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s : The Story of the Societies IRECTLY after the founding of the college the first literary society was formed. Irving is the oldest of all the societies on the hill. Founded in 1867 by men who were interested in the development of oratory on the hill, it has since then per- formed its functions well. The society takes its name from Washington Irving, one of the first American men of letters. Its motto "Juncta Juvant," typifies its spirit. Its sister is Browning, founded a fe~ years later and named in honor of Robert Browning. As the school grew and its students increased in number the demand for another society became stronger. The members of the old Irving So- ciety began to realize that there would be greater individual benefits if the .. ~ society would not be so large and there would be greater opportunity for personal work, so a number of them decided to draw out of Irving and found a new society. This was done and in 1871 Webster was formed. This new society took its name from the greatest of American orators. The name was especially fitting since the avowed purpose of the society was to develop the power of oratory among its members. "Ad hue vivo" the motto of the society, is fitting to both the society and the man f~r whom it was named. In conformity with the action of the men the members of Browning decided to divide and part of them to form a new society. In this way Philomathean, known as Philo, came about. The new society dates its beginning from January 26, 1882. Since then it has been Browning's deadly rival. The fact that there were now two men's and two women's societies on the hill naturally brought about a feeling of rivalry and inter-society con- tests were begun. In 1888 the inter-society oratorical contest between the men's and the essay contest between the women's societies were begun. These contests continued with varying success to the different organi- zations but, never did anyone society succeed in outdistancing its opponent by more than a few victories. To the present time they have continued about evenly matched. In the last Irving-Webster contest, held June, 1923, Messrs. Paul R. Kelbaugh and Clifford Homer Richmond, represent- ing Webster, triumphed over Messrs. Francis Massey Castle and G. McD. Garrett, representing Irving. The winning orations were "The Silver Lining" by Mr. Kelbaugh and "Germany Must Pay" by Mr. Richmond. In the Browning-Philomathean contest, held at the same time, Misses Doro- thy Holland and Florene Simpson won for Philo from Misses Agnes Atkin- son and Carrie Knauff, representing Browning, the winning essays being "The Vision of Life" by Miss Holland and "The Reality of the Unreal" by Miss Simpson. In addition to these contests at commencement, during the past seven years Irving and Webster have held a joint debate on some topic of current interest. These debates are held about the middle of February. In the seventh debate, held February 15, 1923, Irving went into the lead. Her debaters, C. E. Bish, G. McD. Garrett and J. G. El;l.ton,defending the nega- tive side of the question: Resolved, that the Umted States should cancel the allied war debt, provided England does the same" won the decision over Webster's representatives, O. F. Betton, J. P. Dawson and C. L. Trader, who upheld the affirmative. One Hundred and Ninety-seven