Yale alumni magazine. ([New Haven]) 1937-1976, June 25, 1898, Page 5, Image 5

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    SATE ALUMNI SW EER oe
PHI BETA KAPPA’S ROOM,
It Is Formally Opened—Description
of the Quarters. ;
The new room of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society in White Hall was formally
opened last Saturday evening.
Several members of the Faculty, who
act as an Advisory Council for the
Society, and members from the Senior -
and Junior classes were present.
The following note was read from the
donor by his representative: “The
donor appreciates the vote of thanks ©
tendered him by the Society at their
last banquet, would like to be here to-
night and know each member individ-
ually, hereby presents the room to the
Graduate Committee ‘and their succes-
sors for the Society, and hopes that
good only will come to the Society in
its new house.”
Professor Arthur M. Wheeler, in mak-
ing the address of acceptance, said that
the donor had done a grand thing for
scholars and scholarship at Yale, and
that the members with such beautiful
surroundings should be stimulated to
do in their own way for the College
what the donor had done for them.
He thought that the Society through
its graduate officer and undergraduate
society would in time be a channel for
a large amount of graduate opinion and
criticism, which now has no good way
to be really effective among the stu-
dent body; that the Society in other
words, while not getting itself into ill
odor as a body of reformers, could in a
quiet way stand for and make effective
higher laws than are now current in
college life, as respecting the use of
digests for example and cheating in
examinations; and while believing in
the old adage he thought that in these
days the mind and not the body needed
the greatest emphasis at Yale.
All graduates and friends of the Uni-
versity are invited to visit the room
during Commencement week and use it
as a meeting place, and those who re-
main faithful to the classics will here
find a place to enjoy an hour or. two
with Homer or Horace or any of their
long-tried friends.
The room is situated on the ground
floor of White Hall, opposite the offices
of the ALUMNI WEEKLY and Yale News.
The difficult problem of renovating the
room, which was ill suited for its pur-
pose, was put into the hands of Hap-
good & Hapgood, architects of Hart-
ford, and the work has been executed
by James E. Todd, the New Haven
contractor, from their designs, which
are purely Grecian in character.
To begin with, the steam pipes near
the ceiling were encased in fire proof
framing and brought low enough to
form alcoves between the lines of pip-
ing and the walls. The southeast alcove
is made into a cozy corner with a broad
window seat. Over this on the south
side are book shelves which will hold
the Society’s library. The general ef-
fect of the place as one enters is that
of the interior of a Grecian Doric tem-
ple, with four columns at the further
end supporting an entablature modeled
after that of the Parthenon.
The walls are of a soft, rich terra
cotta color, forming an admirable con-
trast to the ivory columns, and an ef-
fective background to the pictures.
The central panel, however, coming as
it does directly behind the president’s
chair, is not provided with a picture,
but is relieved by a correct Grecian
cross-tracery in buff, bordered by an
interlacing fret in dark brown.
On the right-hand side of the central
panel is hung a large sized autotype of
the principal group of the Sistine Ma-
donna, flanked on the left-hand side
by the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
On the west wall of the room are
placed, in order, an interior view of
the Parthenon looking out on distant
mountains to the west, the Shepherdess
by Millet, and the Ducal Palace from
the Piazetta. Two platino-types of
superb views of Honister Crag and But-
termere in the English Lake Country
are set in the southern alcove.
Along the east wall there is a broad
oak ledge for writing. The windows
which are on the east side are filled
with ruffled white glass in Grecian
cross-tracery.
The ceiling is relieved by cross beams |
which continue the Doric lines of the
entablature. From the eight central in-
tersections of these ceiling beams de-
pend plain electric globes, mounted on
nicely shaped canopies treated with a
green patina. The ceiling panels are
buff colored, and enriched by echinus
borders in terra cotta. The floor, in-
cluding the speaker’s platform, 1s
covered by a Brussels carpet, colored
in two shades, tones of terra cotta.
<th, L,
> A
The June “ Lit.”
The Yale Literary Magazine for June
appeared last week with the following
contents: Leader—The Lit. English
Course, by Isham Henderson, ’99._ Es-
says—‘A Poet of Young Ireland,’ by
Guy Mortimer Carleton, ’99; “Sandro
Botticelli,” by James Whitney Barney,
1900. Stories —‘“The Settlement © of
Peace,’ by Hulbert Taft, 1900; “With
The Dawn,” by Samuel Granger Camp,
1900. Poems—“To Alice: On _ the
Death of Lewis Carroll,” by Hugh
Andrew Callahan, ’99; ‘“‘Tratimerei,”’ by
Charles Edmund Merrill, Jr., ’08.
Portfolios—“The Windmills,’ by Ben-
jamin Burges Moore, ’99; “Fifi,” by
James Whitney Barney, 1900; “A Study
in Diplomacy,’ by Ray Morris, Igo1;
“Cheese Market at Hoorn,” by Ray
Morris, 1901; “A Fantasy of the Swiss
Village,’ by Hulbert Taft, 1900. The
number also includes the usual depart-
ments, the Memorabilia, the Notabilia,
Book Notices and Editor’s Table.
a
Announcement of Prizes.
