The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-04
4 snurF THAI EAnrD.
Dut the Esifure .RreuEht Accent the object for
which Ht lad Beon Tried.

1T frequently happens" saidl1 college grad
uate, that different chapters of the Same
Greek letter fraternity. situated at different
colleges, develop different characteristics. All
OF these societies, I think, are organized to en-
courage literary pursuits. 1 mean that's what
the constitutions say. As q matter of fact,
the literary element Is rather lost sight Of in
most cases in the stress Of having n jolly good
time. When convention time comes round,
however, the chapters that have maintained
their literary quality come to tho fore, and the
others have to put up a blufr by sending as
delegates men who have high standing as
scholars, or else take q very back scat.
The chapter to which I belonged was To-
Gated at a country college and in some way or
other 1t had acquired q reputation In the FRA
ternity OF being essentially non-literary, and.
In fact, rather sporty In character. This was
80 much the case that in my junior year there
was a movement on foot to expel or suspend
our chapter from the fraternity. We weren't
very strong in high-stand men and couldn't
oven scare up two TO go as delegates to the con
~vention. Another man and myself were finally
selected for this function, as tho most unso-
phisticated looking members Of the chapter.
made up asp To start sq from sG the w e sepnint sts ehap %eT
and to pick UP as many Of the other delega-
lions as could DO arransed on its way to the
convention city. We were among the more
remote chapters, and when we boarded the
train. there was only one other delegation on
board, composed Of three members. We
sighed when we saw big boxes of bottled beer
in the freight car, and reflected on the elaborate
Instructions we had received from our con-
stituents. We wero primcd for the occasion.
My companion. Forbes, had a classical volume
in each side pocket Of his coat and there were
q classmate u medal given for scholarship. and
this I had rather ostentatiously hung on my
watch chain.
I'VE soon made the acquaintance of the other
three delegates and Joined them in their state
room. Before long they proposed. a game Of
poker, and one OF them produced q pack of
cards. Forbes said he didn't play, retired to o
corner, pulled out a copy Of Gladstones Land
marks Of Homeric Study" and after gazing
thoughtfully out of the window for a moment or
two, apparently became absorbed in II. / ad-
mired his conception Of the part. but l couldn't
bring myself to break up the game, and that's
fun in three-handed poker. Besides. there were
only three delegates on the train to witness my
fall. l said l didn't play, but had seen the
game and thought 1t looked interesting. was
willing to learn.
when we got started there was a demand
for q buck, and l unhitched the scholarship
medal and dropped 1t into tho pot as a good
means OF calling attention to 1t. Everything
went on ~swimmingly for n while. l had out
rageous luck, and won pot after pot, so they
were confirmed in the idea that I was a begin
ner. After a while ono Of the other delegates
got away with a jack pot, and while he was
the medal and glanced carelessly at tho diverse
side. l hadn't examined 1t particularly, but 1
found out afterward that 1t bore.this neat In
scription: