Claude M. Fuess
An Old New England School

CHAPTER XX

THE END OF AN ERA

DR. BANCROFT seems to me to have been, when looked at from all standpoints, an ideal head of Phillips Academy. He embodied its traditions; in his alert personality he expressed its present activities; and in his strivings he foreshadowed its future usefulness, ---in a word, he was the Academy.

CHARLES MOORE, '74.

IT was Dr. Bancroft's boast that the school over which he presided was, like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, a thoroughly national institution. Before his administration closed, it was possible to prove that there was hardly a city in the United States in which an Andover man could not be found. In his dormitory on Andover Hill a New Yorker might live with a Californian or a Texan, and make many friends from beyond the Rockies. As the boys thus rubbed shoulders with one another, provincial prejudices disappeared, local dialects were forgotten, sectional animosities were eradicated; in a word, New Englanders, Southerners, and Westerners learned to know and respect men from other districts than their own and acquired that broad tolerance which is necessary to the true American spirit.

In 1874, of the 237 boys registered, 91, or about 38 per cent, were from Massachusetts. Ten years later, when the Principal for the first time published the representation of his pupils in the catalogue, 197 students, or more than 66 per cent, were from outside the Commonwealth. In 1901, Dr. Bancroft's last year, the number from Massachusetts had diminished to only 122 out of 407, or approximately 30 per cent. These statistics, showing, as they do, a progressive development, require no comment.

From time to time special delegations of foreigners, especially Chinese, would appear in Phillips Academy, where they usually made brilliant records. The story is told of one Chinaman in particular who, through carelessness, fell below in his studies. The poor report was sent, in accordance with instructions, to his Government, and the reply came back at once, "Send him home, and we will behead him." Needless to say, this warning accomplished its purpose.

In 1884, also, Dr. Bancroft thought it wise to publish the names of graduates who had been admitted to college in the previous autumn, and this custom has been continued ever since. Of the boys who left Andover in 1883, 26 went to Yale, 13 to Harvard, and 15 to various other institutions. Of the members of the class of 1894, 74 chose Yale, --- either Classical or Sheffield Scientific, --- 27 Harvard, and 24 other colleges. In 1900, 37 Andover men entered Yale, 24 Sheffield Scientific School, 26 Harvard, and 37 other colleges, --- nineteen separate institutions in all being represented in the list of choices. The Yale tradition still remained powerful, so powerful that a good majority of the graduates in any given year usually selected New Haven; but Phillips Academy, after 1884 at any rate, prepared boys for any higher institution. The old impression that Andover is almost exclusively a fitting school for Yale has been for many years entirely erroneous.

Dr. Bancroft was engaged heart and soul in the matter of preserving a high standard of scholarship. Realizing the importance of prizes in stimulating the latent ambitions of boys, he made vigorous and successful efforts to secure endowments for this purpose; and he also originated the plan of printing the names of winners in the school catalogue. In 1893 he published also a list of those Seniors who took "final honors" in special courses and subjects. Since 1884 there has been no reason to question the quality of the work done in college by the average graduate of Phillips Academy.

From 1875 until 1900 the cost of living, and consequently the cost of education, increased enormously. In order to balance receipts and expenditures the Trustees were forced, much against their wills, to raise the price of tuition. After some experiments the rate was fixed in 1884 at $24 for the fall term, and $18 for the winter and spring terms.

Other increases were made in 1891 and 1898, and finally, on February 22, 1902, an annual charge of $150 was established. In 1895 a graduation fee of $7 was made a requirement of every candidate for a diploma.

We cannot leave Dr. Bancroft's administration without saying a word regarding his relations with the Board of Trustees. It has been said by one who knew the Principal intimately that no one ever appreciated while he was alive the annoying difficulties which he confronted. When his projects were perfected in his own mind, it was irksome for him to have to delay in order to satisfy men of a less sanguine temperament. Dr. Taylor had absolutely dominated his Trustees; Dr. Bancroft was not ambitious to play the part of despot, but he soon showed himself to be a pillar of strength for that body. His was the master will; but he had to contend at different times with diverse phases of inertia, conservatism, and distrust. He often himself expressed surprise that he was ever able to bring unity out of a discord which seemed unmanageable.

Many of the Trustees, however, were men well equipped for guiding a great school. President Seth Sweetser, who died March 24, 1878, was succeeded by the Honorable Alpheus Hardy (1) (1815-1887), of Boston, who had been on the Board since 1858. At his resignation in 1885 his place as President was taken by the Reverend Daniel Taggart Fiske(2) (1819-1903), of Newburyport, who had served as Trustee since 1861, and who was to be President until October 16, 1899, when, at the age of eighty, he withdrew from the Board. In 1900 Judge Robert Roberts Bishop (3) (1834-1909), who had been made a Trustee in 1881, was chosen President, and was holding that position when Dr. Bancroft died.

The growing responsibility of the treasurership had, since 1868, been borne faithfully and capably by Edward Taylor; but he resigned on June 10, 1889, although he continued to act as Trustee until his death in 1893. In his place the members selected Alpheus Holmes Hardy(4) (1840-), a retired merchant, who had, in 1885, taken his father's seat upon the Board. Mr. Hardy retained this office until August 1, 1901.

Of the other men who made up the Board during Dr. Bancroft's time, several had already made their marks in different fields. Honorable Joseph Samuel Ropes(5) (1818-1903), a Trustee for twenty-three years from 1874 to 1897, had an influential voice in deliberations; the Reverend Alexander McKenzie(6) (1830-1914) was on the Board for thirty-four years, from 1876 until his resignation, April 5, 1910; President Franklin Carter(7) (1837-), of Williams College, became a Trustee in 1881 and served until 1902; the Honorable Horace Fairbanks(8) (1820-88) was on the Board for the two years before his death; and the Reverend James Gardiner Vose(9) (1830-1908), an eminent clergyman of Providence, Rhode Island, was a Trustee from 1886 until he died. Mr. George Brown Knapp, the oldest member of the present Board, was chosen in 1899, as was also Professor James Hardy Ropes, of Harvard University. Professor Ropes was the first of a group of young men who, as a consequence of the growing feeling that the younger alumni ought to be represented, were given their share in the government of Phillips Academy, to the very great advantage of the school. The withdrawal in 1900 of the Reverend Joshua Wyman Wellman(10) (1821-1915) and the death in 1899 of Theodore Moody Osborne (1849-99) created two vacancies, which were filled, on February 8, 1901, by the election of two new Trustees, Mr. Clarence Morgan and Mr. James Cowan Sawyer, the first of whom was only thirty-one and the second but twenty-eight. Later in the year Mr. Sawyer took Mr. Alpheus H. Hardy's place as Treasurer of the Board. Since that date the new Trustees have been selected almost uniformly from the younger alumni, and have been men possessing an intimate acquaintance with Phillips Academy and its peculiar problems.

The notorious theological controversy which, in 1886 and 1887, so disturbed the peace of Andover Hill had no appreciable immediate effect on Phillips Academy, except in so far as it diverted the attention of the Trustees from the affairs of the school. The charges against five of the ablest Seminary professors --- Smyth, Tucker, Churchill, Harris, and Hincks --- were on the ground that the teachings and writings of these eminent scholars were "not in harmony with sound doctrine as expressed in the Creed which the Founders and Donors of this institution [Andover Theological Seminary] made the unalterable condition of the gifts which were committed in sacred trust to this Board." The subsequent proceedings proved the truth of Emerson's remark that "Men are better than their theology." The attack was supported by only one member of the Board of Trustees, together with a group of Seminary alumni. When the case was referred to the Board of Visitors, four of the professors were completely exonerated, but the fifth, Professor Egbert C. Smyth, was declared to be removed from his office as Brown Professor of Ecclesiastical History. He, however, as was his right, appealed at once to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, which body, after some years, referred the question, on technical grounds, back to the Visitors. Many of the original animosities having cooled in the meantime, the Visitors were quite willing to leave Professor Smyth in office, and he kept his place as professor until his death. Dr. Bancroft, in expressing his opinion on the points at issue, said, with his usual breadth of view:---

I ... find that these professors deserve for their industry, their zeal, their scholarship, their piety, not the disfranchisement and suspicion of the friends of the Seminary and of sacred learning, but encouragement, sympathy, and approval.

One feature of the second half of Dr. Bancroft's administration was the spread of alumni organizations. The first regular dinner of the Alumni Association of Phillips Academy was held on Wednesday, March 24, 1886, at the Parker House in Boston, with over two hundred and fifty graduates present. The New York Association gave its first dinner on March 31, 1891, at the Hotel Brunswick. Early in the following year a Chicago Association was also formed. It was during this period that a deliberate effort was begun to induce alumni to return in force at Commencement time. Dr. Bancroft succeeded in arousing among the graduates a spirit of loyalty to Phillips Academy, and a desire to further its interests.

It has been estimated that over ninety-six hundred students were, at one time or another, under Dr. Bancroft's jurisdiction at Phillips Academy. A very large proportion of these men are still alive, with much of their life-work yet to do. It would be invidious then, to select from their number any special names of those who have won distinction. In practically every field, --- law, medicine, education, business, diplomacy, politics, journalism, literature, and religion, --- there are Andover men who stand in the front rank of their respective callings. It will remain for the future historian to judge the dead, and to make a list of eminent alumni under Dr. Bancroft.

Some events of particular importance in the Principal's life still remain to be spoken of. By a strange coincidence one of his children was born on April 21, 1878, exactly one hundred years after the signing of the Constitution of Phillips Academy. The boys, when they heard of the happy event, promptly assembled, sent Dr. Bancroft a centennial bouquet, and voted that the child should be christened Phillips. In the summer of 1880 the Principal and all his children were ill of diphtheria, and one boy, Arthur, died. So exhausted was Dr. Bancroft from his work in the following winter that he was given a vacation by the Trustees, and Mr. Merrill served for some weeks as Acting Principal.

On June 12, 1888, Dr. Bancroft, at the solicitation of the Trustees, accepted a leave of absence and was reluctantly persuaded to take a gift of $1000 in addition to his salary. He would not sail, however, until December 29, at a time when he was sure that the school was well started. During his absence Professor Coy was Acting Principal, Professor Comstock, Dean of the Classical Department, and Professor Graves, Dean of the English Department. This group of teachers, the famous "triumvirate," led chapel in turn and sat together on the platform, managing the school in committee. The results were not altogether fortunate, for the discipline of the Academy was so far impaired that, before June arrived, an unusually large number of students had been rusticated or expelled.

