Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-05-05
A Letter From Spa.

He Diseourses on New Haven in Gen eraI
and Yale College and its Students i'm
ParticuIar-Hts Opinion OF Student
Dudes.
George W.Peck, the genial editor of Peek's
Sun, published in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and
suthor of the ''BadsBoy" articles. recently
made an eastern trip and in letter published
in the last issue of bis paper to his Sun"
he has the following to say of New Haven,
Yale college and the Students. He says: "I
was up to New Haven, Connecticut, yester-
day, and as stood by the depot waiting for
train, I saw standing on the side track
freight car marked. SO. II. and st. Paul.,
Do you know, that car made me feel home
sick. wanted to go up to the old brown
car and tie piece of Grape on the handle to
the door, in memory of poor HubAtkins,
and could imagine the old car knew me, and
wanted to enquire the news from home. It
seemed as though there was tired look
about the old car from travelling aimlessly
about, and not hearing from home, and
thought the car wanted to ask me how Mr..
Merrill was getting along, and if the boys
turned out to Mr.. Atkins funeral pretty well,
and about the flowers and all that. And then
I thought the old car would like to kno y how
Colonel johnson was, and Clark, and Miller
and Ben. Lennox, Fred. Underwood and Wall
Collins and George Clinton, and all the
fellows, but the train came along and I had
to leave the old car standing there alone, and
not knowing when it will get home. But it
seemed like meeting an old friend. New
Haven, I suppose, is the prettiest city in this
and 6riw iEa
smooth streets under it's elm trees. The
great Yale college is here-I think it is Yale
and it is immense. but when you look at it
and see the students around town you lose
your awe of great college. To read of il,
its foot races, its athletic exercises, hazing
and its graduates, one is apt to think its stu
dents are superior order of beings, bat
when you see them they are just
like students in western colleges, and
don't look as though they knew any
more. Some of them actually wear
knee-breeches and ride bicycles. Their heads
are not longer than the heads of school boys
at home, and many of them look
as though the biggest idiot in a
country town had been sent to col
lege. Many of them are bright, smart young
fellows, but plenty of them have that sickIy,
cirgarette-smoking, dude, darn-fool look that
makes you feel like knocking them down with
stocking full of soft soap, or blowing their
brains out with a cork from soda water bot
tie. There was one at dinner at the hotel
with his father, and never felt SO sorry
for an old man in nay life. He came up on
the train with as, and he talked to several
about his coming from the West where he is
lumberman, to see his boy who is at col
lege. The old man was quite fresh, but he
was evidently good father to his boy. The
boy met him at the depot, and it was plainly
case where the son had rather the father
had not come. He was ashamed of the old
man. That is the plain English of it, and he
was cross when the father put his arms
around his neck and kissed him.
Poor fool. That father was proud
that he was able, by a life of hard
work and hardships, to educate the boy; and
he was proud to see him looking so we'll,
though he did look little adge-wise at these
bicycle clothes the boy had on, and the
cigarette. The boy asked about mother, and
he seemed ashamed when the father said,
loud enough for the passengers in the depot
to hear, s'Your ma was coming on with me,
but last Sunday she went out with the hired
girl to pick some cowslips for green's, and
she got her feet wet, and has been laid up
with rheumatic. You know your ma always
would have the first mess of COW
slip green's" The boy steered his
father out of the depot and down a back
dinner time at the best hotel, and they sat
at the same table. Poor old man, he
couldn't do anything right at the table, and
the boy looked at his father as though it
was the last hair-that broke his back when
the old man shovelled some corned beef and
cabbage into his mouth with his knife, and
said as he held up his knife to make gestures
with, "They don't know how to corn beef
in this tavern. If they would put little
saltpetre in that brine it would take that
brakish taste out of the beef" Poor fool
boy, his fathers country ways took away
his appetite and he looked crushed. He tried
to talk about things at home, but the old man
would talk about ssYour Aunt Samantha's
cancer, or "Your Uncle Alexis bronchetis''
until the boy felt as though he would sink
He tried to talk about work in the pinery, but
the old man wanted to talk about work at
college and the boy would twirl his little
moustache, feel of the bangs on his forehead,
and paralyze the father about Greek roots
till the old man looked tired. The boy got
through dinner alive and got ais father out of
the dining-room and several times as we drove
around we saw them walking on back streets
and when we all took the train the old
man was on board, but he hadn't much
to say. Do you know, it seemed as though
the poor old fellow had come to the conclu-
sion that his son was ashamed of him? He
acted like it, and was so sorry for him that
I wanted to hire a good square boy, that
loved his father, and was proud of him
whether he at&with his knife or not, to go
back to New Haven and knock the nose off
that college dude. It must be sad day for
an old man to find out that the boy he
has brought up and shaved for, and given
educational advantages that the son of
prince might envy, has become ashamed of
the father. Such a boy ought to be taken
out of school and put to driving oxen to skid
saw logs.