Harvard Association Banquet.

The Harvard Association of Western New York gave its fifth annual banquet in Buffalo on the evening of Jan. 7. The spacious banquet room of the Buffalo Club was brilliantly lighted and tastefully decorated. Potted plants were upon the table, and these were garnished with crimson ribbons in honor of the occasion. Quite an elaborate menu was presented, its promise being realized in a most appetizing repast.

Suitable respect was paid to this, and then, in response to a call by the president, ex-Senator Sprague, '43, reminiscenes were given by many of the older alumni. Songs were interspersed, and stories told of life at Harvard in former days.

A feature of the evening's entertainment was the reading of the Harvard Idea, by Mr. F. M. Hollister, '65. The Idea makes its appearance annually. Its columns are devoted to art, literature, science, and to the correspondence of eminent personages in regard to the University, its august faculty, and all else connected with the institution. "Ideas" are solicited from everyone of note. If the writer's memory serves him, there was a communication from the Mikado of Japan, in which he berated soundly the methods of teaching his melodious language, now in use at Harvard. He regarded, however, the large number of students who flock nightly to see Gilbert and Sullivan's truthful version of life in Japan, as a sure sign that his native language was finally becoming popular in America. About one o'clock, glasses were charged for the last time (?) and at the final toast of fair Harvard, all arose and the song was given with a will. Though this formally ended the regular exercises of the evening, many lingered to exchange personal greetings and congratulations. The affair was acknowledged to have been a decided success, although the otherwise ready flow of wit and humor was, to a certain extent, held in check by the consciousness of the recent death of Mr. Cutter, the ex-secretary of the Association. This lamented occurrence led to the postponement of the dinner from Jan. 1st, and accounts for the almost total absence of undergraduates, as college opened on the second instant. It is due to the gentlemen in charge to say that the enviable social reputation of Buffalo was fully sustained.