E2EB1
THE HESPERIAN.
. ' UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA.
Vol. XIV.
LINCOLN, NEB., OCTOBER 10, 1885.
No. I.
Scientists claim that cigarette smoking leads to idiocy. We
do not know that this is true, but do know that idiocy leads
to idiocy.
The first volume of General Grant's book is in type.
The manuscript of the second is all. written and completed as
originally intended and will in due course of time be publish
ed as prepared by General Grant himself.
The yacht-race for the commodore's cup was w8n on the
1 8th inst. by the Gencsla and she easily secured the prize in
her class. Her actual time ahead of the Grade at the finish
was 29 min. and 38 seconds. The cup won is valued at $1000.
It is said to be utterly impossible to walk two miles in Can
ada now without stumbling over a dozen bank cashiers and
dry goods merchants. Canada is becoming a great resort for
this class of citizens as it was for rebels and sympathizers dur
ing the rebellion.
"Why don't you rock the baby?" said a proud mother to
her young hopeful, "You'd let it squeal its life out".
"Would if I could." Why Johnnie! Want your little brother
to die?" "Well wouldn't it be a good deal better for him to
be up In IIeaen fijin' aronnd than to be ljin' a squealin' in
that ere cradle?"
The decrying of grammar in connection with the study of
language at present so common, is certainly foolish and exces
sive and sure to bring reaction before long. For a mind ma
tured or approaching maturity, the natural method of study
ing a language is not by parrot-like imitation, but by looking
into the why and wherefore of things, forming some idea of
the philosophy which lies at the bottom, reaching a clear
comprehension of the rational.
James Russell Lowell has had the high honor of sleeping
in the spare room at Windsor Castle. No doubt he found the
pillows soft, the bed charming and all the adornments of his
room in the highest aesthetic taste. Sleep in such an historic
room, must have been a luxury indeed, but, we venture the
opinion, not any more luxurious or restful than the one enjoyed
by the returned minister in the comfortable Massachusetts
farm house of his daughter, Mrs. Uurnett.
Tt wouM seem to the casual observer that the Civil Service
uile is being worked for all it is worthy The "oflensive par
tisanship" cry smacks a little too much with an attempt to
either evade the law or deceive the people. Certainly there
are other causes of inefficiency besides being an offensive
partisan. And in making his appointment the President
would do well to look a little more carefully after the char
acter of his appointees.
President Torter of Yale College is engaged in supervising a
revision of Webster's Dictionary. The work is conducted in
his New Haven residence and has been in progress for some
time, although the fact is not generally known. President
Porter is assisted by several gentlemen, among them being
Professor Ralph Williams and Frederick Allen, class of '83.
Several months will be required for the completion of the
work and there will be many more additions than in the last
revision.
The following was received by Mr. Evarts from his little
grandchild:
Dear Grandpa:
The little donkey which you sent us is
very gentle, but he makes a big noise at night. He is very
lonesome. I guess he misses you. I hope you will come up
soon and then he won't be so lonesome."
Much is said nowadays about the ''natural method oflearn
ing languages." And the phrase is explained as method by
which a child learns. Is the method natural to the child,
necessarily natural to the man or woman or indeed, to the
youth offairly developed mind? It is natural for a child to
creep hence according to the "natural method" man must
give up the use of only two legs and take to locomotion on all
fours. It is natural for a child to learn intuitively at its moth
er's knee. The man must therefore follow the same way,
clinging close to the same famous educational appliance. It
is an absurdity in education, and every where else to say that
methods natural in the nursery are also natural in adults.
England seems to resemble, politically, a boiling caldron.
The people have half a dozen questions to consider anv on
of which will call together an audience of many thousand ex
cited men.
Mr. Parncll has hnrled his thunder bolt of secession, and
the air is still crackling wiih electricity. No English
man can think or the Irish question without losing his temper
and shaking his fists. The liberals are astonished. The Tor
ies arc astounded and everybody is in a quandry and mad a
himself for being there. Mr. Chamberlain speaks with one
foot on a kind of socialism and the other on law and order.
Sometimes he bears his weight on patriotism and again shifts
his weight and pleads for general breaking up of the political
establishment and rebuilding from the foundation.
Surely the government of England is rapidly passing into
the hands of the people and Mr. Chamberlain's demand for
free, elementary -education comes none too soon.
The present year marks an era in the history of Cornell.
The resignation of President White and the election of Profess
or Charles Adams a like successor, arc two significant facts in
the history of the institution. Mr. White in retiring fiom th'e
presidency could not have found a more fit or favorable time for
dropping hia executive cloak and allowing it to fall upon the
shoulders of another. At the bat, on the water and in the
field, Cornell more than excelled herself, defeating her sister.
colleges in every sport, and making a record that is without
a parallel in the history of the University and this success's
largely due to twenty-two years of faithful work, through "good
report and evil report" of Andrew D. White. To him will
future generations look to as the founder of the institution
One of the lust acts of President White was the virtual estab
lishment of a course in Journalism. He recognises the great
opportunities to students thoroughly to think closely upon po
litical, social, and literary questions, to present his thoughts
vigorously and cogently ,nd endeavored to make
Cornell one of the first if not they7;j place where just such
a training could be secured.