Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-10

Written for The Evening Star.
The American reads his newspaper and is
edited to learn few weeks from now that
the Harvard boys have incirn1dined the
dull gray statue of some ancient worthy,
or that the bright and shining lights of
Princeton have tried to break up Pawnee
Bnl's circus and been dragged along the
streets at the end of the cowboys lariats.
And as he reads of these strenuous do
ings. tae true Americans bosom swells with
pride. aud he says:
well | guess our college boys can lex
creation when it comes to fooln!
But they can't They are sober ana
serious crowd when compared with the col
lege boys of old England and Scotland. to
say nothing of those registering blades
whose alma mater is Dublin University
Who has not read of bump suppers and
wine parties and the screwing-up of obnox-
ions dons in the pages of Thackeray, Lever
and a host of lesser British novelists? They
wrote of spacious. full-boded days wliei,
a gentleman simply had to be rusucd'eu.
and to ride his nag into hail, ana 70 De
ninked through the shoulder for maintain
ing that his Clorinda at the play was fairer
than some other gentleman's Aramihta'
The past was goodly once, put the pres
ent is Il cGlorably good imitation.
TIL ,t,.Iargraduales of oxford and Cam
bridge have a high standard to live up 70
when they contemplate the prFinkS Oh 'leH
predecessors. but they do their peSS; Of
u was not 50 long ago that (he o'i9 VI
Erasenosa were Mortified. when they 'toGh
their morning walk, to observe tLdt lno
statue of one of the most reVereo lui
les of the college had been pllntcd prli-
ii,,t nat green battered plug hat STUCK
unon ais head. and pair of OLD trousers
rIraped upon its outstretcEeo arm, as ~ "a
had gone into the old clothes BUSINESS an, ,.nu
vas Offering stock for sale. Inc iSauinS
snirit in This diabolical outrage on the arg
nitv NJ the college WAS the eldest son Oh
duke He was sent down for term
On a Wager.
t,et summer. for a waser. freshman at
Trinity College. Cambridge. dressed III MS
e.ster.s clothes and called on the hedu vi
the college to complain that Fer prothei
vas being brutality in-treated by the coilese
ournorities He was, 50 she d9'ei teN'
(,.a~v,orked. underfed and cruelty logged
rio benevolent old head-a man much
,,ora sinned against fhan sinning-hsteiied
ia these charges in helpless amazement-
But my dear young lady ne eN
cl"imed. 49,. TOTO . storm, cf
sohe and would not be cemforted. ff!s pto,
testations of innocence Only maze hci 81,
weeD the more copious!y. Inc uedt oiu
Van never had a worse quarter OF an houl.
The following week he saw the freshman IN
,,rs,- 81 v-aIn;.u's part n Il comedy given III
Ire A. d. c TEeater. and the truth sloMLs
owned upon him. Me>rwhile, the Ires sho
80 Tad collected the bet and spent the
-. n, a wine party" which ended IN
haif a dozen students trying to fight the
otto force of Cambridge and spending the
night in Jail. 49,. -.h;ob
IRE old town ard gown riots. when
,.,,ad IN he such a strenuous feature of lie
in English universities, seldom occur now.
adays, but there was one in oxford not
many years ago which ragged Tor three gay
.,tliy
dred uoIicemen were eventually required 10
restore the peace Houses and shops were
wrecked and many townsman ana gowns
man had to be patched UP IN the local nus
.itals afterward.
Active Politicians.
At all the British universities the stu
dents are ardent politicians. Their deoauhs
societies are divided into liberal ana con-
servative parties, and many OF the "oS'