12 THE ACORN he must look at English from a rhetorical stand-point. In fact there are persons who are almost perfect in their grammar, but who are woefuly deficient in their rhetoric. When the student is well learned in the use of words and their respective places in the sentence, the paragraph and the composition, he may cast off the fetters that bind him to the text book and use his literary freedom; but for us who are not thoroughly versed in this line of thought, it is well not to be too self-dependent a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. By this, I do not mean that we are to use the text book as a novice would use a cook book not a bit of it. Our writing should be as natural as our conversation; and unless it is, to some degree, this way, we shall never be creators. We want something original. A parrot can speak some one else's words. How often have we seen plays in which the would-be actors "split the ears of the groundlings," how often have we heard a poem murdered by some pretentious reader? At this stage we may know precisely the thought the writer wished to convey, and we closed our ears in disgust. The actor or the reader was simply a parrot, much less an imitator. You may often wonder at the simple poems of our literary gods, being classed as artistic; especially when you see just such anonymous gems every day of your life. These nameless bits of poetry are found in everything readable, from the standard magazines to the country newspaper. The reason may be accounted for in this: The former are direct creations frcxm the master minds; the latter are merely imitations. After having thoroughly studied the habits of a man, it is easy to form just such habits. If the habits are good, and by imitation, you profit thereby, you are under obligations to the creator of them. We are under obligations to these great poets and philosophers, not merely for the pleasure we derive from their writings, but because of their everlasting examples. Every original thought may be improved upon, but that thought, if expressed, has influenced the philosophical mind; and brought us that nearer perfection. If some Robert Pulton had not created the steamboat, we would have had no steamboat to improve upon; if some Benjamin Franklin had not discovered electricity, we would have no modern street cars, electric lights, etc. Let us therefore be creators, that the world may be guided by our individual lights of civilization, or, as Longfellow says: Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime. And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. The long and short of it Profs. Terry and McKendrick. Prof. Lind (In Physics) "Has any member of this class a higher mark than zero?" Glen Thompson "Mine is a minus." THE ACORN 13 ATHLETICS. It is probable that a good baseball team will be organized to represent the school in that line this spring. The material, tho not very plentiful, is good, and by picking out the best from the class teams already organized a good school team can be chosen. The series of class games opened last Monday night after school between the classes of '05 and '07 and those of '04 and '06. The main feature of the game was the absence of errors on both sides. The game ended by a score of 12 to 9 in favor of the '05 and '07. The following is the lineup: Lindsay catcher Belnap Doxey pitcher Cragun Jenson 1st base Saunders. Watson, John 2nd base Taylor McKay 3rd base Jones Thompson short stop Allen Wright center field Wiggins. Childs left field Ensign. Marriots right field Watson LOCAL. Prof. Ballantyne (in music) "Leonard, do you know what a slur is?" Bingham "Yes, sir; I know one when its given." Prof. B. "Do one or more slurs ever become a tie?" Bingham "Yes, sir, when two ambitious lawyers abuse each other." There are many red-beets but they are generally round and bulky. There are very few thin beets; but there are several students here who know very well how to thin beets. Stratford "Browning, may I please take your indevilish pencil?" Prof. McKendrick (In Geometry) "Emmett, what is a parachute?" Browning "A double-barrelled shotgun." Prof. McK. "No, no; that is not the definition of a parachute." Browning "Oh! I thought you said a pair of shoots." Prof. Lind (In Zoology) "What is the prettiest tame bird that you ever heard of?" Jensen "The swallows you get at the drug store." Our two world's fair pictures the first two which proved failures apparently went up in smoke. Prof. McKay (In Grammar classes) "What is a mettlesome steed, Parley?" Taylor "A locomotive." The mountain and the squirrel. Whittier. Prof. McKendrick, Joseph Johnson. Librarian "Have you assigned for that book you have?" Peterson "Yes, sir, my assassination is on your desk." Librarian "For which book did you assign ?" Peterson "Roberts' Enthusiastic History." Where there's a Will there's a Delphiia.