The following announcement of prizes
for the College year 1897-1898 was made
in the University Bulletin on June 18:
Lucius’ F. Robinson Latin Prizes,
Classes of 1898 and 1899—1st Prize, John
F, Flynn, Class of 1899. Class of 1900—
Ist Prize, Albert W. VanBuren; 2d
Prize, Frank E. Hale; 3d Prize, Eugene
F. Farley.
Winthrop Prizes, Class of 1899—1st
Prize, Arthur . Lovell; 2d Prize,
divided between John F. Flynn and
Charles M. Hathaway, Jr.
Scott Prizes, Class of 1899—In Ger-
man, ¢dtrancis:.}2))Ptall. im. French,
Charles H. Wagner.
DeForest Mathematical Prizes, Class
of 1899—1Ist Prize, Arthur S. Gale. Class
of 1900, Ist Prize, Howard L. Bronson.
Class of 1901, Ist Prize, Malvern H.
Tillitt; 2d Prize, Owen Crawford and
Ralph.O. Wells.
Bristed Scholarship—Frank E. Hale,
Class of 1900.
C. Wyllys Betts Prize, Class of 1900—
Warren S. Thorpe (for meritorious
work in the required compositions of
the year and in an essay on The Prose
Sivle of Matthew Arnold). :
Declamation Prizes, Class of 1900—
Ist Prize, Kenneth Bruce; 2d Prize,
Thomas W. Swan.
Woolsey Scholarship, Class of 1901—
Alfred P. Wright.
Hurlbut Scholarship, Class of 1901—
Howard F. Taylor.
Third Freshman Scholarship, Class
of 1901—Lacey D. Caskey. -
Berkeley Premiums in Latin Com-
position, Class of t1901—i1st Grade,
Lacey D. Caskey, Emerson B. Christie,
Edwin H. Tuttle, Arthur J. Young; 2d
Grade, Edward B. Adams, Howard F.
Taylor,
Wright.
>>
ve
To “The Yale.”
The following was published in the
Indianapolis News, under the title “The
Yale.” It is from the pen of a mem-
ber of the Indianapolis Alumni Asso-
ciation:
Paint her blue of deepest hue,
And send her o’er the brine,
With plucky crew of courage true;
Against the Spaniard’s line!
Her sides are frail, but she can not fail,
No matter what the game!
Baptized the Yale, how can she quail
Before the smoke and flame?
Her sides are thin, but in war’s din
As in the boyish strife,
Yale’s pluck will win—to that we pin
Our faith, more dear than life!
Drink to the Yale, for she’ll soon sail!
And when war’s thunders roll,
She'll hear our hail through wildest gale
Behind the Spaniard’s goal!
? —Valensian.
Harry E. Ward, Alfred P.
YALE’S IDEAL HERO.
[Continued from rst page.| —
and East Haddam; for it appears that
during his brief life everybody had a
common feeling towards him. It seems
to have been a case where mind and
heart and body and character said the
same thing. He was five feet and ten
inches in height and well proportioned;
a full face, light blue eyes, a rosy com-
plexion, brown hair and a bearing that
spoke of energy and strength, complete
the picture of him so far as we have
it. The artist who depicts him must
mould a figure of great strength, sweet
and resolute and thoughtful, and clothe
it with the spirit of heroism.
JOINS THE ARMY.
Before a year had passed news of the
battle of Lexington reached New Lon-
don. The next morning he assembled
his pupils, talked and prayed with
them, shook each one by the hand
and started with his company for Bos-
ton. He returned to New London for
military duty there—missing Bunker
‘Hill apparently—but, September found
him again in Cambridge, where he made
a study of his new calling while Wash-
ington was besieging Boston. After
the evacuation of the city he appeared
in New York and bore some part in
the disastrous battle of Long Island.
The situation required above everything
else a full knowledge of the enemy’s
works and plans,—a spy in short. He
must have intelligence as well as cour-
age and be able to talk as well as see.
HALES DECISION.
Hale volunteered, but in coming to a
decision he encountered several hard
questions. Could he overcome the en-
treaties of his friends? Could he
bring himself to play the part of a spy?
—a question which he settled in ac-
cord with Vattel, of whom he had
never heard, and _ stated in these
memorable words; “I wish to be use-
ful, and every kind of service, necessary
for the public good, becomes honorable
by being necessary.’ But could he
face the almost certain death of shame?
His answer was: “I am fully sensible
of the consequences of discovery and
capture in such a situation.”
What strikes one as remarkable in
all this is the thorough way in which
he thought the whole matter through
and grounded his action on sound
and accepted principles. There is no
bravado, hardly any enthusiasm; only
a downright sense of duty.
