The class of '91 is the largest in the history of the institution, and it is interesting to note that the whole number graduated this year outnumbers the whole number graduated from this institution during the first seventeen years of its existence. A variety of circumstances has combined to produce this abnormal class. The first and foremost is, that many who entered with preceding classes, have been compelled, by financial circumstances over which they had no control, to forego the pleasure of being the happy recipient of a college diploma until the present year. Others have been compelled by the peculiar action of a college organization, known as the Faculty, to do likewise.

A small majority of the class matriculated according to the college catalogue in 1887; the Manhattan public schools furnishing a large number. With a single exception, all are residents of the "grasshopper" State, and all are typical Kansans, reckless, good-looking, wide-awake, energetic, egotistical, self-approbating, prof-defying, and domineering. These attributes are characteristic of each and every member of the class; "Ergo, ex uno disce omnes."

As freshmen, these Jayhawker characteristics failed to crop out to any material extent, except the good looks, which were innate. As sophomores, their egotism began to develop; their patriotism displayed itself, not only in the large number of recruits which they furnished to the college battalion, but also in the formation of "Company Q;" while in the spring when P. M. was the order of the day, eight-cent pay-rolls brought to the surface their reckless and prof-defying spirit. Their experience as junior orators made their self-approbation plainly visible, probably far surpassing that of the original author; while their statesmanlike solution of the "race problem," their masterful compilations on the ever-green question of "labor and capital," with the dextrous manner in which they gleaned ideas on historical subjects from the Encyclopedia Brittanica has excited the admiration of many an enraptured audience. Their sleeplessness was manifested, both literally and figuratively, in the conception and execution of the highly commendable idea of celebrating their emancipation from the thralldom of farm and garden work through the medium of a grand jubilee ball, and in their subsequent ghost dances in the opera house. As seniors, their domineering proclivities were exemplified in their selection of a class motto "We Want the Earth," and in their demands for a controlling voice in the general management of the institution.

Their energy found vent in their commercial transactions during the course in entomology; in the systematic manner in which they evolved fifty-two finished maps from a single delineation of some eight years standing; in the untiring efforts which they put forth to discover original ideas and illustrations for the benefit of the professor in fourth-year agriculture; and of late has been personified and concentrated in the seven members who constitute the Symposium Company, and who solicit subscriptions from daylight till dark, from Monday morning till Saturday night.

The morals of the class have ever been above reproach. They have never taken part in any of the disreputable work for which some of the other classes have achieved so unenviable a reputation, and they have always endeavored, by their upright conduct and the conscientious discharge of their duties, to merit the approbation which has been so cheerfully accorded them. Nearly all have, at some time during their course, attended Sabbath school, have semioccasionally attended the weekly prayer meetings;' some have learned to discourse at the Y. P. S. C. E., and all have, so far as their financial condition would allow, contributed to the support of home and foreign missions.

Taking it altogether, this class does not differ materially from the classes that have preceded it. They hunted botany specimens on the same hills; they passed in the same entomological collections that have done duty for the last fifteen years; they filled the same silos and curried the same bovines; they stole the same brand of cider from the same cellar; they told the same jokes, and have listened to the same stories in chapel; and when the glorious orb of day shall dispel the mists on the morning of June 11, they will go out into the same world to subsist upon the same charity that has furnished previous classes means of keeping body and soul intact.

The class of '91 consists of fifty-two members-thirty gentlemen and twenty-two ladies. Their ages range from eighteen to twenty-seven and a half, the average age of the class being about twenty-one and a half years. Twenty-three of the class were born in Kansas; eight in Illinois; four in Iowa; three in Michigan; two each in New York, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin; and one each in Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Canada.

The parents of twenty are engaged in farming; of three in stock raising; of three in journalism; of two in the livery business; of two in the ministry; of two as vineyardists; and of one each in the following occupations: grain dealing, hotel keeping, as mayor, as congressman, coal dealing, as postmaster, as college president, as photographer, as banker, as physician, as superintendent of sewing. Parents of six have no occupation, while two of the class are orphans.

Only ten of the class were self supporting before entering college, while the others depended on their parents or guardians for their support, and had spent the most of their time in school.

For their future occupation, ten propose to engage in teaching; five in farming; four in housekeeping; four in journalism; three in printing; two in horticulture; two in music; and one each in the following: telegraphy, taxidermy, engineering and draughting law, floriculture, railroading, electrical engineering, ministry, medicine, U. S. Army, and photography. Eleven are undecided as to how to best provide for their future welfare.

As to religion, eleven are Presbyterians, five are Congregationalists, three are Methodists, two are Episcopalians, two are Baptists, and one is a member of the Christian church. Twenty-eight have made no profession of religion.

As to politics, twenty-eight are Republicans, seven are members of the Peoples' party, five are Democrats, five are independent, two are Prohibitionists, one is a Prohibition- Democrat, and five are non-committal.

During their college course, fifteen have been Websters, thirteen have been Hamiltons, twelve have been Ionians, eight have been Alpha Betas, and four have never united with any society.

The time spent in college by the members of the class varies from eight to sixteen terms. Twenty-eight took the allotted time of four years; one completed the course in eight terms; one in eight and a half; three in nine; two in ten; three in eleven; four in eleven and a half; two in thirteen; three in fourteen; three in fifteen, and one in sixteen terms; the average time spent by the members of the class being eleven and nine-tenths terms.

Glancing back over the experiences of past years, the reader can perhaps recall a day, of all others, the memory of which can never die - the day he entered college.

For weeks previously, he had tried to imagine what his new life would be like. His mind was filled with the buildings and scones pictured in the catalogue, and with speculations as to the character, nativity and ability of his future classmates. The day at last arrives, and with a number of others who have been looking forward with the same fears and hopes, he finds himself in the school; he sees in reality the buildings, grounds and classmates which before he had only known in imagination. He is at last at the College, with all the trials and pleasures of his new life before him. The first of his trials is the entrance examination. His young, anticipative mind had, during the preceding days, greatly magnified the rigor of the test, and, timidly, feelingly, like a stranger, in a foreign land, he enters upon the trial.

If the reader has known this experience, he can readily appreciate the situation of the two hundred and fifty girls and boys who first assembled at this College September 12, 1888.

Four years had they before them, years in which their greenness should give place to infinite wisdom. The process was to be long and painful, and ere its completion their ranks would be greatly thinned. But they are now in the last stage of the race; the two hundred and fifty has dwindled to fifty, and they are still marching on. Each term sees their number made smaller and their wisdom made greater.

It is the purpose of this article to briefly glance over their path, and see the steps by which this selection and perfection has been effected.

Throughout its course the class has been remarkable for the number of professors it has initiated, the number of botany specimens collected, the multitude of insects destroyed, and the great number, variety and originality of the theories advanced on all subjects during examinations.

It is hardly necessary to speak of the various ordeals of the first year of book-keeping, word analysis and botany. There were the usual number of excursions, and the beauty of the landscape was, doubtless, as effectually marred by the loss of flowers, as at any time before or since.

After a vacation of three months, one hundred and five of the first-years of 1888-89 returned to continue their course, but no longer as freshmen. They had climbed one round of the ladder, and now felt able to master anything the second year could furnish. However, this feeling of satisfaction and power was soon changed to one of despondency, for the mathematical professor introduced them to the mysteries of quadratics and they soon saw the weakness of second-year intellect. The year rolled on and the spring term opened unusually pleasant for the class. Before two weeks had passed one could see bug nets in all directions, and it is possible that a few had bugs in them. During this term, according to tradition and custom, the boys received a course in farm and garden industrial, nicknamed P. M. This course was very thorough, but some of the boys were not, and as a result only received eight cents per hour, but this did not hurt their consciences any, for they knew that it was according to precedent. Although "bug-hunting" and P. M. are not the hardest kinds of work, they were all glad when commencement came.

The fall term of their third year opened with about fifty present. Friendly greetings was the first order, and when they assembled in their class rooms a few well known faces were absent. During this term the class made its debut in public, and no one was at all surprised to hear some oratory come from their worthy members. P. M. was still a part of the programme, and when the class was emancipated they celebrated their liberty by a social, given in one of the town halls.

The winter term was a repetition of the same routine which had been gone over for years. The most pleasant event being the Mechanics' party, given the class by Professor and Mrs. Hood. Here all enjoyed themselves and went away feeling that there were some advantages in studying mechanics. A few more tales might be told of the present junior class, but these are the principal historical facts.

The class which entered College in the fall of 1889, was the largest freshman class in the history of the institution. It numbered three hundred and seven students - one hundred and thirteen ladies, and one hundred and ninety-four gentlemen. Of this number, two hundred and eighty-nine were from the various counties of Kansas, while eighteen came from eight other States and Territories.

As might naturally be expected, there was much difference in the preparation these many students had received. Some were graduates of city high schools, some held teachers' certificates, some were former students of like educational institutions, but many came directly from the farm.

