Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-01-19

is in clover and the guileless freshman
| must beware.
Water throwing has been developed
| to fine art by college boys and their
proficiency in it Is astonishing. "A
good supply of paper bags of all sizes
is laid in from the grocery stores and
saturated with kerosene to make them
partially Waterproof. These filled with
| water can be thrown a good distance
| from a third story window and often
| with unerring aim, and the unlucky
| freshman gets the full benefit of the
contents therein contained several
quarts of aqua pura.
But in, a few days the freshmen
learn by experience to give the win
dows n wide berth and to make run
ming dives in and out of the dormi-
| tories. The sophomores thereafter get
only an occasional chance at a fresh
man who may be little absent mind
ed or who gets a little careless.
| These little preliminary tactics pre-
ceed the far famed bloody Monday
| night. About the first thing done by
sophomore class on its return for the
second year is to call Il class meeting
to consider the burning question of to
are, as a rule lively affairs, and the
discussion wakes warm. Many COL
lege man has received his first expert
ence in real debating in these meet
| ings. The arguments pro and con fly
| thick and fast and some of the
| speeches are really excellent. 1t is Il
real live debate carried out in an
orderly manner and with due consider
alton for parliamentary rules.
When the question has been
sufficiently discussed and all the
opinions have been heard the question
| is put and the fate of the freshmen
| decided. If a majority is in favor OF
hazing the usual customs are carried
out No sophomore is forced to take
part in these and if he has an honest
dislike for haZing he is respected for
| it. If he opposes the majority from
selfish and personal reasons he is
liable to suffer for il but in college a
mans honest and sincere principals
are always respected at heart however
much they may be ridiculed on the
surface.
Bloody Monday night is, perhaps, the
only occasion supported by custom
that can be condemned in part. There
are, to be sure, occasional impulsive
outbreaks that no one can explain and
which are never planned that consti-
tute the most questionable forms of
| haZing. but these are fortunately be
!, coming rarer every year The custom,
too, of observing Bloody Monday is
gradually dying out at Colby and the
most of its Objectionable features have
already disappeared. 1t is survival
of the old tazing known to the older
grads and is the harshest OF all.
Withal things are rarely done that are
liable to cause any permanent injury
to person. Somewhere near the mid
night hour, when the freshman is
dreaming of home, he hears a mighty
thump on his door and gruff COM
mand to open. If he disobeys the door
is smashed in and is payed for later by
the sophomore class.
What follows depends largely on the
character of the freshman. The more
he resists the better his tormentors
like it. If he submits gracefully the
call is usually a short and merry one.
The victim is made to dance on a
table sing, make a speech and do other
| harmless and ridculously foolish
things. The only danger in it all is
that in resisting undue force will be
| uSei. MS mas not UdpptIltu dl tblDN
for many years, however.
After performing what is demanded
the freshman is put back to bed and
left in peace. while the haZers pass
on to the next man. IT. as sometimes
| happens, freshman has a room with
| a fire escape and he uses this as a
| means of exit while his door is being
| smashed. his room may be stacked"
| This is a form of haZing that cannot
| be excused and is dying out. To
! stack a room means TO pile every
bit of furniture and clothing in heap
in the middle of the floor and usually
to then throw water on it. This is not
| common and has only been used as
particularly harsh measure to bring an
| unusually conceited or stubborn fresh
man to terms.
OF course not all freshmen submit
peaceably to the hazers on this night
| and scraps between parties of sew
eral freshmen and the haZers ensue.
These may not be the place for sickly
youth or a sissy but they never
hurt, a healthy boy and the weak are
always respected 1t is the "sissys."
that form of boy most hated by the
| majority, that causes the most trouble
| and who carry tales of blood and mid
! night riots home to pa and ma, and
| give the college black eye. College is
a rough place for such as these. but
| for the active. brainy. boyish boy. such
as makes us proud of our college men.
even Bloody Monday night has no
terrOrS.
| After Bloody Monday night. things
settle into the routine. If freshman
| carries cane, sings Phi Chi on the
| campus at midnight. or does other for
| hidden things, he is booked for a call.
| HaZng for the remainder of the year
| depends largely on circumstances.
| If a freshman carries himself properly
he may suffer no more through the
year. In fact. the average freshman
does not suffer more than one dose of
hazing although he may have it all the
year is he so wishes.
There are occasional spasms of
hazing during the remainder of the
year but directed against some student
who has been particularly exasper-
ating on account of a swell head" or
defiance of some long established GUS
tom.
Whatever haZing there has been all
ends with the freshman reading in the |
N tn nd ,t-itI