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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1900)
Vou IX. No. 22, NEW HAVEN, CONN., WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28, 1900. LIEUTENANT LEDYARD'S DEATH, Details of it Received in Letter from a Sixth Infantryman. The- Detroit. Free Press publishes a letter received by Mr. Henry B. Led- yard, father of the late Lieutenant Led- yard, ’98, from Herbert S. L’Homme- dieu, a private in Company K, Sixth United States Infantry. It gives the de- tails of Lieutenant Ledyard’s death in the Philippines. It is dated Castialana, Negros, P. I., December 31, and reads in part as follows: “Lieut. Ledyard left Bacolod the even- ing of December 4 with fifteen men of | Company M, in pursuit of 30 men (Fili- pinos) who had deserted from Bago, and in following them came upon the enemy heavily intrenched at Haceruda, Pelencia, seven miles from La Carlota, where K and H companies are stationed. But as I was on detached service at Ha- cienda, near the place where the battle was fought, the two other men and my- self hearing the firing went over to see what the trouble was. We found that the enemy had opened fire on the Lieutenant and his small detachment, and found that they were outnumbered 40 to 1.” The enemy were found first in the bed of a river and well protected. Lieuten- ant Ledyard charged with his small com- pany and they retreated to their trenches, where shortly they again opened fire by volleys and showed their great num- bers. The Lieutenant continued to ad- vance with his men until near to the enemy, when he gave the order to lie down and continue the firing from that position. The letter continues as fol- lows: “At last the Lieutenant, thinking we were not making headway, said, “Give it to ’em, bays,” and gave the com- mand “Rapid fire,’ and was shot while getting up to make a charge. He was on his knees at the time he was shot, the ball entering the center of the fore- head, killing him instantly. “Not being able to hold our ground without our commander we started to retreat toward La Carlota, in the direc- - tion marked on the diagram with an arrow. Arriving there about I o'clock, we reported to Col. Byrne, who left immediately with fifty men for the scene of action. When we arrived we found that they had fled, excepting a few who had stayed to bury their dead, but we followed so close that they were forced to fly for their lives, and when we came to the Lieutenant’s body we found that they had started to take off his clothing, but we were so close that they did not get anything. We found his shoes and leggings about Ioo yards from his body, which they had dropped in running. We buried him at the place on the diagram marked F until a coffin could be ob- tained. i have in my possession a pair of cross-guns which I took off of his shirt. I will send them to you if you so desire. Allow me to express my deep- est sympathy for your great loss.” Mr. Ledyard has also recently re- ceived a letter addressed to his son at Negros, P. I, and returned with the endorsement, “killed in battle.” It read ‘ as follows: Headquarters First Division, Eighth Army Corps, Mania, P. I., Dec. 18, 1809. second Lieat, A, ¢ 7 U. S. Infantry: pute “hee Sir:—I have th fa € honor to j that the division inform you commander, Maj.-Gen. Henry W. Lawton, U. S&S. Volunteers, : in his final report of an expedition to the province of Cavite, Luzon, P. IL, June 10 to 22, 1899, dated October 9, 1899, recommended you for brevet first lieutenant United States Army. The following is an extract from the Gen- eral’s report: “CAVITE EXPEDITION. “T have the honor to make the follow- ing recommendations: * * *. ana “Second Lieut. A. C. Ledyard, Twelfth Infantry, for highly meritorious service.” (Appendix, page 218, a.) Very respectfully, CLARENCE R. Epwarps, Lieut.-Col. Forty-Seventh Infantry, U.S. V., Acting Asst, Adjt.-Gen. a a Harvard-Yale Debate. The subject for the Harvard-Yale debate, in New Haven, March 30, has been chosen and sent to Harvard, who has the choice of sides. It is: “Resolved, That Puerto Rico be included within the customs boundary of the United States.” Harvard’s reply is expected soon, prob- ably not later than the last of the week. The-managers of the Debating Asso- ciation have decided to ask a committee of representative men from the Faculty and local graduates who are interested in debating to take charge of the coach- ing for the debate and make the final selection of the three men who will represent Yale. This is made necessary by the absence of Dr. E. V. Raynolds, 80 S., who has taken a large part in the training of the debaters in previous years, and by the inability of President Hadley, owing to increased duties, to give any time to the work. Dr. Ray- nolds was obliged to go South some weeks ago on account of his health and he is not expected back in time to give any aid before the date of the debate. The preliminary trials will be held this afternoon. ——_ ee Intercollegiate A. A. Meeting. The annual meeting of the Intercol- -legiate Athletic Association was held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, Saturday, February 24, fifteen universi- ties and colleges being represented. President Oliver Shiras reported a sur- plus in the treasury of $1,478.65, from which a dividend of about $10 will be paid to each college. These officers were elected: President, A. G. Mason, Harvard; Vice-Presidents, F. M. Eshleman, Haver- ford, and J. E. Moore, Georgetown; Secretary, F. A. Young, New York Uni- versity; Treasurer, W. R. Quinn, Co- lumbia; Executive Committee, J. D. Dana, Yale; A. G. Mason, ex-officio, Harvard; H. H. Langenberg, Princes ton, and C. L. McKeehan, University of Pennsylvania. Oliver Shiras was ap- pointed Manager for this year’s meet and W. B. Curtiss, referee. Brown and the University of California were re- instated to membership in the Associa- t10N. After the general meeting Yale and - Harvard representatives met at the home of H. S. Brooks, Yale ’86, and dis- cussed the probability of a return set of games with Oxford and Cambridge. The meeting was entirely harmonious and, if, as it is hoped, the Englishmen can come to this side, the place of meet- ing will quickly be settled. Harvard men at the meeting were: E. J. Wendell, A. N. Rice and A. G. Mason, and Yale men, H. S. Brooks, C. H. ahaa Bascom Johnson and J. D. ana. SOPHOMORE SOCIETIES, Conference Committees Chosen — Seniors Together—Letters