
women has run out and that we now use
their humble calling as the symbol of
vulgarity and illilerateness. The remedy
for Ibis is in the hands of the teachers of
our primary schools and in their hands
alone. When Ihey rigidly and inllexibly
apply it our boys and' girls will learn to
write good IOnglish before theyattempt lo
speak bad French; will be able to ex
press themselves correctly in their mother
tongue before they astonish native Ger
mans bv their amazing rendering of the
language of Schiller.
Futthennore, taking the deposits which
he had entered upon the work of his! have been thrown out from volcanoes i
Master, for which he was preparing him-' which we llnd tilled with precious metals,
self with so arduous a spirit, he heard the 'and from the laet that heavy bodies sui-
mandate, 4"t is enough; come up higher." I round the center of gravity, we come to j
Mr. Whipple has been a contributor to 'the conclusion, that the inner portion of J
the Sti;i:nt from the" time it was found-1 the earth Is filled with a moiled mass ol I
cd, and was elected an associate editor at precious metals. ,
the last election, but his health failing To the Civil Engineer it is of vast itu-'
was compelled to resign the position and iportance. 1 might say ho could not getj
return home. 'along without this science, for through it i
Wfien the University opened he was he can tell whether his line is converse'
one of its first students. In the Lyceum i.with sttata of solid rock or if it be loose'
he was an active member and added much 'sand bed. I
to the interest and spirit of the discus., In the line arts it is also of equal value.
sioits. As a gentleman we respected The Sculptor can determine what mater-j
him hignly. As a scholar he ' lal he is using. Often our best statues are I
was lucid and thotough. .As a school- lost tbtough the iirnoraucc of the person
mate, all the students ntjd him. As a , making them, in consequence of employ, j
Christian, by a loving example, he exeni-' bad stone.
plitied the truth and reality of his proles-1 The same is true of the architect, who
sion. Though we miss him yet we re- i by the use of bad material loses weeks,
joice that he has passed from the labors months, and even years of toil. For in
and cares of life to a glorious haven be- 'stance a great amount of the stone of our
vond. i Stale is useless because il contains so
much soda and potash that when put into
a building it will not stand.
, Often have we seen pictures on which
Geology may be defined to be an in- the lines were drawn without reference to
qttiry into the natural history of the t the geological construction, losing half if
earth, extending throutrh the animal and iiiol all Its beauty to the scientific eye,
PIIII.OI.OKV AND TI3IC TYl'KS.
GltlOIiOKY.
vegetable kingdoms, from the beginning
to the end, from the azoic to the age of
man. It gives us the past and present,
bj means of which we may forecast
Ihe future. It may be defined, in line, as
the investigation of the structure of the
Nor is it of less importance to the Agri-
cultural ist. lie Knows ot should know
that Ihe elements necessary to the soil for
the best production of crops, are clay,
Hint, and lime. Then he must learn what
the soil lacks of these substances, and
earth, and of the animals and vegetables by means of ciops, manure, and top d res
that have existed tin ton. sing, supply what nature has left out.
From the above definition il will be , Gcologj has a great inlliieiice on the
perceived that geology is no isolated de-, health of a locality. What a dill'piencc
partment of knowledge but rather a union j between the health of Nebraska and
of all those sciences which pertain to 'western Ohio. Here tho soil as will as
natural history, or which have for their , the air is dry ; there, wot, and the miasma
object the study of nature. j arising from the stagnant pools, eoniain
The social condition as well ascomtner- all the elements necessary to the ague.
cial prosperity of our people is, in a great i .
measure due to the 'geological structure; HAD punctuation.
of the eartli Ihey inhabit. Kngland's '
prosperity is not due, alone, to the enter-, 'l'1"' :rl l" punctuation is becoming
prise of her citizens, but to her geological sadly demoralized by the loose and caro
formation. If instead of the present extent ,h'ss habits of our best writers. The feai
of the granite hills of tlie Scottisli moiin-, s that after while all the old, reliable
tains they had extended as far as 'ho ! landmarks will be swept away, and that
South-Down of Kent, and Sussex; or if , important pari of every written language
the chalk regions of the southern shore become so uncertain, vague and variable
had reached to the hills of the north, as to cause great damage to literature.
their country would indeed be one of tho
the product!!? What could they raise in
those Holds, on those granite rocks, those
Cant words, by dint of long and general
most picturesque. Hut what would bH use, become solidly fixed in a language,
and are finally employed by authois of
taste and erudition. Languages grow
The most interesting and curious of the
hitter day sciences is that known as Com
parative Philology. How wonderful the
fact that in those old languages, forgotten
before Koine wa a village, there yet lies
a hidden germ of life, like the grain of
wheat in the hand of a mummy. It needed
but the sunlight of modern science to
wake the dormant principle of vitality,
and, behold, great ripe fields awail the
hand of the student and scholar of to.day.
A comparison of the shape of rude char
acters on the bricks of Babylon with otlu
ers as rude, has, under the eve of scholar
ship, produced most stiprising results-
has established relationship between Ian
guages, and hence between peoples long
since to be in no way connected; has
corrected the history of the oldest nations
in the world; has cleared up doubts and
solved problems long thepu.zle of histor
ians and antiquarians; has made the
histon of the oldest nations the newest
history written; has opened a field for
modern thought and investigation, which
for thousands of years has been supposed
sterile and dead. The arrow -shaped char
acters, the queer cunieform inscriptions
have become intelligible, and now daily
European savans are transcribing tho
thoughts of men who lived before Sen.
nacherib or w ere conteiuporaryAvitli Sesos.,
iris: We have aclully now a cunieform
gramnier. The clue to history and litera
ture of the days of Ualshazzar is in tho
hands of modern philologists, and with
most wonderful and praiseworthy persis
tency thoy mv following il up to results
which astonish the world.
The time is not far distance when our
typographic specimen sheets will exhibit
to the ow'.s of our patrons the exact form
ami shape of the letters used when the
Zenda Vesta was new. It i.s hinted that
though thousands of years have past,
something may be learned from these c.
hiitued magazines of ancient learning, and
that type founders and printer will find
that after all some things they think now
under the sun were old when that hum.
nary was worshipped by ftoroastor and
millions of his fid lowers thousands of
years ago.
If you go up In the world like a bal
loon you may come down like a chunk.
Emerson says a man is a fool to study
Greek and Latin when he can secure
translations of ancient authors' works.
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