The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-01-13
ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE YELL.
A Prehistoric Tale by Albert E. Aidrid,

tNOHsi lSll, 1CS-- ~ w. .
Russell.)
On a baimy summer night. several
years ago, the stars Of a trop c a sly
Il oked down upon a gray and gr-Zz ed
old o-rauge-outang, perched in the
c.otch of i eulta-percha tree. thinh II
Lpon The Subject Of ethn,logy. FL
II ulghts this ~anthropOid philOIo-
lher. waOm we will know as mo
lessor O'?ang, had given much
thought 10 the bowling OF the monkits,
that assaiIed his sensitive ears, from
ali directions.
Professor O'Tang a one Of the
foremost thinkers of his day. The
problem of the b~etterment of his sre-
Cies was much upon his mind Over
and over H. had revolved the mater
OF devislng a plan for interesting
Il onkies III higher education. CrHn
the night in which our story opens, he
fell to thinking Of the grand results
tina might be accomplished, II ire
energy that the Ike wasted in
IDLE hoWiinS could be turned to an ed
ucational END. He made a maC1e-
rlatiCal calculation OF the amount OF
energy represented in the nose tHot
the monkies generated during each
night, and the result was something
enormous. He covered the bottoms Of
10th Of his feet with figures in It's
computation. He pond red deeply
upon the matter. His great BRAIN
throbbed in travail as he labored 10
evolve 4 plan to close the foCd CAGES
uHon his wantOn waste of onkey VI
tality. How could he reach the little
Geatures: how could he bring th-m
to understand how wrong it was for
item to dissipate energy that might
- turned to good account.
It is monkey nature. as well as hU-
man. 10 balk at tasks that offer Meth
ing to predilection. This principle is
cid. It came to the iii of Professor
O'Tang. 1t was evident that j
\: onkies loved to howl. The great
thnker took UP the problem Of ut'-
lizing thei" love Of bowling to le"d
rem TO take an interest in 9ducat nal
matters. The more h thought about
il the more feasible it became. Away
into the nieht he studied the matter.
u, til finally a plan Cf action was WORK
Sd out.
On the following day he ~canvas@ed
some OF tn most i~nfluentfa families
4 the n~eighboTh0Od, and received
p,uch nnc0urage!nent Many readiiv
declared their wish for their sons to
leC0me memhers Of the school frat
Professor O'Tang proposed to opcn.
Within a few days quite a large ci-ss
Of monkies had been organized u
had assembled for their first instrac-
ten. Professor O'TanG explained to
item in a clear and lucid manner.
the main object of their work. He
pointed out t. them the fulfil ty of
L~norganiZed and unSysternGtc hoHl-
ing. and the comparatively trivial re-
| suits realized from letting their t2irnt
run at the spigC,, IS it were. H2 IN
pressed them. in 4 striking word PIC
ture, of the importance Of N" con-
sarvatiOn of energy and the cOnc2ntTa-
ton of effort. He tod them how m1:>h
more effective it would be to save ~
al their little hOWlS for tWenty-fCur
hours. cOndensa the whole mass into
one big howl. and fire it off at one
shot. When the student body lad
fairly grasped the proposition. thy
were enthusiastic to 2 monk. over the
prospect Of concerted action. IN the
natter of noise. From the beginning,
their study and training was conduit
cd in the most systematic II
| and the strictest discipline was OBJ
served. The curriculum Of his 1e-
r1arkable school embraced six branches
Of the science of noise: The Le8ato
howl. St~accato YoWl, POrtamento
vail. Cadenza Screech, PizZicato Yelp.
and Vermicelli Scream. Nothing was
| left to chance. Every monkey was as
signed to tina branch for which he
was best fitted by his endCwments, af-
tel his voice had been carefully OK
2mined. Voices were divided into two
chief groups, three classes in each.
Group one embraced bases. baritones
and tenors Group two, tonic-sol-fa's,
mezzo squeals and high macaronies.
Twice each day the entire student
body was assembled for ensemble drill
in attack, deep-sea breathing, dia
rhragmatic commissions, hoWl-placlng
general delivery, and spontaneous eX-
J.Osion.
Professor O'Tang had determined to
conduct his school on purely demo-
cratic principles. He, therefore, gave
1t out that boys of good character
would be admitted. and that they
would share equal privileges with the
monkies. In order that there mieh ut
be no misunderstanding about the
matter, he placed owe the front en-
trance Of the cave, in which the schoo
was conducted. the inscription, in rude
characters wrought in gorilla teeth
and wildcat bones:
"Rine-tailed monkies, Apes and Boys,
taught the art of making noise"
This attracted wide attention and
vas the subject of much favorable
Everything thai could be thought Of
was introduced into the envirOnment
of the school to stimulate the minds Of
the student body to cOncisely grasp
and comprehend the main object of the
work. Over the desk of Professor
OTang, richly embroidered in green
rushes, upon the flesh side of a lion
skin, was another inscription:
A truth 20 science known full wei;
That hideOUs noises osc.ilate
Tho added brain, the empty pate.
And from these facts eyentuata.
The college yell"
For 2 time. every thing went Trll.
and the little primeval students took
cutie IN interest IN their studies.
When the our anne to howl the AMI
mated faces of the little creatures
were, indeed a grand sight.
Such conditions. however, did not
long prevail. Within a few months,
an abatement Of interest in practice
was noticed. and in many cases, an
increasing to bowling was
observed. AS time yer by the mork-
les began to wear detected looks, and
their duties were performed with