The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-11-17

DR.. w. L. Pofeat. President OF Wake
ration Of a Carolina Club at Har-
yard-Therc are Already About
Twenty State Clubs at the Uniyersi-
Tyr. Poteat Entertained ut DIM
ner by the Little Coterie of North
Carolinians-Only Men Who Attain
Distinction i'm Some Line Get Into
Inner Club Circles.
Especial to Charlotte Observer.)
Cambridge. Mass. November o.
From the success which the Carolina
boys had In entertaining President Po-
teat. of Wake Forest, they have decid-
ed to form a state club. The meetiAy
will be held tomorrow EVENING" in the
room of c. T. Haynesworth. of Green
vile, S. G., who is a senior this year,
State clubs are quite popular among
the Harvard men, who have all sorts
Of private clubs But it is only the
exclusive II elect who make them.
The ordinary mortal, who has not had
the advantage of some of the New
England preparatory schools (Which
some people are mean enough ITO call
itch mems" schools). does not stand
much show of getting into the social
organization. which exist in large
numbers in Cambridge. Men who
have achieved something wonderful in
athletics, sometimes in studies, whose
fathers are extremely wealthy, or are
nr1ci6anfc pnf into Nh -1. -
But these are mostly undergraduates.
And if a man simply comes to Harvard
totstudy, and in the graduate depart.
ments at that, he probably will not
even know much about Harvard'S
clubs.
There are hundreds of men who do
not get into the social swim, as typi-
fed by the clubs, yet who want to
kno the other men from their own
states. These have crystalized into
state clubs. There are now about 20
Of them. with membership of from 20
TO 100. Missouri has nearly a hun
dred students and consequently the
largest of such organizations.
They are all very informal in ma
ture. intended simply to get the nan
to knowing each other. 1t is about
the only way up here, too. L have
been in Harvard for two years. and
all the men | know are a few whole
souled fellows, with whom [ have
struck up acquaintance as we sat side
by side in the lecture rooms, a few
I have met through various chances
outside, the men in my W dormitory,
! have known we'll, and of course, l
have forced myself on a good many
more in the course of my newspaper
work in the college. Some of these
chose to remember me because they
have received favOrs, others are actu-
ated by the motives spoken of by Al
fred Henry Lewis, the distinguished po-
litical writer, in telling how he got his
first hold in Washington-"they be-
gan to respect my vivious pen, lest |
turn upon them" But altogether l
don't believe | know a hundred men
out of the 1000 here. No n particu-
larry cares to know than a dozen
or so. What's the use? When you are
in search of amusement, hunt up one
Or two congenial fellows and take a
car to Boston. twenty minutes away.
More than that would be too many. If
Boston were>not so near. with it's many
varieties Of entertainment. the men
might be forced to become acquainted.
But as it is the university, is too large
and no one tries because the task is
hopeless.
When a freshman mi to this be-
wildering maze, there is nowhere to
turn for advice Or shelter. Every one
looks out for himself. By the time he
graduates, he begins to find out what
the good courses are, where the good
amusements are, how to succeed social
ly. etc. We sort of believe we may be
Of some use to fellows from the Caro-
linas who may come here in the future,
besides knowing a lot of good fellows.
There are eighteen men here this year
from the two states, and it has been
decided to cast the lots together and be
on the watch for new fellows each
year. 1t will be a distinct pleasure to
get into an atmosphere all Of the
Sunny South, after a few months or
perchance years among the Yankees.
We will get a few chances to forget
the rush Of college life.
DR.. Poteat did not exactly start all
this movement, but he helped nightly
to get the enthusiasm reused. He
had been lecturing over in the New
ton Theological Seminary on his favor
rite tapic, Science and Religion" for
a week. G. T. Stephenson, o fPen-
dleton, n. c., heard of his visit. He
graduated from Wake Forest in 'O2,
and this was his chance to show his
appreciation to his old president, and
he invited DR.. Poteat over to Cam
bridge, for a couple Of days. About a
dozen of US met the doctor Friday
evening and had dinner with him In
the Union, the big club house of the
university which is open to all stu
dents. 1t was a pleasant little gather
ing of which DR.. Poteat was the CEN
ter. His talk was bright and enter
tanning. and after dinner. we adjourn
ed to one of the small meeting rooms
which was reserved for us. [ was es-
pecially interested in the guest by rea-
-