The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-30
TOWN AGAINST THE GOWN.
BVLLYIsA AT YALE- THE GREAT
 RIOT OF MARCH I7, 1854. tz

The Famous Bully Ciub-Ths Class Bully
 .-ciass Orfeers Abofishsd-The Fhs-
 mems Riots-Cannons Pointed at old
 south Coiiege-Tho Ringiesder of tine
 Rioter. Killed by n Knife Thrust.
 The collision between town and gown have been for many years compara- lively a thing of the past But there was a time when the feeling of hostili- ty between town and college circles ran high. The following article is an extract from n book entitled. -Four Years at Yale" by a graduate of '69, which was published about twenty-five years ago. It tells the history of bully ism at Yale. and also of the great riot of March II. 1854.
 The relations between the townspeo- pie and the students were less harmonious than at present In the old times. when ill-feeling between the college men and the low order of ''townies" seems to have been tradi- tional. It was from this feud that the custom of "Bullyism'' arose. Tradi- ton has 1t that sometime in the last century, the earlier the better, party of students went to an inn at Fair Ha- ven-a locality known as the Dragon" ito regale themselves with an oyster supper. or something of the sort. "apd there fell into an affray with the young men of the place. hardy If not a hard set. who regarded their pres ence in their own favorite resort as an intrusion" and made out to expel them therefrom. Next night the col lege men came back to the house with large re-enforcements, and engaged in a pitched battle with the oystermen and sailors assembled to meet them In the struggle great bully of a fel- low, who appeared to be the leader of the Dragoners yielded huge club formed from an oak limb, With "knarled excresence on the end;' which club the college men managed to wrest from his grasp and bear off as a trophy to be called the Bully club" forever after, -.
 To protect themselves from the drunken rowdies who were won't to in suit and attack them, each class or ganized a sort of defence committee and chose as leader their largest and most muscular man, to whom they gave the name of Bully" "The Bull ly" was not only the champion fighter of the class but presided over class meetings of every sort, and fulfilled all the duties of chairman and president. Afterwards the practice arose of elect ing the smallest man in the class as a Minor Bully" whose duty 1t was to serve-Iike a vice president-in the Major Bully's" absence. But as the collisions with the townies grew less frequent, the original qualifications for Bully were less closely regarded, and the bullyships came to be. looked on in tie light of honors, belonging by right to the "most popular man" of the class, much as the cochships were af- rewards regarded. It seems probable, however, that other things being equal, large-sized man and little one were always preferred for the two offices. To each of their bullies the class gave a gold d-headed, highly arna, mented cane or banger, and the cere- monies attendant upon the reception of the same occurred upon the afternoon of Presentation day. The Major Bully of. the Seniors was "the" College Bull ly, and had in keeping the Bully club, besides the class banger which he took away with him when he gradua- ted. He was looked upoHas the college leader in all encounters With the town ies, called and presided over the gene ral meetings Of the students, acted as chief marshal in their pEocessions, and so on. UponFth afternoon of Presen- tation day he transferred the College Bully club to his successor the Bully of Junior class, with certain tradi- tional formalities speeches of presentation and acceptanees which were expected to be asShumar0us as possible a long processign andao aother observances. The presentation of the class clubs to- the freshman .bullies, who would that night for the first time occupy the sophomore seats in chapel, was naturally combined with the ;more important ceremony. Apparently no second elections were, heldT so that the Major Bully, chosen at theeeend of freshman year, seems-unless, he re- signed or left college-to' have been the head man of his class for the rest of his course, and the head man of all college during his senior year. when the {original Bully club was placed in his charge, as an emblem of high po- sition. Some accounts would imply that the freshman bullyships were filled at an earlier date than Presentation day. ! &,, >.4. ->a-.. But in process of time, when the origianal duties of the bullies had long been forgotten, there arose a senti- ment of hostility in the name, as hav- ing barbarous sound offensive to ears polite, and as the bully was simply the class president, it was insisted that he should be called by that or some similar title, as moderator, marshal or leader. Beginning with '3s, terrible war arose in regard to the. matter-the reform party" to each class, electing a .'presi- dent"by a slight majority, while the minority chose a bully as before, and presented him with the usual club. Each officer professed to be the only true leader of the class, and many were the conflicts which arose between these two Richmonds in the field and their fierce partisans. Things grew worse and worse until they came to a crisis ofi J the Commencement morning of 1s4O, when the adherents of the bully and the moderator" finished their wrangle as to which should act as marshal of the procession by engaging h free fi1ht uDon "the merits of the