PM i liSlIl S Vol. I. No. 7. April 15, 1910. m T!e CREIGHTON CHRONICLE i)i m IIBII Mathematics and It's Power to Train the Mind 1 William F. Rigge, S, /., F. R. A. S, Training of the Future 6 Charles F. Crowley, A. M., Ph. C, M. D. The Legal Department of A Metropolitan City 11 John A. Rine, LL. B. Commencement Thoughts 15 John A. Bennewitz, A. M.^ LL, B. A Phase of Modem Law Practice __ 22 Amos E. Henely, A. M., LL, B. Commencement 26 News Notes 27 Published Monthly from October to May by m The Creighton University Oinahci, Nebraska. PRICE 20 cents. $1.25 a Year. PM ill5lE m Mp] Remember this trademark and re- fuse substitutes. Old Dutch Cleanser is the only article which cleans, scrubs, scours and p)olishes — that is free from caustic and acids — that cleans mechanically, not chemU catty. It h" ^' tH: ,et u:k Dirt .^^s: '>4 >•■. ■ .** ->*•■ -r,, \m^^ Lar^e Sift Top ^f Cans <■> V At all Gro I itc: y\ m ll 1 If' :; ftAttv'll^lkitf THE /^REIGHTON HRONICLE Published Monthly from October to May by The Creighton University Address all communications to The Creighton Chronicle 210 South 18th Street Omaha, Nebraska. «*«« ♦ •©••r** -,<.«^«'«*«<»«*^»»**'^* Prope.-^'.y of Creir^>ton Kton IJmver^ty. « »»4^l!!-*»f ^••^**^' ..^***'^^»*^*^ *:"'•' --*i fl>^' ■'^^'^^'SiWliWl^ife. WILLIAM F. RIGGE, S. J. Professor of Science and Director of the Observatory Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Creighton University Archives http://archive.org/details/creightonchronic1n7crei WILLIAM F. DOOLEY, S. J. Dean of the Department of Arts MATHEMATICS AND ITS POWER TO TRAIN THE MIND. * WILLIAM F. RIGGE, S. J., F. R. A. S. The very important place that mathematics occupies in education is sufficiently evinced by the fact that it has always been judged to be an essential branch in the curriculum of every school of learning in the world. Mathematics is the science of number and quantity. It is by its very nature an abstract science, prescinding entirely from the elements of time and physical reality, and is therefore well adapted to train the intellectual faculty of the soul. Practical applica- tion to concrete examples may be an interesting presenta- tion of the principles involved, but it is not the primary purpose of mathematics, and should not be made to obscure its original idea. Mathematics trains a young mind to be precise, to reason, to analyze, to prove, to deduce consequences. It gives the greatest possible certainty to its pronouncements and makes the thinker an independent and personally re- sponsible judge. It is the purpose of this article to dilate somewhat upon these statements. Mathematics is pre-eminently the exact science. It guarantees the most absolute and the most perfect exact- itude conceivable, it gives results which may be relied upon at all hazards, and upon which one may stake his fortune and his life. In return for this exactitude it demands the most scrupulous attention to details, it admits of no care- lessness, no slovenliness in its operations. Strict attention to little things is its motto, and is the first lesson it teaches the student. A want of such attention to the proper mathematical words and operations brings with it the inevitable penalty of confusion and error. Careless students are, at the very ♦Dean of the Scientific Department and Director of the Observatory, The Creighton University. THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. end of their college courses, continually struggling against elementary difficulties that they should have mastered at the very beginning. They do not understand the new matter because the professor is using words of whose meaning they have but a confused conception, and while they are thus practically driven to study all their branches of mathematics at the same time without order and without direction, there can be but one result, confusion, disgust and despair. On the other hand an habitual attention to details and to the right use of words will soon cause the student to realize that he has made progress. All the intermediate steps in the solution of a problem become clear and con- nected in his mind. He sees the purpose and the reason of each one of them and of the order in which they succeed each other. Words take on specific meaning, whole opera- tions are seen at a glance, and the method of solving prob- lems becomes clear, rapid and interesting. A mathematical precision reacts upon the student's literature, and gives exact expression to the idea conceived. It endows the speaker and writer with a conscious grasp of his subject, and introduces strength and vitality into his style. The power of analysis is another gift of mathematical training. Wlien one has habituated himself to define his terms and to scrutinize every part of his own definition, to subject his quantities to all kinds of operations, to examine his figures from every point of view, and to discuss every step in the solution of a problem, one can scarcely fail to acquire a kind of mathematical instinct which enables him to instantly bring all kinds of siege guns to the attack of a new problem, or all kinds of reagents to analyze it into its components. Analysis means breaking up, a resolution into con- stituent parts. It means the apparent substitution for one quantity of a number of others, each of which may be treated in a similar manner and replaced by others. The mind is thus led into the consideration of these elements MATHEMATICS AND ITS POWER TO TRAIN THE MIND. 3 or parts, and by studying them, into a comprehension of the original subject. Such an analysis can, in an instant, cause diffiiculties to vanish, it can suggest a plan of attack that will surely lead to victory, and it can demolish an adversary's argument by simply and literally taking it to pieces. An analysis is by its very nature, an exhaustive process. When one has made a mathematical analysis, he is superior even to an assayer who has made a chemical analysis of an ore, for he knows the whole truth, and can give an entire and exhaustive account of his subject matter in such a way that absolutely nothing can be added to what he has said. This is the case even in elementarv mathematics, and the student can thus learn what mathematical analysis means at the very beginning of his course. He cannot fail to wonder at the power put into his hands, for when one is in posses- sion of the whole and entire truth, so that nothing whatever as to compel its acceptance. The mind is not a free faculty ; no other view of the subject can be presented that he has not already accounted or provided for, what better school can there be in which to learn and acquire this immense, and almost infinite power of exhaustive analysis, than that of the daily practice of mathematics ? The proof of a mathematical statement is always such as to compel its acceptance. The mind is not a free faculty, when a truth is presented to it, it must necessarily accept it. Thence, when a student has truly proved a mathematical statement, he is entitled to the satisfaction of knowing that everybody in the world is obliged to accept his proof, and that when there is question of such a mathematical proof, he is on a par with the greatest geniuses of the world and can compel them to listen to him. The certainty of a mathematical proof is of the highest order, it is metaphysical or absolute. It is so great that one may safely stake his fortune and his life upon it. No fear THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. need be entertained that the proof will ever be undermined. I am speaking here of the simple problems that a student meets in his course, not of the long and complex researches of professional mathematicians, which, as history tells us, have often, even after a lifetime of the greatest labor, been shown to be false and untenable. But even in these cases the fault was with the human element, which is necessarily limited and not omniscient, and not with the science of mathematics, which must be said rather to have scored an- other victory in thus disclosing to us the mistakes