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Show The Summer School Fad. NOW is the time when the editor is frequently reminded of the coming com-ing "summer school" in the shape of polished words of typewritten entreaty en-treaty for a column of space to' elaborate elab-orate the anticipations of this or that university or college. When the, summer sum-mer school Is in full blast, the editor will find no trouble filling up a newspaper news-paper if-he publishes only half the proceedings of a lively, up-to-date summer -school. These proceedings are mailed to the editor, nicely prepared and punctuated, so the printer will have no difficulty with his "copy." Very kind, indeed, on the part of the promoters of the summer school. The summer school is a twentieth century product, unless we trace its origin to the Chatauqua assembly, a mild combination of religion and courtship court-ship which met every summer on the banks of the picturesque body of water wa-ter which grave its name to the assembly. as-sembly. This was back in York state, so many years ago that nobody in Saft Lake can fix its date, except it be Judge Goodwin, w ho was "raised" in that part of the state. The Chatauqua assembly was very popular with evangelical evan-gelical ministers of a matrimonial turn of mind; likewise with old maids of j the same inclination. But if the Cha-j Cha-j tauqua assembly is the genesis of the summer school, it must now take a back seat in the imposing gatherings which select the most charming summer sum-mer resorts all over the country to gather liteary bouquets. No place is so tempting, no matter how cool, un- : less it has a summer school. The at- mosphere of poetry, of history and even metaphysics ' mingles with the bracing air of mountain and sea; and then the advantage of matchmaking between the literary people of both sexes transcends the opportunities presented by such places as Saratoga or Newnort. Fashionable tieonle once j went to Saratoga to drink water; but drinking water is now considered vulgar. vul-gar. So is bathing at Newport: the nasly salt water mars the appearance of a fashionable bathing suit. The old college boys of the years agone in some way got along without the summer school. Vacation meant vacation. It meant a gun and a fish pole. It meant a basket of ham sandwiches sand-wiches and a bottle of root beer, instead in-stead of ice cream and a lecture from a D. D. or LL. D. If any girl accompanied accom-panied the hearty lads on their vacation vaca-tion excursions over the hill and rail fence, it was Sweet Alice. What a stupid lot of Ben Bolts all these boys were, never to think of a summer school! |