THE College opened for its one hundred and thirty-seventh year,

THE College opened for its one hundred and thirty-seventh year, Thursday morning, September twentieth. The enrollment of students cannot be given exactly as it will appear in the catalogue, for some men who have satisfied all the requirements of admission have not yet matriculated, and the standing of some students according to classes has not been fully determined. Figures from which there will be little variation, however, are:

Resident Graduate Students 16 Seniors 200 Juniors 201 Sophomores 297 Freshmen 341 Total, Academic Department 1055

The Medical School has an enrollment of 61, the Thayer School of 34, and the Tuck School of 39.

The distribution of the growth of the College according to classes is interesting. There are 33 more Seniors than last year, 11 more Juniors, 55 more Sophomores, and 41 more Freshmen.

Of the eastern colleges Dartmouth has the largest percent gain, fourteen. Yale has gained three per cent, Harvard one, Williams seven, and Amherst three, while Princeton has lost one and Brown two.

The geographical distribution of the entering class is:

Massachusetts 152 New Hampshire 50 New York 34 Illinois 23 Vermont 22 Maine 11 Ohio 7 Colorado 7 Connecticut 4 Rhode Island 4 Iowa 4 Indiana 2 Missouri 2 Pennsylvania 2 New Jersey 2 Kentucky 2 South Dakota 2 North Dakota 1 Delaware 1 Minnesota 1 Kansas 1 District of Columbia 1 Washington 1 Arizona 1 Nebraska 1 California 1 Canada 1 Total 341

Questions are frequently asked about the denominational preferences of the men attending Dartmouth. A table is herewith given showing these preferences as expressed by the men of the Freshman class in registration:

Congregationalist 154 Episcopal 43 Unitarian 27 Methodist 24 Baptist 22 Presbyterian 20 Catholic 15 Universalist 14 Protestant 5 No preference 3 Christian Science 2 Jewish 2 Dutch Reformed 1 Advent 1 Methodist Episcopal 1 Hebrew 1 Disciples Church 1 German Evangelical 1 Free Baptist 1 Protestant-Presbyterian 1 Reformed Church 1 Ethical Culture 1 Total 341

At the Commencement meeting of the trustees, on nomination of the alumni, Judge Robert M. Wallace, of Milford, New Hampshire, was elected a member of the board. The vacancy existed through the resignation of the Reverend Cyrus Richardson, after fourteen years of valuable service. Robert M. Wallace graduated from Dartmouth College, with the degree of A. B., in 1867. He was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1872, was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature in 1877-78, and was prosecuting officer for Hillsborough County in 1883-93. In 1893 he was elected Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and in April 1901, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, an office which he now holds.

The academic faculty for 1906 consists of sixty-four members. Professor Hull of the department of Physics, and Professor Langley of the department of Romance Languages return after a year's absence abroad. Professor Richardson, English, Professor Home, Philosophy, and Professor Husband, Greek, are away from the College taking their sabbatical years. Mr. C. N. Gould, German, has leave of absence for a year. Mr. E. R. Groves '03, comes to the English department from an assistant professorship at New Hampshire College; Mr. L. S. Hastings, formerly principal of the Nashua High School comes to the same department. Two new men come to instructorships in German, Mr. McBurnie Mitchell, a graduate of the University of Chicago, more recently at the University of Berlin, and Dr. E. O. Eckelmann, a graduate of Northwestern University, with the Ph. D. degree from Heidelberg. In French, Mr. Gaetano Cavicchia comes to the department from the Harvard Graduate School. Dr. C. H. Johnston, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, with a doctor's degree from Harvard, takes up Professor Home's work. Mr. A. H. Shearer, A. B., Rutgers '99, Ph.D. Harvard '03 and Instructor at Trinity College 1904-6, comes to Dartmouth as Instructor in History. Other appointments are Mr. F. C. Moore '02, Instructor in Mathematics, Mr. A, H. Chivers '02, Instructor in Biology. Mr. G. W. Putnam '05 is appointed assistant in Greek, and Mr. E. R. Musgrove '05, assistant in English.

The action of Dartmouth fraternities in postponing their annual "chinning season" is a logical step—a step made inevitable some years since, when the pernicious system of pledging men before they had entered College, or immediately upon their appearance within its doors, gave way to the more dignified agreement that until six weeks of the College year had elapsed, no mention of fraternities should be made to any one. For some time, however, it has been apparent that a period of six weeks is too short. Keen fraternity rivalries have generally resulted in the hasty and often superficial choice of candidates at the very beginning of the College year, the six weeks intervening before chinning being largely given over to lengthy calls from attractive samples of rival organizations, and the extension of various forms of time-consuming hospitality. As a result the popular Freshman became sorely in danger of losing his sense of proportion, of over-estimating himself and of under-estimating the value of occasional study, even at those rare intervals when opportunity for it was presented. The period from the opening of College until late October, filled with eager interest in too many branches of undergraduate activity, had come to be surcharged with nervousness. The effect upon the academic work of upper-class men was at times disastrous: upon that of Freshmen, not infrequently fatal. Nor has the result of the six weeks' truce been that degree of homogeneity in selection, essential to the best development of fraternity strength. In the general haste poor men have been chosen: good men overlooked. The candidates, themselves, confused often by the multitude of riches suddenly spread before them, have had little opportunity for the exercise of their own judgment, but have been too largely dependent upon the glib representations of others. There were features of the situation which might perhaps have justified faculty action. That the necessity for any such action was forestalled by the undergraduates themselves is an indication of the sober common-sense and constructive force of the student body of the College.