of indi- viduals. The certainty of mathematical conclusions effectually eliminates the principle of authority. When one has proved a proposition, he need not be concerned about the judgment of others. It is truth to him, and must, therefore, be truth to the world, no one can contradict it. Hence, the authority of others in confirming our statement is needless, it is im- plicity contained in our proof, we have it already, we have forced it by our own power. While on the one hand reliance upon the answer to a problem may be pardoned in a beginner on account of his inexperience, still on the other there is a real need of this pardon, because the student is making a mistake in principle, he is replacing metaphysical or absolute certitude, which is the highest of all, and which it is the nature of mathematics always to give, by moral certitude, the lowest of all, by taking the word of the author and of the printer. This is the hardest lesson a student has to learn, and many do not learn it at all, this rejection of all authority, this true liberty of judgment, and this independence of the answer book. But it is the grandest lesson that mathe- matics has to impart. It makes a man out of the student, it teaches him to sit in judgment on the world, and shows him how to lead the thought of his fellows. It prepares him for one day passing a correct judgment upon an accused, or upon the work of an employee. It tends to make him a just MATHEMATICS AND ITS POWER TO TRAIN THE MIND. 5 arbiter of human differences. It gives him that true inde- pendence that befits a human being. And, withal, it teaches him honesty and uprightness of character, and then a fear- less facing of all consequences. When one is absolutely con- vinced of the truth of his statement, when one is in posses- sion of the entire truth, and when one knows that the whole world cannot differ from him, why then should there be any fear, why hesitate, why not pronounce judgment and let the consequences be what they list? On the other hand the practical errors that flesh is heir to teach the student prudence and humility. Long problems develop his endurance. Continued practice sharpens his wits and shows him many abbreviated processes. Then many elegancies appear in his work and in his methods. And, if his practice is sufficiently extensive and his applica- tion sufficiently prolonged he will begin to see some of the beauties of the science, he will get some glimpses of its infinite possibilities, another world, of which before he had not even an idea, will open up before him, and he will then realize that there are charms and fascinations even in abstract mathematics which are absolutely sealed treasures to all but its most faithful and persevering students. William F. Rigge^ S. J. TRAINING OF THE FUTURE. ^ CHARLES F. CROWLEY, A. M., PH. C, M. D. ^ ^ God bless Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books/' History recites many instances of the inability of war- ring tribes to settle their differences till some more power- ful nation suppressed both. Such were the internecine strifes crushed out by Caesar, representing mighty Eome. England offered an experience of this nature when the Picts and Scots, in the fifth century, forced themselves down on the Britons till these latter were obliged to call in the Angles and Saxons, who finally became the rulers of the Island. The slaves and the slave owners of the South could never wipe out slavery; the former could not, the latter would not. The North, by great moral force and at heavy cost prevailed. Of what practical use is the conning of history unless from its pages, even reading between the lines, plans of campaign can be formulated for the future? Masterful skill in planning is only possible when our anticipations are correct. The introduction of a stronger power seems necessary for the easy solution of disputes which contestants cannot settle for themselves, because neither can step into the other's place and view the situation from both sides. The theory of referees and arbitration boards is based on these fundamental considerations. Capital is organized, labor is combined or unionized, each has grievances, but they themselves cannot solve their difficulties and misunderstandings. Some one not blindly adherent to either side must do this. What class of men *Ph. C, University of Michigan; A. M., M. D., Creighton. Professor of Chemistry, Toxicology and Skiagraphy. Chemist to Omaha Board of Health. TRAINING OP THE FUTURE. can best serve on an arbitration board to the mutual ad- vantage of the contestants and society! What class of men can best make laws to conserve the public peace, the public welfare and the public resources! Wliat class of men can best take part in building up our complicated political, civic, industrial, commercial and social structure! Surely those who with conscious rectitude understand the fundamentals of the various problems presented. The following items suggest themselves: Industrial pursuits are developing more rapidly and successfully in Germany than elsewhere because of the scientific care and study given to each particular branch. The iron industry has been successful because the chemical factor was understood. The packing industry is dependent on the chemist and the waste products of the world can be utilized properly, only through the analyst's hands. Can any one conceive of the smelter being carried on profitably without the chemist! The health of the public is conserved by the work of the chemist on food stutfs. Standards of equality for gas, coal, and water supplies are made largely from chemical data. Extensive farming is made possible by analysis of the soil and its products, together with the fertilizers which are to augment the yield. Mining be- comes a wasteful operation unless guided by results from the chemical laboratory. What will be the food of the future! James J. Hill in his recent address before the Bankers' Association called attention in forceful terms to the growth of our population and the present limit of wheat production and showed statistics to prove that the world would be four million bushels of wheat short about the middle of this century. Just as startling figures are developed for other necessary commodities and food stuffs. What will be the power of the future! Wood is out of the question, coal is being so rapidly, not to say wastefully consumed, that anthracite will scarcely last fifty years, and bituminous only ten times 8 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. as long. Water power must be harnessed and it is depend- ent upon sunlight which Dr. Pritchett estimates as seventy- five hundred horse power for every acre of territory ex- posed to its rays. Would it not be wise to look into this enormous energy and utilize the sun's heat, the possibilities of which were indicated by the Portuguese priests' helio- plane at the St. Louis exposition, with which a temperature of over three thousand degrees centigrade was obtained? Neither the food nor power problem can be pushed to a suc- cessful issue without the aid of the chemist. Interlinearly we can see the necessity of the advance of prices and the increased cost of living. We now mine the better qualities of easily accessible ores in our mining operations, later we must dig deeper and be satisfied with poorer grades. The devastation of our forests has deprived us of one of our natural reservoirs from which was tempered the flow of our rivers inasmuch as these shady areas alllowed the accumulated winter 's snow to melt slowly and prevented the excessive Spring and Summer floods. The direct yearly damage in the United States from floods has arisen from forty-five million dollars in 1900 to over two hundred and thirty-eight millions in 1907. This does not include the indirect loss produced by interference with business and transportation. We use one hundred billion board feet of wood per year, only forty of which is for lumber. At this rate the forestry service shows that we will have exhausted our forests in at least