Relations between Dr. Bancroft and Professors Coy and Comstock were, after this year, never quite so intimate as they had been before. It was not long, however, before the situation was relieved by the announcement in June, 1892, that Professor Coy had resigned in order to become Principal of the newly-founded Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and that he would be accompanied by Professor Comstock. For nearly twenty years these two great teachers had been connected with Phillips Academy, and had gained for themselves a reputation almost as widespread as Dr. Bancroft's. An editorial in the Phillipian for March 23, 1892, spoke with regret of the rumored resignations: --

Much of the renown which our school has obtained is due to the ability and efforts of these two teachers.

We do not know the causes which have led to their decision, but we are sure that the money motive has no place among them. Perhaps the meager equipment of the Academy during recent years, the press of work, and the small share which they have had in the government of the school have contributed towards the sum of causes.

Many intelligent citizens of Andover took it for granted that the Academy would inevitably decline with Coy and Comstock no longer on the Faculty. As a matter of fact, however, it was only a year or two before Dr. Bancroft, an unerring judge of men, was able to boast that he had. fully compensated for their loss by adding to his staff two teachers who, as the future was to show, were to display ability equal to that of their predecessors. Professor Allen R. Benner and Professor Charles H. Forbes, who to-day hold the chairs of Greek and Latin respectively, have seen a longer service in Phillips Academy than either Comstock or Coy. Dr. Bancroft had the laugh on his critics, who believed that he could not succeed without the "triumvirate" to back him.

On May 20, 1896, the town of Andover celebrated its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and Dr. Bancroft, whose management of the Academy Centennial had not been forgotten, acted as Chairman of the General Committee. Into the excessive labor involved he threw himself with unreserved enthusiasm, with the result that the programme was carried out with gratifying punctuality and success.

On March 29, 1898, Mrs. Bancroft, who had been for some years in feeble health, died. She was a quiet, unostentatious lady, with a generosity which led her to assist every one whom she knew to be in distress. Her death was a crushing blow to Dr. Bancroft, who was himself suffering from a malady which was gradually undermining his strength. In October, 1898, the Trustees allowed him another opportunity to recuperate, and he once more sailed for Europe, leaving Professor Graves in charge of the school; he gained little real relief, however, and when he returned in March, 1899, he seemed much less active. His former elastic step was not so springy, his quick mind had lost some of its alertness. During the ensuing months he kept doggedly at his daily task, but his control of matters was more lax, and the Academy, while never in danger of a crisis, missed the firm hand which had for so long directed its course. The value of the efficient Faculty which he had gathered around him was now evident in the smoothness with which the schedule continued to be carried out. During the summer of 1901 Dr. Bancroft, restless and exhausted, once more went abroad. On his return he rapidly declined, and was obliged to give up his walks to his office. On Friday, October 4, 1901, he died.

Private services were held in the home on Chapel Avenue which he had occupied since 1892. The public funeral took place on Monday, October 7, in the Stone Chapel. Twelve of the students acted as bearers, and the cortège was escorted by the entire undergraduate body, the President of the school acting as Chief Marshal. The Chapel exercises were conducted by President Tucker, of Dartmouth College, and a committal service was read by Dr. John Phelps Taylor. Dr. Bancroft was buried in the beautiful cemetery on Andover Hill, where Dr. Samuel H. Taylor had been laid to rest over thirty years before. In 1905 a granite monument, the gift of his pupils, was erected over his grave.

Resolutions of respect and honor to the dead Principal were passed by many organizations, and messages of condolence came from his "old boys" the country over. Of all the expressions of affection and recognition not one was more genuinely sincere than that voiced officially by his colleagues on the Board of Trustees: ----

After many years of distinguished service he rests from his labors. His administration of the interests of the Academy has been eminently successful. By large ability and discretion he so fulfilled the varied duties of his office that he readily commanded the confidence of those associated with him, and the respect and grateful affection of the thousands of boys who have been under his care. He has kept the school in its high place before the colleges and the world. He will always and everywhere be named with honor.

Beyond all which was official, he has endeared himself to those who have stood with him by his fine qualities of heart, his constant courage and patience, his cheerfulness and hopefulness, and the full measure of his friendliness.

Every thought of him is pleasant. His work will abide and his memory be an encouragement to fidelity. He has gained the blessing which belongs to him who has lived in the love of God and the service of men.

In the course of his career Dr. Bancroft received many honors which, in several cases, were the direct reward of his success at Phillips Academy. In 1874 the University of the State of New York made him a Doctor of Philosophy; by which title he soon came to be familiarly known. Williams College in 1891 gave him the degree of Doctor of Letters, and Yale, in 1892, added to it the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1897 he was made a Trustee of Dartmouth College. With scholars like Professor Goodwin, Professor Kittredge, President Harper of Chicago, and Dean West of Princeton, he served as a member of the "Committee of Twelve" appointed by the American Philological Association, in defense of the Greek language. He was constantly being called upon for addresses on educational topics. As an authority on secondary education he had a national fame, although, with the little leisure at his disposal, he was unable to publish as much as he desired.

His work in the field of education, however, represents only a portion of his activity. Unlike Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, Dr. Bancroft was a practical man of affairs. "Had Dr. Bancroft been a business man he would have become a millionaire," said a prominent manufacturer who knew him well. He was a director of the Andover National Bank and of the Merrimack Insurance Company, and a trustee of the State Hospital at Tewksbury. He added to his responsibilities by consenting to act as trustee of various private estates, which he managed shrewdly and carefully. In town deliberations he was always a leader, whose advice and assistance was sought and whose words were heard attentively. He was Andover's most respected citizen.

It was this many-sided and compendious nature that was the "Doctor's" chief distinction. In reply to a warning against overwork he once said: --

I promised myself years ago that I would never fossilize as nothing but a schoolmaster; so, as I am a "reverend," I marry a couple once in a while, and, as an interested civilian, I sit as Trustee of a bank, and of a college or seminary. You see I am strictly in it.

It was this never-ceasing nervous necessity for action which eventually wore him out. His best photograph shows him at his desk, surrounded by letters and pamphlets. Like most busy men, too, he was seldom so much occupied with the countless routine duties of his position that he was not able to discuss a petty matter with a landlady or to argue with a persistent teacher over an absurd question of discipline which ought never to have been brought to his notice. Idleness was incompatible with his temperament. Even in his last days, when he was too feeble to take a seat at this desk, he would lie on a couch in the familiar north room in the Treasurer's office, in order to keep a sharp eye on what was going on. His sense of responsibility never left him. Once, when one of his pupils remonstrated with him concerning the methods which he had used in detecting the perpetrator of a rather serious offense, Dr. Bancroft, in a voice evidently full of deep emotion, said:---

You will do almost anything to find out what is going on when you have to account for the character of three hundred boys to parents who are more than anxious that they should do the right thing here, and hereafter become upright men.

Dr. Bancroft had also an undisguised and never-failing sense of humor. Those who were privileged to know him intimately have applied to him Shakspere's words, --

                           A merrier man
Within the limit of becoming mirth,
I never spent an hour's talk withal.

When his colleagues entered his office, he often greeted them with a twinkle in his eye and a suppressed chuckle, "I've got a new story." He used to tell with glee of the time when he called up a boy one Monday morning and said, "You were not at Chapel yesterday." "No; I went to the Free Church." "Oh, who preached there?" "I sat back; I didn't get his name." "Well, what was the text?" "I don't remember his text." "Well, what was his sermon?" "Oh, it was a very good talk, but I don't just remember what it was about." "Well, what did he look like?" "I don't remember what he looked like." "What an unfortunate memory! It was I who preached." Stories like this often made a hard day's work endurable.

The Principal's memory for faces and names was little short of astounding. Seldom did one of his "old boys," no matter how changed by time or the strain of business cares, enter his office without being greeted immediately by name; and the recognition was usually followed by some reminiscence of the student's career in school. He was fond of probing into family relationships, and he knew the ramifications of Andover genealogy by heart. Often in Faculty meeting he would hold up a discussion by giving in detail a list of a boy's sisters and cousins and aunts until the teachers were overwhelmed by the mass of information at his disposal. His knowledge of the home conditions of some youngsters led the "Doctor" sometimes to be lenient when his colleagues wanted him to be strict; but he always had a justifiable reason tucked away in his capacious mind.

Dr. Bancroft was a thoroughly good and a genuinely religious man. His unselfishness was very frequently a cause of irritation to friends who were anxious to see that he lacked none of the comforts of life. Even to the end his time and his purse were at the disposal of the least deserving beggar, and he saved nothing out of his salary. His religion was not mystical, but practical. It was in his character to love life and its opportunities, and to scorn that philosophy which looks upon earth simply as a somewhat painful place preparatory for a finer state beyond the grave. In his letter to his Dartmouth classmates, at the time of their fortieth reunion in 1900, he sounded this note of optimism, although he himself knew then that his days were numbered: --

Life is worth living in a much wider and deeper sense than I imagined when I was in college. I did not know how much happiness there was in it. I hope I have got a little past the drudgery of duty into the enjoyment of the whole complex of motives and activities, which gather themselves up into pursuits which are absorbing and satisfying. Religion seems to be an element in life, and not a separate department of it.

It is probably still too early to make a final estimate of the influence of Dr. Bancroft upon the Academy which he loved. A century from now the historian will be able to get a clearer perspective, to separate what is essential and permanent from what is unimportant and ephemeral. We to-day, however, can see that his prescience was extraordinary, and that in an unassuming way he was continually planning a future of immense possibilities for his school. In carrying out his designs he was not hasty or impulsive; he recognized that --

The wisdom of mankind creeps slowly on,
Subject to every doubt that can retard
Or fling it back upon an earlier time.

