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Date
February 18, 1894
Abstract
VC 1897
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Transcript file(s)
Subject (Topical)
Details
Identifier
vassar:24564,,Box 20,VCL_Letters_Mansfield_Adelaide_1897_020
Extent
1 item
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: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897020001
Vassar College. Oct. 21. [1894]
Feb. 18, 1894.
My dear Mamma,-
I will try to write my letter now just after tea, and before Bible Lecture. The hour of the Bible Lecture is changed from nine in the morning to seven in the evening, because the majority of the students thought that they would prefer it then - So Dr. Taylor said he was perfectly willing to try it, and then if it does not work as well, we have to change back. The way it is now there is no chapel service on Sunday, but the Bible Lecture instead, and the regular Sunday evening
Feb. 18, 1894.
My dear Mamma,-
I will try to write my letter now just after tea, and before Bible Lecture. The hour of the Bible Lecture is changed from nine in the morning to seven in the evening, because the majority of the students thought that they would prefer it then - So Dr. Taylor said he was perfectly willing to try it, and then if it does not work as well, we have to change back. The way it is now there is no chapel service on Sunday, but the Bible Lecture instead, and the regular Sunday evening
: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897020002
prayer meeting immediately after. I am afraid I shall be sleepy, but perhaps I won't be. It leaves us more time in the morning- Dr. Parker of Chicago, preached this morning-
Friday evening there was a lecture by Prof. Stoddart of the University of the City of New York, on "Some Aspects of Shakspere's Maturity as Shown in the Tempest". He is quite an entertaining speaker, and his lecture was very interesting, though most of it did not bear very directly on the subject. He was somewhat humorous. He illustrated his definition of humor: "Humor is a harmless divergence from the normal."
We had an essay due yesterday for Miss Nettleton. We had had ten days' notice of it, but I had not had time to think of it. So I had to think up my subject yesterday morning (we were to choose our own subjects) and spend a good part of the day in writing it, I took a little rest at noon and darned a pair of stockings; then
Friday evening there was a lecture by Prof. Stoddart of the University of the City of New York, on "Some Aspects of Shakspere's Maturity as Shown in the Tempest". He is quite an entertaining speaker, and his lecture was very interesting, though most of it did not bear very directly on the subject. He was somewhat humorous. He illustrated his definition of humor: "Humor is a harmless divergence from the normal."
We had an essay due yesterday for Miss Nettleton. We had had ten days' notice of it, but I had not had time to think of it. So I had to think up my subject yesterday morning (we were to choose our own subjects) and spend a good part of the day in writing it, I took a little rest at noon and darned a pair of stockings; then
: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897020003
I finished it and got it copied about half past five- I had begun about ten- I do wish I did not write essays so slowly- I heard a girl say she wrote hers in an hour in the morning-
Another girl had her uncle come to visit her, before she had written hers, so she went into her room and wrote her essay off as fast as she could, right on her Essay paper. Ray wrote one yesterday morning and did not like it, so after lunch she wrote another, and did not like that, so at half past three she thought of another subject still, and wrote on that. The last one she concluded to keep and finished copying it in time to come down to dinner late.
Last night the "Trig ceremonies" came off. It is given by the Sophomore class, you know, to celebrate the end of the Mathematics that is required. They usually have lots of jokes, especially on the Faculty. There were very few personal jokes last night, and no mean ones.
Another girl had her uncle come to visit her, before she had written hers, so she went into her room and wrote her essay off as fast as she could, right on her Essay paper. Ray wrote one yesterday morning and did not like it, so after lunch she wrote another, and did not like that, so at half past three she thought of another subject still, and wrote on that. The last one she concluded to keep and finished copying it in time to come down to dinner late.
Last night the "Trig ceremonies" came off. It is given by the Sophomore class, you know, to celebrate the end of the Mathematics that is required. They usually have lots of jokes, especially on the Faculty. There were very few personal jokes last night, and no mean ones.
: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897020004
They represented the class as sailing in the ship "Hall and Knight" (our textbook in Algebra) to the land of Trig, which surrenders. It was done in imitation of Columbus' voyage, and was carried out quite cleverly. It is usually customary for the Freshman class to go with some distinguishing mark, without letting the Sophs find it out beforehand. We all wore a green pasteboard interrogation pt. pinned on our backs, which meant "Where is the point to the Halloween joke you tried to play on us? " We all marched in together, and the Sophomores did not find out about it beforehand.
Thursday is a whole holiday, though I suppose we shall spend some of it in studying- In the evening the Washington's Birthday Party will come.
The weather this week has been very changeable, very cold until yesterday when it rained hard. Thursday morning it was 12° below zero. I had accidentally left my window open pretty wide, and some water that I had left in my washbowl was frozen in a solid dry cake, and
Thursday is a whole holiday, though I suppose we shall spend some of it in studying- In the evening the Washington's Birthday Party will come.
The weather this week has been very changeable, very cold until yesterday when it rained hard. Thursday morning it was 12° below zero. I had accidentally left my window open pretty wide, and some water that I had left in my washbowl was frozen in a solid dry cake, and
: VCLLettersMansfieldAdelaide1897020005
the water in my pitcher was almost entirely frozen, so was Ray's- And not only did our stylographic ink freeze but our common ink - too. Still the bottles did not crack, so we just let it thaw, and I guess it did not hurt it. I woke up about five times in the night, and when I felt of my nose, it felt like a piece of ice. I suppose we should not have had any trouble if our windows had not been open so much. But all this was only a "harmless divergence from the normal.
Lovingly Adelaide. [Claflin]
Lovingly Adelaide. [Claflin]
