TALES FROM 
 THE SIWASR CAMPUS 
 
 Thomas Gold Frost 
 
 
 
LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 c 
 
 K77Ef 
 cop. 2 
 
 I.H.S. 
 
1/&sr, 
 
 
TALES FROM 
 THE SIWASH CAMPUS 
 
 BY 
 
 Thomas Gold Frost 
 
 "8 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 APPELLATE LAW PRINTERS, INC. 
 
 1938 
 
Copyright 1938 
 
 by 
 
 Thomas Gold Frost 
 
 Printed in the United States of America. 
 
a 
 
 77JE ^ 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. The Saga of the Class of 1883 1 
 
 II. The Story of Athletics at Knox 59 
 
 III. Eugene Field as a Student at Knox 130 
 
 IV. An Uncalendared Holiday at Knox 159 
 
 V. Oratorical Contests 180 
 
 VI. The Gnothautii and the Adelphi Literary 
 
 Societies 194 
 
 VII. The Drama at Knox 209 
 
 VIII. Washington Birthday Celebrations at Knox.... 216 
 
 IX. The Noblest Roman of Them All 222 
 
 X. Traditions and Stories of Knox Seminary 239 
 
 XL Romances and Near-Romances of the Siwash 
 
 Campus 253 
 
 XII. "Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow" ( Story 
 
 of Knox Library) 266 
 
 XIII. Knox Intelligentsia 285 
 
 XIV. The Theft of the Silk Hats of the Seniors of 
 1886 _ 307 
 
 XV. Campus Ghosts 312 
 
 XVI. De Amicitia 324 
 
 XVII. The "Old Grad" 331 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The object of this book is to rescue from certain 
 oblivion, marvelously interesting and dramatic events, 
 which in part at least, have had no counterpart in any 
 college in the land. In undertaking to preserve for 
 posterity the record of all these many episodes, a sincere 
 and honest effort has been made, to be at all times tem- 
 perate, frank, impartial and trustworthy. After spending 
 so much time in writing legal treatises and an historical 
 novel, it has indeed been a pleasure for the author to 
 chronicle the campus activities of our "Alma Mater", 
 which celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1937. 
 
 To the kindly and conscientious reader who never skips 
 a preface nor finds fault with an author's viewpoint, per- 
 mit me to make just one purely personal remark, which is 
 this : It is hoped that the reader will not imagine for one 
 moment that because the writer has in these pages laid 
 special emphasis upon the humorous side of college life 
 and has likewise paid deserved tribute to those students 
 of earlier days who won renown in athletic activities, that 
 he has not great respect and admiration for those who 
 chose arduous and unremitting study as their part in the 
 kaleidoscopic life that passed in review within and with- 
 out college halls. Whatever success the author may have 
 achieved in the fields of law, literature and public work, 
 is due very largely to the schooling he received in the 
 Gnothautii Society while in Knox College and to the 
 inspiration derived from study under the superlative 
 tutelage of Professor Albert Hurd. 
 
 Daniel Webster in his argument before the United 
 States Supreme Court in the "Dartmouth College Case", 
 in speaking of that institution which happened to be his 
 
Alma Mater, made this striking statement : "It is a small 
 college, but there are those who love it." The same is 
 true in equal measure of Knox College which is fre- 
 quently referred to by the press as "Old Siwash." The 
 name has been applied for many years as a synonym for 
 Knox College. The reason for this arose from the fact 
 that George Fitch (a graduate of Knox College), many 
 years ago wrote a work of pure fiction entitled "At Good 
 Old Siwash." Though in his preface to the work he ex- 
 pressly disclaims any intention of identifying any par- 
 ticular college with the name of "Siwash," nevertheless 
 it has been the custom both at the college and in the public 
 press, to refer frequently to the institution by this term. 
 Therefore the author of this book has chosen to adopt for 
 its title, "Tales From The Siwash Campus." The reader 
 will very properly assume that the work deals exclusively 
 with the extra-curricular activities of Knox College 
 students during the first hundred years of its corporate 
 existence. In delving deep into the campus lore of this 
 period, the author was amazed beyond expression to find 
 that a mine of rich and dramatic material lay open before 
 him. We can safely challenge any college or university 
 in the country, to find in the history of their own campus 
 activities, any facts that even distantly approach in in- 
 terest, some of the stirring events that have occurred at 
 old "Siwash." It has been far from an easy task to 
 unearth the story of events that have occurred from forty 
 to fifty years ago. Had the attempt been made even ten 
 years later, only failure would have attended the effort 
 in many cases. Readers of the great humorist, P. G. Wode- 
 house, will recall the utter consternation and horror that 
 passed through the minds and hearts of many a sedate 
 old gentleman, when it was noised about that their old 
 crony "Galahad Threepwood," was about to publish a 
 
 [ii] 
 
book of reminiscences, wherein all the escapades of their 
 youth would be exposed to the world. It is quite possible 
 that many of the author's friends and acquaintances of 
 the past fifty years may tremble when they hear, that one 
 who was deeply "tarred with the same brush," is about to 
 write the college memoirs of his youth. 
 
 In writing this book the author desires to make grate- 
 ful and heartfelt acknowledgement to the following per- 
 sons: 
 
 To Charles W. Martin (Ex. '86 ) for his never failing 
 interest and support in the writing of the book itself. 
 
 To Dr. Edwin S. Carr ('82) for his invaluable help in 
 the preparation of the history of the Class of '83. 
 
 To John A. Steele ( Ex. '83 ) for his many and accurate 
 recollections of the triumphs and vicissitudes of the Class 
 of '83 during their Freshman and Sophomore years at 
 Knox College. 
 
 To Walter A. Edwards ('83) whose ability to recall 
 with perfect distinctness events which occurred over fifty 
 years ago, coupled with the use of a diary that was kept 
 by him of the stirring events of his Sophomore year, has 
 been of the greatest value. 
 
 To Dr. George Slattery ('03), Dr. John S. Grogan 
 ('04), Joseph Zalusky, Lincoln K. Scott ('86), and James 
 B. Ayres ('85) for their never-failing help in writing up 
 the Football history of their Alma Mater. 
 
 To Edward Caldwell ('86), who has furnished with a 
 lavish hand a complete and entertaining history of the 
 Knox College Library. 
 
 To Henry W. Read, the only member of the faculty 
 still living who taught at Knox while the author was 
 
 [iii] 
 
a student in the institution, for much of historic value that 
 will be found in this volume. 
 
 To Charles F. Gettemy ('90), and William C. Mage 
 ('88), for permitting the use by the author of the scrap- 
 books kept by them during college years. 
 
 Full acknowledgment must also here be made for the 
 loyal support and deep interest that has been respectively 
 extended and awakened by and among the Knox alumni. 
 
 Thomas Gold Frost. 
 
 [iv] 
 
TALES- FROM THE SIWASH CAMPUS. 
 
 Introduction by Charles W. Martin, '86. 
 
 From its very inception I have been deeply interested 
 in Mr. Frost's dramatic and instructive "Tales From The 
 Si wash Campus." The book itself treats in retrospect 
 all phases of extra-curricular life in Knox College dur- 
 ing the first century of its existence. The first thought 
 that is uppermost in one's mind as he peruses its pages, 
 is the marked opportuneness of its appearance at this 
 time. A delay of even a few years in its preparation and 
 the task could never have been accomplished in the manner 
 that it has. Many of those from whom much invaluable 
 material has been obtained were persons of very advanced 
 age. If the benefit of their recollections had been lost, 
 much of the historical value of the book would have been 
 lost forever. To me the most remarkable feature of the 
 volume now presented to the public, is the fact that it 
 covers such a wide range of interests. In its pages one 
 will find the richest humor mingled with a serious vein 
 of broad philosophy and profound appreciation of the real 
 values that emanate from campus activities. I know of 
 no one among the thousands of living Knox alumni that 
 is better qualified for the task. Mr. Frost probably knows 
 personally more of the graduates of Knox than any other 
 living alumnus. In College he was not only a brilliant 
 student, but he was also a leader in all forms of social and 
 athletic activity. 
 
 Mr. Frost's ability as a writer has been demonstrated 
 not only by the many outstanding legal treatises he has 
 
 [v] 
 
written, but also by others in the domain of history and 
 fiction. His treatise entitled "The Law of Guaranty In- 
 surance," although the first and subsequent additions were 
 written over thirty years ago, is still recognized as one 
 of the best law books ever written. It has been quoted as 
 authority by most of the Appellate Courts in the country, 
 and is still recognized as the highest authority both in 
 the United States and England, upon the law of Com- 
 pensated Suretyship. 
 
 For more than half a century it has been the privilege 
 of the writer of this introductory notice to enjoy the 
 author's close and inspiring friendship. What is more 
 timely, therefore, than that Mr. Frost should bequeath 
 to Knox at the close of her first century of existence as a 
 college, his own and other rich reminiscences of the events 
 and of the many famous men, who formed a part of the 
 web and roof of an illustrious seat of learning. 
 
 I have no hesitation in predicting for Mr. Frost's 
 "Tales From The Siwash Campus" a warm and ap- 
 preciative welcome. 
 
 Charles W. Martin, '86. 
 
 [vi] 
 
HENRY T. RAINEY 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 The Saga of the Class of 1883. 
 
 On the twelfth day of August, 1937, there was dedi- 
 cated in the village of Carrollton, Illinois, a beautiful 
 monument to the memory of Henry T. Eainey, late Speaker 
 of the House of Representatives at Washington. 
 
 It was erected by the State of Illinois "in recognition 
 of the patriotic services, and to perpetuate the memory of 
 a great citizen of the Republic." 
 
 Mr. Rainey was born on August 20, 1860 and died on 
 August 19, 1934. As a legislator, scholar, and orator he 
 had few peers in the nation. The monument itself bears 
 this inscription : "One of the God-like things of this world 
 is the veneration done to honor worth, by the hearts 
 of men." 
 
 The man so highly honored by his state and nation 
 was a student at Knox College from September, 1879 to 
 June, 1881. He was one of the dominant members of the 
 Class of 1883 in that classic institution. He was likewise 
 the moving spirit in some of the episodes that are related 
 in this chapter. In nothing that he did was there any 
 malice or intent to injure another. 
 
 In point of public achievement in after life, he stands 
 at the forefront of all former students of Knox. It is for 
 this reason that the picture of Henry T. Rainey, taken 
 while he was a student at Knox, is given the place of 
 honor in the frontispiece of this book. There can perhaps 
 be no better title given to the current chapter of this 
 veracious chronicle, than to call it the "Saga of the Class 
 of '83". 
 
 [1] 
 
The class of 1883 at Knox College certainly made 
 history and plenty of it. If any body of students knew 
 the full meaning of "crowded hours," it belonged to them. 
 It burst upon the college in the fall of 1879, and departed, 
 with some few exceptions, at the close of the Sophomore 
 year in June of 1881. The class of 1882 which preceded 
 it concededly stands above all others, in the out- 
 standing ability of its men and the remarkable pulchritude 
 of its women. Yet it never approached the class of 1883 
 in class color, excess of animal spirits, nor in the ability, 
 amounting to positive genius, of disrupting the traditions, 
 morale and discipline of both the faculty and the student 
 body of Knox College. That is why the members of 
 the Class of 1883, saints and sinners alike — have been 
 known for over half a century as "The Wicked Sophomore 
 Class." 
 
 One might just as well attempt to write a complete 
 history of the Roman Empire and omit all mention of the 
 "Caesars," as to attempt to write a truthful and dramatic 
 story of the student life at Knox, and omit therefrom all 
 reference to the famous incorrigibles of the class of '83. 
 
 "Saga" as we all know is a word of Scandinavian 
 origin signifying a heroic story. In its wider sense it 
 connotes a bit of ancient history or legend. While the 
 class of '82 at Knox outranked all others in the high 
 achievement in later life of its members, nevertheless, 
 first place in the invention of amusing and harmless 
 deviltry during college years, unquestionably belongs to 
 the Class of '83. 
 
 The latter were past masters to the "nth degree," of the 
 art of devising original and amazingly fertile expedients, 
 
 [2] 
 
for adding extra-curricular color and dramatic effect to 
 the undergraduate life at Knox in the early "eighties." 
 
 In a letter written by one of the former "play-boys" 
 of the Class of '83, will be found an explanation of the 
 ceaseless activity of the class, most beautifully expressed 
 as follows: "Our class was composed of country boys. 
 Most of us had been brought up in very small villages 
 or on the farms. We were like colts in a pasture. We 
 were eager to run and felt that everyone wanted us to 
 do so. As soon as we had become acquainted, those of 
 us who felt the urge of duty to make trouble, proceeded 
 to do so. We did not destroy property, but we did do 
 many things which were annoying to the Faculty and 
 doubtless shocking to those of the student body who 
 thought and acted differently from us. 
 
 Professor Willard warned us that we would be pun- 
 ished as soon as the Faculty, "were able to fasten any 
 devilment upon us." 
 
 There is just one other thought that should be brought 
 to mind, before presenting in detail the "Saga" of the Class 
 of '83. It is this: Conceding as all fairminded persons 
 must, that the primary purpose of spending four years in 
 an institution of higher learning is to acquire knowledge, 
 nevertheless one must not imagine for a moment that there 
 are not other benefits of equal importance to be derived 
 from pursuing a college career. If college courses were only 
 open to "intellectual prodigies," most of our institutions 
 of higher learning would be compelled to close their doors ; 
 for there are not a sufficient number of specimens of this 
 genus, to anywhere near fill the class rooms. Every college 
 in the country not only expects to admit, but it welcomes, 
 a large body of students who wish to acquire merely a fair 
 
 [3] 
 
background of broad culture, or who desire to secure the 
 social advantages that accrue from enrollment in an 
 institution of higher learning. To attain these highly 
 prized privileges, even the dilettante in college halls is 
 willing to put forth the modest modicum of effort neces- 
 sary to keep his name on the college register. The class 
 of men here referred to form the great bulk of college 
 classes. Without them the institution would be denuded 
 of what has been termed the "typical college student of 
 today. " If a college man really has the ambition, as 
 well as the ability, to go far along purely intellectual 
 lines, he can satisfy this yearning by taking up post- 
 graduate studies after he has graduated from college. 
 Some self-styled educators derive pleasure from calling 
 this majority group which is present in all college classes, 
 "play-boys." In so doing they refer to those students 
 whose confessed purpose is merely to "get by" in class 
 standing, so as to maintain their status as members of 
 the student body without at the same time depriving 
 themselves of pleasures which they — mistakenly or not — 
 deem much more worth while. 
 
 On a bright September day in 1879, railway trains 
 deposited in the city of Galesburg an assorted lot of 
 young men ranging in age from eighteen to twenty years. 
 They formed the male contingent of the Knox College 
 Freshman Class of 1883. From the rickety trains guar- 
 anteed to make all possible stops, with or without any 
 possible excuse or justification, bunches of verdant Fresh- 
 men had swung upon the station platform where they drew 
 a long breath of relief. They looked about them and to 
 their inexperienced eyes, they imagined that they were 
 gazing upon a great metropolis. Instead they were in a 
 
 [4] 
 
small but stately city which had grown up around a group 
 of college buildings. 
 
 Galesburg was far from being just an ordinary, drab, 
 discordant sort of a place. Through a myriad of trees 
 one could catch a glimpse of a square red brick Greek 
 structure of a softened shade of garish college buildings. 
 Unknown perhaps except to the initiated, was the fact 
 that in this same building had occurred on October 7, 1858, 
 one of the famous historical debates participated in by 
 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Moreover, the 
 city itself had lost to a very large extent, the puritanical 
 background that was carried there by the original settlers. 
 The character and high intellectual tone of the place, 
 such as existed in the seventies and thereafter, was due 
 very largely to those citizens who took up their residence 
 in Galesburg between 1850 and 1875. These included a 
 very considerable number of highly intellectual college 
 educated men, who dominated the social circles of the 
 place, far more than did the descendants of the original 
 settlers. Then too the advent of Dr. John P. Gulliver 
 as President of the college in 1868, had brought with it 
 new and far advanced educational ideas and theories. 
 
 Let us now turn our attention to the horde of verdant 
 Freshmen who arrived in Galesburg in September, 1879. 
 
 To the casual observer the new arrivals appeared to 
 be a replica of the many other freshmen classes which had 
 preceded them. Such a conclusion, however, would have 
 been extremely superficial. One really gifted in the read- 
 ing of character would not have been misled by the bucolic 
 appearance or by the ill-fitting clothes of this group of 
 Freshmen. Notwithstanding their unprepossessing ex- 
 terior, there existed underneath, a mine of possibilities 
 
 [5] 
 
for future accomplishments of sorts. Current history 
 does not record that the arrival of this incoming Freshman 
 class caused any undue excitement or any serious fore- 
 bodings in the minds of the members of the faculty of 
 Knox College. That learned body little realized that 
 during the next two years, their ordinary unperturbed life 
 would be a troubled one and that they would find their 
 path during that period, a rocky one to travel. 
 
 There was a certain shyness in the manner in which 
 the entering Freshman class in the fall of 1879 approached 
 the members of the Knox faculty of that period. It is 
 probably true that for a few days the Freshmen even 
 stood in awe of the members of this learned body; some 
 perhaps even feared them. 
 
 There is a very appealing forlornness in the very 
 consciousness that one is a verdant freshman. The mem- 
 bers of the freshman class of '83 when they entered 
 college were to a large extent complete strangers to each 
 other. None of them came from large or aristocratic 
 preparatory schools where they had the opportunity to 
 form friendships and associations calculated to help them 
 appreciably in college halls. All of these young restless 
 souls were eager to become part of this appealing and 
 fascinating life that was going on about them. 
 
 Knox College at this early period was primarily a 
 place of learning conducted strictly according to archaic 
 and time-honored methods. The experience of one of 
 these new arrivals as related by him in after years, runs 
 after this fashion: 
 
 On the night following his arrival he walked through 
 sleeping Galesburg. His fancy during this stroll pictured 
 the many honors that he hoped some day would be his. 
 
 [6] 
 
In some respects, however, he felt like an outcast when he 
 realized as he passed the lighted windows of student habita- 
 tions, that he would have no welcome there were he to 
 knock for admittance. Once located in lodgings there fol- 
 lowed attendance at the registration desk, numerous inter- 
 views with stern professors, aimless wanderings over the 
 college campus and chance meetings with college class- 
 mates. 
 
 The American college student is distinctly a gregarious 
 individual. Each member of that Freshman class felt 
 the urge within him to belong to something, but more 
 than anything else he wanted to make friends and to be 
 privileged to enjoy the social life of the institution. Unless 
 they found these things they would invariably ask them- 
 selves some pointed questions such as these. What's the 
 matter with me? What's wrong with my methods or 
 technique? Am I to blame if I become a nonentity in 
 this institution. 
 
 Later on things looked brighter and more hopeful. 
 The class football and baseball teams were organized. A 
 glee club was formed. Soon some real friendships had 
 been gained. As the members of the Freshman class 
 became accustomed to the routine of the college life they 
 commenced to really love it. However, a small coterie 
 of the brightest wits in the class was reflecting with 
 fair accuracy, the mind and secret hopes of the entire 
 body of the class membership. Unconsciously this small 
 coterie lined themselves up with those who believed in 
 the persuasive form of educating the American youth, but 
 not the coercive method. 
 
 While the faculty clamored loudly for more regimen- 
 tation of the college curriculum, this same coterie of 
 
 [7] 
 
students came to believe still more firmly in the educa- 
 tional benefits of extra-curricular activities of their own 
 selection. The conventional idea of an American college 
 of that day was that of a choice lot of young men fired 
 with a love of learning, who looked upon the professors 
 as intellectual prodigies. 
 
 Some men go to college for the social side almost 
 entirely. A college graduate unquestionably stands higher 
 in the social scale than the non-college graduate. On 
 graduation he is eligible to membership in university 
 clubs from which the non-college man is excluded. Some 
 one has said that the early ? 80's with their roughness 
 and rowdiness produced a virile type of college student. 
 A student whose intellectual interest in his college work 
 is strong, can probably weather the temptations of college 
 life far better than those whose attitude towards academic 
 study is inspired by no such interest. The possession of 
 too much leisure time on the part of the undergraduate is 
 a real obstacle. It leaves the student not only free, but 
 in a way, forces him into time wasting forms of occupation. 
 By the end of the 70' s, learning had become far less won- 
 derful and mysterious than it had appeared to be to the 
 pioneer students of the institution. 
 
 The youths who entered college in the early '80's had 
 the common sense to perceive that many of the important 
 things in life could never be learned from a college text- 
 book. The period of youth, reaching from adolescence to 
 full manhood, is one of fundamental physiographical and 
 psychological change. They had not made their adjust- 
 ments, and, therefore, were willing to take a chance upon 
 everything that came along. Possibly they were too prone 
 
 [8] 
 
to look with favor upon any diversion which was either 
 novel or a trifle risky. 
 
 There comes inevitably what experts have termed "a 
 sympathetic reaction" to lawlessness, which results in 
 explorations into forbidden fields. Once there, the diffi- 
 culty of carrying through a forbidden enterprise, only 
 adds zest to its performance. 
 
 For forty years Freshmen had been arriving at Gales- 
 burg without their advent being followed with any un- 
 toward result. From the faculty stand-point, the ideal 
 freshman was a harmless domesticated animal, verdant 
 in the extreme and more to be pitied than to be feared. 
 Alas! for the faculty that they should have so greatly 
 underrated the caliber and capacity for mischief of the 
 untutored youths who entered college in the fall of 1879. 
 Eight here is where the college authorities made their 
 fatal mistake. 
 
 During the first month following their entrance into 
 Knox, the members of the Class of '83 were models of 
 good behavior. However this was but the calm which 
 preceded the storm which was to follow. The more turb- 
 ulent spirits in the class were for a time merely observers, 
 quietly taking their bearings before launching themselves 
 upon a career of unrestrained hilarity, which at times, 
 it must be admitted, amounted to deviltry. Before their 
 freshman year was over they had successfully embarked 
 upon a series of escapades all directed from skillfully 
 concealed batteries. Omitting some of the minor achieve- 
 ments of the more ebullient spirts of the class, the follow- 
 ing index of the results of their concerted efforts to 
 relieve college life of its humdrum and prosy character 
 may be given. 
 
 [9] 
 
One cold winter night the college bell was turned 
 upside down, then filled with water, and was allowed to 
 freeze. The inevitable result of all this effort, was that 
 the following morning no bell was rung to summon the 
 students to chapel or classes. 
 
 On another occasion certain adventurous souls intro- 
 duced a wagon into the belfry of old Main which was 
 regarded as an offense against the peace and dignity of 
 that venerable and historic edifice. By way of variety 
 this was followed by some Freshman pyromaniac putting 
 a can of blazing kerosene-soaked rags, in the chimney of 
 a house, wherein one of the upper classes was going 
 through the ordeal of holding a strictly conventional class 
 party. This act was instigated no doubt by an altruistic 
 effort on the part of some lonesome Freshman, to bring 
 light and cheer into the portals of a cheerless home. 
 
 In order to do their part in the celebration of Wash- 
 ington's birthday, certain sophisticated freshmen fastened 
 the door of the college chapel wherein the festivities 
 occurred, so that a more or less intelligent audience could 
 for some time discover no known mode of exit therefrom. 
 After remaining imprisoned for an unconscionable length 
 of time, the imprisoned visitors were finally released, by 
 the cleverness of one of the upper classmen. 
 
 Before the Freshmen were through with these exhibi- 
 tions of their powers of invention and their ability to 
 successfully carry out any sort of deviltry that might 
 suggest itself, the end of their first year at Knox arrived. 
 
 No faculty ever witnessed the departure from Gales- 
 burg of an obstreperous class with greater enthusiasm, 
 than did the members of that body in June, 1880. Before 
 
 [10] 
 
the class departed to their respective homes, Professor 
 Willard was broadminded enough to warn the men of 
 the class that some of them would be punished as soon 
 as the Faculty were able to ^x. some particular piece of 
 deviltry upon them. Some of the men of '83 took this 
 warning as a declaration from the "powers that be," that 
 from then on, it was to be a war to the knife between the 
 professors and the students, in which the element of 
 "mercy" would find no place. 
 
 The Halloween Celebration of October 31st, 1880. 
 
 On a sunny day in September, 1880, there embarked at 
 the old station in Galesburg, various groups of students 
 among whom were the male members of the Class of '83, 
 ready to claim all the rights, privileges, and perquisites 
 of full-fledged Sophomores. While they were not met on 
 their arrival by any brass band or by a welcoming delega- 
 tion from the college faculty, the absence of such paltry 
 tributes did not mar in the least the high animal spirits 
 of the new arrivals. Very different were their feelings 
 from what they had been the year previous. Then they 
 were merely timid, verdant freshmen. Now there was an 
 air of cocksuredness about them and their behavior, which 
 no neophyte could hope to imitate. There is abundant 
 ground for suspicion that the arrival of the all too 
 sophisticated Sophomore class, did not arouse any notice- 
 able enthusiasm in the breast of the worthy members of 
 the "Siwash" faculty. Neither did the latter emit paeans 
 of joy at the thought of having to deal once more with 
 young men of their proved ability, to disturb the ac- 
 customed peace and calm of cloistered halls. 
 
 [ii] 
 
In point of fact, the exact state of the official mind of 
 the faculty might well be expressed by paraphrasing the 
 last verse of a poem which has become a "classic" — at 
 least in sporting circles — to the following effect: 
 
 Oh, somewhere in this favored land, 
 
 The sun is shining bright; 
 The band is playing somewhere, 
 
 And somewhere hearts are light, 
 And somewhere men are laughing, 
 
 And somewhere there's no lack, 
 But there's no joy in Galesburg — 
 
 The Sophomores have come back. 
 
 After the return of the members of the Class of '83 to 
 their college classes, there ensued a period of almost per- 
 fect peace and quiet in college halls, and campus. This 
 afforded a sort of breathing spell for the faculty, who had 
 looked with no particular relish for the warfare that had 
 existed between the faculty and the male members of the 
 Class of '83 in their Freshman year, to be continued with 
 unabated vigor in their Sophomore year. 
 
 Not long ago a professor at one of our leading State 
 Universities made the astounding statement that no new 
 form of deviltry and no new virtue had been discovered 
 in this world within the last 10,000 years. The learned 
 savant who made this broad and unqualified statement, 
 evidently had not heard of the powers of invention directed 
 towards the disturbance of a panicky faculty, that was 
 possessed and put into execution by the Class of '83 at 
 old "Siwash." 
 
 Some people delight in belittling the real genius that 
 can devise ways and means for driving away the humdrum 
 
 [12] 
 
character of college routine and introduce into it some of 
 the spice which is the real game of life, to which is 
 attached the prize of regaining lost illusions. The play- 
 boys of the Class of '83 were not, as the Knox Faculty 
 seemed to think, "roughs" on the campus. Instead they 
 were in a very true sense "diamonds in the rough." 
 
 One must not forget that from time immemorial, 
 there has been in existence a traditional enmity between 
 the students of a college and the faculty as a body. This 
 enmity rarely has any personal element in it. The mem- 
 bers of the faculty may as individuals, be popular with 
 the students and yet as a body be extremely unpopular 
 with them. This may seem to many as a sort of an 
 anomaly, and yet it is true. It is a case where the in- 
 fluence of the esprit de corps, is more powerful than 
 individual likes and dislikes. When Faculty and students 
 clash, it is always a case of "all for one and one for all." 
 The foregoing statement may serve to explain why the 
 feeling existing between the Knox Faculty of 1879-1881, 
 towards the male members of the Class of '83, changed 
 from early indifference to a state of all but open dislike 
 within the space of a period of a year and a half. True 
 it was that the stunts performed by a small coterie of 
 students were of such a peculiarly annoying character 
 as to goad the faculty into taking the drastic action which 
 they afterwards bitterly regretted. 
 
 Secret societies were taboo in the college during the 
 years intervening between 1879 and 1886. This fact alone 
 was a sufficient excuse for the formation, at the opening 
 of college in the fall of 1880, of a loosely formed organiza- 
 tion which though nameless, will for purposes of con- 
 venience here be referred to as the "Ku Klux Klan." This 
 
 [13] 
 
organization was in some slight degree modeled after the 
 famous Ku Klux Klan of the South. Both were in a 
 measure intended as disciplinary organizations. The 
 southern body, addressed its activities to the colored 
 people of the south, while the less famous body at 
 "Siwash," was bent on affording sad moments to the col- 
 lege faculty, touching, as it did, the lives, liberties, and 
 pursuit of happiness of all the members of the class of 
 1883. 
 
 The "K. K. K's." numbered some ten of the more virile 
 and adventurous members of the class. They believed 
 themselves to be the only thoroughbreds among a class 
 of forty. 
 
 In the narrative which follows, the members of the 
 "Klan," with some one or two exceptions, will be referred 
 to for purposes of convenience and brevity, merely by the 
 nicknames by which they were known in college circles. 
 
 On an early Sunday morning of the 31st of October, 
 1880, a prominent member of the class, one John Steele 
 by name, was walking past the college on his way to visit 
 a friend who lived on "Quality Hill." Chancing to glance 
 towards the campus, which revelled in fine succulent grass 
 and clover, he espied a cow grazing under the trees. 
 At the same time he recalled to mind that on the eve- 
 ning of this day (which was Sunday) would occur the 
 annual event which is known to all American youth as 
 "Hallowe'en." 
 
 It seemed to him that the "Ku Klux Klan" would be 
 woefully lacking in enterprise and adventure, if they 
 failed to properly celebrate the day. Steele stopped and 
 leaned over the college fence in the near neighborhood of 
 the innocent bovine. There was something about the 
 
 [U] 
 
animal's appearance which suggested to the fertile mind 
 of John Steele that this might be an animal which could, 
 by proper inducement and management, be conducted at 
 the midnight hour of Hallowe'en, from the confines of the 
 campus into the ground floor of "Old Main," and from 
 there up to the college chapel which was located on the 
 second floor of that historic edifice. 
 
 Steele, who was something of a French scholar, made 
 a careful inventory of the capabilities of the animal and 
 arrived at the conclusion that here was certainly a cow 
 which would live up to the classic motto, "Noblesse 
 Oblige/' 
 
 Steele the moment he had outlined the plan in his own 
 head, at once became eager for action. Therefore, he went 
 around to some of the college dormitories and to other 
 student "hangouts" not located on the campus, and re- 
 quested their inmates to come to a meeting to be held at 
 his room, soon after the eating of their Sunday dinner. 
 
 The arrival of the hour of three P. M. of that par- 
 ticular Sunday found present in Steele's roomy apart- 
 ment, ten members who represented, from the "Klan's" 
 standpoint, the elite of the class of 1883. After they all 
 were assembled, their host briefly outlined the purpose of 
 the meeting. As he developed his theme their came an 
 expression on Steele's face closely akin to that which must 
 have resembled the one present on the countenances of 
 Brutus and Cassius, when they plotted the overthrow of 
 Julius Caesar. The substance of the speech, which has 
 been said to have been delivered in a highly oratorical 
 vein, was short and to the point. 
 
 "Brothers of the Klan," he said, "I bespeak your close 
 attention, while I outline a plan which I believe carries 
 
 [15] 
 
with it great possibilities of annoyance to those whose 
 conception of college life contains within it no hope of 
 relaxation from the dreary routine of classroom work. 
 No one here will deny that up to the present time, we have 
 done nothing as Sophomores to assist, much less enhance, 
 the hardily earned reputation of our Freshman year. 
 
 In view of this fact I have a suspicion that today, 
 while the faculty may think we have reformed and honor 
 us for it, nevertheless in the estimation of the general 
 student body, our reputation for ability to stir up the 
 dry routine of life on the college campus is at a low ebb. 
 So what I have to propose is this : As you may be aware 
 our worthy college janitor has long been accustomed to 
 permit a cow to browse at will upon the succulent vegeta- 
 tion of the college campus during the hours intervening 
 between sunrise and sunset. After sunset the animal is 
 tied to a convenient tree where it is supposed to remain 
 until the hour for milking arrives on the following morn- 
 ing. Early today I made a close survey of the animal and 
 have studied her moods and idiosyncrasies. Representing 
 as she does the female of the species, she naturally may 
 be a little erratic at times, but on the whole I think she 
 is an animal who can be relied upon to furnish proper 
 entertainment for the faculty and students of Knox 
 College. 
 
 My plan is this: At about the hour of midnight to- 
 night, we will transport the animal from her regular 
 nightly abiding place on the college green, to the lofty 
 and highly inspiring surroundings of the college chapel. 
 We shall do this in the hope that she may possibly there 
 imbibe some of the great and lofty thoughts and aspira- 
 tions of our institution. In view of the fact that the 
 
 [16] 
 
chapel is located on the second floor of "Old Main," it 
 will unquestionably require some care and skill on our 
 part, to transport the animal without detection, from the 
 ground below to the chapel above. 
 
 Tonight as you all know, is the eve of Hallowe'en; it 
 is also the close of the Sabbath Day. I, therefore, propose 
 that we assemble in "Bill's" room in the "East Bricks" 
 at an hour before midnight, ready to transport the cow 
 which is permitted to trespass upon our sacred campus, 
 to quarters which are both new and commodious." 
 
 Steele having completed his speech, lit his pipe and 
 called for questions from his attentive audience. These 
 were not slow in forthcoming. Some of the interrogators 
 suggested that the chairman of the meeting must be suffer- 
 ing from a "brain storm." Most of them wanted to know 
 if the trick had ever been successfully accomplished in 
 other institutions in earlier years. If so, they wanted to 
 know where, and most important of all, they wished to 
 be informed if the participants in the escapade had been 
 detected. Others wanted more minute information as to 
 how the trick could be successfully accomplished. Steele 
 frankly stated that in the interest of truth he must admit 
 that the elevation of a cow to the sacred precincts of the 
 college chapel, did not possess all the elements of strict 
 novelty or originality of invention. He further observed 
 that it was quite likely that Julius Caesar and those wild 
 cronies of his in the city of Rome, had dragged a cow in 
 the dead of night up the steep side of the Tarpean rock 
 and there tethered her, so that she might be seen and 
 admired by the Roman populace in broad daylight. More- 
 over Steele observed that if he knew his "Livy" correctly, 
 
 [17] 
 
good old Hannibal had tried to drag a cow up some of the 
 Alpine passes on his way to Home and had failed com- 
 pletely in the effort. And why was this? he inquired. 
 Because the great Carthaginian warrior did not possess 
 the technique and downright wizardry for detail which 
 admittedly is ours today. At this point there arose a 
 murmur of applause from his sympathetic auditors. 
 
 "You must expect," he explained, "that the require- 
 ments for the successful entry of even a domesticated 
 cow into college chapels are far more drastic than any of 
 you imagine. The mere feat of transporting without de- 
 tection of a cow in the middle of the night from her com- 
 fortable bed on the campus to the college chapel located 
 on the second floor of "Old Main," will constitute an 
 achievement of high order. I may also call to your atten- 
 tion the fact that architecturally the cow is not designed 
 for climbing winding stairs ; moreover, she does not belong 
 to the stealthy or creeper variety of domestic animals. 
 There is a certain technique required in order to success- 
 fully transport a cow from its natural habitat into that 
 "holy of holies" known as the college chapel, which is not 
 possessed by the common variety of college students. To 
 accomplish the feat those charged with responsibility must 
 possess the mind of an Archimedes, the art of a Michel- 
 angelo, the patience of Job, the perseverance of a Bruce, 
 the fertility of invention that belonged to Edison, and the 
 engineering skill possessed by a Goethals." 
 
 At this point the speaker's eloquence was interrupted 
 by the following inquiry addressed to him by one of the 
 group known as "Pete" : "What reason have you to sup- 
 pose that a cow can be transported by this band of 
 hombres, from the campus into the college chapel without 
 
 [18] 
 
detection? Has it ever been successfully accomplished in 
 any other institution, of which you have any knowledge?" 
 Steele's reply to this inquiry was as follows : 
 "As a matter of fact it is not only possible but ex- 
 tremely probable that members of the faculties of most 
 of the colleges founded in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries, were surprised at some period of their exist- 
 ence, to find an uninvited cow peacefully chewing its cud 
 in the college chapel. I trust that I am not exaggerating 
 when I assert, that no institution dedicated to higher 
 learning, can hope to qualify as a college of the highest 
 rank, until it can boast of having had a cow snugly en- 
 sconced within chapel walls at some period of its history." 
 At this point "Ticksie" who represented the scholarly 
 element in the "Klan", interrupted to make the following 
 statement: "Now, John, while I am reasonably proud 
 of my democratic ways, I have always, up to the present 
 moment, confined my list of intimate friends strictly to 
 the human race. When you ask me to cultivate terms of 
 intimacy with a cow, I feel that I am entitled to some 
 explanation from you as to just why you expect me to 
 take part in this crazy expedition?" Before he had an 
 opportunity to answer this pointed inquiry, the chairman 
 was interrupted by a question put to him by another of 
 the "Klan" present known as "Bill". The latter inquired 
 as to what, in the chairman's opinion, did the average 
 cow weigh? John Steele spent a moment in deep thought 
 and then replied, "About sixteen hundred pounds." His 
 questioner then made the following observation: "John, 
 you may be a student of the great American game of 
 poker and other non-curricular studies, but when it comes 
 to posing as an expert on the weight of cows, you are a 
 
 [19] 
 
complete bust. The average cow only weighs about twelve 
 hundred pounds." 
 
 Another of the group asserted with thinly veiled sar- 
 casm that "he was not interested in dumb animals. He 
 wanted his hearers to understand that his mind was 
 centered on higher and nobler things. This may be a 
 fine cow as cows go, but she still leaves much to be de- 
 sired to make her an object deserving of sustained dra- 
 matic interest." 
 
 Another one offered this comforting suggestion : "John, 
 you probably have guessed it from my questions, that my 
 own mind is not running along the same lines as your 
 own. My opinion is that we would better leave such 
 superior achievement as the elevation of cows into college 
 chapels, to the leisure class who frequent the Eastern 
 Universities. Unquestionably, many of them would rather 
 be out of college than ;in it. As for me I should much 
 prefer to remain in college." 
 
 At this point Steele closed all further discussion by 
 delivering this dictum : 
 
 "Gentlemen, please bear in mind that from this time 
 on the motto of our Klan shall be 'Nil Desperandum'. 
 You may not be aware of it, but that is the admonition 
 given centuries ago to a despairing college Sophomore by 
 a great Koman philosopher. It is a mighty good prin- 
 ciple for us to act upon. Therefore, I bespeak now and 
 here, for the willing services of ten members of the "Klan," 
 who are willing to pledge themselves, to transport tonight 
 a cow from the campus to the inner-most precincts of the 
 college chapel. I will personally guarantee that none of 
 those will be detected in the commission of the act. What 
 more can you ask than that?" 
 
 [20] 
 
John Steele thereupon, in the mystic and illusive role 
 of a temporary "man of distiny", assigned to each of the 
 ten members of the clan the part which he was to play in 
 the accomplishment of the task before them. It seemed 
 to more than one person there present that their continu- 
 ance as students in this particular college, depended for 
 better or worse on the native intelligence of a cow. 
 
 They knew that if she gave forth a single "moo" — no 
 matter what the key maintained during the operation — 
 that they were lost. Therefore, some were in favor of 
 tickling the cows ears or else telling her bedtime stories, 
 to keep her quiet. All these suggestions were promptly 
 turned down. 
 
 "Now fellows," said John, "here is the allotment of 
 the special tasks which will be entrusted to each one of 
 you. I appoint 'Ike' to the key position and his official 
 title will be that of 'Keeper of the Cow's Tail'. 'Tom' here 
 will act as 'Master of the Horns.' " 
 
 At this point the speaker was interrupted by inquiries 
 from the persons upon whom these high honors had been 
 conferred, as to what were the particular duties of their 
 office. 
 
 "Well," observed Steele, "You must see to it that the 
 animal is never allowed to go backwards and thus imperii 
 the bodies, if not the lives, of your two assistants. To- 
 gether you are to supply the necessary power to elevate 
 the stubborn beast up the college stairs. In any event 
 you need not worry about coming to any bodily harm." 
 
 "But how," inquired "Ike," "can I prevent the cow 
 from kicking if I fail to get a firm grip on her tail?" 
 
 "That's easy, bear down hard enough on the tail so 
 that she cannot get her feet off the ground sufficiently to 
 
 [21] 
 
make any dangerous motions in the direction of those 
 fearless souls who may chance to be pushing desperately 
 on her right and left hind-quarters. If she kicks forward, 
 it won't matter, because all she can hit then will be the 
 college stairs." 
 
 "Well, all right," said "Ike". "Now suppose you ex- 
 plain their particular tasks to 'Tom' and these other dis- 
 tinguished gentlemen who are to dance attendance in the 
 vicinity of the cow's horns." 
 
 "Well," observed the dauntless leader, "Their duties 
 will be simple and absolutely devoid of personal danger. 
 Nevertheless they will be very arduous. As you know the 
 cow will be wearing a strong hempen rope securely 
 fastened around her horns. This rope will be utilized in 
 affording additional power to those who are making use 
 of it to elevate the animal to her temporary abode in the 
 college chapel. 
 
 "This will require, as I figure it, about five 'mule 
 power' for the accomplishment of this task. The furnish- 
 ing of this power will fall to the lot of 'Tom', 'Pete', 
 'Dory', 'Sovie', and 'Bill'." 
 
 "Pete" raised some objections to his appointment by 
 observing sotto voce "that while he did not seriously mind 
 giving up his life for some truly great cause, he would be 
 hanged before he would sacrifice it in an effort to elevate 
 the morals of a cow by introducing her to the sacred pre- 
 cincts of the college chapel." "Anyway," he stated, "while 
 chapel attendance may be compulsory on the part of the 
 students, we never heard any member of the college faculty 
 state that it was equally compulsory on the part of animals 
 dumber even than we are." 
 
 "Ticksie" was appointed chief scout. He was informed 
 
 [22] 
 
that his duties consisted in notifying the other members 
 of the "Klan", in case he should locate a policeman walk- 
 ing on his beat in the vicinity of the college. "You are 
 to play the part of Paul Revere and run and spread the 
 alarm whenever you see any prowling member of the 
 faculty or of the police force in this immediate vicinity." 
 
 "Ticksie" inquired what he was to do if he should be 
 accosted by a policeman. "Ike" suggested that he tell the 
 policeman that he was returning from a date with his 
 best girl and then he might end the conversation by offer- 
 ing him a cigar. But "Ticksie" was persistent in looking 
 out for all possible emergencies, so he asked this further 
 question: "What shall I do if I should meet a member 
 of the faculty?" At this point "Pete" broke in with this 
 eminently practical suggestion: "Tell him to start at 
 once on his "Sabbatical," and he will fairly jump at the 
 chance." 
 
 Here "Bill" interposed with this suggestion : "I read 
 a squib in a Chicago paper the other day about a college 
 student out in Arizona who beat with a sextant, one of his 
 professors who was vainly trying to teach him calculus. 
 He did what you should do if you should meet one of the 
 members of the faculty on your nocturnal wanderings. 
 Just biff him with anything you can lay your hands on." 
 
 On the usually unruffled brow of John Steele, there 
 now appeared a frown indicative of real perplexity. Evi- 
 dently his mind was not perfectly at rest. Though he was 
 surrounded by a galaxy of congenial spirits, he appeared 
 to find for the moment at least little solace in their well- 
 meant suggestions. 
 
 Steele finally told "Ticksie" that in all crises that 
 arrive in life there are two courses open to one in meeting 
 
 [23] 
 
such emergencies. One is to move rapidly out of danger 
 and the other is to stay still. "Ticksie" quickly made up 
 his mind to adopt the first alternative. 
 
 "Ike" observed that if his fellow conspirators were only 
 possessed of some of the intelligence which is supposed to 
 place man above the beasts of the field, the birds in the air, 
 and the fish in the sea, they were not likely to get into 
 trouble. 
 
 Steele further instructed "Ike", even though the day 
 was Sunday, to procure from some convenient vegetable 
 garden a supply of carrots to feed the beast if she should 
 start to be recalcitrant. Before the meeting broke up 
 "Ike" inquired with a touch of unconcealed sarcasm in 
 his voice: "May I ask, John, what you will be doing 
 while the rest of us are risking life and limb and per- 
 chance future membership in the undergraduate body, in 
 an effort to carry out a plan which only a lunatic could 
 conceive?" 
 
 There was a moment of embarrassed silence until Steele 
 delivered himself of this oracular piece of advice. "Re- 
 member, gentlemen, that there were a million men to 
 be found who could fight his battles, but there was only 
 one Napoleon who had the superb genius to plan them." 
 
 At this point the meeting of the Klan adjourned to 
 meet later at the room in the Bricks occupied by one of 
 the conspirators. About ten o'clock of Hallowe'en eve 
 the members of the clan assembled before the modest room 
 of their companion located in the "East Bricks." No one 
 would ever mistake this unpretentious building, for a 
 country club or an imposing fraternity house. As a 
 matter of fact the dormitories both in the "East" and 
 "West Bricks," closely resembled a row of cells in a penal 
 institution. 
 
 [24] 
 
Here a word should be said in regard to the "locus 
 in quo" in which the "Klan" must operate. The north 
 entrance to "Old Main" is located some two hundred 
 feet from the street. On the other hand the south end 
 of the same building faces on the campus which stretches 
 for nearly a quarter of a mile towards the south. There- 
 fore, under well established principles of strategy, it was 
 the part of wisdom for the Klan to choose the south 
 entrance to that building as the opening wedge in their 
 enterprise. 
 
 On the third floor of a 01d Main" roomed two students, 
 upper classmen, who were delegated by the faculty to 
 detect and apprehend all midnight marauders on the col- 
 lege campus. As a matter of wise precaution, two of the 
 clan were sent up to the third floor to tie up with ropes 
 the room occupied by these students. This prevented their 
 spreading the alarm. In fact all they did was to look 
 out of their window down upon the members of the Klan 
 below, whose dark shadows could be seen flitting about 
 an animal which resembled a cow. 
 
 It was arranged that the conspirators should start just 
 at midnight upon their enterprise. It was a mild sort of 
 evening, moonlit, yet sufficiently hazy to lend aid to those 
 who much prefer darkness to light. Finally the order was 
 given for the cavalcade to start on its fateful march. 
 
 It was an easy task to tie the rope around the horns 
 of the cow and by belaboring her with clubs they had no 
 difficulty in getting her to ascend the broad steps leading 
 up to the first floor of "Old Main." Just as they were 
 entering the building with their charge, the neighboring 
 church clock struck the midnight hour. At this point 
 "Ike" observed, "Twelve o'clock and all is Hell." 
 
 [25] 
 
Then they started on the upward march upon the stair 
 towards the chapel above. Faithful to instructions Ike 
 bore down on the tail of the cow with such force as to 
 impair her upward progress entirely. In the next attempt 
 he reduced the pressure on her caudal appendage, so that 
 she was able to plant her hind feet against the next step 
 so firmly as to prevent entirely all upward progress. For 
 the next few moments the "yeomen of the guard" were 
 completely stumped. 
 
 "Bill" who essayed to play the part of an expert animal 
 trainer, advised that they tickle the cow's ears in an effort 
 to induce her to mount more rapidly towards the heavens 
 above. This had no effect whatsoever. They then be- 
 labored the cow with clubs, but that only made her more 
 stubborn for she refused to budge an inch. 
 
