USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > A centennial history, 1837-1937, Colby Academy, Colby Junior College > Part 12
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Mabel H. Prescott taking the part of Ruth. In the third scene Ruth is gleaning in the barley field, and in the fourth Boaz, in the person of Fred Farwell, appears. Finally the happy ending comes with general participa- tion of chorus members.
Music had its charms but it sometimes had its dangers. W. B. Wilson, who was a student at Colby in 1887, fell from the top of a pipe organ and suffered so many dis- locations that he had to give up his trade and go to Providence, Rhode Island, where he raised vegetables for the city market. At least the Voice reporter said so.
Lectures were in vogue as well as musical entertain- ments. A course of popular lectures was given usually in the fall and winter under the auspices of the literary societies. A rather belated entertainment was a lecture in May, 1889, by Charles H. Thomas of Boston, who talked in the hall of the Academy on "Here and There in the Civil War."
Students of this period at Colby were fortunate in having an improved library to encourage their interest in books. Through the influence of Miss Smiley the libraries of the literary societies were united into a school library and a new impetus was given to that de- partment of the institution. Books began to be in use as they had not been before. Then Dr. Cummings gave his library of several hundred volumes and friends of the school contributed five hundred and fifty more, so that twenty-six hundred and fifty volumes were available. Through the kindness of Mrs. Colgate, who met the expense, the books were catalogued according to the Dewey system, a room was set apart for their housing, and the students had access to them two hours daily, with a librarian in charge. Students were given the privilege of taking books out of the library for use in their rooms. Additions came by purchase from an Alumni fund; by gifts from individuals and from the
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United States government. During the first year of the library the students withdrew twelve hundred and sixty- two books for personal use, an average of fifteen per student.
Literary books were most in demand and one likes to think that the students gained an inspiration to create literature. That the reaction was not always a release of optimism is apparent from these lines written by a member of the class of 1885: -
"There is nothing that lasts for us here: a few days then a leap in the darkness.
And sin keeps dragging us down, while pain eats out all the pleasure,
And the answer of peace will not come, though we search through the love of the ages,
Though we grasp at the creeds of the ancients, and try to trace out life's beginnings.
We have sat at the feet of keen science, and turned unto Reason for refuge,
But the heart must be satisfied now! 'Tis oppressed with its burden of sorrow!
We are tired and need to be rested! Lost! and are seeking for home!
Down from the shadowy ages to Bethlehem's star and the cradle, Back from our restless today to the babe that was laid in the manger -
There, at the feet of the Christ, fall the men of all ages and nations;
There meet the scholar and child, the blind and the sin-burdened there,
Seeking together the Lord, - bowed down with the sorrow of living, -
There shall all men forever find answers of peace in Christ Jesus."
Less troubled in spirit was the author of this poem on Faith, which found its way into the columns of the Voice: -
"Thy faith, O soul, shall usher in the day,
The morning draweth nigh,
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The red is growing deeper in the sky.
The outlook widens, deepens; far away Thy bright ideals lie
In glowing splendor 'neath thine ardent glances: And Faith shall drive before her crimson lances
The shadow squadrons in confused flight.
White Faith, immortal daughter of the light,
Shall yet abide, whate'er betide.
Thy need may summon legioned seraphim,
The hand that formed thee from the dust
Will never leave thee, nor forsake thee: God is just.
All the starry hosts His praises hymn,
And all his creatures manifold - below, above -
Proclaim in living voices, God is love.
Let Love and Duty reign!
Let Truth and Beauty reign!
Let Faith her simple, trustful voice sustain,
Amid earth's labyrinthian courses dim!
One is my Master; I will follow Him."
The Colby Academy Voice made its bow in June, 1889. Its editors-in-chief were Ella M. Hunting '90 and James S. Roberts '89. The associate editors were Inez M. Bartlett '90, Melissa Carr '91, Mabel H. Prescott '92, and Bernard Christopher '93. The business managers were Clarence E. Clough '91 and Fred Farwell '91. Single numbers of the paper were sold at ten cents, but if one had faith to believe that the undertaking might last through the year he could have all the issues for twenty- five cents. In its initial greeting the editors expressed a hope that the paper might voice the thoughts and de- sires of both students and alumni. "This voice," they said, "will come to your ears sometimes like the clanging bell calling to chapel, or the quick strokes of the chalk on the mathematical boards, or the dignified 'Mr. Presi- dent, Ladies and Gentlemen,' of a public meeting when the chapel is crowded; - sometimes when you listen, like the quiet voice of prayer and of old familiar hymns.
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Or it may be only a peal of laughter ringing through the corridors, the merest 'click' of a croquet mallet on the ball, or the musical 'C-O-L-B-Y' rah! rah !! rah !!! of a victorious ball team. It will sometimes be a whispering breeze, tremulous with the songs of birds, but oftener, much oftener, old Boreas, whistling from the north, rough and wild to be sure, yet strong and stimulating, and suggestive of abundant power in reserve."
As if this were not encouragement enough the editors went on to insist, "Surely, Colby Academy must have a Voice! Far away in African forests the lion roars, the monkey chatters, the serpent hisses. Here in New London, where once the wolf howled, the owl hooted, the eagle screamed, is now heard the lowing of the cow, the neighing of the horse, the bleating of the sheep, from many a thrifty farm. Yes, and dogs are barking and cats mewing; chanticleers crow, turkeys gobble, ducks quack, and geese cackle, sparrows chirp and swallows twitter by the farmhouse eaves; crows caw and frogs croak; bees buzz among the clover, and bobolinks sing in the meadows. Yes, Colby must join in the chorus! Colby Academy shall have a Voice."
One harassed student found encouragement to break into rhyme in this protesting "Song of the Junior":
"How we study, study, study, Study, study, all the time! For straight up the hill of science We are surely bound to climb.
No, we never pause a minute; Yes, we sit up late at night; And, if once we stop for breathing, Then we do not feel quite right.
We have pined away to shadows; We are pitiful to see; Still we study and we study, Hoping Seniors soon to be.
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We will struggle and survive it, Though we're much 'the worse for wear,' And we'll know but precious little, Spite of all our toil and care."
The columns of the Voice furnished a medium of com- munication between the school and its alumni. Rhoda B. Seymour, class of '73, wrote from Denver: "I send back across mountain, river and plain a joyous greeting to the old-time friends whose hands I would so gladly grasp, with the old-time friendship made stronger and dearer by a living appreciation of life's endeavor. The thought of being forgotten by those whom we have loved always 'falls like a stone into the well of my heart and splashes the water into my eyes.' Visions of our olden feuds and friendships come up before me as I write, and I wonder for which we really liked each other most. A file of the old Clematis Tartarian rooted, said our brothers, the Friends and Euphemians of those days - would present interesting reading to us today. Could the ideas we advanced on what a woman might or might not do in the world be fossilized, they would pre- sent a wondrous field of research to the student of meta- physical geology in the ages to come!"
If the midnight oil burned while a burdened editor chewed his pencil and tried to think of a sentence that might go ringing down the grooves of time, other stu- dents were dreaming of the out-of-doors and its delights which the swinging seasons brought. "As we look back over the years spent at Colby," wrote a student, "we see that we have many things for which to be thankful. We know that we have gained much from books. Our in- debtedness to our teachers we can never repay; nor would we forget the kindness of the townspeople; but we feel that there has been another influence, silent but strong, which has done much to fit us for our life battle. From the days when the swelling buds upon the trees,
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and the sweet voices of the birds, as they fill the woods with melody, tell us that spring has come, until the white mantle of winter covers the earth, each day brings some new lesson to him who would listen to Nature's teaching. The mountains, in their silent majesty, always stand around us, reminding us 'whence cometh our strength.' The blue waters of Sunapee, so far away, speak to us of peace, until we wish that, like this beautiful lake, our lives might always mirror heavenly things."
Those were the years when athletics were coming into vogue in the academy. It was a mild form of exercise when they sat down to Thanksgiving dinner on the twenty-ninth of November, 1888, and worked their way through the menu, printed for their guidance, consist- ing of macaroni soup, roast turkey, chicken and veal, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and squash; pickles and celery and cranberry sauce, and for dessert a choice of plum pudding, mince and squash and apple pie, topping off with fruit and helping it all down with tea or coffee. It was a more violent form of exercise when the girls disputed vociferously on the croquet ground when a particularly vicious roquet drove a well-placed ball from its position. It was livelier exercise still when shortstop threw out a runner at first-base on the ball field or the catcher raced for a foul ball over where there were not any bleachers. Athletics had not yet received the un- qualified endorsement of the trustees. It would not be possible for the boys to have a real gymnasium until 1894; that was too late for the Dixon decade, and no one could have dreamed of the luxury that the girls enjoy in the junior college gymnasium. But there were gym- nastic facilities for the girls in the basement of the brick building, and the boys bowled and played polo in the old Academy without fear of injuring the old traditions. And if the luxuries of winter sports were not to be had, boys and girls both knew the joy of coasting the hills
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on double runners and participating in the plebeian sport of snowballing one another.
The coming of athletics marked the passing of the old genteel tradition. In 1889 students ceased to be classified in the catalogue as "gentlemen" and "ladies." Gentility was still the ideal, and a student had an opportunity to appreciate what a gentleman of the old school could be when he met General Luther McCutchins and stopped to converse. His dignified, urbane bearing, his unfailing courtesy and respect, even for those of callow years, was an object lesson of inner refinement and well-schooled manners. The age was leaving such standards behind. Students still said "Good morning" to their teachers at the breakfast table, the telephone "Hello" was not yet a corrupter of manners, because there was only one tele- phone in town, that in the drug store. Modern speech and conduct and self-assurance came in with the new machines and the new forces which man was proud to be able to use. They were crowding into a corner the intangibles and spiritual refinements.
To most Americans outside of Eastern centers life had been a struggle against material forces from the begin- ning. They never gave much attention to the finer things of life. But in New England schools there were genteel traditions that survived, and were as slow to pass as was the Federalist Party which cherished them, in the early part of the century. The last decade of the century is frequently called the "gay 'nineties" because the Puritan tradition was passing, and people were feel- ing conscious of their freedom to enjoy themselves more frivolously than their elders had dared. More time was given to sports and to lighter forms of amusement than concert and lecture. Even in New London the fashions of the day made their influence felt. Staid and respect- able citizens raced their horses at the New London fair. Girls in the school raced across the tennis courts as well
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as decorously trod the green turf after a croquet ball. In spite of the Total Abstinence Society boys smoked surreptitiously, and packs of cards were found once or twice in Colby Hall.
The students of those days are grandfathers and grand- mothers now, and their hopeful scions take more liber- ties in costume and conduct than were dreamed of in the nineties. But life seemed good then, even if there was less license. They enjoyed the limited diversions that they had. Students appreciated the annual excursion to Mount Kearsarge more than they would have if they could have motored to the old Winslow House in half an hour or less. A trip to Boston or Concord in vacation was an event to anticipate, because they could not drive down and back between the dark and the daylight. They did wish they could indulge in a dance now and them - those red-blooded boys and girls - instead of contenting themselves with Old Dan Tucker, or a cake walk, or a few promenades around the crowded room. They could be young but once. But they made the best of it, and they fell in love with one another and were happy, even if most of them fell out again as soon as absence brought recovery. And now they look back and think of those years in the Academy as the good old days, and now that their hair is gray and life is mostly behind instead of in front of them they are wistful and love to indulge in reminiscences of those who are gone.
Previous to 1875 the students were catalogued in three classes as seniors, middlers, and juniors. After that date the four year course made it necessary to devise another term than "middler." The imagination of the faculty seems to have been unequal to the occasion and the cumbersome terms "senior middle" and "junior middle" were adopted to designate the nondescript. So it con- tinued until in 1900 someone had the happy thought of calling the classes by the year of their graduation, and
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such they continued to be until in 1923, as if in anticipa- tion of the coming college, the collegiate terms were adopted and they were known as senior, junior, sopho- more and freshman.
In 1889 the class lists for the first time enumerated the boys and girls together. It would have been indis- creet to herd them thus at an earlier date, as it would have been for the boys who sat in the galleries of the church on Sunday and looked down on the girls in the pews on the floor to have suggested that they sit together. In that year 1889 on the eve of the 'nineties there were one hundred and ten students on the hill. Fifteen of them were seniors, eight were ranked as senior middlers. The junior middle class numbered nine, and thirteen answered to the roll call of the juniors. Besides these seventeen students were "pursuing selected studies of academic grade," thirty-eight were "pursuing prepara- tory studies," ten were "pursuing" music. It is to be hoped that some of them caught the flitting object of their chase.