twenty years. A single Sunday issue of a New York daily paper requires fifteen acres of forest. The chemist has devised the method of producing pulp which consumed two billion board feet of wood valued at thirty million dollars in 1907. Can he devise a substitute for paper pulp or for the other uses of wood? If the trained, systematic chemist cannot, then on whom are we to rely? Utilization of our water-ways, water power and irriga- tion facilities, to say nothing of our coal, petroleum and TRAINING OP THE FUTURE. natural gas, implies a knowledge of chemistry. Medicine and its auxiliary branches all depend on chemistry, from Biology to Materia Medica. At this time it seems impossible to refrain from calling attention to our water supplies, and what enters into them. Our rivers, unlike many of those of Europe, are the drain- age canals for the sewers of our cities. In Europe much sewage is treated before the water is allowed to flow into the stream and all the fertilizer available is returned to the agricultural area. This treatment minimizes river pollution. Computing figures for the United States, one can estimate that approximately forty thousand tons of phosphorus atoms are yearly carried by our streams from our sewers to the ocean where they are deposited or held in solution with no possible chance of ever returning to our fields. Vegetation is continually exhausting the soil of its phos- phorus, which exists there in only small quantities. Phos- phoric rocks are rare and most of our supply of phosphorus for fertilization purposes comes either from excrement, (guano, which is already exhausted in Peru) or fossil shell and bones. In a word there is hardly a problem of economic im- portance, either political, industrial or commercial, which does not involve some chemical features. Reasonable en- actments on these important topics can only be made by legislators who have an understanding of the fundamental principles involved, which implies chemical training. Spas- modic benevolence or erratic fanaticism can be crystallized into permanent legislation to restrict the sale of cocaine or similar poisons; to safeguard the handling of gasoline or other explosives; to specify the forms in which tobacco may not be used ; and to limit the times during which alco- holic beverages may be sold ; but such regulations can only be made after the chemist has been consulted as to the na- 10 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. ture of the article involved. The chemical mind, with its training and care and thoroughness, seems to be the only logical power on which all must depend for the safety and welfare of the future. According to evolutionary ideas we must develop a sixth sense, for example, a chemical sense, and thus we are confronted by an environment which needs must carry us to the laboratory. Has capital the time to master the branch, or can labor command the means I The hope of the future depends upon the attitude of those who can acquire a university training, which, in the light of our present conditions, must include ample provision for thor- ough chemical work. Charles F. Crowley, A. M., Ph. C, M. D. THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT OF A METROPOLITAN CITY. ^ JOHN A. RINE, LL. B. No department comes more closely into touch with all the activities of municipal government, than the legal de- partment of a metropolitan city. The Mayor as the chief executive is the principal head of a city, the functions of his department are purely governmental and administra- tive. The Engineer 's activities fall within the field of public improvements. The Clerk has charge of the city^s records and the scope of his department embraces, principally, mat- ters relating thereto. The Treasurer is the city collector and the custodian of its funds. The Comptroller is its bookkeeper. So with all the minor departments of the city government, the functions of each fall within a special field. As the powers and duties, in fact the very existence of the various departments of the city government depend upon the law, the city attorney as the legal adviser of the city is constantly consulted by, and comes into touch with all of these departments. It is not the purpose of this article to discuss municipal government, or the relation of one department to another, but rather the legal department as a separate department. In doing so we will take the city of Omaha as a concrete example. This city, which claims a population of nearly two hundred thousand people, and is rapidly approaching that number, has a legal department consisting of a city attorney and two assistants. During the last year there has been raised, by general taxation, and expended for municipal purposes, almost one million dollars. In that time the city has raised, by special tax and by issuing special bonds, over six hundred thousand dollars, which it *LL. B., University of Michigan, 1900; Referee in Bankruptcy, June, 1903, to May, 1906; Assistant City Attorney of Omaha, July, 1906, to date. Professor of Municipal Corporations, Creighton College of Law. 12 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. has expended for public improvements. The cost of its pavements is over seven million one hundred thousand dol- lars, whie upon its sewers it has expended over two million six hundred thousand dollars. Most of its public improve- ments, except constructing main sewers and paving inter- sections, are paid for out of funds raised by special taxa- tion. The validity of such taxes depends upon a strict com- pliance with the city charter in conducting the preliminary steps for the ordering of the improvement, a failure to com- ply with which would result in a cancellation of the tax. It is therefore of the greatest importance that these proceed- ings be carefully supervised by the legal department. This entails much detail work in the examination of petitions for the improvement, requires a close check upon the resolu- tions and ordinances of the mayor and city council relative thereto, and an examination of the contracts made therefor. Another duty of the legal department is to advise the departments of government as to the law. The charter of the city of Omaha, so far as it applies to this duty, is as follows : *^The city attorney shall advise the city council, the head of the department, or any committee of the council in writing, when requested, as to all legal questions that may arise before it ; to advise the mayor and all other officers in relation to their duty.'' This seems a simple provision, but it makes the legal department what may be aptly termed, the ^ ' trouble depart- ment." Complaints and requests are constantly made to the council with reference to all manner of things. If a legal question is involved in any way, the matter is referred to the legal department. Every legal knot thus referred is bound up and twisted with trouble, spelled with a capital ^'T.'' When one of these knots is referred, the city attor- ney, or one of his assistants, is supposed to unwind the THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT OF A METROPOLITAN CITY. 13 tangled skein of law and trouble, so that the municipal gov- ernment mav move smoothlv on without a hitch. In this connection the members of the department are afforded ample opportunity to study and judge human nature. Cupidity, egotism, passion, hatred and revenge all appear here to make their specious plea. It may be a neighbor, animated by en\7', protesting against some act of another; it may be a tax shirker, who with fat purse, but with lean and hungry visage, seeks to cancel a tax that, in equity, should be paid ; again, it may be some consummate egotist, impressed with his own importance, asking for himself a favor denied to others, which, in law, he knows he is not entitled to ; all these, and more, pass in procession through the legal department, and woe to the attorney who casts aside the law and listens to these appeals. Every day perplexing questions of law arise, in the administration of city affairs, upon which the legal depart- ment is expected to pass with wisdom and dispatch. Upon the wisdom, or unwisdom, of its decisions thereon, the suc- cess or failure of the administration of the municipal gov- ernment may depend. It may help or hamper the future growth of the city, almost beyond belief. Upon its action may hinge the validity of taxes, the salability of its bonds, the title to its streets, boulevards, parks and other public grounds, and its liability upon tort and contract. ^ It also falls to the lot of the legal department to prepare proposed ordinances for councilmen. A demand, real or fancied, arises for a certain regulation, a request is iiome- diately made of the department to prepare an ordinance upon the subject. As a result, it is blessed or blamed for the ordinance, as it becomes popular or otherwise, even though it had no more to do with its enactment than with the Institutes of Justinian. One of the chief duties of this department is to prose- cute or defend in court suits to which the city is a party. 