 Steele then observed that if the "morons" in his outfit 
 would only get it out of their heads that this was not a 
 bullfight or a rodeo, they would make better progress. 
 "You must remember" he added "that we are dealing here 
 with the female of the species and you must keep that in 
 mind. Be firm, but be gentle. The situation is one that 
 requires finesse and technique of a high order as well as 
 organizing and directing ability. All I want from the rest 
 of you is brute strength and plenty of it ; and also that you 
 obey orders without asking any foolish questions. More- 
 over, if I did not understand so completely the vagaries 
 and complexities of the female mind, you fellows would 
 never get this cow above the first stair landing." Just at 
 this moment the two hind legs of the animal flew in the air 
 and at the same time the noble form of "Ike" was seen 
 descending on his head. 
 
 Then it was that the leader of the expedition had a 
 
 [26] 
 
happy thought. He politely requested "Ike" to hold out 
 in front of the animal some of the carrots that he had 
 been instructed to obtain. The purpose of this move, of 
 course, was to induce the stubborn beast to walk upwards, 
 towards better and higher things. "Ike," the person 
 addressed, looked rather confused at what appeared to 
 be a fair request. Finally he answered with a sheepish 
 look on his face, "John, I could not find any carrots, so I 
 brought onions instead." 
 
 A look of scorn spread over the faces of the leader and 
 his men and John Steele launched this thunder-bolt at 
 one who had admittedly fallen down on an important piece 
 of work. "Ike", remonstrated the leader of the expedition, 
 "if you thought at all, would you really expect that our 
 cultured and esteemed faculty would consent to submit 
 to sitting on the platform of the chapel with a cow breath- 
 ing the odor of onions in their faces? They would unques- 
 tionably walk right out on you. Moreover, the trouble 
 with this animal is that it does not appear to be onion 
 conscious." 
 
 At this point the conspirators held a council of war. 
 Steele advised radical measures as the only possible means 
 of carrying out their project. So he produced from some- 
 where on his person a long sharp-pointed bowie knife. 
 With the first prick of the knife into the rear portion of 
 the animal, there escaped sounds which proceeded from 
 some unknown portion of the animal, and which resembled 
 the preliminary rumblings of Vesuvius. 
 
 In any event the heroic measures adopted by the leader 
 of the expedition had their effect. The cow commenced to 
 move a step at a time with each prod of the knife. Terrify- 
 ing sounds forthwith rumbled in the inner-most recesses 
 
 [27] 
 
of the harassed beast. Some of the conspirators were 
 tempted to turn and run. They, however, clung bravely 
 and steadfastly to their allotted tasks. Suffice it to say 
 that it would not have required a bloodhound to trace the 
 passage of the bovine from the floor below to the "holy of 
 holies" on the floor above. During the journey, "Sovie" 
 very pertinently observed that in his humble opinion it 
 would not improve the landscape to any great degree, to 
 have a dead cow found on the floor of the chapel of Knox 
 College. 
 
 After things had quieted down, the procession con- 
 tinued on its upward march and this time arrived at its 
 chosen goal, without further mishap. The cow was easily 
 persuaded to ascend the rostrum which was reserved 
 solely for the use of the faculty and distinguished visitors. 
 The cow came under the last named category. Finally all 
 the benches were piled up outside the chapel door, thus 
 closing completely all entrance to the chapel. 
 
 Then the conspirators dispersed to their respective 
 habitations to indulge in more or less uneasy slumbers. 
 Word had been passed around to the student body to be 
 sure to arrive in chapel early. The hour of 8 :30 of Mon- 
 day morning, November 1, 1880, found a goodly number 
 of more or less curious students standing around the 
 chapel doors, awaiting the arrival of the janitor, who was 
 accustomed to sweeping out the chapel, just before the 
 time for the arrival of the students. It must be admitted 
 that at that particular moment, the odor of "bovinity" 
 was more persuasive in the college chapel than that of 
 sanctity. 
 
 The members of the "Klan" had also assembled bright 
 and early before the heavily barricaded chapel door. On 
 
 [28] 
 
this particular morning the janitor was very late in arriv- 
 ing, by reason of the fact that he had spent a fruitless 
 hour in looking for the missing cow. By the time that he 
 reached the entrance to the chapel, there was a large body 
 of undergraduates gathered around the benches which 
 barricaded its doors. Without any kindly assistance from 
 any of the students, the college janitor finally removed the 
 "impedimenta" and opened wide the portals. With the 
 first view of the sole occupant of the room dedicated to 
 higher thoughts and lofty contemplation, the students 
 burst into gales of laughter, accompanied by cheers for the 
 unknown midnight marauders. Many remarks of a caustic 
 nature were uttered by the spectators. One wag observed 
 that now for the first time in the history of the college, 
 the new member of the faculty had ventured to wear horns 
 in public. 
 
 Another remarked that the presence of the intruder 
 into faculty circles would increase the average intelligence 
 of that body at least fifty per cent. 
 
 One man who was noted for his gifts of sarcasm, ex- 
 pressed the hope that the pungent and fragrant odor of 
 the latest addition to the teaching body, would lend sweet- 
 ness and light to all future chapel services. 
 
 By dint of great effort on the part of the college fac- 
 totum the cow was removed from the chapel just shortly 
 before the arrival of the faculty members. 
 
 The cow was led to the top of the stairs and there her 
 four feet were hobbled with ropes. Then with a rope tied 
 to her horns, she was easily lowered to the ground floor, 
 with the help of gravitation alone. 
 
 This ended the one and only introduction of a cow into 
 the Chapel of Knox College. 
 
 [29] 
 
The Tragedy of the Mid-Sophomore Year of 1880-1881. 
 
 The word "Tragedy" has found a place in the title- 
 heading of this sub-chapter, because no other term could 
 possibly express the blighting effect of the somber drama, 
 that was staged at Knox College in the winter of 1881. 
 This statement applies alike to both the Faculty and that 
 portion of the student body represented by the Sophomore 
 Class of that year. 
 
 At the time of the occurrences here related, the men of 
 the Class of '83 had been members of the student body for 
 a year and a half. During this period there had grown 
 up an affection for the college which was strong, even if 
 not fully recognized by them at the time. Youths in their 
 late "teens" are a gregarious lot, peculiarly susceptible to 
 both good and bad influences. Sometimes the "good" 
 predominates and again it is the bad which prevails. 
 
 Seldom indeed are the instances where the average 
 student can remain a year and a half in a college without 
 developing a love for the institution, which has become his 
 home for the time being. He no sooner enters its doors 
 than he enjoys referring to it as "his" college. Slowly but 
 surely the tendrils of his heart take root in all that goes 
 to make up the main part of his college life. They spread 
 out from his study, into college classrooms, the campus, 
 the gymnasium, the halls of the literary society or 
 fraternity, chapel, library, and the building which holds 
 within its cloistered precincts, the ladies of the institu- 
 tion. 
 
 There were other elements which unquestionably exer- 
 cised an influence upon the members of the class of '83 
 
 [30] 
 
during their frashman and sophomore years. These were 
 the precious college friendships that bind together the 
 lives of college men with bonds of gold. There were also 
 the memory of privations endured that the high prize of 
 a college education might be attained. 
 
 Let us, however, not forget, that the passing out from 
 college halls of all but two of the men of the class of '83, 
 was likewise a tragedy for Knox College itself. It had 
 existed as an eleemosynary educational institution for 
 forty-four years up to 1881, with scarcely any suspensions 
 from the student body. Then suddenly occurred the ex- 
 pulsion of four students (one of whom was later rein- 
 stated) under such circumstances that it resulted in the 
 withdrawal from college at the close of their sophomore 
 year, of all the male members of the class with two ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 At Knox, in the number of its members who became 
 distinguished in after life, the class of 1882 stands fore- 
 most among all those that have graduated in the hundred 
 years of its existence. However, when looked at from 
 the standpoint of downright originality in execution, ex- 
 traordinary sense of humor, fertility in invention and 
 deviltry developed to the "nth" degree, no class that has 
 graduated from the institution could possibly approach 
 the class of '83. 
 
 It also had among its members during some part of the 
 period intervening between 1879-1883, one who later be- 
 came the distinguished Speaker of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives at Washington — Henry T. Rainey; also the 
 able lawyer and representative in Congress from the 
 Omaha District, John Lauderdale Kennedy, who later re- 
 ceived the nomination for United States Senator from 
 
 [31] 
 
Nebraska, at the hands of the Republican Party ; also the 
 brilliant and scholarly Teacher and Ex-College President, 
 Walter A. Edwards of Pasadena, California. Besides 
 these three outstanding personages, the class exhibited a 
 sprinkling of three distinct groups of students; the 
 "drones", the "intellegentsia", and the "playboys". It is 
 with this last group that we are immediately concerned. 
 
 To the members of '83, as well as to all those graduat- 
 ing after October 7, 1858, there must have come a feeling 
 of reverence and a thrill of pride as they stood for the 
 first time at the East entrance to "Old Main", where 
 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas held their 
 famous debate on that windy fall day in the late fifties. 
 
 With all these contributing factors, can it be a mistake 
 to refer to the dismemberment of the Class of '83 during 
 their sophomore year as a "tragedy". 
 
 One of the most brilliant members of the class, recently 
 wrote the author of this book a letter, in which he ex- 
 pressed his feelings as follows: 
 
 "I recall the occurrences of that time with a 
 certain degree of amusement, but the narrative 
 brings me profound regret also. What I still con- 
 sider gross injustice on the part of the faculty 
 robbed me of the companionship of fellow students 
 whose association during the remaining years of 
 my course would have meant much to me both in 
 the way of pleasure and of real education." 
 
 The very much beloved President of the college must 
 have had a premonition of what was about to happen to 
 the institution over which he presided. At chapel on the 
 mornings of March 2nd and 3rd, 1881 he delivered a stern 
 
 [32] 
 
public rebuke to those unruly individuals, who had for so 
 long been seriously disturbing the calm and somnolent 
 atmosphere of the college. Though no names were men- 
 tioned, no one present at those chapel services had any 
 doubt as to whom the President referred. The effect of 
 the presidential admonition was not exactly what it was 
 hoped to be. The very next day came the rumblings that 
 always precede the storm. 
 
 The members of the Sophomore class in 1880-1881 had 
 "pulled off" one class party, and it had turned out to be 
 a disappointment in many ways. Possibly the reason may 
 have been that the men and women of the class had so far 
 signally failed to establish the pleasant relationship be- 
 tween the two sexes, which was customary under such 
 circumstances. 
 
 Some of the men of the class had early in their college 
 course evinced a tendency to pay more attention to ladies 
 in other classes than to those closer at home. So in a 
 most commendable effort to develop a proper "esprit de 
 corps" among the class membership, one of the ladies of 
 the class invited all her classmates to attend a class party 
 at her home in Galesburg, on the evening of March 4, 
 1881. 
 
 The program for the entertainment of the guests at 
 class parties in the early "eighties" was exceedingly 
 pastoral in character. Nothing could have been conceived 
 as being better calculated to preserve the highest moral 
 standards than was one of these supposedly festive occa- 
 sions. To describe one of these affairs such as the one 
 previously referred to, is to give one a glimpse of the 
 bucolic character of such affairs. Each and all of the 
 characteristics of the college parties of today was wanting. 
 
 [33] 
 
There was no orchestra or dancing permitted. The now 
 familiar buffet where drinks and cocktails are served, 
 would have been anathema in that day and generation. 
 Smoking of either cigars or cigarettes by the men was 
 absolutely "taboo". If any of the women members of the 
 class had publicly smoked even a "cubeb", she would have 
 had to pack her trunk for home the next day. Even mild 
 spooning, to say nothing of the modern day "necking", 
 would have resulted in social ostracism for the offenders. 
 With so many things on the list of forbidden fruits, the 
 reader may wonder just what were the amusements per- 
 mitted or offered to the young people of those "puritan 
 days". Well, at this memorable class party the amuse- 
 ments for the evening consisted of a candy pull and the 
 playing of a game known as "Buzz". This game required 
 the players to say "Buzz" instead of seven or a multiple 
 of seven in counting. It may have furnished an excellent 
 mental test, but it certainly had neither the excitement 
 nor allurement of the modern day dances. 
 
 On March 4th, 1881, the Sophomores held one of those 
 perfunctory class parties at the home of one of the ladies 
 of the class of '83. There being snow upon the ground at 
 the time, it was arranged that a "bob-sled" should be hired 
 with which to convey all the women members of the class, 
 from their respective abodes to the home of the hostess on 
 this festive occasion. On the journey from house to house, 
 picking up various individuals, three of the men of the 
 class who were making the journey, ventured to indulge in 
 moderation of certain liquor which they were carrying in 
 flasks in their pockets. This had become known to some 
 few of the girls, before they left the "bob-sled" to enter 
 the home of the hostess. 
 
 [34] 
 
En route to the home of the hostess of the occasion, one 
 of the men of the class had the misfortune to fall off the 
 sleigh, while it was swinging at a rapid pace around a 
 corner. Later on this fact was accepted by the Knox 
 faculty as conclusive proof of the fact that this individ- 
 ual was seriously intoxicated, and he was expelled from 
 college on March 25th, 1881. 
 
 Another of the men of the class was taken ill at the 
 party from a stomach attack and was compelled to lie 
 down on a sofa for a short time until he recovered. Sub- 
 sequently this fact too was accepted as conclusive evidence 
 of his intoxication at the party and he was subsequently ex- 
 pelled from college. It was claimed by the hostess of the oc- 
 casion, that when the guests arrived two of the men were in 
 such a state of intoxication, that (to use her own words), 
 "their conduct was disgusting, if not insulting." Another 
 of the ladies present gives quite a different account of the 
 affair. This is what she has written on the subject: "I 
 was at the class party (of March 4th, 1881) and rode to 
 the home of the hostess of the occasion with the rest of 
 the bunch in the 'bob-sled'. I suspected nothing, until we 
 were removing our wraps. Then some of the girls became 
 very much excited and said that the boys had been drink- 
 ing and they asked me if I did not notice the odor of the 
 liquor. I did remember then that I had noticed some- 
 thing, but did not know what it was. If I had given it a 
 thought, I would have probably thought it was hair oil 
 or something of the sort. Anyway we had quite an eve- 
 ning and in the games that we played the boys who were 
 supposed to have imbibed too freely were among the 
 brightest especially in the game of 'Buzz', where you say 
 'buzz' instead of seven or a multiple of seven in counting. 
 
 [35] 
 
I thought afterward that they were pretty level headed 
 to be under the influence of liquor and make no mistakes." 
 
 The foregoing statement written by one of the out- 
 standing women in the class, should serve to substantiate 
 in the fullest degree, similar testimony given by ten of 
 the men of the class at the rehearing granted one of their 
 expelled classmates, held on April 13th, 1881. In other 
 words, the case against the expelled students, so far as the 
 charge of drunkenness was concerned, was pitifully weak. 
 Notwithstanding this fact, the faculty very unwisely made 
 a momentous decision, which was tragic in its effect for 
 all concerned. 
 
 One of the men of the class who subsequently grad- 
 uated, makes this statement of the facts: "At the class 
 party held on March 4th, 1881, one or two of the boys 
 had previously drunk a glass of beer, but so far as I could 
 see, outside of the odor of their breath, there was no in- 
 dication of intoxication." 
 
 The recollections of another of those present at the 
 party were to the following effect : "Some of the ladies of 
 the class reported to the faculty that some of the men 
 were drunk when they went to the party. This was not 
 true of any of us. True, quite a number of the boys took 
 a drink or two before going to the party. I believe no 
 liquor was carried there. Some of the girls were of the 
 opinion that one drink made a man drunk: * * * I cannot 
 say that none of the boys had taken a drink, but I do 
 know that none were drunk." 
 
 One of the older members of the class, who did not at- 
 tend the famous class party, writes as follows : "Dr. Bate- 
 man, President of Knox, was ill when the matter hap- 
 pened, otherwise it would not have happened. After the 
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
expulsion of certain members of the class I immediately 
 went into a law office in Galesburg to read law. When 
 Dr. Bateman resumed his duties he sent word that he 
 would like to see me at his office. I went right up and 
 we spent an hour together. He urged me to go back to 
 Knox and complete my college course. I declined to 
 do so." 
 
 When the time came to depart from the party, certain 
 of the girls requested a very staid gentleman of the class, 
 to drive them home from the party, which he did. Before 
 leaving the house of their hostess, the girls got together 
 and agreed that nothing should be said publicly about the 
 incidents of the evening. However, later on, not the 
 hostess at the class party, but one of the girls from Knox 
 Seminary, told the whole story to the Dean of that in- 
 stitution. The latter immediately reported the whole 
 affair to the faculty of Knox College. This distinguished 
 body at once appointed Professors Willard and Bead to 
 ferret out the ringleaders in the affair. 
 
 This resulted in the faculty taking a most extraord- 
 inary course of action. In the first place only certain of 
 the girls of the class were interviewed by Professors Wil- 
 lard and Bead. They took the girls' statements as to what 
 had occurred at the class party and these were reported 
 to the entire faculty. On this testimony alone and with- 
 out presenting any charges against the accused students 
 or giving them at that time any opportunity to be heard, 
 four of the male members of the class were either sum- 
 marily expelled, or else suspended indefinitely from the 
 institution. This was done in the absence of Dr. Bateman, 
 who was ill at the time. They did not call the suspects 
 among the students before them; neither were there any 
 
 [37] 
 
charges preferred against them, nor were the accused per- 
 mitted at that time to meet the accusations made against 
 them. The rebellious spirits in the class burned with the 
 holy zeal of the great martyrs of an earlier age, at such 
 treatment. 
 
 Then, some of the men of the class held an informal 
 meeting and proposed that an ultimatum be served upon 
 the faculty, notifying them that if the dismissed students 
 were not reinstated, they would all refuse to attend recita- 
 tions until this was done. 
 
 They denounced the action of the faculty in no un- 
 certain terms, as constituting an unjustifiable denial of 
 the inalienable right of an accused person to be heard 
 in his own defense. 
 
 Under the leadership of "Pete" Kainey, a petition was 
 later addressed to the faculty, demanding that the accused 
 students be given a fair trial and notifying that body that 
 the signers of the petition would attend no recitation until 
 the demand was granted. It was this threat that angered 
 the faculty. The latter body issued a ukase requiring all 
 students to report to classes by Friday of that week. 
 Several students yielded to pressure from home and ap- 
 peared at their classes. Others left town and Knox knew 
 them no more. 
 
 One of these was John L. Kennedy, who entered a law 
 office in Galesburg and never thereafter returned to his 
 classes at Knox. 
 
 The only answer given by the faculty to the students' 
 petition was a curt command to go back to their classes. 
 It is perhaps only fair to admit that the teaching body 
 of the college was not indisposed to grant the expelled 
 
 [38] 
 
students a "real hearing/' but the statement contained in 
 the petition to the effect that the signers would attend no 
 classes until the same was granted, angered the faculty. 
 
 The series of events which followed each other in rapid 
 succession were as follows : 
 
 On March 21st, 1881, three of the men of the class 
 were notified of their expulsion from the college. 
 
 On March 22nd fourteen men of the class, under the 
 leadership of "Pete" Rainey, signed a petition demanding 
 a fair hearing for the expelled students and notifying the 
 faculty that they would withdraw from all recitations 
 until their request was granted. 
 
 On March 25 another of the class was expelled and 
 he left college for good. 
 
 On March 26th Dr. Bateman promised a fair trial 
 for one of the expelled students, but not for the others. 
 
 On March 29th the signers of the "petition" above 
 referred to, sent a letter to the faculty asking leave to 
 withdraw the same and the threat therein contained. 
 
 On April 7th all the men of the class not expelled, re- 
 turned to recitations, with the exception of John L. Ken- 
 nedy and Frederick S. Smith. This was done upon ob- 
 taining a promise from the faculty, that a fair trial would 
 be accorded to all four of the expelled students. 
 
 On April 13th, 1881, whether by reason of threats of 
 legal action, or an acknowledgment of the justice of the 
 demands of the students, the faculty did grant a hearing 
 to such of the expelled students as desired it. One of 
 them took advantage of the offer, after consulting counsel 
 and being advised as to his legal rights in the premises. 
 
 [39] 
 
At the trial it was evident that he had been under careful 
 previous coaching by his counsel. At this hearing the 
 defendant did display a very unusual familiarity with the 
 various brands of liquor. 
 
 Once during the trial Professor Willard, who was con- 
 ducting the hearing, quite naively asked the defendant 
 a question about the difference between two kinds of liquor 
 that had been mentioned at the hearing. The witness fell 
 into the trap and proceeded to discourse at length on a 
 topic about which he showed himself to be extremely well- 
 informed. The defendant also submitted in evidence his 
 report for the previous semester, which showed that he 
 had been certified to by the faculty to be an exemplary 
 student. Professor Willard however, quashed this attempt 
 at whitewashing, by drily observing "that the faculty knew 
 more now than they did then." 
 
 On April 16th the faculty rendered its verdict to the 
 effect that the ban previously placed upon the student 
 who was tried, would not be lifted. 
 
 On April 22nd another of the culprits was given a trial 
 and on May 3rd he was restored to good standing. In- 
 stead of returning to his class, he returned home and 
 stayed there. On May 4th, 1881, Professors Willard and 
 Eead were hung in effigy at the main entrance to the 
 college. When the two faculty members just named ap- 
 proached the college buildings on the morning of May 
 4th, they were welcomed by the sight of seeing themselves 
 hung in effigy at the north entrance to "Old Main." Then 
 it was that Professor Willard said to "Dory" Swayne 
 who was standing as an "observer" on the walk, "Can you 
 read the inscription on the banner suspended from one of 
 the trees overhanging the walk?" Swayne never blinked 
 
 [40] 
 
an eye but read out in a loud stentorian voice, "Sic Semper 
 Damphoolibus" Willard smiled and said, "Hog Latin is 
 it not?" Eead with, his ever serious expression merely 
 observed "Dative of Agent." 
 
 To any one wishing to obtain a disinterested account 
 of what occurred at Galesburg, in March and April 1881, 
 it is extremely illuminating to note the following incident. 
 One of the four members of the class who was expelled 
 from college, was at home sick with inflammation of the 
 lungs at the time of his expulsion. After he had recovered, 
 he obtained statements from certain of the girls of the 
 class, to the effect that he was not under the influence of 
 liquor at the class party. On this evidence alone his 
 suspension was lifted and he was told that he might re- 
 turn to his college classes. He, however, declined to accept 
 this offer. Fifty years later in a letter addressed to the 
 author he made this very fine reference to the college from 
 which he failed to graduate: "I think Knox an ideal 
 college and had I been favored with children, I would 
 have been glad to have them Knox graduates." 
 
 The attitude of the "Knox Student" and the "Gales- 
 burg Republican Register" during this truly crucial 
 period in the history of Knox College is too significant 
 to be passed over. This was the fact that nowhere in the 
 columns of these two periodicals will be found any refer- 
 ence to the expulsion of four students in March, 1881 from 
 Knox College, nor is there any reference therein to the 
 trials that followed. There can be no other explanation 
 given, than this: That this inexplicable silence was due 
 to urgent pressure from some source unknown. Paren- 
 thetically it may be noted, that the full story of the ex- 
 pulsion and trials of the Knox students was written up 
 
 [41] 
 
and published in one of the Forreston, Illinois papers at 
 the time. 
 
 At this point it is only fair to present the case from 
 the standpoint of the Knox faculty. The following state- 
 ment was given to the author very recently by Professor 
 Henry W. Read, one of two surviving members of the 
 teaching body at Knox as it existed in the winter of 1881. 
 Briefly summarized it was to the following effect : 
 
 "The trouble arose at a class party given by one of 
 the girls of the class, who resided in Galesburg. Three of 
 the men present, 'got I think, plain drunk'. Professor 
 Willard and I, younger members of the faculty, inter- 
 viewed some of the girls of the class, found out what had 
 happened and reported the facts to the faculty as a body. 
 The matter was discussed at several meetings, further 
 investigation of the affair were obtained from the girls. 
 No one of the men who were connected with the trouble 
 at the class party, were summoned to appear before the 
 faculty for examination. 
 
 Moreover, no petition signed by any of the male mem- 
 bership of the class of '83 demanding that the accused 
 students be given a fair trial and declaring that the signers 
 of the petition would attend no recitations until their 
 demand was granted, was ever considered at a faculty 
 meeting." Professor Read then makes the following state- 
 ment : "The only criticism that I heard at that time was 
 that the college did not do just that thing — bring the men 
 up for trial and give them a chance to defend themselves. 
 But that was not the college way. The usual way in the 
 case of an undesirable pupil, was, as quietly as possible, 
 to ask his relatives to have him withdrawn from college. 
 
 [42] 
 
Not once while I was at Knox, was any one brought 
 in person before the faculty to answer for misdemeanors. 
 The result of it all was that three members of the class 
 of '83 were expelled from College." Professor Read then 
 makes this final comment: "I have always believed that 
 two men neither of them in college, were the chief cause 
 of this trouble. One of these was the elder brother of one 
 of the boys in the class. The latter spent an entire week 
 with his brother, egged him on and encouraged him to 
 make trouble in every way. This older brother, judged by 
 his looks was not only rough but was tough and he had 
 a lot of influence. Then down town was a lawyer (a grad- 
 uate of Knox) who a short time before his graduation 
 from college, had had a bitter quarrel with Professor 
 Hurd, by which he almost missed graduating. He coun- 
 seled the men of the class and made Knox all the trouble 
 that he could. Public sentiment stood by the college in 
 this affair and Fred Jelliff defended me personally in the 
 editorial columns of the Galesburg Republican Register. 
 Professor Churchill said that a well-known Galesburg 
 lawyer summed up the sentiment of Galesburg, when on 
 being asked why the boys of the class of '83 hung Willard 
 and Read in effigy replied, 'Because they did their duty'." 
 
 The real basis of the trouble that arose between the 
 more worldly members of the Class of '83, and Professors 
 Willard and Read may be explained in this wise. In fine 
 character, ability of a high order and sterling worth, the 
 two mentioned stood in the front ranks. In only one 
 respect did they fail to measure up to the full stature of 
 Professors who might be called upon to cope successfully 
 with a group of young men, whose capacity for originating 
 
 [43] 
 
and executing college escapades, amounted at times to 
 positive genius. What they lacked was a keen sense of 
 humor, which had they possessed, would have enabled 
 them to carry the college faculty successfully through a 
 very difficult situation, to a solution that would have been 
 satisfactory to all concerned. Instead they chose to match 
 their wits against those of the students and in this effort 
 they lost out. 
 
 The only newspaper comment that one finds in the 
 press of that day, is the following which appeared in the 
 Galesburg Republican Register of April 2nd, 1881. 
 
 "A number of the parents of the recalcitrant 
 Sophomore boys of Knox College, have sent word 
 to the faculty to see that their son's debts are paid 
 here, and then to send them home. Thus it may 
 be understood that the parents have not much 
 sympathy with the actions their sons took in the 
 late "unpleasantness." 
 
 All the events here recorded when looked at in retro- 
 spect from the background of the lapse of a half a century, 
 afford abundant food for reflection and sober thought. 
 
 With the reinstatement of John Steele to good stand- 
 ing at Knox on May 3rd, 1881, followed on May 4th by 
 the burning in effigy of Professors Willard and Read, it 
 was generally supposed by the faculty as well as by the 
 greater portion of the student body, that there would 
 now f ollow a period of undisturbed scholastic peace. How- 
 ever on May 27th the clouds of trouble and discord once 
 more commenced to hover over the campus of "Old 
 Knox." 
 
 [44] 
 
The Geeat Smallpox Hoax. 
 
 As a proper prelude to what follows, attention may 
 be called to the fact that P. T. Barnum, the greatest show- 
 man this country has ever produced, owed much of his 
 claim to greatness, to several successful hoaxes which he 
 perpetrated upon an unsuspecting public during his life- 
 time. It is possible that the class of 1883 at Knox, will 
 in the future, owe much of their prominence among the 
 classes which graduated during the first hundred years 
 of the existence of the college, to the fact that one of its 
 members carried to a successful conclusion, an extraord- 
 inarily clever scheme to delude many of the students, 
 the college faculty, doctors and the State Board of Health 
 into the belief, that smallpox was abroad in the land. It 
 may properly be termed the "Great Smallpox Hoax/' 
 which was successfully perpetrated at Knox College in 
 June, 1881. It served full well the purpose of forming a 
 sort of valedictory salute from the men of the class of 1883, 
 before they left the college halls of Knox, never to return. 
 It also served as an amusing substitute for the familiar 
 "Taps," which attends the departure of those whose brief 
 years of activity have ended forever. 
 
 In the late spring of the year 1881, a member of the 
 class of 1883 who afterwards became one of the nation's 
 "greats", in an inspired moment conceived of a "hoax", 
 which deserves to rank among the great "hoaxes" of 
 modern American Collegiate life. This will go down in 
 these "Tales From The Siwash Campus" as the "Small- 
 pox Hoax." 
 
 The originator and moving spirit in this superlatively 
 
 [45] 
 
humorous achievement was Henry T. Kainey, a bright 
 and shining light among the less serious-minded members 
 of the class of 1883. The events here related occurred in 
 the month of June, 1881. 
 
 There was never a more beautiful and seductive May 
 and June in Illinois, than that of the year 1881. Nature 
 herself then seemed to call to the student body at Knox 
 to forsake their stuffy study rooms and the halls of learn- 
 ing, in order to bask beneath the sylvan shades of wooded 
 retreats. Under such circumstances it was not strange, 
 that Henry T. Rainey, who roomed in one of the heated 
 precincts of the "College City", should fall an easy victim 
 to the "Call of the Wild". For the time being surcease 
 from even the appearance of steadfast and prolonged at- 
 tention to studies, seemed to him the most desirable thing 
 in all the world. The only immediate problem before him 
 centered around the selection of an excuse for forsaking 
 all classes and cleaving to a life in the great open spaces. 
 The problem was solved for him by the following chain 
 of events : 
 
 On May 27th, 1881, there was great alarm and con- 
 sternation among the student body, when it was reported 
 that a member of the class of '83 had been stricken with 
 varioloid and had been sent to the pest-house located on 
 the shores of a lake situated three miles east of Galesburg. 
 The patient had been accompanied to the "pest-house" by 
 two of his classmates — Henry T. Rainey and "Dory" 
 Swayne — who acted as volunteer caretakers. The vario- 
 loid patient continued at this retreat until June 3rd, when 
 he returned to Galesburg. The reason for his return was 
 explained in a statement published in the Galesburg Re- 
 publican Register under date of June 4th, 1881. An 
 
 [46] 
 
announcement was there made as to the existence of 
 smallpox at Knox College in the public press. "This," 
 it was stated, "was occasioned by the receipt at the office 
 of the Republican Register of a letter signed by three 
 Galesburg physicians to the following effect : 'It has been 
 stated that a certain student of Knox College was suffer- 
 ing from a mild form of varioloid. We have this day 
 visited the patient, * * * and he has not now, and has 
 not had anything akin to smallpox or varioloid.' " 
 
 On the same day in another column of the paper ap- 
 peared the following notice : "That the student suspected 
 of having smallpox had been examined by Dr. John H. 
 Rauch, Secretary of the Illinois State Board of Health 
 and had been found not to be suffering from varioloid." 
 It was this last announcement that caused Dr. Bateman 
 to announce with a beaming smile from the college chapel 
 platform, "that there was no smallpox in Galesburg." 
 Alas, the good Doctor proved to be "neither a prophet nor 
 the son of a prophet." 
 
 On the receipt of this bulletin, the college no longer 
 shuddered in fear of a pestilence. 
 
 On June 7th, 1881, it was heralded far and wide, that 
 another member of the class of '83 had been taken ill 
 with smallpox. It is at this point that Henry T. Rainey 
 enters directly into the picture as the originator of the 
 "Smallpox Hoax," which caused not only tremendous ex- 
 citement among the Knox faculty and students alike, but 
 which produced as an aftermath, a war among the medical 
 fraternity of Galesburg, which it took years to heal. 
 
 The basis for the newspaper report was due primarily 
 to the fact that a few days before it was published, "Pete" 
 Rainey (so known in college circles) chanced to read in 
 
 [47] 
 
an Encyclopedia, a most interesting article on Tartaric 
 Acid. Therein he ran across certain statements, which 
 appealed to him strongly as being capable of immediate 
 practical application: "Tartar Emetic," the article 
 said, "applied to the skin produces a crop of pustules 
 which ulcerate and discharge purulent matter." "The 
 Tartaric Emetic ointment" it was stated, "should be ap- 
 plied by rubbing about half a dram of the remedy on the 
 skin, night and morning. If this were done, it was pre- 
 dicted that in two or three days pustules would begin to 
 appear on the skin." When Mr. Rainey had completed 
 the reading of the article, the next step was to conduct 
 the experiment on his own body. In doing so he was 
 actuated by the more or less commendable purpose, to 
 secure for himself a few days of complete surcease from 
 study, while the medical fraternity should be engaged in 
 determining whether the suspicious rash upon his person, 
 was due to an attack of smallpox. 
 
 One must now look into the files of the daily press of 
 that day, to see the outcome of Mr. Rainey' s daring ex- 
 periment. 
 
 On June 18th, 1881, there appeared in the Republican 
 Register, under the scare headline "In A Turmoil" the 
 following statement: 
 
 "The physicians in this city are in a perfect 
 turmoil of excitement over the last case of smallpox 
 reported. It seems that a Mr. Rainey, who boards 
 on South Kellogg Street, went into Dr. Cowan's 
 office on Tuesday afternoon (June 14th) and said 
 that he was feeling badly. The doctor, thinking 
 that he had only malarial fever, gave him some 
 medicine. However, since then, Dr. Cowan has 
 
 [48] 
 
examined the case more thoroughly and pronounces 
 the disease to be varioloid and has filed a certifi- 
 cate to that effect at the City Office and has also 
 obtained the following certificate from a number 
 of physicians, whose names are signed below : 
 
 We, the undersigned practicing physicians, hav- 
 ing carefully examined Mr. Rainey, fully concur 
 in the opinion of Dr. Cowan that the case is vario- 
 loid. 
 
 E. S. Cooper, Sr., 
 
 D. W. Aldrich, 
 
 E. S. Cooper, Jr., 
 S. D. Pollock, 
 
 C. B. Ellis/ " 
 
 The opinion of the doctors created a panic among the 
 students at Knox. Scores of them left college to remain 
 away during the remainder of the school year. Some of 
 the classes were dismissed and for the time being there 
 was very little attention paid to studies by the members 
 of the Sophomore class. 
 
 The smallpox scare occurred in June, 1881. In view of 
 the supposed exposure of the other students to the dread 
 disease, compulsory attendance at college for the re- 
 mainder of the school year was not required. So, many 
 of the class of '83 returned to their homes. At one period 
 in the Spring Term there were only two members of the 
 class in attendance at recitations. The case of course 
 became generally known to all the physicians in Gales - 
 burg. Thereafter Drs. Judd, Hopper and Hurd went 
 down and examined Mr. Rainey and reported that he did 
 not have smallpox nor the faintest symptoms of it. In 
 
 [49] 
 
defiance of this dictum, Dr. Foote, Chairman of the Gales- 
 burg Board of Health, put up a smallpox card on the 
 house wherein Mr. Rainey was living. The next morning 
 Drs. Judd and Hopper consulted their attorneys in regard 
 to the matter. The latter advised them to remove the 
 cards. This was done (we are not advised by whom) and 
 the other doctors went on a rampage, along with the Board 
 of Health and the Mayor of Galesburg. The latter, the 
 "Register" observed, "are looking up the law in the case 
 to see if the Board of Health have not some rights, that 
 Doctors are bound to respect. 
 
 Both parties think they have the law on their side and 
 are so telling it among their friends and trying to work 
 them up to an interest in the matter. But the people 
 never take much interest in Doctors' squabbles and will 
 let them fight it out in their own way." 
 
 (Later Newspaper Bulletins.) 
 
 "For the last week the physicians have been in a fear- 
 ful state of agitation over what has been supposed to be 
 smallpox, one side claiming that young Kainey had it, 
 and the others that he didn't have it. Finally the war 
 waxed so hot that the physicians who opposed the small- 
 pox view of the case sent for Dr. John H. Rauch, Secretary 
 of the State Board of Health, who arrived Tuesday from 
 Chicago to decide the case. 
 
 On Wednesday Dr. Rauch examined Mr. Rainey * * * 
 and decided that the disease for sanitary reasons may be 
 a mild case of varioloid. This did not give those who were 
 positive it was smallpox an opportunity to glory in their 
 skill at diagnosing the case, nor did it give those who 
 
 [50] 
 
were positive that the man had not smallpox a chance to 
 gloat over the defeat of the City physician and the doctors 
 who sided with him. Thus the matter ends." Alas, the 
 Editor proved himself a poor prophet. On Saturday, 
 June 25th, 1881, the following statements appeared in 
 the Press, under the militant heading — "The War Goes 
 Bravely On." "There is no end to a war between doctors. 
 Having printed certificates from one side that no vario- 
 loid existed, we are requested by the other side to print 
 certificates that it did exist. When doctors disagree who 
 is to decide? Surely we cannot, and we have no disposi- 
 tion to take part in the discussion. * * *" 
 
 As to Dr. Rauch we think that he does not amount to 
 so many rows of pins. He is lacking in backbone. All 
 he had to do was to say the case he was called in to see 
 was varioloid or was not. If he had adopted a decided 
 course of this kind, he would not have become entangled 
 in a local war of doctors. The letters we are requested to 
 print read as follows: 'June 16th, 1881, Dr. Geo. W. 
 Foote, Health Officer, City of Galesburg. Dear Sir : What 
 decision did the Commission come to in regard to Mr. 
 Rainey and was the decision concurred in by Dr. Rauch, 
 Dr. Parker and yourself? 
 
 Yours, 
 
 James E. Cowan, M.D.' " 
 
 Dr. Foote replied to the above letter on June 17th as 
 follows : "Your letter has been received. In reply I will 
 say that myself, Dr. John H. Rauch, Secretary of the 
 State Board of Health and Dr. Parker, after having care- 
 fully examined Henry T. Rainey, we unanimously agreed 
 
 [51] 
 
that he had the varioloid, and I therefore order you, the 
 City Physician, to keep him carefully isolated from society 
 and permit no one to visit him, until you receive further 
 orders." 
 
 It was about this time that Henry T. Rainey com- 
 menced to see visions and dream dreams. 
 
 Things were certainly moving favorably for his benefit 
 and the accomplishment of his plan to spend a very 
 pleasant vacation in some pleasant spot, sufficiently 
 isolated to obviate the necessity of attendance at college 
 classes, and still be within visiting distance of his cronies 
 there. Aside from certain militant doctors, everyone 
 seemed to derive satisfaction from Dr. Foote's proclama- 
 tion and especially Henry T. Kainey. Somehow this in- 
 formation seemed to fit in perfectly with his cherished 
 plan for taking a few days' vacation on the shores of some 
 nearby sylvan lake, beneath the cooling shades of wide 
 spreading maples, with spring flowers growing every- 
 where about him. 
 
 So it was that on June 18th, Mr. Rainey was taken 
 with due ceremony by two physicians, accompanied by 
 two student volunteer caretakers, to the pesthouse, located 
 on the shores of an attractive lake with wooded shores, 
 some three miles east of Galesburg. Here he remained 
 for ten days, not isolated as the doctors imagined, but the 
 recipient day and night of visits from student friends, 
 who were fully acquainted with the nature of his 
 "disease." These friends always brought him the latest 
 bulletins from the seat of war. 
 
 Each day the "patient" would inquire anxiously of 
 his visitors as to the health of the Doctors. They reported 
 that outwardly the physicians maintained an air of tradi- 
 
 [52] 
 
tional professional calm, but that inwardly their tempers 
 and dispositions had been run ragged. The smallpox 
 patient from the day of his incarceration in the so-called 
 "Pesthouse," objected most strenuously to having his 
 sylvan retreat referred to by that name. He proclaimed 
 to heaven that no letter written by him should bear such 
 an unspeakable address. 
 
 Therefore, for obvious reasons, Mr. Rainey's temporary 
 retreat was early dubbed "Poker Flat." "War bulletins" 
 were received daily at "Poker Flat," from the Doctors 
 who were battling so vigorously in his behalf in Galesburg. 
 In his supposedly secluded quarters he received many 
 delicate attentions from sympathetic classmates. 
 
 One day a friend left with the afflicted one, a wreath 
 of immortelles, to which was attached a card bearing this 
 touching message: "Though lost to sight, to memory 
 dear." 
 
 Regular classes in "draw" and "stud poker" were 
 established, tuition being free to those who were willing 
 to risk the small stakes that were required to enter the 
 game. Such classes were organized to insure that the 
 students' love of learning should find some outlet. 
 
 The shaking of dice was indulged in, too, as a means 
 of amusement. This game of skill, as one pedantic student 
 observed, was imported from the wilds of Ethiopia. 
 
 Meanwhile a letter was received from Dr. C. E. Parker 
 of the State Board of Health, informing Dr. Cowan, that 
 he in company with Dr. Rauch and Dr. Foote had made 
 a critical examination of Mr. Rainey and that they had 
 unanimously decided that he had varioloid and that it was 
 necessary to take measures to prevent a spread of the 
 
 [53] 
 
disease. Outwardly at least such "measures" had already 
 been taken. 
 
 When the awesome word came from the State Board 
 of Health that he had smallpox, Rainey felt that perhaps 
 it was his duty as a loyal citizen of the state, to keep 
 absolutely silent upon the unsuspected reasons for his 
 being treated as a pariah, unfit to associate with his 
 fellow men. 
 
 Bets were freely offered as to which faction of the 
 medical profession would win out in this battle of the 
 oracles. 
 
 For the time being the regular patients of the warring 
 factions were forgotten. 
 
 The brotherly spirit among the physicians was lost in 
 the strife and turmoil of the controversy. Old friends in 
 the medical profession passed each other on the street 
 without so much as a nod of recognition. 
 
 Meanwhile the Republican Register announced "that 
 Mr. Rainey was still very sick at the house of detention 
 for persons afflicted with smallpox, located some three 
 miles east of Galesburg, near the shores of the artificial 
 lake, erected there by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 
 Railroad." 
 
 The paper further announced that he was attended by 
 two classmates, but failed to state with what beautiful 
 altruism the latter had nobly volunteered to share with 
 him the cooling shades of his place of exile far from the 
 burning heat of the city streets. 
 
 In his sylvan retreat Mr. Rainey remained (but not 
 in strict seclusion) until the very last of June, when he 
 left without further let or hindrance to spend a couple 
 of weeks with a college friend in Freeport, Illinois, rusti- 
 
 [54] 
 
eating there before departing for his home at Carroll- 
 ton, 111. 
 
 On the second day of July, 1881, the last male member 
 of the Class of '83 had departed for home. Of the com- 
 paratively large percentage of men, who had entered col- 
 lege so blithely in September, 1879, only two returned the 
 following year. The others scattered far and wide. Some 
 went to other colleges or professional schools. The 
 majority however gave up all thought of pursuing further 
 their college work and entered business life. The English 
 language has no words capable of expressing the tre- 
 mendous relief experienced by the faculty at their depar- 
 ture from college halls. To assert that the months inter- 
 vening between September, 1879 and June, 1881, were full 
 of "crowded hours'' would be expressing the situation far 
 too mildly. The days that passed during that period were 
 filled with tribulations and the nights were characterized 
 by nightmares. It is entirely safe to say that Knox 
 College will never look upon their like again. So far 
 as careful investigation has been able to discover, no 
 college in the country ever entertained beneath its classic 
 shades, such an aggregation of carefree devil-may-care 
 spirits as the Class of '83. 
 
 As one looks back in retrospect upon the meteoric 
 career of the Knox class of '83 as it flashed over the col- 
 lege horizon from September, 1879 to June, 1881, there 
 will be found therein much food for both thought and 
 reflection of a sort. In accomplishment along the line 
 of extra-curricular activity, they far outstripped any class 
 that ever preceded or followed them. If ever a college 
 faculty and a student body, knew the meaning of the word 
 turmoil, it was the faculty which guided the intellectual 
 
 [55] 
 
life at "Siwash," during the years intervening between 
 September, 1879 and June, 1881. 
 
 With the close of the college year in the latter part 
 of June, 1881, there came a great exodus of all of the 
 male members of the class to their homes. Out of a class 
 of forty, only two of the male members of the class ever 
 returned to Knox College. The others scattered far and 
 wide, some to attend other institutions, while the balance 
 of the class returned home to take up business pursuits. 
 To the faculty of that day and generation this may pos- 
 sibly have seemed like the answer to prayer. To the col- 
 lege of today, it is a matter of never-ending regret, that 
 Henry T. Rainey was led by circumstances over which 
 he had no control, to abandon Knox at the end of his 
 Sophomore year and go to Amherst to obtain his degree 
 of Bachelor of Arts. 
 
 Tradition has it that Professor Hurd who certainly 
 had both a scientific and inquiring mind, interviewed 
 Mr. Rainey on his return to civilization as follows: 
 
 "Mr. Rainey, I hear on good authority that you have 
 recently been supposedly in a condition where you were 
 unfitted for association with your fellow beings. Now 
 tell me what was the real cause of this eruption which 
 appeared on your person and was taken for smallpox?'* 
 "Only Tartar Emetic, sir" was Rainey's response. "Were 
 you contemplating early dissolution?'* asked the Pro- 
 fessor. "Oh no, only experimenting with drugs and 
 chemicals," was Rainey's answer. 
 
 [56] 
 
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CHAPTER II. 
 The Story of Athletics at Knox. 
 
 Foreword. 
 
 In 1827 Reverand John Frost delivered an address be- 
 fore the Alnmni of Middlebury College wherein he ex- 
 pressed his regret that the colleges of the country were 
 giving all their attention to the education of the minds of 
 the students and were paying no attention to the health 
 of their bodies. Today, from the standpoint of certain 
 educators, the form of athletic activity of the underclass- 
 men is a matter of no moment whatsoever. If they had 
 their way, all sports which may be termed rough or are 
 attended in any degree with the element of bodily danger, 
 would be relegated to the scrap heap. 
 
 Their idea of a model form of exercise for the stalwart 
 youth of our land, would doubtless be a game of tag or 
 calisthenic exercises. Such educators have not the faint- 
 est conception of either the attraction of, or the benefit to 
 be derived from, such organized forms of sport, as foot- 
 ball, baseball, tennis, golf or basketball. 
 
 They would look at you with scorn, or with a super- 
 cilious smile, if you told them that one of the main objec- 
 tives of a college course, was to teach the student both 
 how to play, and what to play. 
 
 As the years have rolled by since college days, contact 
 with professional and business life has forced upon us 
 the great truth, that comparatively few men ever really 
 learn to play. Of course, a college man after graduation 
 
 [59] 
 
neither desires to play, nor could he carry on indefinitely 
 the playing of, football or baseball. However, if he has 
 acquired the "urge to play" while he is in college, he will 
 soon learn to take up in later life such sports as tennis, 
 golf, hunting, fishing, autoing, hiking, or swimming. Travel 
 by land or water is all an integral part of the "art of 
 play," which forms such an important part of a man's 
 existence, if he wishes to get all in life that is really worth 
 while. 
 
 To many a man one of the saddest sights is for him 
 to see friends and acquaintances, who have never learned 
 how to play. They are of the "ilk" that go through life 
 boasting to their friends, that they have not had a real 
 vacation in years. God pity them and all of their kind. 
 
