Beer Nights.

A German student was once heard to remark: "What a spiritless land this America is, where you cannot find a dozen young fellows who will sit down to a cozy drinking-bout for about four hours of an evening!" This rebuke was greeted with a loud burst of laughter by all his hearers, and in order to maintain his aggressive standpoint successfully, and to convince his hearers of the truth of his statement, he gave a vivid description of one of these "drinking nights." The students form regular clubs whose constitution, by-laws, and members all centre about the beer-mug. A meeting is held once or twice every week in some particularly favored "kneipe," where the most palatable beer can be had. Some of these clubs appoint a "praeses" or president for a year, others for a university term, and still others for a period of a few weeks. The main duty of the president consists in keeping order at the festive board and in calling for a "salamander." This mysterious ceremony is repeated several times of an evening. The president who sits at the head of the table arises, orders the glasses to be refilled, then he invites all present to follow him in emptying their glasses in one draught. This fact is accomplished in a surprisingly short time, and then the emptied glasses are rubbed around on the table while some formula, the club's watchword is uttered over them. But this wholesale absorption is by no means the only occasion which the students take to empty a glass at one draught. If a newly initiated member, - a so-called "Fuchs" is present and becomes at all "fresh" in word or deed, an elder member need only beckon to him or call out "Bierjunge," when his glass is refilled and he has to empty it in face of the whole company. This is considered a great humiliation and amounts to asking everybody's pardon for his behavior. If, however, the "Fuchs" thinks that he has been unjustly called upon for a "Bierjunge," he can appeal to the president. If the latter sees fit he orders the challenger to drain his glass. This performance is loaded with tremendous odium and the men are very careful about challenging a new member without sufficient cause. There is an element of humor and "coziness" combined with a certain amount of rigid discipline in all these ceremonies which is very refreshing, compared with all American attempts at beer-nights which would seem to bear out successfully the assertion of our German friend.