He received his directions in person
from Washington, disguised himself as
a schoolmaster, crossed the Sound well
up the coast, and found his way into
the British Camp in Brooklyn and also
in New York, where the army had taken
possession the day he left. He in-
curred no _ suspicion, made_ charts,
took notes in Latin, and attempted to
return as he came, but was recognized
and arrested. His papers were found
in his shoes, as André six years later
had concealed his,—each making the
same fatal and easily detected mistake.
Gen. Howe ordered his execution the
next morning. He was permitted to
write letters to his comrades and family,
but the executioner tore them up, de-
claring that “the rebels should never
know they had a man who could die
with such firmness.” He asked for a
clergyman and a Bible, but was re-
fused.
THE EXECUTION.
On Sunday morning at day-break,
Sept 22d, 1776, he was led out to execu-
tion, his hands tied behind his back.
His last words were: “I only regret .that
I have but one life to lose for my country.”
He was only twenty-one years old. He
had everything to live for—home and
a sweetheart in Coventry, friends in
New Haven and New London and
Cambridge and in the army, and life
itseli—not a thing easily laid down at
twenty-one. It was a hard thing to be
led out by a squad of soldiers, his hands
tied behind him, without a friendly face
to look into, without a word of sym-
pathy, and hung upon a tree like a
felon;—it was hard, but he did not
flinch. Of what did he think? Cer-
tainly of home,—the old farm-house in
Coventry, the poplars in front, the
well-sweep, the cows waiting for the -
milking, the household astir for the
duties of the day, the father who
had sent him to college, the mother and
sisters, who had spun and woven the
cloth he wore; the sweetheart he was
to marry when the war was over; the
meeting-house where Dr. Huntington
would soon be praying; and he could
hear the bell, but it did not seem to be
calling the people. to church, but to be
tolling for his own funeral.
It was hard, but he did not flinch.
He thought of other things—duty that
makes all things easy, and his country,
for which he was glad to die. As his
eyes grew dim doubtless the immortal
line that he had learned in college
mingled with his prayers:
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”
How else should a_patriot-scholar
die? 2
Nathan Hale has been singularly
overlooked, chiefly because nothing
came of his brave effort; it did not
enter into the web of events; it was
pure failure in the eye of history. Its
nobility and sacrificial grandeur have
not yet been appreciated. New York
City, stirred by the monument erected
to André, erected the statue in City
Hall Park. Coventry has worthily re-
membered him. MHartford erected a
statue before its Atheneum and the
Commonwealth placed one in the State
House.
Sympathy and sentiment have passed
him by and fastened on André, who is
made to pose on the page of history
almost as a martyr. Comparison be-
tween the two is idle and unkind, but
if made it vanishes in the light of their
motives and character; comparison is
impossible. We like what has been done
for André at Tappan, where his monu-
ment stands. It is one of the truest
signs of nobility to hold generous feel-
ings towards our enemies; there are no
enemies when the war is over. We like
to hear of sending the captured flags
back to the South; such things redeem
the curse of war and do honor to human
nature. But there are some things we
do not like; we do not like to think of
a monument to André in Westminster
Abbey and none to Hale in New Haven,
It was here he spent four years
learning the lessons of patriotism and.
duty and high-mindedness that taught
him to die in a way that made his death
of shame a glory and an inspiration.
The Campus is dominated by a
worthy statue of Yale’s greatest Presi-
dent. There should be one to her ideal
hero. Let it stand in the Vanderbilt
Court, where the students can see him
in the act of becoming poor even unto
death if perchance he can make his
country rich.
Such a statue ought to be easily se-
cured. If the large balance left from
the Yale Cruiser Fund is not required
to commemorate some event in the
present war, to what worthier use could
it be put than to thus remind Yale of
the truest hero on her lists, and her
most beautiful and precious gift to the
country?
———
Envoy.
oh. 2.
The ways of Yale are changed, I trow,
Since you lived in the Old Brick Row;
The worn old fence is gone, and few
The faces that you loved and knew,
The good old days have altered so.
Of course the old fence had to go;
“The College must have room to grow.”
But merry yet and strong and true
The ways of Yale.
Tempus mutatur—yes! but tho’
A new Yale greets each winter’s snow ~
We still are loyal to the blue—
You to the old, I to the new,
For each has learned to love and know
The ways of Yale.
C. E. M., Jr. in Yale Courant.
ae SO sehen eee
Golf Association Officers.
At a University meeting held on
Friday, June 17, for the purpose of
electing officers of the Yale Golf Asso-
ciation for the ensuing year, the follow-
ing men were elected: President, Walter
B. Smith, ’99; Vice-President, C. A. H.
deSaulles, 99 S.; Secretary, Edward F.
Hinkle, ’99; Treasurer, Frederick C.
Havemeyer, 1900; Executive Commit-
tee, S. A. Smith, ’99; J. W. Barney,
1900; T. M. Robertson, 1901, amd C
D. Barnes, 1902.