 Shakespeare spoke of the football of his day as a low 
 form of amusement. This view is still maintained by 
 certain college faculties and officials. In the beginning 
 of the 19th century there were two forms of football in 
 vogue in England (1) The "dribbling game" and (2) the 
 "Rugby game." In the former it was permissible to touch 
 the ball with the hands or to trip or tackle an opponent. 
 Ground was gained by kicking or dribbling along. 
 
 In the Rugby game was the scrimmage and running 
 and tackling. The American Intercollegiate Game was 
 derived from the Rugby game. In October 1873, a football 
 association was formed between Columbia, Rutgers, 
 Princeton and Yale. A set of rules based upon the 
 Rugby game with many modifications was adopted and 
 this laid the foundation for the thousands of football 
 games that were afterwards played at one period. 
 
 Yale, Princeton and Columbia played the association 
 game, in which the hands were supposed not to be used. 
 
 [60] 
 
It was somewhat similar to Soccer. Harvard in 1874 
 played a game that more closely resembled the Rugby 
 rules. In 1875 Yale adopted the Rugby rules with some 
 modifications. A few years later the Intercollegiate Foot- 
 ball Association was organized under the Rugby Union 
 Rules. These were the forerunner of the game of football 
 as it is played in America today. Then it was that the 
 Americans began to think for themselves and soon saw 
 that they could develop a game that was infinitely superior 
 to the old English Rugby game. 
 
 Eastern colleges then played a crude form of associa- 
 tion football. This was followed by the Rugby game at 
 Yale. The first intercollegiate game of football was played 
 between Harvard and Yale in 1876. 
 
 The football of the early 80's was the old round rubber 
 or pigskin ball. The theoretical purpose of the game was 
 to kick the ball between the opponent's goal posts, 
 though frequently it degenerated into a sustained effort 
 to do as much physical damage as possible, to the members 
 of the opposing team. 
 
 The game played at Dartmouth more closely resembled 
 the game as played at Knox. Interference was allowed 
 but no tackling. It was permissible to strike the ball with 
 the fist but it must not be held. A player might run with 
 it, supporting it lightly on the tips of his fingers. It had 
 to be kept constantly in the air. If it remained in the 
 runner's hand more than a moment, a foul was called 
 and the ball was tossed up between two opposing lines, 
 by the umpire. 
 
 Before entering upon a detailed history of the advent 
 of football as a major sport at Knox, it may be of some 
 advantage to those readers who are not particularly well 
 
 [61] 
 
versed in football learning and lore, to present certain 
 broad generalizations as to the particular value of the 
 game as a form of recreation in a sport that stands first 
 today in the estimation of most of the youth of America. 
 First and foremost it should be borne in mind that no 
 man can be a football player of even average ability, who 
 is dissipated in his habits or leads a dissolute life. The 
 two never have and never will mix. 
 
 The great popularity of football has abundant reason 
 for its existence. It called forth from the players, courage, 
 nerve, self control, and obedience to those in authority. 
 
 It calls too, for the possession of acumen which takes 
 form in quickness of perception, and the power to make 
 quick decisions and accurate judgments, and self reliance. 
 In the words of Walter Camp, the football mentor, "brains 
 will always win over muscle. " 
 
 To be a fine athlete a man must have a healthy and 
 strong body. This is impossible unless the athlete takes 
 good care of it, shuns dissipation and keeps straight. Un- 
 questionable athletics develop a man physically. They 
 also develop him mentally for they teach him to reason 
 and think with lightning rapidity. All good athletes 
 have to be able to think fast. 
 
 Football develops qualities that are tremendously use- 
 ful in after life. These are courage, grit, nerve, persever- 
 ance, initiative, resourcefulness and the ability to do one's 
 own thinking. The game like most contests, is a battle 
 of wits. 
 
 No one who has not played college football can grasp 
 the vast difference in physical strength and endurance, 
 between two persons of the same age, size and weight, one 
 of whom is in training and one who is not. 
 
 [62] 
 
There is no place in football for the man who has not 
 learned well the lesson of self-restraint. 
 
 The benefits derived from football are physical, mental 
 and moral. 
 
 To be a good football player, a man must have intellect, 
 nerve, conrage, strength, speed, mental and physical co- 
 ordination, self control, physiqne, and the team spirit. The 
 essence of football is blocking, kicking, passing, tackling 
 and intelligent football strategy. 
 
 Sport for sport's sake is the true objective of those who 
 have charge of the athletic interests of a college. 
 
 A team must be actuated by the spirit of true sports- 
 manship. 
 
 The most alluring and fascinating feature of the game 
 is its almost unlimited field for tactical development. 
 
 Football inculcates self reliance above everything else. 
 
 Football instinct is an elusive quality, difficult to 
 define. 
 
 Football must not be taken too seriously. It should 
 never cease to be fun. A football game is important, for 
 the pleasure it gives both to the performers and the 
 observers. 
 
 Often in the earlier stages of football training some 
 men are courageous from ignorance, but become cravens 
 after experiencing the dangerous side of football. 
 
 With regard to the evils of newspaper notoriety and 
 bally-hoo, the following may be said: If a man has 
 a strong head, common sense, and a fair amount of 
 modesty, he will come through the ordeal all right. 
 
 Among the absurdities of modern football is the 
 strained and oftentimes ludicrous effort to bestow upon 
 some unoffending football team, by some hairbrained 
 
 [63] 
 
reporter some such name as the "Four Horsemen," the 
 "Praying Colonels," the "Galloping Ghosts" and the 
 "Golden Tornado." These names are all due to the sick- 
 ening bally-hoo of so-called sport writers. 
 
 Football is necessarily a rough, hard, gruelling game 
 and there is nothing either in the rules or in the theory 
 of the game, which prevents the players from playing it y 
 as hard as they can, so long as it is clean. 
 
 There is no such thing in football as a perfect defense 
 or a play that is always sure for a gain. The time to stop 
 a play is when it starts. The crux of a football game today 
 outside of the passing game, is the battle between the 
 defensive tackle and the offensive end. 
 
 The tackles furnish most of the hard almost brutal 
 plays. The ends and tackles must be fighters. 
 
 The field goal is today the forgotten weapon of foot- 
 ball. They have set the goal posts ten yards back from 
 the goal line and so if the ball was on the seven yard line, 
 a man must kick something like twenty-seven yards to 
 clear the cross-bar. 
 
 One must remember that it is necessary to block to 
 make scores and then tackle to protect them. 
 
 Current football history affords striking testimony of 
 the fact that the best football players are not found in 
 the big universities. A sports' editor of the Associated 
 Press in 1928 placed first on his selection for an Ail- 
 American Team a man called "Dutch Clark," who hailed 
 from Colorado College. Today the man is known far and 
 wide as the best in the professional football game. He 
 ranks with Thorpe, "Red" Grange, Ernie Nevers, Geo. 
 Gipp, Elmer Oliphant, and Pudge Heffelfinger. 
 
 In the fall of 1937, more than 12,000 brawny athletes 
 
 [64] 
 
between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four took part in 
 intercollegiate football games. 
 
 In 1885 there were only a comparatively few teams 
 located in various parts of the country whose games with 
 neighboring colleges, were witnessed by some 300,000 
 spectators. This year the number of spectators is in the 
 neighborhood of 40,000,000. 
 
 There is no more fitting introduction to the telling of 
 the history of football at "Siwash" than to present the 
 Genesis, the Apotheosis and the Decline of Football in 
 that institution. 
 
 So, first of all, let us glance briefly at the "Genesis of 
 Intercollegiate Football at Knox" 
 
 The Genesis of Football at Knox. 
 
 Prior to the fall of 1885, Knox College had never 
 participated in a game of intercollegiate football. How- 
 ever, during the period intervening between the fall of 
 1882 and the early fall of 1885, interclass football had 
 attained to a degree of popularity and skill, unequalled 
 in the previous athletic history of the college. This was 
 due both to the intense class rivalry in football that ex- 
 isted at that time, as well as to the remarkable amount 
 of football talent, that was developed in the effort to 
 attain supremacy over rival organizations in other classes. 
 
 From their entrance in college in the fall of 1882, until 
 the end of their college course, the football team of the 
 Class of 1886 was never defeated until the very last game 
 of their Senior year by a Junior class team, in a game 
 that was completed by moonlight. The game as played 
 at that time, so far as rules were concerned, presented a 
 
 [65] 
 
composite picture of Rugby, Soccer and regulation Eastern 
 college football, all mixed together. Even the positions 
 of the players had no distinctive names. However, all 
 the essential elements of the game were present with the 
 exception of tackling the player running with the ball. 
 To compensate for this handicap, the person running with 
 the ball was compelled to keep dribbling it while it was 
 in his possession. In those early days apparently the sole 
 authority on the rules of the game was James B. Ay res 
 of the class of 1885. According to a statement recently 
 obtained from him all the knowledge of the game he pos- 
 sessed had been obtained from one Junius Edwards, the 
 son of a wealthy resident of Galesburg, who had been 
 fortunate enough to have seen football played, not only 
 at the Eastern colleges in this country, but in England as 
 well. The main features of the rules of the game as it 
 was played at Knox from 1882 to 1885 were these : 
 
 The game of football as played at Knox in the 
 "eighties," probably resembled "Soccer," more than it 
 did either English "Rugby" or the "American Game" that 
 was being played at the larger Eastern colleges. The 
 football players of that day knew little of "off-side play," 
 close formations, blocking, or of interference as these 
 terms are understood today. The rules of the game as 
 it was played in those early days, have been sketched as 
 follows, by James B. Ayres of '85: 
 
 The ball could be put in play with any part of the 
 player's body. 
 
 It also might be carried in the hand or in any other 
 manner, so long as it was kept in motion, as for example 
 bouncing it on the hand while the ball carrier was running. 
 
 A player might be obstructed in any way except by 
 
 [66] 
 
tripping or holding with the hands or forearm. The con- 
 tact of hands or forearm with another player constituted 
 a foul. 
 
 When the ball was caught by any player, he was en- 
 titled to a free kick with the foot or to punt with his 
 hand, from the point at which it was caught or any point 
 behind it. 
 
 Obstruction or interference with a free kick or punt 
 could take place only at the point where the ball was 
 caught. A goal was made whenever the ball touched the 
 ground after passing between the two goal posts. These 
 posts were not then connected by bars as they are today. 
 If the ball was caught by any member of the opposing 
 team after passing between the goal posts, and before it 
 touched the ground, it might be kicked or punted out 
 between these "posts' ' without penalty. No player of the 
 opposing "eleven" was permitted under any circumstances 
 to play the ball behind the goal or to obstruct plays made 
 there. 
 
 After having been a close observer of football games 
 as played in our American colleges and Universities for 
 over fifty years, and having seen most of the truly great 
 players in action, the author still retains the conviction 
 or illusion whichever it may be, that any college that 
 possessed the latent football talent that was to be found 
 in the class football team of the class of 1886 in its Fresh- 
 man and Sophomore years, could have beaten all comers. 
 
 Tyrus Brown and Louis Becker as guards could have 
 broken through any line that an opposing team had to 
 offer. In the backfield Lawrence Ryan, John Porter, 
 L. R. Scott, and Chester M. Clark, played a magnificent 
 defensive game, and they also could run and pass any 
 
 [67] 
 
interference that was offered. Charles W. Martin, Henry 
 A. Barnes, Fred Anderson, and Antone Gr. Singsen who 
 played in the line, had speed to burn. 
 
 The class football team of '86 was never beaten until 
 the very last game which was played in the late fall of 
 '85. At this time four of the best players on the team 
 had left college. The score remained a tie not only during 
 the hours of daylight but was played by the light of a full 
 moon long after the sun had set. The game was played 
 between the classes of '86 and '87 and was won by '87, 
 through the excusable error of the fullback of the class 
 of '86. 
 
 It is fitting that proper tribute should be given here 
 to the extraordinary gifts as a punter possessed by 
 Lincoln E. Scott of '86. He could punt the oval football 
 in use in those days with his clenched fist, to a distance 
 that would be unbelievable to those who had not seen it 
 done on innumerable occasions. 
 
 He could pass the ball to one of the forwards with 
 perfect accuracy a distance of forty yards. He could 
 make goals frequently in this same manner at forty-five 
 and fifty yards. With a wind in his favor, he succeeded 
 on several occasions making goals at a distance of fifty- 
 five to sixty yards. 
 
 One watching Scott making these punts, would have 
 had great difficulty in understanding how it was humanly 
 possible for him to do it. The most rational explanation 
 would be to say, that he not only put enormous strength 
 into his strokes, but that he had acquired in some mys- 
 terious way, the gift of "following his stroke through," 
 which is the secret of all long drivers at golf. 
 
 It was the ease with which this team outplayed all 
 
 [68] 
 
comers, which brought about the playing in the fall of 
 '85, of the first intercollegiate football games ever played 
 by a Knox College football eleven. 
 
 Soon after college opening in the fall of 1885, there 
 was a feeling among all those interested in football that 
 an opportune time had arrived for introducing Knox into 
 the rapidly broadening arena of sport by playing a foot- 
 ball game with Monmouth College. Therefore, it seemed 
 proper to open up negotiations at once with the sporting 
 element in that institution. 
 
 So, one bright September afternoon an interview was 
 had by the author with George Gilmore, one of Mon- 
 mouth's famous athletes of that day, at his place of abode 
 in the neighboring city. No sooner had the idea of play- 
 ing an intercollegiate football game between the two col- 
 leges been broached than Gilmore fell for the plan 
 with great enthusiasm. It was finally agreed between 
 us that the game should be played at Monmouth the week 
 before Thanksgiving of 1885. The next thing was to 
 select two elevens from all classes out of which a team 
 should be selected to play Monmouth. 
 
 The middle of November found a fairly well drilled 
 Knox "eleven'' arriving on the Monmouth Campus ready 
 for the fray. An enumeration of the customary requisites 
 of a properly equipped team, which we did not have, 
 would be a long one. We had no helmets, shoulder pads or 
 shin guards, suits, cleats or shoes. All we had was human 
 football material of the highest class in the rough. 
 
 All that was needed to develop the team to a high 
 degree of power as a football machine was practice, proper 
 instruction, and a knowledge of the football rules that 
 governed the playing of the game in the East. 
 
 [69] 
 
Fortunately the Monmouth, team was equally handi- 
 capped. Both teams had plenty of brawn and muscle, 
 as well as an intuitive knowledge of how the game should 
 be played. In those days we played for goals, not points. 
 We were supposed to play for one hour actual playing 
 time. As a matter of fact that game lasted for two hours. 
 
 A great deal of time was taken out in discussing the 
 rules of the game. Constantly situations were developing 
 for which no existing rule would fit. 
 
 Considerable bad blood was aroused by the charge 
 made by the Monmouth team against their opponents, 
 as to the latter being guilty of unnecessary roughness. 
 There was however little foundation for this accusation. 
 
 Finally the game was won by a comfortable margin 
 of goals by the Knox team. 
 
 The members of the "eleven" that played Monmouth 
 in November '85, were as follows: 
 
 Thomas Gold Frost 
 
 '86 Captain 
 
 Chester M. Clark 
 
 '86 
 
 John R. Porter 
 
 '86 
 
 L. R. Ryan 
 
 '86 
 
 Robert J. Finley 
 
 '87 
 
 Thomas J. Harrison 
 
 '88 
 
 Lincoln R. Scott 
 
 '86 
 
 A. H. Stephens 
 
 '88 
 
 Thomas M. Rowlett 
 
 '87 
 
 Frank Jeffery 
 
 '87 
 
 Andrew M. Harvey 
 
 '89 
 
 Only five members of this first "Intercollegiate Eleven" 
 are living today. 
 
 [70] 
 
Next let us present what may with entire fitness be 
 termed the Apotheosis of Football at Knox, which oc- 
 curred in 1902. 
 
 The Apotheosis of Football at Knox. 
 
 The football team which represented Knox in the fall 
 of 1902 was full of color and individuality. It likewise 
 possessed plenty of brawn and football ability of a very 
 high order. Moreover, its achievements were of such an 
 unusual character as to entitle it to rank unquestionably 
 as the best football team that ever represented Knox 
 College on the gridiron. 
 
 It is one of the commonplaces of college experiences, 
 that there have been great athletes who have seemed 
 superior to their college mates. However, the memory of 
 their exploits grows dim and even dies out completely as 
 new stars arise in the campus firmament. Yet there are 
 a few immortals in every gallery of college heroes. It is 
 indeed a difficult task to appraise the relative merits of 
 players whose careers fall within the cycle of fifty years. 
 Under these circumstances, one can only attempt to name 
 those who are entitled to be known as among the greatest 
 players produced by one college. 
 
 During the thirty-five years that have elapsed since 
 those famous games were played on those autumnal after- 
 noons in 1902, many an a old grad" has lighted his pipe 
 and regaled his listeners with tales of the days, when 
 real football giants represented Knox on the gridiron. 
 When the tale has been told, the initiated will shake their 
 heads wisely and say in an aside to the nearest neighbors, 
 "those games he is telling you about are pipe dreams, they 
 
 [71] 
 
never really occurred. Poor chap, he is getting old and 
 his memory is failing." Perhaps those of us who followed 
 the fortunes of that great team only dreamed of those 
 unbelievable victories. Perhaps "Dick" France was only 
 a ghost player. Perhaps there were few occasions on 
 which George Slattery or Johnny Grogan could not get 
 a laugh out of the team and sometimes from their oppo- 
 nents as well. 
 
 As stated in the 1904 "Gale," "Knox reached the high 
 tide of victory in the fall of 1902 with a team that from 
 the opening to the closing game, hardly knew the meaning 
 of defeat. Teams of the 'big ten' (the Mid- Western 
 Conference Teams) were given the severest jolting that 
 they have ever experienced from a small college. The sched- 
 ule was exceptionally heavy * * *. The opponents of Knox 
 were only able to cross her goal line three times * * *. 
 The line was heavier than for several seasons and the 
 backs were fleeter. * * * Every citizen of Galesburg looked 
 upon the eleven as his team and in the torch-light proces- 
 sions that signalled victory, was found as one of the boys 
 in the ranks * * *. McLean's Michigan methods never 
 failed. The loose formation and the tornado-like tactics, 
 strengthened by the superb physical condition of the team, 
 again and again mowed down the line that played in front 
 of it * * *." 
 
 Not for himself, but for Knox was the spirit of each 
 man on the team, and this created not one star, but an 
 aggregation of stars. 
 
 To the uninitiated it is difficult for them to visualize the 
 background of the members of the football team that 
 represented Knox on the gridiron in 1902. Many of the 
 men on that team were either from Galesburg or from 
 
 [72] 
 
small towns or farms in central Illinois. A few of the 
 men had played on the team in previous years, when they 
 had played Wisconsin or Iowa Universities and therefore, 
 had seen something of the outside football world. In the 
 year 1902, owing to the wizardry of Coach John McLean, 
 a schedule of games had been arranged, with teams who 
 knew how to play "big-time" football, and who repre- 
 sented some of the leading colleges and universities of 
 the middle west. To play such institutions represented a 
 really great adventure for the "football minded" sons of 
 Knox. Some of the more experienced of the team were 
 able to look forward to such games with no particular 
 forebodings and merely regarded them as part of their 
 day's work. 
 
 This is the one chapter in this book, which is certain 
 to be the subject of controversy. Critics will doubtless 
 assert that it represents the viewpoint of an unreformed 
 and "dyed in the wool" champion of unrestricted athletic 
 activity in college, to the exclusion of all serious intellec- 
 tual effort in classroom and study. 
 
 Some belated criticism was made in the local press at 
 Galesburg at this time as to an alleged lack of simon-pure 
 amateurism among the members of the football team of 
 1902. In this connection it may be observed that there 
 was no such thing among the colleges even of that early 
 day, as "snow-white amateurism" in connection with foot- 
 ball teams either in the East or West. 
 
 No football team ever succeeds in winning great fame 
 and reputation without a charge of professionalism hav- 
 ing been brought against it. The famous Knox foot- 
 ball team of 1902 was no exception to the general rule. 
 The Chicago papers made a direct charge of this char- 
 
 [73] 
 
acter soon after the Knox team had played the Chicago 
 University. The author has taken great pains to investi- 
 gate fully the charge that was there made with the follow- 
 ing result: 
 
 With the exception of one member of the team there 
 was no substantial ground upon which to base the charge. 
 The single member of the team who possibly deserved the 
 accusation of being a distant approach to a professional 
 football player, was brought to Knox through no effort 
 on the part of the coach, the faculty, or any alumnus 
 holding an official position, such as graduate director, or 
 otherwise. 
 
 In a letter addressed to the writer, John F. McLean, 
 who Avas not only a man of especially fine character, but 
 a most remarkable football coach, under date of Novem- 
 ber 20, 1937 wrote as follows : 
 
 "The instance you refer to occurred very far ago and 
 my memory on such matters is blurred. I have no records 
 of the personnel of the Knox team and actually am un- 
 able to visualize the players clearly. Permit me to say, 
 however, that my ideals pertaining to athletic sports were 
 and are such that I could not and would not be a party 
 directly or indirectly to aiding or abetting profession- 
 alism. 
 
 I understand by professionalism that individuals of 
 football promise are induced to go to a certain college 
 by an offer of money, or by promise of a job, one that 
 pays considerably more than the market value of the 
 services rendered. Under this definition I do not believe 
 that any of the Knox players received professional aid 
 at Knox. If any one did, it was without my knowledge or 
 consent. * * * I do not believe in professionalism in 
 
 [74] 
 
amateur athletics not only because it is unfair, but be- 
 cause from a practical standpoint it defeats its own pur- 
 pose. 
 
 In this connection, if any player was a professional 
 actually or in spirit and fact, not a bona fide all around 
 Knox student, and came to Knox to obtain all that 
 College had to offer intellectually, as well as athletically, 
 his value to the team would be, in my opinion, less. 
 
 The young men on Knox teams were almost entirely 
 of a fine character, earnest with a wonderful spirit and 
 willingness to work hard for Knox under all circum- 
 stances in rain or sunshine. They were fast, aggressive, 
 and intelligent, able to carry through any worthwhile 
 instructions or suggestions. They worked for perfection 
 and their team-play was well oiled and machine-like in 
 execution. * * * I have great respect for Knox College. 
 I would not want to knowingly harm its fine reputation 
 so deservedly earned. 
 
 In conclusion I wish to state that I have never en- 
 gaged either before going to Knox, while at Knox, or 
 after leaving Knox, in abetting professionalism in college 
 sport. Thank you, I am very truly yours, John F. 
 McLean." 
 
 Lawrence Kelley who earned a fine reputation as an 
 exceedingly fine football player at Yale University in an 
 article published in the "Saturday Evening Post" (Octo- 
 ber 16, 1937) made this very frank statement: "If a boy 
 wants a college education and can't get it without an 
 athletic scholarship, I do not blame him for taking one. 
 However, hired football players who have no interest in 
 a degree, is another thing." 
 
 There is, of course, a great danger of placing too 
 
 [75] 
 
much emphasis on football as the great American sport. 
 It has been stated as an amusing fact in the newspapers, 
 that in one new American college, started during the 
 pre-depression period, the trustees erected a football sta- 
 dium first, leaving the academic structures to be built 
 later on. The director of athletics at Columbia University 
 recently asserted with an excellent foundation of fact 
 that even in the myocene age of football, things were not 
 entirely amateurish according to the standards of the 
 great puristic minds. Mild subsidization of football has 
 existed in some of our great universities as far back as 
 1876. The game has unquestionably obtained such momen- 
 tum that it has grown in some quarters unwieldly and 
 has become, in some institutions of learning, too big for 
 its own good and too rough for the physical welfare of the 
 players. 
 
 A certain university in the East announced some time 
 ago, without any applause from the innocent bystanders, 
 that their football team would hereafter accept no money 
 for playing games with other colleges, nor would they 
 pay money to those teams which played on their own 
 campus. Moreover, the powers that be, in this academic 
 Elysium proudly announced that this represented a return 
 to "first principles. " So it was announced that thereafter 
 all football would be played at this particular institution 
 on the "Simon-pure" basis of altruistic amateur sport. In 
 other words, one team would be composed exclusively of 
 "Gastons" and the other of "Alphonses." 
 
 Some football players have been unkind enough to 
 intimate that there are no such animals in existence as 
 unprejudiced officials at football games. They admit, 
 however, that aside from the fact that these officials are 
 
 [76] 
 
usually totally blind, deaf and dumb and that none of 
 them had ever seemingly heard of football rules, they 
 acted according to their lights. However, no matter how 
 they ruled they seemed always to be wrong. 
 
 John McLean, the "Siwash" coach, came from the 
 University of Michigan, where he had won fame and repu- 
 tation both as a trackman and as a football player. Be it 
 said to his credit, Mr. McLean acted as a gentleman, both 
 on and off the football field. He never cursed or abused 
 the players, although he was not at all backward about 
 pointing out their faults for failing to use their heads in 
 times of emergency or in criticizing them for their failures. 
 
 In speaking of John McLean the coach, "Johnny Gro- 
 gan," one of the star members of the eleven, spoke as 
 follows : "He was a clean, snappy coach, as well versed in 
 details as any of the present generation and he modeled 
 the Knox players into a finished machine. It was team 
 play that won for Knox more than any individual star- 
 ring. " 
 
 In some respects John McLean had the famous 
 "Diogenes" skinned a mile. He could seemingly just 
 glance casually around and find a football player any- 
 where on the Knox campus. He did this too, without 
 the assistance of the apocryphal lantern which good old 
 "Diog." was said to have used: During the progress of 
 a game he would watch his players like a hawk, to see that 
 no one was soldiering on his job. This inspired such fear 
 in the individual members of the team, that they did not 
 dare to even stop occasionally to blow their noses, for 
 fear that if they did so, Coach McLean would throw in 
 a substitute for them. 
 
 McLean was one of those coaches who would rather 
 
 [77] 
 
have a well drilled football team of all around ability, 
 than the possession of one great star. He realized that 
 "a one man team is seldom a winner." 
 
 At some time or other in his professional career, every 
 football mentor has dreamed dreams and had visions of 
 being called upon, on some happy day of the future, to 
 drill and mold into perfect form, a team composed ex- 
 clusively of "stars". However, it is easy to dream, but 
 difficult to have dreams come true. In the fall of 1902, 
 Coach John F. McLain, who presided over the football 
 athletes of Knox at that time, awoke one bright Septem- 
 ber morning to a realization that among some thirty can- 
 didates for the Knox eleven, there could be garnered by 
 a process of gradual exclusion, a team composed largely 
 of football stars. 
 
 Two of the regulars were seniors, one a junior, three 
 sophomores and five were freshmen. Three of the substi- 
 tutes were for most purposes, the equals of the regulars 
 for whom they might be called upon to substitute. The 
 backfield men were all stars. So were the two guards and 
 the two tackles. The two ends as well as the center were 
 playing their first year of college football and all they 
 needed to develop them into excellent football material 
 was experience. 
 
 The reading public is interested in football personali- 
 ties. Therefore we shall endeavor to meet the public taste. 
 
 It is a most interesting occupation to study the domi- 
 nating characteristics of the members of the team. 
 
 The popular "Irish contingent of the Eleven", "Sticks" 
 Slattery and Johnnie Grogan were to be depended on at 
 any and all time to furnish the necessary conversational 
 lubricants required to keep the spirits and temper of the 
 
 [78] 
 
team at a proper level. Wit, humor and good will fairly 
 flowed from their lips even at times of the greatest stress. 
 Anyone who has played football knows full well that there 
 come occasions when tempers are on edge to such an ex- 
 tent that it requires but small provocation to get the 
 players to fighting among themselves. It was at such times 
 as these that Slattery and Grogan could always be de- 
 pended on to make some remark, which would bring a 
 smile or a laugh from even the most uneven tempered 
 members of the aggregation. Aside from their usefulness 
 along the lines of spreading "sweetness and light' ' over an 
 atmosphere charged with potential dynamite, Grogan and 
 Slattery were both natural football players. They were 
 towers of strength on both offense and defense. Slattery 
 Avas one of those players who knew that a good tackier 
 always watches the runner's knees. 
 
 Johnny Grogan had the honor of scoring the only 
 touchdown made against Wisconsin in 1901. In this game 
 he blocked a kick, scooped up the ball on the dead run 
 for a touchdown, and this was his first big game. Two 
 weeks later he pulled what may be termed a Notre Dame 
 play. He stole the ball out of Captain Hollenback's arms 
 at Iowa City and went 105 yards for a touchdown (at that 
 time the field was 110 yards long). In 1903 he drop- 
 kicked a goal from the center of the field against the 
 University of Illinois. In the Nebraska game he made a 
 forty-two yard place-kick, which was the only time the 
 Knox team got past the center of the field. 
 
 In 1902 when Knox was playing Eureka College, the 
 ball was kicked off by an Eureka player and no one could 
 find the ball. Suddenly "Sticks" Slattery said, "Where 
 is Grogan?" "Look there he is down over the goal line." 
 Grogan had picked the ball right off the opposing players 
 
 [79] 
 
toes on a punt and kept on going until he had crossed the 
 enemy's goal line. 
 
 In another game quarterback Grogan with a tone of 
 deep sarcasm in his voice, inquired after the Knox lines- 
 man had failed to start forward at the commencement of 
 play with the ball in possession of the enemy, "were you 
 fellows enjoying the beauty of the landscape when that 
 play was called?" "Oh, no," replied "Sticks" Slattery, 
 "we remembered General Warren's advice to his men at 
 Bunker Hill and were waiting to see the whites of our 
 opponents' eyes." 
 
 In the last game with the Chicago Dentists, Grogan 
 got excited and called signals in a rich Irish brogue. 
 Johnny Grogan was loyal to any group that he was in. 
 He was a natural lover of games. He was one who re- 
 membered that a good quarterback must not only pass 
 the ball but he must get into the interference as well. 
 
 In his first year at quarterback Grogan saw Knox 
 pitted against one of the greatest teams ever produced by 
 Wisconsin University. In that game Grogan by a seventy 
 yard run, scored the only touchdown made against Wis- 
 consin that year. 
 
 Grogan' s specialty was drop kicking, which is now a 
 lost art. In 1903 he placed a drop kick over the Illinois 
 University goal from the fifty-five yard line. In bringing 
 back punts through an open field he had few superiors. 
 
 Grogan played at a time, when the first qualification 
 for his position was brains. He excelled in drop and 
 placement kicking. In addition to all this, he was, with 
 his happy ancestry and friendly disposition, a great moral 
 force on his fellow players. 
 
 On offense, the quarterback is the most important man 
 on the field. 
 
 [80] 
 
George Slattery was a brainy football player. He had 
 lots of grit and was always full of fight. In actual play 
 he would frequently be pulled into a peculiar formation, 
 as pivot man. He was great on offense and a wonderful 
 blocker. He often inveigled his opponents out of position 
 by his "Kelly conversation." 
 
 Speaking of "Stick" Slattery, Grogan says of him: 
 "He was a brainy football player, full of fight, and a fine 
 diagnostician of his opponent's attack. He was a wonder- 
 ful help to the Knox offense. Slattery too was a wonder- 
 ful blocker." 
 
 When Grogan was about to run a play, he always had 
 Slattery in the formation of an unbalanced line, when- 
 ever he sent a play through "Buck" Ewing. These two 
 were "scholarly tackles" both on the football team and 
 off; as good a pair of tackles as you would meet up with 
 anywhere. 
 
 On the Knox football team of 1902 "Stick" Slattery 
 was a fountain head at all times of rich Irish humor. 
 
 Fred Ewing who was Captain of the eleven in 1902, 
 played tackle. He was not fast, but he was a great and 
 sure tackier. 
 
 "Dick" France one of the guards had previously played 
 on the University of Michigan team. He had more ex- 
 perience than the others and could go through the opposer's 
 line like a battering-ram and was a tower of strength, 
 particularly in opening up holes in the opposing line. 
 
 France, acting as the right guard of the Knox team, 
 would hit the enemies' line at times so hard that the oppos- 
 ing guard would loose his breath, equilibrium, part of his 
 uniform, and everything but his teeth before the play 
 was over. 
 
 Invariably the opposing player who had been knocked 
 
 [81] 
 
out by France, immediately on regaining consciousness 
 would anxiously inquire if he had succeeded in retaining 
 possession of his pants. 
 
 During the game that Knox played with Northwestern 
 at Evanston, Illinois, Dixie Flegler of the home team 
 punched Dick France in the eye. Dick retaliated by break- 
 ing one of his opponent's ribs. It is thus seen that "a good 
 time was enjoyed by all." 
 
 France's idea of fun and that of the opposing guard 
 were as far apart as the two poles. 
 
 George Martin the other guard weighed 232 pounds 
 and was the heaviest man on the team. At times he would 
 run "berserker" and that was the occasion for all oppo- 
 nents to get out of his way as soon as possible. The negro, 
 Hopkins, was as great a defensive halfback as ever played 
 football in those early days. He was a wonderful ball 
 carrier. 
 
 Howell the center, was big, strong and powerful. 
 
 Arthur Wilson who played end, was perhaps the fastest 
 man on the team. He had been a track man in the Olympic 
 meet in Paris. The only criticism that could have been 
 justly made of Wilson was that he did not always display 
 the true football spirit. 
 
 Harold Whitmore played well at end. He filled this 
 position in both the Notre Dame and the Nebraska games. 
 
 Fred Prince was a fast halfback and was a power on 
 the secondary defense. He subsequently went to West 
 Point and made the army team the first year of his attend- 
 ance there. Charles Montgomery was the finest blocker, 
 Grogan says, that he ever saw on a football field. Dick 
 France was on the side lines through the greater part of 
 the games that were played with Chicago and North- 
 western. 
 
 [82] 
 
Henning Ackerson the full back, was not particularly 
 fast but he was a sure man on the receiving end and he 
 seldom missed in tackling a runner who had gotten through 
 the line and was headed for a sure touchdown if the full- 
 back should miss him. 
 
 Ackerson was also a terrific line smasher. 
 
 Joe Zalusky was a fine kicker and a fast runner on an 
 open field. He was a dashing back. He was one of the 
 most dependable players on the team. He was always 
 there, when he was most needed. He was an all around 
 super-football player. 
 
 There were no kill- joys on the team, who were always 
 reminding themselves and their fellow players of the 
 ever-constant presence of impending death on the foot- 
 ball field. 
 
 Beginning in 1901 and continuing for two years more, 
 Knox began to sweep all the colleges of their own size off 
 the football map and to send shivers into the big mid- 
 western University teams. 
 
 In the fall of 1901, the Knox football eleven had given 
 unmistakable evidence of the fact that it possessed some 
 strong latent football talent. It had beaten Iowa Wes- 
 leyan, Cornell ( la ) , and Lombard by very one-sided scores. 
 It had likewise outplayed Monmouth, St. Albans, Eureka 
 and Lake Forest in contests with these institutions. In 
 the same season it had tackled with very fair success some 
 of the larger midwest universities. It had held the ex- 
 ceptionally strong University of Wisconsin eleven to a 
 score of 22 to 5; the University of Iowa had only 
 beaten Knox by 23 to 6 ; while the University of Chicago 
 had pulled out of a victory of but 6 to 0. Knox was the 
 only team to score on Wisconsin in 1901, due to Johnny 
 
 [83] 
 
Grogan's open field run of 60 yards. In the Iowa game 
 Grogan ran 105 yards to a touchdown, the field then being 
 110 yards long. 
 
 It is one of the commonplaces of college experience 
 that there have been great athletes who have seemed 
 supermen to their college mates. In 1902 whenever the 
 Siwash team was billed to play a football game with some 
 of the great teams of the Middle West, it was invariably 
 the rule that such contests were spoken of as merely prac- 
 tice games. 
 
 Some of the experiences of football players of this era 
 at Knox were curious and hardly understandable to any 
 person who has never played the game. Before the open- 
 ing whistle is blown, frequently, the players envy the men 
 in the stands, for the reason that they have not, like them- 
 selves, been called on to furnish entertainment for a 
 Roman holiday. 
 
 Some openly bemoaned the fact that their stomachs 
 felt empty, tight, and squeamish. As the zero hour ap- 
 proached the players' feet felt as heavy as lead. He even 
 wonders why it is that the coach thinks that it is necessary 
 for him to help start this game. However with the open- 
 ing kick off, all is changed. Some of the more unsophis- 
 ticated members of the team were told by the veterans 
 that tackles were frequently made by the teeth of their 
 opponents. 
 
 In 1902 the Knox Eleven threw the big western Uni- 
 versity teams at times into spasms. The season's play was 
 opened by a 46 to victory over the Eock Island Alumni. 
 There followed another game with Upper Iowa University 
 where the latter was fairly swamped 45 to 0. 
 
 Then came the game with Chicago University, the first 
 
 [84] 
 
played by Knox that year against one of the larger Uni- 
 versity teams. At this game Chicago was supposed to 
 furnish the playing field and the football while Knox was 
 billed to play the role of the Christian Martyrs in the 
 Colosseum at Rome during the reign of the "gentle Nero." 
 What was euphemistically termed by the Chicago news- 
 paper as a mere practice game, turned out to be a real 
 battle from start to finish, with Knox keeping Chicago on 
 the defensive most of the time. As a matter of fact the 
 Chicago team, aided by some dubious decisions by the 
 football officials, was barely able to eke out a 5 to 
 victory. 
 
 There was really no reason in the world for Knox 
 losing the game with Chicago University 5 to 0. The real 
 explanation of the defeat lay in the fact that at the be- 
 ginning of the season, when the game was played, the 
 Knox Eleven had not had time to realize its own tre- 
 mendous power and strength. Balanced together man to 
 man, the odds were all in favor of the Siwash Eleven. 
 
 Two weeks later came a wonderful victory against the 
 strong eleven of Northwestern University , which was 
 played on the stadium located on the shores of Lake 
 Michigan at Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 When one writes of that memorable game played in 
 the fall of 1902, one feels certain that more than one 
 reader of this book will shake his head and accuse the 
 writer of impairment of mind or memory. Some will 
 state positively that no such football game ever was 
 played. Yet it did happen and this is the brief history of it : 
 
 When the little group of Knox football players came 
 running on the field they could hear the murmuring 
 rumble of a large football crowd. All were waiting for 
 
 [85] 
 
the opening kick-off, with which the curtain of the out- 
 door theatre rises. There was just a tinge of frost in the 
 atmosphere. The leaves of the trees on the hills were 
 already tinged with purple. Everyone was there, the 
 faculty, the undergraduates, the distinguished guests, the 
 "old grads" and the cream of femininity, resplendent in 
 colors that even rivalled in beauty the autumn colors of 
 nature herself. 
 
 As the opposing team came on the field the hearts of 
 the Knox football phalanx fairly came up in their 
 throats. That array of purple jerseys seemed to cover a 
 team composed of men of gigantic stature. Most of the 
 Knox team felt much as did the Christian martyrs in the 
 time of Nero, waiting expectantly for the lions to come 
 and eat them up. There was an empty feeling, in the 
 region of the pit of the stomach and possibly some of the 
 visiting players failed to understand why they ever got 
 themselves into such a difficult situation. As a matter of 
 fact some of them had been too nervous to eat a good 
 square meal that day and moreover they had not slept 
 very soundly the night before. 
 
 However, following the first kick-off all was changed. 
 They had not played through the first quarter, before 
 they began to feel genuine surprise, to find how good they 
 really were. As a matter of fact there was never a moment 
 in the game, when their own goal was in danger. The 
 game ended with the score 15 to in favor of the visitors 
 from Galesburg. 
 
 The following week Knox played the strong University 
 of Kansas Eleven of the "Big Six" and beat them 5 to 0. 
 
 Next came a game with Notre Dame which was won. 
 
 [86] 
 
The game between Notre Dame University and Knox 
 College was, strange to say, played at the Rock Island 
 ball park. As an unheard of treat, the Knox players and 
 students were taken to Rock Island by a special train. 
 
 Best of all it resulted in a score of twelve for Knox 
 against five for Notre Dame. The game was well played 
 and at times bitterly contested. The score would have 
 been far larger in favor of Knox, had not Notre Dame 
 possessed such a remarkable fullback as "Red" Salmon, 
 who was captain as well as the mainstay of the team. 
 He was really a football marvel. He could do anything 
 and everything in football, well. 
 
 Red Salmon was the lineal predecessor of George 
 Gipp, Jimmy Crowley, Jack Elder, Marchie Schwartz, 
 Bill Shakespeare and Andy Pilny. 
 
 In the Notre Dame game the wild-eyed and over- 
 confident bunch from South Bend, Indiana, soon learned 
 that Knox had the same crying need for football wizardry 
 as John D. Rockefeller had for money. The Siwash 
 players ran through, over, and around the famed Irish 
 wonders pretty much at will. 
 
 The principal plays employed by the Knox Eleven 
 in the Notre Dame game were four in number to wit : 
 
 (1) Right half back around left end. 
 
 (2) Left half back around right end. 
 
 (3) Full back through center. 
 
 (4) Half back straight through center. 
 
 When the Notre Dame team came on the field at Rock 
 Island, Johnny Grogan admitted that he nearly died of 
 
 [87] 
 
fright, for they were a group of bushy-haired Irish. The 
 following conversation took place at the start of the game 
 as told by Johnny Grogan : 
 
 "When I had inspected them I said to Coach McLane, 
 'For God's sakes get this game going, before I die of 
 fright.' 
 
 He said, 'What's the matter "Grog", do they look 
 plenty tough to you?' 
 
 I answered, 'Yes, I thought we had a husky squad, but 
 this Notre Dame outfit is a perfect fright.' " 
 
 In order that the readers of these "Tales From The 
 Siwash Campus" may have the opportunity of reading 
 the full story of two of the great football contests of the 
 famous football team of 1902, there will be now reproduced 
 here the story of two football games of that year. First 
 the game with Notre Dame which was won. Second an 
 account of the great game that was played but lost against 
 a very strong Nebraska University eleven, in November, 
 1902. 
 
 Knox versus Notre Dame. 
 
 The game between Notre Dame University and Knox 
 College was, as stated, played at the Kock Island ball 
 park. Best of all, it resulted in a score of twelve for 
 Knox against five for Notre Dame. The game was well 
 played and at times bitterly contested. The score would 
 have been far larger in favor of Knox, had not Notre 
 Dame possessed such a remarkable fullback as "Red" 
 Salmon, who was captain as well as the mainstay of 
 the team. 
 
 With the Knox eleven the honors were more evenly 
 divided. Possibly the best playing was done by Grogan, 
 
 [88] 
 
the quarter-back, by Zalusky, the left half-back, by Acker- 
 son who played left end, and by Hopkins, the colored 
 man, on right end. In the last part of the second half, 
 Knox brought the ball to the fifteen yard line where 
 Wilson carried it to the five yard line. On the first down 
 there was no gain. On the second, Wilson went over the 
 line and made the first touchdown, while Zalusky kicked 
 the goal. The score was six to nothing after the ball had 
 been four minutes and thirty seconds in play. 
 
 Notre Dame kicked off and Zalusky made a twenty 
 yard dash with the pigskin. Two downs and Zalusky 
 gained one yard for Knox. Hopkins crawled through the 
 opposing line for two more yards but the ball went to 
 Notre Dame as the necessary distance had not been made. 
 Salmon pushed ahead and gained the necessary Ave 
 yards. Then Nyere, Notre Dame's right half, went around 
 the Knox right end for ten yards. Salmon went ahead 
 with the ball and Knox's twenty yard line was reached. 
 Salmon made another gain of five yards ; another, of three. 
 The ball finally reached Knox's one yard line, where 
 Notre Dame fumbled causing a touchback and spoiling 
 the chances for a touchdown. Knox kicked off from the 
 twenty-five yard line and the ball was held on the center 
 line. On the first down Nyere was pushed back five yards 
 and failing to make the necessary yardage on the three 
 downs, Salmon punted. His punt was nicely blocked by 
 Martin with a loss of fifteen yards. Knox placed the 
 ball on the twenty-five yard line and Notre Dame secured 
 it on a fumble. 
 
 Failing to make five yards on the second down, Salmon 
 punted and an off-side play of Knox forfeited them ten 
 yards. Notre Dame gained Ave yards when Salmon went 
 
 [89] 
 
through for seven yards on one play. Failing to make 
 the required yardage on the next three plays, Salmon 
 punted to the ten yard line where Knox was held. Knox 
 was held on two downs and punted and Notre Dame was 
 held on their thirty-five yard line. 
 
 Salmon punted a neat grounder that slid along over 
 the feet of the players into Zalusky' s hand. Wilson made 
 a thirty yard run around the end but fouling on the part 
 of Knox forfeited the gain and Notre Dame secured the 
 gain for the same reason. Salmon then pushed through 
 for twenty yards. Then three downs folloAved and Notre 
 Dame was held to the finish. 
 
 Knox took the ball and punted and Notre Dame 
 carried the ball to the three yard line. On the next play, 
 Whitmore of Knox held the Notre Dame ball carrier in 
 his tracks and on the second down Notre Dame lost three 
 yards by his splendid work. Salmon punted and Zalusky - 
 made the finest play of the whole game by carrying the 
 ball from the twenty-five yard line on the Knox side to the 
 thirty-five yard line of the Notre Dame "eleven". This 
 finished the first half with the score six to nothing in favor 
 of Knox College. In the second half Zalusky kicked off and 
 Nyere Avas downed on the thirty yard line. Notre Dame 
 made a gain of five yards. Three downs with no gains fol- 
 lowed and the ball was awarded to Knox. Zalusky gained 
 five yards for a starter. Failing to make the necessary 
 distance, Notre Dame received the ball. On the second, 
 Doar gained seven yards. Salmon punted and Zalusky 
 missed the ball and Knox secured it after a tussle. 
 
 Two downs gained seven yards for Knox. Hopkins 
 gained three more and Ackerson went through for eight. 
 
 [90] 
 
Zalusky gained five on two downs. Zalusky pnnted and 
 McGlew was down on the ten yard line. 
 
 First down gave a loss to Notre Dame. Salmon punted 
 and was tackled in his tracks by Zalusky on the forty 
 yard line. Ackerson gained six yards. On the last play 
 he added another five followed by Hopkins who made five. 
 Three succeeding downs did not give the necessary five 
 yards' gain and Notre Dame received the ball. 
 
 Two downs gave only a slight gain. Salmon punted 
 and Zalusky was downed on the center line. Zalusky 
 then followed up his good work by a run of thirty-five 
 yards through the Notre Dame line. A fumble returned 
 the ball to Notre Dame and Salmon punted. Grogan 
 heeled and made a fair catch which allowed him a free 
 kick. Knox made a touchback and Notre Dame kicked 
 from the five yard line. Knox was downed on the thirty 
 yard line. 
 
 Hopkins made an eight yard gain. Zalusky made five. 
 Zalusky then punted and Notre Dame was then downed on 
 the fifteen yard line. Three downs gave them no gain. 
 Knox secured the ball and in two downs brought it with- 
 in two yards of Notre Dame's goal. Ackerson made the 
 touchdown and Zalusky kicked goal. The score then 
 stood twelve to nothing in favor of Knox. 
 
 Notre Dame kicked off and Prince made a twenty yard 
 dash to which he added another twenty on the next play. 
 A fumble gave the ball to Notre Dame. 
 
 Salmon made a gain of eight yards. The ball was on 
 the twenty-five yard line and Salmon carried it until he 
 was within one yard of the Knox goal when he was 
 stopped in his tracks. Whitmore, one of the Knox 
 players was laid out, but the referee did not notice this 
 
 [91] 
 
until the ball was put in play. It was this unfortunate 
 event which permitted Salmon to go over the goal for 
 Notre Dame's first and only touchdown. 
 
 There was a great difference of opinion whether Everett 
 of Notre Dame kicked goal. The umpire settled the 
 matter by declaring no goal. The score stood twelve to 
 five in favor of Knox when the game was called. 
 
 The line-up of the players was as follows: 
 
 Knox 
 
 Position 
 
 Notre Dame 
 
 Howell 
 
 Center 
 
 O'Malley 
 
 Martin 
 
 Right Guard 
 
 Desmond 
 
 Ewing (Capt.) 
 
 Right Tackle 
 
 Steiner 
 Lonegran 
 (alternated) 
 
 Whitmore 
 
 Right End 
 
 
 France 
 
 Left Guard 
 
 Gillan 
 
 Slattery 
 
 Left Tackle 
 
 Cullimore 
 
 Ackerson 
 
 Left End 
 
 McDennick 
 
 Grogan 
 
 Quarter Back 
 
 McGlew 
 
 Zalusky 
 
 Left Half Back 
 
 Doar 
 
 Prince 
 
 Right Half Back 
 
 Nyere 
 
 Hopkins 
 
 
 
 (alternated) 
 
 
 
 Wilson 
 
 Fullback 
 
 Salmon (Capt. 
 
 The attendance at this game was four thousand. 
 
 On the merits of the game played by the two teams, 
 Knox rightly should have won by a somewhat larger score, 
 but a little hard luck coupled with the referee's insuffi- 
 ciency allowed their opponents to score a touchdown 
 under cover of darkness when the Knox team was not 
 even lined up to prevent it. 
 
 [92] 
 
The game was fast and clean throughout and the work 
 of the Knox team aroused great enthusiasm. The team 
 moved like clockwork in perfect unison and with con- 
 certed action on any given point as directed. It fairly 
 swept the Notre Dame players off their feet in the first 
 few moments of play and clearly outclassed them through- 
 out. 
 
 A big crowd of six hundred Knox rooters followed the 
 team to Rock Island on a special train and yelled itself 
 hoarse over the victory. The crowd was distinctly in 
 favor of Knox and went wild when Zalusky kicked a 
 beautiful field goal, which aroused intense enthusiasm. 
 
 In Notre Dame's march down the field in the second 
 half, it took them thirteen downs to make thirty-four 
 yards. Salmon generally made two or three yards on each 
 buck. He hit the line in a terrific manner and would 
 often make the difference by hurdling the opposing players. 
 
 It was in the second half that Knox lined up and 
 played remarkable football and the Notre Dame "eleven" 
 was pushed down the field at a remarkable rate of speed. 
 Knox played better on the offensive than on the defensive. 
 
 Whitmore, who played his first game as a regular, was 
 adept at stopping his man at the moment he came near 
 enough to him to do it. His one tackle finished his man 
 just after he had taken one step with the ball after it 
 had left the quarterback's hand. Thus he gained three 
 yards for Knox. On another occasion Notre Dame was 
 held without a gain by Whitmore's interference. 
 
 We will next present to the reader a very well written 
 description of the historic game of football played by the 
 Knox eleven of 1902 with the "Cornhuskers" of the 
 University of Nebraska. 
 
 [93] 
 
Knox versus Nebraska. 
 
 "Fighting superbly every inch of a miry gridiron and 
 contesting an undefeated team of acknowledged power in 
 the western football world, the Knox College football 
 "eleven" met defeat narrowly from the University of Ne- 
 braska's team of Lincoln, Nebraska, and the score spelled 
 defeat for Knox seven to zero. 
 
 Despite the cold rain which later turned into a wet 
 snow, and fell constantly throughout the game, the citizens 
 of Lincoln and University of Nebraska students stood and 
 cheered the scarlet and cream team. Two minutes of 
 play on the gridiron sufficed to cover the two teams with 
 a two-inch layer of mud and the aiDpearance at the end 
 of the game beggared description. 
 
 The odds on the game were two to one in favor of the 
 Nebraska team, but considerable Nebraska money was 
 lost on the game on the bet that the "Cornhuskers" 
 would score fifteen more points than Knox. The Knox 
 men were confident after the game that on a dry gridiron 
 Knox would have beaten Nebraska. 
 
 The flipping of the coin favored Nebraska, who chose 
 to defend the north goal and thereby gain the advantage 
 of the stiff wind which was blowing the cold rain. Zalusky 
 balanced the ball on a pile of mud and drove his toe into 
 it, sending it to within twenty yards of Nebraska's goal 
 line. Bender caught it, but was dropped in the mud when 
 he had advanced it but eight yards. 
 
 On the first line-up Bell butted into the line for a 
 scant three yards, and the scarlet and cream rooters set 
 up a loud whoop. Here France was adjudged by Umpire 
 Clark for the first time to be offside, and five yards of 
 
 [94] 
 
Knox's territory was the penalty imposed. Mickel tried 
 a line buck, but was stopped without gain. He tried it 
 again and secured only a yard. Being thus held, Nebraska 
 punted and the ball sailed, bumped and skated over the 
 mud to Knox's fifteen-yard line. 
 
 Zalusky tried to pick it up, but it was too greasy and 
 it bounced behind him. He ran after it, but by the time 
 he could get his hands on it he was near the goal line, and 
 Courtelyou, who had reached the spot, butted into Zalusky 
 and pushed him over Knox's goal line, netting Nebraska 
 two points and throwing the rooters into a frenzy. 
 
 Zalusky punted from the twenty-yard line to the center 
 of the field. On the first line-up Bender plunged through 
 for five yards. Another disheartening penalty of five 
 yards for off-side was paid by Knox, following which 
 Bender hurdled five yards through tackle, and Bell two 
 yards through the same place. Nebraska was on Knox's 
 twenty-yard line and another penalization for off-side 
 play further narrowed the distance to Knox's goal line. 
 
 All Lincoln was clamoring for a touchdown, and Coach 
 Booth's men, by a series of line bucks by Bender, Bell 
 and Mickel of from one to three and one-half yards each, 
 brought the slippery pigskin to Knox's two and one-half 
 yard line. Measurements were necessary to establish the 
 fact that it was Nebraska's ball and the first down — but 
 it was, and on the next play Bender crashed through and 
 was over the line at a point half-way between the goal 
 and the side-line. He punted out to Bell and tried for 
 goal but the ball struck the cross-bar and bounced back. 
 
 With the score thus 7 to for Nebraska, the point- 
 making came to a permanent end, and the remainder of 
 the game was a see-saw between Nebraska's forty-two 
 yard line and Knox's one-yard line. 
 
 [95] 
 
Knox took the north goal after the touchdown and 
 Zalusky sent the kick-off to Nebraska's five-yard line. 
 Benedict caught the ball and by a phenomenal and pretty 
 run brought it back thirty-five yards. Here Nebraska 
 tried to hammer the line, but Knox was a stone wall, and 
 Mickel punted to Zalusky on Knox's twenty- five-yard 
 line. Joe fumbled the catch but luckily Grogan fell onto 
 the ball. One ineffectual attempt to advance the ball in 
 the mud, made by Hopkins, was followed by a fumble, 
 which gave Nebraska the pigskin on Knox's twenty-five- 
 yard stripe. Knox regained it in exactly the same manner 
 on the second play afterwards, and Zalusky punted to the 
 center of the field. 
 
 Once more Nebraska's backs, using a series of line 
 bucks, including her revolving wedge, shunted the ball 
 once or twice for the necessary five yards, and once more 
 she was valiantly held by Knox and forced to punt. 
 Zalusky found the muddy oval a puzzle, but he finally 
 squeezed it on the ten-yard line and returned the punt 
 in clever style: Hopkins by a superb tackle, dropped in 
 his tracks the Nebraska man who caught it. 
 
 The same tactics of assault were repeated by Booth's 
 men. After covering seven yards in three downs, they 
 tried a place kick from Knox's forty-two yard line. On a 
 dry field it would have been difficult enough but on the 
 gravy surface of Nebraska field it was a farce. The ball 
 sailed low and Zalusky seized it and punted once more 
 out of danger. 
 
 "Touchdown ! Touchdown !" yelled Nebraska's rooters. 
 Knox's tactics were gilt-edged. She held Nebraska for 
 downs and Zalusky monotonously undid the work of 
 rivals by kicking to the center of the field. Gaining 
 ground for the fourth time by Knox's penalty for being 
 
 [96] 
 
off-side was the only way Nebraska could advance, and 
 the Lincoln team was showing the fatigue that coach 
 McLean fully counted upon. Another punt to the Knox 
 ten-yard line was returned by Zalusky, who, however, sent 
 the ball out of bounds. 
 
 With only a few moments remaining in the first half it 
 thereupon began to look like another touchdown. Bender, 
 Mickel and Bell brought the ball to Knox's five-yard line, 
 their onslaught in the mud being for the moment irre- 
 sistible. When the ball reached Knox's five-yard line, 
 however, time was called for the end of the half. 
 
 Acting under Coach McLean's instructions to play 
 offensive as much as possible, Knox proceeded to get into 
 the game from the moment that Nebraska kicked off from 
 the south goal at the opening of the half. 
 
 Hopkins caught the kick-off, but was tackled before he 
 could start. Wilson was sent through the line for six 
 yards on a cross-buck, following which Ackerson, who 
 was Knox's chief ground-gainer and who demonstrated 
 something of what Knox is really capable of doing, gained 
 seven yards on three successive fierce plunges into the 
 Nebraska line. 
 
 An unfortunate fumble by Hopkins gave the opponents 
 the ball, but two trials to advance it revealed what McLean 
 promised — that Booth's men had come to the end of their 
 permanent "hammering" process. Benedict punted and 
 the ball rolled across Knox's goal line, where Zalusky 
 tagged it for a touchback, which counts nothing. 
 
 He punted out from the twenty-five-yard line. Ne- 
 braska here assaulted the line with fair success. Bender, 
 Bell and Mickel netting a total gain of seventeen yards 
 in 1i\e plays. Then they were held. 
 
 [97] 
 
There then began the real Knox campaigning that set 
 the hearts of the handful of Galesburg people on the side- 
 lines to thumping and that would, in all reasonable proba- 
 bility have ended in a touchdown for Captain Ewing's 
 muddy eleven had a fumble not occurred. 
 
 Taking the ball on downs on her thirty -yard line, Knox 
 began to send catapult shots through Nebraska's line. On 
 the first lineup Ackerson dived and ran through a big 
 hole in Nebraska's left tackle for two clear gains of ten 
 and eighteen yards respectively. Zalusky hit the center 
 for six more. Twice again Ackerson drove through, fol- 
 lowed by a heavy battering-ram of Knox men, and he 
 advanced the ball four and one-half yards each time. 
 
 Nebraska's rooters were hoarse with a concerted per- 
 petual chorus of "Stonewall," but it was no stone wall, 
 and Nebraska saw what Knox and Galesburg saw — that 
 if Knox could keep her fingers around the greasy ball 
 she could score a touchdown by straight bucking through 
 a line that was being played off its feet. 
 
 But Knox's chances ended abruptly. On the next 
 play Ackerson fumbled the ball immediately after the 
 pass, and a Nebraska man fell upon it. The Lincoln team 
 had to punt, and after being lucky enough to get the ball 
 on Knox's fumble of the kick, it was again forced to punt. 
 The Nebraskans had at last "gotten up against" real 
 Knox football. 
 
 Knox then sent Ackerson straight into the line four 
 times in succession, gaining ten yards. Nebraska was 
 penalized five yards for being off-side. Ackerson then 
 gained three and one-half yards in two plays, and fumbled. 
 Nebraska punted after two resultless downs. Wilson 
 broke neatly through and blocked the punt. It rolled out 
 
 [98] 
 
of bounds on Nebraska's fifty-yard line, and a Nebraskan 
 fell onto it. 
 
 Nebraska's line stiffened, held the foe for downs and 
 took the ball. Bell tried but failed to gain. In the next 
 pass he made one yard. Mickel was then relieved by 
 Englehart. 
 
 Benedict punted, and Courtelyou got the ball after 
 Zalusky fumbled, netting a three-yard gain for Nebraska. 
 Nebraska braced again and Englehart made four yards, 
 gaining another at the next pass. Knox was penalized 
 for off-side play at a cost of five yards, Bell jumped into 
 it for four yards, and Englehart went through the line 
 for a like number. 
 
 The umpire gave the ball to Knox, when it was on 
 the Knox ten-yard line. Knox punted and Bender fell 
 on the ball. Benedict was hurt in the mix-up, but a Httle 
 rest helped him, and he remained in the game. Cortelyou 
 made three yards and Follmer was hurt. Johnston, the 
 colored boy, took his place on the end and was received 
 with cheers by the Nebraska rooters. 
 
 With the ball now on Knox's fifteen-yard line, Booth's 
 men played fiercely. Bell, Benedict and Bender, by lino 
 bucks averaging two yards each, forced it slowly forward. 
 On Knox's five-yard line there was a question as to 
 whether Nebraska had gained her distance but the meas- 
 urement gave it to her, and Mickel with a plunge of two 
 and one-half yards brought it to within two and one-half 
 yards of Knox's goal. 
 
 Knox was fighting every inch of the way, and was 
 breaking up Nebraska's interference in royal style. When 
 Bender made his last try for a touchdown through the 
 line on the third down he met a brick block of humanity 
 that stopped him, and Knox was given the ball seven and 
 
 [09] 
 
one-half feet from her line. Zalusky punted diagonally 
 outward to the fifteen-yard line, but Umpire Clark saw 
 a clear off-side play by Nebraska, called the ball back 
 and advanced it to Knox's twelve and one-half yard line. 
 Here, just as Knox lined up for a punt, the referee's 
 whistle blew and the game was over. 
 
 The first scrimmage at the opening of the game put 
 Wilson's game ankle to the bad. He was thereupon sent 
 to right end. Whitmore went to left end and Ackerson 
 went to full back, where he played throughout the game. 
 
 Mickel went out of the game seven minutes before it 
 ended and Engelhart took his place at full back. Johns- 
 ton replaced Eollmer at left end four minutes before the 
 end of the game. The line-up and summary: 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Position 
 
 Knox 
 
 Cortelyou 
 
 R. E. 
 
 Whitmore, Wilson 
 
 Westover (Captain) 
 
 R. T. 
 
 Ewing (Captain) 
 
 Hunter 
 
 R. G. 
 
 Martin 
 
 Borg 
 
 Center 
 
 Howell 
 
 Ringer 
 
 L. G. 
 
 France 
 
 Mason 
 
 L. T. 
 
 Slattery 
 
 Folmer, Johnston 
 
 L. E. 
 
 Whitmore 
 
 Benedict 
 
 Q.B. 
 
 Grogan 
 
 Bender 
 
 R. H. 
 
 Hopkins 
 
 Bell 
 
 L.H. 
 
 Zalusky 
 
 Score — Nebraska 7, 
 
 Knox 0. 
 
 
 Touchdown — Bender. 
 
 
 Safety — Zalusky. 
 
 
 
 Umpire — Clark of Omaha. 
 
 
 Referee — Hoagland 
 
 of Chicago 
 
 
 Time of halves — 35 and 30 minutes. 
 
 Total time of game 
 
 one hour 41 minutes. 
 
 [100] 
 
The football experts in the Chicago papers referred 
 to Knox's game with Nebraska as follows: 
 
 Tribune: "Nebraska was expected to trim Knox 
 harder than 7 to 0, which score detracts considerably from 
 the victory over Minnesota, since the Nebraska team on 
 comparative points cannot claim greater strength than 
 Chicago, which beat Knox 5 to 0." 
 
 Record-Herald: "Nebraska's defeat of Knox 7 to 
 was hard earned, and as Chicago won from the Galesburg 
 men, 6 to early in the season, the victory over Knox 
 does not strengthen Nebraska's claims to rank with the 
 real leaders." 
 
 Chronicle: "Of course, Nebraska, since it defeated 
 Minnesota early in the season, will file some claim for 
 recognition, but this team, being out of the "big nine' 7 
 will hardly be classed as championship calibre. Were a 
 game to be played between these two elevens next Saturday 
 it is probable that the Gophers would win handily, since 
 the showing which Nebraska made against little Knox 
 was not sufficiently impressive to give the team much 
 prestige. If 'Bummy' Booth's men had won an over- 
 whelming victory from Knox, it would be given con- 
 sideration, but it can lay little claim to class with 
 Michigan and Minnesota now." 
 
 Even before 2:30 o'clock Saturday afternoon a large 
 crowd of students had congregated in front of the Eve- 
 ning Mail office in Galesburg to await the returns from 
 Nebraska. 
 
 When the first messages came, giving the bad con- 
 dition of the field and the kind of weather which the Knox 
 men had to go up against, a shade of disappointment 
 passed over the crowd. Later on, as the bulletins which 
 
 [101] 
 
were sent by Manager C. H. May at intervals from one 
 and one-half minutes to five minutes came over the wire, 
 the crowd continued to increase. Business men dropped 
 their affairs for a few minutes to have a look to see how 
 the boys were getting on. Sedate professors lined up by 
 the side of preps and high school boys. Whiting Hall 
 girls who were down town shopping, stopped and left 
 their errands unfinished. 
 
 The news of the safety was received in silence. When 
 Bender made his touchdown there was another chunk of 
 silence, then as Knox began to hold and were out-playing 
 Nebraska, the crowd cheered up. When Ackerson made 
 his thirty-yard run he received a "Rickety-Rackety," but 
 soon the final score came — just as it was at the end of 
 the first half and the crowd silently and swiftly melted 
 away. They went in every direction and in every way 
 with their coat collars turned up and heads down, all 
 talking it over but every one knew the Knox boys had 
 done their best and the bulletins showed that they had 
 never quit for a moment. 
 
 The Lincoln Star of Saturday had extended comment 
 on the game of the day and discovered at last that the 
 Knox players did not all weigh over two hundred pounds, 
 nor did Knox have any foolish ideas concerning her own 
 ability as this sensational journal had been shouting. 
 Along with a lot of other weird and false stuff, it says: 
 
 "There is 'something doing' on Nebraska field this 
 afternoon. Eleven men from Knox College are attempt- 
 ing to wrest the Western championship from the Corn- 
 huskers and claim the title of 'the leading team of the 
 West outside the big nine.' The great game that has 
 been the topic of so much conversation has attracted a 
 
 [102] 
 
large crowd of spectators from neighboring cities, and 
 Lincoln has declared a holiday. 
 
 "The Knox players arrived from Galesbnrg yesterday 
 morning over the Burlington, and established their head- 
 quarters at the Lindell. They were accompanied by Coach 
 McLean, Manager Elliott and a few supporters. A small 
 delegation from Knox will come to Lincoln today and 
 cheer for their favorites. Among these will be Dr. D. W. 
 Aldrich, who is well known in this city. 
 
 "Knox came early in order to secure a good rest before 
 the game. The journey is a long one, and all the players 
 realize that they have a 'hard proposition' in the Corn- 
 huskers. The men went through signal practice yesterday 
 afternoon and took a short walk about Lincoln. This 
 morning they repeated the performance and spent the 
 balance of the time resting for the final contest. 
 
 "The players are of various sizes, and it was impossible 
 for the crowd in the hotel to form an estimate of their 
 weight. Those who looked for an 180 pound team were 
 disappointed, or at least surprised. Three or four mem- 
 bers are built on the Minnesota pattern, but the average 
 will not make the Cornhuskers look small. Martin, who 
 plays left guard, the two tackles and Wilson at full back, 
 are the largest men on the team. Wilson is only 18 years 
 old, but has developed into a ferocious bucking machine. 
 
 "Manager Elliott gave this as his opinion of the out- 
 come: 'We expect a hard game, and hope to make 
 Nebraska realize that we are here. The report that one 
 of our half-backs weighs two hundred fifty pounds is 
 without foundation. About one hundred forty-four will 
 cover every pound on his body. Yes, the men are in fairly 
 
 [103] 
 
good condition. We will line up as we did against Notre 
 Dame. The team will average about one hundred sixty- 
 seven pounds. There are some reports about the neigh- 
 borhood that our average is around one hundred eighty 
 pounds, but that is untrue. I hope there will be a large 
 crowd. It has been a long trip and some of the men are 
 tired, but they will be in good shape tomorrow.' 
 
 " 'That is all false/ said Coach McLean of the Knox 
 team, as he threw down a local paper containing an 
 article exploiting his extreme optimism. 'I never gave 
 any intimation that we were confident of winning the 
 game. I believe we will make Nebraska play a hard game, 
 but I do not say we will defeat them, but we will play a 
 better game than Northwestern will on Thanksgiving Day. 
 I do not believe Nebraska will make more than three 
 touchdowns. I have never expressed my opinion that my 
 men "will take Nebraska's scalp." Our team is lighter 
 than Nebraska, and if the grounds are wet they will have 
 the advantage. I do not understand how the papers can 
 give our weight as more than the home team. We will 
 average one hundred sixty-five, and Nebraska must be 
 several pounds heavier. 
 
 " 'There goes the two hundred fifty-pound half-back 
 you read about' said the coach, pointing to the little negro, 
 who cannot balance the one hundred fifty-pound weight. 
 
 "The Knox team will depend upon their playing and 
 their good interference to score tomorrow. The players 
 are not the kind that lie down in the middle of a game 
 and let the opposing team walk over them. In every big 
 game they have played this year the 'other fellows' have 
 weighed more, and Knox has been compelled to play a 
 fast game in order to score at all. Zalusky and Hopkins, 
 
 [104] 
 
who play the backs are not heavy, but Wilson, the heavy 
 full back will endeavor to puncture Nebraska's line. 
 Coach McLean has confidence in the ability of his men, 
 and considering the small number of men to pick from 
 and the fact that there is little inducement for football 
 aspirants to attend such a small college the men have 
 made a good record. 
 
 "The Cornhuskers' record is well known to everybody 
 interested in Western football. The University, and 
 Lincoln especially, is proud of every man on the team. 
 They have made history in football that means progress 
 in university athletics. If Nebraska wins the game today 
 the season will close with one long series of victories, 
 because there is little to fear from Northwestern. 
 
 "Nebraska expects to win the game, but is not over- 
 confident. This is a good sign, for the Cornhuskers al- 
 ways play better when they have something to make them 
 show their strength. Coach Booth would not speculate 
 on the outcome, but said he would be satisfied with one 
 touchdown, provided the Knox team failed to score. All 
 the men are keeping 'mum/ and only hope for a shut-out. 
 
 "Nebraska did not practice last night. Signals were 
 gone over to keep the men busy, but no line-up was called 
 for. The grounds were wet from Thursday night's rain, 
 and an attempt was made to get the field in condition 
 for fast and snappy playing. Sponges were brought into 
 play, and the flooded places dried. The gridiron is now 
 in fairly good shape, but is not like it was in the game 
 with Kansas. Both teams want a dry field. Both depend 
 upon swiftness, and slippery grounds are not conducive 
 to the style of playing adopted by both. 
 
 "Betting on the game has been light and took a sudden 
 
 ■ 
 
 [105] 
 
turn in favor of Nebraska last night. Yesterday the bet- 
 ting was 2 to 1 for the Cornhuskers, but when it was 
 discovered that the Knox team did not carry 180 pounds 
 to the man, Nebraskans were willing to take more chances. 
 Wagers were made that Nebraska would score 15 points 
 more than the men from Galesburg and not many were 
 willing to say the visitors would score. 
 
 For the first time in the season Knox failed to play 
 her game upon a muddy field. Her fast formations and 
 invincible speed tactics were disorganized by the slimy 
 ground. The ball was like a greased pig to Captain 
 Ewing's men, and at critical points in the game — such 
 formations as in former games have been evolved into 
 large Knox gains — Knox juggled the ball and invariably 
 lost possession of it. 
 
 On the contrary, Nebraska's method of putting the 
 ball into play was slower and more cumbersome, but it 
 had the advantage on Saturday of insuring more security 
 of the pigskin to Booth's men, who fumbled only once or 
 twice during the game. By this unfortunate fumbling, 
 and not by any ability on Nebraska's part to gain ground 
 concertedly through the Knox line, were the first two 
 points scored against Knox. Penalties for off-side play 
 gave the Lincolnians the touchdown, which made them 
 the total of 7 points. 
 
 Three minutes after the game opened, on the fourth 
 play, Nebraska was forced to punt. The scene which 
 followed was painful to the Knox men. The ball rolled 
 to Zalusky, who could not fasten his hands upon its slip- 
 pery surface. On past him it bounced within a few feet 
 of Knox's goal line. When he finally did pick it up he 
 was bumped into by a Nebraskan, who, running at full 
 
 [106] 
 
speed, pushed him over the line and forced the safety 
 that gave Nebraska her first two scores. 
 
 Nebraska's weight, which before the game was touted 
 as less than Knox's, was seen as the teams lined up for 
 the kick-off to be somewhat greater. Fearing this, Coach 
 McLean had instructed Knox to play strictly on the de- 
 fensive in the first half, thereby tiring the Nebraskans 
 and making Knox's offense good in the second half. 
 
 The wisdom of this was clearly apparent. Consistently 
 and successfully blocking Nebraska's efforts to score after 
 her seven points had been made, Knox, by wise punts, 
 protected her goal line, and went into the second half 
 fresh and vigorous. As soon as the players had really 
 gotten into action, Knox demonstrated her superiority in 
 offense, and Ackerson, Zalusky and others demoralized 
 the Cornhuskers' line for a few minutes in a way that 
 gave color to McLean's claim that Knox would win. 
 
 But just when the Knox team was advancing steadily 
 down the field and when her fierce plunges and superb 
 interference were brushing Nebraska's men aside, the in- 
 evitable fumble occurred, and successive ones gradually 
 removed the chances of a score and victory. This is the 
 story of the game and herein lay Nebraska's victory. More 
 punting at critical points would have affected the result. 
 
 Ackerson, Captain Ewing, Wilson, Slattery, and Whit- 
 more interpreted the Knox game as well as the conditions 
 would admit and they were towers of strength. France's 
 off-side plays were not material, nor did they jeopardize 
 Nebraska's game, and in the second half Umpire Clark 
 saw that fact and diminished his costly penalization. 
 Some of the other Knox men showed slightly less form 
 than they have in previous games, but all of them solved 
 
 [107] 
 
well Nebraska's really simple plays — plays that should 
 not have gained ground against Knox's superior defense. 
 Martin repeatedly broke through and caught the man with 
 the ball in his track, but in the mud the latter was in- 
 variably pushed forward. 
 
 In the second half, Nebraska was held more times 
 and punted more frequently than Knox. Bender, Bell, 
 Mickel and Benedict played star games and gained most 
 of the ground for Nebraska. The whirling wedge forma- 
 tions repeatedly attempted by Nebraska were slow, and 
 only once during the game was it really effective. In 
 following-in-on the line plays, Nebraska was good." 
 
 In closing this pleasing story of the football season 
 of 1902, it is instructive to call attention to the fact that 
 the Knox eleven played eleven games in all. They won 
 nine of these and lost only two. Knox scored 220 points 
 to their opponents' 22. 
 
 The names of the opposing teams as well as the scores 
 of each game were as follows : 
 
 Knox 
 
 46 
 
 Rock Island Alumni 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 45 
 
 Upper Iowa U. 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Chicago 
 
 5 
 
 Knox 
 
 12 
 
 Gem City (Quincy) 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 15 
 
 Northwestern 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 5 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 12 
 
 Notre Dame 
 
 5 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 7 
 
 Knox 
 
 17 
 
 Lombard 
 
 
 
 Knox 
 
 68 
 
 Chicago Dental 
 
 5 
 
 220 
 
 22 
 
 [ 108 ] 
 
IvNOX 
 
 57 
 
 Knox 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 30 
 
 Knox 
 
 54 
 
 Knox 
 
 27 
 
 Knox 
 
 75 
 
 Knox 
 
 15 
 
 Knox 
 
 31 
 
 The only other football team at Knox which could 
 possibly be said to approach in ability even in a remote 
 degree, with that of 1902, was the eleven which repre- 
 sented Knox on the gridiron in 1919. The scores of the 
 football games played by this team were as follows: 
 
 Carthage 
 
 Cornell College 
 
 Beloit 
 
 Illinois College 
 
 Augustana 
 
 Lake Forest 7 
 
 Lombard 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 355 
 
 The Decline of Football at Knox. 
 
 It is not every college in the country which possessed 
 a record of having lost thirty- seven consecutive football 
 games. Only Hobart College at Geneva, New York, has 
 been able to equal the record made by the Knox Football 
 Elevens between the years 1931 and 1935. If the "powers 
 that be" at Knox College during those years were only 
 endeavoring to advertise the college itself through its 
 football defeats, it certainly succeeded bevond its fondest 
 anticipations. Whether the situation was brought about 
 by faculty interference or otherwise, the fact is true that 
 never in the history of Knox College, have the loyal 
 alumni of that institution, been more humiliated or filled 
 with deeper resentment than at the results of this three 
 year period of "deflated" football effort than they were 
 
 [109] 
 
during the years intervening between 1931 and 1935. To 
 show the sterling (?) quality of the opposition that 
 Knox was called upon to meet during these years, the 
 following record of the team is presented. 
 
 Knox Football Losses. 
 1931-2 
 
 Cornell 9 Knox 
 
 Coe 7 Knox 
 
 Monmouth 19 Knox 12 
 
 1932-3 
 
 
 
 
 Western (Macemb) 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Augustana 
 
 27 
 
 Knox 
 
 6 
 
 Chicago 
 
 20 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Illinois College 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Beloit 
 
 13 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Cornell 
 
 13 
 
 Knox 
 
 7 
 
 Coe 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 3 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 20 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 1933-4 
 
 
 
 
 Western (Macemb) 
 
 18 
 
 Knox 
 
 6 
 
 Augustana 
 
 25 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 12 
 
 Knox 
 
 6 
 
 Beloit 
 
 26 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Cornell 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 3 
 
 Coe 
 
 58 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 20 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 1934-5 
 
 Western (Macemb) 
 
 10 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Augustana 
 
 21 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 18 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 [110] 
 
1934-5 (Continued) 
 
 
 
 
 Beloit 
 
 13 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Cornell 
 
 6 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Coe 
 
 19 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Bradley 
 
 44 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 39 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 
 A prominent Knox Alumnus was asked to give his 
 explanation of the unparalleled defeats sustained by the 
 "Siwash" football eleven during these years and this was 
 the version given by him : 
 
 "If reports are true, orders from the President and 
 a faculty conference, Knox's policy and order to Coach 
 Jackson and a few others, I think — they deflated athletics 
 and greatly discouraged its prominence in the college. 
 They thought they would drop inter-collegiate games and 
 probably build up intra-murals and finally show what a 
 great success their co-educational college was. 
 
 The records show how completely they failed. Also 
 they failed to send out scouts to look for students, much 
 less athletes, and instead of hustling for the success of 
 the college they calmly sat on their haunches and foolishly 
 waited for students and athletes to come. Well, they 
 didn't come." 
 
 One thing certainly seems entirely clear. That the 
 Knox faculty of 1931-1936, which was the era of football 
 famine — regarded the football situation as a relatively 
 unimportant and trivial event, deserving of no official 
 recognition or attention by that body. When complaints 
 poured in from all over the country, they were treated as 
 if they proceeded from the "alumni wolves," who must 
 always be fed on athletic victories and not defeats. 
 
 [Ill] 
 
It is difficult to find either explanations or excuses for 
 the "football epitaphs" written deep in the foregoing un- 
 believable as well as unspeakable scores of the Knox 
 Elevens of 1931 to 1934. There is a well authenticated 
 story of a New York Alumnus visiting the Seymour 
 Library in 1934. and making to Dr. L. W. Elder the dis- 
 tinguished Librarian of Knox — the following sarcastic 
 comment: "Well, even though the football performances 
 of the Knox Elevens may be very poor, still there's al- 
 ways the Knox Library for which we can cheer enthusias- 
 tically at any time." 
 
 Some of the candidates for the football team in these 
 years had a great "hock and knee action," and yet they 
 moved over the field as if they were giving an improvised 
 imitation of a slow moving camera picture. 
 
 The faculty of these lamentable years — the era of foot- 
 ball famine — treated the sport as one deserving of no 
 official recognition or attention. 
 
 At Knox the faculty as a body were never known to 
 rally round with free-will offerings to the football athletes. 
 This in part explains why Knox was beaten in 37 con- 
 secutive games. 
 
 "The cause of football has been promoted by the un- 
 official cooperation of the students themselves, rather than 
 by reason of the full support and approval of faculties 
 who have been jealous of anything that threatened to 
 weaken the allegiance of the student body to classroom 
 drill and work." 
 
 A certain University in the East has announced with- 
 out anv applause from the innocent bystanders, that their 
 football teams will hereafter accept no money for playing 
 games with other college nor pay money to these teams 
 
 [112] 
 
(if any such there be), which play on their own campus. 
 The "Powers That Be" in this academic elysium proudly 
 announce that this represents a return to "first prin- 
 ciples." It will insure, so we are told, that hereafter all 
 football will be played on a simon-pure basis of altruistic 
 amateur sport. 
 
 If something is not done to save this college from 
 dying of malnutrition and inanition, it will find itself in 
 such a bottomless well, that no derrick can be found big 
 enough or strong enough to pull it out of the hole. 
 
 Baseball at Knox. 
 
 Edwin G. Smith '46, a graduate of the first class turned 
 out at Knox, wrote in 1897 of Knox Athletics as follows : 
 
 "The athletics of our day were mainly of the practical 
 and paying cord-wood sawing and splitting, tree planting 
 and doing sundry chores." These were the main exercises 
 of the "Manual Labor Days" of Knox College. Now 
 and then a game of hand ball would diversify the program. 
 
 The "Manual Labor" mentioned by Mr. Smith is de- 
 scribed more fully by E. S. Wilcox of the class of '51 as 
 follows: "The charter name of our institution was orig- 
 inally Knox Manual Labor College. Dr. Gale's plan was 
 to found an institution where poor young men dependent 
 on their own exertions, should be able to acquire a liberal 
 education even if they had to work their way through 
 college as most of them did in my day in one way or an- 
 other. To talk of athletics at Knox in 1850 would be al- 
 most as great an anachronism as to talk of telephones 
 then. The word did not exist. In the bright lexicon of 
 our youth there was no such word as athletics. We sawed 
 wood mostly. We had a few common oldfashioned games 
 
 [113] 
 
of ball. We had jumping athletics ! I never heard of the 
 word 'baseball' in my day." 
 
 J. B. Eoberts of the class of 7 55 spoke as follows on 
 the subject of athletics at Knox in this day: "We had 
 some famous long jumpers with ambition to rival the 
 father of our country as tradition and legend have rep- 
 resented him, but they required no instruments except 
 the flexors and extensors furnished by their own anatomy. 
 * * * I remember, too, that the Senior Class on one oc- 
 casion attended a dance from which they did not get 
 back to their rooms until sometime after the unseemly 
 hour of 10 P. M. That resulted in the breaking up of 
 the class, the largest in the history of the college up to 
 that time and it caused a shock to the moral sense of the 
 whole community from which perhaps it has not yet 
 recovered. * * * Of course there were scrub ball games 
 of one sort and another, but the modern and more refined 
 game of the sphere had not evoluted. I do not remember 
 any game of football having been played, but if there were 
 any, it was wholly of the kicking sort. 
 
 "The baseball fervor sprang up suddenly all over the 
 United States shortly after the close of the Civil War. 
 This was probably owing to the fact that the people of 
 this country needed something of the sort as an easy way 
 back to common life. 
 
 "It was certainly surprising how the fervor spread. 
 Every large city, town, and even the villages and farms 
 formed baseball clubs and even small associations. 
 
 "The beginning of this new departure may be dated 
 from 1867. The baseball games played between neighbor- 
 ing towns and cities often ended in a riot, so seriously, 
 would the citizens take such affairs at that time. 
 
 [114] 
 
"Soon the names of great ball players began to emerge 
 from the common herd. The papers made frequent refer- 
 ence to the White Stockings of Chicago, the Red Stock- 
 ings of Boston, and other famous professional organiza- 
 tions." 
 
 "Professor Henry Read, who is still living, in a letter 
 addressed to the author, stated, that when he first came 
 to Knox Academy in the year '69-'70, he found everyone 
 playing ball. The classes played against each other and 
 even against the academy. 
 
 In one of these games Eugene Field was the umpire. 
 Professor Read states that in the fall of '72, when he was 
 a Sophomore at Knox, the first regular college 'nine' was 
 formed. In the fall of 1872, Knox and Lombard played 
 the first intercollegiate baseball game that was ever played 
 by a Knox team. Professor T. R. Willard of Knox pitched 
 for their team while David Star Jordan (later president 
 of Leland Stanford University) pitched for Lombard 
 University. 
 
 Strange to say Professor Read was able to give the 
 line-up of the team which played Lombard on the occasion 
 mentioned. It reads as follows: 
 
 Thomas R. Willard— Pitcher 
 
 W. P. Northrup — First Base 
 
 Henry W. Read — Catcher 
 
 C. A. Read — Second Base 
 
 Walter Ray — Third Base 
 
 Dick Johnson — Short Stop 
 
 Frank Pillsbury —Left Field (Captain) 
 
 Pitt Moore — Center Field 
 
 Frank Bellows — Right Field 
 
 [115] 
 
"In the following year a game was played with Mon- 
 mouth College on the Knox College campus." 
 
 It must be admitted that Knox College never pos- 
 sessed a ball team, whose abilities in that fie}d of sport 
 so far outshone any other that represented the college on 
 the diamond as to entitle them, as did the Knox football 
 team of 1902, to be called the outstanding nine of all time. 
 Most of the teams put out by the institution were of just 
 average ability. 
 
 It will, in any event, be a matter of interest to all of 
 those interested in college baseball to read at this point 
 the story of the first introduction of curve pitching at 
 Knox College. The advent of the curved ball into the 
 repertoire of Knox pitchers is very graphically told by 
 William S. Harvey (Knox '81) in a letter which reads as 
 follows : 
 
 "In the fall of 1877 the Intercollegiate Contest in 
 oratory occurred at Jacksonville, Illinois. Arrangements 
 had been made for a game of baseball between Knox and 
 Illinois College to be played on the same date as the 
 contest. The baseball team, therefore, accompanied their 
 candidate to Jacksonville. Naturally I met the Captain 
 of the Illinois College team, Jim Knox of Princeton, 
 Illinois. The following summer Princeton gave a pre- 
 tentious baseball tournament, and Jim Knox asked me 
 to come and play for their team during the tournament. 
 I did so. 
 
 The liberal prizes offered by the business men of 
 Princeton attracted a large number of clubs, among them 
 was a club from Sioux City, Iowa ; this club proved to be 
 composed entirely of professionals, and was being trans- 
 ferred from Sioux City to Bloomington, Illinois. The big 
 
 [116] 
 
idea was to stop over at Princeton and pick up a little 
 easy money on the way over. The pitcher of the club was 
 one Charles Radborne who, the following year, became 
 the first curve pitcher in the National League. He was 
 a member of the Providence, R. I. National League Team. 
 In the draw for the first game of the tournament 
 Princeton got the Sioux City Club. Of course they beat 
 us and then cleaned up the tournament, as none of us 
 had ever seen curve pitching. I was amazed at Radborne' s 
 performance and, being an ambitious ball player, I intro- 
 duced myself. I told him I was a pitcher on the college 
 club, and would like to learn how to throw a curve ball. 
 He proved to be a very nice fellow and showed me how 
 to hold the ball (in the hand) for an out-curve and an 
 in-shoot, and just how to throw each one. I watched him 
 closely during the remainder of the tournament; the last 
 day he asked me to show him what I could do — I showed 
 him very little, but he gave me a lot of encouragement 
 and some suggestions. I returned home and spent the 
 entire summer practicing curve pitching. I wore out 
 every kid in the neighborhood, and staved in one side of 
 father's barn, but by the time the college year began I 
 had something to show the boys on the campus, and was 
 quite a sensation with the baseball crowd. Frank Holmes, 
 a classmate of mine, brought the matter up in Professor 
 Comstock's class one day, and asked the dear old "Prof" 
 if it were possible to throw a ball in a straight line, and 
 after the ball had traveled a certain distance have it 
 curve off at a tangent? He replied "certainly not" — so 
 Frank arranged a demonstration on the baseball campus 
 after recitation hours, and gave so much publicity to the 
 event that most of the students and the entire faculty at- 
 
 [117] 
 
tended ; even conservative Professor Hurd was there, who 
 told me once if I would give as much attention to class 
 work as I did to baseball I might amount to something 
 some time. 
 
 Professor Comstock was placed directly behind the 
 home plate and the catcher. I gave him the busiest half 
 hour of his life, dodging curve balls. The following day 
 in class he admitted the "curve ball", and explained it 
 scientifically, that is Frank Holmes seemed satisfied. 
 
 With the advent of curve pitching at Knox College we 
 became prominent in baseball, and I may say, modestly, 
 the Knox baseball team was victorious in every game 
 played during the next two years. 
 
 I passed on to Lincoln H. Jelliff (Knox '87 ) every- 
 thing I knew about curve pitching, and after 1880 he be- 
 came the college pitcher, and a very good one, too. When 
 I was first invited to play on the college team, I was a 
 senior prep in Knox Academy. There were three mem- 
 bers of the faculty on the team — Professors Willard, 
 Bead and Northrup — I felt I had received the highest 
 honor that could be awarded human genius." 
 
 The most famous home run hitter of the early days 
 was Albert G. Shean, Class of '81. In the Ws came the 
 era where numerous intercollegiate baseball games were 
 played with all the leading colleges in Illinois, Iowa and 
 Wisconsin. Jelliff was capable of throwing any kind of a 
 curve in addition to which he displayed an uncanny 
 ability to mix up slow balls with ones that were pitched 
 with tremendous speed. 
 
 On one occasion a tournament was held in Chicago by 
 the leading Illinois colleges, in which two games were 
 played each day by the Knox team. "Lin" Jelliff and 
 
 [118] 
 
Frank H. Gaines alternated as pitchers. The Knox team 
 won all of its games. 
 
 Later on came one of the best baseball nines that ever 
 represented Knox on the diamond. This was the team of 
 1888. 
 
 Nelson Willard, who starred on the Knox ball teams 
 between 1892 and 1896, easily made the Columbia Uni- 
 versity team when he was engaged there in postgraduate 
 work. He played third base there exceptionally well and 
 was equally strong at the bat. Will C. Mage of '88 was 
 a star shortstop as was Henry A. Barnes of '86. John R. 
 Porter of '86 and John Miller of '85 were two of the most 
 competent fielders. Louis Becker, 7 86, was a first base- 
 man of high caliber, as was also Clyde Swank of '88. 
 
 While Knox College has never, in all its history, 
 been entitled to claim the possession of a superlatively 
 fine baseball team, it has been able to boast of individual 
 ball players who would have been stars in either amateur 
 or professional baseball. 
 
 Unquestionably the greatest ball player produced at 
 Knox College was U. S. Rohrer (ex. '84). He was such 
 an exceptional player that while he was a student at Knox 
 he received offers to join clubs in the major league. 
 
 One of the greatest "all around" ball players who 
 ever attended Knox was J. E. Jones of the class of 1885. 
 He could play well, shortstop, pitcher, catcher and any 
 position in the outfield. 
 
 Another great baseball player was Adolph Hamblin, 
 '20, better known as "Ziggy" Hamblin, who was a great 
 colored athlete and one of the greatest athletes Knox 
 College ever turned out. He was a star performer in 
 football, baseball, basketball and track, and was a valu- 
 
 [119] 
 
able performer as short-stop on the baseball team. He 
 was a wonderful fielder and hitter and ranks with the 
 best who ever played baseball at Knox. 
 
 Another candidate for all-star baseball honors was 
 Frank ("Pete") J. Welch, '22, a Moline, Illinois, boy who 
 was another great athlete during his collegiate days and 
 who passed away a number of years ago. While "Pete" 
 was pretty much of an all-around baseball player and 
 could play any position on the infield if called upon, it 
 is probably true that his rightful place on any Knox 
 All- Star nine would be in center field, where he performed 
 during the season of 1920. He was a wonderful hitter 
 and fielder as well, and was really the "spark-plug" of the 
 whole team. 
 
 In pitching, Knox has had at least three really great 
 pitchers, to wit: William S. Harvey, Lincoln H. Jelliff 
 and Bertram W. Bennett. Lincoln H. Jelliff of '87 pos- 
 sessed about all the qualities which go to constitute great- 
 ness in a pitcher. One of the widest curve balls that 
 any pitcher at Knox could ever hope to possess, was his. 
 He could throw a "fade away" which would skim low 
 and just over the plate. When necessary he could pitch 
 fast balls, mingled with slow deceptive ones. Mr. Jelliff 
 was offered an opportunity to play with Anson's Chicago 
 White Stockings, but he declined to enter the field of 
 professional baseball. Probably Tyrus Brown of '86, 
 could pitch the fastest ball of any man who ever attended 
 Knox. Had he been gifted in throwing curves, he would 
 have been a truly great pitcher. Another superlative 
 pitcher was Bertram Whitcomb Bennett of 1920. 
 
 It is not generally known, at least among the older 
 Alumni, that Knox College, at one period in its history, 
 
 [120] 
 
possessed a pitcher who pitched a no hit, no run game. 
 The individual player who achieved this distinction and 
 who properly belongs in the Knox Athletic Hall of Fame, 
 was this same Bertram Whitcomb Bennett. In a game 
 with Augustana College of Rock Island, 111., Bennett 
 pitched a no hit game. This game was played in 1918. 
 Shortly afterwards Bennett pitched a one hit game against 
 Monmouth. In this game he struck out fourteen of the op- 
 posing team. He repeated the same feat against Lake 
 Forest. 
 
 The Knox baseball nine of 1920 probably approached 
 as near to a real super baseball team as Knox ever at- 
 tained. The baseball nines of 1918, 1919 and 1920, to all of 
 which Bennett belonged, each went through the season 
 without a defeat. 
 
 Mr. Bertram Bennett of the Class of 1920 writes as 
 follows, of Baseball at Knox, in his time. 
 
 "During my four years at Knox, baseball was seriously 
 curtailed the first three years. We played no games in my 
 freshman year, about one game in my sophomore year 
 before the team was disbanded, four or five games in the 
 junior year, but in the spring of 1920, my last year, we 
 completed a full schedule of ten games, nine of which I 
 pitched. 
 
 During my baseball career at Knox which, as I said 
 before, covered two curtailed seasons and one full season, 
 I worked in a total of fifteen games with a record of 
 fifteen won and none lost. I pitched a total of 133 
 innings, the opposition scored 45 runs for an average of 
 3 per game ; 78 hits for an average of 5.2 per game. I gave 
 up 22 bases on balls for an average of 1.46 per game and 
 struck out 144 batsmen for an average of 9.6 per game. 
 
 [121] 
 
In addition to pitching the no hit game, in the spring of 
 1920, 1 also had two one hit games one against Monmouth 
 College and the other against Lake Forest College. 
 
 I doubt in my own mind whether Knox ever had a 
 more finished baseball club than we had in the spring in 
 1920. There were a number of students who had returned 
 from the war to complete their grades and we had plenty 
 of material available for every position. It was a pleasure 
 to be pitching for a team like that, because you knew of 
 the splendid support behind you and realized that a run 
 or two scored by the opposition meant nothing, for the 
 team was a hitting team as well as a defensive team, and 
 could easily go out and overcome the opposition, if neces- 
 sary. As a matter of fact, every regular on the squad 
 with one exception, batted over .300% for the ten-game 
 season and the pitcher was even included in this select 
 group. 
 
