216
YALE ALUMNI WHEEKLY
SPRINGFIELD DINNER.
G. S. Merriam Speaks for More Mod-
ern Language Teaching,
The Yale Alumni Association of
Central and Western Massachusetts
held its annual meeting and banquet
at the Nayasset Club, Springfield, Mass.,
Tuesday, Mar. 7. Before the banquet
the election of officers for the coming
year was held with this result:
President, Philip W. Moen, ’78, of
Worcester; Vice-Presidents, James
Tracy Potter, ’94, of North Adams;
Edward Branch Lyman, ’95, of Green-
field; Edward M. Mills, ’58, of North-
ampton; Charles C. Spellman, 67,
Springfield; Secretary C. W. Saunders,
- ’94, of Worcester; Treasurer, Dr. W. T.
Souther, ’73, of Worcester.
Notwithstanding the severe snow
storm over fifty members and guests
were present. Harvard graduates paida
graceful compliment to the Yale diners
by sending a great mass of red tulips
with this inscription attached: “To Good
Old Eli, with the compliments of his
friend Johnny Harvard.” The week be-
fore, Yale had sent to the Harvard
Association, then holding their annual
dinner in Springfield, a bunch of violets
marked “To Our Friend the Enemy.”
Major S. B. Spooner, ’53, presided
and Prof. Andrew W. Phillips repre-
sented the University. The speeches
were exceptionally good and were
listened to with close attention. Prof.
Phillips paid a high tribute to Pres.
Dwight, saying that the keynote of his
administration had been the university
idea. |
In speaking of the elective system at
Yale, George S. Merriam, ’64, said in
art:
‘ “T wish to speak of what I believe
to be the greatest single obstacle in the
way of a living and ardent interest of
the undergraduate body in their studies.
That obstacle lies in the very nature of
the subject matter on which they are
chiefly employed. Consider it for a
moment. When a boy begins his spe-
cial preparation for college he is set to
work on Latin. He studies Latin for
four or five years before he goes to col-
lege, and for two years after he gets
there. Not long after he begins Latin
he is set to work on Greek. Greek,
too, he must study until he is half
through his college course. These two
languages, it is safe to say, require
fully half of his working hours during
the greater part of this long period.
They monopolize the heart and
strength of his collegiate education.
Now, for what purpose, under any ra-
tional system—I had almost said under
any conceivable system,—does a person
study a language? Surely, that he may
speak it, read it, write it. Now, can
our collegiate student, when he has
completed his long study, either speak,
or write, or read either Latin of Greek?
Most certainly the average student can
do nothing of the sort. * * * Do
you suppose there is one in ten, that
there is one in fifty, of the graduates
of Yale, to whom Latin and Greek
are not in very truth dead languages,
in the sense.that they are utterly un-
useable for the ordinary literary pur-
poses of language? And yet, it was to
the study of Latin and Greek that we
gave the best years of our youth.
“The whole business is so preposter-
ous that it is not easy to discuss it
calmly as if it were an open question.
And truly it is not an open question.
Year after year, and decade after de-
cade, the doors seem locked and barred
in the face of reform. A few years ago
Charles Francis Adams in his Phi Beta
Kappa oration at Harvard, upon “A
College Fetich,’” made an audacious
and brilliant assault upon Greek as an
essential requisite in a collegiate edu-
cation. His attack was so widely and
vigorously supported that it actually
won a victory—in appearance. But it
was ‘only in appearance. Greek was
nominally withdrawn from the requisites
for admission to Harvard, but the path
of substitution was made so thorny and
‘the institution.
difficult that it remains practically un-
traversed to this day. And meanwhile
we at Yale go steadfastly on in the good
old way that our fathers trod.
“Against his tenacious and tremend-
ous conservatism,—conservatism not of
Yale alone, but of the whole body of
colleges,— it sometimes seems useless
to argue or protest. To simply de-
nounce or declaim is a most ungracious
part. Let me simply indicate what
seem the rightful lines of reform. First,
it seems reasonable that for the pur-
poses of collegiate education one of the
great living languages should count as
equal to one of the great dead lan-
guages; and, secondly, any language,
living or dead, should be taught pri-
marily and mainly for the purpose of
enabling the student to at least read it
with ease, if not to speak and write it.
KEENE: ah
“To sum up: It seems to me that the
ancient languages should be dethroned
from that central place which they now
occupy in our collegiate education.
That place is a usurpation and a tyranny.
It is a relic of medievalism. Our so-
called classical education, as the panoply
of one who is to do a man’s part in the
stirring and splendid activities of to-
day, is as inappropriate as a suit of
ancient armor on a modern battlefield.