It may have been the new freedom or perhaps it was something in the atmosphere of New London, or it may have been a temporary reaction from the attempt to make student life properly conventional that led several of the speakers at Commencement in 1890 to deliver their in- dividual opinions on rather startling themes. Jennie A. Palmer opened the discussion with a salutatory on "You may lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink." Julia M. Gay read an essay on "Chasms." Ella M. Hunting of New London challenged the world with "I appeal from your Customs; I must be Myself." William F. Rowley continued the rebellion against authority with an oration on "America: No King! No Slave!" The Rev- olution and the Civil War were both over but they were made vivid in Miss Burpee's class in American history, and Rowley had caught the spirit. Lucy N. Shepard
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seemed to suggest that the whole world order might crumble "Without Sound of Axe or Hammer," and Lucinda E. Carter cheered the hosts on to victory with an address to the Ladies' Literary Society on the theme
"Let him not boast who puts his armor on, As he who puts it off, the battle won."
The actual expressions of sentiment were of course far less revolutionary than these topics might seem to imply, but they were suggestive of change.
The baccalaureate sermon was preached that year by Reverend J. K. Ewer of the class of '71, who fifteen years earlier had spoken at Commencement without any fire- works on "The True Philosophy of Life." The evening address to the literary societies in 1890 was given by Rev- erend Smith Baker, D.D. Had it been President E. Ben- jamin Andrews of Brown, who had given the literary so- cieties' address four years before, he would probably have been as iconoclastic as any student, for Brown men ap- plauded him for his unconventional ways and opinions. But let it not be supposed that the graduating exercises at Colby were ever undignified or incendiary.
President Hopkins of Dartmouth relates an amusing experience of his own when as a small boy he accom- panied his father and mother to a Colby Commence- ment. As they were riding in the coach from Potter Place to New London a stranger whiled away the time by taking out his glass eye and polishing it, to the con- sternation of the small boy. Imagine the impression he received that evening just before he took a nap when he discovered that the man who stood on the platform to give the Commencement address was the person who had manipulated the glass eye in the coach, no other than President E. B. Andrews of Brown University.
The actual life of the academy is realized best by the glimpses afforded by the columns of the Colby Voice.
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"Fire has again visited New London, and Mr. Sholes's beautiful home on Burpee Hill was burned December 10. Their loss was heavy, as the insurance on the build- ing was small. They are now living in Mr. Means's house, where they board a club of students." What was the Sholes's loss was the boys' gain. They could not get to Burpee Hill in time to save the house, but they could get to Means's in time to save a waste of food.
"A candy pull was given this term by the members of the King's Daughters. An admittance fee of five cents was charged, the money being spent for carrying a barrel of clothing to a needy school in Louisiana." It was not stated whether the boys missed out on this, as at the Sholes's fire, or whether the missionary school apprecia- ted the rummage barrel.
"Polo has been a very popular game this winter. The gentlemen have had two contests, to which the ladies were invited, and much interest was felt by all." It is pleasant to know that the boys and girls both got together on these occasions. No doubt the girls cheered im- partially for both sides, but one wonders how there was room or safety for the girls on the sidelines in the old Academy when the players charged down the floor.
"Several very pleasant afternoons and evenings were spent by the gentlemen of the school skating on Lake Sunapee." Another case of sex segregation.
"The Colby cadets have held their drills this term as usual under the direction of Captain Rowley. They have purchased new caps, and hope soon to obtain guns, and are making rapid advancement." The Learnard Cadets, Mary Burpee, Captain, were being drilled twice a week by Captain "Jack" Sargent and held a public exhibition drill with refreshments and a social afterwards. There was no pacifism in the academy in 1890.
