Blind-folded, Hand-cuffed

To the Editor of The Register.] While in Ann Arbor I learned that Johnnie had joined one of the secret societies in the High School. As I did not understand the nature and objects of these societies, I concluded to ask Johnnie some questions in regard to them, and proceeded to discuss the matter somewhat as follows : F. Well, Johnnie, I hear that you have lately joined one oí the secret socities in the High School. S. Oh yes, father I went in with some of the rest of the boys. All the tony fellows joined, you know, and we have lots of fun initiating the green ones, etc. F. Hovv many are there of these secret societies, my son, in the Ann Arbor High School, and what are their naraes? S. Oh, there are the sororities, or girls' societies, called Zeta Rho, Beta Eta, Alpha Delta Sigma and Clover Leaf ; and the fraternities, or the boys' societies, called Sigma Sigma, A. T. O., and 'Delta Sigma Nu. F. What do you mean, Johnnie, by the initiating new members, what is there peculiar about that'? S. Oh well, father, I suppose you never joined such societies so I will teil you about it. You see, we have a place where our society meets, but then we don"t initiate the members there, there wouldn't be much fun in that. F. Well, my son, where do you initiate the new members? S. Well, someümes in ono place anc sometimes in another, just as it hap pens. Last fall we were going to take in a new batch, and there were three or four follows who were pretty highheaded, so we prepared to take the conceit out of them, and give thera a godfl rousing initiation. We went and hunted up Mr. Mills, who has charge of the fair grounds, and tried to get him to let us have the keys so we could get into one of the buildings and, there initiate the boys. F. Who is this Mr. Mills, my son? S. Oh, he is one of the hay-seeds that has charge of the fair grounds. F. Hay-seed, my son, what do you mean by that? S. Oh, pshaw father, you are behind the times, I mean he is a farmer. He is a pretty sharp one, has been to the legislature, and is pretty wide awake generally, and he eaught on at once. F. Caught on. my son, what did he catch on to? S. Why father, he caught 011 to what we were up to, and he asked us what we wantod to do there. We told him that we were going to initiate three or four boys into one of the high school secret societies, and we wished to rig up shower baths, and some other interesting contrivances, to give them a good shaking up and take the conceit out of them. Mr. Mills replied very emphatically that he should not allow us to have the keys, or to use the buildings on the fair grounds for any such purpose, and he talked rather loud, and said that matters were coming to a pretty pass when youngsters in the Hig"h School, were allowed to establish soeteties there, that were carried on in such a manner, and he threatened to have the boys arrested if they went in there for any such purpose, but then we managed it all right. F. How did you manage it, my son? S. Oh, we went down to the jail and borrowed four hand-üulïs, I don 't know who let the boys have them, but some of them down there, and we got the boys togettier after dark, told thera that it was necessary for them to be blindfoldod, when they wc re initiated. So we carefully blindfolded them, put their hand bahind them, put on the hand-cutfs, then we led thetn around to the fair grounds, and got a board off and got in, then we got into one of the buildings, and had a glorloua time with the initiation. The boys the night before had fixed several barrels of water up in the second story, and there was a iiole in the floor so we could pour it down. Then we would stand one of the fellows under there, repeat over a certain portion of the eeromony of the nitiation that we prepared, and then we asked them if they assented to this, and he responded solemnly, "I do." Then the fellow up-stairs would souse down about a half barrel of cold water upon him. He shouted and yelled and cried to be let out, but we held him to it. Then we would read over anothe of the society obligations that we ha fixed up beforehand, of course, an they didn't mean mueh of any thinj, but then it was fun. Then we askec him if he assented to these obligations and he solmenly responded, "yes," anc the fellow up stairs would souse dow about another half barrel of water up on him, and we kopt this up with a four of them, until they were so badly soused and ehilled, that they could hardly stand up with shivering. When we thought they could not stand it much longer, we quit that and took them a turn with the blanket to warm them up. F. You don't mean to tell me, my son, that the officers let these boys have hand-cuffs? S. Why of course they did- you can ask them if you care to. I believe the boys lost some of the keys to the handcuffs and had some trouble about it. F. What do you mean by the blanket, my son? S I mean that we took each fellow, with his hands hand-cuffed behind him. and