Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1892-08-04
SECRET SOCIETIES.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE FAMOUS
ORGANIZATIONS OF YALE.

Strange Proceedings on the Campus of the
New Haven MISUNDERSTANDING RitcA
and Ceremonies of Skull and bones,
Scroll and Key and VOLTS Head.
The election ceremonies to the Skull
and Bones, Scroll and Key, and VOLTS
Head societies of Yale university are
very impressive. The members of the
junior class on the afternoon of this day
gather i'll little knots in front of one Of
the big buildings which are used by the
scholars as sleeping rooms. The Win
dows of every other building which
commands a view of the cxpectant stu
dents on the campus below are crowded
with other scholars and their friends.
Suddenly a solemn looking young man
mitories. He goes straight toward the
waiting crowd without word to any
one. He walks in among the fellows.
many of whom are his friends, without
noticing anybody Every other student
stands perfectly still, and without turn
ing his head follows with his eyes the
movements of the mysterious looking
fellow who has recently appeared and
who is going up and down, upand down,
in and ont, i'll and out among the crowd,
looking at nobody, speaking to no one,
apparently seeing nothing. Then he
goes around in circle. All hold their
breath. The people i'll the windows on
every side lean little farther out and
watch with increased interest. 1t is a
moment OF intense suspense! All of Il
sudden the quiet man. on whom every
bodys eyes are fastened, slaps fellow
student right between the shoulders and
almost knocks him over.
Then a great shout goes up! The
students on the campus are yelling them
selves hoarse. The crowded windows
are alive with frantic men and women
who are waving handkerchiefs and hats,
clapping hands and laughing, each add
ing something to the terrible uproar.
Meanwhile the student who was slapped
on the back is the happiest man in the
immense crowd, for he has been elected
a member of Skull and Bones. the IA
nous secret society of the university.
The first thing the fortunate student
does when he realizes that he has been
slapped is to go straight to his room, with
out word to his most intimate chum,
or even to the man who has so rudelv
struck him. He is followed by the man
who did the slapping, and who all this
time has not even so much as smiled or
said Halo" to any one--in fact has
not recognized the man he is following
except by the slap.
Nobody knows, except these two, what
takes place in the room, and the men
are not seen again that day, for the in
terest of the people outside is centered
on another man who has come from the
same direction as the first one, and who
is going through exactly the same per-
formances that the first fellow executed.
When he finally slaps man, another
great shout goes up, and then these two
students go away to the room of the one
whose back has been slapped. Thess
scenes are repeated until forty-tive men
have been slapped, for that is the num-
Der composing the three societies. Each
society is made up Of fifteen men, no
more and no less, and each member is
said to choose one student.
When the forty-tivc have been selected
the elections are over and the people 90
home feeling that they have witnessed
an event more interesting and more en-
citing than the graduating exercises
which take place when a whole class are
about to leave the school. Nothing more
is done to the students who have been
slapped until the next Tuesday. What
occurs then is seen by nobody except a
few of the students who gather in front
of the secret society houses.
The names even of the societies are
not known. They are called Skull and
Bones, Scroll and Key, and VOLTS
Head, because each member wears a
little gold pin, with one or another of
these objects on it as the case NAV be.
The Skull and Bones pin is horrid
bit of gold in the shape of human skull
and crossboncs. The Scroll and Kew.
as the name implies, is made up of a
small sheet of gold, like an ancient piece
of paper. On the scroll is key, above
tIle KEY are lllc letters ~. >. L. and
below the key are the letters sc. c. j."
What they stand for only the wearers of
the pins know.
The other society has for its pin lit
tie gold head of savage looking wolf.
Often the eyes are made Of two brightly
shining diamonds.
Another wonderful thing about these
pins is that the wearer never loses one.
He never lays it down even for a second.
OF course they have to battle, and how
do you SO suppose they do then? You
would think they would have to lay the
pin aside at that time anyway, wouldn't
you? But they don't; they hold the bit
of gold in their mouths!
Bones" is the Oldest of the three So
cieties. Tradition has it that the pins
first appeared in 1882. About ten years
later men who had expected an election
to "Bones" and were disappointed Or
gained the Scroll and Key. VOLTS
Head was founded less than ten years
ago, but today is almost as exclusive in
its membership as either of the others.