OUR ALUMNI
Our Dear Alumni :—Have you ever been on the
staff of the college paper—the FREE LANCE ? If so
—and we hope you havewe know you can appre
ciate our sorrow when we tell you of the infinite
'influx of correspondences from among your num
ber, which we are unable to print.
By .this article we do not, in the least, mean to
set a damper on the zeal and enthusiasm of our
worthy and beloved .predecessors. For although
we have not the space to allow their publication,
we nevertheless enjoy reading them ourselves.
So please do not weary in the good work already
begun ;
.and although they, cannot appear at . pres
ent,' knowing the wish of the students •to learn a
little of the successes of those equipped with the
same implements of warfare with which they are
to launch out in a few years—all contained in these
articles—and knowing the fond desire of you
alumni to hear from one another—probably' most
conveniently through this medium—we hope in a
few years to be able to bind these manuscripts and
. sell them at mere cost. In view of. this fact we
would ask those possessing, interesting data to kind
kr forward it to this office.
We know there is the college annual—La Vie—
which will give everything of . interest of alma
wafer, but that does not touch so much on those
who have older grown. Here 's an alumnus in
Pennsylvania would like to know of the one in
California. and the one in California would like
to hear from others etc. Do you not see what
success this book will be if this vigorous corre
spondence is continued for a few years ?
AMERICAN COLLEGES AT THE CIII
CAGO
The Chicago Exposition of 1893, is expected
to show to the world the grand resources of this
country,. its advancement in manufactures, mining
and all other great industries; its progress in ar.
chitecture, painting, and sculpture. Never be
THE FREE LANCE.
fore in the history of any country has an exhibi
tion of this character been planned on such a
scale of magnificence. The great exhibits, which
will be made in every branch of art or iridustry,
will well show the rapid advancement which has
been made in these lines since the Exposition of
x 876; but one of the most important factors of
the Chicago Exposition has yet received but little
notice, namely, the displays of the various Ameri
can colleges and universities.
Now, more than ever, is the fact recognized,
that the educational institutions of any country
are the true indices of its prosperity. The Unit
ed States may well be proud of her schools and
colleges, which, though yet in their infancy,
equal, if they do not excel, those of any nation
in the world. Our. college and university system
of to-day is the growth of only a little over one
hundred years, and the advantages offered for se
curing an education in any line, classical, scien
tific, or technical, surpass anything in Europe.
The American college if its excellence were
known, would draw students from every quarter
of the globe, and instead ofmany Americans going
abroad to secure an education they would remain
here. The coming Columbian Exposition offers
an opportunity, which may not occur again in a
century, for our colleges to make an adequate dis
play of the superior advantages social,economical,
and moral. which they offer to students, and they
should make special exertions during the coming
year, and be prepared to make a complete display
in all courses of the work accomplished. If this
is done, visitors from foreign countries will obtain
a clear idea of the great progress in the learning
and the civilization of this country, which will
benefit not only the United States, but the cause
of higher educatiiin all over the world.
With faces all haggard they sat 'round the board,
Three gamblers, each eyeing intently hie hoard.
The candle burned dimly, and 'round the whole mom
THE PHANTOM POKER PLAYER.
M. W. D.