his eyes blind-folded, put him on to the blanket, then four stout fellows took hold of each corner and tossed him up, and kept at it as long as we thought he could stand it, then we rolled him off and took anothor. After we had given them about all the shaking up they could stand, we took them out blind-folded and with the handcuffs on, and brought them back on the street cars to their rooms, and they were duly initiated into our society. It was just glorious fun to see those feüows eringe and squirm when the water came down upon them, and te hear them squeal and graan when we tossed them in the blanket. I nevet laughed so much in all my life. Yoi look a little incredulous, fathor, but i you will ask Mr. Mills, he will teil yoi all about it. F. Well, my son, I think you mus be well aware that I am mildly astonis ed. But how were the lessons the nex day Johnnie? S. üh, as to the lessons, they didn' amountto muchas faras wefellows wer coneerned, we spent so much time anc thought over the matter that we die nothave much time for lessons tospeak of, for a week before and severa! weeks af ter. We managed by the aid of P - oh, I mean by one another - to get through with the work some how, but Pat. looked awful cross when any of our feUowa reeited, for he knew well enough that the recitations that we did makti, didn 't come f rom honest hard wosk Well, do all the secret societies of the high school initiale their members in this way? S. Well no, not exactly, but a good deal of the same thing is going on in all of them. I heard one day, that one of our best girls was going to be initiated int o one of the srirls' secret societies of the II i -h School. F. What do you mean, Johnnie, by beetgirl? S. Oh father, I mean she is handsome, a good scholar generally, quite a society girl, her father has plenty of means, she dresses well and is a nice all round girl. Her father is a real jolly fellow good natured, Iets nis daughter do about as she pleases, a real whole souled sort of a man, F. Well, didn't her father object to ber joining a secret society? S. Oh no, she told hira all about it, and he said yes as he always does. This society, of course, is composed entirely of girls f rom fifteen to eighteen yearsof ape. We knew that no boys would notbe allowed arouud, but we got wind of the affair, and heard enough so we knew where they were going to ment. So we lid behind the ti'ees near the front of the Medical building, on the college campus About ten o'clock a half dozen or more of girls came up there, got on to the porch of the Medical building, and wrapped themselves in sheets. Pretty soon wo saw this girl and her father, coming across the campus tovvards the Modical building. F. What; you don 't say, Johnnie, that the father took his fifteon year ola laughter aeross the campus at ten o'eloek at night, t be engaged in an out of door initiation performance with a lot of her young companions? S. Yxis fatlier, that is about the size of it. F. Well, what happened then? S. Well, tlio girl wout up on to the )oreh of the Medical building, and the )ther girls wrapped hor in a sheet, lied ïer hands behind her, and blJnd-folded ïer eyes, then they went on up tovvanls the eemetery. Tbere was a yoiini;' fulow hang ing around, thoy said it was a brother of one of the g-irls, out there to jrotect them. We dodged around beïind the trees and up the side streets, until they got in sight of the eemetery gate. They could not get in there, of oourse, so they went arond where there was a picket off, and got into the tory grounds. They took tne gin tnat was to be initiated over into the centro of the eemetery, sat her upon a tomb stone, and made her recite after them a lot of stuff that we, of course. could not hear, but we gueeréd that it was'a lot of pledges about secrecy and fidelity to the society, etc. They stayed there about an honr, going through wlthdiffi-rriit peformance8, and ftnally went back down town, and tne younj? lady wal iluly initiated into the society. !'. Well, my son, that does nut .loiik to nio like i very elevating or ennobling performance, or ono that would tend to develop either the mental or moral faculties of ayounggirlof tifteen. A cometery is certainly a ver-y solemn and should be a Bacred ])lace, and should not be desecrated by any such irooeedings as these. It is not entirely ertain that this young girldldn'tsiton ,he tonib stone of one of her relatives, vhile Bhe was golng through with 9ome ; of tliose performauces. It would also strike the ordinary parent aa a wbat dangeroua pi'oceeding. If a do'en tramps had happened to be prowlingaround that cemotery, that one boy would have been no protection to the i dozen girls, and it strikes me rather I forcibly that such proceedings should I be stopped at once, and not be permitted under any any circumstanees whatever, either by the parents, teachers or the school board of Ann Arbor, and societies that develop into such proceedings ought not to be allowed.