The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-07-08

War KILLED THE Opnv Sooirrrr.,r
YALE--Thc decay Of tscse societies il
generally attributed IN rte ri., OF secre,
societies, which ior the la,, !..s. -srs
have had no slight inese z
dents. Bat thi. vie 20 on "" e."
crct Societies = is superficial. Be.
not tho > re one Of many causes anu
inc. .,ost responsible. Another Is the
reased attention to literary arts re.
onired by the regular course OF college
study another i the Increased demand
made ON the students time and energy
Nv the more liberal curriculum; anoihei
is the introduction Of baseball aud boa.
iur as siu,.cnis' pssiiues, both OF which
Ereouire OF their dev1tccs all the leisure
that can probably be saved from neces'
s,rv duties; another Is tho rio OF col.
leyc journalism, So called which ut Yale
has developed to degree unknown else.
where. All these have had a share /"
the work of alternating tho student From
the literary societies But il 4 qnes-
tionable il all these together have been
as Efficient IN producing the result us til,
extraordinary cool fortune OF the socic-
ties themselves Prot. Silliinan once re.
marked that Q since the era Of upholstery
the literary slcieties have Fallen into u
condition Of desuc,ule." When the So
ciclies were removed from their small
and Iliufnished apartments in town It
the spacious halls provided for them IL
the alumni building, they did indulge il
upholstery aud decorations some what law
ishlv, but that was not the reason tn,
meetings almost Immediately began tt
decline in interest. The trouble vas thai
the halls were so large that the numbe
: usually attending society meetings die
not fill them sufficiently to mako speak
ing pleasant. Except on cxtraordinor,
occasions there was "a beggaily array o
/ empty benches" The fact is that III
meetings Of the literary societies Of Yal
3 college became dull, in spite Of tho stu
. dents, in their grand halls. when the dis
I position aud effort to make them interest
r ing was as good as ever.-Boston Ado.
CHANCES AT NIAoARA.-A corrospou
dent CT the New York Evening Post note
y sible changes in the contour Of Niagar
Falls. The Horseshoe Fall he says, b
y longer deserves the name. 1t is. in fac
i. now triangular fall, the point lying u
70 the stream and the two sides sfretchiu
% downward. 1t would appear that tn
, weight Of tho water is breaking away tn
: rock to such an extent that mario
' chasm is in course Of formation, iul
70 which the water will fall as from two Of
- posite walls On the other haud, Il
American Fall, instead Of having its 10
= :. mer stra,ghtDess. is coming tp he jaggC
!" and uneven, with deep udentatious au
- rcceding curves, whore the rock has fal
~ en- piece by piece. These changes, hov
" ever. all seem to he confined to the bed
the channel, aud never encroach on eth
~ u shore. This was the conclusion of Pre-
" Tyndal, the last scientific ,isitant.
= well as of Prot. Cunning, who careful
u investigated the whole subject. The II
u, mendous force OF the water makes it c
~ directly downward in its own chanp
. lno lao ---i--;-,- .t-''''.- II ~, y.
H. gross up stream Of the falls average aho
''' >ix inches per year, and that they ho
y been at least II QUO years 10 making lh
- way up from Lewiston,