 The baseball teams that represented Knox on the dia- 
 mond in 1918, 1919 and 1920 were probably the ablest of 
 all those which either preceded or followed them. 
 
 The work of these three nines is well reviewed in the 
 "Knox Gales" for those years as follows : 
 
 "Despite the fact that the number of men attending 
 Knox has dwindled to nearly half of the original enroll- 
 ment and numerous base ballists had gone to the colors, 
 the 1918 team played the season with a percentage of .833. 
 Under the able supervision of Coach Westphal and Cap- 
 tain Hamblin the squad made rapid strides. Early in 
 the season the coach emphasized quality, not quantity, 
 and selected about twenty to continue practice and who 
 should represent the Purple and Gold. More and better 
 individual coaching was possible after the reduction. 
 
 [122] 
 
"Those who came back after the first elimination and 
 who were directly responsible for such a successful season, 
 were Cole, Bennett, P., Hamblin, ss. and 3b; McGovern, 
 lb; Rogers, 2b; Pfeiffer, 3b; Ingram, ss; and fielders 
 Markley, Pritchard, Phillips and Sharrick. Hamblin 
 covered himself with glory upon two occasions. In the 
 first Lombard game and in the Northwestern game he 
 knocked home runs. Bennett pitched all the games. His 
 work was par-excellence. The following schedule makes 
 further eulogy unnecessary : 
 
 1918 
 
 
 
 
 "Apr. 26 
 
 Knox 4 
 
 Lombard 
 
 2 
 
 Apr. 27 
 
 6 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 2 
 
 May 1 
 
 " 22 
 
 Iowa Wesleyan 
 
 1 
 
 May 4 
 
 6 
 
 Northwestern 
 
 4 
 
 May 8 
 
 u 17 
 
 Iowa Wesleyan 
 
 2 
 
 May 14 
 
 6 
 
 Lombard 
 
 4 
 
 
 Baseball 1919. 
 
 
 
 Scores of ( 
 
 James Played. 
 
 
 "Apr. 26 
 
 Knox 9 
 
 Augustana 
 
 2 
 
 
 " 6 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 
 
 
 " 12 
 
 Augustana 
 
 2 
 
 
 " 8 
 
 Monmouth 
 
 6 
 
 35 10 
 
 In the first game with Augustana on April 26th, 
 Bennett and Johnson starred. Bennett pitched a no-hit 
 game. The latter in writing of the contest spoke as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 [123] 
 
"The game, I think, to which you refer was the opening 
 game of the 1919 season when we played Augustana Col- 
 lege at Rock Island. In that game the opposition did not 
 get a hit, but two runs were scored against me, the first one 
 the result of a walk and steal of second base, and an 
 attempted steal of third, on which play the catcher threw 
 wild to third base and allowed the runner to score. This 
 occurred in the sixth inning, the first batter was safe 
 on an error, two bases on balls and a hit batsman followed, 
 forcing in another run. 
 
 The final score was nine to two in our favor, and in 
 that game the opposition secured two runs, no hits, four 
 bases on balls, one hit batsman, and I secured twelve 
 strikeouts. 
 
 Mr. Bennett also gives us the following picture of 
 baseball at Knox in 1920 : 
 
 "Knox's battling baseball nine was the third of the 
 four championship athletic aggregations developed by 
 Coach Barry within 4 years. The season's record gives 
 Knox ten victories out of as many starts, four of them 
 being shutouts. Games were played with St. Ambrose, 
 Monmouth, Lombard, Coe, Armour, and Lake Forest. 
 
 "Just as in the other sports, the season opened with 
 plenty of letter men and a wealth of new material from 
 whom Barry had to pick his squad. Men seemed to 
 present themselves for every position and it was only a 
 matter of time until a polished team was built up. With 
 a sterling pitcher, a star at every corner of the infield 
 and a well-rounded outfield, the team was well fortified in 
 all positions. That the nine was composed of a bunch 
 of healthy hitters is evidenced by the fact that 108 runs 
 were scored in the ten games. 
 
 [124] 
 
"The season opened early in the spring with a game 
 against St. Ambrose. The weather was raw, and the 
 team was not yet in condition for a real battle. For six 
 innings, the Knoxites seemed unable to solve the slants 
 of the Catholic's mound artist, while the visitors had 
 gathered a total of 11 runs. 
 
 "Things began to lighten in the 6th, when 2 runs were 
 chalked up, a couple of more were earned in the seventh, 
 and in the fatal 8th the gang went into the lead by 1 
 point. St. Ambrose tied things up in their half of the 
 ninth, but another Knox run put things safely on ice. 
 
 "The first conference game of the season resulted in a 
 16-0 win over Monmouth, the Maple City lads being able 
 to glean only one safe swat off Bennett's deliveries. Bert 
 totaled 14 strike-outs during the course of the battle. 
 
 "A trip to Cedar Eapids, Iowa, brought home a 14-4 
 scalp from Coe College. The Coe pitcher had previously 
 held the Iowa University nine to a 1-0 count. Hamblin 
 and Murphy were the heavy hitters of the day, each 
 getting 4 solid singles, while Bennett knocked out a 
 pretty homer. 
 
 "The first game of the annual city series resulted in 
 a 12-0 win from Lombard. Only one eastside was able to 
 touch third base while the Purple was able to score almost 
 at will. 
 
 "The first of a two-game series with Armour Institute 
 of Chicago brought the first close game of the season. The 
 Chicagoans got to Bennett's curves in the initial round 
 before the glib twirler hit his stride, and it was not until 
 the 6th Knox was able to overcome the lead and put 
 across the winning tally. In the second tilt with Armour, 
 Otie Morrison worked in the box for Knox, allowed his 
 
 [125] 
 
opponents only six safe singles, and chalked up a 16-7 
 win for his mates. 
 
 "Two hard fought victories over Lake Forest, both 
 by 2-0 counts, furnished the best exhibitions of the year. 
 The combat on the North Shore lot was a real pitchers' 
 battle; the heavy hitting Knoxites only tallied five hits. 
 Bennett held the Foresters to one lone single. 
 
 "A count of 12-2 marked the second defeat handed 
 to Lombard in a slow uninteresting game. The Olive got 
 to Pitcher Bennett for eight safe wallops, including a 
 brace of triples, but were unable to bunch them when 
 they counted. Johnson and Hamblin were the heavy 
 clouters of the day, with three hits apiece. 
 
 "The season was ended with a second conspicuous win 
 over Coe College during Commencement week. Long and 
 numerous 'swats' made the final count 15-6 against the 
 Iowans, marking the season's close of what was probably 
 the best baseball aggregation ever put in the field by a 
 Knox athletic mentor." 
 
 The fact that Knox never was able to produce at any 
 time a super-baseball nine, does not alter the fact that 
 from time to time individual stars appeared upon the 
 athletic horizon. If one were to name an "all-time base- 
 ball team," it would be composed of the following star 
 players : 
 
 Pitchers —William S. Harvey, '81, Lincoln H. Jelliff, 
 
 '87, E. B. Cushing, '91, William E. Essick, 
 
 1903, and Bertram W. Bennett of 1920. 
 
 Catchers — U. S. R'ohrer, '84, Loyal J. Martin, '85, 
 
 William C. Wilson, '87, Joseph W. Zalusky, 
 
 1906, Roy B. Guild, '94, and James B. 
 
 Ay res, '85. 
 
 [126] 
 
First Base —Fred Brown, '85, George Slattery, 1903. 
 Second Base — Tiras Brown, '86 and John S. Grogan, 1904. 
 Third Base —Nelson T. Willard, '96. 
 Shortstop — J. E. Jones, '85, Henry A. Barnes, '86, 
 
 William C. Mage, '88, Fred R. Sanderson, 
 
 '94, Adolph Hamblin, '20, Edmund E. 
 
 Working, '91. 
 Left Field — John R. Porter, '86 and George L. Naught, 
 
 '96. 
 Center Field— John Miller, '85 and Frank J. Welch, '22. 
 Right Field — Louis Becker, '86. 
 
 Among other players who belong in the Knox Baseball 
 Hall of Fame are the following: 
 
 Merrit Pincknew, '81; 
 Albert G. Sheaham, '81 ; 
 Morris A. Burch, '84. 
 
 Knox always excelled in running the bases. Among 
 the speediest all time base runners on Knox teams were 
 Frank Gaines, '84, John Miller, '85, J. E. Jones, '85, Tiras 
 Brown, '86, John R. Porter, '86, William C. Mage, '88, 
 Fred R. Sanderson, '94, George L. Naught, '96, and Ed- 
 ward B. Cushing, '91. 
 
 Basket Ball. 
 
 Basket ball was first played in 1899, when Knox won 
 two out of three games with Lombard, and one from 
 Monmouth. 
 
 There is a gap in the basket ball record from 1901 until 
 1907 the year the gymnasium was built. In this interim 
 
 [127] 
 
there may have been teams on the campus, but they did 
 not enter into varsity competition. From 1907-1918 games 
 were played in the little gymnasium on the campus, but 
 since 1918 the City Armory has been used. 
 
 Knox teams toured the East in 1922 and 1923. The 
 following were the scores of the eastern tour : 
 
 (1921) -1922 
 
 Knox 33 
 
 " 17 
 
 27 
 
 " 34 
 
 28 
 
 " 24 
 
 " 16 
 
 (1922) -1923 
 
 Knox 14 
 
 " 25 
 
 " 32 
 
 " 29 
 
 " 22 
 
 " 15 
 
 A very interesting as well as amusing incident oc- 
 curred in 1924 in a basket ball game between Knox and 
 Lombard. In it occurred the first "sit-down strike" in 
 the annals of sport in America. This "strike" resulted 
 in the rules of the game being changed all over the 
 country. It seems that in a game played between Knox 
 and Lombard, the latter had much the better team. While 
 it may not have been exactly the acme of sportsmanship, 
 the Knox team all sat down on the floor of the auditorium 
 where the game was held, after three minutes of play. 
 
 [128] 
 
 Williams 
 
 31 
 
 Dartmouth 
 
 25 
 
 Wesleyan 
 
 23 
 
 Brown 
 
 15 
 
 Trinity 
 
 19 
 
 Yale 
 
 25 
 
 Army 
 
 26 
 
 Dartmouth 
 
 39 
 
 Vermont 
 
 24 
 
 Williams 
 
 24 
 
 Harvard 
 
 33 
 
 Navy 
 
 28 
 
 Army 
 
 30 
 
For twenty minutes there was no action. Then Mr. 
 Menser who directed the band, conceived the idea of play- 
 ing the Star Spangled Banner and the boys had to stand 
 up ! Sports' writers the country over played up this story 
 and as a result, the center line was established to prevent 
 such "stalling." 
 
 The crowd was very angry, of course, because they had 
 paid to see a good game. The coaches then made an agree- 
 ment for the return game that nothing of the sort should 
 happen again. An excellent fast game was the result, 
 in which Knox won by one point. 
 
 Lawn Tennis. 
 
 The game of lawn tennis was first introduced at Knox 
 in 1885 by the author of this book, who formed a tennis 
 club known as the Kenwood Tennis Club. This was soon 
 followed by another organization known as the Sylvan 
 Club. The first competitive tennis was played for cham- 
 pionship honors at the inauguration of Field Day on June 
 4th, 1886. The college championship in singles was won 
 by Thomas G. Frost of '86. In doubles the winners were 
 Chester M. Clark, '86 and Frank Smith of '87. 
 
 Probably the greatest tennis player ever developed at 
 Knox College was Fred E. Sanderson of '94. Phillip S. 
 Post, '87, Roy Smith of '94, and Alvah S. Green of '90 were 
 also excellent players. While many other fine players 
 followed in later years, it is doubtful if Knox ever pro- 
 duced a tennis player who was the equal of Fred Sander- 
 son. 
 
 [129] 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 Eugene Field at Knox. 
 
 Situated almost in the geographical center of the 
 United States, lies the picturesque and historic city of 
 St. Joseph, Missouri. Here will be erected the first 
 national memorial to Eugene Field, reporter extraordin- 
 ary for the St. "Jo" Gazette in the early "seventies," but 
 far better known as the true "Poet Laureate of Child- 
 hood". Here it was on "Lovers' Lane" that he courted one 
 of the most beautiful girls of the city of his temporary 
 adoption. The memorial will take the form of a statue, 
 to be erected on "Lovers' Lane", of the never to be for- 
 gotten "Little Boy Blue", who was the subject of one of 
 his most touching and exquisite poems. Here, travelers of 
 the not far distant future will find this same "Little Boy 
 Blue" reunited with his "Little Toy Dog" and "Little 
 Toy Soldier" under the tall maples that shade the "Lovers' 
 Lane" in old St. "Jo". 
 
 The verses of Eugene Field have the rare quality 
 coming closer to the heart of the reader than perhaps 
 those of any other poet that this country has produced. 
 They appeal to the very best in human nature. While his 
 fame will doubtlessly endure longer as the poet of child- 
 hood, his versatility was far greater than the average 
 reader would be likely to know. His translations of 
 Horace's Odes have been greatly admired by scholars 
 both here and abroad. On the other hand his idylls of 
 Western life were inimitable. 
 
 Generally speaking however, when the name of Eugene 
 
 [130] 
 
Field is mentioned, one's thoughts instinctively turn to 
 the nursery, the home, the fireside, the wife, the mother 
 and the little ones who gather round her knee. He cast 
 a halo over the home and its most sacred influences, that 
 was as pure and soft as a mother's prayer. In his songs 
 of the cradle and the hearth stone he evoked memories 
 that made men better, gentler and more unselfish. His 
 work formed a bulwark against pessimism and against 
 those who would belittle the influence of a happy family 
 life. Doubtless some of his lullabies will be sung when 
 his name has been lost in the deepening mist of the passing 
 of the years. 
 
 Though Field attended for very brief periods of time 
 Williams, Amherst, and the University of Missouri, never- 
 theless, by reason of his two years' attendance at Knox 
 College, from 1869 to 1871, his real Alma Mater may 
 be said to have been Knox College. 
 
 One of the most frequent mistakes committed by grad- 
 uate writers dealing with students' life at Knox, is to 
 attempt to glorify their Alma Mater by referring to the 
 wholly unimportant fact, that certain temporary lumi- 
 naries in the outside world, attended classes at Knox for 
 a term or possibly a year. With some few notable excep- 
 tions, no one of these "future greats" ever stayed long 
 enough at Knox, either to derive any benefit therefrom 
 themselves or to add in the most infinitesimal degree to 
 the true stature of the college itself. So far as Knox was 
 concerned, they were colorless nonentities. 
 
 Why then, the reader may ask, is a whole chapter 
 devoted to a man who only spent two college years at 
 Knox College? Two satisfactory answers may be made 
 to the above question: First, Eugene Field in later life 
 
 [131] 
 
became a real and permanent star in the literary firma- 
 ment. Secondly, the career of Field, even though limited 
 to two years at Knox was so full of extraordinary ac- 
 tivity along extra-curricular lines, that he deserves the 
 title of being the greatest of all the "play-boys" who ever 
 attended Knox College. 
 
 The individual who was responsible for the presence 
 of Eugene Field at Knox College was John W. Burgess, 
 the famous Teacher, Writer and Philosopher, who founded 
 the School of Political Science at Columbia University. 
 The installation of Professor Burgess in the chair of 
 Rhetoric and English Literature at Knox College, was 
 due wholly to the insight and educational vision of one 
 of the very few great presidents of Knox College — John 
 W. Gulliver. Dr. Gulliver possessed what many of the 
 other presidents of Knox lacked: That is, distinguished 
 ancestry, a splendid family and cultural background, a 
 superior education and a clear vision as to what a college 
 should be, that was fifty years ahead of his time. It was 
 the persistent urging and the strong personality of John 
 W. Gulliver that induced Professor Burgess to withdraw 
 permanently from the practice of law at Amherst, Massa- 
 chusetts, and devote his life to undergraduate and post- 
 graduate teaching. The decision so made, was fortunate 
 for Knox College and still more so for the educational 
 interests of the country at large. 
 
 Field's ancestors were Vermonters by birth. They 
 were of a militant type, who not only failed to get along 
 well with their neighbors, but were constantly in the 
 courts fighting among themselves. Eugene Field's father 
 and his uncle, Charles F. Field, were in constant litiga- 
 tion with their father, General Martin Field. The Ver- 
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
mont reports of the first half of the nineteenth century 
 are filled with reports of litigation in which the Fields 
 were engaged. 
 
 The father of Eugene Field was Roswell Field who 
 attended Middlebury College at Middlebury, Vermont, 
 where he was the plague of the faculty and the des- 
 pair of his distinguished father, General Martin Field. 
 Eugene Field's father and uncle, after leaving col- 
 lege, commenced the practice of law in the law office 
 of their father, General Field, at Newfane, Vermont. 
 Well founded tradition has it that it was the custom of 
 the two Field boys, Roswell and Charles, to each day 
 peruse the register of new cases kept by their father. 
 With the information thus gained, they would forthwith 
 go out and interview the defendants therein and offer to 
 represent them without charge. When these cases came 
 on for trial, they were accustomed to address their father 
 in open court as "our learned but erring brother in the 
 law." 
 
 Field is best known as a poet, particularly those poems 
 dealing with childhood. It is not generally known that 
 he was a master of satire as well as the possessor of an 
 exquisite vein of humor. 
 
 Mr. Slason Thompson in his Life of Eugene Field, 
 gives two illustrations of the matters above referred to 
 which are worthy of reproduction here. 
 
 The good people of Vermont have not forgotten even 
 to this day the article which Field wrote and published 
 in one of the Chicago papers that reads as follows : 
 
 "The Vermont papers agree that Aldace Wal- 
 ker is the very best man for the Interstate Com- 
 merce Commission. This may be true. At the 
 
 [133] 
 
same time we fail to see what interest Vermont can 
 possibly take in interstate commerce. She has no 
 commerce of her own and she probably never will 
 have. There is a bobbin factory at Williamsville 
 and a melodeon factory at Brattleboro, bnt the 
 commerce resulting from them is not worthy of 
 mention. There is talk about the maple sugar that 
 Vermont exports, but we have noticed that all the 
 "genuine Vermont" maple sugar in the western 
 market comes from the south, and is about as suc- 
 culent as the peel of a gumboot. In all the State 
 of Vermont there is but one railroad, the Vermont 
 Central. It begins at Grouts Corner, Massachu- 
 setts, and runs in a bee line north until it reaches 
 the southern end of the Montreal Bridge. * * * 
 Burlington is located on Lake Champlain and con- 
 tains the summer residence of that grand survivor 
 of the glacial period, George F. Edmunds. Thus 
 in a brief paragraph have we compressed all that 
 can be said of the commerce and railways of 
 Vermont." 
 
 As substantiating the statement that Field was pos- 
 sessed of an exquisite vein of genuine humor, attention is 
 called to a bit of verse which he wrote on the fly leaf of 
 a book in a book shop, which he greatly wished to pur- 
 chase, but was unable to do so at the moment because of 
 lack of funds. This verse read as follows: 
 
 "Swete friend for Jesus's sake forbeare, 
 To buy ye boke thou findest here, 
 For that, when I do get ye pelf, 
 I mean to buy ye boke my selfe." 
 
 [ 134 ] 
 
It is needless to remark that the book was set aside 
 for Field and he afterwards purchased it. 
 
 As illustrative of Eugene Field's peculiar vein of wit 
 and humor, no better example can possibly be given than 
 the following: While associated with a Chicago news- 
 paper, he published the following choice bit of up-to-date 
 news: 
 
 "The oldest horse in Chicago works for the Lake View 
 Street Car Company and was present at the battle of 
 Marathon in 490 B. C." Someone has said that Field 
 would have been a boy at eighty had he lived that long. 
 
 Eugene Field was unquestionably the greatest and 
 most inveterate "playboy" that ever attended Knox Col- 
 lege. Solomon B. Griff en of the Springfield Republican, 
 wrote of Field as follows: "It was not remarkable that 
 a college faculty should be mindful of the lawless, irrespon- 
 sible boy, and not of the genius that developed on its own 
 lines and was never conventionalized but always remained 
 a sinner however brilliant and a flayer of good nor un- 
 blessed with a savory sense of humor." 
 
 John W. Burgess, who has already been referred to 
 as one of the most distinguished students of comparative 
 constitutional law this country has ever produced, was 
 born in Tennessee, August 26, 1844. He graduated from 
 Amherst College in 1867 and was admitted to the 
 Massachusetts Bar in 1869. Through the efforts of Dr. 
 Gnlliver, the then President of Knox College, he was, 
 in 1869, induced to accept an appointment for the Chair 
 of Logic, Rhetoric, English Literature and Political 
 Science at Knox College. At that time, every professor 
 in Knox College was presumed to be competent to teach 
 any and all branches of knowledge. 
 
 [135] 
 
Professor Burgess' official relationship to Eugene 
 Field arose from the fact that Roswell M. Field, the father 
 of Eugene Field, who was then a distinguished member 
 of the Bar at St. Louis, Missouri, on his death in the 
 spring of 1869, made Professor Burgess the Testamentary 
 Guardian of Eugene Field. This was done without con- 
 sulting Professor Burgess. As a matter of fact, Professor 
 Burgess was only six years older than Eugene Field when 
 he was appointed his Testamentary Guardian. 
 
 At the time of the elder Field's death, Eugene Field 
 was living at Amherst, Massachusetts and had just 
 finished his freshman year at Amherst College. 
 
 When Roswell M. Field, the father of Eugene Field, 
 died, Professor Burgess had already accepted his appoint- 
 ment to teach at Knox College. What steps should he 
 take in order to carry out the duties of his testamentary 
 appointment as guardian of Eugene Field, were a problem 
 which Professor Burgess asserted was one that he found 
 difficult to solve. Of one thing he was certain, and 
 that was that it was absolutely essential that he keep 
 Eugene Field at all times near to his person. So, as he 
 expressed it, he took Field with him to Galesburg because 
 he did not dare leave him behind. Field had already 
 established his reputation at Amherst as a very difficult 
 student to handle. 
 
 When in the summer of 1869 Professor Burgess sug- 
 gested to Field that he go with him to Galesburg and 
 enter himself as a Sophomore at Knox College, he met 
 the suggestion with great enthusiasm. It was perfectly 
 evident that he regarded this jaunt to Galesburg as 
 nothing more or less than a joy ride. Thus it was that 
 in the fall of 1869, Eugene Field entered the Sophomore 
 class at Knox College. 
 
 [136] 
 
According to Professor Burgess, there were only two 
 studies in which his "harum scarum" ward was interested. 
 These were Latin and Declamation. During the recitation 
 period, he was fertile in inventing devices to interrupt 
 the usual placid current of the occasion. He seemed to 
 regard this period as a field for the exercise of a festive 
 and fertile imagination that was almost diabolic in 
 character. Field was always clean-shaven and well 
 dressed. He had an uncanny ability to contort his face 
 into any conceivable form when he wanted to indulge in 
 mimicry. Early upon his arrival at Knox, he had organ- 
 ized a congenial group of liars, which was the forerunner 
 of the famous "Saint and Sinners Club" which he formed 
 in Chicago. College life to him was a huge joke. Almost 
 from the moment of his arrival at Knox he became a 
 leader among the more wordly members of his class. 
 
 By reason of these facts, Eugene Field was con- 
 stantly in hot water with the Knox professors. Two years 
 of Field's attendance at classroom work was more than 
 enough for the faculty of Knox College. He was not 
 expelled from Knox at the termination of his Sophomore 
 year, but he was informed that his period of usefulness 
 at that institution had terminated. Therefore, he simply 
 faded from the college picture and went to join his brother 
 Roswell at the University of Missouri. 
 
 The writer of this book, as part of the requirements 
 for the obtaining of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
 from Columbia University attended lectures for two years 
 at Columbia given by Professor Burgess on the subject 
 of Constitutional Law. During this period Professor 
 Burgess and the writer had many conversations dealing 
 with Professor Burgess' experiences in Galesburg as a 
 member of the Knox College faculty. 
 
 [137] 
 
Professor Burgess made the following illuminating 
 statements with regard to the character and personality 
 of Eugene Field. He stated that he was gifted with a 
 resonant, sympathetic voice, and was a singer of more 
 than average ability. Physically he was not strong, and 
 as a youth had developed a tendency towards tuberculosis. 
 He was also an adept caricaturist, and was exceedingly 
 gifted in the use of pen and pencil along these lines. 
 
 Field was a tall gangling youth when he came to Knox 
 in the fall of 1869. He was six feet tall, had innocent, 
 almost cherubic blue eyes, and at that time was possessed 
 with a head of very fine brown hair, which gave no pre- 
 monition of the baldness which was his in later years. 
 He had a mole on his left cheek. Field smoked cigars, 
 but did not touch liquor during his college days at Knox. 
 Eugene Field was by nature and disposition ideally suited 
 to be a comedian on the stage. He could mold his face 
 at will. It may be stated without qualification that Field 
 had no veneration for any living man. He was a genial, 
 sportive, sing-songing youth and a natural leader, wher- 
 ever he happened to be. He was the sort who likes to 
 umpire a game of ball, but not to play it. 
 
 It may be stated without fear of contradiction, that 
 Field was a genius only along his favorite lines of thought 
 and action. Field himself stated that he disliked all ex- 
 ercise and played all games indifferently. He liked box- 
 ing, but could never take the punishment that went with 
 it. He seemed to have a physical antipathy to personal 
 participation in anything involving bodily danger or 
 violence. Field possessed wit, but had no reverence for 
 conventionalities of either college or society. He was a 
 real terror to professors at Knox who had never looked 
 upon his like before. 
 
 [138] 
 
Eugene was an inattentive, indifferent student. His 
 college poetry was strange to say, execrable, and gave no 
 promise of his really marvellous poetic gifts. 
 
 Strange indeed that Field was never recognized in 
 college as possessing the budding promise that is better 
 worth cultivating than the mediocrity of the deadly dull 
 youths, who pursue with monotonous regularity the tread- 
 mill that leads to a degree. 
 
 Field was big-eyed and gawky. While at Knox, if 
 anything went wrong with "Gene," Professor Burgess 
 was sure to hear about. Everyone seemed to look upon 
 the guardian as the personal guarantor of irreproachable 
 conduct on the part of the "ward." The fundamental 
 defect in Eugene Field's character was that he had no 
 reverence for either God or man. No better evidence of 
 this fact can be offered than by an incident that occurred 
 when Field was just a youth of eighteen. He had just 
 entered the Freshman class of Williams during the ad- 
 ministration of President Mark Hopkins. 
 
 There was a professor in Williams at that time by the 
 name of Franklin Carter, who subsequently became the 
 president of the institution. Field accosted him one day 
 by saying to him that he had always wanted to meet him, 
 for he regarded him as one of the greatest benefactors 
 of the human race. In what way? queried the surprised 
 professor, trying his best to conceal his pleasure. "Well," 
 said Field, "It was on account of your marvellous medic- 
 inal remedy known as Carter's Liver Pills." It is need- 
 less to say that Eugene failed to make a hit with the 
 learned professor of Latin at Williams. 
 
 Dr. Burgess in his fascinating autobiography entitled, 
 "Reminiscences of an American Scholar" has this to say 
 
 [139] 
 
of President John P. Gulliver and of his ward, Eugene 
 Field, who accompanied him to Galesburg. 
 
 "In the early summer of the year 1869 I was admitted 
 to the Bar of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. It was 
 my intention, after a little summer rest, to continue prac- 
 tice in Springfield, Massachusetts. At this time I met 
 President John P. Gulliver of Knox College at Gales- 
 burg, Illinois, who was in search of a professor in history 
 and political economy in that institution. He had just 
 been at Amherst to secure the recommendation of a 
 proper incumbent for the place from Professor Seelye, 
 who most kindly recommended me. When President 
 Gulliver invited me to take this position, I felt a great 
 aversion to interrupting my legal career which already 
 had something of promise to it, but Professor Seelye 
 seconded President Gulliver's proposition so heartily and 
 urgently that I finally gave way and accepted the work. 
 
 On my arrival at Galesburg, Illinois, I found two other 
 Amherst graduates there, namely, Henry M. Tyler and 
 John H. Eastman. They were teachers of Greek in the 
 institution. Besides these three new members of the 
 Knox Faculty from Amherst College, was a new mem- 
 ber, a professor of Latin, Dr. Pratt, brother-in-law of 
 Dr. Gulliver. * * * 
 
 It will thus be seen that the new elements introduced 
 by Dr. Gulliver practically ruled the institution, and de- 
 termined its course in the immediately following period. 
 The "hayseed" methods of the West were supplanted by 
 the new modes and manners of the East and a new era 
 in education and in society was inaugurated in Knox 
 College, and in the City of Galesburg. * * * The latter 
 was the home of Judge Charles B. Lawrence, afterwards 
 
 [140] 
 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, of the State of 
 Illinois; of Mr. Chauncey Colton, the Chief director and 
 leading man in the administration of the Chicago, Bur- 
 lington & Quincy railroad system, and of several other 
 families of culture and refinement — the Willards', the 
 Johnsons' and the Frosts'. These, with the families of the 
 College Faculty, made up the society of the city and 
 fixed the tone of thoughts and living. A very good so- 
 ciety it was, provincial of course, but natural, genuine, 
 well informed and mannered. 
 
 Dr. Gulliver, the President, was a most genial man, 
 an eloquent preacher and a sound thinker. * * * 
 
 Socially, the two years I passed at Knox College were 
 exceedingly agreeable. Educationally, I do not think I ac- 
 complished much. I was too young and my mind was 
 filled with embryonic vision. I met one disciple who has 
 always been to me a joy and a reward. He was William 
 Mackintire Salter, the now famous ethical teacher and 
 writer, one of the loveliest characters and brightest schol- 
 ars whom the world has ever produced. * * * If I 
 never did anything at Knox College beyond contributing 
 my mite to the education of Mr. Salter, I would feel that 
 I had enjoyed full compensation for all my labors there. 
 There was one other achievement of my life wrought 
 there, if a failure to do a thing successfully may ever be 
 called an achievement. It was the effort I made in fur- 
 thering the education of Eugene Field. 
 
 It was in my law student days that Eugene Field's 
 father, the noted jurist, Rosvvell M. Field, by his will, 
 placed Eugene Field in my care as his educational guar- 
 dian. I placed Eugene at Williams College, Massachu- 
 setts, in the autumn of 1868. In the mid-winter of 1868- 
 
 [141] 
 
69 I received from President Mark Hopkins, a letter re- 
 questing me to come to Williams town and take my ward, 
 Eugene Field, away from college, as he was wanted there 
 no longer. I immediately repaired to Williamstown and, 
 on one of the coldest days I ever experienced in my life, 
 met with a reception on the part of President Hopkins, 
 who made his study feel even more frosty than the summit 
 of Mt. Monadnock. I asked the President what was the 
 complaint against Eugene and he replied that Eugene 
 was a general nuisance. I had already learned enough 
 about law to press for a bill of particulars. This the 
 President could not furnish and he fell back on his 
 indictment of a general nuisance. It turned out after 
 much questioning on my part that Eugene's scholarship 
 was of the mediocre sort, but that his wit and humor 
 very often brought down his class at the expense of tne 
 teachers and that they had become restless at being made 
 ridiculous by one of their pupils. * * * 
 
 When in the late summer of 1869 I accepted the call 
 to Knox College, I determined to take my ward along 
 with me and have him finish his college education there, 
 if, indeed, he could ever finish anything. At Knox 
 College Eugene became immediately the most popular 
 man in the institution among the students. He was even 
 then an excellent writer and speaker, and had a most 
 attractive style and manner of his own in whatever he 
 did; but his biting wit and convulsing humor, too often 
 directed against his teacher, again made difficulties for 
 him and for me with the faculty. He was also exceedingly 
 popular with the girls of the Seminary connected with 
 the College and flirted with them outrageously. He was 
 never vicious nor malicious, but exceedingly witty, frivol- 
 
 [142] 
 
ous and daring. The Faculty of the Seminary, consisting 
 of ladies, was more indulgent towards Eugene Field than 
 the Faculty of the College, a fact which did not help him 
 along any with the Faculty of the College. 
 
 I was continuously in hot water with his growing 
 witticism, practical jokes and escapades, mostly innocent, 
 but greatly embarrassing and annoying. I managed, 
 however, to keep him at Knox College until near the end 
 of the two years that I was connected with it." 
 
 Some years ago Francis S. Hoffman (Knox '72) pub- 
 lished a most delightful book of reminiscences, entitled 
 "Tales of Hoffman". 
 
 In its pages will be found the following stories of the 
 life of Eugene Field at Knox. 
 
 "When I was a student at Knox College in the fall 
 of 1869, Professor John W. Burgess had just come to 
 Galesburg with his young ward, Eugene Field. They 
 occupied adjoining apartments on the second floor of a 
 boarding house in Galesburg. 
 
 The Professor soon discovered that he had about as 
 big a job on his hands to keep Eugene busy as he had to 
 keep up with his studies at the college. After having 
 exhausted all other sources at his command, he finally 
 lit on the plan of having me come down from my home 
 about a mile and a quarter out on West Main Street, 
 to be Eugene's roommate and take an all-round brotherly 
 interest in his affairs. 
 
 I took to his proposition like a duck to water. The 
 Professor was fast becoming exceedingly popular and on 
 several occasions had shown his interest in me, and I 
 naturally wanted to do anything I could for him in re- 
 turn. Furthermore, I was to have my keep for nothing, 
 
 [143] 
 
which was quite a boon to me in those days. Besides, I 
 liked Field. Everybody liked him. He was always ami- 
 able to a degree. Sometimes when I thought the Pro- 
 fessor was upbraiding him too sharply for his delinquen- 
 cies I came very near answering back in no uncertain 
 terms. Eugene, however, would readily admit every charge 
 brought against him and promise to make good the very 
 next time. 
 
 The first day I was down there the gymnasium profes- 
 sor came in during the afternoon and scolded Eugene 
 severely for making the class gymnastic drill ridiculous 
 by paying no attention to what the others were doing 
 to follow the leader. 'It is now two months', said the 
 professor, 'since we began these exercises and you have 
 no excuse whatever for not knowing them. They are al- 
 ways the same and any child can do them. You have 
 some dumbbells right here in the room. Now, go to work 
 and practice up. Hoffman will tell you when you make 
 a mistake. Don't make a fool of yourself before the 
 whole class any longer.' 
 
 That night I was suddenly aroused out of my sleep 
 about 3 :30 o'clock in the morning by an awful commo- 
 tion in the closet that separated our room from the 
 professor's. In a few seconds I heard the professor- 
 pounding vigorously on our door and calling out : 'What's 
 all this racket about in this room, disturbing the entire 
 neighborhood?' I jumped out and meekly responded 
 through the key hole: 'It's Gene, getting ready for to- 
 morrow.' 
 
 Episodes like the above were occurring every few 
 days. Those who were students at Knox during Pro- 
 fessor Burgess' stay will recall that he had a class in 
 
 [144] 
 
elocution which, required the pupils to go through a lot 
 of gymnastic exercises for the training of the lips in easy 
 and distinct enunciation. One day the professor severely 
 reprimanded Eugene before the class for his many ab- 
 sences and his lack of interest in the subject When he 
 got back to his room Field took up the practice of these 
 exercises with great assiduity. Many a time he got up 
 in the night, slipped into the closet and went through 
 the whole list with uncommon vigor. 
 
 Tutor Eastman was our instructor in Latin in those 
 days. The literal truth requires me to confess that to 
 my best recollection Eugene did not display any of the 
 remarkable facility in the use of the Latin language that 
 was attributed to him in later years. Wherever he rode 
 to victory in that class, he was almost sure to be riding 
 on some borrowed horse. 
 
 It was one of my duties to get him to the class and give 
 him a few points on the lesson of the day when he was 
 likely to be called up. He knew nothing about the gram- 
 mar of the language. If you gave him the meaning of 
 two or there of the principal words in a passage he would 
 sometimes make a translation of it that could not be 
 surpassed. 
 
 It was generally supposed in those days that Eugene 
 would shortly become the heir to a large fortune. At any 
 rate he was far and away the richest boy in college. But 
 Eugene never seemed to have anything on hand when he 
 wanted it. One night when I was getting into bed, so 
 sleepy that I could hardly undress myself, he suddenly 
 turned to me and said: "Hoffy, lend me 15 cents ?" I re- 
 plied: "Don't believe I have it, Gene. Anyhow, I'm too 
 tired to hunt for it now." Thereupon he went into the 
 
 [145] 
 
hall with it in his hand and began rapping with great 
 vigor on the professor's bedroom door. Soon I heard 
 the professor's feet strike the floor with violence, as he 
 jumped out of bed and rushed out to see what was the 
 matter. As he opened the door Eugene exclaimed with 
 great agitation: "Hoffy has not got his lessons for to- 
 morrow. Neither have I. The oil in our lamp is getting 
 low. Can't you give me a quarter to get this can re- 
 filled?" Presently the needed coin struck the hall floor 
 with a bang and Eugene went off down stairs with it and 
 out into the street in triumph. 
 
 The next day I called Field's attention to the fact that 
 the can did not seem to have any more oil in it than 
 it did when he started out with it, and he said to me: 
 a As I was coming along the street in front of the house 
 last night, I stubbed my toe and a lot of the oil must have 
 fallen out on the pavement." 
 
 I am thoroughly convinced that there is good ground 
 for the story circulated later that when Field came to 
 Denver with his wife and four children to earn his living 
 as a writer on one of the daily papers, his oldest child 
 gave it as her text of Scripture the first day she went 
 to Sunday School in that city, "The Lord will Provide, 
 My Father Can't." 
 
 Whatever may be said about Field's occasional short- 
 comings and irregularities, he certainly was not an idler 
 or a dissipated fellow. I never saw him take anything 
 in those days stronger than beer. My constant criticism 
 of him was that he spent altogether too much time reading 
 and scribbling in his room. 
 
 During the fall term he composed several sermonettes 
 that he held in high esteem. The one on "The Patience 
 
 [146] 
 
of Job" he was especially fond of. Job was by far his 
 favorite of all Bible heroes. He thought that any man 
 that could stand as much mauling by his friends as Job 
 did and keep his temper deserved to be immortalized. 
 Many a time Field said to me : "Hoffy, I'll give you any- 
 thing you ask for if you will get me a chance to preach 
 my sermon on Job in some of the country school houses 
 around here." 
 
 By far the most vivid of all recollections of Eugene 
 Field at Knox is connected with the commencement ex- 
 ercises in the old First Church that year. It was then 
 the custom of the college to select four sophomores to 
 deliver declamations in the church on Monday evening. 
 It was a very popular exercise and the townspeople turned 
 out in full force. Eugene was chosen for one of the 
 declamations and so was I. Notwithstanding the fact 
 that it was one of the hottest nights in June that Gales- 
 burg had ever experienced, the church was crowded. The 
 declaimers were put in the amen corner and nearby was 
 a large open window. 
 
 Eugene was the first one called up and he came on the 
 platform in a full claw-hammer dress suit, and with a 
 large American beauty rose in his buttonhole. His sub- 
 ject was "Sparticus to the Gladiators." He had by nature 
 a deep sonorous voice and great dramatic power. He 
 thrilled the audience with every passage. Sparticus him- 
 self would have been envious of him. Every eye in the 
 house was upon him as he strode up and down the stage. 
 When he finished the rounds of applause continued so 
 long that he had to arise twice from his seat in our pew 
 to acknowledge the compliment. 
 
 I was the next boy on the program. My subject was 
 
 [147] 
 
"The Dignity of Labor." About half an hour after the 
 speaking was over, an elderly gentleman worked his way 
 down the center aisle and mounted the platform. He 
 began his address by giving long drawn-out reasons why 
 he could not give the prize to the first speaker. He ad- 
 mitted that the young man had a fine voice and fully 
 entered into the spirit of his selection, but a pulpit plat- 
 form was not a theatrical stage or an appropriate place 
 to urge people on to gladiatorial combats. Then he took 
 up the second speaker. He dilated at length on the 
 absurdity of a mere boy in his teens trying to ape a gray- 
 haired statesman from Massachusetts, addressing his 
 colleagues in the quiet and dignified surroundings of the 
 Senate of the United States. 
 
 While he was still emphasizing his point, with copious 
 illustrations, Gene gave me a violent nudge in the ribs 
 and whispered, "Come on." Thereupon he jumped up on 
 the cushion of our pew, made a plunge for the open win- 
 dow and disappeared. I followed suit. The next day 
 we were told that it took several minutes after our exit 
 for our learned friend to get his bearings, finish his speech 
 and name the winner of the prize, because of the uproar 
 that ensued. 
 
 James J. Parks of the class of '72, has written the fol- 
 lowing interesting bit of reminiscence of Eugene Field's 
 life at Knox: 
 
 "Galesburg, Illinois, is and always has been inhabited 
 by very loyal citizens. Therefore, when the first Decoration 
 Day was to be observed, the city arranged to have ex- 
 ercises in the cemetery in the afternoon with music and 
 addresses by prominent citizens. 
 
 "The students of Knox College, like all loyal students, 
 
 [148] 
 
tried to get the faculty to give them a holiday on Decora- 
 tion Day, but only partially succeeded as the afternoon 
 was granted the students but not the forenoon. 
 
 "This was before the days of lawn mowers, when grass 
 was allowed to grow a few inches high and then cut with 
 scythes and sickles and raked up in piles to be hauled 
 away. The grass in the cemetery was therefore cut with 
 scythes and sickles and piled up ready for the Decoration 
 Day exercises in the afternoon. Eugene Field was then 
 a student of Knox College and in the cemetery seated 
 on one of these mounds of hay was a classmate of his and 
 a young lady from Knox Seminary. Field with some other 
 college boys stopped and made some remarks and passed 
 on, the incident not being noticed and soon forgotten. 
 
 "It chanced that this student was to preside at the 
 next literary meeting of the Adelphi Society and Field 
 was on the program for an essay. When the time came 
 for Field to read his essay, the presiding officer called his 
 name and said that now we Avould hear from Mr. Field. 
 He walked out into the middle of the floor and made his 
 bow and said, that what he had to say was from a con- 
 versation which the chairman of the meeting had with 
 a young lady in the cemetery on Decoration Day. This 
 is what he said : 
 
 'She and I were sitting one bright summer day, 
 Talking, laughing merrily, upon a mound of hay, 
 She proposed to him with a twinkle in her eye, 
 Why are you like this mound of hay 
 
 Because you are so dry. 
 Why ! I cried in answer, springing to my feet, 
 Are you too, like this mound of hay 
 
 Because you are so sweet! 
 
 [149] 
 
"Field made his bow and took his seat and of course 
 the members present had a good laugh at the expense 
 of the chairman. 
 
 "So far as is remembered by his fellow classmates, 
 this is the first deliverance in verse that Field delivered 
 while he was at Knox." 
 
 Professor Henry W. Kead (Knox '75 ) has contrib- 
 uted the following sketch to the memorabilia of Eugene 
 Field's life at Knox : 
 
 "During my attendance at Knox College, I attended 
 a recitation in Virgil wherein Professor Llewellen Pratt 
 was the teacher. After roll call he called the students 
 one after another to stand and translate. This was done 
 by most of them in a stumbling and halting manner, but 
 when he called Eugene Field, I listened with both ears. 
 It was that passage in Book First where Venus in disguise 
 speaks to Aeneas and his followers : 'Ho, young men, tell 
 me if by chance you have seen any one of my sisters 
 wandering here?' Field had a musical voice and a pleas- 
 ing personality, and he recited with smoothness and an 
 unction quite different from the rest, even to my un- 
 trained ear. If Virgil were all like that, I thought I 
 should like it. 
 
 "In the middle of the term it was learned that at the 
 regular Wednesday night meeting of the Adelphi Society, 
 "Truthful Jim Parks' and Eugene Field were to give a 
 sketch called 'Handy Andy.' Of course, I went, and of 
 course, it was uproariously and immensely funny, in 
 which Field was the clown. When the class finished the 
 reading of 'Livy' they buried him. It was a burlesque 
 of an ancient funeral, highly sacrilegious and very funny. 
 The ceremony took place at night by a camp fire on the 
 
 [150] 
 
campus. There was a procession, headed by a long-robed 
 priest, and a mob of fantastic followers who carried an 
 image on a bier to be cremated. Eugene Field read the 
 funeral hymn. It began: 
 
 'The college bell will summon us 
 No more to thee, thou tough old cuss ' 
 
 "The priest lined out the hymn, which was then sung 
 to a tune more loud than charming. Meanwhile, from 
 time to time the devil dashed out of the dark with a pitch- 
 fork, trying to snatch away the body, but was repulsed 
 by the valiant defenders. The devil was Field himself, 
 with imps, horns and a long tail, which proved to be an 
 effective weapon of offense and defense, especially the 
 former. Indeed, it was quite offensive. No wonder the 
 faculty said, when they learned about the affair, 'Young 
 men, let this be the last time,' and it was. 
 
 "In my brother's Latin prose composition book, this 
 inscription was made in pencil one day in the recitation 
 hour: 
 
 'Dear Charles, 
 
 When this you see, remember me. 
 
 Your talented and pious friend 
 
 Eugene Field/ 
 
 "I have often pondered the question as to whether it 
 is possible that the man who wrote such exquisite verses 
 in later years was the same whom I knew so many years 
 ago, jolly, irrepressible genius, full of fun, mischief and 
 frivolity. 
 
 [ 151 ] 
 
"My conclusion is that the little great things in this 
 world consist of pathos and simplicity, compounded by 
 genius, and the mystery of Eugene Field is solved by the 
 discovery of the psychologists that the fountain of 
 laughter lies close to the fountain of tears." 
 
 Mr. J. L. Pierce (ex-'72 at Knox) wrote the following 
 account of Eugene Field's career at Knox, which appeared 
 in the Knox Alumnus in March 1937 : 
 
 "When I was sixteen, father sent me to school at 
 Galesburg, my first year being in Knox Academy, in the 
 preparatory department for college. We were called first 
 preps. Professor Churchill, the Principal of the Academy, 
 was a wonderful teacher, and as a man had the love and 
 respect of the entire school. 
 
 "Eugene Field was a student at Knox at this time, 
 and a junior. One term he roomed at the dormitory, and 
 how we younger boys delighted in going to his room; he 
 taught me my first game of cards, either euchre or high- 
 low jack. I've forgotten which. 
 
 "Some of us younger boys gave vent to our exuberance 
 of spirits at times, indulging in college pranks, which 
 seemed very funny to us then. 
 
 "One event along this line I cannot well forget — when 
 our class burned Titus Livy. The most of us detested this 
 Latin author, and at the close of the term, we decided to 
 burn Livy, to have a grand funeral pyre. In order to do 
 this, we first constructed a life-size corpse, getting suit- 
 able clothes for that purpose and then stuffing them with 
 paper, hay, and straw. Then we took several weeks in 
 getting ready for the occasion, by begging, borrowing, 
 and buying boxes and barrels, among the latter, some tar 
 
 [152] 
 
and kerosene barrels. These we hid in Bergen's ('74) 
 barn. At last the night came, and with all of us in masks 
 we proceeded to build our wonderful bonfire. It took 
 some ladders to carry up those boxes and barrels and 
 to deposit the effigy of Livy on top of the pile. As soon 
 as we lighted the fire, with the devil leading us, we started 
 our funeral procession, singing the dirge, composed by 
 Eugene Field for the occasion. The first stanza was: 
 
 'Oh! Titus Livy, art thou dead? 
 Oh, Auctor misere. 
 And hast thou now to Hades fled? 
 Nos deploramus te. 
 