It is true that Phillips Academy, while he was in charge of it, grew rapidly; but the expansion was natural, not forced, and it was merely a legitimate extension of ideas which must have been somewhat in the minds of the Founders. It is significant, also, that none of his work has had to be undone by his successor. In several cases, indeed, he barely suggested schemes which Dr. Stearns has been glad to put into operation, because they were based upon sound principles. Dr. Bancroft needs no formal eulogy. Even those who never knew him, who are compelled to judge him simply by what he accomplished, feel that his spirit is still alive; and they love to think of him in the words of Lowell's lines on Dr. Channing, --

Thou art not idle; in thy higher sphere
Thy spirit bends itself to loving tasks,
And strength to perfect what it dreamed of here
Is all the crown and glory that it asks.

 

CHAPTER XXI

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.

DURING the early years of Phillips Academy there seems to have been little need for student societies, and conditions were probably not favorable to their formation. The paternalism of the Principal was so strict that the boys enjoyed almost no liberty; consequently they lacked initiative and showed no inclination to group themselves in organizations. Furthermore, there was in many sections of the country a prejudice against anything savoring of a secret fraternity. For these reasons, and others which are less definitely known, we hear of no student society until the administration of John Adams. William Person in 1814 speaks often of a "Moral Society," of which he was a member. This was evidently identical with a "Society for the Promotion of Good Morals," to which Sereno T. Abbot was admitted in 1827. Of the aims, the conduct, and the history of this organization nothing can be learned. We know also that young Abbot in 1827 was elected to the "Musical Society of Phillips Academy," but nothing can be discovered regarding this society except its motto, --"Deo laudes cancre bonum, dulce, et decorum est."

The first society concerning which any information has been accumulated is the Social Fraternity, which met, apparently for the first time, on July 22, 1817. It was originally secret, for mention is made in the Records of certain "peculiar signs" employed by the members. There were three officers: a Master of Ceremonies, a Master of Symbols (frequently spelled cymbals and simbols), and a "Lampadum Curator." Oliver Wendell Holmes once said of it that it was "secret and literary, and that the ceremony of initiation was calculated to impress a youthful imagination." From the motto, --- "Ad excolendam declamandi et bene scribendi artem," --- it may be deduced that the society had high aims; indeed, the revised constitution of 1829 mentions, as the chief object, "mutual improvement in the following branches of English literature, viz., Composition, Criticism, and Extemporaneous Debates." Some attempt was made at intervals to encourage the writing of Greek and Latin poems. Members, who were regularly Seniors, were chosen from the Middle class at the close of each year. The fraternity maintained a small but select library, open to members only. It usually held an Exhibition during the spring term; in 1827 the programme consisted of eleven numbers, including an essay on Novel Reading, a poem on Intemperance, and a "dispute," ---"Is Force or Beauty more Desirable in Writing?"

In the autumn of 1824 Horatio B. Hackett, aggrieved because, not being a Senior, he was denied admission to the Social Fraternity, induced three of his classmates, Ray Palmer, Jonathan French Stearns, and William Newell, to join him in forming a new society which, after a constitution had been framed, met for organization on January 5, 1825. The purpose of this Philomathean Society was stated in the preamble of the constitution to be "mutual improvement." It was agreed that the transactions should be kept secret, and that meetings should be held every Wednesday night. The impressive initiation ceremony has been described by Dr. Palmer: ----

The affair took place in the evening, and the end of the stage was converted into a dark closet, in which sat a personage so arrayed as to make, by the light of a very feeble lamp, a tolerable impersonation of Beelzebub. Into this presence the candidate was solemnly ushered, and found himself alone with the distinguished-looking personage, who, in awful, sepulchral tones, addressed him in the following fashion, --

If e'er these secrets thou reveal
Let thunders on thy forehead peal;
On thy vile bones thy flesh shall rot,
And witches dire around thee trot.

Nothing of what was coming was known to the wight who was to pass through the ordeal; and the awe felt at the moment was very real, as was shown in one case by a student who, having some suspicion that there might be some humbug, courageously declared that, if there were any, he should treat it with contempt. This same person, when he found himself in the dimly lighted place, face to face with what seemed to be the Prince of Darkness, actually got on his knees at the summons of his Princeship, whom he afterwards discovered to be none other than his chum. This, of course, was nuts to the boys.

At the first meeting of Philo, the society, emulating the Social Fraternity, resolved to have a library, which was started with a nucleus of fifty-two volumes, including a medley of books and tracts representing all classes of literature except plays, which were then on the Index Expurgatorius of Calvinistic New England. The Records of the society show that the members took part in numerous debates in which momentous questions of the day were presumably settled to the satisfaction of all concerned.

In 1827, when William H. Hadley was President, Philo suffered a temporary eclipse, and the seven loyal members divided the property of the society, binding themselves to produce it when meetings should be resumed. Fortunately the organization survived this interruption of business and was reconstituted, only, however, to be neglected for a few weeks on account of a spirited revival then going on in the town, --- "whereby we hope to be more profited than when meeting together for performance." In this preference of religion to oratory may undoubtedly be seen the influence of Principal John Adams.

The good feeling between Philo and the Social Fraternity was displayed in various courtesies shown by each to its rival. Indeed the members of Philo usually left that organization when they became Seniors, and joined the older society. The authorities soon permitted the two groups to use the same room for a library and assembly hall. Of the methods of business procedure then employed in Philo it is impossible to say much, for the Records are frequently imperfect and no one now alive can contribute to the investigation. We know that there were heated arguments as to what books were desirable for the library. On one occasion it was voted that Campbell's Journey and Scott's Guy Mannering should be burned as improper literature, but a week later the decision concerning the latter volume was rescinded. It was agreed that no book from the society library should be carried into the Academy and read during school hours. One alumnus recalls that in 1837 the members of Philo were absorbed in the question, "Are teachers as much needed as ministers?" and settled it in the negative by a vote of 8 to 11.

In the days of the Stone Academy Philo met in the English room, "Number 1." Many of the younger boys, restive under the flow of rhetoric, amused themselves in peculiar ways. A favorite pastime was to fill a desk with waste paper, drop in a lighted match, and close the lid down; excitement was sure, within a few minutes, to develop. In the week of July 4 students not of the elect were likely to hurl firecrackers through the open windows, and sometimes to squirt water from syringes over some fervent orator. But the society survived these trials, and, more than once, in a well-planned sortie scattered the enemy and sent them to their rooms discomfited.

In 1848 the Social Fraternity, which had not been prospering, invited the Philo members to attend its closing meeting of the term. Hardly had the guests entered when Jerome Kimball, one of the hosts of the evening, rose and made a slanderous attack on Philo. Confusion followed and, in the midst of several hand-to-hand combats, the Philo men departed. On the next morning "Uncle Sam" administered a severe rebuke to the Social Fraternity. In the following June, when new members were elected to the Social Fraternity, they refused to join it, and the society died a natural death. Its property was disposed of at auction, and the Records were closed with the words, "O tempora! O mores!" appropriately ascribed to Shakspere. At the same time the books belonging to Philo and to the defunct Social Fraternity were united with those of the Society of Inquiry, and became the "Associate Library," which for many years contained the only reading matter, exclusive of that belonging to the Seminary, accessible to the Academy boys.

BARTLET HALL

MRS. STOWE'S HOUSE, ENLARGED AS THE PHILLIPS INN

This Society of Inquiry just mentioned was founded in 1833 under the name of the "Missionary Fraternity." It was primarily a religious organization, established through the influence of Principal Johnson and a few Seminary professors. Its object was stated as follows: --

A few of the pious members of Phillips Academy met October 7, 1833, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of forming an association the object of which shall be to inquire into the moral state of the world, and to effect a mission to the heathen in the persons of its members.

At first only those were to be eligible who proposed to devote themselves to missions. The signers of the constitution were thirteen in number, Isaac P. Langworthy being the president. At the regular meetings held on the last Monday of each month the programme consisted of a great deal of prayer interspersed with readings from missionary magazines. Tracts were distributed through the town. Anniversaries in imitation of those held by Philo were celebrated every year. In 1839 the name was changed to Society of Inquiry, and the constitution was so amended that "any pious students of the Academy" could become members.

The Society of Inquiry soon broadened its scope and devoted itself to diverse forms of philanthropy. The membership fees, together with funds solicited from the Faculty and townspeople, were applied to various benevolent purposes; in 1844, for instance, the available money was contributed to the Home Missionary Society. In the decade from 1840 to 1850 meetings were held twice a month, and the discussions which developed became so popular that the society gradually laid increasing emphasis on debating. By the mid-century it had come to rival Philo in the quantity and quality of its literary production. About 1850 a member of Inquiry acted each year as Superintendent of the Abbot Village Sunday School, and until 1868 the society assumed entire charge of this school, providing it also with papers and library books. From 1856 until 1860 it maintained a similar school in the "Scotland District." The society still conducted prayer-meetings, at one period on two evenings a week, Tuesday and Saturday, later on Sunday and Wednesday.

The fact that the society was gradually losing its exclusively religious character is also brought out in other ways. The debates show a tendency to encroach on the field already covered by Philo. In 1857, after considering the question, "Is the custom of using tobacco a sin?" the members voted 16 to 3 in the affirmative on the merits of the point at issue. They decided that theater-going is wrong and that dancing is "detrimental to the moral interests of society." By 1873, however, they were discussing such topics as Woman Suffrage, International Coinage, the Elective System, and National Prohibition. Their attitude on school problems was somewhat priggish: they agreed, in 1876, "that secret societies are an evil"; they rejected by a small vote a resolution that "one good sermon is sufficient for the Sabbath"; and they resolved "that intercollegiate boat-racing is detrimental to good morals."

In 1839 Philo and Inquiry held a joint anniversary, but this custom was soon abandoned. Under Dr. Taylor the annual exhibitions of the two organizations came to be features of Commencement Week, and the honor of delivering the President's address was highly esteemed. At Philo's twenty-ninth anniversary, July 21, 1855, Franklin Carter presented an oration, Alexander McKenzie gave the President's address, and Mrs. Stowe read an original poem. These exhibitions filled the place now occupied by the prize contests in declamation and public speaking.

