18703 "The Struggle for Existence" 



remonstrant verses signed Nihil, 1 bewailing our 

 steward's dependence in the one case on parsnips, 

 in the other on graham mush. 



One of my rebellious outbursts has been lately re- 

 vived by an indiscreet friend. Had I expected the 

 verses to survive beyond the empty condition which 

 provoked them, I should have tried to do better: 



Once we were blithe and gay, 

 Sang like a bird all day, 

 Fed on hot muffin; 

 Turkeys our table graced, 

 Oysters appeased our taste 

 Served up as stuffing. 



O for a biscuit white, 

 Such as our sisters bake! 

 O for the doughnut light, 

 Such as our mothers make! 

 Even a wedding cake, 

 That were variety! 



But no, 'tis graham bread, 

 Beans, peas, and graham bread, 

 Parsnips and graham bread, 

 Larup and graham bread, 

 So, till we're gray and dead, 

 Dead from Satiety! 



The leading spirit in the management of the house 

 was Roswell Leavitt, a student from Maine, con- Lfavitt 

 siderably older than the rest of us, in fact, quite 

 aged in our eyes, extremely clever in literary 

 ways but at the same time always behind in his 

 studies and never learning what to me was a very 

 important lesson of college discipline, the value of 

 time and the necessity of getting things done before 



1 "Nihil fit! Fellow citizens, let us give three cheers for Nihil, the man 

 who fit. He wasn't a strategy feller!" JOSH BILLINGS 



CS3 3 