The ages of the students at entrance ranged from fourteen to twenty-five years, the average being about nineteen. The majority of the class came from well-to-do families, but a number of the gentlemen were entirely dependent upon their own exertions for support. The foolish pride often shown by students of other schools is an unknown quantity in this class, all recognizing the fact that following the plow is as honorable, if not as dignified, as wielding the sceptre. Some of the most popular members in the class are those who are working their own way.

The sophomores have an excellent record for scholarship, comparatively few failures having occurred; while in the various industrials, they have outstripped all of their predecessors. Among the ladies may be found good seamstresses, compositors, and telegraph operators, while the delicious dinners and lunches prepared and served by their hands have won for them a reputation as model cooks. Each gentleman in the class has had at least one term's work in the carpenter shop. Some having pursued wood-working, for five terms are very good carpenters. Others have taken different industrials, and have made good progress. As P. M.ists they have earned and received as hearty words of approval as ever cheered the gloomy pathway of previous pilgrims through the trying ordeal of "farm and garden work."

At play, as at work, the class is in dead earnest. Before the end of their freshman year, they had possession of the base ball championship, which they still hold against all opposing "nines." Although they have no football team of their own, they furnish some of the best players for the other teams.

Nearly all of the members of the class belong to some one of the college societies, and are among the hardest workers in each. Many of the society offices have been well and acceptably filled by second-years.

Although only half of the milestones of the course have been passed, or are in sight, there have been many incidents which will, in years to come, yield pleasant recollections. Among them we might mention the botanizing trips to File Creek, St. George, and Eureka Lake, whither we went in twos, in fours, and in whole 'bus loads, to fill our herbariums. How many of those flowers, tortured in presses till dry, then glued to paper and labeled carefully with the Latin, and better known Yankee names, will some time recall to mind the friends we rambled with, the cold dinners we ate, the long, happy days we spent in the woods, and the jolly rides home in the evening!

And can we, or will we ever forget our first "real own" class party, given to the Agriculture and Household Economy classes, by Prof. and Mrs. Georgeson, where, if the boys did outnumber the girls two to one, there were smiles and eatables enough to go around anyway? What visions of the supper, which made our ordinary boarding house fare sink into insignificance, will rise before our minds, when, with eyes grown dim, we try to read the familiar names written on our Japanese napkins by our classmates, on that memorable evening years before.

The "bugs" we collected on our trips to the Wild Cat, up the Blue, or to Fort Riley, will sometime be valued more highly for the associations they bring to mind, than for their rarity; and when that time comes, may we all have forgotten the long and tedious hours spent in learning their euphonic, but unpronounceable names.

The class of '94, having been a part of the K. S. A. C. for so short a time, has but little that may be said of it in a historical way. It can be said of this class, however, as it can be said of every other class, that it was the largest in the history of the institution. It numbers over 350 members, of whom about 140 are ladies, and 210 gentlemen. Their ages range from fourteen to twenty-eight years, and they came from every part of Kansas, only a few claiming residence outside of the State. They were altogether the best looking lot of young men and women ever seen together anywhere.

To be sure, some of them were not very well versed in society etiquette, but three weeks' association with the polished sophomores, accompanied by a careful, though necessarily distant, observation of the "tony" seniors, transformed the emerald prep. into the straightforward, mind-your-own-business first-year.

It cannot be said that anything of interest has befallen them as a class. The most of them have attended strictly to business; the rest of them have left. They have all been to the Scientific Club once, to prayer meeting once, and some have attended the Y. M. C. A., P. M. meeting. They have learned to passively endure the Friday exercises, and have had duly impressed upon their plastic minds some slight appreciation of the distinction which calls their own efforts declamations, and those of the worthy juniors orations.

They have been to several of the college socials, and most of them have learned better than to go again. They helped pull the cannon to the top of Bluemont; they were present when the agricultural professor's horse had his tail cut pompadour; they opened the water-hydrants, and they locked the Hamiltons' door. They have seen everything worth seeing, heard everything worth hearing and learned everything worth learning, and if it were not for violating a long established precedent, they would graduate this Commencement and go out in the world to sponge off their relatives, or get fat offices in other agricultural colleges along with the class of '91. But, as it is, they will probably keep right on in the even tenor of their way for three more years, and when the proper time comes, the class of '94 will get their sheepskins according to the orthodox program and leave the College, which will be the better for their having been a part of it, and the professors, who will be happier for having known them.

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Tom & Carolyn Ward Columbus, KS

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© 2002-2015 T&C Ward

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