About the middle of the first term your cousin Charley Waldron,
that freshman at Princeton, will write and say that he would like
to come up and see you. You go to Miss French and ask her if you
can have your cousin visit you. She sniffs at the “cousin” and
tell’s you that she must have a letter from Charley’s father, one
from Charley’s minister, one from the governor of your state, and
one from some disinterested party certifying that Charley has
never been in the penitentiary, has never committed arson, and is
a legitimate child. After you have secured these letters, Miss
French will tell you that Charley will be allowed to see you next
Saturday from four till five.
Charley will come and will be ushered into the reception room.
While he is sitting there alone, the entire school will walk
slowly, one by one, past the open door and look in at him. This
will cause Charley to perspire freely and to wish to God he had
worn his dark suit.
It is not at all likely that you will be allowed to go to New
Haven during your first year, which is quite a pity, as this
city, founded in 1638, is rich in historical interest. It was
here, for example, in 1893, that Yale defeated Harvard at
football, and the historic Pigskin which was used that day is
still preserved intact. Many other quaint relics are to be seen
in and around the city of elms, mementos of the past which bring
to the younger generation a knowledge and respect for things
gone. In the month of June, for example, there is really nothing
which quite conjures up for the college youth of today a sense of
the mutability and impermanence of this mortal life so much as
the sight of a member of the class of 1875 after three days’
intensive drinking. _Eheu fugaces!_
[Illustration]
“Who Shall Write First?” _“Who shall write first?” is a question that
has perplexed many a lady or gentleman who is anxious to do the correct
thing under any circumstances. A lady who has left town may send a
brief note or a “P. P. C.” (“pour prendre congé,” i.e., “to take
leave”) card to a gentleman who remains at home, if the gentleman is
her husband and if she has left town with his business partner. Neither
the note nor the card requires an acknowledgment, but many a husband
takes pleasure in penning his congratulations to the lady, concluding
with an expression of gratitude to his friend._