The times., 1899-11-13

NEW YORK Nov. l-.-College societies
have received sad blow. The recent
tragic deaih OF Edward Fairfax Berkeley.
jr.. OF 81. Louis a freshman al Cornell. who
was candidate for initiation into the
Kappa Alpha fraternity. has done more to
harm them than all the opposition OF count
less college faculties for time immemorial.
While. perhaps. the frateTuities viii 90
or as before. il is safe TO say that the
oid-fashioned limitations VIII be done away
with everywhere, so intense is the feeling
against the altogether needless death OF
young Berkeley.
He was a bright young man, the only
son Of wealthy parents. He was among
The freshmen a; Cornell elected TO Kappa
Alpha. The finest fraternity. socially. there.
He was drowned al Geneva while literally
obeying an order of one OF his tOrmeutors.
He was told TO pin a note on a railroad
bridge half mile away. There was canal
in his path He endeavored to wade
through ii, and stepped in over his head
Not being able 10 swim. the young man
was drowned The note contained only
fool message
The college "frats as they are dubbed.
began with the second quarter Of the pres
ent century though Phi Beta Kappa was
founded just after the Revolution. Il has
since degenerated. as the students fell into
q merely scholastic society. where simply
scholarship counts and NOT social qualities
50. Of course, it is not TO be counted in.
II is strange that Kappa Alpha, which
should have thus received almost a knock
down blow, is the oldest fraternity in the
United States Il was founded in 1925.
Delta Psi was close second the same year.
and Alpha Delta Phi good third. These
were all secret societies. Their Greek let
ter designations were kept secret. but it
was gneTally known that they stood for
some motto. These in the course Of time
leaked out in the student world, till the Sc
crets Of Delta Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon,
Alpha Delta Phi. and Sigma Phi the four
largest fraternities of the first class, are
now banded about among students every
where.
Psi Epsilon, # has developed, once stood
for 'Psucosthen Umos which is the
Greek for yours from the soul - So Psi
L. as it is commonly called, changed its
motto Each Of the big societies in turn
has been forced 10 do the same thing, till
now hardly any Of them have their origi-
nal notices.
Today there are nearly a hundred of
these societies. Some are confined TO one
college, others have forty or more chap
ters. Kappa Alpha is very conservative,
and has only six chapters, OF which the
parent chapter is at Union College where
Sigma Phi and Psi Upsilon were also
founded. II has two chapters In Canada
and others ar Union. Cornell. Hobart, and
Williams colleges. But Psi Upsilon. Delta
Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Delta Phi are
really she three big societies. They have
hundreds Of active members today in ali
the important colleges and thousands OF
graduates, many Of whom stand high in
social, financial and political life.
Hamilton College gave birth 70 Alpha
Delta Phi, Yale TO Delta Kappa Epsilon,
and Union TO Psi Upsilon. Initiation into
them all is secret and supposedly solemn,
but much OF II is done out-of-d doors, so
that the brutal foolish indignities that are
heaped upon the nOyitiates are public
sights seen n every college town.
All Yale all The important frateraities
flourish save Kappa Alpha That was 10
have been chartered there ia 1888. save
only that the naughty Yalensiaus refused
10 allow the society 10 initiate freshmen
who are considered beneath contempt there
At Yale the lucky aspirant has a different
society for each Of his years save fresh
man year while at other colleges stu
dent stays in one society for the four
years Of his course This was the rock
OF which Kappa Alpha split al Yale.
Yale hss killed its man as wei as Cor
nell and other colleges in the preliminaries
10 initiation. The last death due directly
10 the bazing Of candidates was al Yale
n 1892 when young sophomore named
Rlstin was killed by a junior while being
Junior ran him headlong into a wagon pole
fun in the abdomen The next day peri
tonitls So, 10 and 10 few hours later the
young life was sacrificed.
Ia 1873 Kappa Alpha killed its first man.
and it was the Cornell chapter that did it,
too. The victim was Mortimer Leggett.
Blindfolded. he was told to run. He plung-
ed over a cliff near Ithaca and was killed
instantly.
This aroused extraordinary public feel
ing. The boys father and mother made
such strenuous efforts 10 get at the bot
tom Of their sons untimely death that the
faculty took Up the mauer The parents
were initiated into the society with all its
rites and rituals 10 prove 70 them that
there was no danger in it,
This Is true, perhaps. The hoTseplay
that sometimes ends in death and that the
public sees is not the actual initiation
candidates. that they VIII be pliable for the
ceremonies 10 follow. favorite trick al
Yale Is 10 lead the candidates around the
streets on all fOUTs. and led by a string
Es a dog would be. AT Harvard the boys
are dressed in OutIandish garb and taken TO
public assemblages. football games. the
theatre and the like, and forced to make
fools Of themselves. 10 the intense delight
Of their seniors in the societies. just such
delight as Philip Dickinson, whose fool
message sent young Berkeley to his death.
was hoping TO have with the victim. An
other Yale diversion Is TO force the bare
footed candidate TO jump on a board,
through which stick many rusty nail-points
But the nails are made of rubber. Co
lumbia has a faVoTita practice which hasn't
killed anyone yet but that is simply be-
cause none OF the candidates has happened
20 have heart disease
II IS to take a noritiate up on a roof
and blindfOld him Then be is gingerly led
TO what be IS told IS the edge. de is
cautioned 10 stand perfectly still for fear
be step Of and plunge 10 death below.
Then suddenly some one jOstles the blind
folded victim and he falls with a scream
Just as his t0rmeutOrs utter cries Of horror.
But instead Of plunging 10 death the blind
folded candidate falls through the scuttle
70 a mattress below. II his heart is sound
he can stand ii and the rest Of the crowd
enjoy his momentary terror
And vet these societies flourish every
where Nearly every man Of prominence
in the country who has been to college Is
a member OF one Of them. Cbauucey De-
pew. Joseph II. Ch0ats, former President
Harrison, Elihu Root Bradley Martin,