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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1898)
Vo... VEL We se NEW HAVEN, CONN., SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1898. Price Tun Cents. YALE'S IDEAL HERO, Nathan Hale Should Stand in Bronze Upon the Campus—Dr. T. T. Munger Presents the Case. When the newsboys in City Hall Park in New York have nothing else to do, and that does not happen often in these days, they gather about the bronze statute of a man whose hands are tied behind his back, and discuss his case, with as much accuracy probably as the “extras” they have been selling de- scribe the last battle of Cuba. The boys are fortunate if one of their num- ber has been under some teacher in the public schools who has taught him what the histories do not teach, and thus enabled him to tell his fellows who Nathan Hale was, and what he did that brought him to this pass. Nathan Hale was a son and soldier of Connecticut, but the statue in New York has made him better known there than he is in his native State. He spent four years in New Haven and never a day in Hartford, but every boy in that city knows his story because it has two statues of him. New Haven has no memorial of him save the ruined fort in the harbor that bears his name. There was a time when every stu- dent in Yale was familiar with his his- tory; I fear that many could not to- day pass an examination upon it. Both city and college have lost sight of him for the two-fold reason that the his- tories barely name him, and no statue makes up.the lack. Ane SLORY OE: WIS LIFE. The story of his life is short because his life was short, and because he did only one thing worthy of mention; he died for his country. He was born in Coventry—a town twenty miles east of Hartford, where he grew up in a farm- house and family of the better sort, and went to school to the parish minister, Dr. Huntington, who prepared him for College. He was a fine lad—strong, could run, leap, wrestle, throw and lift better than any of the boys about him. Well-bred, sweet-tempered and hand- some, he was greatly loved and admired. He came to Yale in his sixteenth year and entered the Class of 1773. But little is known of his college life except that he stood well in his class, made a famous leap on the Green that was marked out and shown for years, and that he was a devoted member of Linonia. So long as Linonia lived, Hale was a household world in Yale. “Statement of Facts” is almost for- gotten even as a tradition, but Yale to- day offers nothing worthier and finer than the lining up of “Linonia” and “Brothers,” each with their chosen orators, who made a “statement of facts” as. to the claims of their respec- tive societies. The partiality of an old graduate must be pardoned if he ven- tures the opinion that “Statement of Facts” in the second week of the col- lege year, on a day set apart by the Faculty for the purpose, was quite as dignified as “bottle night,” quité as academic as “tapping for societies,” and as intellectual as the “class histories” of Commencement week. Some things are better than they used to be, and some things are not. CORNELL UNIVERSITY CREW: TIME 23:48. Dajzell, Bow. Bentley, 2. Wakeman. 3. Bailey, 4. Moore, 5. Beardslee, 6. Colson, Cox. and Capt. Savage, 7. Briggs, Stroke. Photographed at Ithaca June 12, “TWO SPLENDID SOCIETIES. One of the things that was better— far better than intercollegiate debates— was the existence of those two socie- ties —“Linonia” and “Brothers in Unity.” They comprised the whole body of students, and existed side by side in enthusiastic and healthful riv- alry; they taught their members to de- bate and to write essays and poems; they discussed public and national ques- tions—especially slavery—from Nullifi- cation and the Missouri Compromise down to the Emancipation. Their weekly meetings were conducted under parliamentary rules. To be a president of them was a coveted honor;—there was none higher in College. They fostered patriotism and made it intelli- gent; they trained men to take part in public life and to conduct public busi- ness, and above all they fed that democratic spirit which makes Yale what she is and gives her the right to call herself the American University. It is a calamity that these societies were crowded out of existence by a swarm of minor societies, whose useful- ness is strictly guarded from public view. Now Nathan Hale was a mem- ber of Linonia, and at every “statement of facts” half the college cheered his name to the echo. He was and he is to-day Yale’s ideal hero, but the cheers have died out along with his memory. In 1853, when Linonia celebrated its centennial, Judge Finch read a poem on Hale that has become a part of American literature, but the speaking bronze is needed to keep alive his _ glorious story. _ After graduation Hale taught school in East Haddam during the Winter, and in the Spring took charge of a _ grammar school in New London, where the people went on loving and admiring him just as they had in New Haven [Continued on 5th page.] “YALE BATTERY” RECRUITING. More Fine Yale Names Added—A Few Vacancies Are Left. Within the last few days, Light Battery A, First Connecticut Volun- teers, better known as the “Yale Bat- tery,’ having received orders to recruit to the full strength of 173 men, has opened a recruiting station in New Haven. Lieutenant Weston, ’o8S., Sergeant Twitchell, ’98, and Private Cheney, ’98S., have been in charge of the recruiting station. The order to recruit made fifty vacan- cies in the Battery, and it was the desire of Captain Honce, and indeed of all the Battery, that the number should be made up as largely as possible from Yale students and graduates, as the Yale Platoon has proved an exceed- ingly valuable and popular part of the Battery. The recruiting office was opened at a time when College was about closing and a large number of men had left for the boat race. Yale names, however, began to come in rapidly, both from New Haven and from other parts of the country, appli- cations coming from as far as Washing- ton. With the Yale men other excel- lent applicants have been received, including two or three New Haven members of the Second Regiment and an ex-member of the Sixth United States Cavalry. About ten more Yale men have al- ready enlisted in addition to those whose names have been published in the WEEKLY. While applicants of the first class from any quarter have been received, a large number of applications have been postponed until word could be send to a number of Yale men who were known to be anxious for a chance [Continued on 12th page. | CORNELL THE VICTOR. Wale Takes Second Place in the Tri- angular Race at New London— Mr. Cook Satisfied With His Men. For the second successive year Cor- nell has proved that her University Crew is superior to the crews of Yale and Harvard, and she still holds a clear title to the American intercollegiate championship. It was a great race that was rowed at New London on June 23. There was an element of uncertainty to the last mile, although the figures do not show that the time was fast, as the tide had barely turned and a strong breeze up stream held the boats back. The official figures for the distance are as follows: Cornell, 23 m. 48 s. Yale, 24 m. 2 s. Harvard, 24 m. 35 s. The postponement from Wednesday to Thursday at noon was almost uni- versally condemned and was certainly most unfortunate, as thousands who had taken long trips to see the three Crews row were obliged to return home dis- appointed after two disheartening changes of hour, and an afternoon of great discomfort from bad weather. Yale University endorses the work of her Captain, Coach and Crew, calls it a well-fought race and_ cordially acknowledges the superb work of Cor- nell. Mr. Cook said after the race: “I am well pleased with the work of my men. They were beaten by a faster crew whose superior age and experience told in the four miles.” The election of Fred Allen, 1900, to the Captaincy meets with universal ap- proval. The crowds began to reach New Lon- don on Tuesday evening and before
