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Palo Alto, Cal.
Dec. 25, 1892

My dear Bessie:

Not having received an answer to my last, I venture
to write again to remind you of me. I am still here
at Stanford spending part of my Xmas holidays, and very dull
ones they are too. Everybody is away and there is absolutely
nothing to do except study or read. For during the past
three days a violent thunderstorm has been raging and flooded
the country for miles around. Consequently I have had to remain
indoors all the time. Then in addition the raillroad
stopped running on account of washouts, for which reason we
have had no mail. So you see we are fairly snowed in (or rather,
rained in, I should say). I am going away for a week,
however, if weather will permit and can obtain transportation.
I do not propose to stay here all vacation if
I can help it. The reason I have stayed here so far is because
I had to wait for a check. It hasn't come yet, but I
expect it tomorrow. In my last letter I believe I told you
about the great football game we were going to have. Well, it
is all over and the football season with it. The game verified
all my anticipations. I will commence and tell you all
about it. At 7 a.m. Saturday the 17th Dec. a special train
came out to the University and lay there for an hour. The students
decorated her with cardinal drapery and flags, etc. At
8 o'clock she left for the City carrying a load of as noisy a
crowd of young people as you would want to meet. The engine
whistled the college yell all the way up, and the students
chimed in with horns of every description. I myself did not
go up on that train. I went up the day before; but I am writing
from description. When the cargo of young people arrived
in the City, the City knew it. They monopolized the street
cars and decorated them with cardinal. They themselves were
fairly draped with it, and a Stanford man was not to be mistaken
if he had a yard or two of streaming cardinal ribbon in his
buttonhole. The Berkeley faction were equally numerous, and
their display of colors rivalled ours. Everybody that wore
blue and gold was a U. C. man and whenever a number of both
parties met on the street there was a clash. Now to relate my
own experience in it. All of us (by that I mean the members
of the Z0) assembled at the Palace hotel after lunch and waited
there for our four-in-hand which was to take us out to the game.
Soon it came rolling into the grand court of the Palace, the
horses and chariot fairly blazing in red. The horses (by the
way, thoroughbreds) pranced proudly and displayed to advantage
the beautiful symmetry of their limbs. It was a noble turnout,
and when we were all seated on top it looked nobler still.
When we rolled out of the Palace onto Market Street the people
stared. We gave the yell and waved our flags, and the people
responded. Everybody that was in favor of Stanford wore Cardinal,
and everybody on Berkeley's side wore blue and gold. So
everybody with blue and gold on we hissed, and when we met anybody
with cardinal on we gave three cheers for the Cardinal, Hip, Hip,