The history of the Class of Seventy-one of Columbia College during its undergraduate career; as read on class day, June 9, 1871

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1871 Excerpt: ...of the year, and run as follows: one in January, one in February, five in March, two in April, two in May, four in June, three in July, seven in September, two in November, three in December. August and October are the only months neglected. It would be both curious and instructive to trace the similarity between the temperament of each member of '71, and the month in which he was born. As a guide to any one attempting such a task, the Historian would remark that to two of the five gentlemen who were born in March is duo much of the noise and bluster that have marked our Collegiate career The average height of the Class is 5 feet 8 inches. The shortest is Mr Robert Swan, Jr., who is 5 feet 3J inches; the tallest Mr. Stuyvesant Fish, who stands 6 feet 3 inches. Two other gentlemen, Mr William Haliburton BiunoiiAM, and Mr. Valentine Alexander Blacque, deserve mention as being each G feet inch. Ii we exclude these three tall ones the height of 71 is 158 feet 7£ inches, If we include them, it is 17C feet ll£ inches. If the necessary figures were at hand, we might compare this height with that of the various church steeples of this city and of the world, or might calculate how many Seventy-Ones it would take to out-top the Himalaya Mountains; as it is, the matter must be left to future mathematicians. The average weight of the Class is 143 lbs. 1£ oz. Mr. Swan, weighing 120 lbs., is the lightest, as he is the shortest, among us. In like manner, Mr Fish, the man of greatest length, is the man of greatest weight in our little community. The entire weight of '71 is 5,45 lbs. 14' oz. The Historian would submit it as a problem for aspiring Freshmen, how long the lever of Archimedes should have been, and how far that ancient man would have had to travel...