“Tn saying this let me not be thought
to disparage the classic languages and
literature as great features in the total
sum of human knowledge and of liberal
study. Of the tree of knowledge they
are strong and beautiful branches; only,
they are no longer, if they ever were,
its main trunk. There should always
be the amplest opportunity, incitement,
assistance, to those students who choose
to pursue them. Indeed, it is for the
highest interests of the classical studies
themselves that they should no longer
be imposed by a Procrustean standard
on the whole body of students, but
should be reserved for those who will
pursue them by choice and taste, with
ability and with ardor.” ,
Rev. Edward M. Chapman, 784,
of Worcester, in enumerating the quali-
ties the next. President of Yale must
have, said:
“The next President should have a
plan which he is not afraid to carry out.
know I have opponents in this
thought, but I hope the next president
will be a student. He must also be a
money-getter, although this has not
been one of.the characteristics of Presi-
dent Dwight. He must keep alive the
University spirit and draw students to
In regard to the tradi-
tion that the president must be a minis-
ter, I believe that it is on the whole a
good thing, but I speak for many
clergymen when I say we don’t want
that tradition to bind in the choice, to
the detriment of the institution.”
Other speakers were: Dr. T. M.
Balliet of Springfield; Charles F.
Aldrich, ’79, of Worcester; Charles C.
Spellman, ’67; Jonathan Barnes, ’85; Dr.
W. T. Souther, 773; Rev. H. C. Meserve,
794; Charles W. Bosworth, ’93, and
James F. Hooker, ’95. A glee club
quartet composed of Messrs. Douglas,
Porter, Sheehan and McGee, furnished
excellent music.
THE GUESTS.
The following were the guests in
attendance:
Prof. A. W. Phillips, ’73S.; James
Tufts, ’38; Samuel B. Spooner, ’s3;
Samuel H. Lee, ’58; George S. Mer-
riam, *64; Charles C. Spellman, ’67;
Charles S. Walker, 67; Albert Warren,
67; Mase S. Southworth, ’68; George
C. McClean, ’71S.;: Wm. B. Walker,
Je; 20, .- Glaspow; 7735. Wim. T:
Souther, ’73; T. N. Birnie, ’76; W. H.
Dean, ’77 M.S.; Chas. F. Aldrich, ’79;
F. A. Osborn, ’80S.;_ Frederick H.
Stebbins, ’81; C. A. Bowles, ’83S.;
Robert Ramlet, ’83 S.; Joseph A, Skin-
ner, ’83S.; Edward M. Chapman, ’84;
Chas. M. Kirkham, ’84S.; Jonathan
Barnes, ’85; Everett A. Bates, ’86;
Alfred Leeds, ’87; Jas. H. Keefe, ’89;
Edmund D. Scott, ’89; Frederick H.
Baker, ’91; Richard G. Eaton, ’92; A.
C. Williams, ’92; H. C. Collins, ’92 S.;
Chas. W. Bosworth, ’93: Wendell G.
Brownson, "93; Orland R. Blair, ’93 S.;
Frederick S. Chapman, ’o4; H. C.
Meserve, 94; James T. Potter, ’94; C.
W. Saunders, ’94; Walter Birnie, ’94S.;
P. W. Carhart, ’94 S.; F. W. Kilbourne,
94 S.; Jas. F. Hooker, ’95; Fred F.
Bennett, ’96; Chas. F. Spellman, ’96;
Geo. P. Morrill, ’97S.; Robert Cal-
lender, ’98; Jas. L. Thomson, ’98;
Thomas M. Balliet, Sp.
i
“5 dee 49 OTS
Harvard-Yale Track Officers.
J. M. Magee, ’99, Manager of the
Track Team, and Captain T. R. Fisher,
799 S., met Manager F. R. Nourse and
Captain J. T. Roche, representing the
Harvard’s Athletic Association in
Springfield, Saturday, March 11th, to
make arrangements for the dual meet.
Officers of the Harvard-Yale Track
Association were elected for the com-
ing year as follows: President, G. B.
Morrison of Harvard; Secretary and
Treasurer, J. M. Magee, of Yale.
May 13th was chosen as the date for
the dual meet at New Haven, and H.
S. Brooke, ’86, and G. B. Morrison, of
Harvard were appointed to select offi-
cials for the games, subject to the ap-
proval of the captains and managers.
It was decided not to have a two mile
run this year, but to make it one of the
regular events hereafter.
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LBS 6?
Complete Baseball Schedule.
The baseball schedule for the season
of 1899 shows that Yale will meet
Princeton at New Haven, June 3 and at
Princeton, June 10. Should a tie result,
the game will be played in New York,
June 17. Harvard meets Yale in Cam-
bridge, June 22, and in New Haven,
June 27. Should a tie result it will be
played off in New York, July 1. The
schedule follows:
THE EASTER TRIP.
Wednesday, March 297—Manhattan at New York.
Thursday, March 30>2—Georgetown at Georgetown.
Friday, March 31:—Hampton at Hampton.
Saturday, April 1—Virginia at Richmond.
Monday, April 3—Virginia at Charlottesville.