By 1880 the two societies had grown to be so much alike that each was injuring the other, and it was clear that they could not profitably continue in direct rivalry. In 1882, therefore, Inquiry was reorganized; the literary exercises were largely abandoned, and the meetings shortly resumed their former aspect of religious conferences among the students. As if to emphasize this change, the society, on Sunday, June 17, 1883, observed its semi-centennial, at which many former members, including Professor Churchill, Dr. William E. Park, Professor Gulliver, and Leander T. Chamberlain, gave addresses. Under the reformed arrangement the attendance perceptibly increased; in 1886, for example, the membership numbered 123; in 1888 the average of those present at the Sunday evening meetings was 97 and at the Wednesday gathering, 47. Opinions seem to differ as to the success of Inquiry during this period; one alumnus says, in speaking of this very time: --

The religious work of the school suffered because of a lack of personal management, of thorough organization, and of united action by the members of Inquiry.

In 1892 a similar state of lethargy was said to exist. The truth is that enthusiasm was intermittent, and that interest in the society varied considerably from year to year.

Since 1882 the Society of Inquiry has been the representative religious organization of the students of Phillips Academy. In the spring of 1906, when it was affiliated with the Young Men's Christian Association, the constitution was once more revised, and the object of the organization was restated: --

To create, maintain, and extend throughout the school life a strong, high, moral sentiment; to bring students into a personal relation with Jesus Christ as Divine Saviour and Friend; to build them up in Christian character; and to lead them to affiliate themselves with some branch of the Christian Church.

When, in 1907, Mr. Markham W. Stackpole was appointed School Minister, he provided for altering the Sunday evening prayer-meetings into services of a different kind, sometimes conducted entirely by the boys, sometimes addressed by interesting outside speakers. At the present time the meetings are of a varied character, consisting occasionally of stereopticon lectures and informal talks by members of the Faculty. More recently, at his suggestion, the Society has organized group Bible classes, under the direction of Faculty instructors; and it was chiefly responsible for instituting the valuable educational work now carried on by the school at large among the foreigners in the industrial city of Lawrence.

On the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary the Society of Inquiry, on June 14, 1908, held a commemoration meeting, at which Dr. Samuel H. Dana, a former President, read a carefully prepared paper of Historical Reminiscences, which was followed by an address by President Charles F. Thwing on Three Services of Inquiry and by a talk by Principal Stearns on Present-Day Claims of Inquiry. The society was then, and still is, both vigorous and popular. Although its original aims have been modified to suit an age of different, although no less inspiring, ideals, it is still an instrument for the promotion of a manly and unselfish religious spirit in Phillips Academy.

The golden era of Philo extended from 1850 to 1865. At this time its leading debaters held an ascendancy in the Academy second only to that of "Uncle Sam" himself. The ablest young men were proud when they received one of those notes of invitation, "elegantly written," which were sent to those who received the honor of an election. The discussions were often so strenuous and eager that they stirred up the student body. In 1853 there was a violent argument over the adoption of a new constitution, in the course of which Edwin Grover, who professed openly to be an infidel, was expelled by a set of dull and bigoted boys; within a fortnight, however, he was honorably reinstated. When Charles Sumner was so unmercifully beaten by Preston S. Brooks in the Capitol at Washington, Philo held an indignation meeting, and its resolutions were published in the Boston papers. Elections of officers were usually occasions for "playing politics." In 1855 the Middlers, eager to wrest from the Seniors the Presidency which the latter had always claimed by precedent, defied tradition, and, in the midst of a wild uproar, elected their candidate, Othniel C. Marsh, by a majority of one vote. It was at about this date that a group of seceders formed a new but short-lived society called "Ulema." A curious incident was the advocacy and passage, mainly through the efforts of Flavius Josephus Cook, of the Anti-Deception Bill, according to which no debater was to be allowed to uphold a side in the justice of which he did not believe. The measure soon proved to be unenforceable, as the only reliable witness was necessarily the speaker himself. In 1866 an "Eaton Rhetorical Society," composed of students in the English Department, was started, but endured only a few years. The new Society Hall in the Main Building was dedicated in 1866 by a joint meeting of Inquiry and Philo. In October, 1868, Philo held a famous debate on the coming national election; it began at seven o'clock and lasted until eleven-thirty, thus being the longest recorded in the society annals.

On Wednesday, May 26, 1875, Philo observed its fiftieth anniversary. After a fine historical address by the Honorable Samuel Bradley Noyes, a procession was formed to march to the dinner tent, which had been set up on the former site of the Stone Academy. Professor Churchill occupied his customary place as toastmaster, and among those upon whom be called were Josiah Quincy, Dr. Jonathan French Stearns, Dr. McKenzie, Dr. Joseph Cook, and Dr. Bancroft. Through the liberality of Mr. Noyes, the society afterwards published a neat pamphlet containing complete accounts of the addresses, many of which have much historical value.

If we are to take the Phillipian as judge, interest in Philo steadily declined under Dr. Bancroft. One reformer in 1878 complains of the poor order in the meetings: --

Certain members seem to find greater pleasure in eating and throwing apples at each other than in listening to the speakers .... Cutting is disgracefully frequent, and often interferes to a great degree with an evening's proceedings. At the meeting a week ago neither of the debaters were [sic] present, and as there were no substitutes, the debate was necessarily dispensed with.

A critic in 1879 speaks of "the disgraceful scenes weekly enacted at what are grossly misnamed the Philo meetings." A Phillipian editorial in 1883 says: --

That Philo is on the decline, or, to put it somewhat milder, is at a standstill, is very evident, ---results speak for themselves.

Yet many men now in middle life look back upon Philo at that period in the Academy as a highly valuable part of their education.

It was during this period, however, that Philo held some of its most successful entertainments. Mock trials were a favorite diversion; at some of these the hall was packed, and in several cases the Phillipian printed an "extra" with a detailed report of the proceedings. Minstrel shows also proved to be popular, and a mock Republican convention held under Philo's auspices in 1888 aroused keen interest. In spite of this superficial prosperity, however, the membership continued to fall off, until it was uncommon in 1891 to have over thirty members present at an ordinary meeting.

In the fall of 1891 certain members of Philo, joining with other students in the Academy, took steps towards forming a new society, which was definitely organized on January 15, 1892. A few weeks later the society adopted the name of "Forum," and took as its motto Goethe's last words, "Mehr Licht." Stimulated by this new competition, Philo showed much vitality, and both organizations had a reasonable degree of success. The first joint Philo-Forum debate, held on November 4, 1892, was followed by similar contests until the passing of Forum as a debating club put an end to the rivalry. Forum gained notoriety in 1901, when certain sensational newspapers learned that the members had passed a resolution condemning Roosevelt for killing American lions in the West, on the ground that it was unwarranted cruelty to animals.

In 1906 a Debating Union was organized, which planned a series of debates with Exeter. The first Andover-Exeter debate, held on May 16, 1906, was won by Exeter, but Andover was victorious in 1907.

From that year until 1915, when Andover broke the spell of defeats, Exeter was regularly the winner, and accumulated seven successive victories. In 1916 the Andover Faculty, sensible of the decreasing attention being paid to debating in Phillips Academy, voted to discontinue the contests.

For some years, beginning in 1898, it was the custom of both Philo and Forum to hold annual banquets, at which speeches were delivered by members and instructors. As the societies gradually declined in importance, these dinners were given up. In 1914 the officers of Forum, discouraged by the dwindling attendance, decided to make it frankly literary, and it became a small group of boys more or less interested in books and reading, who gather informally for the discussion of such topics. Philo, with a small membership, continues the traditions of the past, and its members make up in enthusiasm what they lack in numbers.

The literary societies, as was quite natural, were responsible for the earliest student publications. Before 1837 Philo had instituted a Philomathean Mirror, a symposium or selection of the best productions of the members during the term, which was left in manuscript and read to the society by the editors. In November, 1854, this appeared for the first time as a printed magazine. This issue had sufficient variety; it opened with a formidable "heavy" essay entitled Imagination, which was followed by a dissertation on True Happiness, an oration, The Safeguards of the Republic, and an "allegory," The Garden of Cosmos. Among the contents are three poems: The Old School Bell, Thoughts on Visiting the Graves of Grandparents, and Dewy Morn. The most impressive contribution, an essay called Night, opens in this fashion: --

How beautiful is night! As the weary sun retires to his leafy couch upon the mountain-top, and draws about him vapory sheets of golden hue, a grand entertainment is spread out for the lover of beauty. In such a scene he beholds indescribable grandeur, and reads suggestive lessons.

Didacticism and sentimentalism run riot on the pages, as in so many far more pretentious magazines of that particular era in American literature.

In the number for July, 1865, the names of the editors were revealed for the first time, and in March, 1867, a department called the "Pot-pourri," containing lists of the members of undergraduate organizations, was added. The Mirror, meanwhile, had become less solemn and more elaborate. In March, 1856, an "Editor's Table," evidently intended to be humorous, appeared, and it was not long before several pages were filled with jokes and so-called "chestnuts." Even "grinds" on unpopular instructors were not prohibited. Illustrations and cartoons were used when they could be secured, and in December, 1877, the Mirror aroused comment by coming out in a gorgeously enameled cover representing the Academy Building.

In 1850 the Society of Inquiry started a paper called the Observatory, modeled on the Philomathean Mirror; this was also read in manuscript for some years, but in March, 1863, it was changed into a printed magazine, with one of the society mottoes, "Vires Nobis Desuper," stamped on the cover. The essays in this issue were mournfully religious in tone, on such fruitful subjects as Hope, Spiritual Life, and Contentment. The periodical was neither interesting nor successful, and was shortly discontinued.

The need of a school newspaper seems not to have been felt until the Centennial Celebration of 1878 gave a stimulus to academic life. The Phillips Exeter weekly paper, the Exonian, had started on Saturday, April 6, 1878. At this time almost no attention was paid by the two schools to each other; indeed, Andover was not even mentioned in the first issue of the Exonian. A few weeks later, however, came the first historic ball game on the Exeter Campus, and the rivalry which resulted soon aroused an ambition in Andover men to equal the other school in journalistic enterprise. The result was the Phillipian, which began its career on October 19, 1878, as a small four-page sheet printed in a Boston office. The editor-in-chief, Edward Stevens Beach, had nine colleagues, one of whom has since become famous as the Reverend Charles M. Sheldon, of Topeka, Kansas. They announced that they had in mind three aims: to develop an adequate medium for the presentation of school news; to bring Phillips Academy to the notice of other schools; and to create a literary spirit among the students. For some years the Phillipian was published once a fortnight, the subscription price being one dollar a year, or seven cents a copy. The editors were gratified at Commencement time to discover that they had cleared $76.52, which they devoted to the purchase of a round stained-glass window, portraying the Academy seal, for the "Great Hall."

