THE HESPERIAN.
The most interesting reading that comes to this office is the
Couriers of Kansas University.
The Earlhamite, published by the Ionian Society of Earlham
College, Richmond, Ind., is a very clean looking paper.
Some of the literary articles show considerable ability. There
is some disproportion between the literay part and the edi
torials. College Days is somewhat premature in its claim to be "the
best paper in the West, typograghically." On careful exam
ination we find several inaccuracies. It is all right for a paper
to think itself the best specimen in existence, but when it brags
about it we can bear it no longer.
The Unive-sily Revieto for October contains quite a variety
of subjects. The tone is somewhat too light, but perhaps as
much can not be expected of a college literary paper as of one
edited by more mature talent. Some of the articles arc epjite
readable and wcwish the Review the greatest success.
College Chips for Sept. 30, is not very heavy. The editori
als are not on generally interesting subjects, and it is too evi
dent that they were written under pressure. The locals arc
ditto, while the attempts at humor in the "clippings" dept.
arc simply well they make us tired. Come "Cr,"
brace up and entertain somebody.
Wc must ask forgiveness of the Foster Academy Review for
the rather ambiguous notice it received last issue. The ex
change editor did not intend to notice it till he could discover
its "oUicr name". Hut the item got in and was discovered
too late to make any change. Hoping this will satisfy the
feelings that must be outraged almost beyond measure, we are
yours truly.
The College Student comes out in a somei'hat brighter dress
than usual. Its inside is hardly so good as the outward ap.
pcarancc promises. A very long article on the Kantish Philos
ophy is rather beyond the interest of the ordinary student
It contains some good thoughts though. One sentiment we
would most heartily echo, that professors print dictations,
lectures, synopses etc. for class use.
The Hillsdale Herald for Oct. S contains an invective on
Voltaire, and another poem Poverty from Will Carleton's
"City Ballads". The Herald would make a very newsy lit
tle sheet if it would supplant the reports of society program
mes with something better and more entertaining. Wc would
suggest to the Herald that such things take too little work to
be good. Few readers will ever be satisfied with a paper
that appears te be shirking good, honest work.
We most devoutly wish that our exchanges would stop
howling on the athletic question. It seems to be an epidem
ic. If students want to exercise they w ill exercise. But, after
all, the principal business of students is to study, and a very
moderate amount of exercise is sufficient for all practical pur
poses. As a general thing, and with very few exceptions, stu
dents do not hurt themselves with study. If editors get short
of copy they should write something new and not give them
selves away so.
Taken as a whole, The Notre Dame Scholastic of Oct. 3, is
the best we have seen. The first article on "Roderigo" is
the gem of the paper. Seriously speaking, the piece shows
marked ability in, a certain direction. Not everyone can so
"hit off" the ludicrous points of a theme. There are, too,
some really fair pieces of description in the thing. The num
ber also contains articles on "The Queen Bee" and "Edgar
Allen I'oe." The former seems to us rather irrelevant for a
college paper though it might be very propej for a "Bee
Keeper's Journal."
Chicago University has come out first best in the Illinois
State Oratorical Contest, with Monmouth College second.
There is the usual amount of soreness and bad feeling among
the defeated competitors.
The .Voire Dame Sch tlastic makes a desperate effort to be
funny in "The Chronicles of a Kid." The students of Notre
Dame must be an intellectual set if such pabulum satis
fics their mental stomach. No one but who has genius should
attempt such articles, and when successful)' written
they sho dd be relegated to their proper place, which is not'
in a College paper. The paper also contains a readable arti
cle on Charles Dickens, though the writer sacrifices original
thought to a desire to work in as many statistics possible.
ThcNofre Dame would be a pretty lively paper if were as good
as it looks. It wants more life and "drive" in its management.
The College Index tries to make us believe that the Ameri
can laborer is a much down-trodden ami abused citizen, and
bewails in touching ternn the "thraldom of the laborer to his
master." There was a time when such remarks would have
been pertinent, and even in our day they may applv to cer
tain portions of this muudnne sphere, but we arc of the opin
ion that the author of the article in question has not read the
papers of late According to our way of thinking, it is the
"master" rather than the laborer that is mastered. When
street-car laborers have some grievance against their employ
ers they proceed straightway to dump all the cars into the
ditch until the company accedes to their terms. When miners
(white) don't like other miners (Chinese) they do not send up
any whine, but dispose of the question by killing the Chinese.
And so it goes and rarely a paper that has not an account of
some strike or other action of the various labor organizations.
The need seems to be for protection indeed, but not for em
ployed so much as employers. It has been fashionable to
talk or write, bemoaning the condition of our laboring class.
There arc undoubted wrongs and misunderstandings but they
are at present pretty evenly divided.
The exchange editor had entertained devout hopes that he
might not be obliged to write any of the usual dryness that is
printed under the name of pros'pectus. Every change of edi
tors brings in some new recruit whe feels called upon to inform
an anxious public, just what he intends to do. Each adopts
the turn of a professional consoler and attempts to quiet cer
tain imaginary fears on the part of his readers. He feels it
necessary to say that he will be fair, upright, honest and vir
tuous in his editorial work. Now, we have no doubt
that when the embryo editor of the first paper after the flood
spoke thusly it was interesting But, having been repeated by
every would be editor since that time, it has become monoto
nous. Distrust rather than confidence is created in the mind
of the reader, by such a performance, for he is justly suspi
cioned, who is afraid his readers will not discover from his
regular work, what he is trying to do. If an editor is honest
or just, critical or mild, cr anything, it will stick out of his de
partment in every issue- Consequently, therefore and-so-forth
only a scarcity of exchange matter compels the present incum
bent of this column to write such an article as this. So our
readers will understand that this is merely filling, placed here
to make the space less conspicuous. We arcwilling that our
work shall make us known. Our effort shall be to make the
exchange column interesting. What we shall do to accomp
lish it let the future prove. We ask odds of no one. If we
lay our selves open to criticism, why, criticise us. We can
stand it; he who plays practical jokes should be willing to
take them in good part, and he who claims the right to crit
icise should not whine when his compliments are returned.
ESU