T H eIh E S P E R I A N 1ST U D E N T .1
6
i i
J
Purliaps Ino finest musical I rent with which Lincoln
litis been favored tliis season was tho rendition of Butter
field's Belshazzar by the Lincoln Philharmonic Society.
Tho r.clors seemed peil'octly fitltcd for their roles. Tho
grand chorus of one hundred voices in fino training had
a grand effect Miss Polvin, an old-time university stu
dent, presided at tho piano, which is needless to say was
perfectly managed.
Certain parties, whose names wo will not mention, have
been wailing for some time for an opportunity to burst
forth with a blrain of invective upon members of the pres
ent faculty, and becoming impatient waiting for somo
real misdemeanor to happen, have pounced down upon
tho harmless exercises of Charier eve, tied on a long lash
and aro Hailing the air in a great windsmill attack upon
the faculty with that. "Wo are not there t" This is the
whole in a nutshell.
A few evenings ago an unknown person of the masculine
suasion, whoso nerve, were ovidenlly considerably slimus
lated with tho extract of corn, gained entrance to tho uni
versity building and wandered about for some lime hunts
ing for the bar-room of what ho took to bo tho Commercial
hotel. A saucy Prep, who had been watching his freaks,
told him that thiswas 'Uiilleronlslyloof hotel from the Com
mercial, that tho only kind ol hash k-qtt at this place is
mental hash. The curious stranger not considering his re
ception very hospitable toolc in (he situation for a moment
and then started off in search of the Commercial.
The Freshmen held their usual monthly sociable Feb
ruary 10th, at the residence of Miss Mary Campbell.'
Though some were compelled to be absent owing to eir
cumstanccs over which tlicy had no control, the social
was one of interest and was characterized with the same
energy and enthusiasm as has been shown at every meet
ing since the orgunizilion. Late in the evening (yet Sat
urday) while the merry crowd still made too parlor ring
with music, chatting and laughter, the president, Miss
Cora Fisher, brought the gavel down with such a Ire
mendous rap that the noise almost instantly hushed into a
silence. She suggested that the class had arrived at n
sufficient ago to bear a motto, and that they proceed at
once to select one. To expedite the business a committee
of three was appointed, which after a few minutes de
cided upon the following:
'HAS KI.KISHTE HA5 WIUIT SKINKN HCIIATTBN.
It is needless to say the motto was unanimously adopted.
The next and last meeting for this term will be held at
Miss Mary Hitchcock'.
The season approaches when the small boy becomes a
large factor of our community. His books which have
kept him a close prisoner at home these long winter eve
nlugs, nrc now discarded for more exhilarating pastimes.
The mildewed bag of marbles, the lop and whip, which
have been hibernating in the inusly old garret, aic now
taken out, polished up, counted and recounted, to see if
any of the trophies of the past season's campaign arc
among the missing. The graphic recital of Caesar's cam.
paigu into Gaul and the descriptive magnificence of Vir
gilian verse to him have lost their charms. No longer
racks he bib brains with tho tangled problems of n Hay
or a Loomis. So long us his geometrical eye can approx
imate to a "gnat's heel" the relative distance from one
marblo to another and thereby govern the propulsion of
his "taw," what cares he for rules and idioms? Yes, tho
small boy is aui generis tho small boy, and must bo re
garded as a necessary evil wherever ho goos. But, bless
the handsome little rascal 1 we like him none tho less.
Tho Student ofllco Is at present in possession of a
strange picoo of mechanism in tho shnpo of a printings
press, music-box and poetry-factory combined in one.
It was borrowed by our business manager and foreman
one dark night lately (during the temporary nbscuco of
tho owner,) and played a conspicuous part in tho minstrol
entertainment on Charter cvo. Of tho "Model" pattern,
it is called the "Ode" for the snko of euphony, and is em
bellished with a New Jersoy trade-mark, which of course
adds the legal percent to its value. Unlike the Webb Per
fecting or Hoc presses, it docs not print, cut, fold, paste
and dun delinquent subscribers with one imprcsssion, but
if properly haudled it can be made to swear at the editors
for copy in nineteen dead languages, including deaf and
dumb, which it speaks fluently and In all its native purity.
By a slight pressure of the operator's foit on a secret
spring in the rose-wood box on which it rests, what was
once a printing press is immediately transformed into one
of those beautiful instruments so indigenous to the soil of
sunny Italy. But the music is not good, the boys leave,
and we are sometimes compelled to play to an audience
of three-legged chair. Its best hold, however, is poetry,
and when it loses its identity in that nothing short of air
brakes can stop it. It is a little out of order at present,
as it slipped an eccentric the other day trying to solve tho
rule of three in Dutch.
Tho entertainment given in tho Chapel on Charter eve
by the Palladiaus in commemoration of the thirteenth an.
nivcrsary of our University's birthday was in every re
spect a conspicuous success. Tho performance consisted
of genuine minstrel, together with the usual specialties
accompanying such. The principal specialty was a farce
on the play of Julius Caesar, as revised by University
talent. The entertainment was farce and burlesque
throughout, of the highest order but was conducted stricls
ly within the limits of decency and propriety, leaving no
just grounds for criticism. Though tho evening was very
unfavorable, owing to the inclemency of tho weather, tlioy
were favored with a crowdedhouse, and consequently it
was also a financial success. Some of the most respect
able citizens of Lincoln were present, amopg whom we
noticed several members of the honorable faculty. All
seemed highly pleased with the performance throughout.
Pursuant to custom one of Lincoln's journalistic peuduls
urns which oscillates daily at (he corner of 9th and P streets,
was represented on tho occasion by a cranky gentleman,
who, we fear, will some day tumble from his Pegasus
with a rush of morals to the brains. Prostituting his call
ing as an impartial critic, he made the occasion the vcn
hide in which to vent a little private spleen, and sought
to make people believe that our entertainment was a
highly ridiculous and scandalous affair. That his weak
attempt to belittle a society which not long sincfi refused
to get down on its knees and worship him as their golden
calf, did not voice the sentiment of those present, was
amply attested by the loud and deafening applause which
greeted each net. The audience was not blinded by
prejudice, and did not see the performance through the
same lens as did this wouldsbe college reformer. In con
clusion, his being an old-time Pal I ail i an only makes hi
offense the greater.
I
i
'
!
1
