The Elon College Weekly.
THE ELON COLLEGE WEEKLY
Published every Tuesday during the College
year by
The Weekly Publishing Company.
W. P. LAWRENCE.
J. W. BARNEY,
A. C. HALL.
AFFIE GRIFFIN
W. C. WICKER.
T. C. AMICK,
Editor.
Associate Editors.
Circulation Manager.
Business Manager.
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT.
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IMPORTANT.
The office of publication is Burlington, N. C.
The office of the Editor is Elon College. N.
C., where all communications relative to the
Weekly should be sent.
Application for entry as second-class mail mat
ter at the postoffice at Burlington, N. C., pending.
TUESDAY, APRILS, 1910
DEMOCRACY OF COLLEGE
LIFE.
Real democracy is an actual expres
sion of the theory that all men are created
equal. There are those among us who,
when looking upward to the higher cir
cles of mankind, believe fervently in
democracy, but when looking downward
to the lower circles, believe in a sort of
aristocracy. So that the real democratic
spiri. it to be found in the lower ranks
of our social order. Those, some of
them, who are at, or near the top, come
to feel, after a time, that there is really a
distinction between them and those of
lower rank. The aristocratic Englishman
has never been able to relish the flavor
0 f American democracy. He believes
in casts, and when he comes to America
and sees the leveling process of democ
racy, his aristocratic delicacy revolts at
the vulgar flavor of democracy. This
attitude of the aristocratic British mind is il
lustrated in the correspondence of such
men as Thomas Moore, the noted Irish
poet, the personal friend of the more
noted poet. Lord Byron. Moore visited
America in the early years of the nin-
teenth century. In a letter to his mother,
written from Norfolk, Virginia, Nov. 7,
1 803, he says : "This Norfolk, the capi
tal of Virginia, is a strange place; noth
ing to be seen in the streets but dogs
and negroes, and the few ladies that pass
for white, are to be sure the most un
lovely pieces of crockery I ever set my
eyes upon. The first object I saw on
entering Colonel Hamilton’s drawing
room was a harpsichord, which looked
like civilization, and delighted me ex
tremely." Again on the 13th of June
1804, we find this in a letter to his
mother, written from Baltimore: " I am
now, dearest mother, more than three
hundred miles from Norfolk. I have
passed the Potomac, the Rappahannock,
the Occoquan, the Potapsio, and many
other rivers, with names as barbarous |
as the inhabitants. Every step I take,
not only reconciles, but endears to me, j
not only the excellencies, but even the er- |
rors of Old England. Such a road as I have |
come I and in such a conveyance! The
mail takes twelve passsengers, which
generally consist of squalling children,
stinking negroes and republicans [i. e.
American citizens,] smoking , cigars!
How often it has occured to me that
nothing can be more emblematic of the
government of this country than its stages,
filled with a motley mixture, all hail
fellow well met,' driving through mud
and filth, which bespatters them as they
raise it, and risking an upset at every |
step. God comfort their capacities! As
soon as I am away from them, both the j
stages and the government may have the
same fate for what 1 care." The expressed t
opinions of the famous Dr. Samuel John-1
son, who, however, never saw America,
and of Dickens and Thackeray, the noted '
novelists, both of whom made considera
ble tours in this country, are about as un
complimentary as Thomas Moore’s, j
Matthew Arnold, the great critic who |
was a visitor in the latter years of the
nineteenth century, and by his plain fault
finding talk stung America into bitter re
sentment.
Now, we have gone on at
some length with this illustration, the atti
tude of aristocratic England towairds
democratic America for a purpose, and
that purpose is that we may the better be
understood when we say that the spirit of
democracy and of aristocracy both are
found side by side in our college life.
Mr. Excellence is a college student from
a top-notch family in his community; and
his family has held this exalted ground
for more than a generation, perhaps. He
brings this air of superiority with him to
college. He finds the spirit of democra
cy in college much stronger than he had
suspected. His aristocracy turns out to
be an inconvenience, perhaps a positive
stumbling-block, yet he cannot divorce
himself from it; he cannot get away from
the idea that he is better than the com
mon herd of college men, and they are
sure to detect his real feeling. They are
democratic, college life means elevation
to them, and they like it. They are in
the majority in all American colleges. It
is the spirit of American democracy that
possesses them and they despise the arro
gant Mr. Excellence who is to be found
in all colleges, more numerous in some
than in others. What he ought to get
from college life is the art of being a good
mixer, the art of being democratic in real
feeling. The democratic spirit need not
necessarily level him downwards. The
truest democracy levels upward, not by
the standard of heredity but by the stand
ard of worth, breadth, depth, and richness
of spirit, by a genuine interest in humani-
ly-
LOCALS AND PERSONALS.
Mr. J. A. Dickey visited his home near
Haw River Sunday.
Miss Bessie Murchison left Friday for
her home near Liberty.
Mr. C. J. Kee, of Mebane, spent
Sunday here with his family.
Mr. Alf Simpson spent Saturday and
Sunday at his home in Haw River.
Miss Hattie Ashburn spent Saturday
and Sunday at her home in Liberty.
Misses Pitt and Barnes spent Saturday
in Burlington visiting Mrs. Gertrude
Scott.
Mr. W. F. Warren spent Saturday
and Sunday at his home near Prospect
Hill, N. C.
Miss Beulah Foster led the Y. W.C. A.
Sunday afternoon, subject, " Standing
Alone tor Christ."
Mr. Bun Hearn, the efficient ball
pitcher, spent Tuesday and Wednesday
at his home in Chapel Hill.
Mr. E. T. Hines led in the Y. M. C.
A. Sunday evening, using as his subject,
"The Faithfulness of Job."
Mr. W. L. Smith was painfully hurt
by his horse running away with him in a
wagon one day last week.
Miss Clara Moffitt left Friday for a
visit to relatives in Liberty before return
ing to her home in Asheboro.
Mr. J. Lee Johnson spent several days
last week in Wilmington attenJinir the le-
vival conducted there by Dr. Toirey.
Mrs. J. C. Kee and children, from
Mebane, have moved into West Dormi
tory. Mrs. Kee is taking vocal music.
Rev. R. L. Williamson, of Burlington,
filled the pulpit here at the eleven o’clock
hour Sunday and preached to good ac
ceptance.
Mr. J. W. Barney led in Christian
Endeavor Sunday evening, subject,
"Christ Our Teacher." The meeting
was lively, interesting and inspiring.
The graded school closed here last
Friday after a successful year, with Prof.
J. C. Stout principal, and Misses Ruth
Jones and Lela Compton teachers.
Prof. J. T. Cobb left Friday to attend
the Alamance Sunday-school Association
held at Cross Roads church Saturday
and Sunday. He reports that all the
Sunday-schools in the county are in fine
condition, more than six thousand pupils
in the county. NexI session will be held
August 27th and 28th at Spring church.
We were glad to have Miss Lois
Davidson, of Gibsonville, spend a few
hours with us Wednesday. She expects
to be strong enough to re-enter College
by the middle of April.
Prof. W. A. Harper delivered an ad
dress at the Alamance County Sunday-
school Association at Cross Roads, near
Mebane, Sunday on "The Teacher
Training Class." His address was very
much appreciated.
Mrs. L. H. McCauley, of Union
Ridge, spent Sunday night with Mrs. W.
S. Tate on her return from Greensboro,
where she had been with Mrs. William
McCauley, who is in St. Leo s Hospital
for medical treatment.
Those in the Psiphelian Society Fri
day evening who deserve special men
tion are Miss, Beulah Foster, piano solo,
Mazurka de Concert; Miss Bessie Mc
Pherson, a medley, "An Evening in
West Dormitory," and Miss Maibelle
Pritchett, a piano solo.
In the Clio Society Friday evening the
best speaker oratorically was J. S. Lin
coln. Debate, query: Resolved, "That
Man’s Capacity for enjoying life Increases
with the Advancement of Civilization."
Won by negative. Best speaker on the
negative, C. J. Felton.
In the Philologian Society Friday was
the annual contest for the orator’s prize
ten dollars worth of books. Those en
tering the contest were Messrs. H. E.
Truitt, Summerfield, N. C.; F. S. Drake.
Como, N. C.; R. A. Truitt, of Summer
field, N. C.; V. H Coltrane, of Sophia,
N. C. ;W.L.Andersoti. of Burlington No.
5 ; J. C. Stuart, of Raleigh, N. C.; Ar
nold Hall, of Burlington, N. C., and D.
C. Holt, of Graham, N. C. All the
orations were well delivered, making a
highly interesting program. Drs. New
man and Randolph and Prof. Lawrence
were a committee to award the prize.
Mr. W. L. Anderson was adjudged the
winner, not, however, without three or
four close competitors.
Affie Griffin.
CAR LOAD SALT
J J. LAMBETH’S 55c Bag
Full Lii^ of NICE GROCERIES at right prices.
Ck>me and see.
ELON BANKING & TRUST CO,
tAUTHORIZED CAPITAL $25,000
We are prepared to do a general banking busi
ness. We solicit the patronage of the people
Elon College and the surrounding country.
DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK
Of the many cases where DISEASE has been contracted by hav
ing your LAUNDRY WORK done in the same room that is
used for eating, sleeping, and the using of Opium ?
Sanitary' Methods Used in
Burlington Steam Laundry
RALPH POINTER, Agent,
Elon College, N. C.