Tuesday, April 4—Georgetown at Georgetown.
THE REGULAR SEASON,
Saturday, Apr. 8—New York League at New York.
Wednesday, April 12—Wesleyan at New Haven.
Saturday, Ap1il 15—Lehigh at New Haven.
Wednesday, April 19— Williams at New Haven.
Saturday, April 22—Amherst at Amherst.
Wednesday, April 26—Holy Cross at New Haven.
Saturday, April 2g7—Brown at New Haven.
Wednesday, May 3—Lafavette at New Haven.
Saturday, May 6—Dartmouth at New Haven.
Wednesday, May 1o—Columbia at New Haven.
Saturday, May 13—Brown at Providence.
Wednesday, May 17— Wesleyan at Middletown.
Saturday, May 20—Orange A.C. at E. Orange, N. J.
Monday, May 22—Georgetown at New Haven.
Friday, ee 26—Newton A. C, at Newton, Mass.
Saturday, May 27—Andover at Andover.
Tuesday, May 30—New York A.C. at New Haven.
Saturday, June 3—Princeton at New Haven.
Wednesday, June 7—Ambherst at New Haven.
Saturday, June ro—Princeton at Princeton.
Saturday, June 17—Princeton at New York (in case
of tie), or Orange A. C. at East Orange, N. J.
Thursday, June 22—Harvard at Cambridge.
Tuesday, June 27—Harvard at New Haven.
sane a July 1—Harvard at New York (in case
of tie).
in, di»
ie AP gD
The Freshman Crew Squad.
The practice of the Freshman crew
squad has been kept up steadily in the
tank, with only the recent change to the
use of sliding seats; but it is expected
that the men will be taken to the har-
bor early this week and be given train-
ing in eights, with as much pair oar
work as possible. Although the squad
has been reduced to thirty men, even
this number is much in excess of the
number in training at the same time last
year, and another reduction is contem-
plated. The men in general are not so
large and strong as last year, but they
seem tg have taken hold of the stroke
fairly well, and work well together. R.
M. Patterson, 1900, who has been
coaching the crew has laid especial
stress upon the body work. The men
have experienced less difficulty than
usual with the sliding seats.
The general order of the first two
crews has been: First boat—Stroke,
Phipps; 7, Low; 6, Hooker; 5, Swan;
4, Kunzig; 3, Blagden; 2, Lincoln; bow,
Laws. Second boat—Stroke, War-
moth; 7, Wright; 6, Judd; 5, Hunter;
4, Ackley; 3, Holt; 2, Abbott; bow,
Troxell.
Shirts
IN COLORS.
The sooner one chooses his colored
shirts for the season, the better
pleased he will be. We have
just received seven hundred and
fifty different designs in Madras,
Cheviot, Oxford and the com-
bination Silk-and-Linen. We
will have the pure silk ones in
a few days.
Many graduates send to us from
all over the country. We can
send you samples and make
you shirts wherever you are.
SSHASE « 8420;
New Haven House Block.
FRANK A. CORBIN,
TAILOR
TO THE
SLUDENTS OF YALE
‘AND TO THE
GRADUATES
in all parts of the country
Address:
1000 Chapel Street,
New Haven, Conn.
The Gymnastic Exhibition.
The gymnasium teams of Yale,
Princeton, and Columbia held an exhi-
bition in Columbia’s new gymnasium
on March 10. While dual meets have
been held before, the intercollegiate
meet is a new departure, but judging by
the success of this first one, it is an
innovation which is likely to be re-
peated. The program consisted of
exercises on the single and double
horizontal bars, double and flying
trapeze, rings, side horse, and parallel
bars, club swinging, pyramids, tumb-
ling, and pole vaulting. The Yale team
consisted of R. G. Clapp, ’99 S., captain;
W. K. Shépard, P.G.; W. L. Otis, 1900;
M. J. Whitely, 1901S.; A. H erry,
005.9" "R. “i> Sligson shor: ty. > Fe
Whipple, 1900; L. H. Schutte, ’09; and
S. Peterson, P. G
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Seventeenth Century Banquet.
Professor W. L. Phelps’ class in
Seventeenth Century Literature held a
rather unique banquet at the Tontine
Hotel, Monday evening, March 13th.
‘The class consists of twenty-seven mem-
bers, twenty-one of whom are advanced
undergraduate and the other _ six
-graduate students. All quotations on
the menu cards were from authors
studied in the course. Professor
Phelps acted as toastmaster and the
following men responded to toasts: G.
D. Graves, ’99; B. B. Moore, ’99; L. D.
Armstrong, ’99; and A. K. Foster of the
Graduate Department, H. C. Robbins
’99, read an original poem. :
<i, di
Me A oi
Professor Charles Sedgwick Min
ne Harvard Medical School will pt oe
€ commencement oration at th
Medical School next June. eee
KNOX Spring Hats are Out.
