New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-10
COLLEGE BOYS AND SIGNS
Some "Od Grads" Tell of Erperi-
ences amusing and Serious.


In a corner of the big library of the luxurious
Harvard Club, in West Forty-fourth-st a group
OF 'old grads from several colleges sat smoking
out subjects Of varying interest. They were the
guests Of a lawyer with a Cambridge degree and
included a Cornell giant who is helping engineer
the subway. a young doctor from the University of
Pennsylvania. chap from Yale who is still spend
ing the income from millions his father left, a
long faced son OF Brown who is instructor in
a New-York college. and Tiger from Princeton
who has lately been tanned by slip of Brooklyn
girl None Of them had been out long enough 10
lose interest in the details OF undergraduate life,
and they talked university with all the industry
Of freshman home on his first vacation
Speaking of stolen signs" began the doctor.
Yes speaking of stolen signs'' growled the Har-
ward host and under his breath he swore mighty
oath. what do you think Of faculty's latest
attempt at reforn-swiping' the sacred relics of
many dangerous raid from the quarters about the
Yard
not entered like burglars in the night, while the
fellows away for vacation declared the Yale
chap. 1t would have caused riot at New-tiaven"
I've got a younger brother at Cambridge now.
said the lawyer. -and willed him all of CLEAN
ings, including an enormous wooden key, lock
smiths sign, that nearly cost me my degree They
gathered in everything he had. and when he wrote
about IL i wired back, Have the Bursar ar
rested And the Cambridge justice refused the
warrant on the ground that il was unbecoming for
q student the arrest Of officer of his
university
Then for time there was discussion the
morality of the practice. Every of the group.
the religious from Baptist Brown, had
''sriped' signs in his day, and none of them were
ashamed of IT Some OF the more conservative
thought that sign stealing should stop, but the
opinion unanimous that the Harvard faculty
had not hit the proper corrective measure
Il about tell you sign stealing tale from
Quaker Town. resumed the L. of p. doctor when
there convenient lull. You know, of course
that medical school rather hardens chap, and
that our stunts rather grewsome. A med
student is satisfied with the signs that the
Joy of other students. Private Grounds Beware
of the Dog and the brass and velvet berth num-
bers from sleeping do not begin to satisfy
One has to have skeletons and hearse plumes and
gravestones TO command respect, and this is a
story OF the lifting of gravestone
There was enc chap in oCr class who could never
get away from his Quaker bringing up He surely
of the tnee-thou' sort He never stole any
thing. Snd the dssecting ROOM rnerrymaking often
made him ILL., We finally plagued him into making
raid on a half abandoned cemetery in the out
skirts of the which had already contributed
TO the decoration of several rooms
Several faces in the crowd grew serious with dis
approval. and the young doctor FASTENED TO assure
them that he did not approve of this sacriege. He
said that most of the fellows returned the stones
when their course ended Then he went with
the story:
''our meek and lowly had plenty of when it
the pinch. He drove out To the spoky grave
yard in lonely hollow, jumped the fence. seized
upon the first slab of sandstone that loose in
its socket and got away with it, He was taken for
q ghoul and pursued by sleepy policeman for
blocks Finally throwing him off the scent, he got
back his boarding house in Chestnut-st. at the
unearthly hour of a. IN. He set the stone upon
the dresser and turned up the light. He
ious TO know whose grave he had desecrated- The
letters were obscured by moss. and he scraped the
stone for five minutes before he could make them
out. Holding the light close le was able to read
his own
We found him next morning lying in dead
faint on the floor. bad wound On his head where
Il had struck against the bedpost in falling He was
almost a wreck when brought him to conscious
ness and with trembling lips and twitching face he
told that he had torn the stone from the grave
OF his sreat-grandfather, the man for whom he
had been named. The stone was taken back the
next night and the Quaker fellow left the class
There was silence for time. until some one e1-
claimed. at served him mighty right!'
did ever tell you OF the 'Bun-On club which
nourished one short year Cornell began the en-
gineer. 1T my sophomore year, and the idea
was that OF a freshman from Milwaukee. We were
all anxious 10 fiji rooms with signs, stamped
glasses ard other souvenir junk. The freshmen
knew a better way than sneaking them out OF
links and the kitchen in pockets. 1 believe
The idea came TO him night when he
climbing the hill with half a dozen glasses in his
various pockets and two tin signs over his chest
You see. he slipped the icy pavement and was
studded with broken glass everywhere he struck.
Let fake drinking club and write 10
the breweries that We fitting Up a clubhouse,
was the plan he suggested before the doctor had
succeeded getting al the broken glass out OF his
hide.
Accordingly the 'Bun-on' was formed by three
of us with president and secretary and treasurer
an Office apiece. and agreed &c share and share
alike on the spoils. Letters duly written and
soon the stuff began to arrive. The big brewer:es
were more than anxious to help the 'Bun-On' Club
~ up They sent oil paintings. glasses by
the dozen corkscrews. trays. chromos and what
not Our rooms looked like the place back OF bar,
and were envied by all our friends.
zone afternoon. after bsastly hard day in the
Sibley shop wandered into my quarters Stew
art ano found this from the freshman:
Dear Mug: Bigbeer's agent from Milwaukee is
in town. and wants 20 visit the Bun-On Club. As
president it's up to you take him around. IRV.
".P S.-T'Ve gone TO New-York TO have my eyes
treated
Il contemplating escape 10 Binghamton
our regular haven In time Of storm. but before
could get away Bigbeer's man called. I took him
downtown and spent half Z months allowance.
giving him he time Of his life Every time he
gested. 'NoE. iet's up TO the cluoroons opened
another bottle I'd promised the faculty not
touch drop. but faculty promise could weigh
against the prospect Of going jail for false pre-
fences In the end / by getting him on
the last train out Of fthGoa. Then ] went up the
kill and smashed the secTetarys supply of glass
ware
No one expected "a story from the Brown man.
but he was ready in turn
In Providence" he began. -3ll thu first families
decorate their front doors with municipalities. There