The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-10-01
MORE POOR MEN, At YALE.
They Are Taking the Place Of the Old
Charity ytudents. but Nave . D.f-
ferent social stafus-Means Of

One OF tie most interesting phases Of
faie life is brough, out By the official
publication Of the present senior class Il
appears from the classbook that Of the
81 members OF rs. one-Qaartsr. or seven
ty-nve men, have supported themselves n
"noie Or In pat during their college
course. This Is an unusually large per-
eenfags. and. when considered n Gomez
ton with the statement that the minimum
expenses for one year amounted to Sis,
II will De seen thai members Of 20 must
have undergone privations during the past
four years.
The occupat tons followed by self-sup-
porting students range from tutoring -
senc4ng Furnaces and waiting on table.
The students have issued digests. acted as
monitors. collected advertisements for the
college papers, acted as book agents and
store clerks. ran summer hotels and board
Ing houses. collected bills, canvassed for
subscriptions, taught school. The class Of
~ surrasses its predecessors In this re-
spees- Even two or three years ago the
men at Yale who worked theIr way SCI
dem numbered more than dozen IN \
class. The Increase in the number OF such
students during the past year so is suf
nciently large 10 make the poor men,"
as they are generally known, a distinct
class. AID by no means the least respected
or least popular st Yale. Tbs rapid in
crease OF the poor men" has been marked
by as rapid decrease of the charity stu
dents. familiar to graduates Of twenty
or more years standing. IL would be diff
ficult, indeed. TO find upon the Yale cam
pus today a counterpart; OF the somewhat
frayed-out figure Of she former generation
whose position among his class and college
mates was never clearly understood.
The disappearance OF the charity stu
dent" remarked Yale man who received
his degree about forty years ago. and his
supersedsnce by the poor man. Is one of
the most interesting and healthy manifes-
tations OF contemporary Yale life. There
were few charity students in my class.
and though they have nearly all acquitted
themselves well In life, their course a,
Yale could hardly have been satisfactory
10 themselves or 10 their friends The
charity student was usually young man
whose mental promise and good morals
recommended him 10 the favor of the fac
ulty and won for him one Of the few
scholarships there were at Yale in those
days. the income from which barely sut-
feed for his tuition, the rest Of his ex-
penses being eked out by the performances
of any number OF odd jobs. The faculty
usually found employment for him In such
ways as ringing the chapel bell Jr tending
the stoves in the recitation rooms. A kind
professor would occasionally present to
him cas;-on suit, and his classmates
would frequently help him out of iinan-
eiai scrape by passing around the hat. His
personal appearance Was always against
him. He commonly wore a long coat
shiny in the back and his trousers sell
dom reached below the ankles In some
way or other, heaven only knows how, he
managed TO get through, the four years.
He was frequently graduated az ne head
OF the class, but he was never able 10
| maintain entirely cordial relations with
&c -fa a
men were any more snobbish in my day
than they are now, but there can be 40
doubt that these charity students sneaked
through their four years on the ragged
edge Of college life.
'Ali that sort OF thing seems 10 have
changed. There are few charity students
at Yale today: but there are hundreds of
poor men. There is a wide distinction.
The poor man works as hard for his liv-
ing as his predecessor did; his work is
| frequently as men.al bat he goes about it
| in a different WY and with much greater
| success. His firsa marked contrast with
his predecessor Is his personal appear
| ance. He always dresses we'll and wears
| clothes he pays for with his own money
! He has none of the outward badges of
| poverty. l am sorry to say he does not
I always stand among the first ten OF his
| class and Is not always a regular attend
| ant at chapel and Sunday church. In
| deed, l have known OF men working their
! way who have been obliged to spend a
| few weeks Il. Milford, 10 mediate over
| their college delinQuencies and catch up
| with their studies They enter thoroughly
| into the spirit OF college life. and mingle
| with their classmates upon equal and self
| respecting terms. They have all he faults
| and al the graces OF college men. They
| take part in the regular college games and
| festivities. They attend the great athletic
! IA f.od in. rI ertr
| They are frequently on hand at the junior
| promenade, bring their bes; girl. and pay
( their bonus for box. They join the col
! lege societies, in case they are elected.
| In every way they are Yale men, in the
| best sense OF The word.
! What Il the reason for this change?
| am sure l cannot tell. unless 1t is the
! growing democratic tendency of the place
! Then. too, Yale is a bigger place than il
was forty years ago and there are more
| opportunities for a bright man 10 turn his
| spare tine into money. The fact that the
! dollar counts fer very little among Yale
| men 10 great extent explains the phe-
/ nomenon The poor man never thinks OF
| his poverty as degrading, nor does he re-
] gard it as giving him any claim TO the
/ consideration of his fellows. The old char
/ ity student used 10 have an Idea that. in
| certain way, 1t was TO his credit TO be
| poor but the poor man today never takes
| this peculiar pride in his position Lack
! OF money 10 him Is merely an inconveni-
| ence. and has nothing 10 do with his
| standing as a college man.
| The present classbook indicates tho
means bv which these poor men manage
/ to GET along. II does not. however, GO
! deeply into the matter. When II says for
| example. that many have supported them
| selves by cinvassing FOR subscriptions or
| advertisements for the college publication.
! IL gives only a suggestion Of the endless
| opportunities for naoney--nakirC comprised
! IN these avocations. The subscription
| feni. as he IS known. - a development 81
! the past ten or fifteen years. Twenty or
| thirty years ago there was lftie except
! the Lat. 10 which the whole college was
! ssked TO subscribe. There are now innn-
| merahie calls made upon the pocketbooks
! az tbs undergraduates. There are four
| college papers and two ANIMALS; there are
| the various athletic teams. Dwight hail.
| the debating clubs endless publications
I dealing with Yale life. the Junior ard
I senior promenade. the class germ2ns-zfI