14 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. It is the general belief of the public that this is its principal duty. Wliile such is not the case, it is an important part of the work of the department. There are not lacking cunning men who are ever ready to pilfer the public treasury through proceedings at law, let the opportunity but be atf orded. There are men of fortune and position who would not deign to steal a dollar from a private individual but who will lose sleep trying to devise means to annul taxes levied by the city. This makes it of importance that those who fight the city's legal battles be not only able and industrious, but that they stand constantly upon the firing line and know not the word ^ ^ surrender. ' ' As an illustration of the extent of this part of the work of the legal department, we may again refer to the city of Omaha. On the first day of January, 1910, there were one hundred and sixteen suits pending in the courts, in which the city of Omaha was an interested party. Of this num- ber, four were pending in the County Court of Douglas County ; eighty in the District Court of the state, eleven in the Supreme Court of the state, eighteen in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals and one in the Supreme Court of the United States. In some of these suits the amount involved extended into millions of dollars, while in others, but a few cents were in question. None of these could be lightly passed by as, in the least important of them, there might be established an unfavorable precedent which could later be used against the city's interest. We have endeavored here to set forth a few of the matters with which the legal department of the city has to deal. These might be discussed much more in detail, but that would take us beyond the purview of this article. Gen- erally speaking, it is the duty of the legal department to prosecute suits commenced on behalf of the city and defend it in those brought against it ; to advise the various depart- ments as to the law, and to see that in the administration of municipal affairs, the provisions of the law are complied THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT OF A METROPOLITAN CITY. 15 with. As an ounce of preventative is worth a pound of cure, this last is by no means the least important. Having these important functions to perform, it is our belief that the office of the City Attorney, which is the head of this depart- ment, should be filled not by an empiric, who adopts a doubt- ful construction of law to blaze ways through fields of inno- vation, but rather by a wise counselor who moves with care and advises with wisdom. John a. Eine, LL. B. COMMENCEMENT THOUGHTS. ^JOHN A. BENNEWITZ, A. M., LL. B. In many things in this world man must be blindly de- pendent upon others. I know of no better illustration of this than the relation of the layman to the pharmacist. The layman receives from his physician a prescription written in hieroglyphics which are no more intelligible to him than Egyptian. He takes it to a pharmacist and receives a vial of colored liquid or a box of 38-caliber capsules the ingredi- ents of which are as great a mystery to him as the written prescription, and he pays whatever the pharmacist chooses to ask, although his knowledge of the value is equally ob- scure. The whole transaction is clothed in mystery. Being a layman, then, and uninitiated into the mysteries of your calling, you cannot expect me to devote myself to a discus- sion of your duties as pharmacists. The professors who have been conveying to you the secrets of their profession have undoubtedly impressed upon you your duties in the relations growing out of that profession. I shall take it upon myself to discuss very briefly a few broad principles which, it seems to me, it is well to ponder upon at this time. I shall not pretend to offer advice. I do not feel qualified ♦Address delivered to the graduating class of the Creighton College of Pharmacy. 16 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. to do that. But I shall dwell upon a few thoughts that occur to all of us, and the value of which you know as well as I. This graduation means to you a dividing line in your lives. It is the ending of one epoch and the beginning of another. Up to now most of you have not taken up life's burdens. You have been living in a world of preparation ; now you are to enter into the world of participation, the world of work, of serious responsibilities. I have said that those who deal with you as pharma- cists must be, in many instances, blindly dependent upon you; and you will find that, aside from your profession, people will be dependent upon you as you in turn are de- pendent upon them. God has made man a social being and has linked men together with mutual rights and duties. It is in the performance of these duties that man realizes his highest success. The most successful is he who fits most harmoniously into the scheme of social existence designed by the Creator of the world. Man's duties are four-fold — his duty to himself, to his neighbor, to his country, and to his God. These duties are not distinct and separate; but they are co-existent, they dove-tail into one another. Let us consider briefly man's duty to himself, which must in truth be the foundation upon which his character is built and upon which the relations of his life must rest, for as Polonius so well advised : **This above all — to thine own self be true; And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." Man owes it to himself to lead a clean life, to have a proper self-respect, to make use of his talents, to have a definite purpose in life, to adhere to that purpose, and to have faith in his ability to achieve that purpose. Our worth or our value does not depend upon when or where COMMENCEMENT THOUGHTS. 