that when such an opportunity is afforded again, it will be made use of by all the students. • * * * IT has probably been noticed by our readers, that the staff has completely cut personal jokes out of the local department, and have devoted that portion of the paper exclusively to news. Whether this will meet the approval of every one, we do not know, but we feel confi dent that it will raise of the LANCE above the position of a mere medium, as it were, of one person's publishing a senseless, and oft times offensive joke on another. It is extremely edifying sometimes to pick up a college paper, turn to the News Department, and then read a column or so of such remarkable statements as "The Spring has come ; ask D--- why he went up the fire escape; where did you get those Plymouth Rocks?" etc. We sincerely hope that the absence of such a style of wit and news, though we can say that in the past we have fortunately been but little given to it, will not 'be missed from the columns of the LANCE. it is the intention of the staff to give more space to the literary department and to discussion of college topics than has been done in previous years, and we hope that we will be seconded in our endeav ors, by our friends. We will be glad to recieve at any time contributions to any of the depart ments of the paper, the literary and personal de partments in particular. OWING to the condition in which we soon ex pect our athletic grounds to be, we have not put any base ball team in the field to compete with other colleges this year. This should by no means discourage those who did so well in our indoor sports last February. There will be a field day this term and we are glad to see that at least some of our athletes are practicing for it. The jumping poles have been put up and several men are trying to beat their records of last term. Arrangements' for inter-class games of THE FREE LANCE. base ball and tennis have been arranged and al though our outlook for base ball this season is not as promising as it has been in former years we should by no means let our interest in manly sports die out. There is no reason why we should not send at least one man to represent us at the field day of the Western University, to be held on the 3oth of May. We do not incur any expenses in sending off a base ball team this year, and surely it would be worth the money expended for expenses, to be represented among the Western colleges. WHEN a person picks up one of the cata. logues of our college, one of the first things he will look at is the calender. What a multitude of peculiar impressions are apt to be made upon him when he finds that college closes on July 2nd ? His first thought would probably be that it was a Normal School catalogue at which he was looking, and such perhaps would continue to be his idea were it not removed by the further contents of the pamphlet. When we ourselves think of being kept here until July znd, we cannot but feel that it is too long a time for us to be held at hard work, especially during the heat of the summer. The students here already have more hours work per day, if we include drill and practicums, than almost any other college in the country. We also begin the college year a week earlier and yet close two weeks later. All the other prominent colleges include their colle giate year between September i6th and June 12th. It has been the experience of nearly all college men that it is far more difficult to apply one's mind to study on a warm summer day than on a less pleasant day in an earlier season of the year. We hope that in coming years the calender will be so arranged by the college, that the students will be off on their vacations in the heat of the summer, instead of being kept at work here two weeks later than almost every other institution in the country. * * *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers