The Portland daily press., 1899-07-04
HARVARD COLLEGE.
To the Editor of the Press.

ushered in the spring hour exams, and
these the finals with their doubts and
fears. Tken mid the haze Of base ball,
golf, tennis and rowing came into view
the outlines Of class day, oommencem > MT
and the days of non-existenoe which vaca-
ton brings.
We never had more comfortable class
day just q suspicion of the raw easterly
floated over Boston State house. and
gently warmed in the glare of that golden
dome, rustled through the college yard
and soothingly famed the cheeks Of the
10, 900 whose labors OF rongratulation to
the happy seniors. certainly required
something more than q reward of artiti.
cial cooling, for on class day even ice
cream and lemon ade lose their potency.
| Bless the east wind. We oil know with
what desperate abandon hosts of ener-
getic mothers and fathers young men
and women drive from spread to spread.
from the yard to the gymnasium, from
the gym to Memorial. from pillar to post
ana heaven knows where not, till heat
and wesriness mercifully interpose. So
we all appreciate little class day chilli.
ness.
! Glass day and commencement aIe but
two sides OF the same fact. One Is the
occasion for gracious bestowals OF regard
upon candidates for the degree OF Bachelor
| of Arts, the other is the occasion when
those candidates show why those bestow-
ais should have been made, by going to
Sanders theatre and having that degree
conferred upon them. One day we receive
our friends, the other we receive our de-
grees Hence ON one day we would fain
sing psalms of approaching victory, ON
the other hymns of thanksgiving.
Formerly the time of graduation at
Harvard was shorter. Then all Cam
bridge might dance on the green, and we
became A. b. q and p. Ii. ID. g and what
not, and made merry or otherwise all
during one day. The seniors scrambled
for the flowers, and were pelted with con :.
fetti by their friends, they rejoiced; or
they mourned over degree withheld. all
within few hours, and then started life
over again the next day. That one day
however, has now been divided into two
days; and our faculties, more severely
trained than in the old times. are put o
longer strain of attention. Dancing in
Memorial and the gym, band concerts,
ana yard promenades with colored Ian
tern effects, the exercises around John
Harvard with singing. scheering, flowers
and showers of confectionery; not to
omit what most seniors remem ber a 10 nQ
while, the dreamy wilderness of the GLASS
day gown; all these have been relegate
to their proper unaoademic places and
taking weather Into dor ef0x. 10,
general result has been stamped class
day. The rest of 1t, including that bit
that is uncorked at the commencement
dinner and contemporary spreads, is car
ried over to the second act of the play
Coming home from commencement l
found myself in the car with curious,
painting cid gentleman whose sailor hat
and tourists costume swore loudly for
England. Unquestionably this gentleman
had enjoyed himself for he assured ma
again and again that never had he seen
anythingto beat 1t across the water: to all
OF which smilingly assented remember
ing vivitly all the while that edge of step
had occupied for four long hours, with
another fellows knees pressed firmly into
my back. Apropos of crowds Sanders
theatre holds 1900 and there Is no question
about 1t, when 1000 people try to get In
some OF us have to get pretty near, as
your own cramped limbs and the crushed,
1orid condition of your fellow will testify.
But We mustn,U get feyerish over trities.
We were fortunate enough to secure one
OF the 600 and more degrees conferred.
and we could draw examples of endurance
from such men as Admiral Sampson,
and Jules Canton, our French ambassa-
dor, who among others bore away the
LL. D's. bestowed by the liberal hand of
President Eliot. Everything considered,
we came away well pleased, and not
little proud at comparisons made by our
agedsfriend between the Harvard COM
mencement and certain similar exercises
Oxford and Cambridge.
Twelve men from Maine received the
degree of Bachelor of Arts OF whom the
following were from Portland:
Philip Howard Cook, cum laude, VIM.
John Gum, Eenton Tomlinson, Pierce
Edward Somers, Malcolm Edwin Nichols.
Five Maine men received the degrees
Bachelor OF Laws. Of whom were from
Portiandl Edward Nichols Chase, cum
iaude; Chase Eastman, cum laude.
With commencement we find the end.
All that remained Thursday TO remind
the summer was that little midsummer
night 8 dream wheD the giant aroused
himself to give Yale dig with the oars.
Inc echoes or those oars we got last night
at IL when our,rowing enthusiasts arrived
from New London at Park Square station
and gave us some commemorative music
and fireworks The newspapers said
there were also midnight doings In Cam
bridge. But the crowd, though happy
and hearty. were few. Probably but Efew
OF those could now be found in Cam
bridge. Only an occasional straggler
did | see there today, and thsse with grip
and hat box were hurrying for Boston.
That vacant midsummer palsy has al
ready settled upon Harvard square, and
In the yard things are too subdued to be
actually real. But yet, when you pass
the Harvard gate there stands the old
pump to greet you with its weat her beat
on forru There is the old air of WELCOME
In Its battered handle. too, and after q
cordial shake and a tasts of its hospitality
you yield to the soporilic splsndor OF the
grand old elms and their dropping foliage
and stretch out beneath.
MALCOLM K. NICHOLS. 100.