The early numbers of the Phillipian, uncontrolled by even a nominal censorship, were enlivened by crude cartoons, and by gibes, more or less indecorous, at the "Theologues," the "Fem-Sems," and, it must be confessed, not seldom at Exeter and the Exonian. The editors of the rival school papers behaved like some of the Western journalists described by Mark Twain, and the taunts and scurrilities which were hurled across space furnished rich amusement for the reader. On October 9, 1880, for instance, the Phillipian said: --

The Exonian comes to us with criticisms upon our cuts.

We would remind this sheet again that we print the Phillipian in behalf of the students of Phillips Academy and that if they see fit to pay for it, the Exonian should have nothing to say on that score .... We rather surmise it is "sour grapes "that prompts the criticism.

When the cartoons were discontinued in 1881, the editors admitted that they had been kept up only "because they harrowed the soul of the Exonian man so fearfully." On January 13, 1883, the Phillipian, replying to some complaint, opened fire as follows: --

The Exonian still continues to give forth most lamentable whines; so does a whipped cur.

Later in the same year the Andover paper revived the controversy: --

It is about time for the Exonian to commence its customary tirade against Andover, and its inevitable fanfaronade of boasts about their [sic] success in athletics.

The annual contests with Exeter naturally brought the newspaper rivalry to fever heat. On June 12, 1880, after the baseball game, the Phillipian published an "extra," and this custom has been maintained ever since. The Phillipian invested in a large assortment of "rooster cuts," which adorned its pages on the days of Andover victories. Both the Exonian and the Phillipian repeatedly wrangled over the umpire's decisions whenever the home team was defeated. On November 2, 1887, after Andover had won the tennis match, the Phillipian could not resist a thrust: --

The Exonian comes up as usual, whining after defeat. Never in the history of the two schools has Exeter been able to take defeat gracefully .... Their wail is truly pitiable, but their argument in support of it is even more so.

Needless to say, the editors of the Exonian were able to hold their own in this war of words. Fortunately the spirit which prompted the vituperation has long since vanished, and the relations between the two periodicals are to-day entirely amicable.

The Phillipian, which rather took pride in its independence, did not restrict its frankness of speech to foreign institutions. On one occasion, in referring to the contemporary Mirror, it said: --

The Mirror came out at the close of last term with its customary dull essays and bad poems.

Every "cut" given by a teacher to his class was publicly recorded in the Phillipian. Nor did the editors hesitate to criticize the Sunday sermons, even when they were by men of national reputation. On matters of undergraduate interest the Phillipian usually led school opinion, and played no small part in making the student body more coherent and unified. It varied, of course, in quality from year to year; under some editors it was notably contemptuous of good grammar and punctuation; at some seasons, especially in the autumn of 1899, it printed editorials of marked brilliancy. Its enterprise has always been commendable; in 1892, for instance, an "extra" appeared five minutes after the baseball game was over, the account having been sent to the printing-office by boys on bicycles.

In 1885 the paper was changed to a weekly, and, during the course of the winter, by vote of the school, became a strictly private business: the editors were authorized to choose their own successors, and were made responsible for all debts which they incurred. In 1887, chiefly through the efforts of Hugh McKennan Landon, who was probably the ablest editor the Phillipian ever had, several innovations were projected and carried into effect. It became an eight-page newspaper, appearing twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, and the subscription price was raised to two dollars and fifty cents a year or four cents a copy. The amount of advertising was much increased, and special attention was given to the financial management. Arrangements were perfected, also, for having the paper printed by the Andover Press, so that changes and corrections could more readily be made. At this period the editors published historical articles and alumni reminiscences which have even more value to-day than they had then.

Other modifications of less significance have been brought about by more recent editors. In 1891 the Phillipian returned to its original four pages; the eight-page periodical had proved to be somewhat cumbersome, and business managers found it difficult to maintain the large amount of advertising which Landon, with his extraordinary energy, had been able to secure. In 1901 the size of the page was increased, but without involving any alteration in makeup. During the past decade the Phillipian has been nominally subject to the supervision of a Faculty committee, and the names of proposed editors must now be approved by that body.

In 1892 there was much agitation over the fact that Phillips Academy had no distinctively "literary" publication. The Philomathean Mirror, which, since 1885, had been notably excellent in form and arrangement, had really become equivalent to a term book of school activities. After some discussion, it was agreed that Philo should superintend the editing of an "annual," which should comprise most of the features so popular in the Philomathean Mirror, and that a new monthly magazine should be started, under the auspices of the school at large. A nominating committee appointed by the boys proceeded, so it was alleged, to select five out of seven of their number as editors of the proposed periodical, and this action evoked a vigorous protest from disappointed literary aspirants. While this quarrel was going merrily on, however, the first number of The Phillips Andover Mirror, "a literary magazine published by the students of Phillips Academy," appeared on May 1, 1892, with William H. Wadhams, now a judge of the New York Supreme Court, as President of the Board of Editors. The introductory article was contributed by the Reverend Frederic Palmer on the subject The Magazine and the Alumni. Besides the essays, short stories, and poems, there were some intelligent editorials, some short notes on current school activities, and a section called "Leaves from Phillips Ivy," in which interesting facts about alumni were recorded. These alumni notes, including a carefully compiled necrology, were kept up by Mr. George T. Eaton, of the Faculty, and have proved to be of great value.

Since 1892 the Mirror has been a monthly publication representative of the best student literary work. Unfortunately for its continuity, its shape and type have been often changed to suit the whims and foibles of the editors, so that the bound volumes side by side present a motley appearance. In 1905, for instance, a new and peculiar form found temporary favor, but was fortunately rejected by the good sense of future editors. In recent years a more conventional shape has been adopted.

Meanwhile Philo, in the spring of 1893, had fulfilled its part of the agreement by publishing an annual, The Masque, which contained accounts of the Faculty, the Trustees, and various school organizations; a large number of cuts; and many "grinds" on both teachers and students. In 1894 The Masque was superseded by the Pot-pourri, edited by a joint committee selected from both Philo and Forum. In 1897 the two societies relinquished their control of the Pot-pourri, and it became entirely a school affair.

Early in the present century an alumni issue of the Phillipian, devoted particularly to news of interest to graduates, became a feature of the school year. In August, 1906, a happy inspiration led Principal Stearns to institute the Phillips Bulletin, a magazine which, mailed free to all alumni, aimed to give them official accounts of events on Andover Hill. The first issue contained only a modest sixteen pages, which remained the standard until 1911, when the Bulletin appeared with a neat cover, was enlarged to nearly twice its former size, and, in general, was made more satisfactory as the school's representative publication for the world at large. In 1912 it was placed in charge of a permanent Faculty editor. It is now a quarterly periodical of from thirty-two to forty-eight pages, profusely illustrated, and with a circulation of ten thousand copies. Its imitation by other schools is proof of the desirability of such a magazine.

Not the least important of the student organizations have been the secret fraternities. Originated despite the open opposition of the authorities, they have since developed into institutions approved by the Faculty and owning beautiful houses of their own on Andover Hill. The mystery connected with their inception makes it difficult to dwell on details. Early in Dr. Bancroft's administration (about 1874) a group of boys, headed by Roland Davis Swope, of the class of 1876, started the K.O.A. Society, which held secret meetings in the basement of "Hatch's" (later "Chap's"); and it was not long before a rival fraternity, the A.U.V., was also surreptitiously formed. In the beginning these societies apparently spent much of their energies in "rough-housing" and in encouraging a kind of midnight activity certainly not sanctioned by the "Doctor." In his report for 1877 he wrote: --

Secret societies so-called have caused us some anxiety, but the Faculty have taken a positive stand forbidding them, and it is hoped to quite crush them out next year.

It was not long, however, before Dr. Bancroft came to see that the wisest course was regulation rather than prohibition. He recognized clearly the danger which they offered, not only to the homogeneity of the student body, but also to the fundamental democracy in which Phillips Academy had been inclined to take pride. He came to believe, nevertheless, that these evils could be avoided if the proper measures were taken in a tactful way.

Partly to show how this could be done, Professor Coy acted himself as sponsor for a third fraternity, P.A.E., which, in the beginning, was largely literary, and instituted by him mainly as a reward of merit. The original founders were four in number, James Hardy Ropes being one. In 1883, then, the Faculty decided to discontinue the policy of suppression. The Phillipian for June 17, 1884, in making a survey of the year, indulges in this comment: --

In the matter of discipline we note the recognition of secret societies --- those ancient and omnipresent bugbears of the "powers that be." Possibly the latter grew weary of the useless warfare; possibly they became convinced of their error; at any rate, the various societies --- of which there are five existing under so-called charters granted by the Faculty --- are now recognized as regular school institutions. So far as we have been able to judge, this radical change of attitude has not been productive of any particularly dangerous results, but has been the means of preventing much of the scheming and wire-pulling such as has happened in other years.

One of the societies here mentioned was R.A.S., which, founded in 1882, soon, because of some abuses of privileges on the part of its members, deteriorated, and was eventually abolished. A writer in the Phillipian gives the following account of the initiation of a candidate for R.A.S.: --

He was first ordered to provide a supper for the society at his rooms, which he did at a cost of about $15; then, leaving the rest to eat the supper, at twelve o'clock he was sent out on the Campus behind the Academy to wait for what might follow. At about one o'clock he was seized by a crowd of fellows, blindfolded, and ridden on a rail down to Pomp's Pond, those accompanying him rattling empty bottles all the time to give the effect of clanking chains. After arriving at the pond, he was buried in a grave up to his head, and then baptized with an abominable mixture of mucilage and ginger ale, this operation closing the ceremonies.

For many years these pioneer societies --- K.O.A., A.U.V., and P.A.E. --- existed without much competition. Like the famous Yale Senior Societies, on which they were unquestionably modeled, they were ostentatiously secret. Outside the sacred precincts the name of the fraternity never passed the lips of the members, and they maintained a studied air of mystery regarding its aims and organization. In a short time each society obtained a building of its own; these houses were kept always close-shuttered and bolted, and the curtains were let down so that no mere layman could peer within.