"One morning as the students came into the chapel, they were agreeably surprised to find there the picture of
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Miss Smiley. Mr. E. M. Bartlett, president of the Senior class, presented the picture, and expressed the desire that the class of 'go by this gift might perpetuate the memory, and, as far as possible, the influence, of the one who has done more for the interest of the school than any other woman. Professor Dixon responded, speaking briefly of Miss Smiley's conscientious work, noble character, and Christian influence in connection with the school." Student gifts from time to time showed appreciation of the teachers. Miss Learnard was surprised upon return- ing to her room on an April evening to find it furnished with a new rug, a student lamp, an arm chair, and a table cover, all of them birthday presents from students and alumni. It was about this time that Dr. Gardner retired to New London for his permanent home and was presented with a residence by former pupils and friends. Nor was it forgotten that Professor Knight's memorial in the cemetery was the gift of students who had known and loved him.
"Personals" kept the undergraduates in touch with those who left the academy from year to year. Here are a few from issues of the Voice in 1890:
"Mrs. Susan Colgate recently spent a few days with Mrs. D. E. Colby."
"'61 - Reverend George W. Gile is taking a two months' tour through California."
"'74 - Charles L. Pulcifer is superintendent of schools at Lake Village."
"'80- C. L. Page is assistant pastor of the Dudley Street Baptist Church, Roxbury, Massachusetts."
"'85 - F. J. Daggett is taking a post-graduate course in Brown University."
"'86 - William P. Houston, D.D.S., recently made a few days' visit in New London. He had an office at the Academy, and was busily engaged in doing dental work during his entire stay."
"'86-'88 - Fred Farwell has been elected on the Board of Editors of the Phillips Exeter Literary Monthly."
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"'86-'89 - Leon A. Hall has recently purchased Dr. Barton's recipe for compounding a medicine which is called 'Hall's Sarsa- parilla.' Leon says it cures everything."
"'87 - W. N. Donovan has been awarded highest honors in the class of '92 at Colby University."
"'90 - E. M. Bartlett is a member of the first division of the Fresh- man class in Amherst College. W. F. - Rowley sings in the Freshman quartette at Colby University. Ella Hunting and Alice Palmer are enjoying study at Boston University. Miss Palmer teaches an evening school three times a week. J. H. Bartlett and J. A. Bowers are members of the Freshman class at Dartmouth. According to last reports, A. G. Sargent is en- joying himself at his home in Sargentville, Maine."
A course of winter lectures and concerts brought to the hill Reverend J. K. Ewer of Concord, class of '71, who lectured on "The Live Yankee," Reverend O. P. Gifford of Boston whose wisdom and humor were at their best in his discussion of "The Secret of Content- ment," and Colonel L. F. Copeland entertained a church full of people with his "Snobs and Snobbery." A con- cert was given by the Ladies' Schubert Quartette of Boston, a popular favorite, assisted by Claude Fisher, Violinist.
Not all the affairs of Colby were held on the hill. Alumni exchanged reminiscences whenever they met. Some of them thought it would be enjoyable if they met oftener and proposed a regular reunion in Boston as well as at Commencement in New London. As a result the New London Association was organized by one hun- dred and fifty alumni gathered in the Thorndike Hotel on the 13th of May, 1890. J. Q. A. Brackett, class of '61 at Colby and Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts, was elected president. F. W. Elliott, class of '75, was made secretary, and John A. Taylor, class of '77, was chosen treasurer. Sherman Whipple, also of the class of '77, was appointed chairman of the executive committee. After a good dinner the Governor talked reminiscently
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on the theme "From New London hill to Beacon Hill" and the usual toasts followed. The Association thus inaugurated continued to hold annual reunions in the same place for a number of years. At the second reunion in 1891 Mayor Bean of Woburn, Representative J. Otis Wardwell, and Samuel T. Dutton, supervisor of schools in Brookline, all Colby boys, took part.
Several men prominent on the Board of Trustees or in the town of New London were passing beyond the scenes of excitement and activity. Joseph Colby Herrick, for forty years a deacon in the New London church, a trus- tee of the school, and a resident almost across the street from the academy at the top of the hill, died in the fall of 1890. Daniel E. Colby, a near neighbor, a Colby trustee, and for a time Adjutant General of New Hamp- shire, passed on in the spring of 1891. He was a brother of Mrs. Susan Colgate and the husband of Martha Green- wood Colby.
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