Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885, January 01, 1875, Page 4, Image 4
THE HESPERIAN STUDENT. I HESPERIAN STUDENT l'UW-ISHED MONTHLY IJY THE HESPERIAN STUDENT PUBLISH ING ASSOCIATION OF TIIK NEBRASKA UNIVERSITY. ElMTOlMN-CHIKF, G. E. IIoWAlU). Associate, .... Ada" Ihwin. Local, .... Amos. E. Gantt. W. JI. Neediiam, Business Manager. TERMS FOR SUBSCRIPTION. 1 copy per college year 1 " six niontlis -Single copy .... $1.00. " 0.50. 0.10. TERMS OF ADVERTISING. 1 column one insertion . . $4.00. 8 squares " " 1.00. 1 " " " .:J5. All mtlclus Tor publication tdiould bo nddresfud Editor IIksi-kman Stuiikxt, Stiito UnlverMty, Lincoln NubniskH. All subscriptions, with the address, should besont to the Business Manager. Subscription1) collected invnrlnlily in ndvimco, Advcrtlscinonts collected innntlilr. SALUTATORY. All liail, blustering New Year! Wel come to these latitudes, thou boisterous cherub, though thy hoary beard shakes many an icicle, and the harsh breath rushes from thy frosty nostrils somewhat too fierce ly for an infant's! Bear with thee, as thou recordest another pulse of Time, joy and happiness to all who span eternity with thee. For our dear friends and patrons, we invoke thy kindliest blessings. To the world deal out with unusual bounty the annual gifts of knowledge from Nature's mysterious domain. Drag far onward the car of progress, before in dying thou usher est in another yeai ! Let thy touch be gen tic and thy smile loving and tender to the "weary and heavy laden", that duty may not be unperformed through thy harsh eludings! But we have little time nor talent for apostrophe. We have taken our seat in our lonely sanctum once more to-night to begin the labors of another year. Before us lies the last year's Student 111c. We lay aside our Faber No. 2 and glance them over. As our eyes hasten from column to column varied are the memories awakened. Here is an editorial written one night when perplexed and weary, in response to the cry of the inevitable and inatiabfe typo for "copy". Of course it 1m angular, cross grained, weak and insipid. Even an editor cannot grind out "ideas immortal with glowing thought" from an Impaired and unwilling machine. Here is anolhei in the preparation of which much time and labor were spent. We pass it by, while our heart glows with a little satisfaction and pride. Hope spreads her wings anew, warmed by the fires of aspiration. In this corner is a quib" which recalls some ludicrous circumstance in college life. We indulge in a chuckle at the recol. lection, Imt suddenly hush ourselves in sad ness, ns our eye lights upon a column drap ed in mourning In Memorlam. Silent, we sit with bowed head for a moment, and think how hard it must be for aspiring youth to bow to inevitable fate. We dash nway tho starting tear that the memory of our departed friend wrings from our cal ous heart for we have not been an edi tor long enough to quench out all feeling while Will strives to shake oil' Memory. Haeyou ever, Reader, when some sad or some repulsive recollection icould In trude itself upon you all unwelcome and unbidden, mentally straightened yourself, and tried by a mighty effort of the will to tear it from your bosom, or with the will's iron hand quench it into oblivion ?And did you succeed? Who has not had some such experience, which ever causes him to loathe ond hate himself at its recollection y Happy he whose will can banish the hateful visitor! But where do I wander V Hero In this column is a friendly contro versy with some of "our exchanges," which like a contest between lawyers at the bar, leaves us better friends for the slight tilt of arms. Pleasant indeed has been our asso ciation with the college press during the year. Ah ! here we have a piece with which we had taken special pains, from which what little point and beauty it possessed have been ignominiously knocked out by some monstrous typographical blunder the editor's bane. How our llesh creeps and crawls, how we shudder each time we think of that article! And over us come thronging the recollections of the very em phatic, nearly ( y) profane murmurs that es caped our puritanical lips, when we discov ered it too late for reparation. Alas! how many hours have we spent in penance in our lonely closet, Bible In hand, mourning with bleeding heart over the dire sins thus committed. But why dream longer over the successes and failures of the pasty The future demands our attention, and we resume our pencil. We pause upon the frosty threshold of the year and contem plate the labor before us with feelings of pleasure, not unmlngled with dread. The duties of the editor of a college journal are grave. No other institution connected with our University will tell so much upon the public. How deliberate, then, should be our every act. How carefully written should be each line. With what earnest thought should each idea be prepared, in order that the influence of our paper may protect our best interests as a school. We have an ideal college journal which we shall strive as nearly ns possible to real izo. First, we shall aim to make the Stu dent a literary journal. Wc shall endeavor to present to our readers u variety of gener id literary articles as excellent iL quality as may be. We do not believe that a college journal should be devoted to the discussion of college topics alone. It should be a me dium of securing a broad literary culture on the part of students. Our University paper should become, in tune, the literary magazine of the west. It should be a reflex of college life, tmd an exponent of the lit erary talent of the Institution. Secondly, we shall make our paper the index of tliu University. I-Mitorially we shall defend tiie peculiar principle upon whioh it is found ed, and as the students' paper, we shall pro leel their interests. Our ideal paper should contain all the valuable college news; also it should possess a refined vein of wit and jiumor. Like the gods f Olympus, col lege papers, as some are, should not be too grave and awful to allow a little fun. But this last is a dangerous thing to meddlo with. To prepare a really humorous or witty item requires much taste and thought Better none than an insipid article. We earnestly hope that we shall rccoive the willing aid of all the students of the University in trying to realize our ideal A UNIVERSITY PRINTING OFFICE. Wo