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Kansas University Weekly.
doubtful coffee. These secured, I was ready for the climactic event of the first day, the torchlight parade of the alumni, reviewed by President and Mrs. Cleveland; Mrs. Cleveland to be emphasized because her name has had a magic influence upon every Princeton undergraduate ever since the day, soon after she became connected with the Administration, when she visited the college, met every student at a general reception, and won every student's heart. Loyalty to the President was a matter of course; but Presidents are no strangers in Princeton, while such another Mrs. President Princeton has seldom seen. But this is another digression; we were speaking of the parade. In preparation for it endless lines of colored lanterns had been hung along the streets of the town and at every available point upon the campus, the front and the tower of Nassau Hall had been studded with electric lamps until there was not room for another, the triumphal arches had been erected, the display of fireworks arranged, and a huge stand built in front of Nassau Hall. Admission to the campus itself was by ticket, and for once the very earth, or at least that portion of it within the campus fence, seemed too small to support all those who sought to stand upon it. While in the gathering darkness the multitude fought for space, in secret places and retired corners the preparations were making for the parade itself. The authorities had determined the time, the route, and the order of the march; but each individual class was left to exercise its own ingenuity as to what it should do, wear, pull, or carry to make its own part in the affair significant of its infinite superiority to all other classes. The results ranged all the way from the sublime to the ridiculous, the latter naturally predominating. The Washington Guards in full colonial uniform, a uniform so light that many of them must have thought of Valley Forge as they marched on that rather cool night, were beautiful; but the sublime was the division of white-headed veterans, whose class badges showed dates ranging from 1838 to 1859. They needed no uniform or transparency or float to make their part of the procession impressive; and the presence of even the
Chief Magistrate and of the hundreds of other distinguished men was a lesser honor to the occasion than was their presence, the lightness of their steps, and the enthusiasm with which they did their part.
Lanterns or torches, and badges, were carried and worn by each division, but in these there was great diversity, while apart from these there was originality run riot, originality mostly of the humorous order as was to be expected. There were many floats. One represented a tiger that would have terrified even a Kipling; another was labelled a Trojan horse, but more intimately resembled a nightmare. Transparencies were innumerable, and gave advice upon every conceivable subject, political, religious, educational or what not, besides setting forth the particular virtues of the classes that carried them. One informally besought President Cleveland, as "Grover," to send his boys to Princeton; another called for the free and unlimited coinage of a certain well known beverage without the aid or consent of anybody; another protested against the removal of old East College to make room for the new library, and nearly every other one gave expression to a sentiment that found full voice among the marching ranks below—
"We'll whoop her up for blankety-blank, we'll whoop her again,"
The blanks standing of course for the year of some class. Every college song that was ever heard in Princeton re-echoed through its streets againthat night; old college "gags" came to life again and were supplemented by innumerable new ones; the two miles or more of shouting, gesticulating, wardancing paraders might have seemed to a remoter or less accustomed observer like pandemoniac imps, had not a closer inspection showed that after all most of them were marching along quite sedately, sharing in the songs, but leaving the erratic parts of the performance to a few.
As the head of the procession finally reached the reviewing stand, after threading the borough streets for some miles, Nassau Hall burst into a blaze of light, at least so the newspapers said; your unofficial representative was just then not