Tuesday, December 7, 1920

SAMUEL CORNELL D K.Y. HERE: TO ESPERANCE.
Beautiful bright cool clear fall day. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Helped father. To College 8 A.M. to 12:15 M. Home. Dinner. Read paper etc. Candled eggs. Up to college. Downtown. Bowled. Supper. Over to Church to E.L. business meeting. Good time. Bowled at Morse. Home. Wrote in diary. Fixed up accounts. To bed 1 A.M.

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Monday, December 6, 1920

Arose on sleeper at Albany 5:45 A.M. To Sch'dy on 6:20 A.M. trolley. Breakfast home. Talked etc. To College 9 A.M. to 12:30 M. Read paper. Carried wood down cellar. Took nap. Supper. Bowled at Morse. Home. Studied etc. To bed 10 P.M. Thankful for all things.

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Sunday, December 5, 1920

WONDERFUL CONFERENCE

Overcast. Some rain. Arose 7:45 A.M. Routine. Breakfast 8:15. Sang around piano in Blue room. Morning session in Presbyterian Church of Aurora. Wilbert Smith spoke. Communion service also. Dinner at 12:30 M. Afternoon session 2-5 P.M. Macedonian call by Miss Ling of China, Cornell man for Japan, Josiah Das of Union for India. Call answered by Wilbert Smith. Open question box. Delegation meeting. Supper evening session 7-8:30 P.M. Resolutions, new officers etc. Testimonies. Dr. Eckerson closed. Special train to Auburn. To Syracuse. Sleeper to Albany with State College and Skidmore. Meeting on train. To BED 12:30.

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The three entries describing the Conference were quite long and had to be written in a very small hand in order to fit into the small space of the datebook's daily block. Stanford seemed to want to tell as much of the details of the trip as he could manage to fit. He must have really enjoyed the conference.

Saturday, December 4, 1920

Overcast cool day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Dressed. Delegation Meeting . Breakfast 8:15 A.M. All meals in College dining Hall. Fine service and good eats. 250 delegates and same students. Walked around. To morning session 9-11 A.M. Open discussion conducted by Tom Blasedale on college work and methods. Dr. Dorman spoke on Hospital work in Beirut Syria. Fine. Took walk etc. Conference picture at 12 BELLS. Dinner at 12:30 M. Delegation meeting 1:15. Afternoon session 2-3 P.M. Mr. Burton St. John spoke on types of Missionary service. Good. Recreation. Took walks with fellows. Shoe shine. Play "Suppressed Desires." Banquet 6:30 P.M. College banners on wall. Great yells and songs. Wells girls snake dance. Toasts. Evening session. Miss Hoxie spoke. Delegation Meeting. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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Since I'd never heard of a snake dance, I looked it up and found it was a spirit raising dance that must have involved students snaking around the gymnasium dancing and no doubt singing cheers.

I didn't know that Beirut was ever part of Syria, but it was, at least for a time, according to the Wikipedia article on the city that included this passage:

In 1888, Beirut was made capital of a vilayet (governorate) in Syria,[43] including the sanjaks (prefectures) Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Acre and Bekaa.[44] By this time, Beirut had grown into a cosmopolitan city and had close links with Europe and the United States. It also became a centre of missionary activity that spawned educational institutions, such as the American University of Beirut. Provided with water from a British company and gas from a French one, silk exports to Europe came to dominate the local economy. After French engineers established a modern harbor in 1894 and a rail link across Lebanon to Damascus and Aleppo in 1907, much of the trade was carried by French ships to Marseille. French influence in the area soon exceeded that of any other European power. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica reported a population consisting of 36,000 Muslims, 77,000 Christians, 2,500 Jews, 400 Druze and 4,100 foreigners. At the start of the 20th century, Salim Ali Salam was one of the most prominent figures in Beirut, holding numerous public positions including deputy from Beirut to the Ottoman parliament and President of the Municipality of Beirut. Given his modern way of life, the emergence of Salim Ali Salam as a public figure constituted a transformation in terms of the social development of the city.

Friday, December 3, 1920

YELLS  SONGS  H.H. H. SKIDMORE ON TRAIN WITH US.

Overcast cool. Arose 7:30 A.M. To College 9-11 A.M. Uncle Charlie here to dinner. Jeff Ford left. Left 12:47 M. with Union delegation for Wells College at Aurora, N.Y. at Cayuga Lake to attend Student Volunteer Convention. 24 from Union to Auburn by trolley. Lunch. To Aurora by tram. Find reception. Escorted by Wells student. Registered. Arrived 7:45 P.M. To evening session Lecture and slides by Mr. Lewis, Methodist Board. Talk by Dr. Eckerson of China on World Conditions. Ate at Grays. Stayed at Glen Park Hall Room 11 Junior Dormitory. Alta Randles room, a friend of Ruth's. Fooled around. To bed 12:30 P.M. Lights off at 12 P.M.

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Well, here is the Student Volunteer Convention again. The last one was in February, so they must have it more than once a year.

I'm guessing the young men were singing their Union College yells and songs on the train to pass the time as they journeyed to their conference.

The 1921 Union College Yearbook records the yells and songs of their class. Below are two pages from that publication containing samples.

Thursday, December 2, 1920

Fair cool windy autumn day. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast. Read paper. To College 8 A.M.to 12:15 M. Dinner. Helped S.T. clean out eaves. Read, studied, played etc. Supper. Home in evening. Getting Packed up for Wells. Took bath. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful.

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Wednesday, December 1, 1920

Rainy wet cool dark day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Studied etc. To college 9 A.M. to 12:15 M. Dinner. Visited with Jeff. Studied. Unloaded and candled eggs. Supper. Studied. Wrote letter to D.S.R. Talked, played piano etc. Ate ice cream. Took mail down to P.O. To bed 10:30 P.M. Thankful for health, friends, education. etc.

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Dorothea is still in the picture, it seems. Still can't find Jeff Ford. Maybe I'll get more clues later.