Vassar College. Feb. 24. 1895.
My dear Father,—
The time has come around for me to write yon another
birthday letter, and say that I am sorry not to have anything more sub-
stantial to offer. Aad if I could give you a birthday kiss, it would be
much more satisfactory than sending it in a letter.
This morning Bishop Leonard, of Cleveland, preached for us-
in the Episcopal service. I don't remember whether I ever saw him in
Cleveland, for I did not remember his face. I liked him quite well. You
know last Sunday we had a Cleveland minister, too, Dr. Upham. This
afternoon Rev. Mr. McCarthy, for twenty-seven years a missionary in
China, is going to speak for us- This is in addition to the usual services,
for in the evening we have our usual Bible Lecture by Dr. Pattison, and
an address on Tenement House Reform by Mr. Richard Watson Gilder.
Thursday evening was the regular missionary meeting of the
Y.W.C.A. at which Ray, as chairman of the Missionary Committee,
presided- and Carrie Hardin spoke about life in Syria, which of course
she knows about very well. She knows a good deal of Arabic, though ahe
has forgotten some of it, and it is fun to hear her recite Arabic-
Yesterday afternoon Ray and I went to a reception given by Gertrude
Bronson for her sister Victoria, and a friend of Victoria's, Miss DeWitt.
Victoria was here only two days, but It was interesting for her, I guess-
And she was enjoying it very much. She seems a good deal older than she
Feb. 10, 1895 ~ 943
did In the summer.
Friday was quite an exciting day- after lessons were over. We
have always had Washington's birthday for a holiday before, but this
year the Faculty concluded that we might just as well have our lessons
as usual, and not break into our work with a holiday- So all the usual
decorations of flags and colonial relics the girls replaced by decorations
which indicated mourning for a lost patriotism.
The Senior tables down the center of the dining room are always deco-
rated, and the seniors are always dressed up in some particular way
and march together into the dining room, first, while the rest of us stand
by in the corridor and watch them, So this year the Seniors adorned their
tables all with black cheesecloth, even tying bows on the vinegar bottles
aad salt cellars etc. Then the Seniors instead of being dressed in colonial
costumes, suddenly appeared, all in black, some of them Puritans, some
of them nuns and some monks, with long flowing robes and cowls on their
heads and candles in their hand. All these sombre figures singing a
mournful dirge produced rather a startling effect. During dinner we were
quite hilarious, and while we were waiting for dessert the Seniors all
yelled "What's the matter with Washington's birthday? " and the response,
"Going, going, gone!" aad "What's the matter with the Faculty? " "We dont
know.1' Over at Strong Hall, they sang Star-Spangled Banner, America,
Feb, 24, 1895-3
Marching thro9 Georgia, and so on, during dinner.
In the dining room a committee had posted big printed posters -
a "Declaration of Patriotism", modelled on the "Declaration of Indepen-
dence which contained sentences like this: "We believe that students are
endowed with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty
and the celebration of national holidays."
A statue of Geo. W. in the front hall was wrapped up in a portiere
and a sign on it "Positively Engaged"— the sign wh. the girls always put
out on their doors when they are very busy and cannot be seen. Of course
this was done by some girl.
Friday evening we all went over to the gym. in colonial costume
and had some fun- Some Southern girls were dressed as darkies and
danced the darky dances, one of them dressed as a boy did the "breakdown".
This was especially enjoyed by the lecturer Prof. H. Morse Stephens, who
was there. He lectured twice on Saturday on the French Revolution, on
which he is the authority now. We could not go to his lectures for Belle
had a friend here from home and we had spent the day entertaining her.
to
We took her over^the laundry, and were shown all through it - the first
time I had been there - to go through it all. We saw how our clothes were
washed and rinsed and dried and ironed and sorted - a good deal of it done
by machinery- The people here are all very glad to show off their machinery-
Feb 24, 1895 -4
One day when we were in the Catacombs the man there showed us the
engine which pumped all the water - 90 gallons per minute it pumps,
fr. fourteen wells beyond Strong Hall, There is another engine beside
it for use if that one gets out of order.
Give my love to all - and keep lots for yourself - Though this
is a birthday letter, still of course it is for all the family to read- as
usual—
Lovingly
Your daughter
Adelaide. (Claflin,