As part of the supervising scheme devised by Dr. Bancroft each society was subject to certain restrictions. Each fraternity was obliged to choose a Faculty guardian, whose duty it was to see that the regulations were met. All candidates for a society had to be passed upon by the Faculty, and no student notably deficient in his school work was allowed to join. Meetings, except of a special kind, were permitted only on Saturday evenings.

In the course of time other similar societies were formed, some of which became permanent. P.B.X., founded in the early "nineties" as a distinctively "Commons" society, is still flourishing, although it has been altered so that it is now on the same basis as the others. The Sphinx was originated in 1895, but its affairs soon fell into disorder, and the enforced departure of nearly all its members in one year led to its dissolution. Another, the K.D.S., also had a brief period of prosperity, followed by decline and death. Between 1898 and 1905, however, three fraternities were started which still exist: P.L.D., P.L.S., and A.G.X. There are to-day, then, seven secret societies, each of which owns or rents its own house. In 1901 K.O.A. erected a stately brick structure on School Street; in 1908 the P.A.E. House was built on South Main Street, near Brothers' Field; and the A.U.V. House on Wheeler Street was completed in 1916. New houses for the other societies are being planned, and will doubtless be under way within a few years.

The value of these societies in student life is still a mooted question. Criticism of the rough initiations was common enough a decade ago, but recent legislation by the Faculty has resulted in the elimination of practically all the objectionable features. Society men tend to associate with one another, and they naturally include most of the more prominent men, for students who are leaders in any one field seldom fail to secure an election. Hardly over one fourth of the boys, however, are taken into societies, and this leads logically to the creation of a kind of caste system in a school which is based on democratic principles. As a matter of fact, however, the societies have probably done more good than harm; and they are now so firmly established and so loyally supported by alumni, that, unless some entirely new and thoroughly convincing charges are brought against them, they are hardly likely to lose their foothold on the Hill.

It is quite natural for young men of the maturity of those in Phillips Academy to wish to ape college students in their "outside activities." As early as 1869 there was a" Phillips Sextette," consisting of a cornet, two violins, two flutes, and a violoncello. An orchestra of this general type has been sustained at intervals ever since, its importance depending, of course, on the quality of the musical talent in the school. In 1873 there was a Glee Club, made up of Rufus B. Tobey as leader, and seven other members; and there have been very few years since that date when such a club has not represented the student body. A "Banjo Quartette," which soon evolved into a Banjo Club, was started in 1887; and a Mandolin Club was organized in 18992. Concerts are given every winter by these three clubs in collaboration, and, since 1897, they have been under the same management, although each has still a separate leader.

Other organizations which have sprung up from time to time deserve mention chiefly as showing the diversified interests in which a Phillips boy may take part. A Natural History Society, a Camera Club, a Deutscher-Verein, a Bicycle Club, a Dramatic Club, a Rifle Club: these societies appear and reappear, but no one has had a continuous history. College clubs, formed by men who propose to go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Amherst, or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develop sporadically, and they sometimes bring distinguished speakers to the school. The success of these enterprises is dependent mainly upon the enthusiasm of a few active spirits who, for a brief period, are able to exert an influence over their fellows.

As Phillips Academy is administered to-day, no boy is likely to suffer from the lack of an opportunity to gratify his social tastes. There are, of course, the usual dances through the year: the Senior Promenade, first held in June, 1908, is now a fixture at Commencement time; the Junior Promenade has been, since 1904, a delightful function usually appointed for Washington's Birthday; and the Peabody Assemblies are scattered through the winter term on Saturday afternoons. A student must be peculiar indeed who cannot find among his five hundred and fifty mates some congenial friend to join him in a diversion or a hobby. Absorption in some such avocation is the antidote to the evil work which is always ready for idle hands to do. In steering the school between the Scylla of overemphasis on study and the Charybdis of overindulgence in play the present Principal has had good success. His policy has the support and cooperation of all those who have the welfare of Phillips Academy at heart.

 

CHAPTER XXII

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

WE played again the immortal games
And grappled with the fierce old friends,
And cheered the dead, undying names,
And sang the song that never ends.

THE stranger who climbs to Andover Hill on any fine afternoon in June or October will see the broad playing-fields dotted with little groups of boys, each absorbed in some outdoor sport. Every student, unless he is classed with the sick or the crippled, is obliged to take part in athletics; but the love of exercise is so widespread that there are only a few "slackers" who would not play voluntarily, even if the compulsion were removed. This love of games, however, is, in New England, a gradual development. The Puritans, as Macaulay delighted in pointing out, were intolerant of mere aimless diversion. Judge Phillips seldom speaks of either rest or recreation. The solace which he took in his horseback rides to Boston was strictly in the way of business; and the idea of recuperating and preserving his physical strength by means of exercise in the open air would perhaps have seemed to him beneath the dignity of a "learned judge."

It was, however, impossible to repress the healthy instincts of the boys. Josiah Quincy, we know, was dismayed at the prospect of sitting eight long hours a day in the recitation room. "The truth was," he said, "I was an incorrigible lover of sports of every kind. My heart was in ball and marbles." Swimming was so popular that regulations regarding suitable "holes" in Pomp's Pond and in the Shawsheen had to be passed by the Trustees. At the time when school was held almost into "dog days," the first refuge of the weary youngsters at the end of the afternoon was in the cool waters of the river. In the winter there were coasting-parties on the steep hills around the town. At other seasons there were long walks through the forest, --- then much denser than it is to-day, --- to the Merrimack, Den Rock, or Indian Ridge; or even farther, to Haggett's Pond or Wilmington. The Honorable William W. Crapo remembers walking often to Lawrence to watch the construction of the great dam. Now and then we hear, quite casually, of a game of "rounders" or of a strange rough-and-tumble amusement called football; but all this was impromptu, arranged on the spur of the moment out of sheer delight in exercise, and there were no organized teams or contests with other schools. During Dr. Taylor's administration athletics, even for the frivolous, were largely subsidiary to textbooks, or debating, or religious work. The colleges themselves at this date had hardly learned the importance of outdoor games in any system of education.

THE FOOTBALL TEAM OF 1883

THE BASEBALL TEAM OF 1906

The game of "rounders," as it was played in the days before the Civil War, had only a faint resemblance to our modern baseball. For a description of a typical contest, which took place in 183, we are indebted to Dr. William A. Mowry: --

Nine of us signed and posted on the bulletin board of the Academy a challenge to play a game of ball with any other nine in the school. This notice remained posted for two weeks, but nine persons could not be found who would accept the challenge. We therefore tore it down and rewrote it, challenging any eleven men. The number nine had no especial significance, except that it was a convenient number to play the game. Eleven would give that side a very decided advantage.

This challenge was accepted, and a Saturday afternoon selected for the game. It was played on the open field in the rear of the Seminary buildings. The game was a long one. No account was in those days made of "innings"; the record was made merely of runs. When one had knocked the ball, had run to the bases, and had reached the "home goal," that counted one "tally." The game was for fifty tallies. The custom then was to have no umpire, and the pitcher stood midway between the second and third bases, but nearer the center of the square. The batter stood midway between the first and fourth bases, and the catcher just behind the batter, as near or as far as he pleased.

Well, we beat the eleven, the tally standing on the side of the nine, 50, and on the side of the eleven, 37. Of course there had to be another game. It was played, and they beat us; so the score stood "one-and." Several weeks passed before the "rubber" came off. Both parties waited until everything was "good and ready." The field was lined with a large number of interested spectators. After a time the tally stood 37 to 37. Then we put out the other side and took our turn at bat. When I came up, instead of striking the ball, I let it hit the bat and glance away over the wall behind the catchers. Then I ran around to the home base before the ball got back to the field. This would be a foul to-day, but it was allowable then. Our side now had 38, and we succeeded in keeping in until we secured the 50.

In other sections of the country, meanwhile, the game was taking shape, and at last, in the fall of 1864, James B. Wells, who had been a member of the Active Baseball Club of Brooklyn, entered Phillips Academy and taught his schoolmates the rules. As soon as the snow was off the ground in the following spring, Wells and his followers marked out a rude diamond on the field in the rear of the present Pemberton Cottage, near Phillips Street, and began practice. Wells, who was the self-appointed captain, invited his personal friends to join the team, which was thus mainly a social organization. This first club arranged no games with outside teams; but the men had "scrub" contests, in which they wore uniforms consisting of a white flannel shirt, loose long trousers, and a belt with a large "A" on the buckle. The "A" stood, not for Andover, but for Actives, the nine having borrowed the formidable name of the Brooklyn team.

In January, 1866, the famous "Archie" Bush, fresh from service as a lieutenant in the Northern army, entered Phillips Academy; he had already had baseball experience with the "Haymakers" of Albany, and knew the game thoroughly. Although he was an adept in any position, he was perhaps best as catcher, and he stood behind the bat without protection of any kind; the danger, however, was rather less than it is to-day, for pitching at that period was underhand, any other method of delivery being illegal. Bush was the first man in Phillips Academy to establish baseball on a firm footing. Mr. George Huntress, of Boston, well recalls aiding Bush in laying out a diamond which had all the measurements exact to the inch. "Uncle Sam" would allow no outside games during the academic year, but immediately after Commencement .a contest was arranged with Tufts College. This, the first competition held by Andover with any other institution, was played in a hayfield, and the Phillips boys, "green" though they were, defeated their older rivals. Two games were also scheduled with the leading clubs of Boston, the "Lowells" and the "Tri-Mountains." Both contests took place on Boston Common, where the ground, beaten hard and with scarcely a blade of grass, was far different from the rough meadow in Andover. In the game with the "Lowells" the Phillips boys, Bush excepted, were much "rattled," and consequently were beaten. On the following day, however, against the "Tri-Mountains," the Academy team managed to win by a good score. Of this first representative Andover nine, four afterwards played for Yale and two for Harvard.

In those days no balls were called on any batter, and no strikes, unless he actually swung at the ball. Any hit, fair or foul, was out if caught on the first bound. When a player stepped to the plate, he was supposed to indicate where he wanted the pitcher to place the ball, and it was his right to wait until the throw satisfied him. No gloves of any kind were worn by either fielders or catcher.