Invited. Graduates who have from time to time regretted what they have con- sidered a decrease in Yale’s democratic unity in recent years, could return to the Campus and spend with pleasure a few days with the men of 1900. They would see something which would do their hearts good—the members of the Senior Class, many of them, sacrificing personal interests, working almost to a man to solve a problem which involves Yale’s good. This most desirable state of affairs has developed from conditions which only a week ago promised to produce one of the meanest situations that Yale has had to face in recent years. It has always been said that 1900 numbered a large proportion of inter- ested, thinking Yale men. For a long time many of them, both in and out of Sophomore Societies, have been con- vinced that there is something radically wrong with Yale’s social system. This opinion is not a new one at Yale; it has obtained in all the recent classes but circumstances indicate that it has been most strongly held in the present Senior Class. : Realizing that something must be done, the Sophomore Societies last Fall elected a joint committee to consider the situation and recommend such modifica- tions of the existing system as they thought advisable. It was reported around the Campus that the committee were contemplating no move more radi- cal than an increase from seventeen to twenty in the membership of each society and a postponement of the active campaign from Christmas until Easter, and that some of the Sophomore Society men were unwilling to grant even this slight reform. Whether true or not, the report confirmed some of the more active non-Sophomore Society men in 1900 in their intention to draw up and circulate the petition to the Faculty for the abolition of the Sopho- ‘more Societies, published in the last issue of the WEEKLY. The non-Sopho- more Society men had come to as- sociate the very existence of the Socie- ties with the evils which they saw in Yale’s social system, so that the petition met with ready and almost universal sup- port. They felt that abolition was necessary and that the Faculty was the only body to which a petition seeking that end could be addressed: further, that force would be required to bring about the desired result and that Faculty action alone could be effective. The members of the Sophomore Socie- ties were indignant when they heard of the petition. They said that they had been treated unfairly and that the non- Sophomore Society men should have given them a chance to take some volun- tary action before attempting to force them to vote themselves out of existence. Two days after the petition had been presented to the Faculty some of the signers had copies of the _ petition printed, preceded by a few explana- tory sentences, urging the alumni to interest themselves in the matter, and these were sent to all the members of the last ten classes. And so matters stood for several days. Both sides saw nothing but fight ahead and both were determined to make it a hard one. It seemed to be generally understood that the Faculty would have to act before any steps could be taken towards a settlement. Copyright, 1900, by Yale Alumni Weekly. Price 10 Cents. In the meantime however, all the in- terested ones of both factions had an opportunity to consider the matter, and with the first excitement over, the ques- tion came to be generally discussed by the Society and non-Society men. This discussion has worked a complete trans- formation in the situation. The Sopho- more Society members have learned for the first time how intense is the feeling against their organizations, how well founded it is, and further, that there are certain good elements in the pro- posed substitutes for the present sys- tem. The petitioners, on the other hand, have found that they have a reasonable set of men to deal with and that vastly beneficial changes are possible which do not involve the abolition of the: socie- ties. All are agreed that a radical re- form is necessary and all are willing to come together on a common footing and try to devise a system which will be the best for Yale. . COMMITTEES CHOSEN, On Saturday a representative of the Societies notified Mr. H. B. Wright, ’08, who is in intimate touch with under- graduate affairs through his position as General Secretary of the Yale Y. M. C. A., that the Sophomore Societies had empowered the six Senior members of their Joint Committee to confer with a committee appointed by the petitioners. Mr. Wright issued a call for a meeting of the signers of the petition on Mon- day evening in Osborn Hall. The meet- ing was largely attended and was called to order by Mr. Wright, who introduced Mr> “Nathan: A. “Smyth; -’97.:°.5 Mr. Smyth made an open declaration against Sophomore Societies in the Junior Ex- hibition of 1896, and since the circula- tion of the petition, has been actively interested in securing an amicable ad- justment. Mr. Smyth outlined the sit- uation and urged that the committee chosen be given full power to act on the petition inasmuch as the Sophomore Society men had requested that it be withdrawn. A resolution from the floor was passed providing for the election of the com- mittee of six, empowered to take such action concerning the petition as they thought advisable except withdrawing it permanently. The men nominated were: J. D. Dana, J. M. Hopkins, J. B. Hartwell, er Swan; 4 B.-Lombard, Ea Park, C. B. Thompson, M. P. Gould, E. B. Hill, J. W. Miller, N. W. Bart- lett; Ex W. Ong; Wi: Bruce, Wee: Maloney, Jr., P. C. Walcott, G N. Whittlesey, A. J. Baker and F. Carter, VP: Aes , The election resulted in the choice of the following: J. D. Dana, J. P. Lom- bard, EA: Park, M2. Gould. Bow Ong and P. C. Walcott. These men constitute the Joint Com- mittee of the Sophomore Societies: R. J. Schweppe, Chairman, and M. L. Mc- Bride, ‘H Boule; C. E. Sullivan and 48 E. Davis, Eta Phi; J. M. McCormick and P. A. Rockefeller, Kappa Psi. COMMUNICATIONS INVITED. All communications on the Sophomore Society question may be addressed to the “Committee on Sophomore Socie- ties, Care the YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY, and will receive due attention. “Appeal to the Graduates.” The following statement is self-ex- planatory : : “In view of the question that has been asked as to why the appeals which were. sent to the graduates were not signed, we would like to make some explanation. The appeals were not intended as a let-
