The Republican journal., 1874-05-28

The PORTLAND Press has Il letter giving
an account of the College difficulty from
the students point Of view 1t is as fol-
lows
BRUNSWICK, May Esd, 1874.
Two Years since Bowdoin College took
a ''new departure by instituting militia
~ department. This measure created con-
siderable speculation at the time, and some
doubts We're expressed of its success. On
the whole however it was looked upon
tavorably by the students and alumni
An officer was accordingly detailed from
the United States service, and operations
began For time the drill enjoyed pop
clarity. but the more it encroached upon
the students time, the more unpopular 1t
became At last the classes were request
ea to provide themselves with uniforms.
Fer sone reason the prices OF these We're
wonderfully eyorbitant, and more dissat-
siactiCi. ersU2i Several students were
suGdcrif seized with a heart difficulty,
and obtained & physicians certificate OF
inability t2 exercise But all could not be
blessed with llalpitatjng breasts, and so
the drill continued to he mathematical
At length the students drew up petit
ton tor the abolition of the drill. signed
by nearly every member OF the College.
November last it was laid before the
Boards for their action They discussed
it at some length, called IN one of the STU
dents TO explain eel tain points, and sug-
oested that the reasons tor the abolition of
the drill should be drawn up in writing
and presented to them at their next meet
ing Their request was complied with,
and written statement was submitted to
them in January. For some reason they
did not see fit to discuss it, and the petit
ton was not rejected, but ignored
Some changes were made, however, in
the military regulations. Instead of I'M
posing company drill upon all it was con-
fined to the Freshman and Sophomore
classes. The Juniors were to handle the
big guns and the present Senior class was
excused The non-action of the Boards
caused some discomfort at the time, but
as the drill was then quiescent, no hostile
demonstrations We're made. But with the
Spring time came the drill, and a few days
service sut1icpd to revive the old disaffec-
ton. The artillery service at noon occa-
stoned especial odium. Matters, however,
did not assume n serious form until
"Wednesday last On that day the Juniors
on disbanding INDUCED in a series of
groans The next day the class was sus-
pended While the Faculty investigated
their case. SIX Of their number ac
knowledged having groaned, one of
whom was dismissed and the other five
suspended for the rest of the term. The
remainder of the class was reinstated on
the day following, with the expectation
that no more hostile demonstrations
would be made.
But the class was aggreved at the loss
OF some of its best men and decided to
"cut'' the drill on Friday. Rainy weather
at noon, however, prevented any notice
being taken of this, as no drill was called.
Al noon the Sophomore class held a meet
ing at which al but two members pledged
their word and honor never to drill again
in College The Freshmen agreed to
cut dril tor that night,
The weather cleared away before )
O'Clock (thc hour at which the two lower
classes drilD and at the sound of the bugle
the whole body of students gathered be-
fore the chapel But at the call to ''fall
in only the two men above alluded to
came forward.
At ! o'clock the Freshmen held another
meeting at which they also agreed never
to drill again and adopted the pledge of
the Sophomore, word for word The |
Faculty, discovering the state Of affairs,
were in session till midnight The next
Saturday, each of the lower
classes was summoned before a separate |
Professor in order TO discuss the situation,
but nothing was accomplished in the way
Of reconciliation. At 9 o'clock the three |
classes held union meeting at which they |
pledged themselves to stand by each other
IN every emergency, If one man was ex-
oelled AL would consider themselves I'M
ier the same discipline
They are now in open revolt, and much |
excitement prevails throughout the Col
They have shown as yet no symptoms Of |
and ere fully determined to abide
he threatened expulsion.
On Tuesday about one hundred Of the
Students We're called individually before
he Taealty. aud refusing to conform to