The game thus instituted soon became very popular. A Phillips Baseball Association was organized, school and class nines were formed, and it was not long before outside contests were being played with the sanction of the Principal. In the fall of 1866 there were two teams in the Academy, the "Actives" and the "Enterprises." Two games were played, both being won by the "Actives"; the first by a score of 42 to 8, the second, 49 to 8. In the spring of 1867 there was a team in each class. In 1869 the "Alerts," representing the Seniors, met the "Athletes," a group of Middlers, for the school championship. In the first game the "Alerts" were beaten 30 to 25; in the last two, played on June 5 and June 12, they won by scores of 20 to 17 and 36 to 26. In the final game the "Athletes" made fifteen runs in a single inning, but to no avail.

The team of 1871, of which William H. Moody, afterwards Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was captain, won six out of its seven games. Among the members of this nine were Charles Sumner Bird, the prominent Massachusetts Progressive; John Patton, later United States Senator from Michigan; and Edward C. Smith, afterwards Governor of Vermont. The Mirror for 1871 gave a full discussion of each player's merits and faults, with the batting and fielding averages for the individual members of the team.

The list of opponents lengthened gradually. In 1876 the Phillips team for the first time met the Harvard Freshmen, and were badly defeated, but they took revenge in a return game, which they won, 17 to 15. In 1877 Adams Academy was added to the schedule and easily defeated, 3 to 7. In 1878, under an energetic captain, Charles F. Gardner, the team went into strict training, and took special gymnasium exercises during the winter. It was in this year that the first memorable contest was held with Exeter. The Andover nine, after opening the season with two decisive victories over the "Theologues" and a triumph over the strong "Websters" of Lowell, felt rather confident. On Wednesday, May 2, they went to Exeter, only to return home beaten by a score of 12 to 1. Manning, the Andover pitcher, had only a straight underhand throw, which proved to be ineffective. The Mirror, blinded by partisanship, insisted, however, on ascribing the result to other causes:---

The game was lost owing to the gross ignorance of the umpire, and the unevenness of the ground, on which there were many trees; our nine played without any dinner, and the Exeters allowed them to return home without any supper.

This somewhat unsportsmanlike charge was answered by the Exonian in kind. The great rivalry had begun. In this game the Andover men wore white flannel suits with blue trimmings, and the Exeter players appeared also in white flannel, but decorated with cardinal. The return contest, on June 1, at Andover, was attended by some eighty Exeter supporters. Although Andover won, 10 to 8, the vindictive Mirror could not resist a thrust: --

Mr. Ogden, of the Theological Seminary, umpired, and gave universal satisfaction. The visitors did not go home hungry.

It is to the credit of the Exonian that it made no excuses:---

The best of good feeling prevailed, although our men naturally felt a little irritated over their defeat, but the visitors strove to show as little exultation as possible. Such contests as these can certainly be productive of nothing but good, and we hope they will be kept up.

The plan of holding two games with Exeter was soon abandoned, on the ground that it unduly prolonged the excitement among the students. In 1879 the "Andover ministers," as the Exonian called them, with F. W. Rogers as captain, won by a score of 12 to 2. In 1880 occurred the first of the few serious controversies between the schools. The game, held at Andover on June 5, was being kept lively by the presence of over a hundred Exeter "rooters." Everything went well until the seventh inning, when, in a critical moment, Exeter's third baseman, Bean, hit a ball down the first-base line, and, judging it to be a foul, did not run. The first baseman, however, took the precaution of touching the base, the ball was declared to be fair, and Bean, of course, was out. A sharp dispute followed, and, when the umpire refused to reverse his decision, the Exeter nine packed their bats and departed, thus forfeiting the game. The hit in question seems to have been very much in doubt, for the spectators near the line differed in their opinions. The Phillipian, after reviewing the arguments, concludes sagaciously but not very tactfully: --

We cannot take the blame upon ourselves, as we only supported the umpire in a decision which we considered, and still consider, just. It is therefore with Exeter that the blame for the weakest, most childish, and most contemptible ending that ever disgraced a good game must wholly, or in good part, rest.

The 1881 game, played at Exeter, was the earliest occasion on which the student body was allowed to attend a contest in foreign territory. It was memorable, also, because of the remarkable batting of Pi Yuk, the Chinese center fielder on the Andover team. In the first inning, with a man on a base, Pi Yuk came to bat, and was greeted with derisive cries of "Washee, washee; chinkee go back benchee," and similar expressions; undisconcerted, he hit the first ball pitched for a three-bagger. In the second inning he again knocked a two-base hit, scoring another runner. These two long hits did much toward bringing victory to Andover by a score of 13 to 5. Pi Yuk, who later became Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, spoke at Andover in 1903, recalling the famous game and his part in it: --

When the train arrived with the victorious nine, the whole school turned out to welcome them with torchlights, a brass band, and an omnibus drawn by enthusiastic students with a long rope. Even Rome could not have received Cæsar with greater enthusiasm and pride when he returned from his famous campaigns in triumph.

After being beaten in 1882 in a close contest, Andover, under Captain W. M. Vinton, won for two consecutive years. Vinton, who is still remembered as the most brilliant pitcher of his day, struck out, in the season of 1884, a hundred men in nine games, and lost only one contest, that with Harvard University; in the Exeter game, which he won, 13 to 5, he "fanned" seventeen of his opponents. He afterwards distinguished himself in professional baseball.

An amusing incident which occurred in 1885 illustrates the prevalent attitude at that time towards professionalism in athletics. In an editorial for May 9, 1885, the Phillipian, without the slightest attempt at concealment, mentions the fact that the Baseball Committee had tentatively engaged the services of a professional named Sweeney, who had pitched well during the previous year for Haverhill. Great dissatisfaction ensued throughout the school, chiefly because it was felt to be unfair to deprive a member of the Academy of his chance of making the nine. So strong was the opposition that the Committee reconsidered its action, and released Sweeney from his contract. In the Exeter game, with Weyerhauser, the regular pitcher, far from well, Andover lost, 9 to 1. A few days later, however, the Academy nine defeated a strong town team, for which Sweeney was the pitcher. Thereupon the Phillipian spoke as follows: --

The Andover vs. P. A. game was watched with some interest owing to the plan, which has fallen through, of hiring Sweeney to pitch for us this season. Any candid person who examines the records of the two pitchers in the game will admit the utter folly of engaging him as our pitcher. The Phillipian thinks that, outside the question of school honesty and honor, this game has shown that it would have been poor policy to hire Sweeney as a pitcher.

Incidents such as this remind us of the marked change in the attitude towards professionalism which has taken place in twenty years.

The game of 1886 was lost under painful circumstances. Until the eighth inning Andover led by a score of 6 to 1. Then came a rally in which Exeter, amid the most intense excitement, batted in six runs and won the game. "Buck" Knowlton, the Andover captain, had a sweet revenge in the following year, when his team defeated Exeter, 22 to 6. An article in Harper's Round Table gives a good contemporary impression of the subsequent jubilation: --

About the seventh inning a mysterious-looking wagon containing something covered with a canvas drove rapidly across the field and disappeared in the woods beyond. This strange sight was soon forgotten in the interest of the game; but the wagon bore the instruments of the Andover Brass Band, who were concealed in the woods and whom a loyal citizen had hired in case of victory. At the end of the game when all Andover was tearing madly on the field and bearing off the victors on their shoulders, the band appeared on the scene in full blare. Every one fell in behind them, helping them out with tin horns and cries of "Left, left, left, the Exeter men got left!"

It was this game which led the Phillipian to revive its drooping spirits, and to assert, "The tide has turned at last."

In 1888 the captain was E. H. Brainard and the pitcher was "Al" Stearns, the present Principal of Phillips Academy, then a mere boy. At the final game of the season he pitched with great effectiveness, and it was mainly because of his steadiness that Andover won, 6 to 4. The Phillipian, still ungenerous to opponents, said with satisfaction: --

Stearns, under the pressure of the most continued yelling, hooting, rattle-shaking, and every conceivable annoyance of Exeter's representatives, pitched a wonderful game.

There were times, as we have seen, when the sting of defeat made some overexcited boys forget the courtesies due to friendly rivals. The tension after close contests was often so great that trivial incidents took on an exaggerated importance, and baseless accusations were scattered promiscuously abroad. The "townies" or "muckers," as the students called them, did their best to increase the friction by posing as Academy boys, and casting stones or shouting opprobrious epithets in the wake of the visiting team. Before 1889 there had been minor difficulties which showed that the two schools had not learned as yet "to love the game beyond the prize." Now and then a team had been followed to the station with jeers; but no one had been injured, and the disagreements had been smoothed over by compromise. Certainly there was no reason in the spring of 1889 to anticipate trouble.

In connection with the baseball game of that year an unusual situation had arisen. A student named White, who, in 1888, had played second base for Andover, had resigned and had transferred to Exeter, chiefly because the Andover management refused to make him concessions. At Exeter he had soon displayed ability as a pitcher, and he was to be in the box in the Andover game against his former teammates. In this contest, which was held on June 14 at Exeter, "Al" Stearns pitched for Andover, but his arm had been in poor condition for weeks and caused him intense pain after the third inning. At the end of the seventh inning, with the score 3 to 2 in favor of Exeter, the game was called on account of rain. An hour later, when the Andover men were waiting quietly at the station with many "muckers" taunting them, a number of Exeter students, carrying White and other players on their shoulders, marched by. There was a collision over the right of way; a free fight started, in the course of which Professor Coy, then Andover's Acting Principal, was hit on the head, and one youngster was knocked unconscious. The responsibility for this unfortunate fracas cannot be definitely placed; but had it not been for the timely intervention of some muscular members of the Andover teaching staff, the affair might have spread into something very serious. Immediately after their return the Andover Faculty notified Exeter that the series of athletic contests between the schools was at an end.

As a result no football game was held in the autumn of 1889. Dr. Bancroft, on his arrival from abroad, made a statement to explain Andover's action:---

We have received no proposals looking to a new series of games, under terms and conditions mutually satisfactory to both schools, and guarding effectually against the difficulties specified.

