Mower County transcript., 1908-08-19

blue stones, and inscribed on the can
/ vas is: Rodney Graves, father Of the
I, Gemini. 81
One thousand and sixty three OF the
students at the college in the year
1898 cursed their fates, or overlooked
their fates and cursed their short
comings. The other seven blessed
their fates and thanked the stars that
J shone in the sign Of Gemini of the
] zodiac.
! The Gemini were: seven; they never
would be more than seven at the col
lege. The organization was the most
exclusive college society in the land.
There were the Spades, the Greek
Thirteen, and the innumerable other
fraternities whose locks but few keys
fit, but they always remained in the
shadow cast by the Gemini It was,
let it be said in charity, not the fault
OF many that they never were per
mitted to wear the Pin Of the Twins,
the emblem of the fraternity; it was
the fault Of Fate. = -...z
The 5Gemini was synonymous with
courage and loyalty and firmness. It
had no place for the weakling. The
faithfulness of a member never
could be doubted, not even by the
bitterest rivals. %
i The constitution of the Gemini
never had been subjected to the
slightest change or amendment from
the time of it's framing by Rodney
Graves and the six. other young men
who, with him, composed the original
cluster. Safe in the vault of the cham
Der it rested, being disturbed only
once year. Laws essential to the
purpose of this tale were as follows:
"A possible person must have been
born under the full influence of the
sign of Gemini of the zodiac-that is,
between May 26 and June Fl. His ia
ther must have been born under some
influence of this sign-that is, between
May 20 and June 21. His mother must
have been born under the full infu-
ence Of the sign of Aquarius-that is,
between January 20 and February 49,
Should the possible candidates
exceed the number of persons allowed
! by law the active persons shall exer-
; else their discretion and best judg-
ment in selecting their successors in
activity ".
AT the beginning of their senior
year the persons, shall elect one of
their number to the Office of supreme
person, and the incumbent of that Of
flee shall be the only one with au-
thority. His word shall be law; none
shall question it; none shall deny it's
majesty"
The foremost purpose of the Gemini
was to test. the strength and loyalty
of it's members. In view of this, no
student could become person with
out consent and sanction of parent or
guardian, and none could be invited to
wear the Pin of the Twins without
first being apprised of the possibilities
of membership. Every member was
expected to perform any mission that
! might be determined upon to test his
strength and loyalty. 1t was rule
that at the end of one school year
the supreme person should prepare
| the basis of. tests to which the per-
sons of the following year should be
put.
The persons congregated at such
times in the total darkness of the
! chamber and received their *stest" in
| structions. These instructions were
placed in sealed envelopes, uniform in
size and shape, and then into,a cloth
bag,--the black bag OF destiny-from
which they were drawn by the mem
.bers in order of their initiation. For
instance, the person first ordained
made the initial selection; the next
to put on the Pin of the Twins was the
second to take out an envelope, and
so on-down to the seventh person.
The law ordained that the instruc-
tions should not be- made known to
others than the invidivual holders un-
til they had been carried out in their
entirety. y.~ ~
This was the last article as drawn
up by Rodney Graves and the others
who formed the original cluster:
The persons shall be placed wholly
upon their honor at all times. They
shall be granted four and twenty hours
in which to decide whether or not to
carry out the Instructions, making
known their decisions within that time
to the supreme person. Should per-
son decline to follow the instructions,
it shall be the unalterable duty Of the
supreme person to divest him Of his
personality and cause to be placarded
I in public places of the college and of
the town sheets OF paper branding
him as a weakling in character and
purpose and as a traitortto the Gemini.
An agreement to submit to the tests,
based upon an oath Of honor, shall be
received with warm encouragement;
and evers thereafter his name shall
suggest fawless honor loyalty and
never-dying grace"