17 we were born ; it does not depend upon the influences which hem us in ; it does not depend upon our environment ; but it depends upon our individual selves. It is true that our sur- roundings and the influences which pervade the atmosphere in which we live make the development easier or harder. The less of difficulty that lies in our way the less of our strength it takes to overcome it. The greater the oppor- tunity the simpler it is for us to make good. But the point is here, that whether we overcome the surrounding influ- ences if they be conflicting ones, or whether we profit by them if they be wholesome and uplifting, depends upon our very selves. In this regard we can learn a lesson (though we may not care to adopt his methods or his end) from the man whose existence is wrapped up in money making. He has a purpose clearly defined ; he schools himself in hardship and gathers his strength to present an irresistible force to all obstacles that come in his way. He conserves his ener- gies and makes sure that he is guilty of no waste. He has an all-abiding faith in his ability to accomplish. I have no doubt that each of you has thought of the money that is to reward your efforts, or has dreamed per- haps of the fortune that is to surround with comfort your declining years. I would not attempt to decry that ambi- tion. There is no law that I know of, human or divine, that makes the acquisition of wealth a misdemeanor, a sin or a crime. The pursuit of fortune is perfectly legitimate. It is the manner of this pursuit that may lead one into devious paths and crooked ways. It will depend upon the man. Money is a necessity. It is also a luxury. As a luxury it may be a detriment or a blessing. If in its acquisition one is true to his own conscience and respects the rights of others; if he does not allow it to separate him from the worthier things of life; if in its possession one regards money as an instrument for the attainment of good, then it is a blessing. On the other hand, if one treads upon the rights of his neighbor, pushes conscience down in worship 18 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. to the almighty dollar and regards it as an end instead of a means, then money is a curse. Bnt money does not mean success, nor the lack of it spell failure. However, the same qualities which mark the dreamer of golden dreams are requisite to the achievement of any great purpose in life — a desire to do a thing and a confidence in one's self that he can do it. There must of course be some foundation for this confidence. Ignorance is not its running mate. Nor do I mean that one should have what is ordinarily termed ^^a big head,'' although I once heard an eminent speaker say that a big head was not such a bad thing, for when one has a little head very few people are going to take the trouble to expand its size ; while if one has a big head there are always plenty of people ready to relieve the swelling. The history ^of America is replete with illustrations of men who have lifted themselves from barren obscurity to a height of achievement by fastening upon themselves a great purpose, and centralizing their efforts in the accomplish- ment of that purpose, encouraged in their ability to attain. We do not have to go far for an illustration of this truth. A brief while ago Omaha numbered among her citizens such a man. His birth was not recorded in the annals of time. His rise was a record of purposeful attainment. His char- acter was moulded in the die of hardship. As the strength of the athlete is increased by the conquest of physical diffi- culties, so his character was strengthened by the conquest of moral difficulties. The end of his life was a crown of suc- cess. He had performed his duty to himself, and more, he had performed his duty to his neighbor. And when the tolling bell announced his transition from time into eternity ten thousand mourners bowed their heads. His memory lives on in the monuments he left behind, and as you pass out of these halls tonight, read once more the inscription over their portals and remember long the name of Creigh- ton. CO^DIENCEMENT THOUGHTS. - 19 The benefactions Count Creighton made are a proof that he recognized his duty to his neighbor. That duty may be summed up in one comprehensive term — charity; charity, not as that word is usually taken, the giving of alms to a neighbor in distress, though that may be one of its mani- festations, but that charity which is a synonym for brotherly love, which means a sincere regard for the welfare of an- other, which causes us to pause before we say the word that will offend, which turns our mood of chastisement into one of encouragement, which leads us to see the beam in our own eye before we discover the mote in the eye of another, that charity which is a manifestation of the great principle enunciated by the Apostle, when he said: ^^If I have all faith so as to remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. '^ So then in this vast vineyard he who lightens labor, he who causes the eye of his neighbor to sparkle with a smile instead of grow dim with a tear, he of whom the lovable Hoosier poet has said : *^He lives the life he is preaching of, And loves where most is the need of love ; His voice is clear to the deaf man's ears, And his face sublime through the blind man's tears ; The light shines out where the clouds are dim, And the widow's prayer goes up for him; The latch is clicked at the hovel door. And the sick man sees the sun once more ' ' — he is the man who has absorbed the spirit of charity, that charity which is the fulfillment of man's duty to his neigh- bor. Let us consider for a moment our duty to our country. It is embodied in the word '^patriotism." Patriotism means more than hurrahing for the flag, or standing up when the band plays the ''Star Spangled Banner." It means a love of country and a sincere regard for the coun- 20 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. try's welfare. In a nation such as this, wliere the citizens are the rnlers, no man can conscientiously neglect to take an interest in government. Every man owes it to himself and to his country to make a wise and conscientious use of the ballot. You hear men claim that the country is going to perdition ; that there is graft and boodling in high places ; that politics is woefully corrupt, and then you ask these men the day after election, ^^Did you vote?" and you will find they are very much like the invited wedding guests men- tioned in the Bible — one has married a wife, and couldn't go, one has bought a yoke of oxen and needs must try them, another was busy in the field, the shop, the store, the office, and couldn't get away; another wouldn't go because they didn't send a carriage after him, and another forgot all about it until after the polls were closed. But you can de- pend upon it that the grafter, the boodler, the political cor- ruptionist was there in the morning waiting for the judges and clerks of election to open the polls. I believe that the majority of men are honest, and if every honest man went to the polls and voted his honest con- viction, much that is tainted, much that is wrong, much that is corrupt in the politics of America today would sink into nothingness before the will of the honest majority. It is not enough to be passively honest. We must be actively honest. We must exhibit some of the persistency of the Irish lumberman who was carrying a log along the edge of a steep incline. Suddenly he missed his footing and he and the log started to roll down hill together, one over the other. His friends, fearing that he would be killed, called out: * ^ For heaven 's sake, man, let go of the log ! ' ' But he paid no attention. He hung on to the log. Finally he and the log reached a stopping place, and the man's friends rushed down to him, expecting to find him dead. They found him well out of breath and much the worse for his adventure, but still very much alive. ^ ' For the love of the Lord ! ' ' they exclaimed, ^^why didn't you let go?" **Why should I let COMMENCEMENT THOUGHTS. 