ten points, as the case may be. So one's
sympathy rather goes out to those poor
old judges who so often dodged their on-
erous responsibilities and found safety in
a tie vote! But what small consolation
that tie vote was to the ambitious contest-
ants who had used the approaching con-
test as an excuse for poorly prepared les-
sons and non-performance of society and
other duties!

The first contest of the Palladian so-
ciety with any organization outside of the
University was the engagement with the
Hesperian society of Doane College in
May, 1882 The Palladians chartered a
train and went down in a body, accom-
panied by the cadet band and many
members of the faculty and a goodly
number of interested citizens. The liter-
ary part of the program was as follows:—

The decision of the judges gave the
recitation and oration to the Palladians
and the essay and debate to the Hesperi-
ans—a decision which seemed to satisfy
neither side and was greeted by many
groans from the Palladians. The mid-
night train to Lincoln brought home a
crowd somewhat less exuberant in spirit
and perhaps wiser for their experience.

A candid historian of these early con-
tests cannot truthfully say that they pro-
duced much good beyond the training in
composition and public speaking which
they brought to those on the programs.
They added to the unnecessary and often
hurtful rivalry between the societies and
interfered with quiet, earnest work in
the class room.