The early games of the football season have been played, and it is hardly possible even now to estimate the strength of the team or its chances of victories in the important games. Many men among the alumni and undergraduates had reasoned that a slump was inevitable about once in so often, that Dartmouth's successive years of victory had already been more than could have been hoped, and, therefore, that this was probably to be a season of little in the way of success. It may yet prove that these men are right. There is at any rate more in the logic of past events to support such a view than to back the opinion of the band of enthusiasts of other mind who believe that we not only should equal our best record of the past but should defeat all our old-time rivals by decisive scores, and snatch victories from Princeton and Harvard. It in no way diminishes the purpose of everybody concerned to win all that can be won legitimately to call attention to the difficulties against which Dartmouth labors this fall. Three members only of the regular team of last year are left to us, Glaze at quarter-back, DeAngelis at end, and Lang at tackle. The insistent perseverance of Folsom and Bowler in developing material, and the faithfulness of men who have worked steadily without reward for three years, in many cases, is responsible for such successes as we have gained or may gain this year, and this statement would apply to previous seasons also. Coaches and trainers, and candidates for teams have never worked more conscientiously in the present for future success than these men have done. The freshman class has offered little in the way of material. Between the uncertainties of a new team in hard-fought games, and the possible developments of the new rules no reasonable forecast can be made. The Dartmouth game of the past seasons, a swift line-bucking offence in which eleven men worked as one, has been consigned to football history by the ten-yard rule, and the emergency plays heretofore are now the regular order. The Dartmouth coaches will play for all the points in the new game, whatever their attitude toward it. Meanwhile interest in the game is keener than ever, and hopes run high.

The action of the faculty at its last monthly meeting on two important points, will interest all who follow the internal administration of the College. This action was taken on recommendation of the Committee on Administration. It is a further step toward simplicity, and makes for a general toning up in scholarship. By the first vote of the faculty, the privilege of making up exercises lost by absence was withdrawn, but any department can continue, at its discretion, to require the making up of lost exercises. Certain departments, especially those calling for laboratory work, may find it necessary to continue the system, but other departments, which have found the system unnecessary as well as burdensome, are allowed to discontinue it. The action of the faculty, at this point, goes into effect immediately. A second and more important vote of the faculty abolished the system of deficiency examinations. This vote will not take effect until the examinations at the close of the second semester of the present academic year. But on and after that date, no second examination will be given. An examination may be deferred on account of sickness, or for some equal necessity. The time of the deferred examinations will be at the close of the Easter recess and at the close of the summer vacation. It is hoped, and expected, that the abolition of the system of deficiency examinations will not only determine, at any given date, the exact standing of men in College, particularly to the advantage of those receiving scholarship aid, but also that it will give much more consistency to the tests applied by the various departments. More time than heretofore will be given to the period of examinations, and in most departments, more tests will be introduced in connection with the work of the classroom.

The tailess foxes have followed tradition and have disinterestedly advised us to sacrifice our brush for the sake of our general health if not our appearance. If it would improve our health or even that of our friends we would cheerfully disfigure ourselves for the public good, but to ask that we do without a portion of our anatomy simply to add to the comparative beauty of others—wherein would be the advantage? The pleasantly spoken wishes of friendly colleges that Dartmouth debar her Freshmen have been attentively listened to, even beyond the careful consideration given in the spring to the general question. The theoretical advantages of the rule have not yet materialized; few, if any, practical advantages have appeared. Freshman participation on varsity teams has been supplanted by greater organization of freshman teams. Already the fames of the freshman teams at Princeton and Yale are abroad, and at Cornell and Harvard the proposition is little different. Trips, skilled coaches, publicity, responsibility as varsity foils for strenuous practice-is the complexity of organized athletics being reduced? Is it more beneficial to the preparatory schools to have their men sought for the respective freshman teams than for the varsities? Is there any advantage herein to scholarship?

The Christian Association undertakes its work for the year under the most favorable auspices. The return of Mr. A. K. Skinner as secretary is fortunate for the College, and betokens full measure of success for the association in its large work.

Dartmouth alumni have never been wanting in allegiance to their AlmaMater, but it is probable that the recent vote of the faculty, abolishing the deficiency examinations henceforth, and making the semester examinations the only ones, will cause some men to be pleased more than ever that they hold diplomas.