21 goV^ lie replied. *^Wliy should I let go? It was a fair fight and I was on top half the time. ' ^ If the people, the honest majority, go at it properly they can be on top all the time. Fidelity to one 's self, one 's neighbor and one 's country must necessarily mean the fulfillment of the moral law. Only one essential must be added to make this a perform- ance of our duty to God. That essential is the motive — that Christian motive which bows to the will of an all-wise Father and magnifies all our work a thousand-fold in merit. In conclusion I want to congratulate you on the success- ful completion of your studies and to wish you Godspeed in your chosen vocation. Establish your ideal and ever aim at that ideal. If you fall short, the attempt will be a vic- tory ; if you realize it, your success will be success indeed. John A. Bennewitz, A. M., LL. B. A PHASE OF MODERN LAW PRACTICE. *AMOS E. HENELY, A. M., LL. B. Owing to the marvelous changes which have taken place during the last fifteen or twenty years in the connner- cial world, bringing with them new methods and conditions in almost every department of human endeavor, it may be interesting to sketch, in broad outlines, the changes pro- duced in the legal profession. We are a commercial people, and the interest of com- merce demands consideration in every profession which has ^ any connection with the economic welfare and progress of the people. It goes without saying that there is no profes- sion more intimately connected with economics than the Law. It has therefore come about that problems which are in their genesis and growth purely commercial, are by the very necessity of the case thrust into our forensic tribunals for certain and final solution. As a consequence, legal lore is becoming every day more and more closely interwoven with commercial technicalities and the work of the lawyer demands more and more a clear insight into the many in- tricacies which, in the business world, are woven into a per- plexing and sometimes baffling tangle by the restless spirit of commerce, taking as it does a thousand different shapes, showing itself in a thousand different tendencies, some of them openly against the rules of natural equity, some in keeping with the dictates of justice, and many of them hov- ering doubtfully on the border line. This is why the people today are seeking in the halls of State, in the judicial cham- bers, in our law ofiices, in fact, in every place where legal talent is looked for, men who are not only able to give a sane interpretation of our existing laws and to frame laws which will not run counter to the received canons, but who, more- over, can interpret laws to the understanding of the com- mercial world, and who are so familiar with the needs of this same commercial world that no laws shall be introduced ♦Honor man, Class of 1909, Creighton College of Law. A PHASE OP MODERN LAW PRACTICE. 23 into our State legislature or Congress, which shall stop any artery of legitimate commerce through blundering ignor- ance of commercial conditions, or on account of a short- sighted policy which would favor the few at the expense of the many. This makes it evident that we need in our legislatures, on the bench, and in the rank and file of the legal profes- sion, men who can adjust the law with nice discrimination to the commercial needs of our people. This point was em- phasized in the recent reversal of the twenty-nine million dollar Standard Oil decision, where the solution of the case turned largely on the meaning of ' ' unit of shipment. ' ' But perhaps we need, more imperatively than anywhere else, this combination of legal talent and what may be termed commercial intuition, in Congress and the State Legisla- tures. Although from the beginning the lawyer was necessary in the councils of our nation, it took a Patrick Henry to arouse the people to fight for independence, a Daniel Web- ster to interpret the constitution and an Abraham Lincoln to defend it, and today our commercial necessities emphat- ically demand the best services of lawyers in both the Exec- utive and Legislative departments of our government. For instance, at the present moment there is urgent need for men of keen legal acumen to solve the perplexing tariff question. This is eminently a commercial question, upon which it may be said that the whole economic edifice of our government depends. And since it is a question so many- sided, in which there are so many interests involved, inter- ests often openly in conflict, it is patent that unusual legal ability is required to solve the tariff question fairly and im- partially. Again our world-wide commercial activities make this same demand in order that reciprocal commercial treaties may be entered into with other nations redounding to the advantage of the American people. It was a lawyer, Elihu Eoot, who has given us the most telling and convinc- 24 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. ing reasons why we should have reciprocity with the Ee- publics of South America. Formerly the lawyers composed the minority of the law-making bodies. Today it is imperatively demanded that such bodies be composed mostly of lawyers, and that such lawyers be able and scholarly men in order that the laws which they enact may not be found inadequate by the Judi- cial Department. Commercialism, rightly understood, should make its presence felt in our law courts, and justice requires that judges should have not only a clear grasp of the theory of the law, but also the practical acumen to apply theory to concrete cases in order that justice may be done, that no legitimate commercial enterprise may be impeded and that commercial rapacity may be crushed before it has grown to leviathan dimensions. And since commerce and law have become so intimately associated, a great change has come over the legal profes- sion and made it largely the law business. The work of the lawyer has changed from that of being what is known as a general practitioner to that of the specialist. In fact law- yers, both great and small, are gradually becoming em- ployees, the former serving great corporations and the latter filling some humble place in a large office. This change in the work of the profession has neces- sarily changed the mode of acquiring a legal education. Con- sequently the law school has superseded the law office. Even the law school has undergone great changes in the past few years. Formerly the course was short and the subjects studied were few, and there were no instructors who made teaching a business, but today the corps of instructors has been multiplied and the course lengthened and the standard of entering and completing the course has been raised. These are come of the changes which the interlinking of the law and commerce has brought into the legal profes- A PHASE OF MODERN LAW PRACTICE. 25 sion and it is not going too far to say that this union may exert a deleterious influence on the law. The motto in- scribed on the escutcheon of the legal profession should be * ^ Fiat Justitia, ' ' not million dollar fees. The spirit of com- merce is not and cannot be altruistic. It is mercenary es- sentially, whereas the spirit which should actuate the legal profession, if the higher, the truer, the nobler interests of mankind are to be conserved, must soar above the plane of commercialism, and despite its golden allurements must impel the votary of the law to cling closely to the dictates of that ethical code in which are preserved for the lawyer the best traditions of his profession. Amos E. Henely, A. M., LL. B. COMMENCEMENT Joint commencement exercises for the departments of Law, Medicine and Dentistry will be held on the evening of Saturday, April 30th, at the Brandeis Theater. Dr. A. Hugh Hippie, Dean of the Department of Den- tistry, will preside, and the address to the graduates will be delivered by Hon. Martin J. Wade of Iowa City, Iowa, formerly Judge of the District Court, 1893-1903, and mem- ber of Congress, 1903-1905. Mr. Wade enjoys a national reputation as an orator. The enrollment of the Senior classes of the three de- partments numbers eighty-eight. Heretofore individual commencements for the various departments have been held, but it is thought that the joint exercises will prove more interesting and give the public a better idea of the University's work. Arrangements are being perfected by the Seniors for informal spreads, which are to be given immediately after the exercises, and the alumni of some of the departments are arranging to participate in the festivities, to the end that Commencement Day may take on added importance locally, and challenge public attention to the growing im- portance of the University. NEWS NOTES. On Saturday, March 12th, at 8:30 p. m., Mr. Charles L. Brome, npn;irtment '^^' ^^^ married to Miss Margaret Ken- nedy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred C. of Law. Kennedy, by Rev. Edward Hart Jenks, at the home of the bride's parents, 1024 South Thirty-second street, Omaha. The attendants were Miss Anna McCague, brides- maid; Miss Jean Kennedy, sister of the bride, and Miss Betty Kennedy, cousin, flower girls ; Mr. Clinton Brome, brother of the groom, best man. Mr. and