St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-25

Hred from a busy and distinguished
career.
In the face of the youth is a study.
There are no wrinkles of care; the IN
tried sea beyond is a beautiful eXpanse;
warm blood is tiDgling in every vein;
the c~ountenance is glowing with hope;
there is just a tinge of i~mpetuosity.
Yet, with all the eXuberance and the
heeting shadows, determination, keen
perception and thought stand out III
handsome relief.
The face of this person in old age Is
also a study. The sea Of experience is
crossed; it has often been turbulent,
and perhaps at times the voyager was
threatened with shipwreck, but the
pilot has proved master of every Sltua-
ton; every rough period has impressed
a profitable lesson; care, thought and
the budgets Of trouble incident to life
have left deep burrows; but the bitter
has been taken with the sweet and
averaged up in the light of good sense,
and now contentment shines upon the
venerable countenance.
These are two scenes in the life of
Hon. Westcott Wilkin, who for twenty
six years adorned the district bench Of
Ramsey county, retiring in January,
1891. The first picture is from a daguerre-
Dtype taken at Princeton in January,
1871. He was at the time of the sitting
few days past seventeen years old.
His grandfather, Gen. James w. Wilkin,
q warm supporter of De Witt Clinton,
and his father, Judge Samuel j. WilkIn,
were both graduates of Princeton.
Thus thu Wilkin family pinned its
faith in this great institution that bore
upon it's proud role of graduates men
like James Madison and Aaron BUR-.
But even in the time of Westcott Wilkin
as a student, Princeton was a small in
stitution in comparison with It's present
proportions. But growth Is not the only
change that has come over Princeton as
well as other great institutions of learn
ing in the past ffty-three years.
Speaking of haZing," said Judge
Wilkin yesterday from his bed at the
Windsor, where he is confined with a
broken leg, sit was practically unknown
in my college days. No fights were ever
made upon the freshmen. But there
was just one trick we used to play.
When we came across a freshman who
thought he was pretty smart, we bided
our opportunity, and finally managed to
lock him in his room. When his door
was securely fastened we stuffed
asafetida in the keyhole and set
fire to it. The young man was released
after he had endured the fumes of the
drug for a while. We called this funk.
ing him. | have said we did it. as
though l were connected with the af-
fairs, whereas / cannot recall an in
stance in which l took part in the funk
ing business. The course of studies
was not as elaborate then as now; but
we had quite an elaborate course of
Latin and Greek; an extensive course
of mathematics, ranging through alge-
bra, geometry. t~rigonometry, ditferential
and integral calculus; pretty thorough
courses in natural history, natural phil.
Osophy, geology and astronomy, and we
were, of course, instructed in meta.
physics and such branches. Our most
distinguished instructors were Prof.
Joseph Henry, who, after l graduated
I'm 1916, took a chair in the Smithsonian
Institute and made it very famous;
Prof. Stephen Alexander, a uoted as
tronomer; Prof. James Alexander, 6
noted teacher of Latin and rhetoric
We received lectures on architecture
from a rather noted man whose name
do not recall. Among the mem
hers of my class who became distin
guished were Senator CateIl, of New
jersey: Senator John p Stockton. O,
The same states William P. Ross, chic,