The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-31
FRESHMEN VS.. soPnoMoREs.
a Pleasing Tale of How They Got
Even with Each Other.

mis- spring vacation and, as he always
had great stock of stories when he re-
turned, no one was surprised when he
announced, at the dinner table, before
he had been home fifteen minutes. that
ne had the best joke on the freshmen
that ever happened. You know it's an
old college custom up there to let the
freshmen smoke pipes and carry canes
after the spring vacation" he began.
They can't smoke pipes until after va
cation, but it is the custom for the ba-
bies to carry their class canes to evening
chapel on the last Sunday of the winter
term Then they can carry them, but be-
Iore that day, of course, no freshie has
fght even to own a cane, so we put
forth all our energies to discover who
had the canes and to steal them if pos
siole. Well, We had a committee of
sleuths to look for clothes, and about
half the sophomore class resolved itself
INTO an amateur detective force, but the
freshmen had been pretty crafty, and we
couldn't ind trace of those canes.
Things were looking pretty blue for us
ana about half of the detective squad had
given it up as a bad job after having
been threatened with arrest for breaking
IN CSe head of hOgshead of sugar down
III thS litiSut depot, winch they suspect
ed to contain the sought-for canes. Just
when things were looking their worst Bill
Young came up to the room one night
and, after assuring himself that there
were no freshmen around, told us in a
stage whisper that those canes were as
good ours. A senior had overheard
two freshmen talking about them and
of course, had Immediately told the
''sophs." The canes were to come by
nt,s1N
in town, and were to be called for by
some freshmen a O'clock
That was our chance and you can bet
we weren't slow in taking it, so at ten
minutes of s about twenty sophomores
came sneaklng down to the express office
and hid in an alley just beyond. The
freshmen were prompt and just at four
of them came down the street in a two
seated carriage drove up to the office and
two of them went in to get the precious
box. They got as far as the sidewalk with
it when out rushed the sophs, and when
the poor freshies saw the numbers against
them they gave up, dropped the box and
ran. The two in the carriage drove off at
full speed, and maybe 1t wasn't a triumph
for us. We let out a class yell that could
be heard all over college, and in less than
a minute there was a crowd of sophs
around yelling like Indians A lot of Sc
what the trouble was, and of course they
had to join in the ha ha on the freshmen.
We had quite a jubiation, until one of
the fellows conceived the brilliant idea of
opening the box then and there and dis
tributing the canes TO the sophs and then
having a triumphant march around the
town. Some one brought Ratchet and off
came the cover of the box. Inside there
appeared some heavy paper. for protec-
49,. rim nod hat nj
to find the box filled with a choice assort-
ment of tree branches and kindling wood,
and on top of it all, in plain sight, plac-
ard bearing the one expressive word, rub
berneck.'
'eWen. 1t was an awful rubber on us,
and the worst of IL all was that great
part of the college was standing there
laughing at us and some of them saying
things which impressed all present except
the sophs as being extremely funny We
couldn't appreciate the humor of it, ana
most Of us remembered engagements
which we had in another part of the town.
In five minutes there wasn't single soph
in sight. while the freshmen were March
ing around town in a body yelling their
class yell and adding the now hated words
rubber, rubber, rubber Or course the
whole thing was a put up Joo on US anu
ma had fallen into the trap BEAUTIFULLY
tba canes now. and every one was w~rk-
ing his brain overtime trying to think OF
sorna GOOD scheme when smile came over
pm Youne's face, and he remarKen' ell
1ors I've got il II you'll leave 1t TO me.
Of course we were eager to know What
tba game was to be, but BIZ Wouiun T., !
ten and put us off by saying Wal uli'h
sunday night and you'll see ..-,.
well ON Sunday evening all the ireSI-
the street 10 CidbNif
III ,oing their canes and smiling In way
'Liob elmost said rubberneck in Itself
| All the sophs went into the chapel cay.
I7or ne reason or other we dloh me
| - 60. those freshmen walking uoWh 'iio
| street in the exultant way IN Whlch 'ney
| ala so we were all seated there anu 49,
| - nos feeling blue, for whatever young
or, or, 80 II must have failed. Then in
80 the freshmen. Well, never heard
.''nh a noise as they made. They knocked
| - canes on the floor on the way up
| the aisle to their seats and, when sedteu'
| ono nv one began to slip ana tall 10 'he
| t,oor with a smash. 1t seemed as II every
! freshman was simply picking up ana oloP-
iog his cane and as there are nun
dred and twenty In the class you can I'M
Zinc what racket they made We began
| - sroiIe eouIdn't help it, because We knew
! 49, tbeA must be something wrong
somewhere, and if it continued the faculty
was sure to be heard from. The racket
| Continued during the time when the lei
lows were coming In, and Prex S race was
a stndv. Prex always conducts the even
irg service and at first he didn't notice
| tbe racket. or pretended that he didn't
I ~, os n grew worse and worse his froWn
increased by direct proportion
| .rTben we felt sure that there was trou-
h1a ahead. and when the organ stopped
prey rose and from the expression on ms
face we knew it was coming, and IL did
He gave those freshmen the worst cal
down ever heard, describing the disturb
80 &c perseverance. ungentlemanlike con-
duct and a lot more things, and It must
nave been decidedly Illuminating for them
! Of course the res, of the college was
! laughing at them.
Young had simply gone 10 see three or
folr of the most prominent freshmen dur
! inc the afternoon and had told them
| narof,lIv prepared fairy tale to the effect
| tbat of course the hostility between the
classes was at an end, now that they mad
their canes, and that he wanted to own
| 49,, t,at we were beaten, and wanted TO