 "We did not finish singing the dirge. The fire was a 
 larger matter than we realized, and soon the police and 
 fire departments were on the scene. The fire soon was 
 extinguished. Several trees in the park were badly 
 scorched, but no other serious damage done. 
 
 "The next day the class was before the faculty and 
 severely lectured. Fortunately, as we thought, for us 
 President Gulliver's son, Will, was the leader in the 
 obsequies, representing the devil himself, having been 
 dressed in scarlet tights, with the usual horns and tail 
 of the evil one." 
 
 One of the cronies of Field during his sojourn at Knox 
 was George A. Lawrence of the class of 1875. In an 
 article written by Emmett Smith (Knox '31 ), (first 
 printed in the Siwash Magazine and afterwards reprinted 
 in the Knox Alumnus in April, 1931), there appears to 
 the author unmistakable evidence that the main source 
 of the entertaining information therein contained, was 
 obtained from the genial George Lawrence himself. 
 
 [153] 
 
An article appeared in the Knox Alumnus for April, 
 1931, entitled "Field at Knox." In this article will be 
 found certain stories of Eugene Field which unques- 
 tionably emanated from George A. Lawrence, who with 
 Francis Hoffman and James J. Parks, were the three 
 most intimate friends of Eugene Field during his one 
 year and a half attendance at Knox College. The in- 
 cidents thus obtained are given in the article as follows: 
 
 "The following curious incidents of his life at Knox 
 illustrate how full was his head of romantic ideas. He 
 had a very special desire to emulate the example of his 
 greatly admired father by winning renown as an ardent 
 lover. For the elder Field, as a budding lawyer in his 
 native town of Newfane, Vermont, had suddenly taken 
 captive the heart of a young girl, and the two had been 
 hastily married by a clandestine marriage, though the 
 bride, at the time, was engaged to be married to another 
 man, who had the approval of her parents. The incensed 
 relatives of the girl brought about the separation of the 
 runaway couple and forced the young lady to marry 
 illegally the man of their choice. Field carried the matter 
 into court, demanding that his wife be restored to him. 
 Brilliantly and relentlessly he conducted a remarkable 
 series of suits which made the case celebrated throughout 
 New England. The final decision of the court was not 
 favorable and he soon moved to St. Louis where he later 
 married happily. In his romantic fervor to do something 
 equally as noteworthy Eugene began to make violent love 
 to the very young daughter of a Knox professor. The 
 startled maiden promptly told her parents, who as 
 promptly shut her up at home and warned the ardent 
 young Romeo off the premises. Thus was Field's experi- 
 
 [154] 
 
mental romance effectually squelched in its preliminary 
 stage. 
 
 Another story showing the young poet's sense of humor 
 in a good light is that concerning the "counter-irritant." 
 A spell-binding revivalist was conducting a series of meet- 
 ings in Galesburg during the winter and these services 
 were causing a great to-do about the town. Both students 
 and towns people were becoming strongly attracted and 
 aroused. In fact, it seemed to Field, the peaceful, every- 
 day life of the community was being disturbed too much. 
 He concocted in short order what he called a "counter- 
 irritant." 
 
 He secured yards of loud, patterned calicos and had 
 made outlandish robes and hoods. Gathering together a 
 number of his fellows in a secluded place he dressed them 
 in the gowns and caps. Then with great solemnity they 
 proceeded to chant a litany written by Field and said 
 to have been rather profane. Those who took part in 
 the affair enjoyed it tremendously and thought it served 
 the purpose well. 
 
 Field once wrote for the "Galesburg Free Press" an 
 account of the rendition of the cantata of Esther given 
 by the Philharmonic Club, an organization mostly of 
 Knox faculty members. He described the sensation of 
 the Abingdon people caused by the Knox College faculty 
 appearing arrayed in oriental costumes. Special mention 
 was made of the shapely shanks of some of the faculty 
 ladies and how the inhabitants fled to the woods, but were 
 reassembled and reassured. The concluding paragraph, 
 as recalled by Mr. George A. Lawrence who was close to 
 the Field in Knox and in later years, read as follows: 
 "Emboldened by their success at Abingdon, and Itewanee, 
 
 [155] 
 
where the 'show' was also given, it was understood they 
 are planning shortly to produce a cantata to be called 
 Adam and Eve, also in the original costume." 
 
 This finishes the reminiscences of Eugene Field's life 
 at Knox College. The preparation of this chapter has 
 not been in vain, if the reader has thereby gained a real 
 insight into the lovable character of the "playboy of 
 the ages." 
 
 [156] 
 
Portrait of Charles W. Martin and the Author, 
 Taken on the Steps of "Old Main" in June, 1936. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Story of an Uncalendared Holiday at Knox. 
 
 No Knox graduate of the early eighties can ever forget 
 certain events of the late spring of 1884, which occurred in 
 the community founded by George W. Gale and his able 
 associates nearly a century ago. 
 
 Life at Knox in the late winter and early spring of 
 1884 had been peculiarly uneventful, as well as colorless in 
 the extreme. During that period the work in the college 
 classrooms had droned on as of yore. Notwithstanding 
 this fact, in many quarters the urge for knowledge was 
 at such a low ebb, that an atmosphere of intellectual 
 lethargy pervaded those cloistered retreats supposed to 
 be dedicated to the development of a future brain trust. 
 Many of the more turbulent spirits in the academic fold 
 were hoping for the happening of some unheralded event, 
 which might afford them at least some temporary relief 
 from the unceasing grind of classroom work. This hope, 
 which springs eternal in the student breast, was destined 
 in a most mysterious way, about to be realized. 
 
 At this point we must briefly digress for the purpose 
 of putting the reader in touch with certain events which 
 had occurred during the year immediately preceding the 
 events about to be herein related. 
 
 On April 3rd, 1883, an oratorical contest had been held, 
 participated in by six members of the Senior and Junior 
 classes at Knox. This had been won by one of the 
 Juniors, Charles T. Wyckoff, who had chosen as the 
 subject for his oration "Judas Iscariot." Mr. Wyckoff 
 
 [159] 
 
was thereafter chosen to represent Knox at the Illinois 
 Intercollegiate contest, which was held at Kockfordj, 
 Illinois, the following fall. Here again the Knox orator 
 was again victorious over eight other contestants, having 
 given once again his remarkable oration on "Judas Iscar- 
 iot." This entitled him to represent the State of Illinois 
 at the Interstate Oratorical Contest to be held at Iowa 
 City, Iowa, on May 1st, 1884, wherein seven states were 
 to be represented by their chosen orators. By the time 
 that the evening of the day of the oratorical contest had 
 arrived, the interest of the students in the outcome thereof 
 was at a fever heat. Greatly beloved as was Mr. Wyckoff 
 by his fellow-students at Knox, it was to be expected 
 that some plans should be made to celebrate the hoped for 
 victory at Iowa City. This took the form of an agree- 
 ment that the male students of the college should assemble 
 as a body at the Galesburg railroad station about 9 P. M. 
 of May 1st, 1884, and there await the receipt of a telegram 
 anonuncing the result of the contest at Iowa City, in 
 which Charles T. Wyckoff was to represent Knox College, 
 by delivering his now famous oration on "Judas Iscariot." 
 
 Let us now take up once more the main thread of this 
 amazing interlude in Knox student life: 
 
 The evening of May 1st, 1884, was a balmy moonlight 
 night. The hour of 9 P. M. of that day found some hundred 
 or more Knox students occupying a fair portion of the 
 Galesburg depot. In order to while away the tedious 
 hours that might intervene before word was received 
 from their orator at Iowa City, the students undertook 
 without invitation to entertain the waiting passengers of 
 the railroad there assembled with a program of college 
 songs. The selections were of a choice order, the melody 
 
 [160] 
 
was excellent and the voices of the students, with some 
 few excepetions, were above the average in quality. At 
 this very hour a stray wayfarer on South Cherry Street, in 
 the goodly City of Galesburg, might have chanced to 
 observe a policeman (who will be referred to herein for 
 purposes of convenience as Officer O' Grady) standing in 
 the doorway of a saloon preparatory to making his eve- 
 ning rounds. Had anyone ventured to inquire of this 
 minion of the law as to what was his general attitude at 
 that particular moment towards life in general, the person 
 referred to, had he been better educated, might quite 
 likely have stated that he agreed perfectly with one 
 Kobert Browning in his statement that "God was in His 
 heaven and all"s right with the world." Little, however, 
 did Officer O'Grady realize that before the evening was 
 over, he would meet with his "Nemesis" in the person of 
 a student then enrolled in the Sophomore class at Knox 
 College. Just at this moment O' Grady overheard some 
 passing students mention the fact that they were bound 
 for the railroad station, where later on word would be 
 received as to the outcome of an oratorical contest to be 
 held that same evening at Iowa City. After a moment's 
 close communion with himself, Officer O' Grady commenced 
 a leisurely "trek" in the general direction of the C. B. & Q. 
 depot. As he neared that famous edifice, his ears detected 
 the sound of unwonted noises issuing from its portals. 
 
 Now, it so happened that with all the other accomplish- 
 ments with which a beneficent Maker had endowed him, 
 O' Grady was lacking in the artistic sense of appreciation 
 of vocal music. All that he grasped was that in all prob- 
 ability a band of college hoodlums was bent on disturb- 
 ing the peace and quiet of certain passengers who were 
 awaiting the arrival of incoming trains. 
 
 [161] 
 
Now, O'Grady, whether drunk or sober, was above 
 everything else a man of fearless action. He negotiated 
 successfully the crossing of the railway plaza and soon 
 arrived in the waiting room of the station. He found 
 there plenty of company — some congenial — but others, be 
 it said, distinctly distasteful to an officer of the law. It 
 is needless to say that the unwelcome element was com- 
 posed exclusively of Knox College students. 
 
 At the very moment that the officer entered the sta- 
 tion, the students were giving their inimitable interpreta- 
 tion of the good old college classic, "Mary Had a Little 
 Lamb." The rendering of this song, while it seemed to 
 be a source of pleasure to the waiting passengers, found 
 no favor in the protruding ears of Officer O'Grady. In 
 stentorian tones he ordered the members of the student 
 
 chorus to stop making so much noise. The singers, 
 
 their pride in their orchestration deeply insulted, con- 
 tinued without an exception to lift their voices in song. 
 It was fairly evident to all present that the police officer's 
 condition on the score of sobriety was such as to justify 
 the charge that he had been drinking, not wisely, but too 
 well — and often. Moreover, the liquor that he had im- 
 bibed had not increased his all too limited powers of 
 peaceful persuasion. 
 
 His next move was to order all students to leave the 
 station forthwith. This they absolutely refused to do. 
 Thereupon Officer O'Grady, filled with "Dutch courage," 
 seized upon the smallest member of the student body there 
 present — a Sophomore by the name of Charles W. Martin. 
 With a firm grip on the collar of the prisoner, he marched 
 him off to what was then known as the "city calaboose," 
 or jail. Nearly a hundred Knox students followed in the 
 
 [162] 
 
wake of 0' Grady and Martin. On that solemn march from 
 the depot to the place of incarceration, some of the more 
 impetuous members of the student body there present 
 advised that the prisoner be taken from the custody of 
 the law by forcible means. The plan, however, was 
 abandoned upon the advice of one of the students who 
 demonstrated to the others that resisting an officer in the 
 course of his duty was a very serious offense. 
 
 When O'Grady arrived at the "calaboose" with his 
 prisoner, a very clever trick was played upon certain of the 
 more enthusiastic students, who, not content with await- 
 ing developments from a safe position outside of the jail, 
 had insisted on going inside in order to make sure that 
 no harm came to the prisoner. After a dozen students had 
 been admitted to the building, the doors were fastened 
 tight, and those within were forthwith arrested and 
 charged with having disturbed the peace. The names of 
 the prisoners as given to the desk officer contained a sur- 
 prising number of "Smiths" and "Browns." One was 
 registered as "George Washington." The task of booking 
 the prisoners having been completed, the latter demanded 
 the opportunity of securing counsel and procuring bail. 
 This demand was granted and a messenger was dispatched 
 to the home of Attorney George W. Prince, himself a 
 Knox graduate, bespeaking his immediate services in a 
 most praiseworthy cause. In a very short time Mr. Prince 
 appeared and immediately furnished personal bail for all 
 the defendants, who were then forthwith released. Each 
 prisoner, as he departed, was told to appear at 9 o'clock 
 the next morning, at the office of Mr. Justice Tilden, for 
 purposes of pleading and trial. 
 
 At this point it will be necessary to digress briefly once 
 
 [163] 
 
more in order to relate a most amusing experience that 
 followed that same night close upon the discharge of the 
 students on bail. 
 
 Word had been received in the interim announcing the 
 glorious news that Mr. Charles T. Wyckoff had taken the 
 first prize at Iowa City. It had long been the custom on 
 such occasions for the student body to go en masse to the 
 home of the venerable Newton Bateman, then President 
 of Knox College, and there convey to him the pleasing 
 news of another great oratorical victory. On this par- 
 ticular occasion, owing to the overpowering excitement 
 caused by the arrest of the students, this customary 
 ceremony had been entirely omitted, if not forgotten by all, 
 with two exceptions. As a matter of fact, the announce- 
 ment of the oratorical victory to President Bateman was 
 made long after midnight at his home on the outskirts 
 of Galesburg under very extraordinary circumstances. On 
 their way home from the "calaboose," Mr. Martin and 
 the historian of this chronicle discussed the all but for- 
 gotten fact that President Bateman had not been notified 
 of Mr. Wyckoff's victory at Iowa City. 
 
 Tired and worn out as these two students were by rea- 
 son of the exciting events that had occurred that evening, 
 they nevertheless felt it to be their duty as loyal sons 
 of Knox, to make the journey by foot out to the presiden- 
 tial mansion located on the outskirts of Galesburg, even 
 though the hour then was long after midnight. So the 
 twain ran without once stopping all the way out to the 
 Bateman home. Once having arrived there, they used all 
 the breath that was left in their lungs in making breath- 
 less calls for the appearance at his bedroom window of 
 their much loved "Prexy." The latter occupied a bedroom 
 
 [164] 
 
on the second floor of his home. That night, without 
 stopping to don the habiliments of everyday life, Dr. 
 Bateman, clad only in his robe d'nuit, raised the window 
 of his bedroom and called down in stentorian tones, "Well, 
 boys, what is the news from Iowa City?" The midnight 
 messengers only had breath enough to reply, "Wyckoff 
 has taken first prize." Then the worthy doctor, resting in 
 the belief that a goodly portion of the Knox student body 
 were then standing below, called for three cheers for 
 Wyckoff. The cheers demanded were given by two all but 
 speechless Sophomores in voices that rose only slightly 
 above a whisper. The window then closed, and the cheer 
 leaders returned to the home of the writer, hoping there to 
 snatch a few hours of much needed rest. Finally both 
 fell asleep only to be awakened later on by a whispered 
 inquiry from Mr. Martin requesting the legal opinion of 
 his bedfellow as to whether he could be sent to State's 
 Prison if found guilty of the offense for which he was to 
 be tried before Mr. Justice Tilden on the morrow. After 
 having answered this question in the negative, they both 
 fell into uneasy slumbers. 
 
 Let us now portray as best we may from memory the 
 many dramatic and extremely humorous events of this 
 cause celebre in the annals of old Knox. 
 
 While the trial of the People v. Martin may not rank 
 with that of Warren Hastings, Jeanne d'Arc, Andrew 
 Johnson and Aaron Burr in historic interest, nevertheless, 
 in some respects it excelled them all. Therefore, as we 
 say in legal parlance, let us present some of the atmos- 
 phere of the trial itself. 
 
 The forensic battle that was fought out in the Gales- 
 burg Opera House on the afternoon of May 2nd, 1884, 
 
 [ 168 ] 
 
afforded a spectacle that was reminiscent of a Koman 
 holiday in the time of the Caesars. It is quite probable 
 that the humor of it all was completely lost upon the twin 
 gladiators of the occasion — Officer O'Grady and the de- 
 fendant Martin, who, as we shall see hereafter, was 
 destined to carry through life the surname of England's 
 "Iron Duke." From the beginning to the end of the trial 
 they not only scowled fiercely at each other, but in the 
 eyes of each was the fire of mortal hatred. 
 
 Strange to say, the case itself was the first one ever 
 tried by Mr. Justice Tilden, who presided over the trial. 
 At that time he certainly went through an initiation so 
 severe as to have done credit to a hard-boiled college 
 fraternity. 
 
 The complaining witness, Officer O'Grady, was a low- 
 browed Irishman, typical only of the lowest strata of that 
 splendid racial stock. He possessed neither brains nor 
 sense of humor. The defendant, Charles W. Martin, was 
 the son of one of Galesburg's highly respected citizens, 
 T. B. Martin. "Charlie" Martin, as he was known by his 
 intimates, was one of the most popular men in college. 
 He had hosts of friends and no enemies. So far as his 
 scholastic record disclosed, he had never been regarded 
 as a serious threat for valedictory honors in his class, yet 
 he possessed a wit and keen sense of humor certainly not 
 surpassed by any man among the writer's acquaintance. 
 It was not long before the entire student body — men and 
 women alike — awoke to the full possibilities of the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Before the first class had assembled for recitation on 
 the morning of May 2nd, 1884, a few of the more daring 
 spirits determined to dismiss all further thought of their 
 
 [166] 
 
classroom obligations until the fate of their accused fellow 
 students should be finally determined. By the time the 
 classes for the second morning recitation hour had arrived, 
 only the women students were in attendance at class. 
 Then it was for the first time that the professors them- 
 selves began to suspect that something extraordinary was 
 in the wind. Some of the younger members of the faculty 
 even deigned to make public inquiries as to the cause of 
 the sudden diminution in class attendance. With the 
 arrival of the third morning hour, all pretense at class 
 attendance had been abandoned, and the members of the 
 faculty then present were faced with empty benches. One 
 by one they abandoned their teaching plans for the day 
 and secretly determined to mingle with the rest of the 
 populace in attendance at the trial. 
 
 With the prospect of an "uncalendared holiday" be- 
 fore them, the entire campus was pervaded with the com- 
 forting thought that life seemed once more really worth 
 living. Indeed, there existed a firm conviction among the 
 student body that college life would approximate a period 
 of unalloyed happiness if there were only more Martins 
 in the world. 
 
 Let us now turn to a recapitulation of the details of 
 the trial of The People of the State of Illinois, Complain- 
 ant, v. Charles W. Martin, Defendant. Promptly at 
 9 o'clock of a beautiful morning in May, 1884, in the 
 diminutive office of Justice of the Peace Tilden, the trial 
 had its beginning. The sovereign State of Illinois was 
 there represented by one Fletcher Carney, City Attorney 
 of Galesburg. The defendant, Charles W. Martin, was 
 at this early stage of the proceedings represented solely 
 by Attorney George W. Prince, who later on was to be 
 
 [167] 
 
known widely as Congressman Prince. Even at this early 
 hour a sufficient number of spectators were present to fill 
 not only the tiny court room to overflowing, but also the 
 stairway and the sidewalk below. Soon the number of 
 would-be spectators increased so amazingly as to demand 
 a larger forum. 
 
 Therefore, before the trial had fairly commenced, the 
 court adjourned to meet again in the circuit court room 
 located in the temporary court house on South Cherry 
 Street. The seating capacity of this larger edifice, which 
 afforded room for some 300 persons, was immediately 
 filled by what amounted to the entire male student body 
 of Knox College. As the news of the trial filtered 
 through the city, there came a still greater demand for 
 seating space in a larger auditorium. Once more yielding 
 to public demand, Justice Tilden adjourned court from 
 the county court house to the Opera House, which had a 
 seating capacity of a thousand persons. It was in this 
 last named building that the actual trial was held on the 
 afternoon of May 2nd, 1884. Long before the noon hour 
 arrived, certain luminaries of the Galesburg Bar awoke 
 to the rare forensic possibilities afforded by the trial of 
 the pride of the House of Martin. 
 
 Early on the morning of May 2nd, 1884, one "Mike" 
 Murphy, wit extraordinary of the Galesburg Bar, learned 
 of the fact that a Knox College student by the name of 
 Martin was to be tried before Mr. Justice Tilden for dis- 
 turbing the peace. When this fact was communicated to 
 Mr. Murphy, he scented the possibility of providing some 
 real sport for his fellow members of the Bar. Probably 
 he realized that deep down in his heart every lawyer loves 
 an occasional lark mingled in with the more serious work 
 
 [168] 
 
of his profession. Moreover, the spirit of the eternal boy 
 is always abroad in the land. Knowing all this full well, 
 Murphy visited each law office in turn, informed the oc- 
 cupants of the situation and suggested that the members 
 of the Bar as a whole volunteer their services as a free 
 will gift in defense of one of the most popular students 
 at Knox. In this effort he was eminently successful. 
 
 By the time that court was ready to convene in the 
 Opera House at 2 P. M., Charles W. Martin was the proud 
 possessor — Nolens Volens — of an array of counsel that 
 would have done credit to the Standard Oil Company. It 
 falls to the lot of but few clients in this world, as it did 
 to the defendant, to have lawyers to burn. Still more 
 wonderful was the fact that their services had been offered 
 without money or reward. 
 
 It all serves to prove to the world that even the legal 
 profession has its moments of exalted altruism. But there 
 was a still deeper import to be found in the generous ac- 
 tion of the Bar on this occasion. Their action harked 
 back to the historic "Town and Gown Kiots" which had 
 occurred in England centuries before, as well as in our 
 own country at New Haven and Cambridge. Such riots 
 had been endangered by class hatred on the one side and 
 unrestrained animal spirits on the other. 
 
 When court convened on the afternoon of May 2nd, 
 not only the defendant himself, but the entire public were 
 astounded to see the larger part of the Galesburg Bar 
 march in as a body and take their places in the space 
 allotted to defense counsel. They had one and all turned 
 aside from the regular routine of their law practice for 
 the day in order that the Bar as a body might enjoy a 
 
 [169] 
 
"Roman holiday" at the expense of the martyr in chief, 
 one Charles W. Martin. 
 
 We have now, it is hoped, fully prepared the reader to 
 sit down with us in the Galesburg Opera House on the 
 afternoon of May 2nd, 1884, with the entire faculty and 
 student body of Knox College present, together with a 
 very large representation of Galesburg citizens at large, 
 for the purpose of there seeing portrayed a modern version 
 of Shakespeare's comedy entitled "Much Ado About 
 Nothing." 
 
 Promptly at the opening of court the case of the People 
 v. Charles W. Martin was called for trial. City Attorney 
 Carney called to the witness stand his first and only wit- 
 ness, one Patrick Aloysius O'Grady. The witness testified 
 that he was forty-five years of age and was a police officer 
 of the City of Galesburg. On being asked to tell what had 
 occurred at the railroad depot the evening before, he 
 stated that the defendant Martin had been guilty then 
 and there of disturbing the peace. On being asked to go 
 into particulars as to the nature of this disturbance, he 
 stated that the defendant had been guilty of "'ootin and 
 'olleran." When asked if he could identify the defendant 
 as the guilty party, he stated that he could. The City 
 Attorney then asked him to point out the prisoner from 
 among the numerous lawyers and co-defendants there 
 present. Anticipating this move on the part of the People, 
 the defendant's lawyers had formed a ring about their 
 client so that he was at that moment invisible to the naked 
 eye. But the proud descendant of King O'Grady was not 
 to be denied. Pushing aside some half dozen persons who 
 served to obstruct his immediate line of vision, he pointed 
 an accusing finger at the crimson face of the defendant 
 
 [170] 
 
Martin and roared out in stentorian tones, "There's the 
 mon that was a'ootin and a'olleran in the station." Mr. 
 Carney then suggested that the witness tell the court in 
 more detail just what the defendant was doing at the 
 time he was arrested. O'Grady then stated that the 
 prisoner had been singing in a voice that could have been 
 heard two blocks away, something about "Mary and a 
 lamb." He also volunteered the information that on the 
 occasion in question Martin was "screeching like a 'oot 
 owl." "Was that all he was doing?" queried the City At- 
 torney. "Well," the witness added, "he was making up 
 terrible faces at me at the same time." "Tell what you 
 said to the defendant," continued the City Attorney. 
 "Well, I told him to stop his noise or I'd arrest him." 
 "Did the prisoner make any response to this?" "Yes, he 
 told me he did not like the odor of my breath." "Was 
 there anything the matter with your breath at that time?" 
 "No, sir," came the indignant response, "nothing at all." 
 Finally O' Grady volunteered the information that the 
 minute he looked at the defendant in the station he knew 
 that he was a "'oodlum of the worst sort." It is said 
 that peril quickens the mind of even the dullest, and the 
 instinct of self-preservation governs us all. O' Grady s' 
 drawn face for one brief moment achieved a smile of 
 happiness, at what he considered a clinching chain in his 
 testimony. However, if he had recalled at this moment 
 that the defendant was possessed of very dark eyes and 
 bushy eyebrows, he might have called the court's attention 
 to the fact that all the most vicious criminals in history 
 had been possessed of black eyes and beetling eyebrows. 
 On cross-examination Officer O'Grady passed some 
 very unpleasant moments. At this time he frequently 
 lost his temper, and the Opera House shook with laughter 
 
 [171] 
 
at his attempts to answer the questions propounded to 
 him by the attorney for the defense. The substance of 
 his testimony may be here reproduced: 
 
 "Q. Officer, is it not a fact that you are rather 
 prejudiced against the male students in attendance 
 at Knox College? A. Well, there are plenty of 
 'gentlemen' in this City that I like better. 
 
 Q. How long have you been a member of the 
 police force here? A. Two years. 
 
 Q. During that time you have frequently had 
 verbal arguments with students, have you not? 
 A. At times, yes. 
 
 Q. Are you a total abstainer from the use of 
 intoxicating liquor, O'Grady? A. No, sir, I am not. 
 
 Q. Then you do occasionally take a glass of 
 liquor? A. Well, on occasion I have been known 
 to take a drink of bitters for my stomach's sake. 
 
 Q. Officer, is it not a fact that at the time you 
 arrested the defendant Martin in the Galesburg de- 
 pot, that you were intoxicated? A. No, sir, and if 
 the defendant says that, he is a liar. 
 
 Q. O'Grady, is the report true that you are a 
 dipsomaniac? A. And what kind of a maniac is 
 that? 
 
 Q. Well, a dipsomaniac is a person who has an 
 uncontrollable craving for intoxicating liquor. A. 
 No, sir, I am no such person. 
 
 Q. Did anyone complain to you that the defend- 
 ant or any of his friends were disturbing their peace 
 and comfort? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did any official of the Chicago, Burlington 
 & Quincy Railroad make a complaint to you of any 
 
 [172] 
 
disturbance having been created by the students 
 who bad congregated in the station on the evening 
 of May 1st? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was there any rioting going on there at that 
 time? A. No. 
 
 Q. Well, then, will you please explain to the 
 court just why you took it upon yourself to arrest 
 the defendant? A. Because there was too much 
 'ootin and 'ollerin going on there." 
 
 The really great moment of the trial, however, arrived 
 when the prisoner himself was called upon to testify in 
 his own behalf. 
 
 For the benefit of those readers whose eyes have never 
 been gladdened by seeing the defendant Martin in the flesh, 
 the following brief portrayal is here presented : Picture, if 
 you will, a young man of about twenty-one years of age, 
 with black hair and a somewhat florid face. He was 
 small of stature, but rather stocky in build. His most 
 marked features were a Napoleonic nose, heavy beetling 
 eyebrows and black piercing eyes. Possibly among his 
 forbears might have been found a Corsican bandit or some 
 crusading religious reformer. With such a background, 
 it is not to be wondered that Officer O'Grady found that 
 in instigating the prosecution of the defendant Martin, 
 he had started something that he was unable to finish to 
 his own satisfaction. 
 
 The prisoner looked so thoroughly dejected when he 
 was called to the stand, that one felt like asking him where 
 he would like to have his body sent, if the worst came to 
 the worst. 
 
 When Attorney Murphy, as chief counsel for the de- 
 fense, asked the defendant to take the stand, the audience 
 
 [173] 
 
experienced the thrill that only comes when some great 
 and famous actor steps upon the boards. 
 
 Mr. Martin stepped before the court and holding up 
 his right hand, solemnly swore "to speak the truth, the 
 whole truth and nothing but the truth." The first ques- 
 tion propounded to the witness seemed a perfectly innocu- 
 ous one, yet it turned out to be one loaded with dynamite. 
 Defendant's counsel merely asked for defendant's full 
 name. No one — not even his most intimate friends had 
 ever been able to find out what Charlie Martin's middle 
 name was. It commenced with "W," and that was all the 
 knowledge that even his intimates had on the subject. The 
 student body had a lurking suspicion that the name must 
 have been something terrible, and in this they were cor- 
 rect. When asked his name by his own counsel at the 
 opening of testimony by the defense, his voice rang out 
 in clarion tones, Charles Wellington Martin. Ever since 
 that day he has been known as "Welly" to his intimates. 
 
 At this point Forrest Cooke, one of the numerous coun- 
 sel for the defense, arose with an expression of great 
 gravity, and addressing himself to the court, said : "Your 
 Honor, the People have charged our client with a disturb- 
 ance of the peace caused by his singing 'Mary Had a Little 
 Lamb' in a public place, where a large number of citizens 
 were congregated. Now, the counsel for the defense — both 
 singly and jointly — take the position that our client can- 
 not sing. In other words, that nature herself failed to 
 endow him with a capacity to either produce rhythmatic 
 sounds himself or to recognize them in those produced by 
 others. Therefore, we ask the court to permit the defend- 
 ant to attempt here in this room before this critical 
 audience, a rendition of that classic anthem known as 
 
 [174] 
 
'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' If the court, after hearing 
 the prisoner render as best he can the song referred to, 
 shall in its wisdom decide that he can really sing, as 
 charged here by the People, then we are willing to change 
 our plea of not guilty to one of guilty." 
 
 Before the court had time to pass upon the request of 
 defendant's counsel, the City Attorney was on his feet 
 with the hoary and time-honored phrase, "We object, your 
 Honor, to the admission of such evidence on the ground 
 that it is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial." The 
 Court, much to the relief of the witnesses, sustained the ob- 
 jection and directed counsel to proceed with their defense. 
 The defendant was asked to sketch for the benefit of all 
 within hearing the highlights of his blameless, earthly 
 career up to the age of twenty-one years. This resulted in 
 a full expose of both the public and private life of Charles 
 W. Martin. After a brief consultation had between a 
 dozen or more of the defendant's corps of attorneys, the 
 latter was turned over to City Attorney Carney for cross- 
 examination. 
 
 In some mysterious way, Mr. Carney had acquired a 
 very intimate knowledge of certain embarrassing experi- 
 ences in the life of Charles W. Martin. This knowledge 
 was used by him to excellent advantage on the cross- 
 examination of the witness. The first inquiry made was 
 as to Mr. Martin's having been at one time a member in 
 supposedly good standing of the Episcopal Church choir 
 in Galesburg. After obtaining an admission as to this 
 fact, an inquiry was made as to why he was no longer a 
 member of that body. The defendant, his face covered 
 with blushes and with eyes downcast, admitted that he had 
 been requested to resign from the choir. This answer 
 
 [175] 
 
merely increased the curiosity of the City Attorney, who 
 demanded to know the reason for such resignation. At 
 last the defendant admitted that his resignation from the 
 choir had been requested because he had participated in a 
 fake marriage ceremony during choir practice wherein he 
 attempted to kiss the bride. 
 
 The witness was next questioned as to whether it was 
 not a fact that he had carried on a fictitious amatory cor- 
 respondence with a verdant freshman, who had fallen hope- 
 lessly in love with a very attractive young lady in one of 
 the upper classes. By dint of much cross-examination, an 
 admission was obtained from the witness to the effect that 
 he had written the love letter to the young man himself 
 and signed the lady's name thereto. The letters, when 
 written, had been deposited in a woodpecker's hole located 
 in a tree on the Knox campus. This served as a post- 
 office box for the lover and his lady love. 
 
 Mr. Martin also admitted that he had once delivered a 
 declamation, the subject of which was the Greek philoso- 
 pher Socrates, in which he had pronounced the name in 
 two syllables (So-crates) instead of three. Incidentally, 
 it may be stated that the declamation ended suddenly at 
 this point. 
 
 The defendant further admitted that he was one of 
 the leading participants in the famous Washington birth- 
 day riot which occurred in the college chapel on Febru- 
 ary 22nd, 1884, in which he had bored a hole in the ceiling 
 of the college chapel, through which a cord was lowered 
 for the purpose of attaching thereto a rag doll bearing the 
 name of the junior class baby. He also admitted that he 
 had acted as escort on the same occasion to the British 
 lion, represented by a bulldog and a rooster who was sup- 
 
 [176] 
 
posed to crow at proper intervals during the birthday 
 celebration. The defendant further admitted that he had 
 assisted in hanging one of the members of the senior class 
 in effigy during his freshman year. 
 
 The foregoing were only a few of the many peccadilloes 
 committed by Martin during his pursuit of knowledge at 
 Knox College. 
 
 It was perfectly evident to all present that the wit- 
 ness considered the questions propounded to him by the 
 City Attorney as being entirely "outside of the record." At 
 last the cross-examination of the defendant was completed 
 and both sides rested. Now came the real crisis of the 
 trial. Defendant's counsel moved for a dismissal of the 
 complaint against the defendant on the ground that the 
 People had failed to make out a case. 
 
 This motion was made by that strange and elusive 
 character, Forrest F. Cooke. This gave Mr. Cooke the one 
 opportunity afforded by the trial for a combined display 
 of both wit and eloquence. He claimed that this trial 
 should not be viewed by the court as a claim on the part 
 of the defense that Knox students could do no wrong, 
 but, rather, as an opportunity to convince the court that 
 Officer O' Grady could not possibly do anything right. In 
 a voice vibrant with suppressed emotion, he drew a most 
 moving picture of the devastating effect of placing upon 
 the fair name of Charles Wellington Martin the awful 
 stigma attached to one who has a criminal record. He 
 refused to believe that the court would permit the People, 
 upon the unsupported testimony of a drunken policeman, 
 to make of the prisoner a "pariah" in polite society. The 
 life of Charles Wellington Martin, he observed, had been 
 an open book to the citizens of Galesburg, wherein all 
 
 [177] 
 
may read the truth. As a boy of ten, he once stood be- 
 neath the window of the cell wherein the famous arch- 
 criminal Frank Eand was confined, and there delivered 
 a sermon written by himself from the text, "The Wages 
 of Sin Are Death." As a boy in his teens, a large part of 
 his time was spent in forced attendance upon a mercurial 
 cow and an inexhaustible woodpile. From the day that 
 he entered the portals of Knox College, he drank eagerly 
 at fountains of scholastic knowledge. 
 
 While Mr. Cooke was delivering this glowing pane- 
 gyric upon the virtues and blameless life of the defend- 
 ant, the later sat enthralled. It was difficult for him to 
 realize that he was the person of whom Mr. Cooke spoke 
 in such glowing and laudatory terms. He felt certain 
 that the world up to that moment had never really appre- 
 ciated his extraordinary qualities or many virtues. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Cooke's address, Mr. Justice 
 Tilden announced that in his opinion the People had 
 failed to make out a case, and that, therefore, it was his 
 duty to discharge the defendant. This decision of the 
 court was received with tumultuous applause by the 
 greater part of the audience there present. 
 
 Thus ended the famous trial of The People of the 
 State of Illinois v. Charles Wellington Martin. His heart 
 fairly sang at the thought that no longer would prison 
 doors threaten his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 
 That no solitary confinement in prison or state imposed 
 labor would fall to his lot. Instead he had been permitted 
 to walk out of the Opera House a free man, accompanied 
 by the acclaims of the multitude, veritably the hero of the 
 hour. 
 
 Temporarily at least, after his discharge by Justice 
 Tilden, the defendant Martin seemed in the highest 
 
 [178] 
 
spirits in marked contrast to the dejection visible npon 
 the snllen countenance of the complaining witness 
 O' Grady. Yet, alas! even for Martin there lurked within 
 his breast a certain uneasy feeling at the thought of meet- 
 ing once again a serious-minded father, whom he knew full 
 well would fail to see the humorous side of the public 
 trial to which his offspring had been subjected. The more 
 Mr. Martin pondered over the matter, the more certain 
 he was that there would be no fatted calf killed at his 
 home to celebrate the return of a prodigal son. He even 
 then anticipated that his pater familias would not permit 
 his son Charles to indulge himself in the delusive con- 
 ception that he belonged to the idle rich. This conclusion 
 was predicated largely upon the fact that Mr. Martin, Sr., 
 early in the career of his son Charles had taken pains to 
 put the latter in close and permanent touch with a cow 
 which needed daily milking and pasturing. He had also 
 recommended most highly the beneficial exercise that 
 might be obtained by long and arduous devotion to the 
 family woodpile. 
 
 After the prisoner's discharge from the court, he im- 
 mediately returned home to face the music. That evening 
 pater familias said grace with much dignity at supper. 
 After the meal was completed in solemn silence, a chapter 
 was read from the Bible on the subject of the Prodigal 
 Son. The evening prayer service was longer and more 
 solemn than usual. 
 
 In closing this veracious tale, the writer can only ex- 
 press the following heartfelt wish: That the shadow of 
 Charles Wellington Martin may never grow less, nor may 
 his good name again ever be imperilled by the threat of 
 having to live with a criminal record hidden in the 
 archives of the past. 
 
 [179] 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Oratorical Contests. 
 
 Knox is, in a very true sense, the home of oratory. 
 As a school for orators, it is the peer of any other in- 
 stitution of learning in this country. 
 
 Real college orators at all times in the history of 
 the college, have been given full recognition as being 
 personages of importance in academic circles. Let a 
 Knox student succeed in winning a prize at a state inter- 
 collegiate contest, or at an interstate oratorical meet, and 
 he becomes from that moment a person of real impor- 
 tance in college life. 
 
 It is no exaggeration to assert, that all the winners 
 of high honors in the domain of oratorical contests at 
 Knox, made names for themselves in the broader fields 
 of professional or business life. Let us call the roll of 
 the successful "Siwash" orators and see if this is not 
 the truth. 
 
 Edgar A. Bancroft ('78) became one of the leaders 
 of the Chicago Bar and died in Japan while he was the 
 United States Ambassador to that oriental empire. 
 
 Charles T. Wyckoff ('84 ) was for many years the 
 Dean of the Bradley Polytechnic Institute at Peoria, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Victor E. Bender ('85) was a distinguished editor 
 of metropolitan dailies at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in 
 Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 John H. Finley ('87) after serving as President of 
 Knox College and Professor of Political Science at 
 
 [180] 
 
Princeton University, became Editor of the New York 
 Times. 
 
 Otto A. Hauerbach ('95) is known far and wide as 
 the very successful playwright and writer of lyrics for 
 many successful musical operettas. 
 
 William Gorsuch ('98) at the time of his early 
 demise, was Professor of Dramatic Art at the University 
 of Washington. 
 
 Many men who achieved great prominence in after 
 life, were participants with greater or less success in 
 local oratorical competition or at intercollegiate or inter- 
 state contests. Among these last will be found the 
 names of Robert M. LaFollette, William J. Bryan, 
 Albert J. Beveridge and Richard J. Oglesby, one time 
 Governor of Illinois. 
 
 It is interesting to note the preparatory training 
 offered by Knox College, as a prelude to later competi- 
 tion in both the intercollegiate and interstate oratorical 
 contests. During the freshman and sophomore years, 
 essay prizes were offered to all members in order to 
 stimulate the acquirement of facility of expression in 
 the composition of allotted subjects. During these same 
 years, prizes in declamation were offered to a limited 
 number of students of both sexes, who were selected by 
 the instructor of elocution. This gave an opportunity 
 for favoritism which was not infrequently exercised and 
 which resulted in the selection at times of competitors, 
 who were unquestionably inferior in ability to others 
 who were not named. In the junior and senior years, 
 prizes in oratory were offered by the college. Par- 
 ticipants in these contests were selected by the joint 
 action of the instructor in elocution and the professor 
 
 [181] 
 
of English literature. Here again candidates for ora- 
 torical honors were frequently chosen, who would never 
 have been named had the selection been left to the vote 
 of members of the junior and senior classes. 
 
 This brings us now to an explanation of the method 
 by which the orator who was to be chosen to represent 
 Knox at the Illinois Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest 
 was chosen. There for the first time the students suc- 
 ceeded in freeing themselves from the somewhat auto- 
 cratic methods adopted by the college in the selection 
 of candidates for excellence in composition, declamation 
 and oratory. 
 
 Thus, when the time came to actually choose the man 
 who should represent Knox at the State Intercollegiate 
 Oratorical Contest, the selection of the orator for that 
 occasion, was fortunately taken entirely out of the hands 
 of faculty members, and was lodged as it properly should 
 be in the hands of the joint membership of the Gnothautii 
 and Adelphi societies. Participation in both State and 
 Interstate Oratorical Contests represented distinctively 
 extra-curricular student activities, over which fortunately 
 the college faculty had no control whatsoever. 
 
 Comparative excellence in oratory was determined by 
 three elements, to wit: (1) thought, (2) composition, 
 and (3) delivery. A man may be full of original and 
 illuminating thoughts and yet if he is unable to express 
 them they are of no value to any one but himself. Again 
 if he is to convey interest and bring forth in the most 
 effective and convincing manner his written thoughts, 
 he must have what is known as an effective delivery. 
 It is in this last mentioned requisite that oratorical 
 aspirants are so often most woefully lacking. They lack 
 
 [182] 
 
proper enunciation, they do not know the meaning of 
 proper modulation of, and changes in, the tones of the 
 voice. Finally they far too often employ gestures that 
 are entirely of the windmill variety. 
 
 In public competition with the orators from other 
 colleges, representatives from Knox have frequently 
 found their equals, if not on occasions their superiors, 
 in thought and composition of an oration, but the oc- 
 casions when any orator from another college has pos- 
 sessed a delivery equal to that of the Knox orator, have 
 been rare indeed. 
 
 The reason for this state of affairs was due largely to 
 one magnificent drillmistress. We refer to Miss Malvina 
 M. Bennett, the "teacher-extraordinary" of elocution at 
 Knox from 1880 to 1891. To her was due a great part 
 of the credit for the remarkable success attained by 
 Knox orators in contests with competitors from other 
 colleges. 
 
 Now a word as to the Intercollegiate Oratorical As- 
 sociation. This was formed in Illinois and other states 
 some years prior to the foundation of the Interstate 
 Oratorical Association. The last named body was or- 
 ganized at Knox College by Frank I. Moulton, Henry 
 W. Read, and George A. Lawrence in November, 1873. 
 The first contest of this newly found organization was 
 held at Galesburg, Illinois, on February 27, 1874. 
 Orators from Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin participated 
 in this initial contest. 
 
 The following June a convention was held to draft 
 plans for a permanent organization. It ultimately in- 
 cluded sixty-three colleges, representing the States of 
 Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
 Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. 
 
 [183] 
 
The winning orations delivered between 1874 and 
 1890 have been published in book form under the title 
 "Winning Orations" by Charles Edgar Prather of 
 Topeka, Kansas. The Interstate Oratorical Contest was 
 dissolved in 1900. 
 
 Knox College won a far greater percentage of 
 victories at these Interstate Contests than any other 
 college in the Association. The first successful con- 
 testant was Edgar A. Bancroft of the Class of 1878. The 
 unique title of his oration was the "Loneliness of Genius." 
 He took first prize at St. Louis, Missouri, in May, 1878. 
 The opening sentences of his oration have often been 
 quoted for their originality and striking force. They 
 read as follows: "Insects swarm; the lion forages alone. 
 Swallows consort in myriads; the condor dwells com- 
 panionless in the solitudes of the Cordilleras. Weakness 
 wars with thousands ; might battles a Goliath. Littleness 
 is gregarious; greatness is solitary." From the stand- 
 point of excellence in delivery, Mr. Bancroft ranked 
 among the best speakers at any Interstate Oratorical 
 Contest. 
 
 Knox was not victorious again until 1884, when 
 Charles T. Wyckoff delivered his famous oration bearing 
 the most unusual title of "Judas Iscariot." It was de- 
 livered at Iowa City in 1884. Mr. WyckofPs method of 
 delivery was not altogether pleasing, but the uniqueness 
 of the title of his oration, coupled with some very 
 dramatic passages in his oration brought him victory. 
 The most striking part of the picture of Judas Iscariot 
 drawn by the orator reads as follows : "Thus Judas, blinded 
 by rage and hate, with silent longing for revenge burn- 
 ing in his heart, followed his victim. 
 
 [184] 
 
"It is not long after the supper at Bethany till the 
 little company of disciples is again gathered in an upper 
 room in Jerusalem, to eat the Passover with their Master. 
 It is their last supper together. Christ, burdened with 
 sorrow on account of the cowardice and treachery in the 
 hearts of his disciples, utters those words of anguish: 
 'Verily I say unto you, one of you who eateth with 
 me shall betray me.' At once from lip to lip run the 
 low trembling words, 'Is it I? Is it I?' All the rest 
 have asked, and wait with eager, anxious expectancy the 
 Master's reply, when at last the heavy silence is broken 
 by the hoarse, tardy whisper of Judas. The answer 
 comes, and from the light and love of those sad, troubled 
 hearts, Judas goes forth into the darkness, and, in the 
 words of the simple record, 'it was night/ — night on the 
 lonely plains of Judea, night on the deserted slopes of 
 Gethsemane, night over the Holy City, with its glorious 
 temple frowning darkly down from the summit of 
 Moriah; night in the heart of Judas, where only dark 
 spirits and powers of evil hold their sway. The soft 
 rays of the moon lit up his lonely path, but no ray of 
 heavenly light could pierce his soul. The sun of love 
 had set, and the night of sin, pitch-dark, reigned supreme." 
 
 The following year Victor E. Bender of Knox, com- 
 peted at Columbus, Ohio, in 1885, among others, against 
 Albert Jeremiah Beveridge of De Pauw University, Green- 
 castle, Indiana. The future United States Senator from 
 Indiana chose as his thesis the time worn subject, "The 
 Conflict of Labor and Capital." The ground the con- 
 testant attempted to cover was rendered sterile by hav- 
 ing been flowed over countless times, by numberless 
 would be orators before him. Beveridge's delivery was 
 
 rws] 
 
rather of the ranting and explosive variety, and was not 
 especially pleasing to those who like some restraint and 
 an occasional change of pace and tone in the delivery 
 of an oration. The real reason, as the many conceived 
 it, for the fact that Beveridge received first place, was 
 due to a very dramatic sentence which was interlarded 
 extempore in the written oration. It ran as follows: 
 " Where is the Governor of Ohio tonight? Down in the 
 Hocking Valley with the troopers of the Ohio National 
 Guard." 
 
 This sentence brought tumultuous applause from the 
 audience, and must have made a decided hit with the 
 judges. Otherwise the decision would have gone to the 
 Knox orator Victor E. Bender, '85, whose oration on 
 Friedrich Von Schiller unquestionably deserved first 
 place. 
 