Mrs. Brome left for a three weeks' trip in the West, after which they will make their home in Basin, Wyoming, where Mr. Brome will engage in the practice of law. Mr. Sidney Smith, Professor of Suretyship and Mortgages, has been elected Grand Exalted Ruler of the Omaha Elks. Hon. James P. English, Professor of Criminal Law, presided at the exercises held March 17th by the Ancient Order of Hibern- ians, at the Creighton University Auditorium, in honor of Ire- land's patron saint. Mr. Thomas B. Murray, '10, who is presi- dent of Division No. 2 of the local A. 0. H., was on the com- mittee of arrangements in charge of the affair. Mr. W. H. Shaw, '10, who until recently was Assistant Super- intendent at the Omaha Detention Home, has resigned to accept the position of Superintendent of Public Gardens in Omaha. Mr. C. S. Burke, '08, has resigned his office as City Attorney of Columbus, Nebraska, and has removed to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he will practice law as an associate of Hon. A. W. Campbell, former Judge of the District Court at Aberdeen. Mr. Burke recently conducted the legal proceedings incident to the voting of fifteen thousand dollars worth of bonds for a new City Hall at Columbus and ten thousand dollars worth of bonds for Water Works extension in that city, and in the short time he has been at Columbus has met with flattering success. He removes to Aberdeen because of larger opportunities there. 28 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. Mr. William P. Kooney, '09, who has been practicing in Wayne, Nebraska, since graduation, was elected to the office of City Clerk of that city on April 5th. Mr. Joseph F. Green, '06, of Creighton, Nebraska, was an Omaha visitor March 28th. Judge Neil H. Mapes, '11, who has just recovered from an attack of typhoid fever, has resumed his work in the Depart- ment. Mr. W. N. Jamieson, '10, has purchased the practice of H. Z. Wedgwood, at Papillion, Nebraska, and will remove to Papil- lion immediately after Commencement. Mr. M. Joseph Crowe, a member of the Senior Class, died at eleven o'clock Saturday evening, April 2nd, at his home, 3409 Broadway, Council Bluffs, Iowa, after a short illness. The funeral was held Wednesday, April 6th, from the Holy Family Church, Council Bluffs. The Pall-bearers were: Benjamin Cun- ningham, John J. Spillane, Joseph N. Moonan, Henry M. Gal- lagher, James H. Hanley and Thomas B. Murray, members of Mr. Crowe's class. The Seniors attended the funeral in a body and a beautiful floral design was contributed by the faculty and students of the Department. Mr. Crowe was born at West Side, Iowa, April 6, 1887, and enrolled in the Department in September, 1906. Of quiet, un- assuming ways, he was highly esteemed by all who came into contact with him. The following resolutions of condolence were adopted by the Senior Class: WHEREAS, It has pleased Almighty God to take from our midst our beloved classmate, M. Joseph Crowe, whom, from daily contact, we have learned to esteem as an upright, sincere and industrious fellow-student, and WHEREAS, We have suffered a distinct loss in his death, now, therefore be it NEWS NOTES. 29 RESOLVED, That we, the class of 1910, extend our heart- felt sympathy to the family of the deceased, and express, par- ticularly to his mother, our sincere sorrow in her hour of afflic- tion, and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of our late fellow-classmate. MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1910. Mr. Arthur E. Ryman has been suffering from a severe attack of illness. Professor Edward B. Smith has been confined to his home with an attack of appendicitis. Two dances were given in April, one by the Seniors on April 4th, and the other by the Juniors on April 6th. 30 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. The Association of American Medical Colleges met at Baltimore, Dpnartrnpnt Maryland, March 22nd and 23rd, with dele- ^ ^ gates from fifty American Medical schools 01 jyiedlCine. in attendance. The principal address was delivered by Dr. Hoxie, Dean of the Medical Department of the University of Kansas, who is the retiring president of the Association. Dr. Witherspoon, of the Vanderbilt University, (Tennessee), was elected president for the ensuing year. The sessions were devoted, principally to the curriculum of the third and fourth years of the medical course. Drs. A. L. Muirhead and Millard Langfeld attended as representatives of the Department. Dr. Langfeld made a side trip to New Jersey, where he inspected the system of water purification, in the interests of the Omaha Water Board. At the recent twenty-second annual meeting of the Medical Association of The Missouri Valley, held in Omaha, March 17th to 18th, inclusive, Dr. F. E. Coulter, Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System, read a paper on Hemiplegoa, Acute On-set; with demonstration. Dr. Thomas Coe Little, Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System, had a paper on Diagnosis of General Paralysis of the Insane, and Dr. J. P. Lord, Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Sur- gery and Orthopedic Surgery, discussed the treatment of Angio- mata and Naevi. Dr. W. O. Henry, Professor of Gynecology, made a report of the proceedings of the Sixth Annual Medical Conference which met at Budapest, Hungary. The thirtieth annual report of St. Joseph's (Creighton Me- morial) Hospital has been issued. The following summaries are interesting : SUMMARY OF CASES. Medical cases 896 Neurological cases 347 Surgical cases 2,466 Orthopedic cases 82 Gynaecological cases 1,335 Opthalmological cases 388 Rhinological and Larynological cases 246 Otological cases 79 Rectal cases 130 Total 5,971 NEWS NOTES. 31 SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS. Surgical operations 1,286 Orthopedic operations 83 Gynaecological operations 1,240 Opthalmological operations 58 Rhinological and Otological operations 203 Rectal operations 121 Total 2,991 NATIONALITIES. American 1,946 American, Afro 40 American, Indian 21 Austrian 20 Belgian 3 Bohemian 109 Bulgarian 2 Canadian 32 Danish 55 Dutch 2 Irish 131 Italian 62 Japanese 1 Lithuanian 6 Mexican 4 Moravian 3 Norwegian 12 Polish 24 Roumanian 13 Russian 45 English 20 French 7 German 207 Greek 35 Hungarian 15 Scotch 6 Spanish 2 Swede 39 Swiss 13 Syrian 9 Welsh 2 Total 2,886 RELIGIONS. Baptist 61 Buddhist 1 Catholic 1,424 Christian 72 Church of God 3 Congregational 55 Disciple 1 Evangelical 42 Episcopal 67 Free Mission 5 Greek 47 Jewish 42 Latter Day Saints 11 Lutheran 310 Mennonite 2 Methodist 187 No religion 367 Presbyterian 103 Protestant 64 Quaker 2 Reformed 5 Salvation Army 3 Seventh Day Adv 3 United Brethren 9 Total 2,886 32 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. Dr. A. Bloedorn, '09, who took the examination for the Naval Service, has just been appointed Assistant Surgeon at Las Ani- mas, Colorado. Colonel John M. Bannister, head surgeon of the Department of the Missouri, lectured to the Seniors Friday morning, April eighth, on '^ Medical Service in the Army." He viewed the sub- ject from a commercial, social and financial standpoint. He was introduced by Vice-Dean Dr. A. L. Muirhead. The father of Mr. Edward Gaule died at his home in this city, Friday morning, April eighth. The funeral services were held at St. John's Church, Monday, April eleventh, and the body was taken to Atlantic, Iowa, for interment. The new laboratory building is now plastered and much of the interior carpenter work is done. Two floors of the building are now ready for the installation of equipment. The Medical Announcements will be ready for distribution May fifteenth. NEWS NOTES. 