Census Reveals Upperclassman Writes Home Once Every Two Weeks--Freshman Found With Telephone List of 27 Belles

A census, conducted by a CRIMSON reporter during the last few days among 50 upperclassmen and 50 Freshmen to find the quantity of mail sent and received revealed that the Lampoon was the mainstay of the first-year men in the magazine line. Twice as many Freshmen as upperclassmen were subscribers. On the whole, though, the men in the Houses buy 75 per cent more periodicals, many taking as many as three weeklies and eight monthlies.

The average upperclassman writes three letters per week. A letter goes home once every two weeks, and many replied that they never write unless prompted by a stormy letter or a telegram. Eight per cent used wire exclusively. In Lowell one man was found who has been writing a letter every day to a girl in the mid-west for the last two years. "At first I used to write twice a day, but it was hard to keep up." He had no idea how he managed to fill the space.

The Freshman is more diligent, dispatching a letter to parents at least once a week on the average, with about 40 per cent writing twice a week. Eighteen per cent of the Freshmen interviewed preferred telephoning home once a week instead of writing. One Freshman denied sending any mail since he has been in college. He excused himself on the grounds that he was a most illiterate chap and had nothing to say anyway.

The Class of 1936 prefers writing often to one girl than infrequently to many, although in Wigglesworth one man was found who had a list of 22 females with whom he corresponded regularly once a week. The same man had a telephone list of 27 local Aphrodites.

One man remarked that "these damn advertisements shouldn't be allowed in the mail-boxes. I get all excited, when I see a white slip in the box, but when I open it it's only some tutoring bureau again. I don't get very many letters anyway." One Eliot man said: "Reavens, I'm just swamped with invitations, I can't meet a girl at a dance but I get all sorts of proposals. I'm really embarrassed sometimes."

Freshmen suffered more from advertisers. In Matthews the average reported was nearly eight circulars per week. Financial bulletins were the chief burden of the upperclassmen.