The dispute continued through the winter, and the Exonian and the Phillipian filled many columns with gentlemanly condemnation of one another's policy. In January three Andover students, Stearns, "Laurie" Bliss, and Addis, met three Exeter representatives, headed by White, and agreed that, if contests were allowed to go on, the students of the home school would not go to the station or molest in any way the members of the visiting academy. Not until May, 1890, would the Andover Faculty consent to such an arrangement. At that time rules were signed governing the eligibility of players, and restricting the celebration of victories so that the two sides would not be likely to clash. Although both faculties consented to these regulations, Exeter admitted that she could not comply with them before the following autumn, and accordingly no baseball game was scheduled for that spring. Dr. Stearns enjoys to-day telling of correspondence with the Exeter captain, culminating in a secret meeting in his rooms at Andover, in which it was almost decided to have a baseball contest sub rosa on a diamond at Haverhill; the players, however, were dissuaded from this rash act, largely through the arguments of Vance McCormick, who maintained that it would be foolish deliberately to invite expulsion. The proposed game was never held, and the Andover nine, one of the best that ever represented Phillips Academy,(1) had no opportunity for trying its mettle against its rival. In this season Andover played her first baseball game with Yale College, and was beaten, 9 to 5. The schedule culminated in a victory, 11 to 4, over the "Beacons" of Boston, who had previously defeated Exeter, 4 to 2. Andover claimed that this proved her supremacy, and the students held a joyful celebration. In this game with the "Beacons," Dalzell, the Andover pitcher, held his opponents to five hits, and knocked out a two-bagger and three-bagger, practically clinching his own match.

When relations in baseball were resumed in 1891, the Andover team showed unusual strength, and, after a preliminary schedule of twenty-three games, played an errorless contest against Exeter, winning, 7 to 1. This was one of Andover's glorious athletic years, for she defeated Exeter in all four sports: football, baseball, tennis, and track.

In the spring of 1893 there was another unfortunate break in the succession of baseball games. Andover protested the Exeter catcher on the ground that he had once "sustained his livelihood" as a professional, and was therefore ineligible; Exeter refused to compete without the man in question, and the annual contest was consequently omitted. The football controversy of 1893, which led to a complete severing of relations between the schools for three years, left Andover without a game with Exeter in baseball until June, 1897, when Irving J. French's team was beaten at Exeter by a score of 6 to 1. In the interval from 1894 to 1896 so-called championship contests were held with Williston and Lawrenceville, but it was difficult for the students to generate enthusiasm over so artificial a rivalry.

The mere recounting of games year after year can, of course, give no adequate conception of the dramatic incidents which were constantly occurring. Andover "fans" can never forget Barnwell's wonderful running catch, in the 1899 game, of what looked to be a home run by Alexander. In this dramatic contest, which Andover finally won, 11 to 8, the redoubtable "Ike" Saunders pitched a magnificent game, striking out eleven of his opponents. In the following year Matthews, Andover's shortstop, batted like a fiend, and it was his work which eventually led his team to victory, 9 to 5.

In 1901, when Matthews was captain, a series of three games with Exeter was tried for the first and last time. A few days before the first game was to be played Exeter protested Campbell, the Andover pitcher; the Andover authorities, however, wisely insisted on having the charges brought before a committee of Boston lawyers, who, after a thorough investigation, reported that the accusations had no foundation. In the mean time, however, Andover, without Campbell, had lost the first of the series in most melancholy fashion; she was ahead, 5 to 0, at the opening of the seventh inning, and then Exeter, in a furious batting rally, pounded in six runs. The second game, at Andover, was an easy victory for the home nine; and, in the "rubber" contest, Campbell had the pleasure of shutting out his rivals, 9 to 0.

The excellent team captained by Frank O'Brien in 1902 lost its Exeter game through a painful stroke of misfortune. In the very first inning, with three men on bases, an Exeter player drove a short hit back of first base. The grass was long, and, in the excitement, the fielders could not find the ball; the result was that all four Exeter men romped around the bases, and their team won, 5 to 3.

The closing game with Exeter in 1903 had a climax almost unequaled in the baseball history of the two schools. "Rod" Brown, the pitcher, and "Charlie" Clough, the first baseman, had distinguished themselves for Andover; but the critical moment was reserved for the ninth inning. Andover's lone run had come in the seventh, and Exeter had not scored. With two men out, Cooney, Exeter's best batter, stepped to the plate and smashed the first ball pitched a terrific crack over the head of the Andover center fielder, "Bunny" Hodge, who, realizing the situation, turned and ran like a deer towards the tennis courts far behind his usual position. While still at full speed he leaped high in the air, and, to the amazement of all, landed on his feet with the ball clasped securely in one hand. It was a catch such as is rarely seen even in professional games, and Hodge himself afterwards admitted that he did not know how it happened. The ball itself was turned over to the trophy room some fifteen years later.

"Charlie" Clough, who was in some respects the greatest ball player that ever represented Phillips Academy, was captain for 1904 and 1905. In 1904 his nine lost to Exeter by a score of 2 to 1. In 1905 Mr. Bartlett H. Hayes, a former Harvard pitcher now residing in Andover, generously gave his services as coach, and under him, until he was obliged to relinquish coaching in 1911, Andover had its golden era of baseball. In 1905, at Exeter, Andover went ahead in the eighth inning through "Barney" Reilly's two-bagger and Mallory's three-bagger, and won, 6 to 4. "Barney" Reilly, who was captain in both 1906 and 1907, won each of his Exeter games by a score of 3 to 2. In 1906, at the opening of the eighth inning, Exeter led, 2 to 1. With two men out, Lanigan, Andover's pitcher, hit to Cooney in center field, who let a slow ball slip past him, thus allowing Murphy to score; and an error by the Exeter catcher gave Lanigan a chance to come home. In this year Andover defeated Bates, Yale, Williams, Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Vermont, and the Amherst "Aggies," winning twelve games out of the nineteen. No other Andover nine has ever surpassed this record. The 1907 game also had a spectacular finish. In the ninth inning, with the score 3 to 2 in Andover's favor, Exeter had a man on first and one out. Her next batter knocked a short fly to right field which looked safe, but "Fred" Daly, by an extraordinary effort, took the ball on the dead run and, by a quick throw to first, made a double play, thus closing the contest.

For some years the baseball schedule had been gradually growing longer and more difficult. Most of the games were with colleges, and Andover had shown herself quite able to meet higher institutions on an even basis. About 1907, however, the reaction set in. Colleges were coming to the conclusion that they had little to gain and everything to lose by playing "prep" schools, and Phillips managers found it increasingly difficult to secure games with Harvard, Yale, Amherst, and similar teams. The Andover Faculty, moreover, were convinced that the newspaper notoriety given to prominent school athletes was an evil. The natural result was the shortening of the schedule, and the substitution of Freshman teams and of other secondary schools for colleges.

It must not be inferred that the excitement over baseball has in any respect lessened. After 1907 victory alternated between the schools until 1914, when Exeter won her second consecutive game, and followed that success by beating Andover in 1915 and 1916. The most thrilling contest of the last decade was that of 1910, when "Happy" Burdette in the eleventh inning drove a "Texas leaguer" between first and second, thus bringing in the run which meant victory by a score of 5 to 4. The results of baseball games between the two academies are still as uncertain as ever: the enthusiasm is so intense, the nerves of the players are so on edge, that even the best fielders occasionally get "rattled" and make errors which seem at the time to be inexcusable. Thus it happens that a nine which, judged by its previous record, ought to be a decided favorite, only too often gives way beneath the strain and is beaten by a team which, on paper, seems to be considerably inferior. In deciding an Andover-Exeter game, psychology as well as skill plays an important part.

Andover "fans" often divert themselves by picking out players for a mythical "all-Andover nine," composed of heroes who have represented the blue. Some positions are easy to fill; others may be claimed for four or five competitors who seem to be on a parity. There is also the insuperable difficulty of comparing a pitcher of 1884, like Vinton, with one of 1901, like Campbell, and arriving at a reasonable estimate of their respective merits. No effort will be made here to select such a representative team; but it may not be amiss to mention the names of great players who have filled the various positions. Among the famous catchers have been "Archie" Bush, '67; "Fred" Poole, '87; "Buck" Knowlton, '88; John Greenway, '93; Pitt Drew, '95; Lloyd D. Waddell, '99; "Burney" Winslow, '00; Walter Snell, '09; and "Dick" Wright, '12. There have been a number of excellent pitchers, including Halbert, '81; Vinton, '84; DalzelI, '90; "Al" Stearns, '90; Turner, '92; "Gil" Greenway, '93; Hillebrand, '96; George G. Stephenson, '00; Campbell, '02; "Rod" Brown, '06; and "Butts" Merrill, '07. At first base "Charlie" Clough, '05, has probably never been surpassed on an Andover team; but others, like "Phil" Stewart, '82; "Ed" Brainard,' 89; Harold W. Letton, '94; "Charlie" Littlefield, '99; and "Jim" Reilly, '09, have enviable records. At second base may be named "Fred" Murphy, '93; "Joe" Hazen, '94; Frank Quinby, '99; "Eddie" Dillon, '05; "Barney" Reilly, '07; McIntyre, '08; and Bennet, '09. There have been several good shortstops, of whom the best are probably "Pus" Noyes, '86; Rustin, '91; Barnes, '96; Irving J. French, '97; Matthews, '01; and Frank O'Brien, '02. Third basemen of the highest rank have been comparatively rare, and the four who are best remembered are of recent date: Huiskamp, '03; "Gil" Kinney, '04; H. N. Merritt, '07; and John Reilly, '11. Among the fielders the most brilliant was unquestionably Arthur Barnwell, '99; but there are many others, including Pi Yuk, '82 (later Sir Chentung Liang Cheng); "Pa" Grimes, '88; "Laurie" Bliss, '91; "Doc" Hillebrand, '96; Mallory, '05; Schildmiller, '05; Fred J. Murphy, '07; George Thompson, '09; and "Louie" Middlebrook, '10.

From these men several powerful nines could be selected. The list is, of course, not intended to be complete; it is merely suggestive, and there are few Andover graduates who will not feel quite competent to reconstruct and alter it. Fortunately Phillips alumni, no matter how long they argue, can never agree absolutely upon this subject. So it is that baseball, for many a year to come, will invite reminiscences from men whose days upon the diamond are over and who are far better acquainted to-day with their brassies and niblicks than they are with a bat and a glove.


Chapter Twenty-Three

Table of Contents