University of Nebraska Debaters
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I o y
FRED M. HUNTER.
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S. C. HAWTHORNE.
NE DEPARTMENT of the Univer
sity of Nebraska that has re
cently come into prominence is
that of debating or argumentative
composition. In the work carried
on the chief doctrine or principle upon
which Instruction is given la that, in ex
pression, the first and lust Imperative
requisite Is to have something to say be
fore you Eay it. The idea is kept upper
most that a windbag in motion is neither
an orator nor a debater. More attention Is
directed to the logical and rhetorical struc
ture of the argument than to elocution or
delivery. Tbu students are trained In close,
CECIL C. NORTH.
connected and Judicial thinking, and to pre
fcent a subject straight from the shoulder.
They are taught that, first of all, nn argu
ment to be effective must be built upon a
foundation of sound analysis of the subject
and are drilled, almost severely. In this de
partment of the work.
The instruction and training in the de
partment of debating is under the direction
of Trof. Miller M. Fogg, who was formerly
a member of the faculty of Drown univer
sity, with Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews.
"Foot ball and debate are alike In one re
spect," said Mr. Fogg. "In both, long and
hard training, often through two or three
years, Is usually necessary to develop a
champion team. As not every strong man
Is a good foot ball player, so not every en
tertaining speaker is a good debater."
Nplirnhka'H DelmtlnK Sehedu'e.
On Friday evening of last week the first
of the three conflicts of the season was
waged by representatives of the Nebraska
university, the visiting team being from
Colorado college. The question discussed
was, "Resolved, That American municipali
ties of over lnii.imO population 3houId own
and operate their facilities for surface
transportation," Nebraska supporting the
affirmative. The debate took place In the
Memorial hall on the campus, Governor
Savage presiding.
Nebraska's second debate will be with
the University of Kansas, in Memorial
hall, on April 25. The visitors have chosen
the affirmative of the question subm tted
by Nebraska, "Resolved, That the United
States should, by appropriate concessions hb
its tariff duties, extend its export trade
and cultivate amity with other nations."
The third contest, which will be with thj
University of Missouri, will be held at Co
lumbia, Mo., on May 9. It will be on the
municipllizaticn of street railways, but
sides have not yet been chosen.
JOHN TOH1N.
lu the debute with Colorado college Ne
braska was n presented by Charles A.
Kutcher, law, '03. of Sheridan, Wyo.; Neil
M. Cronin of Sutton and Thomas Maxwell of
Lincoln, '03, with John Tobin, '04, of
Lincoln, as alternate. Mr. Kutcher it
graduate of the Colorado Agricultural col
lege, where he won the oratorical contest
lastear. Mr. Cronin has won honors this
year in the introductory course in argu
mentative composition and debate, and Mr.
Muxwell, who opened the debute, is con
sidered one of the best speakers among
the students.
In the debate with Kansas the Nebraska
debaters are Charles M. Braceleu, '02.
Lincoln; John C. Doubt, '03. I'niversity
l'lace, and Samuel C. Hawthorne, '02, Ar
cadia, with Fred M. Hunter, 'or,, of ltlue
Rapids, Kan., as alternate. While incx
perenced in intercollegiate debate, Mr.
llracelcn has taken high rank lu the course
of debate and also in general scholarship,
having been elected to I'hl Beta Kappa
scholarship fraternity. Mr. Doubt, who s
a very ready speaker, has been prominent
in d. baling during his university course.
Mr. Hawthorne was a member of the Ne
braska team which defeated Colorado col
lege two years ago.
lu the contest with the University of
Missouri tbo Nebraska representative will
be Charles 1'. Craft, '03, of Aurora; W.
Frederick Meier, '03, Lincoln; Cecil C.
North, '02, Bridgeport, with George A. Lee,
'03, Humboldt, as alternate. Mr. Craft
began Interstate debating In his freshman
year, being a member of the team that
defeated Kansas in 1899, and alsj being
appointed on the Missouri team last year.
Mr. Meier is also exper.enccd In inter
collegiate warfare, having fought Kansas In
1901. This is the first Interstate debate
for Mr. North, who ranks high in scholar
ship. To Mr. Lee's power as a debater at-
NF.IL M. CRONIN.
tentlon was attracted last year by his ex
cellent work uguinst Missouri, pre pared for
in a few days.
!ev Method r Melrrllnii.
The method of selecting the interstate
debaters was radically different this year
from what it has been heretofore. Uist
year's plan of holding a preliminary de
bate in each of the four debating societies,
at which the same number were chosen to
compete In a second preliminary, proved
unsatisfactory, lit cause it shut out some
aide debaters. This year the society pre
liminaries were ubollshetl and in their
stead was held one preliminary debate
early in February, which was open to all
comers. The board or faculty Judges was
able to handle the candidates at one pre
liminary lit cause the number was much
smaller than usual. On account of the
high standard set in the regular courses in
debate and on account of the stiff training
und great amount of work required of in
terstate debaters this year, those debaters
who had not yet attained to a pretty high
standard did not start in the race. In
stead of from fifty to seventy-live candi
dates there were twenty live, ulmost with
out exception able debaters. From these
twenty-live the faculty committee selected
fifteen, who were then put in charge of the
Instructors in argumentative composition
and debate, who tested them still further
in repealed debates. According to the
skill exhibited In the preliminary and these
subsequent tests the Interstate honors were
conferred.
Honor Is DUt Inet l e.
Tho Increased difficulty in securing a
position on one of the Interstate teams lias
naturally made the honor a mark of high
distinction. The fact that u candidate
had earlier in the course been a member
of one of the teams gave him no assur-
! CHARLES M.