 His delivery was perfection and the subject matter 
 of the oration was not only superior to Beveridge's, but 
 was well up to the standards of the best orations there- 
 tofore delivered at Intercollegiate Oratorical Contests. 
 The other Knox winners at Interstate Oratorical Con- 
 tests were John Huston Finley, '87, who gave an oration 
 entitled "John Brown," and Otto A. Hauerbach, '95, 
 whose subject was "The Hero of Compromise." Mr. 
 Hauerbach was in every respect a finished orator. Finally 
 came William P. Gorsuch, '98, who won the Interstate 
 Oratorical Contest held at Beloit, Wisconsin, with an 
 oration entitled "John Bandolph of Koanoke." 
 
 There are two most interesting stories connected with 
 these State Intercollegiate Oratorical Contests, which 
 are well worthy of reproduction here. 
 
 The first of these centers around the Intercollegiate 
 
 [186] 
 
Oratorical Contest, which was held at Blackburn Uni- 
 versity in Carlinville, Illinois, in the fall of 1895. On 
 that particular occasion Knox was to be represented 
 by George L. Naught of the class of 1896. Mr. Naught, 
 who subsequently became a distinguished lawyer and 
 is now the general counsel of the American Surety Com- 
 pany in New York City, was an excellent speaker and 
 an orator of exceptional ability even in his student 
 days. The general consensus of opinion among his 
 fellow students at Knox was, that he came very close 
 to being a certain winner at the forthcoming contest 
 at Carlinville. Knox had won both the Intercollegiate 
 and Interstate Oratorical Contests the year previous, 
 and it was the conviction of the entire student body 
 there, that "history would repeat itself" at Carlinville. 
 On the day previous to the date of the contest, a most 
 enthusiastic group of athletes, cheer-leaders and loyal 
 "rooters," including a few members of the Knox faculty, 
 boarded the train for Carlinville. 
 
 In declamation, debate and oratory, Mr. Naught had 
 won all his contests throughout his terms at Knox, and 
 so certain of his success in this intercollegiate contest 
 were his many supporters, that numbers of them 
 nourished at Carlinville small banners bearing his 
 name. All this was evidence of their firm conviction as 
 to their orator's ability, to obtain first prize at the con- 
 test. That, of course, was pleasing to none other than 
 themselves. 
 
 Athletic events were first engaged in and although 
 Mr. Naught very firmly begged to be relieved from tak- 
 ing any part in them, he nevertheless yielded to per- 
 suasion, and played on the Knox baseball team. But 
 
 [18*] 
 
because Mr. Naught's name had been heralded about so 
 much by his friends, it became somewhat anathema to 
 those from other colleges taking part in the contest. It 
 was for this reason that on the athletic field, he became 
 the pet target for all the opposing cheer leaders. In 
 the afternoon of the day of the oratorical contest, Mr. 
 Naught was called upon by a Knox committeeman, who 
 reported the holding of some very bitter and trying 
 contest committee meetings. Others he was informed 
 would be convened later, when a serious effort would 
 be made by representatives of other colleges contesting, 
 to disqualify the Knox orator on the wholly specious 
 ground that in a certain publication, something had 
 appeared concerning his oration before such publicity 
 was permitted. Knox had won the oratorical contest 
 the year before and with the threat of winning the fol- 
 lowing year both in athletics and oratory, Knox found 
 itself more and more "against the field" with the other 
 colleges uniting against her. The efforts to disqualify 
 Mr. Naught were kept up persistently and it was not 
 until shortly before the oratorical contest came on, that 
 the Knox orator knew that he would be permitted to 
 take part in it. At that stage his nerves were pretty 
 well shot to pieces but the worst was yet to come. Hav- 
 ing drawn a place near the end of the program, Mr. 
 Naught, when he came out on the platform to speak, 
 instantly felt the presence of an inspired restiveness, 
 particularly in the rear of the house. That was especially 
 noticeable to him because he had previously received by 
 indirection, threats that he would not be allowed to carry 
 through. The Knox element was seated fairly well for- 
 ward. Hardly had Mr. Naught begun the first sentence 
 
 [188] 
 
of his oration when he heard much disconcerting noise 
 and noticed some wild gesticulating and grimacing in 
 different locations toward the rear of the auditorium. 
 Then it was that the conviction came to him, that he 
 must hold his audience by some unusual expedient, if 
 he were to get his message across. Therefore on the 
 spur of the moment, he changed his manner of delivery 
 and his natural easy style of speech. Unfortunately this 
 did accomplish its purpose as the distracting efforts of 
 his opponents were kept up intermittently. Afterwards, 
 Mr. Naught's friends asked why he had spoken in such 
 a strain. He replied that he scarcely knew just how 
 he had spoken. The result was a bitter one to him and 
 a great disappointment to his many supporters. No- 
 body knew at that time the intense strain under which 
 he was laboring at the time and few knew of the distrac- 
 tions which caused his discomfiture. The situation was 
 too serious to be laughed off as a lost honor he should 
 have earned for his college. A wild night followed the 
 judge's decision, in favor of a representative of another 
 college. The unruly and lawless elements which united 
 for the defeat of Knox, flaunted their own ignoble ban- 
 ners bearing the questions: "Where is Knox? Who 
 is Naught?" 
 
 In the "Knox Student" under date of October 10th, 
 1895, appeared the following account of the Illinois 
 Intercollegiate Oratorical contest held at Carlinville, 
 Illinois. 
 
 "Knox's representative, Geo. L. Naught, concluded the 
 list with his oration, 'The Institution and the Age.' This 
 was, from a literary point of view, by far the best produc- 
 tion on the program. The thought was original, the 
 
 [189] 
 
style clear and the composition careful. In these re- 
 spects the oration would compare favorably with the 
 best of former years. In delivery Mr. Naught's rank was 
 a disappointment to all of his friends. It was hard to 
 see how any sane man could have given him fifth place 
 as one judge did. While his intense and dramatic style 
 of delivery possibly did not show to the best advantage 
 in an abstract oration, still he spoke with an earnestness 
 and power which commanded attention and forced con- 
 viction upon his hearers. The verdict of the audience, 
 we believe, would have awarded him second place at 
 least, and no one would have been greatly surprised if 
 he had received first honors." 
 
 In a later number of the "Knox Student" there will 
 be found the following reference to the contest in which 
 Mr. Naught represented Knox College: 
 
 "In the last issue of the Knox Student were the per- 
 centages of the orators at the contest. The Evening Mail 
 calls attention to the fact that if these percents alone were 
 to decide the contests, Knox would today be the winner. 
 The sums of the percentages given each orator make the 
 colleges rank as follows: Knox, first with 567 percent; 
 Illinois College second with 559; Monmouth third, 531; 
 Wesleyan fourth, 515; Blackburn fifth, 504. Thus our 
 orator won more points we may say, than any other." 
 
 Two of the judges on "Thought and Composition" 
 gave the Knox orator first place. The other judge marked 
 him third. Strange to say it was on "Delivery," wherein 
 Mr. Naught was far superior in every respect to his com- 
 petitors, that he received the most unfair treatment. One 
 of the judges marked him fifth, while the remaining two 
 gave him third place. Another story connected with Ora- 
 
 [190] 
 
torical contests at Knox is the following: In the Spring 
 of 1881 there occurred a fight between the two Literary 
 Societies for control of the appointment of a student to 
 represent Knox College in the State Oratorical Contest, 
 which was to be held in the Fall of 1881. 
 
 The story of this fight, has been well and graphically 
 told by Edwin S. Carr of the Class of 1882, in the follow- 
 ing language : "Previous to the Spring of 1881, the orator 
 had been selected by a vote in the Knox College Ora- 
 torical Association composed of the joint membership of 
 the Gnothautii and Adelphi Literary Societies. 
 
 As the Adelphi practically always had a larger mem- 
 bership than the Gnothautii, they could elect their man, 
 even though the Gnothautii had the better speaker. The 
 annual Junior class oratorical contest was held in the 
 spring, and the "Gnothautii" had urged that this should 
 be made a preliminary contest for the appointment. How- 
 ever, the Adelphians had the appointment sewed up, and 
 therefore gave the Gnothautians the laugh. "Ed" Ban- 
 croft had succeeded George Lawrence as the college orator, 
 and it was generally felt that his brother, Fred Bancroft, 
 was the logical heir of the appointment. However, Nels 
 Anderson had a fine voice and was an excellent speaker. 
 Then it was that the Gnothautii awoke to the fact that 
 Bancroft and Anderson, both Adelphians, were splitting 
 the Adelphian support, and that they had a chance to 
 put over their pet idea of making the Junior contest the 
 preliminary. Will Chambers and Ed. Carr represented 
 the "Gnothauts" in negotiating with the opposition. They 
 doubted at first whether either the Bancroft or the Ander- 
 son party would deal with them, as the Adelphians had 
 been so solidly opposed to the change. So they studied 
 
 [191] 
 
the situation to consider which party would be most 
 likely to go back on their society in order to win the 
 election. They decided that this was the " Anderson fac- 
 tion," as it seemed likely that Bancroft would normally 
 get the larger vote, and seemed to have the best chance 
 to win. Furthermore, Kobert Mather was out with the 
 "Bancrofts" and was representing Anderson — and he, 
 the future President of the Rock Island R. R. System, was 
 some political manager. George Bellows was represent- 
 ing Bancroft. 
 
 Chambers and Carr approached Mather, and felt him 
 out as to whether he and the Anderson men among the 
 Adelphians would join the Gnothauts in supporting an 
 amendment to the Constitution of the Oratorical Associa- 
 tion making the Junior Contest the preliminary for the 
 State Oratorical Contest Association. In return, the 
 Gnothauts would vote solidly for Anderson. Mather was 
 required to guarantee enough Adelphi votes for the amend- 
 ment to give the Gnothauts a clear majority in the Con- 
 test Association for the amendment. Mather closed with 
 the proposition at once, and Chambers and Carr immedi- 
 ately started out to instruct all "Gnothauts" to line up 
 as a society for Anderson. Mark Mason was the out- 
 standing Bancroft supporter among the "Gnothauts", and 
 he at once reported the matter to Bellows. Bellows then 
 instructed Mason to inform the "Gnothauts" that all 
 Bancroft supporters would support the amendment. Of 
 course this put Chambers and Carr in a hole, as they had 
 never dreamed that both the Anderson and the Bancroft 
 Adelphians would sell out their society for the immediate 
 oratorical appointment. The Gnothauts had some hot 
 meetings, and warm fights as to whether the society would 
 
 [192] 
 
go in as a body for Anderson or Bancroft. They finally 
 voted that they wonld support the candidate who could 
 guarantee the most Adelphi votes for the amendment. 
 Mather finally produced the biggest list — one could never 
 be just sure how dependable his list was — and the Gno- 
 thauts supported Anderson and he got the oratorical 
 appointment. It was pathetic the way Bellows raced 
 about the campus hunting Bancroft votes, reported them 
 to Carr and Chambers, only to be told that Mather had 
 him beaten. 
 
 The Contest Association met and elected Anderson as 
 orator for the State Contest, and adopted an amendment 
 to the Knox Oratorical Contest Association constitution 
 making the annual Junior Oratorical Contest the pre- 
 liminary for the State Contest. This amendment held 
 good as long as the State and Interstate contests were 
 held. 
 
 Bancroft and Bellows were so sore, that they left 
 Knox and went to Amherst for their next year, their 
 Senior year. Bellows' people were New Englanders — 
 and were somewhat acquainted with Amherst. I suppose 
 their going there influenced "Henry T. Rainey" to follow, 
 when he withdrew from Knox a little later." 
 
 [193] 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 The Story of the Adelphi and Gnothauth Societies. 
 
 To the "Siwash" students of the present day neither 
 of the two names. Adelphi and Gnothautii, have any spe- 
 cial significance. Most of them, however, know that these 
 terms represent appellations bestowed upon two great 
 literary societies, now unfortunately non-existent. There 
 is, however, a movement on foot looking towards their 
 resuscitation. 
 
 It was a very real calamity to the student body when 
 these organizations closed their doors, in 1920. They 
 were, so long as they existed, truly great institutions. 
 The true spirit of non-secret fraternity life existed in 
 these two societies, for a period of nearly three quarters 
 of a century. During this time they formed a training 
 school for many of the future great men of America. 
 
 The Adelphi was the older of the two societies and 
 was organized in 1846, only nine years after the founding 
 of the college itself. The meaning of the name Adelphi 
 is, of course, "Brothers". Gnothautii was chartered five 
 years later. The symbol of this society was the oak leaf, 
 signifying strength. As to the origin of the name, the 
 following explanation may be given: 
 
 Upon the ancient temple of Apollo Adelphi in Greece, 
 the Greeks inscribed upon the door of this edifice the 
 words "Gnothi Seauton" — Know Thyself. The Greek 
 philosophers regarded observation of this admonition by 
 the youth of their country as the beginning of wisdom. 
 They proclaimed the fact that if one could know himself 
 
 [194] 
 
with all his faults and with all his virtues as well as with 
 his powers and his limitations, then perchance, the youth 
 may later on arrive at that more abundant life which the 
 Bible says is the gift of God himself. He may then not 
 only become master of his own soul, but of his intellectual 
 and physical power as well. 
 
 The story of the founding of the Gnothautic Society 
 has been most graphically told by E. S. Wilcox ('51) in 
 an address delivered many years ago at a Gnothautii 
 reunion. It runs as follows: 
 
 "Fifty years ago there was no such thing in the world 
 as a Gnothautii society. Ours is the original, first and 
 only one I ever heard of. It sprang into existence in the 
 month of September, 1849, and like all the great dynasties 
 and powers of earth, began in a fight. 
 
 Do you remember that weighty line in one of the 
 Psalms, ' Surely, the wrath of man shall praise thee?' 
 The truth of it has been verified a thousand times in the 
 history of the world. 
 
 It was obstinate, hot-headed, wrathful men who 
 plunged us into all our wars — the Revolutionary war, the 
 Mexican war of 1847, the Rebellion, and the late Spanish- 
 American war. A little more patience, tact and good 
 common sense, would have spared us from every one of 
 them, yet we cannot but believe that a preponderance 
 of good has come and will come at last out of so much 
 apparently unnecessary bloodshed. There is an almighty 
 power above us that somehow, in spite of human folly and 
 blindness knows how to make the wrath of man to praise 
 him. 
 
 And so, to compare small things with great, was it 
 with our Gnothautii society; it had its birth in a rather 
 
 [195] 
 
silly quarrel, and it was our class of '51 that was at the 
 bottom of the trouble. 
 
 We entered the freshman year twenty-seven strong, 
 by long odds the largest and strongest class in the history 
 of the college up to that time. 
 
 I use the word 'strong' advisedly. Two of our class, 
 the brothers Adcock, had gone through the entire mathe- 
 matical course before entering ; Comstock and Gower were 
 close seconds to them, and Churchill, the best all-around 
 man in the class, was only a little behind Comstock and 
 Gower. 
 
 These five fellows started the class off in mathematics 
 at a terrific pace that fairly took the breath away from 
 the rest of us; but, on the other hand, there were two or 
 three of us who had laid the lash on and paid them 
 back with compound interest when it came to Latin and 
 and Greek. Consequently our class went through the 
 freshman year on a run, and entered the sophomore year 
 with gathered momentum and colors flying. 
 
 Now, as you are all aware, there comes a time in the 
 life of a college boy when he knows a little more than 
 he ever knew before and a great deal more than he ever 
 knows afterward. This expansive and hilarious period 
 arrives shortly after he has got safely over the chicken- 
 pox, mumps and measles and is known as the sophomore 
 year. 
 
 We are sophomores ; a class of sixteen now ; the seniors 
 and juniors numbered eight. We were just double, and 
 we lost no time in doubling them up beautifully at the 
 first fall meeting of the Adelphi, to which we all belonged 
 in those days. In other words, we voted the seniors and 
 
 [196] 
 
juniors out of office and sat down smiling in their chairs 
 ourselves. 
 
 There were a few disagreeable fellows — just about 
 eight, all told — who were mean enough to say it was a 
 high-handed and disrespectful thing for sophomores to do. 
 We did not look at it in that way. 
 
 But there is, I regret to say, such a thing as vengeance 
 in this world; it may slumber but not forever, and it 
 awoke us and overtook us just one year later. We al- 
 ways thought it was the out-going seniors, who put up 
 this job on us, put up the juniors, now become seniors, to 
 connive with the guileless freshmen to pay us back, and 
 they did it in a way that was childlike and bland. 
 
 At the first fall meeting of the Adelphi in 1849 — the 
 classes now standing three seniors, thirteen juniors, 
 fifteen sophomores and twenty-six freshmen — without one 
 particle of consideration for our feelings as fellow human 
 beings or respect for our dignity and importance as 
 juniors, those miserable conspirators voted us out of the 
 comfortable chair we had been filling with such honor 
 to the college and such unbounded satisfaction to our- 
 selves. 
 
 Whom they elected to fill our places — to make a pre- 
 tense of filling our places — I mean — I do not now remem- 
 ber; we did not stop to inquire, nor, in fact, stand upon 
 the order of our going, we took no further interest in the 
 proceedings, we simply took our hats and left — left them, 
 too, our profound contempt for such unparalleled baseness 
 on the part of fellows whom we had been encouraging, 
 patronizing and also disciplining for a whole year. In- 
 gratitude like that was just a little too rank for self- 
 respecting men with high-strung nerves like ours. 
 
 [197] 
 
The result was we organized another, better society at 
 once, and today, after a lapse of nearly fifty years, it still 
 lives and flourishes, I am proud to say. 
 
 So also does the Adelphi, I am credibly informed, al- 
 though at the time we did not expect it to last six weeks. 
 And at this distance of time I am inclined to think there 
 must have been some soul of goodness in things evil — you 
 will understand me as alluding, in a far-off kind of way, 
 to the Adelphi — to have pulled through after such a loss. 
 
 The name Gnothautii was improvised for us by Pro- 
 fessor Grant, our Greek professor. It is a good name, 
 a unique one, but I have sometimes half suspected that 
 in giving us this name from the Greek of "know thyself," 
 Professor Grant may have hidden in the word a bit of 
 sly sarcasm at what our contemptible rivals, in moments 
 when they forgot their manners, may have possibly called 
 insufferable conceit. 
 
 We never were conceited, and it was a hazardous thing 
 for any of the other fellows to indulge in such offensive 
 language in our presence — that is, whenever there were as 
 many as half a dozen of us together." 
 
 This, then, is the true story of the origin of our 
 Gnothautii society fifty years ago. May it remain young 
 and vigorous for another fifty years. It was always the 
 claim of the Gnothautii that the fathers of their organiza- 
 tion represented the very cream of the original Adelphi 
 society. 
 
 It numbered among its first members a future Chief 
 Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Alfred M. Craig, 
 two of the future professors of Knox College — Milton L. 
 Cumstock and George Churchill, and General David D. 
 Colton, who formed one of the immortal band of California 
 
 [ 198 ] 
 
pioneers which included Leland Stamford and his asso- 
 ciates, Crocker and Huntington. Both societies provided 
 a wonderful schooling in parliamentary law." 
 
 The purpose of each society was to encourage debates 
 and to teach the members how to think on their feet. The 
 programs of each society included also, work in declama- 
 tion and oratory as well as the writing of essays on timely 
 subjects. 
 
 The meeting place of the Adelphi was in a hall located 
 on the second story of the West Bricks adjacent to Old 
 Main. The Gnothautii had their hall opposite on the 
 second floor of the East Bricks. The furnishings of the 
 two halls were meager and modest to an extreme degree. 
 The members considered themselves fortunate to have a 
 chair in which to seat themselves. A marble top table was 
 furnished for the presiding officer in each society. Mem- 
 bers were allotted their fair share of literary work by a 
 program committee. 
 
 During the literary sessions, some member of the 
 society (other than the president) had to preside. For 
 purposes of stern discipline, matters were so arranged 
 that some time during the first year in college, every 
 Freshman had to preside at one of the society's meet- 
 ings ; it was an unwritten law in both organizations that 
 each Neophyte who occupied the chair should undergo 
 the painful experience of being hazed on his knowledge of 
 parliamentary law. Usually the hazing was a little too 
 much for the Freshmen and it was customary for them 
 to call in the assistance of the president of the society 
 to rescue them from an embarrassing situation as well as 
 to permit the restoration of order. 
 
 Knowing what was in store for him, the writer of this 
 
 [199] 
 
work, before lie presided as a Freshman at one of the meet- 
 ings of the Gnothautii, of which he was a member, took 
 the precaution to read carefully the by-laws of the society, 
 with the result that he found therein contained the power 
 to fine any member who failed to act in an orderly manner 
 or to take his seat when ordered to do so by the chairman. 
 
 Armed with this knowledge, the writer entered upon 
 his first experience as chairman of a literary meeting of 
 the Gnothautii society. Before the meeting was over, 
 about a dozen members jumped up in their seats raising 
 points of order, moving the previous question, rising to 
 questions of privilege, and all standing on their feet at 
 the same time and demanding a hearing. Then it was 
 that the heavy artillery furnished by the by-laws came into 
 action. After requesting at least a dozen men to take 
 their seats without avail, the chairman commenced to 
 impose fines which reached an amount, that had they 
 been paid, the society would have been in affluence the rest 
 of the year. 
 
 In explanation of this statement, the method by which 
 the payment of fines on the part of the obstreperous was 
 avoided may be of interest. The persons against whom 
 the fines were assessed, waited until the next weekly 
 meeting of the society. Then a motion was made and 
 carried, whereby the society voted therein to cancel the 
 fines on condition of a promise on the part of the delin- 
 quent of good behavior for the rest of the college year. 
 
 However, the imposition of fines had the desired effect 
 and the chairman received a round of applause when the 
 insurrection had subsided under the vigorous penalties 
 thus administered. 
 
 The method of initiation of new members was of a 
 
 [200] 
 
stereotyped type variety, at least in the Gnothautii. After 
 one of the older members had exhorted the initiated to 
 maintain a high degree of effort in the performance of his 
 duties as a member of the organization, it was always 
 customary to point to the motto over the door (Gnothi 
 Seauton) and advise the new member to make that the 
 guiding rule of his future life. 
 
 The weekly programs of each society were usually 
 written out in long hand and hung upon the respective 
 doors of the Adelphi and Gnothautii libraries which were 
 located in the main college building. There was, of course, 
 a keen spirit of rivalry at all times exhibited by the 
 members of one organization as to the mental and moral 
 calibre of the members of the rival organizations. At times 
 the comments approached closely to what we term in law, 
 criminal libel. 
 
 One accusation in particular still rankles in the mind 
 of the author. The president of the Adelphi society pub- 
 licly stated that while practically every member of that 
 select organization was capable of offering prayer at the 
 opening of the society's meeting, that there were only three 
 members of the Gnothautii who were qualified to perform 
 this perfunctory religious ceremony. We at once called 
 an informal meeting of the members of the Gnothautii 
 and each one was catechized as to his ability to formulate 
 and deliver a proper prayer. 
 
 If the truth must be told, we only discovered seven 
 members of the society who qualified. One of the dis- 
 turbing events of the years '82 to '85 was the appearance 
 on the program board of the Adelphi society, of a novelty 
 of great attractiveness. 
 
 One of the members of the Adelphi, Charles W. Martin 
 
 [201] 
 
('86), was an excellent artist as well as a caricaturist. He 
 also excelled in pen and ink drawings. For weeks on end 
 he produced Adelphi literary programs of such unusual 
 artistic merit and interest, that the members of the 
 Gnothautii were in despair at the thought of coping with 
 such extraordinary skill on the part of a member of a 
 rival organization. 
 
 At times the character of Mr. Martin's drawings be- 
 came so personal that it became a matter of embarrassment 
 for the persons most vitally concerned. At the time that 
 the program for the first fall meeting of the Adelphi was 
 put on the bulletin board in 1884, there appeared therein 
 what would today be termed, a movie of a picnic. This 
 had been participated in, by members of both societies. 
 
 This picnic was held on the banks of the famous Spoon 
 Kiver, which, of course, was a misnomer. In Mr. Martin's 
 draiving of this particular picnic, he suspended a hammock 
 over Spoon River in which a well known member of the 
 class of '86 and a lady friend of his, seemed to be enjoying 
 a very good time. In order that there might be no mis- 
 take as to the identity of the individuals, he even had 
 the names attached to the drawing. This masterpiece 
 may now be seen in Knox College framed and hung on 
 the walls of Seymour Hall. 
 
 In 1883, both societies undertook a campaign in order 
 to raise sufficient funds with which to erect a new society 
 hall for each organization. Subscriptions came in very 
 slowly and most of them were in small amounts. The 
 highest subscription that the Gnothautii received at the 
 start was one hundred dollars, from Francis Colton, a 
 distinguished alumnus of the college. 
 
 The Adelphi was having no better success than the 
 
 [202] 
 
Gnothautii. Then for a few years, each society conducted 
 a lecture course for the purpose of securing additional 
 funds for the building of the hall. In 1886, the Adelphi 
 pulled what would be termed in the present day vernacu- 
 lar a "fast one" on the Gnothautii. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Adelphi held in that 
 year, Job Cooper then Governor of Colorado made a 
 speech during the course of which he produced a sheet 
 of writing paper on which was written an agreement 
 signed by himself and one other member of the Adelphi 
 of his time, in which they both promised to give one thou- 
 sand dollars to the Adelphi as soon as either or both of 
 them accumulated a fortune of one hundred thousand 
 dollars. Thereupon Mr. Cooper handed over a check for 
 one thousand dollars to the president of the Adelphi. This 
 produced paens of joy from the lucky Adelphians and 
 cast corresponding gloom over the members of the 
 Gnothautii. 
 
 The Adelphians were so proud of themselves that every 
 time they met a Gnothautian on the street, they gave him 
 a look of scorn. But the old saying is still true: "He 
 laughs best, who laughs last." The Gnothautii numbered 
 among its early members one Steven Van Cullen White, 
 who was known far and wide as Deacon White of 
 Plymouth Church, Brooklyn and equally well known as 
 a daring operator on the New York Stock Exchange, 
 and as an ex-member of Congress. 
 
 Mr. White had been an intimate friend of Professor 
 Churchill while a student at Knox. Soon after Governor 
 Cooper's gift to the Adelphi, we interviewed Professor 
 Churchill and proceeded to coax him to urge ex-Congress- 
 man White to visit Knox at the next commencement at 
 
 [203] 
 
which the semi-centennial of the founding of Knox Col- 
 lege was to be celebrated. Professor Churchill was suc- 
 cessful in his efforts and Mr. White duly appeared on the 
 Knox campus. Acting under instructions from a few of 
 the conspirators, Professor Churchill sounded out Mr. 
 White on the question as to whether he felt a yearning 
 to assist the Gnothautii in their worthy effort to raise 
 funds sufficient to build a new hall. However, on this 
 subject Mr. White was absolutely non-committal and 
 Professor Churchill made a very discouraging report as 
 to the prospects of obtaining even a fairly good sized sub- 
 scription from our distinguished alumnus. The Gnoth- 
 autii in preparing for its annual banquet in June, 1887, 
 placed Steven Van Cullen White on its program as its 
 guest of honor for this great occasion. The society dele- 
 gated the author to speak on the very obvious subject of 
 "The Necessity of the Exigency/' In a burst of fervent 
 oratory which ended in the speaker's doing everything ex- 
 cept seize Mr. White by the throat or attempt to steal 
 his pocketbook, the question of how much he would give 
 was presented to him in such a manner, as in fairness 
 to require a reply then and there. 
 
 To the delight of the society he arose and in words of 
 gracious appreciation announced that he would himself 
 give two thousand dollars to the society and only asked 
 that twenty others subscribe for an additional two thou- 
 sand dollars. This was easily secured and in this way 
 the Gnothautii met the Adelphi's one thousand dollar 
 "ante" and quadrupled it. 
 
 In the spring of 1891 sufficient funds were obtained 
 with which to build both halls, one for the Adelphi and 
 one for the Gnothautii both to form wings of a building 
 
 [204] 
 
known as alumni hall. Of course, this was a great day 
 in the history of both of the societies. Alumni came from 
 far and near to take part in the dedication. Edgar A. 
 Bancroft of '78, the first Knox graduate to win an inter- 
 state oratorical prize for Knox College and later on 
 destined to become the Ambassador of the United States 
 to Japan, delivered the dedicatory speech in behalf of 
 the Adelphi. Thomas Gold Frost of '86 delivered the 
 dedicatory oration in behalf of the Gnothautii of which 
 he was a member. 
 
 There are many interesting stories that are well worth 
 the telling, growing out of experiences as a member of 
 one or the other of the two societies. 
 
 In the early eighties there was a member of the Gnoth- 
 autii Society by the name of Lewis Palmer Main. He was 
 of a small stocky sort of a build and presented a rather 
 belligerent appearance when he ascended the rostrum to 
 debate, as he was accustomed to do with great frequency. 
 One evening he had been assigned to debate the negative 
 of the question: "That a national debt was a national 
 blessing.'' After ascending the platform, he bowed very 
 low to his audience and then delivered himself of one 
 sentence couched in these oracular words: "Out of debt, 
 out of danger." He then took his seat amid tumultuous 
 applause. 
 
 In June of 1883 there occurred an election of officers 
 for the Gnothautii, which was the closest and most excit- 
 ing ever held in the society. The respective candidates 
 for the office of president were William C. Whitney ('84), 
 a classical student and Frederic W. Sisson ('84), who was 
 taking the scientific course. The campaign was so con- 
 ducted as to induce the members of the society who were 
 
 [205] 
 
taking the classical course to vote for Mr. Whitney, and 
 those enrolled for the scientific course were strongly urged 
 to vote for Mr. Sisson. As the day set for the election ap- 
 proached, it was discovered that thirty members were 
 openly pledged to vote for each candidate. There was 
 however one student, who was taking the classical course, 
 still unpledged. As his was the deciding vote, there was 
 tremendous pressure brought to bear on him to cast his 
 vote as each faction wished. One of the supporters of 
 Mr. Sisson happened to know that this particular student 
 had high social aspirations, which so far had failed com- 
 pletely of realization. Therefore he adopted a rather 
 novel expedient to obtain the needed vote. 
 
 The scientific candidate for President not only be- 
 longed to the socially elect in Galesburg, but he had two 
 young and charming sisters, who were both good to look 
 upon. The leader of the forces seeking the election of 
 Mr. Sisson for President, invited the student who was 
 sitting on the political fence, not knowing which way to 
 jump, to join him in a social call upon the two pulchritud- 
 inous sisters of this particular candidate. The person so 
 invited accepted with unconcealed enthusiasm, the bid for 
 social distinction thus offered. The call was made, with 
 the result that before the visit was over, the one vote 
 needed to elect Mr. Sisson had been obtained. 
 
 One of the most talked of events of literary society 
 life in the "eighties," was the "mock" trial of one Thomas 
 A. Broadbent 085), who was charged with the extremely 
 serious offense of stealing a jug of cider from his friend 
 and classmate Charles C. George ('85). All the seminary 
 girls who wished to, were permitted to attend regardless 
 of the hours at which they might return. 
 
 [206] 
 
A local lawyer acted as judge, counsel for the State 
 and for the defendant, were chosen from the upper class- 
 men, and the jury was composed exclusively of women 
 students in attendance at the college. Both, the instruc- 
 tor in elocution at Knox, and the professor of English, 
 testified, the first in aid of the prosecution, and the latter 
 in behalf of the defendant. There happened to exist a 
 very bitter enmity between the leading counsel for the 
 State and the occupant of the chair of English in the 
 college. Many an old score that had long stood unavenged 
 against the professorial witness, was paid off with usuri- 
 ous interest on this occasion. 
 
 Some of the expedients adopted by one society to out-do 
 the other were amusing in the extreme. The Adelphi 
 produced a male quartet of which they were inordinately 
 proud. To counteract the effect of this new departure, 
 the Gnothautii organized a brass band, which could al- 
 ways be depended upon to produce noise, and plenty of it. 
 One of the members of this alleged musical organization 
 played on a tuba, which was capable of drowning out the 
 sound of all the other instruments at all public demon- 
 strations. While this achievement may have done credit 
 to the ability of the performer on the tuba, it was not 
 particularly appreciated by the other members of the 
 band. 
 
 For many years the members of the Gnothautii were 
 accustomed to have a picnic each June during commence- 
 ment week, to which of course they invited ladies of un- 
 questioned pulchritude. This unique event was always 
 held on the banks of Spoon River. This locality was 
 supposed to represent the last word in natural beauty 
 and romantic surroundings. Not infrequently enamored 
 
 [207] 
 
youths, in order to secure the company of some particu- 
 larly popular lady friend, would invite her in the fall, 
 to accompany them to the picnic to be held the following 
 spring. Not infrequently when the time arrived for the 
 annual outing, the couple would find themselves no longer 
 on speaking terms. Such is life at a co-educational in- 
 stitution. 
 
 [208] 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 The Drama at Knox. 
 
 On March 10th, 1882, in the Galesburg Opera House, 
 under the direction of Miss Malvina W. Bennett, Instruc- 
 tor in Elocution at Knox, there was given the first formal 
 presentation on a large scale of a play wherein the actors 
 were all students of Knox College. It bore the title of 
 "School". The story of the play itself runs as follows : 
 
 "The first act opens with a wood scene, discovering the 
 female scholars attending the 'College House', engaged in 
 listening to the story of Cinderella, read by Bella, a 
 charity scholar, and an orphan of unknown parents. The 
 principals of the school, Dr. and Mrs. Sutcliffe, enter 
 in the midst of a discussion as to what is love. The 
 pedantic but kind-hearted preceptor, vainly endeavors to 
 give a definition of the tender passion, after which the girls 
 pass off the stage, when Krux, a hypocritical under-teacher 
 enters. He encounters Bella, who has returned to obtain 
 Mrs. Sutcliffe' s overshoes, and enters into a conversation 
 with her, during which he proposes marriage to her and 
 is indignantly rejected. Shortly after, Lord Beaufoy and 
 Jack Poyntz enter upon the scene to enjoy a sportsman's 
 breakfast, at which they are joined by Farintosh, a super- 
 annuated beau, who urges upon his lordship, who is also 
 his nephew and heir apparent, the propriety of marrying 
 Naomi Tighe, an orphaned West Indian heiress, then at 
 a neighboring school, which proposal the nobleman 
 resolutely refuses. Bella, flying from an infuriated cow, 
 
 [209] 
 
chasing her and Naomi, drops one of her shoes which is 
 picked up by Beaufoy. The cow is shot by Poyntz, who 
 thereby makes the acquaintance of Naomi, while his lord- 
 ship becomes enamored of Bella. The second act gives an 
 examination at school, at which Beaufoy, Farintosh, anil 
 Poyntz are present. Farintosh addresses the school. The 
 third act is devoted to the accidental meeting of Bella 
 and Beaufoy, and Naomi and Jack. They now indulge in 
 a stroll separately, in the course of which Beaufoy pre- 
 sents Bella with a ring. The walk and interview is 
 watched by Krux, who reports it to the principals, in 
 consequence of which Bella is banished from the school. 
 A period of six weeks elapses during which Farintosh is 
 taken ill and lies almost at the point of death. Upon re- 
 covering he learns that Bella is the daughter of his only 
 son. He then goes to the school to claim her as his 
 heiress and grandchild. In the garden he encounters 
 Poyntz, who is visiting Naomi, charged by her with the 
 errand of seeking a clue as to the disappearance of Bella. 
 Bella is intensely disappointed at the unwelcome news 
 of her expulsion, when Farintosh appears and explains 
 that she has eloped at his solicitation. His motives and 
 their consequences are misconstrued, until Bella returns 
 among her former schoolmates and is announced as 
 Lady Beaufoy, whereupon the play closes with the presen- 
 tation, by his lordship, of a pair of glass slippers to his 
 bride, thus terminating the story of Cinderella, with which 
 the narration of the comedy opened." 
 The cast of the play follows: 
 
 [210] 
 
"School" 
 Cast of Characters 
 
 Jack Poyntz, Young Gentleman of the Day__ Victor Bender 
 
 Beau Farintosh, Juvenile Old Man Grant Newelle 
 
 Mr. Krux, Tutor in School Ralph Baldwin 
 
 Dr. Sutcliffe, Principal of School Will Whitney 
 
 Lord Beaufoy, A Rich Young Lord ....John Baker 
 
 Vaughan, Farintosh's Valet ....Frank Gaines 
 
 Bella, Pupil Teacher Mary McKechnie 
 
 Naomi Tighe, West Indian Heiress Annie Bateman 
 
 Mrs. Sutcliffe, Matron of the School ....Jessie Mead 
 
 Laura, School Girl Gussie Gammon 
 
 Tilly, School Girl Lottie Mileham 
 
 Milly, School Girl , Carrie Hoisington 
 
 Hettie, A Child Daisy Jackson 
 
 "With the above cast of characters, Robertson's comedy 
 'School' was brought out Friday, March 10th, under the 
 direction of Miss Bennett. This is a beautiful little play, 
 very popular in the East and in England, and well 
 adapted for an amateur performance. The plot is not 
 complicated, and no great variety of scenery is required. 
 The stage business is all simple. The accidents which 
 are necessary to the development of the plot, and which 
 must occur behind the scenes, and brought into the dia- 
 logue in the most natural manner, draw very little upon 
 the imagination of the audience. They came in so easily 
 that we forget that they are not real occurrences, some- 
 thing that does not belong to all modern comedies. The 
 properties were such as to be easily obtained. The school 
 
 [211] 
 
scene was very natural, and the opening one showed 
 exquisite taste in grouping the girls so that the colors of 
 the various dresses would harmonize. This first scene 
 was the most beautiful of all, as the scant scenery was 
 in that, the most unnoticeable. The costumes were all 
 appropriate, and many of them elegant. The make-up 
 was good, especially those of Mr. Whitney, Miss Mead, 
 Mr. Newell and Mr. Baldwin. The likeness between Mr. 
 Baldwin and portraits of the renowned "Oscar", would 
 probably result in a change of cognomen if his present one 
 was not so appropriate. The "make-up" of Mr. Whitney 
 was no doubt the best, and reflected credit upon the artist, 
 whom, we believe, was Charlie Fitch. As the plot is well 
 known to our readers, and was published in the January 
 number of this paper, we will not rehearse. The first in 
 the cast of characters is Victor Bender, who took the 
 part of "Jack Poyntz". Mr. Bender acted the languid, 
 aimless young man quite well, but at times forgot his 
 character. The scene at the luncheon in the woods he 
 did in first rate style. The opening dialogue of the moon- 
 light scene was very good, but in the last act he weakened. 
 "Beau Farintosh" was Grant Newell. Mr. Newell is a 
 genuine actor and had a hard part, but one fact makes up 
 for the other. His little speech to the school girls brought 
 down the house. The heavy acting in the last act was 
 fine. 
 
 "Mr. Baldwin was at the disadvantage of having a 
 traditional, rather than a natural character to assume. 
 There was a great deal of side-play in his part, but he was 
 equal to the emergency. His proposal of marriage to 
 Bella was one of the neatest bits of acting in the play. 
 Mr. Baldwin has a splendid voice, and really acted and 
 
 [212] 
 
did not stumble through. The impersonations of Dr. Sut- 
 cliffe by Mr. Whitney, and Mrs. Sutcliffe by Miss Mead, 
 were almost faultless in make-ups and acting. They were 
 both very consistent renditions. Mr. Whitney's side-play, 
 as he becomes enraged at Lord Beaufoy, was extremely 
 fine. And but few persons could have taken the part of 
 Mrs. Sutcliffe in the last act, where she calls Bella her 
 favorite pupil, without inconsistency of characterization; 
 but Miss Meade avoided this. John Baker had the "Walk- 
 ing Gentleman'' part of "Lord Beaufoy." Mr. Baker 
 played the part in a very acceptable manner. His smooth, 
 melodious style of speaking suited his character, as well 
 as his dignified carriage. But two of the very best parts 
 we have not mentioned. One was that of Bella, the pupil 
 teacher, by Miss McKechnie, the other, "Naomi Tighe", a 
 West Indian Heiress, by Miss Bateman. The characters 
 are very different, but both well sustain the play. Miss 
 McKechnie's acting was charming, her graceful bearing, 
 and her modest reserve, her humility, showed that she had 
 a high conception of the character. This conception she 
 carried straight through the play, never dropping it. Her 
 acting in the second scene, and also in the moonlight 
 scene, showed that delicate appreciation of the nice points 
 of her character, which showed that she had studied her 
 part. We cannot conceive of any one taking the role of 
 Naomi Tighe, and making more of a success with it than 
 Miss Bateman. Right through the play to the close, she 
 was an impulsive school girl. Miss Bateman handled her 
 part with a freedom and ease which showed a natural 
 ability. Her conception of the character was just and con- 
 sistent. Naomi Tighe, was for the time being, a real 
 person, more real than many of her friends in the play. 
 
 [213] 
 
Among the minor parts, Laura, the sleepy girl, by Gussie 
 Gammon, and Hattie, by Daisy Jackson, were well carried 
 out. We would also mention the reading of "Cicely and 
 the Bears," by Lottie Mileham, and of "The Little Ked 
 Hen," by Miss Jessie Lawrence. As a whole, the play 
 was a splendid amateur performance. Everything went 
 off smoothly and there were no jars." 
 
 In 1885 a very interesting and highly dramatic play, 
 entitled "Driven From Home," was given on two evenings 
 at the Galesburg Opera House. The principal parts were 
 taken by the following Knox students. W. H. Crocker, '90, 
 Miss Ella W. Martin, '85, Miss Georgia A. Smith, '85, 
 John B. Brown, '86, Thomas G. Frost, '86, Miss Alma 
 B. Colville, '88, William E. Brooks, '84, and Edward C. 
 Sohn, '79. 
 
 One of the outstanding plays given at commencement 
 time by the graduating class, was the presentation of 
 Bulwer-Lyttons classic romantic drama "The Lady of 
 Lyons," on June 11th, 1896. 
 
 "The play is an interesting and clever love tale with 
 a climax at the point where the heroine is to marry the 
 villain to save her father from financial ruin. The hero re- 
 turns, relieves the father's need, and rescues the daughter. 
 "George Tunnicliff made a decided hit in the role of 
 Claude Meluotte, the gardner's son. Nothing but praise 
 was heard from all for his excellent work." 
 
 The star of the evening was Miss Lucy Babcock in 
 her charming and clever presentation of the leading part 
 as the heroine of the play "The Komantic Pauline." The 
 full cast of characters was as follows: 
 
 [214] 
 
Claude Meluotte George D. Tunnicliff 
 
 Col. Dainas Amos Townsend 
 
 Beauseant Ernest L. Tilden 
 
 Glavis ... Eugene M. Weeks 
 
 M. Deschappelles E. W. Gushing 
 
 Landlord ...- Ghas. W. Montgomery 
 
 Caspar Henry I. Sivigert 
 
 Captain Gervais Fred Peterson 
 
 Captain Dupont Percy Pearsall 
 
 Notary Edward E. Hyde 
 
 Servant W. Stancliffe Fuller 
 
 Pauline Lucy M. Babcock 
 
 Madame Deschappelles Lillian Allton 
 
 Widow Meluotte Ruth Montgomery 
 
 Janet Pearl Harris 
 
 Marion ....Marie Olson 
 
 The Knox Student is authority for the statement that 
 "the play was, all in all a great success, surpassing any- 
 thing of the kind ever before attempted at Knox." 
 
 [215] 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Washington's Birthday Celebrations at Knox. 
 
 For many years past, it has been the custom of the 
 students at "Siwash" to celebrate the anniversary of the 
 birth of the father of the county, by holding more or less 
 appropriate exercises in the college chapel. 
 
 Through a mistaken idea as to the depth of the spirit 
 of reverence in the hearts of the undergraduates, the 
 character of the entertainment that should be offered to 
 the public on these occasions is always entrusted solely 
 to the delicate sense of fitness, and decorum of the stud- 
 ents themselves. 
 
 Unfortunately, as it turned out, the class of '86 in 
 its Sophomore year, having tired of the dreary sameness 
 of Washington's birthday celebrations of an earlier period, 
 determined to add certain vaudeville features, to the ordi- 
 nary hackneyed program of other years. It would afford 
 some amusement to the reader of the "simple annals" 
 of an earlier day, to turn to the files of the Republican 
 Register under the date of February 23, 1884, and note 
 there the opening and closing words of the account of the 
 now historic event, given by the reporter of this famous 
 newspaper. 
 
 The heading of the article read as follows : "Washing- 
 ton's birthday celebrated at Knox College. Battle be- 
 tween the classes." 
 
 The closing but inexplicable comment of the gifted 
 reporter of the most dramatic celebration of "Father 
 George's" birthday, reads as follows: "On the whole, we 
 
 [216] 
 
consider the program as the best of its kind ever given 
 at the college." The only explanation that can be offered 
 for such extravagant praise, is to surmise, that the regular 
 reporter assigned to report events of a highly patriotic 
 and intellectual character must have been taken sick, and 
 that his place was taken by one who was accustomed to 
 writing up the fistic events of the prize ring. However, 
 that may be, here is the story told exactly as it occurred 
 over fifty years ago: 
 
 The traditional celebration of the historic event com- 
 memorating the birthday of George Washington was ad- 
 vertised to occur in the Knox College chapel on the after- 
 noon of February 22, 1884. The day was fine, the weather 
 mild, and the towns people together with students of the 
 college filled the chapel to overflowing. 
 
 Some half hour before the exercises were to open, the 
 entire male membership of the Sophomore class dis- 
 appeared from sight. They had betaken themselves to 
 the gymnasium, where they arrayed themselves in the 
 most amazing costumes. They wore long gowns, such as 
 are worn by Catholic priests. Their entire head was 
 hooded, and they wore masks. On the breast and back 
 of each person were drawn large and terrifying pictures 
 of skulls and cross bones. 
 
 Surrounded by four of the huskiest football players 
 in the class, a small darky, about nine years of age, was 
 carried in a litter with a large placard proclaiming the 
 fact that he was the first freshman baby. A large bulldog 
 covered with chains formed a part of the procession ; also 
 a rooster who evinced a desire to crow on every occasion. 
 In double file the class formed a procession walking from 
 the gymnasium to the college. 
 
 rati 
 
News of the intended insult to the Freshman class had 
 been noised about, and the Sophomores had no sooner 
 entered the main floor of the college building than they 
 were assaulted bodily by the Freshman class. The 
 "Frosh" attempted to reach the unfortunate negro boy, 
 who had been promised the large and munificent sum of 
 one dollar if he would lend his presence to the occasion. 
 
 In the turmoil he escaped and was never seen or heard 
 of again. He did not even come back for his dollar. 
 
 By hard fighting and brute strength, the Sophomores 
 pushed the Freshmen back and up the stairs until they 
 reached the landing immediately opposite the entrance 
 to the college chapel. Suddenly the large audience there 
 assembled, were astounded to find themselves in the midst 
 of a desperate fight, which was being carried on between 
 the Sophomores and Freshmen classes. Women screamed 
 and climbed on benches. Even the professors present, 
 yelled themselves hoarse, ordering the embattled warriors 
 to "cease and desist." No attention whatever was paid 
 to these commands. 
 
 Gradually the scene of battle was transferred to the 
 pulpit at the rear of the chapel. This was selected as the 
 most favorable spot for a fierce and a genuinely bloody 
 encounter. 
 
 For fully twenty minutes pandemonium reigned. Then 
 when matters had quieted down a little, the college band 
 played the Star Spangled Banner, and everyone present 
 came to attention. 
 
