Adventures and Letters of Richard Harding Davis. Richard Harding Davis

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СКАЧАТЬ Club' devoted in its beginnings to the 'pipes, books, beer and gingeralia' of Davis's song about it and the 'Mustard and Cheese' were his creations. In all his personal relationships he was the most amusing and stimulating of companions. With garb and ways of unique picturesqueness, rarer even in college communities a generation ago than at present, it was inevitable that he sometimes got himself laughed at as well as with. But what did it all matter, even then? To-day it adds a glow of color to what would be in any case a vivid, deeply valued memory.

      "It is hard to foresee in youth what will come most sharply and permanently in the long run. After all these years it is good to find that Davis and what his companionship gave one hold their place with the strongest influences of Lehigh."

      But Richard was naturally gregarious and at heart had a great fondness for clubs and social gatherings. Therefore, having refused the offer of several fraternities that did him the honor to ask him to become a member, it was necessary for him to form a few clubs that held meetings, but no secrets. Perhaps the most successful of these were "The Mustard and Cheese," a dramatic club devoted to the presentation of farces and musical comedies, and The Arcadia Club, to the fortnightly meetings of which he devoted much time and thought. The following letter to his father will give some idea of the scope of the club, which, as in the case of "The Mustard and Cheese," gained a permanent and important place in the social life of Lehigh.

      DEAR DAD:

      We have started the best sort of a club up here which I am anxious to tell you of. It consists of a spread, net price of which will be about 30 cents each, every two or three weeks. Only six fellows belong and those the best of the College. Purnell, Haines and myself founded it. I chose Charley, Purnell, Reeves, Haines and Howe. We will meet Saturday nights at 9 so as not to interfere with our work, and sing, read, eat and box until midnight. It is called the "Pipe and Bowl," and is meant to take the place that The Hasty Pudding, Hammer and Tongs and Mermaid do at other colleges. Two of us are to invite two outsiders in turn each meeting. We will hope to have Dad a member, honorary, of course, when we can persuade him to give us a night off with his company. We want to combine a literary feature and so will have selected readings to provoke discussions after the pipes are lit. The men are very enthusiastic about it and want to invite Mr. Allen and you and every one that they can make an honorary member of immediately.

      It was first as an associate editor and afterward as editor-in-chief of the college paper, The Lehigh Burr, that Richard found his greatest pleasure and interest during his three years at Lehigh. In addition to his editorial duties he wrote a very great part of every issue of the paper, and his contributions included short stories, reports of news events, editorials, and numerous poems.

      As, after his life at college, Richard dropped verse as a mode of expression, I reprint two of the poems which show him in the lighter vein of those early days.

A COMMENCEMENT IDYL

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      "I'm a Freshman who has ended his first year,

       But I'm new;

       And I do whate'er the Juniors, whom I fear,

       Bid me do.

       Under sudden showers I thrive;

       To be bad and bold I strive,

       But they ask—'Is it alive?'

       So they do.

      I'm a Sophomore who has passed off his exams,

       Let me loose!

       With a mark as high as any other man's,

       As obtuse

       I'm fraternal. I am Jolly.

       I am seldom melancholy

       And to bone I think is folly,

       What's the use?

      I'm a Junior whom exams. have left forlorn, Flunked me dead;

       So I'll keep the town awake 'till early morn; Paint it red.

       At class-meetings I'm a kicker,

       Take no water with my liquor,

       And a dumb-bell's not thicker

       Than my head.

      I'm a Senior whose diploma's within reach, Eighty-four.

       On Commencement Day you'll hear my maiden-speech; I will soar!

       I got through without condition;

       I'm a mass of erudition;

       Do you know of a position!"

OUR STREET

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      "Our street is still and silent,

       Grass grows from curb to curb,

      No baker's bells

       With jangling knells

       Our studious minds disturb.

       No organ grinders ever call,

       No hucksters mar our peace;

       For traffic shuns our neighborhood

       And leaves us to our ease.

      But now it lives and brightens,

       Assumes a livelier hue;

       The pavements wide,

       On either side,

       Would seem to feel it too.

       You might not note the difference,

       The change from grave to gay,

       But I can tell, and know full well,

       Priscilla walks our way."

      Shortly after his return to college Richard celebrated his nineteenth birthday, and received these letters from his father and mother:

      April 17th, 1883.

      MY DEAR BOY:

      When I was thinking what I could give to you to-morrow, I remembered the story of Herder, who when he was old and weak and they brought him food and wine asked for "a great thought to quicken him."

      So I have written some old sayings for you that have helped me. Maybe, this year, or some other year, when I am not with you, they may give you, sometimes, comfort and strength.

      God bless you my son—

      YOUR OLD MOTHER

      who loves you dearly—dearly.

      THE PHILADELPHIA СКАЧАТЬ