Vassar College Digital Library
akohomban
Edited Text
Vassar College.
Feb. 3, 1895.


My dear Mother,—


This is a happy day for us all, for examinations are over, and we did not have any flunk-notes yesterday, and no studying to do either. The new semester begins tomorrow, so of course we have no lessons to get for the first day. I will put in a schedule of my recitations for next semester. I have most of my recitations crowded into the first part of the day - you see I have no recitations after the sixth hour. It is rather hard to have three or four recitations on a stretch, still it
is nice to have them over earlier in the day, and it is very nice to be through for the week by Friday noon.


I am going to have Miss Leach for Greek twice a week, so I shall call on her very soon. We have two hours of Greek required, for which we have Miss Macurdy.


Ray and Carrie and I all have Chemistry- Belle elected Mathematics instead- Analytical geometry. Carrie has been making her Chemistry apron this last week- I cut out the yoke for her- She is going to have full sleeves too, so she will be entirely covered. Ray bought one second-hand, from Gertrude Smith.


We have bought our books for next semester, that is those that have not been used before
and so could not be gotten second hand. The rest we rented, for twenty five cents apiece. We sold some of our books to the Freshmen, those that we had bought second hand we sold for the same price we paid for them.


Our examinations were finally over, though they stretched out through the week - one every day. They were all in the morning- lasting only two hours, so that we had all the afternoon and evening, in which to prepare for the next one, and rest, and have fun. The skating was splendid, so a great many spent most of their afternoons in skating- Twice they had a bonfire on the lake in the evening- We are not ordinarily allowed on the lake in the evening, because so many tough boys from town come
out then, so every once in a while Mrs. Kendrick has a bonfire arranged for-


Our Greek exam, came first - on Monday morning. Two of the questions were quite fair and pleasant made out by Miss Macurdy- the other two Prof. Leach put in, and they were very hard. Miss Leach is noted for giving very hard exams.


Mr. Wentworth conducted our English exam. and printed his directions on the blackboard in very large letters, instead of saying them to us- like this:
PLEASE OCCUPY ALTERNATE SEATS.
THE END OF THE HOUR WILL BE ANNOUNCED,
just as if it were not easier to announce it.


During the semester we dreaded our History exam, the most,
but towards the end we had so many written lessons, for which we had to review our work, that there was very little left to do for exam- and this exam, like the one in English was not very hard, but was very long- Our first question in history was to give a brief account of our course in history, and tell the part that we liked most, and why we liked it most. Our exam, in Trigonometry was the hardest, and I think that more girls flunked in that subject than in any other. Our Latin we never mind, for we know pretty much what we will be asked, and beside we have ^had Latin longer than anything else.


The examinations are always very long- the only one that I finished was Rhetoric - which was the easiest- The rest of them I got about half through.
In Trigonometry I only finished two, and did parts of two others - there were six questions in all. I am so slow. Ray usually gets almost through- she can write so very fast, and can think just as fast as she writes. There were only three girls (out of one hundred and twenty) who finished the Trig. exam. But I don't care if I am not smart. I just try to do things as well as time and my brains will permit, and let the rest go. Prof. Ely told us, one day in class, to be glad that there were so many people smarter than ourselves.


We should have had a blissful day yesterday if we had not kept thinking we ought to be writing our essays, which are due next Saturday. But for all that we did not write them, but sewed and fooled and talked, all day- and in the evening were invited down to
Maude Warner's.


Thursday - to celebrate the end of the semester - we went down to Smith's to dinner - (the restaurant). Some girls go every week, but I had never been before for dinner. So it was quite a lark. We stood at the lodge waiting for a car to go down town, but none came for five or ten minutes, and just then a coachman from a livery stable in town came out from the college In a big two-seated sleigh, and asked us if we did not want to ride to town in his sleigh. So we jumped in, as there were four of us, and rode down in fine style. He was the coachman who always takes girls in with him when he goes back to town. Mrs. Kendrick would not have allowed us to do it, as we had no chaperone, but it was lots of fun. There were Belle and Carrie and Mary Tarbox on the back seat,
and they left me to sit on the front seat with the driver. We had beefsteak and creamed potatoes and icecream for dinner-


This morning Carrie and Ray and Marion Lockhart and I went into town to the Presbyterian Church. They announced a meeting Wednesday evening at which Mr. Angelini is going to speak.


Elisabeth Guyer sat next to me in the car. You know she Is the girl who lives in Waverley- She told about seeing Uncle Edward at Christmas and Teddy- She seems to think a great deal of Teddy- says he is a very nice boy. They are going to be in the same camping-out party next summer. They would have been last summer if Teddy had not come down with his fever Just before the time.


I was quite surprised to read of Stanley Tucker's marriage. I have often heard the name of the girl but do not know who she is. Did you see Connie Julier? It is a long time since she has been to Cleveland before.


Lovingly
Adelaide. (Claflin)