New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-12
THE LOST ART OF DRIVING DULL CARE AWAY

in the chapel and burning them in the
cellar of Prexy's house and then sitting
round and twitting Prexy as he and his
family were forced to jump for their
lives from the window in their night
clothes. The cleverest man in college
was the man who had the freshest
comeback to the Greek prof., although
it must be admitted that the comeback
was usually in the original Greek,
thing impossible to the modern stu
dent, even if he thought it funny.
Compared to these escapades, which
we have on the authority of the Old
Grads themselves, both in writing and
in recitation, the harmless sports of the
college undergraduate Of to-day sound
innocuous enough. What is a theatre
party in town or card game in the
seclusion of a back room, or even a
class smoker, with beer and ginger ale
on tap, when the student of '76 or 'S8
begins to call up the good old days?
Especially when so per cent of the men
at the class smoker take ginger ale.
And go back to any college COM
mencement or general reunion. You
will find that the person standing on
the victrola with the lamp-shade on his
head, who is calling especial attention to
his new shoes, is graduate of the class
of 1885 who is disguised with the eff
feteness of the modern student, and it
is safe to say that the modern student
is disguised with him. The gentleman
in dinner-coat who is being conduct
ed, running, not walking, to the nearest
exit, is a member of the class of 1880
who has just been singing in monotone
the praises of the dear college days of
yester-year.s And the group of uncom-
Portable, uncompanionable youths over
in the corner, looking on with mixture
of surprise, amusement and contempt,
are the wealthy college students" who
figure so prominently in the days news,
the scapegrace undergraduates whose
"pranks" and drinking have made them
byword in every business Office.
Again, it must be said that, owing to
the recognized heterogeneity of the
world in general, there are always those
in college who can answer the Old
Grads call for more abundant college
life and who probably would steal a
sign if there were a sign handy, and if
they were not afraid of the opinion of
their colleagues. But, on the whole, it
is the legend from the outside, sung by
the troubadour Old Grads, that throws
the odor of revelry about the name of
college education" and not the hum
drum acts of the undergraduates, who
are for the most part too busy running
for the paper, or keeping in training, or
even trying to pass their courses, to in
dulge in much conventional pranking.
And, anyway, there is probably nothing
more tiresome in the world to any one
with both lobes to his brain in good
running order than having to play a
prank or sit around swallowing fer
mented drinks. 1t isn't that the youth
of to-day is any better than the Old
Grad was in his day. It is just that the
youth of to-day has seen too many Old
Grads in the throes of a good time and
doesn't like the looks of it. He may
not have better brain than the older
man, but he uses more of it.
This may be due to several influences.
1t may be due to the Gulf Stream
changing its course. Every change in
conditions can ultimately be traced to
the Gulf Stream. Or, if it seems a
change for the worse to you, lay it to