BRACELEN.
THOMAS A. MAXWELL.
CHARLES A. KUTCHER.
J. V.
yj
GEORGE ARTHUR LEE
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CHARLES I'. CRAFT.
ante whatever that ho was sure of "mak
ing" tuo team this year. In general
scholarship the members of this year's
teams average high. The squad Includes
some of the ublest minds in the unl vei sit y,
the result mainly of the present punctur
ing methods of criticising the class room
debates, methods which lay stress first and
lasi on hard ami close thinking rather than
on glib talking. The training lu debate
is conducted on the assumption that power
in genuine debate Is, in general, not so
much a common, natural gift us It is the
result of special training. Tim members
of the teams this year ure nearly all Juniors
and seniors nnd graduates of the law school.
DOUBT. Jr.
W. FREDEilICK MEIER.
Seeds Centuries Old Germinate and Reproduce
m
1 1 ST how long seeds w ill live U a
question that Is a: trading much
attention among the scientists,
gardeners and horticulturists of
Europe at this time. The dis
cussion was started by the publication of
a story that 3 handful of peas found In a
sarcophagus of the l'baroahs, who died
3.0U0 years ago, had been planted and bad
grown. The viue of these peas grew to a
height of six feet; the blossoms, instead of
being white, were red, with a narrow yel
low bolder. The pods were a little longer
ihan the pea at present raised and the
peas wer. a little larger pnd sweeter to the
taste.
Hundreds of well authenticated stories
have been published of seeds that had lain
dormant for years, and when, by accident,
the proper conditions for their growth had
been brought about, had sprung into life.
In 1815 a preacher of Fiarlight, England,
had his old church, which had stood for ioo
years, torn down, as a new church was
to be built on Its site. For some reason
the building of the new edifice was de
layed. Boon a thick bed of henbane sprang
up where the church had stood. Henbane
was a rare plant in the neighborhood, and
an old man who had lived In the town for
nearly a hundred years said that It had
been very rare, even when he was a boy.
In the same village a year or two later
some old buildings nearly as old as the
church were torn down, and almost at
once henbane Bprang up. These seeds had
evidently lain dormant in the ground for
hundreds of years, waiting for the proper
conditions for their growth.
At another place in England some pheas
ant covers were rut down for boop poles.
The space thus freed of shade and thick
undergrowth was almost at once carpeted
with primrose seedlings, although there had
been no plants of this variety In the neigh
borhood for many years. In another In
stance an oak that was known to be over a
hundred years old was grubbed up, and
In a short time wild strawberry vines
sprang up where the oak had stood.
One if the m -st remarkable (a-es was
the finding of some small seed in an old
chest in an English castle. The chest
contained papers that now rest In the Brit
ish museum. These papers were letters
and the diary of an owner of the castle
who had gone to the Holy Land with the
Crusaders led by Richard.
There seeds bad evidently lain in the old
t in st since about the year 1195. No one
knew Just what seeds they were, so some
of them were planted iu a hothouse and
carefully watched. They sprouted and
bit tuned and proved to be popples.
But England is not the only country
that can tell tales of this kind. Many in
stances of the curious tenacity of life shown
by seeds have happened in the United
States. A Kentucky colonel, Just before
h; battle of Chattanoiga, pu 1 d an ear
fif com from a shock as be passed. Shell
ing it, be ale some grains, plac.ng a hand
ful in bis pocket. He was wounded at
Chattanooga and sent home. He saw no
more service and bis soldier clothes were
packed away. As a matter of sentiment be
he kept them until about three years ago,
when they had become so moth-eaten that
he decided to throw them away.
In searching through the pockets of the
coat he felt a small lump, and drew forth
from the lining two grains of corn that bad
been there evi r since the "Battle of (he
Clouds." Curious to see if there was still
life in them, he planted them, and they
i rew. Tlie next year, as they corn they
product d was unsually fine, he saved every
grain and planted it the following yiar,
when he again saved the grains. Last year
he plunted twelve acres of corn with what
one might cull the grandchildren of those
two veterans of the civil war.
Just out of Indimapolis, near Broad Rip
ple, there is a peach trie growing that bus
a remaikable huMory. It was planted, or
rather the seed from which it grew whs
plantt d, about six years ago. For two
years it bus borne fruit that is not very
large, but which Is unusually sweet.
The st t d from which the tree was pro
duced was carried in the pnikets of three
men for 103 years. When the grandson of
the man who first placed It In his pocket
as a lucky piece planted it, it bad been
worn rn smooth that no one could tell what
kind of a seed it was. Many thought It a
plum seed and others a peculiarly shaped
toffee bean or buckeye.
James Wtlkeraon was the first man to
t arry It. After be died James, his son, car
ried It until he died, when John, bis sou,
who is a telegraph operator, curried It for
fifteen yeuis, and then plunted it to see if
it would grow. He said the reason his
grandfather had kept it so long was that
ho hud eaten the peach with bis sweet
heart, each taking bite for bite. This
sweetheart he had married. She hud died
when the planter s father was born. So It
ci. n be sein what a pretty little story Is
wound uiooiid Hie roois of that tree.
In Lou sville a number of years ago an
old bu lding in the center of the t it y was
lorn down. It was said to have In en built
by Daniel Boone. The next spring a beech
sapling sprung up, and ut almost 'lie same
time beside it a columbine vine sent up Its
shoots.
For several years they grew together,
recalling the days when S.mon Ki nton,
Boone, the Wetzel boys and other well
known pioneers bad hunted the rednvn
over the country.
For bow many years those seeds hud lain
dormant no one really knows, but that It
was a greater number than man generally
lives Is certala.
