Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-07-22
YALE COLLEGE.
Commencement Week -Fes-
tival Occasion.
Base Ball-Yale Club the Champion.
One Hundredth and Seventy Fifth Ami
versary of Yale College.
Special Correspondence Grant County Herald.
YALE COLLEGE, New HAVEN, Conn.,l
1OHE

learned gentleman-not graduate
of Yale-said that no other college
has such a hold upon the whole coun-
try as has Yale. He was speaking TO
a partial audience; but his statement
was none the less true, and the pre-
vailing sentiment of the West partic
ularly seems to accord with it. 1t
may not, therefore, be out of place to
fill portion of your columns with
some account of our commencement
week. This is always a festival occa-
sion. The college boy, whose year of
study has been concluded with a fort
night of examinations, feels his spirits
rise with bound as the last written
page is delivered to his instructors,
and he is free to abandon himself to
the joys of the hour. Many at once
leave for their homes, too impatient to
await the termination of the closing
ceremonies. They who do so miss
the best and richest season of the year
when President and Professors I'M
bend, and hundreds of graduates
gather here again, and the best and
happiest thought of all flow forth.
This is the time to be inspired with
real enthusiasm for the college and its
work.
The week opened, as such seasons
always do, with the Baccalaureate SER
mon by the President, delivered last
Sunday to the graduating class. Your
correspondent was unable to be pres
ent, and cannot speak from expe-
rience Of the effect which it produced;
but knowledge of his earnestness
and power as preacher on other
occasions leave no doubt respecting
the excellence of this special sermon
of the year. President Porter's deep
metaphysical researches into the
mysteries of the "Human Intellect"
do not seem to have impaired the
warmth of his heart, or to have rem
dered him less genial in his inter>
course with men.
On Monday afternoon the second
game of baseball was played with
Harvard, for the championship. This
was awaited with great anxiety Two
days before the first game had been
played at Cambridge, and Yale had
carried off the victory. But in that
game our famous pitcher, whose balls
are so hard to hit, had been severely
injured, and was unable to play again.
Three others were disabled, and de-
feat was confidently expected. But
in the words of the class poet, "the
Blue went limping over the field, and
its crippled strength made the Grim
son yield" This victory, together
with successes in playing with other
colleges, leaves us the champions Of
college baseball clubs for the year.
The next day our crew went to Sara
toga, and have taken up their quarters
on the lake in preparation for the re-
gatta which is soon to be rowed. The
college has hopes for its success, al
though there is always uncertainty in
calculating the result of this boat-race.
One of the six is an Illinois boy, from
near Freeport. He is the son of a
farmer, and the strongest man on the
crew. / wish l could say that he is
the best oarsman; but that position
belonged to Captain Cook, who went
to England to study the Oxford stroke,
which he used with such success at
Springfield two years ago. Let no
one think that these sports are made
too prominent here. The conclusions
Of casual observer may be very far
wrong. A writer in one of the col.
lege papers recently quoted the re-
mark of an indefinite young lady who
is reported to have said. "What per-
fectly elegant times those college fel.
lows must have, with nothing to do
but to sit on the fence and sing such
lovely songs!" This is a good illus.
tration of. the decisions prevailing re-
Espectng college amusements. They
sometimes appear to outsiders as the
principal part of college life while
in fact they are kept strictly subordi-
nate to the ster1er duties required of
the student and are INDUCED to excess
by only few.
Tueday was Presentation Day-the
Glass Day of other colleges deriving
its name from an old custom long
since obsolete. In the morning the
class poem and grafton were deliver
ed in the chapel, and in the afternoon
the histories of each member of the
class while in college were read on
on the Green by three historians elect
ed for this service. I should like to
quote some of the verses of the poem,
but want of space forbids. It's de-
livery, as usual, called forth the
beauty and fashion of New Haven.
which for the last time illumined the
sombre aisles and benches of the old
chapel; for the new chapel is nearly
completed, and its elegant accomoda-
tons will be ready to receive the col
lege by the opening of another term.
In the evening the Scientific School
held its anniversary when members of
the graduating class presented theses
appropriate to the courses of study
pursued by them. The thesis of
Kennedy, one Of the University crew,
on the Mechanics of Rowing, excited |
much interest by its demonstration of |
the advantages of scientific rowing
over mere brute force, and by furnish
ing in its excellent composition an
of the compatibility of
mind and muscle.
The Anniversary of the Law School
with its exercises in Centre church