a walk to Ypsilanti, whenever
the necessary permission from the authorities to leave Ann Arbor was
forthcoming. Social opportunities came largely through the relations of
the students with the townspeople and their lovely daughters,
particularly at the popular church socials. Many of the brightest and
most beautiful local belles came from "lower town," or north Ann Arbor,
a most important section at that time,--some even lived nearly a mile
beyond the old long bridge at the foot of Broadway hill. To them the new
students were invariably introduced; the wise ones surrendering all
rights, so that when the social was over, it was only natural for the
new men to ask for the privilege of escorting them home; something of an
ordeal on a winter night. The old wooden viaduct over the tracks was
known in those days as the "Bridge of Sighs."

Of conviviality there was comparatively little in the earliest days,
though occasionally some students succumbed to the beer and wine of the
German townspeople. A certain drinking bout in 1858, however, had most
serious consequences; one student died as the result, and this, with the
resultant expulsions, seems to have had a very restraining influence for
some years. Societies or other groups often went down to a Mrs. Slack's
restaurant, where they were served by a pretty waitress named
"Rika"--whose only claim to fame lies in the reminiscence of those
undergraduates of '49 who were her patrons. But for the most part the
life of the University was lived in a sane and wholesome atmosphere. The
students were almost all from farm homes; they were used to the simple
life and were in earnest in their efforts for an education. They were
watched with a paternal eye by the Faculty and duly admonished at the
two daily chapel exercises, long a part of University life. Their hours
were carefully provided for; their courses were compulsory; and their
attendance at classes insured by numbers on the class-room benches which
had to be duly covered. For this, the shawls that the students wore in
the late fifties seem to have been popular--several students, plus
shawls, were able to conceal many gaps if the monitor were not too
observant.

Throughout the earlier years there was a great emphasis on public
speaking, for which ample opportunity was given in various "class
exhibitions." These were inaugurated by the sophomores in 1843 with a
programme of four orations, four dissertations, four essays, and one