33 Omega Chapter of the Delta Sigma Delta Fraternity was insti- Hp ;»rfmpnf tuted Friday night, April 1st, the exercises ^ held in Association Hall. The ceremonies 01 UentlStry. were in charge of Past Supreme Grand Masters, Dr. D. C. Bacon and Dr. Frank H. Zinn, of Chicago, and Dr. George E. Hunt of Indianapolis. Two Supreme Officers from Omaha, Dr. J. H. Wallace and Dr. A. B. Parmenter, were present as guests of honor. The following officers were elected: Grand Master, H. E. Newton; Deputy Grand Master, G. E. Souders; Scribe, K. Dooley; Treasurer, B. Dienstbier; Historian, James P. Connolly. A banquet was held at the close of the exercises. Written examinations in this department will commence Mon- day, April twenty-fifth, and continue throughout the entire week. The Seniors will also be examined by the State Dental Board. There are nineteen men in this year's graduating class, repre- senting the states of Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ne- braska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Mr, LeRoy Larson, of Bertrand, Nebraska, recently re-entered T\ J. 1. school for the purpose of completing the Department g^^j^^ bourse. ^' The catalogue of the Department was issued March 15th. A copy will be sent to each of the former students and graduates. The catalogue of the Department was issued March 15th. A copy will be sent to each of the former students and graduates. Announcements have been received of the marriages of Messrs. 0. V. McCracken and F. P. Miller, both of the class of '08. Mr. Guy W. Myers, '08, of Ragan, Nebraska, recently visited Omaha. Mr. Clyde W. Martin, '07, who has been in business at Tren- ton, Nebraska, recently sold his interests there and is in Omaha visiting his parents. Mr. Martin has not definitely decided whether he will go into the drug business again or not. 34 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. Mr. D. P. Case, '06, of Newman's Grove, Nebraska, called at the Department recently. Mr. Case is on his way to Wennatchee, Washington, where he expects to take a position in a bank. Dr. Roy Crook, class of '05, Creighton Medical College, and who was a member of the first class graduated by what is now the Creighton College of Pharmacy, paid the Department a very pleasant visit recently. Dr. Crook is located at Winnetoon, Ne- braska, where he is enjoying a good practice. NEWS NOTES. 35 The annual play of the under-graduate department was produced DeDartment ^^ ^^^ Creighton Auditorium on the even- . . . ing of March twenty-eighth, before an audi- ence of about six hundred. The entire cast acquitted themseh^es creditably, special mention, however, being due to Messrs. R. Hamilton and L. Kavanagh for their excellent portrayals of character. On Thursday evening the members of the cast were entertained informally in the band room of the college. Mr. Frank S. Perdue, deputy state superintendent of schools, and Mr. E. J. Bodwell, president of the board of examiners for state certificates, paid an official visit of inspection to the Depart- ment of Arts and Sciences on Friday, March eighteenth. After spending several hours in visiting the various class rooms, they expressed themselves highly pleased with the standard of effici- ency set in the High School and College. The Reverend Isaac H. Bosset, of Detroit, Michigan, was a guest of the institution during the month of March. The thirty-seventh Annual Inter-State Oratorical Contest will be held on the evening of May twentieth, in the Brandeis Theatre. This is the first time that the citizens of Omaha have been privi- leged to attend this celebrated contest, in which the most eloquent college orators of ten states will compete for supremacy. Among the victors in the past, several have since risen to eminence in national and state affairs. Prominent among them are Senator La Follette of Wisconsin and Senator Beveridge of Indiana, who were winners respectively in 1879 and 1885. Ex-Governor Yates was also a successful contestant and Illinois on another occasion was represented by William Jennings Bryan. Thus far, how- ever, the state of Nebraska has never won the coveted distinction. The Nebraska representative in the forthcoming contest is Mr. Francis P. Matthews of the Senior Class of Creighton College. The third and last quarterly assembly of the Department of Arts and Sciences was held in the Creighton Auditorium on Sat- urday, March fifth, at ten A. M. The announcement of the results 36 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. of the examination was made by the vice-president, and the pro- gram was varied by orchestra selections, dramatic recitations and several renditions by the College Glee Club. The following gentle- men distinguished themselves as leaders in their respective classes : -Mr. John Sullivan. -Mr. Lewis Moore. -Mr. Omer Sullivan. -Mr. James Macauley. -Mr. Francis Johnson. -Mr. Edward Williams. -Mr. Walter Stillman. -Mr. Sylvester Easmussen. -Mr. W. A. Sorensen. -Mr. Cecil McMahon. -Mr. Edward Cunningham. The Reverend Rudolph J. Meyer, S. J., Provincial of the Society of Jesus in the west, paid a visit to the University during the week of March seventh. The reverend father took occasion to visit the several classes of the under-graduate department and expressed himself as highly pleased with the high grade and accuracy of scholarship throughout the institution. Father Meyer left for St. Louis University on Sunday, March thirteenth. Sophomore Freshman Fourth Year High A Fourth ' ' " B Third '' A Third " B Second '' '' A Second " " B First ' ' " A First '' B First '' .; c Grading is still progressing on the yard and the campus is gradually taking on a finished appearance. Mr. Wenceslaus Sidl of Steinauer, Nebraska, is seriously ill at the Omaha General Hospital. NEWS NOTES. 37 Work was resumed on the Observatory retaining wall ^Monday pv . . morning, March 14th. As the forms for twenty feet of its length had been set up 01 oClCnce. j^st November, the concrete was put in at once. The work during the first week progressed so rapidly on account of the fine weather and other favorable conditions, that, besides the twenty feet mentioned, an additional length of thirty feet was completed, for which the forms had first to be set and afterwards removed, so that even a large amount of filling-in work was done on the east side. Twenty feet more of the straight portion remains to be finished, and all of the circular parts. The wall here spoken of is the upper or visible part, the foundation having all been laid before the winter. Professor Rigge had an article in the March number of Popular Astronomy on "The Apparent Path of Halley's Comet in the Sky." It was illustrated by two diagrams, one being that part of the orbit of the comet which was nearest the sun and the four inner planets, and the other representing the apparent path of the comet in the sky relatively to the stars, the sun and some planets, both diagrams indicating the positions of the bodies given for every five days or even shorter intervals. 38 THE CREIGHTON CHRONICLE. Mr. Fred Hamilton is constructing an eighteen thousand dollar Alninni residence in Omaha. The Sunday World-Herald for March 27th contained the following: *'E. L. McShane proposes to build a residence at Thirty-seventh and Dewey Avenue that will be wholly different in architecture from any other in this city. The Venetian gothic style of architecture is adopted and is remark- ably picturesque. The house will have three full stories with a flat roof instead of two and a broken roof for the upper story. In the third story will be Mr. McShane 's photo studio for his recreation, the servants' quarters, store rooms and the like. The exterior walls of the house will be built of pure white stucco. Wardrobes will be built instead of closets for each room and will project instead of being sunken in the walls. The architect is Henry A. Raapke. Mr. Patrick J. Scott, who until recently has been General Manager of the Banner Mining Company, operating at Butte, Montana, has removed to Twin Falls, Idaho, where he is inter- ested in irrigated lands. Messrs. Charles McGrath and Leo Byrne, who have been on the sick list, are reported much improved. Messrs. Frank 0. and W. J. McCaffrey have just organized the McCaffrey Brothers Company, which will deal in fuel and building supplies. Mr. Charles E. O'Malley, who recently recovered from an operation, has returned to his desk at the Corn Exchange Bank.