desire to call tho attention of our readers and especially the authorities of tho University to the practicability of opening a new industrial department in tho University. A department In which students could learn the art of practical printing, we be lieve, could now be established in tho University, with very little expense com. pared with the great benefit which would result therefrom. As most of our readers are aware, we already have a student's printing and publishing association in tho University, under whose control tho Hespeuian Stu dent is published. The benefits already realized by a number of the students, from actual experience In our small of. lice, have not been trivial. All tho typo graphical work on tho Hespeuian is done by students. Under our present form, employment in type-setting is allbrded to three persons a large portion of each uics- afforded by it, receiving for their labor nearly sufficient compesation to meet nil expenses of board and incidentals. In this new enterprise only a comparn. lively small sum need bo expended, while many more would receive the benefits. Al least fifteen students from the very com. mencemenl would willingly accept em. ployment. There is no more instructive art than tho printer's; certainly none more useful and necessary. As a means of mental discipline it is Invaluable. No better school could be devised Ibi a person en tering upon a literary life than a two year's drill in a well conducted printing oillce. Hero punctuation, orthoginphy, taste in stylo of composition, would bo acquired. To bo an expert proof-reader or type-setter would be a valuable posses slon to a literary man. Tho value of this art aa a life profession places it among the most lucrative and desirable Indus. month. The skill and cllicicncy already acquired in the printer's art by those whose experience has been confined main there would be another source of practical bencll't in tho enterprise. An establishment of this kind must be car- ly to the Student oillce may be learned ' ridon systematically. Everything must by noticing tho typography and the "make-up" of the journal. T'lorc arc now nt least twelve students in tho University who understand some thing of type-setting; as many more would be glad of an oppprlunity to learn, especially, If by so doing, they could earn something to assist them through their college course. But we have no press, and but a limited amount of material, even for our present requirements. We have long felt that a printing oillce, provided with good presses andjunplc ap pliances, could be established in the Uni versity on sufllciont) large a scale to al low all the printing of the Institution, including catalogues, circulars, letter heads, addresses, the Hesperian, &o to be performed therein, at a great savlug of cost to the State ; besides conferring many benefits, as an industrial school. Wc were much gratified to learn recently that Prof. S. R. Thompson had already par tially matured a plan lor carrying a pro ject of this character Into effect. In re- be done in a business-like, methodical manner. In fact, an opportunity would be allbrded of learning tho practical man igement of a printing establishment in all its minutiae. There could be no bet tor means of acquiring a business educn lion. Wo believe, from actual knowledge, that a printing ofllco such as we have de scribed, could be controlled and man aged within the University itseir, without employing professional aid, within less than three months from Its organization. It would not only be a great advautage to many students practically and theoret ically, but it would attract s'mlents to the school, and be anothei upward step in raising our University to the lirst rank. THE PRESENT LEGISLATURE. Tho history of the past has led us to ex pect no groat exhibition of sagacity, or wisdom In our legislative bod . Seldom have tho chambers of the Capitol re echoed with the oloquoncool a modem Ci- spouse to his request, we have made a cero.or tho wisdom of a Nebraska Peri- careful estimate of the material and ex pense necessary to establish a printing cles. A stranger observing some of our grave law-makers in tho past, would have oillce on the following plan : A room will Igined( i) from their costume and bear- be fitted and furnished in the basoment; type and fixtures procured sulllclent to keep ten typos constantly employed, with ing that thoy were bettor lilted to (lis- cjurse the gentle variations of the Paw nee war-whoop, or frame a moral code for the design of furnishing employment j controlling a herd of American bison, from tho llrst io ttccntt students, working ! ll'' l play the role of Nestor 'Whose by relays, eacli student laboring a certain I speech sweeter than honey was flowing" number of hours each day; a good power press also to bo procured ; the work per formed to comprise all tho University printing, including the Student, and in all probability, a largo Journal connected with the Agricultural department, pub llshcd semimonthly; in addition, "lob i work" could be done. The approximate cost of the whole os. tnblishinent would be about $2100., in. eluding a $,250. power press. It seems to us almost unnecessary to advocate an enterprise which on its face promises so much. It would be economical for tho State. We now have one industrial department connected with the University the Agri cultural College. It is doing a good -vork; but many thousand dollars wore expended in its establishment. Four stu dents aro now enjoying tho ndvniUages or prescribe laws for an intelligent and growing common wealth. Wo do not feel inclined to boast of our pasi Nebraska statesmanship The mor al and intellectual tone of our legisla tures have not been such as to furnish tho greatest incentives to young men of lofty motives and exalted ideals of Poll tics and statesmanship, to induce them to aspire to such hon.irs. They have rather felt Inclined to shun them until less dan gerous opportunities wore offered. We do not desire to derogate any one. Wt have been fortunate in possessing many good men-men of ability and honor among our legislators, of which our un paralleld advancement as a state, in nurt. testilles. There has been corruption among our public men, but probably no more, all things considered, than in oastern states, irmmm Kt U T SAtif,?- c ei , nj .., ittji - ' . sy i tv twti