 The night before, the Sophomores had bored a hole in 
 the ceiling of the college chapel, from which they had 
 suspended a cord which was hardly observable to the 
 naked eye. One of the members of the class, Charles W. 
 
 [218] 
 
Martin, had rigged out a ridiculous doll labeled "The 
 Junior Baby," that he had concealed under his coat when 
 he entered the chapel. He was seated immediately beneath 
 the hole that had been bored in the ceiling of the chapel. 
 Before the band had ceased playing, a cord was lowered 
 from the ceiling above until it was within reaching dis- 
 tance of Mr. Martin. Then he attached the "Junior Baby" 
 to the cord, and it was quickly drawn up and suspended 
 from the ceiling. 
 
 This, of course, enraged the Juniors and they, in a 
 body, assaulted the Sophomores and were ably assisted by 
 the members of the Freshman class in their efforts to com- 
 mit mayhem and other crimes and misdemeanors. Then 
 the entire battle was fought over again. By this time, 
 however, most of the women in the assembly had wisely 
 departed. 
 
 The dog did not roar as was scheduled, but ran to the 
 nearest corner. The eagle, however, flapped its wings and 
 screeched and did other unseemly things becoming to a 
 much frightened rooster. 
 
 Quiet finally prevailed and the program was carried 
 out, but the solemnity befitting an occasion of this kind 
 was lacking and love's labor, in a worth while cause, all 
 but lost. 
 
 A banner had been prepared which was carried into 
 the chapel by two of the class. It had the figure of an 
 overgrown senior painted on it, over a latin motto. 
 Schliemann furnished the prototype for this figure — an 
 overgrown youth in a stovepipe hat and dressed in tight 
 fitting clothes several sizes too short for arms and legs — 
 this banner, of course, was torn to pieces by higher class- 
 men as were also the white robes. 
 
 [219] 
 
We had prepared a banner in our barn which was 
 carried into the chapel by two of our class. 
 
 After a while the tumult subsided and the regular 
 exercises of the day were carried out. The writer of this 
 book happened to be the first speaker on this occasion 
 and had been given, most appropriately, for the subject 
 of his oration, "Chaos Versus Cosmos." 
 
 A titter ran through the audience when the subject 
 was announced. It is not surprising to say, that the 
 speaker, who presented this highly appropriate subject 
 to the audience, was minus at the time, a necktie and 
 most of the buttons of his coat and vest and that he pre- 
 sented anything but a picture of a self-contained orator. 
 
 But this was but one of the many celebrations held 
 annually in honor of our first President. 
 
 The entertainment offered to the public on these other 
 occasions, was almost invariably accompanied by some 
 humorous diversion, originated by the ever fertile Sopho- 
 moric mind. On one occasion "mock programs" were dis- 
 tributed, wherein the entertainment prepared for the delec- 
 tation of the students was described as follows : 
 
 "Dr. Bateman will open the meeting with the usual 
 prayer and then make a few sad remarks to the senior 
 class and when he wipes away a tear with his handkerchief, 
 a young prep or two, overcome with emotion, will faint 
 and be carried out on Mose Wineberg's slipper, generously 
 loaned by the owner on the occasion. Professor Read, in 
 his usual dry manner (typifying an Egyptian mummy) 
 will make a few irrelevant remarks. Robert Mather, the 
 Orator of the day, will then make the British lion roar and 
 the American eagle screech. (Living specimens will oc- 
 cupy appropriate places on the platform. ) You will note 
 
 [220] 
 
the three movements in the automaton speaker. He will 
 make a gesture with three regular jerky movements, first 
 with the left arm, then with the right arm and repeat 
 as occasion requires. (The above description of the 
 automatic arm movements was taken from the speaker's 
 description of an automatic wooden figure which would 
 play a game of chess with any attendant at the Eden 
 Musee, then in Galesburg)." 
 
 On another occasion, just as soon as the audience was 
 seated, two or three freshmen rushed in hurriedly, pass- 
 ing out mock programs announcing that Dr. Bateman 
 would soon offer his resignation as President of Knox; 
 that Professor Hurd would rise and spit on the floor and 
 would then rub it in with the toe of his foot. 
 
 [221] 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 "The Noblest Roman of Them All." 
 
 Inasmuch as these "tales" deal only with the extra- 
 curricular activities of student life at "Siwash," there will 
 be found in the pages of this book, no biographies or ex- 
 tended reference to the members of the faculty of the 
 college during the first hundred years of its existence. 
 The only justification for this chapter, which does con- 
 fessedly deal with an episode in the life of one who filled 
 a professorial chair at Knox College for over a period 
 of fifty years, is that the events herein presented, relate 
 solely to certain extra-curricular activities of this eminent 
 member of the faculty of that institution, and an under- 
 graduate therein. 
 
 In order to appreciate to the fullest extent what fol- 
 lows, it should be observed that the particular professor 
 about whom this chapter is written, was none other than 
 Albert Hurd. The latter was very fond of inculcating at 
 times into the less brilliant student mind, that the proper 
 and approved biblical method of getting even with an 
 offender was to "heap coals of fire upon the latter's head." 
 
 It so happened that a certain Knox student had ar- 
 ranged to make up a term's reading of Livy during the 
 summer vacation, upon the promise of Professor Hurd, 
 that he would examine him on the subject, just before 
 school opened in the fall. Thereby hangs an interesting 
 extra-curricular story. 
 
 One pleasant morning in September the student in 
 question betook himself to the home of Professor Hurd, 
 
 [222] 
 
prepared to have him explore to its very depths, the extent 
 of his recently acquired acquaintance with the pages of 
 Livy. After much search, the learned instructor in Latin, 
 was located in his garden busily engaged in hoeing pota- 
 toes. The caller anchored himself in full view of his pre- 
 ceptor, beneath the shade of a wide-spreading maple, and 
 awaited some word of greeting from him. After a few 
 moments of embarrassing silence the caller ventured the 
 statement that he had called in order to pass an examina- 
 tion in Livy. The only response that this brought forth 
 were the words "all right." Next the caller inquired when 
 the professor would be ready to give him the examination. 
 He answered in the monosyllable "now." Then the pro- 
 spective victim asked him what passages he should read. 
 "Select your own" was his brief response. This unex- 
 pected freedom of choice was almost too good to be true. 
 For the entertainment of the professor, while the latter 
 continued to hoe with great diligence, the student of Livy 
 selected the easiest chapter in the book and translated it 
 with great fluency. Then he waited expectantly for the 
 hoped for words of commendation, which never came. In- 
 stead a highly incensed pedagogue turned on him eyes 
 which seemed to look right through him, and made the 
 following observation: "Now, young man, it is my turn. 
 Suppose you translate the chapter wherein Livy describes 
 how Hannibal climbed the Alps and brought his army 
 into Italy." The visitor knew instantly that he was up 
 against it. The chapter which he had been asked to trans- 
 late was famous among generations of students as the 
 most difficult one in Livy's famous history. Nothing 
 daunted, he essayed to follow Hannibal on his perilous 
 passage over the Italian Alps. As he proceeded, it seemed 
 
 [223] 
 
to him that the higher he succeeded in getting the Carth- 
 aginian army into the mountains, the more difficult be- 
 came the translation. Perspiration stood out on that 
 undergraduate's face as he realized that he was having 
 a harder time with his attempts to decipher the meaning 
 of Rome's famous historian, than had Hannibal in pushing 
 his wearied troops, through the Alpine passes. At last 
 he put on the last finishing touches to the translation and 
 then awaited the verdict with well justified trepidation. 
 This was soon forthcoming. A visibly irate professor 
 admonished the student after this fashion : "Young man, 
 you were not fair. You have been weighed in the balance 
 and found wanting. I allowed you to select your own 
 chapter upon which to be examined. Instead of selecting 
 one that was of medium difficulty, you chose the easiest 
 one in the book. Then to even things up, I made you 
 translate the most difficult chapter in Livy. It strikes me 
 that I was justified in so doing. I shall pass you, but 
 before you leave I want to give you just a word of advice 
 for the future, which is this: If you are not fair, but 
 try to take an unfair advantage of another, you will never 
 gain anything by it in the long run. Sooner or later 
 things will be evened up and to your own disadvantage. 
 Please try and remember this the rest of your life." 
 
 This was a lesson that sank deep into the caller's inner 
 consciousness, and was one which he never forgot. In 
 his heart he knew that Professor Hurd was everlastingly 
 right and that he was absolutely wrong. 
 
 However at the time he was very much incensed at 
 the biting criticism bestowed on him by the professor, and 
 he vowed then and there that he would some day obtain 
 his revenge. Strange to say this "revenge" took a wholly 
 
 [224] 
 
different form than he had planned. As the years passed 
 by after his graduation, the resentment of the student 
 lessened, and in time there came to his mind the old 
 chapel talks, when he had been told of the form of revenge 
 known as "heaping coals of fire on an adversary's head." 
 
 In June, 1900, the former student, now a graduate, 
 went to Galesburg for the purpose of speaking at the 
 Alumni banquet of Knox College, which was held as usual 
 just prior to commencement. 
 
 During the period intervening between his graduation 
 at Knox and the time of his visit to Galesburg in June, 
 
 1900, he had kept his eye on the calendar with a view of 
 promoting a plan that he had already formed of bringing 
 about some formal recognition of Professor Hurd's fifty 
 years of teaching at Knox College, which would culminate 
 in June, 1901. 
 
 With this in mind he conferred with a very close col- 
 lege friend, Judge Philip S. Post of '87. What he sug- 
 gested to him was this: That they should arrange for a 
 "jubilee" banquet to be given to Professor Hurd in June, 
 
 1901, which should embrace with it a presentation of a 
 portrait of Professor Hurd, to be hung in Old Main, 
 wherein Professor Hurd had taught classes for so many 
 years. Judge Post was enthusiastic in his approval of 
 the plan as outlined to him. 
 
 Next a conference was had with Edgar A. Bancroft 
 of '78, who was destined later on in his career to represent 
 the United States as Ambassador to Japan. Mr. Bancroft 
 fell in readily with the proposal and evinced special in- 
 terest in the idea of presenting a portrait of Professor 
 Hurd to Knox College. Mr. Bancroft suggested that the 
 portrait be painted by Wilton Lockwood, one of the most 
 
 [225] 
 
distinguished portrait painters in America. From that 
 time on Judge Post had charge of making the arrange- 
 ments for the banquet to be given to Professor Hurd in 
 June, 1901, while Mr. Bancroft solicited the subscriptions 
 for the painting of the portrait. 
 
 In June, 1901, the banquet in honor of Professor Hurd 
 was given as planned. It was attended by the largest 
 gathering of guests that had ever been present on such 
 an occasion. 
 
 The library room in the center of the Alumni hall was 
 taken possession of by a company of 500 persons, and 
 there the banquet was held. Long tables stretched from 
 one end of the room where the speakers' platform was 
 located when the room was used for a college chapel, 
 where was placed the speaker's table. 
 
 At 6 :30 o'clock the company sat down to the banquet. 
 They came in companies, couples and singly. Many of 
 the classes held reunions earlier in the afternoon, and 
 after a pleasant period of visiting, attended the jubilee 
 banquet in a body, occupying seats together, at the vari- 
 ous tables. At the speaker's table were seated the guest 
 of honor, Professor Hurd, his family, the toastmaster, 
 the speakers, and many prominent alumni. The follow- 
 ing is the account of the testimonial banquet given in the 
 Galesburg Eepublican Kegister. 
 
 "Decorations are Attractive." 
 
 "The tables were all very tastily decorated, as well as 
 the great hall where the banquet was held. Upon each 
 table were placed vases filled with cut flowers, and at 
 intervals were stacks of small American flags, topped 
 
 [226] 
 
with the college colors, purple and gold, and these were 
 waved vigorously during the evening by the guests, when- 
 ever an especially interesting occasion presented itself. 
 
 All over the room were evidences of the college colors, 
 in long strands of purple and gold. About the gallery 
 rail the colors were draped in profusion, and upon the 
 walls of the room were draped American flags. On the 
 south wall to the east of the speakers' table was hung 
 the portrait of Professor Hurd. Before it was placed 
 an American flag, and about it were festoons of green 
 branches, intermingled with which were white flowers. 
 
 When the chairs had been pushed back, the real 
 banquet of the evening began, and for three hours heart- 
 felt tribute and testimonials were showered upon Professor 
 Hurd, while the eloquence and pathos of the speakers 
 was mingled with many an amusing story, and refreshing 
 reminiscence. The audience was representative of the 
 college, and with keen interest and rapt attention the 
 list of toasts was listened to and vigorously applauded. 
 
 At 8:15 o'clock Judge Philip S. Post, president of the 
 Alumni Association, called the assembly to order and 
 announced that the secretary of the Alumni Association, 
 George W. Gale, would make an announcement regarding 
 further commencement events. 
 
 Judge Post then happily introduced Thomas G. Frost, 
 '86, of New York City, "than whom there is no more 
 loyal son of Knox" he said, "and by whom the first sug- 
 gestion of this unique event was made." As the father 
 of the Hurd jubilee celebration he presented Mr. Frost 
 as toastmaster. Through the program Mr. Frost presided 
 gracefully, and filled most acceptably the position. In 
 accepting the honor, he said : 
 
 [227] 
 
"There could be no greater pleasure granted me than 
 this privilege to extend fraternal greetings to old Knox 
 friends, alumni and alumnae. On this, our day of jubilee, 
 in many a distant office, lonely farm house, in city dwel- 
 lings — aye, in distant lands across the sea, the heart of 
 many an absent alumna and alumnus beats in unison 
 with us. 
 
 "The founders of Knox College were a God-fearing 
 people, and in evidence of this regard for the scriptures 
 we are here tonight to bear witness to the obedient and 
 loyal service of one man's service of fifty years, to the 
 noble work of an honored instructor and teacher in this 
 college. This is neither a memorial occasion or a Bel- 
 shazzar's feast. We come not to write Professor Emeritus 
 after his name, but only to praise him whom we love." 
 
 Toastmaster Frost then said : "We have now come to 
 the special feature of the evening, which gives to the 
 reunion the name of 'jubilee.' " He then read a letter 
 from the president of Middlebury College, of Middlebury, 
 Yt., Professor Hurd's alma mater. 
 
 Presentation of the Portrait. 
 
 Judge P. S. Post was presented, and said : "Not only 
 here, as we are gathered in festal assembly, but through- 
 out the land, this celebration has a meaning. From many 
 of these absent alumni have come greetings, and these 
 have been bound into three volumes, one of which will 
 be presented to Professor Hurd, another to the toast- 
 ma ster, and the third placed in the college library. 
 
 "As alumni we have caused to be painted a likeness of 
 
 [228] 
 
Professor Hurd, by Wilton Lockwood, an artist whose 
 fame is already assured. What he had left undone we 
 can supply, and perfect it by the love, reverence and 
 gratitude we bear for Dr. Hurd. To Knox College we 
 present the gift as a testimonial to him who, indeed, 
 was a great teacher, but a greater example." 
 
 The chairman then remarked: "This is truly a great 
 occasion, and the unanimous choice of all, as speaker 
 on this occasion, is Edgar A. Bancroft, '78, of Chicago, 
 to toast to the subject 'Albert Hurd : a likeness/ " 
 
 Mr. Bancroft's Tribute. 
 
 After indulging in reminiscences, Mr. Bancroft said: 
 "The occasion demands an utterance far greater than 
 I can hope for. To portray the likeness of anyone passeth 
 the skill of any artist. But the artist to whom this task 
 has fallen, to preserve a counterfeit, has not failed." At 
 this point the speaker told two pertinent stories regard- 
 ing the artist, and continuing, said: 
 
 "Fifty-five years ago next fall, there came a band of 
 travelers to these western prairies, with the idea that the 
 brawny westerner needed something more in his nature, 
 a mixing with the brawn of brain, to form a well-rounded 
 character, and make a clean life. They believed in and 
 aspired to make the intellectual and moral conquest keep 
 step with the material and commercial conquest. They 
 believed that here a Christian college should dominate 
 the life on those prairies. This community, from that day 
 since, has found its ideals and leaders in their college, 
 and its sister college, grown up beside it. 
 
 [220] 
 
"Into these homes the student has come in contact 
 with vital touch these better forces. Into the community 
 so strongly influenced by church and college a half cen- 
 tury ago, came a young man, who, we all know, was an 
 essential Vermont Yankee — a Green Mountain boy. He 
 came here a bit of granite, clean and solid. He came 
 here with an idea that found sympathy and response in 
 the community. For fifty years he has been a vital 
 part of it. 
 
 "First of all, Professor Hurd helped to establish the 
 idea that the principal business of a teacher is to teach. 
 Teaching such as he believed in and practiced consists in 
 first, a knowledge of the thing taught, and, secondly, 
 in teaching expression, clean, terse English, that in my 
 experience I have not found matched. In the classroom 
 of Professor Hurd the etymology of the English lan- 
 guage was made as plain as it could be. Moreover, he 
 added to teaching, learning; a genuine scholarship that 
 was thorough. Another trait of the man was the de- 
 termination that the pupil should not only have the 
 opportunity to learn, but that he should have no oppor- 
 tunity to escape learning. 
 
 "Professor Hurd, like Carlisle I believe, has a very 
 strong liking for that kind of man who was alert, re- 
 sourceful, quick, accurate and agile. The crown greater 
 than all praise is, that thing which comes as a climax 
 to his other virtues — his personality, marked with en- 
 thusiasm, devotion and loyalty to truth; the belief that 
 by labor only can truth be delved and discovered. These 
 last embalm the other qualities in our memories, and at 
 this time we are talking about those which are still as 
 they ever have been." 
 
 [230] 
 
The speaker digressed briefly to relate several amus- 
 ing stories, impersonating Professor Hurd in the class 
 room very true to the original. 
 
 Unveils the Portrait. 
 
 He then said his object was to unveil the picture of 
 a great teacher. As he spoke these last words, he let fall 
 from the wall to the left of the archway in the library 
 a large American flag, and the magnificent painting was 
 revealed. The vast assemblage gazed in silent admiration 
 upon the admirable likeness depicted by the skillful hand 
 from the wall to the left of the archway in the library, 
 of the artist. The masterpiece is the handiwork of the 
 artist. The masterpiece is life size, the painting measur- 
 ing 8 by 4 feet. Done in oil, with rare ability, the picture 
 is a beautiful one, and the painter has transferred to can- 
 vass as nearly as human power can accomplish, the grand 
 old man of the class room, the classic king. Many were the 
 expressions of admiration at the beauty and truthfulness 
 of the picture. 
 
 When the audience had again been seated, the speaker 
 continued his remarks, referring to the lightning of 
 Professor Hurd's eye, the thunder of his voice and the 
 smile upon his stern countenance, "which no artist can 
 preserve. That noble face and grand character," he said, 
 "have been a monument and beacon for these fifty years. 
 May this splendid friend and exponent of education, and 
 the upholder of the dignity of the aristocracy of learning 
 and scholarship, go on with us for many, many years 
 to come." 
 
 Throughout the speech, and after the unveiling of 
 
 [231] 
 
the picture, there was repeated enthusiastic applause, 
 and above the heads of the listeners were vigorously 
 waved small flags with gold and purple colors attached. 
 The scene was a most inspiring one, marked with en- 
 thusiasm. The college yells added to the outburst. 
 
 Pilgrims of the Prairies. 
 
 Toastmaster Frost then introduced Stephen V. White 
 of New York City, who in an able manner responded 
 to the toast: "The Pilgrim fathers of the prairies." In 
 the course of his remarks he said: "The sentiment as 
 proposed to me is one that would furnish an inspiration 
 for any American gentleman, who is himself a literary 
 scholar for his understanding of scripture which surpass 
 Jacobs, MacCauley and Milton." With Biblical refer- 
 ence the speaker described the coming of the Pilgrims, 
 and spoke of the hardships and adversity which the 
 pioneers of Illinois underwent. 
 
 "In 1837 there was not a free school in the State of 
 Illinois. Now, there is not a county that is devoid of 
 the free schools. 
 
 "In 1869, in a speech, in a burst of enthusiasm, I 
 prophesied, in a talk in the Stock Exchange of New 
 York, that the binding together of the Pacific and the 
 Atlantic by rail, opening up the prairie, forests and 
 mines would work a change in commerce that would 
 astonish the world. I predicted that America would be 
 making loans to foreign countries in the civilization of 
 the world. Lately we have seen this country taking 
 large parts of British, Swedish and other foreign loans 
 without causing a ripple in the money market. 
 
 [232] 
 
We are now on the threshold of the opening up of the 
 islands of the sea, not only to commerce, but the civiliza- 
 tion and Christianity of the United States. There has 
 been much said about wrong done the Philippines. In that 
 quest and purchase of these islands has been opened up 
 an opportunity for power of our civilization and influences 
 to work wonders. God forbid that they be estopped. 
 
 I come to matters more recent. There has not been 
 a half hour since I came to the city that my heart was 
 not filled with a feeling of sorrow. When I first arrived 
 here I was met by that genial soul, George B. Churchill, 
 a lifelong friend from that time. As I speak his memory 
 my heart is heavy. It has always been my habit when 
 passing through Galesburg to send word to Prof. Chur- 
 chill, to meet me and he never failed. As I think of that 
 boyhood friend, and as I think that I shall not look upon 
 that face again, I feel my loss, and the loss of others. 
 
 But another I am glad to see is my good old friend 
 and room-mate, Prof. Comstock. (Applause) He was a 
 double brother of George Churchill. They were brothers 
 in class and in family relations, and they were good 
 fellows. May my old friend Comstock, in the words of 
 Kip Van Winkle, live long and prosper. 
 
 Prof. Hurd, when you came to the college I was safely 
 through my Freshman year. When I saw you, I decided 
 you had something to teach me." Here the speaker delved 
 in reminiscence, and told of a botanical excursion taken 
 one Sunday, by himself and Prof. Hurd — a deed verging 
 upon crime in the days when all the people assembled in 
 the church to worship on the sabbath. The accusation 
 was doubted by Prof. Hurd, who believed that the day 
 
 [233] 
 
must have been other than Sunday. The incident was the 
 cause of much merriment for the audience. 
 
 In closing, Mr. White said: "I leave Galesburg re- 
 joicing that I have had an opportunity of being with my 
 old friends at commencement. I came to do honor to a 
 man for whom I have such admiration and love as to 
 leave my business and come this distance to pay tribute 
 to Mm." 
 
 City and College. 
 
 In one of his characteristic, thrilling talks, Congress- 
 man George W. Prince, '78, treated "The City's Debt to 
 Knox College". After referring in tender terms to Prof. 
 Hurd, he said that, although much had been done for 
 Galesburg by the Burlington railroad, the Frost Manu- 
 facturing Company, Lombard College and the George W. 
 Brown Company, in building up the city, yet, to Knox 
 College more than to any of her institutions, we owe the 
 greatest debt. After referring to the loss sustained by 
 the city in the death during the past year of Selden Gale 
 and Judge A. A. Smith, whose impress is upon this city, 
 he continued: "This city owes much to the college in its 
 center. Here have come students from all parts of these 
 western states, and they have gone forth into all parts 
 of the world to do their work. Tonight we have the 
 splendid privilege of seeing in the flesh, two of the college's 
 noblest men." At this point the speaker paid tribute to 
 the late Prof. George Churchill. Continuing he said : 
 
 "I congratulate Prof. Milton Comstock, that he is here 
 tonight, to share with his fellow professors the honors of 
 the occasion. 
 
 With all due deference to the other teachers, I think 
 
 [234] 
 
Prof. Hurd would not permit a boy to go through a class 
 without trying to learn what was in the book. And to 
 you, Prof. Hurd, say, whatsoever I may be, or have done, 
 is due to you. Let us be good men and women, and keep 
 flying the Stars and Stripes, whether here or over the 
 insular possessions which we propose to keep forever." 
 
 Prof. Hurd's Kesponse. 
 
 As Congressman Prince resumed his seat, spontane- 
 ously there burst forth calls for Prof. Hurd. The vener- 
 able professor sat for some time with closed eyes and 
 inclined head, overcome with emotion, and reluctant to 
 rise and speak. Slowly he arose from his chair, back of 
 the speaker's table, amid applause and cheers, and in his 
 measured tones, said: "I was not told that I should be 
 called upon for a speech tonight, and you may well imagine 
 that I am in no condition to speak, for my heart is too 
 full to express properly what I feel or would like to say 
 on this occasion. 
 
 I had a fear this morning that something like this 
 might happen, and, feeling sure I could not rely upon 
 myself, I have written words. Whether they are appro- 
 priate or not I think it best to read them, rather than 
 risk a failure. 
 
 The gentlemen who have spoken to us this evening 
 have poor memories. I think they are also blessed with 
 vivid imagination, and I think they have related circum- 
 stances which never occurred or which I cannot recall." 
 
 Prof. Hurd then read as follows: 
 
 As a married couple having for fifty years lived to- 
 gether in love, sharing joy and sorrow, tears and smiles, 
 
 [235] 
 
labor and its rewards, rearing a family of lovely sons 
 and daughters to honor their parents and bless the world, 
 naturally celebrate their golden wedding, so when a 
 teacher has been for fifty years in the same school or 
 college, it is, I suppose, natural and appropriate that 
 the occurrence should receive some recognition. I am 
 this evening, as I have been for years, profoundly grateful 
 to the kind Providence which has permitted me to work 
 so long in Knox College among young men and young 
 women who have become her crown of glory, seen and 
 honored by all men, and who are so strongly attached to 
 their cherishing acedemic mother, and so loyally devoted to 
 her interests. 
 
 In Many Fields. 
 
 "Who are these sons and daughters of Knox? They 
 are preachers of the gospel, teachers, judges in our courts, 
 lawyers, doctors, business men, men of influence and 
 power in the great religious and industrial enterprises 
 of the world; men and women adorning every walk of 
 life over the round globe. May not the teacher who can 
 help, however humbly, in the intellectual and moral 
 growth and development of such men and women con- 
 gratulate himself on his good fortune? Is it not an en- 
 viable labor to assist in discovering and opening the 
 springs from which flow such beneficient tides of good 
 will to men and glory of God? At any rate, I have always 
 felt sure that the work of the teacher is an important one, 
 and have found great satisfaction in it. It has been a 
 perennial joy to live with and work for this army of noble 
 souls whom God is ever rearing and training for the ac- 
 
 [236] 
 
complishment of His purposes among humanity. I be- 
 lieve that God has some useful work provided in this 
 world for each willing heart and hand, and that by His 
 over-ruling providence, men are assigned to definite 
 kinds of work. For years the conviction has been 
 firm within me that a power above us all brought 
 me to Knox College as my best field and tonight that 
 conviction is, perhaps, stronger than ever. Here I have 
 worked on patiently and courageously, and with great 
 content, the dial of time says for fifty years, and tonight, 
 despite my deeply-regretted imperfections and short-com- 
 ings, you kindly permit me to believe that my life has not 
 been in vain. For this permission you will please accept 
 my hearty thanks, and from it I will take fresh courage for 
 the future work which may lie before me. 
 
 Wishes foe the Future. 
 
 "For the future of Knox College my most earnest wish 
 is that you, her alumni and alumnae, will continue, as 
 you have done, to loyally support your alma mater, to 
 send your sons and daughters here for their education, 
 to give us, not merely your kind wishes and your prayers, 
 but also your work, your influence and your money. We 
 need them all, and we look to you for help. With more 
 money, the usefulness of our college might be largely in- 
 creased ; can you not find some for us in your own pockets, 
 or in the pockets of someone else? Teachers will come and 
 go, but while the workman changes, the work must go 
 on in response to an ever-increasing demand. Our new 
 professors are well prepared to do a splendid work, better 
 than the old-time professors had facilities for doing, and 
 
 [237] 
 
like all other colleges, we must look largely to our gradu- 
 ates to sustain and perpetuate the good work of the past 
 and to enlarge it. You will not, I am sure, allow your 
 alma mater to languish if you can at any time infuse 
 new vigor into her veins. 
 
 Once more, allow me to thank you for all your kind- 
 ness to me in the past, and here today ; and for the future 
 may the richest benediction of our Heavenly Father rest 
 upon us all." 
 
 [238] 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Traditions and Stories of Knox Seminary. 
 
 No better preface to a chapter entitled "Traditions 
 and Stories of Knox Seminary' ' dealing with the annals 
 of Knox Seminary conld be given than by quoting 
 the statement contained in the Knox College catalogue 
 of 1880 and 1881, which read as follows: "Knox Semi- 
 nary is designed to furnish a liberal course of instruc- 
 tion to young ladies. A course of study occupies four 
 years and offers facilities for thorough mental discipline 
 and liberal culture. It is planned with reference to the 
 ordinary duties of intelligent educated women and to 
 the special requirements of those who desire to teach. 
 The college courses, classical and scientific, are also 
 open to young ladies and superior advantages are offered 
 for instruction in music, drawing and painting. The 
 young ladies have the benefit of instruction and lectures 
 from the president and professors of the college, the 
 studies of the regular seminary curriculum being under 
 their charge. 
 
 By this arrangement the young ladies enjoy precisely 
 the same advantages in instruction and in the use of 
 the library apparatus and cabinet of the college as are 
 provided for the young men." 
 
 As late as 1881-1882, Knox Seminary was carried on 
 as a separate institution. It had four classes: Junior, 
 Junior-middle, Senior-middle and Senior. 
 
 [ 239 ] 
 
For historical reasons as well as to permit of per- 
 sonal reference herein there is here reproduced the names 
 of the principals and deans of the Knox Seminary since 
 its first organization. 
 
 They read as follows: 
 
 Julia Chandler _ 1842-1845 
 
 Mary E. Melendy 1845-1848 
 
 Lydia H. Keed -...1853-1854 
 
 Jane Everett 1857-1858 
 
 Melvina W. Curtis 1858-1860 
 
 Sarah H. Hatch 1860-1866 
 
 Ada L. Howard 1866-1869 
 
 Susan H. Ward 1869-1872 
 
 Anna L. Bonney 1872-1873 
 
 Amelia F. Bangs 1873-1879 
 
 Maria H. Whiting 1879-1894 
 
 Elizabeth Wallace.... 1895-1896 
 
 Katherine Courtright 1896-1897 
 
 Janet Greig 1897-1902 
 
 Jannah B. Clark.... 1902-1903 
 
 Grace Stayt 1903-1925 
 
 Grace B. Smith 1925-1926 
 
 Mildred P. Sherman 1926-1931 
 
 Fannie H. Glidden 1931-1937 
 
 Five of the foregoing names are especially well worthy 
 of special mention. Miss Ada L. Howard was called 
 from her position as the Dean at Knox Seminary to 
 become the first President of Wellesley College. 
 
 Mrs. Maria H. Whiting served faithfully and well 
 for fifteen years as Dean of Women at Knox. Her name 
 
 [240] 
 
is perpetuated in "Whiting Hall," which furnishes an 
 abiding place for the young women attending college 
 from outside of Galesburg. Mrs. Whiting was possessed 
 of a fine Christian character and exercised a most whole- 
 some influence on the young women entrusted to her care. 
 Upon her decease in 1894, she left her estate to the 
 college. 
 
 Elizabeth Wallace was a dean "to the manner born." 
 In many ways she was an ideal dean of women. After 
 only one year at Knox she continued her activities in 
 an even more responsible position at Chicago University. 
 
 Janet Greig (Mrs. Phillip Sidney Post), who acted 
 as dean for a period of five years was the youngest 
 woman to assume such a responsible position. She pos- 
 sessed both rare personal charm, as well as great ex- 
 ecutive ability. She honored the position to which she 
 was called. 
 
 Miss Grace Stayt filled the position of Dean of 
 Women for a period of twenty-two years, the longest 
 period of service in the history of the seminary. 
 
 Co-education is a problem that belongs almost en- 
 tirely to the Middle and Far West. It is practically a 
 stranger to the East. 
 
 In the early days of Knox College, the women stu- 
 dents belonged exclusively to an unincorporated body 
 known as "The Knox Female Seminary." This continued 
 until the year when the Knox Female Seminary dis- 
 appeared from the picture and all students of both sexes 
 were enrolled as members of the student body of Knox 
 College. During both these periods it was a rule of 
 the institution that a building should be maintained by 
 the college, wherein young women at all times, if they 
 
 [241] 
 
so desired, should be able to find room and board. The 
 building so maintained was long known as the Knox Fe- 
 male Seminary, and has been presided over from very 
 early days by a woman whose official designation was that 
 of principal, matron or dean. 
 
 The catalogue for 1881-1882 contains this statement: 
 
 "The importance of residence in the seminary cannot 
 be too strongly urged upon the attention of the young 
 ladies and their parents. The habits of living and study 
 which prevail there are more regular than in private 
 families and are highly conducive, both to health and 
 literary progress." 
 
 The "Modus Operandi" incident to the making of a 
 formal call by an incoming Freshman upon an inmate 
 of the Knox Female Seminary may be explained as fol- 
 lows: Theoretically it could only be made on Friday 
 evening or on Saturday afternoon. It is perhaps super- 
 fluous to observe, that in order to justify the appearance 
 of a student at the door of the institution at either of 
 these times, he must have some acquaintance with a 
 member of the opposite sex, who resided within the 
 secluded cloisters of the "Fern Sem" as it was euphem- 
 istically styled. 
 
 Usually the matter was arranged beforehand by the 
 parties most interested. About eight in the evening was 
 the fashionable hour to arrive for one of these ordeals. 
 Once arrived at the threshold of the building, the caller 
 
 would give his name and request to see Miss 
 
 He would then be ushered into a large parlor, contain- 
 ing perhaps twenty chairs and a stiff-backed sofa. There 
 was no danger of a student becoming lonesome in this 
 reception room on any of these fixed times for "wait- 
 
 [242] 
 
ing" on some fair damsel, for the parlor would be sure 
 to be overflowing. 
 
 After having passed once through such an ordeal, 
 the male caller soon learned that there was another and 
 much less frequented waiting room across the hall from 
 the main parlor. Even in this supposedly sequestered 
 retreat, a man was playing in great luck to find it oc- 
 cupied by less than four couples. Sufficient has been 
 already said to convince the reader that privacy and 
 coziness were both at a high premium, when social life 
 between the sexes was sought for by more or less enamored 
 swains and their inamoratas in the Seminary parlors. 
 
 Instead of being an hour of rapturous exaltation, 
 sitting in the seminary parlor for an entire evening in 
 company with some twenty other sufferers, was really 
 an endurance test. 
 
 The incoming Freshmen were early compelled to make 
 the difficult choice that falls to the lot of youths to 
 choose between the seductive blond and the tall, willowy, 
 graceful brunette. 
 
 When all other subjects of conversation were ex- 
 hausted, the Freshmen could always fall back on a dis- 
 cussion of the attractiveness of maintaining a platonic 
 friendship with some attractive person of the opposite 
 sex. In fact, in those days we ran old Plato "ragged." 
 
 The soft gentle hand of an ethereal being would oc- 
 casionally, when the hour for parting came, grasp the 
 calloused fingers of the neophyte in love. This never 
 failed to bring a flutter to the heart of a verdant freshman. 
 
 The ages of the girls in the seminary varied from six- 
 teen to what was termed in college parlance, a perma- 
 nent twenty-five. 
 
 [ 243 ] 
 
Some of the girls, even among the newly arrived 
 Freshmen, already had adopted their particular lines 
 of attack on the students of the opposite sex. Some- 
 times a more experienced inmate of the "Sem" would 
 tell one of her callers he was "so intelligent, and so full 
 of understanding." Immediately the person so addressed 
 would class her as one of the most intelligent of her sex. 
 
 The chance of finding any intellectual or spiritual 
 companion in one of the opposite sex was a hazard, to 
 which few of the men of that day gave any serious 
 thought. One favorite amusement among the innocent 
 Freshmen was to get one of the girls to read his palm. 
 The young men early discovered that a pleasant feeling 
 comes over one when his hand is pillowed in the soft 
 palm of a charming lady. 
 
 It was the aim of the verdant underclassmen to place 
 their friendship with the coy inmates of the convent-like 
 building across the campus on the firm rock of mutual 
 revelation. The men determined that there should be 
 no ground for future jealousy on the part of a new found 
 ladylove, because of the student's frank confession of 
 past misdeeds. These were carefully kept in the back- 
 ground. 
 
 When some Freshman found his declaration of deep 
 and abiding affection openly spurned, he was wont 
 to move slowly out of the door of the Seminary that led 
 forth into a free and untrammelled world murmuring 
 softly to himself: "And yet to think I believed her to 
 be one of God's noblest specimens of womanhood." Many 
 of the incoming Freshmen, soon found that there is no 
 slavery more poignant with sorrow than that of un- 
 requited love. In fact, youths of this impressionable 
 
 [244] 
 
age knew little of the true value of assuming before their 
 lady friends the role of well seasoned men of the world. 
 
 Soon some of the Freshmen became so sophisticated 
 that they declared that any one who looked upon youth 
 as a carefree existence on the threshold of manhood, were 
 laboring under a dangerous delusion. 
 
 As a general thing the young women were far more 
 versed in social usages than the men. There were 
 many extraordinarily fascinating girls who came to 
 "Siwash" from all parts of the country. One fascinating 
 blond came from a Mississippi Kiver town who would 
 have been a star in a Floradora sextet. Another came 
 from a small hamlet on the Illinois Kiver, who would 
 have been an acknowledged belle in any city in the land. 
 Besides these there were many others possessing both 
 beauty and charm. 
 
 Gradually as a result of experience many of the in- 
 coming Freshmen announced that the only sure cure for 
 the loss of one woman was to find another to take her 
 place. 
 
 One of the firm beliefs to which most of the Fresh- 
 men clung: was that they were always being misunder- 
 stood. Therefore, they would wander around endlessly 
 seeking some kindred soul who really would understand 
 them. 
 
 The girls in their teens may have known, at that 
 time, very little that had been taught them in the college 
 curriculum; nevertheless, they soon developed extraord- 
 inary precocity in carrying on affairs of the heart. 
 
 Some of them found little to excite their emotion 
 among these all too verdant Freshmen, but hoped that 
 these last mentioned individuals would afford them a little 
 
 [245] 
 
useful practice in. the amatory art. They even liked throw- 
 ing out their lines for nibbles or bites even if the case never 
 resulted in any other capture except that of suckers. 
 
 In the communities from which some of the men came 
 there had been beautiful and proud beauties who would 
 sigh for them as they passed by. Now, all was changed. 
 The cold impressionable male student soon fell unques- 
 tionably in love. Whether matrimony was the object 
 was another question. 
 
 Sometimes when the imagination of the student was 
 running at top speed, he would sit on the steps of "Old 
 Main" and see rising before him a magnificent new 
 gymnasium bearing the name of one who though now 
 only an impoverished student, would be remembered some 
 day among the good and great. He fondly believed this 
 gymnasium, when once erected, would furnish a splendid 
 monument to one, whom now the faculty held alas all 
 too lightly. 
 
 In the face of such unromantic and unattractive con- 
 ditions can it be wondered at, that the more sophisticated 
 and experienced "Siwash" students soon devised ways 
 and means of relieving the dull tedium of routine college 
 life. 
 
 The general principle upon which the callow youths 
 of the "eighties" and "nineties" acted might be well 
 expressed in these oft quoted lines: 
 
 "For I must love someone, and it may as well be you." 
 
 To show the simplicity of the social life of the col- 
 lege of that early day, the following incident may be 
 offered. There was a handsome youth enrolled at Knox 
 in the eighties, who was the envy of all his friends in 
 that institution. His father had furnished him with the 
 
 [246] 
 
use of a spirited driving horse and a "side-car" buggy. 
 Armed with, this unbelievably magnificent equipment, it 
 is needless to say, his fellow students could not hope to 
 compete with him in the quest for feminine society. All 
 that they could do was to stand sadly by on the curb 
 and watch their more fortunate fellow student drive by 
 in the company of some particularly attractive member 
 of the fair sex. Here are a few episodes, which added 
 much spice to life at Knox Seminary in the early 
 "eighties." 
 
 During her sophomore year at Knox one of the fairest 
 denizens of the Seminary found that she was in great 
 demand by numerous swains who eagerly sought permis- 
 sion to call on her on Friday evenings. Occasionally she 
 was compelled to entertain two visitors on the same eve- 
 ning. She mentioned this fact with some pride at the 
 dining table one evening where both the men and women 
 students were accustomed to take their meals together. 
 Thereafter a plan was evolved by certain of the men, with 
 the ostensible end in view of curing her of boasting of 
 her popularity with the opposite sex. The following Fri- 
 day evening by concerted action, seven men called upon 
 her in succession. With the arrival of the seventh, the 
 lady in question burst into tears and fled from the room. 
 Thereafter the victim of the conspiracy scanned with a 
 microscope the names of all callers before coming down 
 from her room to greet them. 
 
 On another occasion a wager was made between one 
 of the men students and a seminary girl, that the man 
 could go up to the girPs room in broad daylight, enter 
 the room while she was there and then come out, all 
 without any hindrance from Bean Whiting or any of 
 
 [247] 
 
her assistants. It was agreed that the man should have 
 two months within which to perform the feat. The wager 
 was won by the male student through the employment of 
 a very simple strategem. He waited until after the close 
 of the Christmas vacation, when he knew the young lady 
 would be returning from her home, accompanied as was 
 her custom, by her trunk. When she stepped off the car on 
 her return from her vacation, she was met by the young 
 man with whom she made the wager. He informed her that 
 he would put her in a hack in which she would be driven 
 to the Seminary, while he would, in the meanwhile see 
 that her trunk was taken care of by the baggage express. 
 The confiding damsel thereupon gave him her trunk-check 
 and thereby unwittingly gave him the opportunity of 
 winning the wager. With the connivance of "Ben Buck- 
 ley", who operated the local baggage express, he assisted 
 that famous character, without let or hindrance from the 
 Dean, in transporting the trunk of the lady with whom he 
 had made the wager, from the baggage wagon up to the 
 innermost precincts of the ladies' boudoir. In this manner 
 the wager was won. 
 
 In order to show the friendly character and breadth 
 of view of Mrs. Maria H. Whiting, the Dean of Women 
 in the "eighties", the following incident may be related. 
 There were two parlors in Knox Seminary at that time. 
 One of these was used only on Friday evenings (for over- 
 flow purposes) and on state occasions. On a certain eve- 
 ning this particular parlor was infested by two couples, 
 to whom certain Seminary rules had become a dead 
 letter. A bell was always rung at 10 P. M. Friday eve- 
 nings as a signal for all callers to depart. On this par- 
 ticular evening the bell rang as usual but the two couples 
 
 [248] 
 
in the "extra parlor" failed to move. Instead, they adopted 
 the simple expedient of turning out all the lights in the 
 room, preferring to sit in the dark, while bidding a fond 
 farewell to each other. Everything went well until the 
 door was softly opened by no less a personage than 
 Mrs. Whiting herself. It was difficult to find the lights 
 in the darkness of the room, so the Dean, without any in- 
 tention of so doing, started a game of still-pond and no 
 moving in the darkened room. The two young men 
 crawled about on their hands and knees with the Dean 
 in full pursuit and thus escaped immediate capture. They 
 finally escaped through the door leading into the outer 
 hall, but the two young ladies became unwilling captives 
 of Mrs. Whiting. To the great gratification of all the 
 students concerned, the Dean treated the whole affair as 
 a huge joke on all concerned therein, and no one was 
 disciplined for their part in the comedy. 
 
 Among the most amusing episodes connected with 
 Knox Seminary are the following: 
 
 On a certain evening in early June, six couples found 
 themselves locked out of the door of Whiting Hall. The 
 six ladies who formed a component part of this goodly 
 company, were visibly alarmed. One less accustomed to 
 such situation even burst into tears. One of the men pres- 
 ent who happened to be a senior, offered to relieve the 
 situation, by clandestinely entering the closed building by 
 opening the upper portion of a window in the basement 
 with a clasp knife. The lower portion being securely 
 fastened, this was easily accomplished and the more or 
 less dignified senior was lifted on the shoulders of his 
 companions, until he succeeded in making his entrance 
 head first into the building. As he alighted with con- 
 
 [249] 
 
siderable force on the floor of the basement, he found 
 himself in the arms of the college janitor, who had been 
 placed there that night for the express purpose of captur- 
 ing intruders. The senior's first impulse was to resist, but 
 he finally made up his mind that discretion was the 
 better part of valor. So, discarding any idea of appealing 
 to his captor's "better nature", he at once introduced the 
 question as to what would be the exact cost in cash for 
 the captive's liberation? The subject seemed to interest 
 the janitor immensely and it was soon arranged that upon 
 the payment of the magnificent sum of twenty-five cents, 
 the prisoner would be freed. The ransom money demanded 
 was quickly paid, and the senior returned to freedom in 
 the same inconvenient manner by which he had entered. 
 The experience, however, so galled the student's injured 
 pride, that he forthwith determined that never again 
 should he be caught in such a plight. Within the next 
 few days, he, in company with a close friend, secured a 
 wax impression of the lock to the front door of the 
 Seminary and from this had a pass key made. For many 
 months thereafter it was a matter of complete indiffer- 
 ence to the two joint owners of the "key", as to what the 
 hour might be for returning their lady friends to the 
 Seminary, after spending a pleasant evening at a theatre 
 or dance. In the month of April, immediately preceding 
 the date of their graduation, the long deadened consciences 
 of the two owners of the pass key, began to work. So it 
 was, that in the "wee small hours of the night," after their 
 partners of the evening had been safely returned to the 
 Seminary through the kindly offices of the key to the 
 front door of that institution, a discussion arose as to 
 the ethical and moral principles that possibly had been 
 
 [250] 
 
violated by the use of the magic key. In an urge to do 
 proper restitution even at that late day, and as a salve to 
 their suddenly awakened consciences, they determined to 
 throw away the "forbidden key" into the City Park, 
 situated immediately opposite the Knox Seminary. This 
 they fatuously imagined would remove all further tempta- 
 tion on their part to offend the proprieties. So this was 
 done, and the youths separated for the night, each feeling 
 justly proud that he had thereby accomplished a great 
 moral victory. Somehow on the following morning their 
 noble act of renunciation did not look so wise and sensible 
 to them as it had the night before. Therefore, without 
 any great conflict with their better selves, they, each, un- 
 known to the other, made up their minds to hunt for the 
 discarded key on their way back to college classes. Alas, 
 for the frailty of weak human nature ! When they arrived 
 at the confines of the city park, they were both dumb- 
 founded to find there, their companion of the night before, 
 who, was like himself, even then engaged in looking for the 
 pass-key. When the twain met that morning under these 
 circumstances, both burst into unrestrained laughter. The 
 moral reform certainly had a quick and untimely end. 
 
 Miss Louise Fitch of 1902, who is now filling with 
 great credit, the responsible position of "Dean of Women" 
 at Cornell University, has been kind enough to furnish for 
 the benefit of the readers of this veracious chronicle, the 
 following classic story: 
 
 "This is as it was told me by one of the participants. 
 Three girls went down to Whiting Hall dining room and 
 kitchen floor one night in search of any food which might 
 have accidentally been left out of the pantry. They found 
 none, but they did find a bar of chocolate on a shelf, 
 
 [251] 
 
a rather inaccessible one. This they decided would be fine 
 for fudge but was out of reach. One girl climbed up on 
 a barrel and as she reached out her hand to take the 
 chocolate — the head of the barrel gave way, and down 
 she went — up to her knees in apple butter ! Then the three 
 were perplexed. If she went up to her room dripping 
 apple butter at every step she could, of course, be traced 
 easily. A council decided upon this solution. One girl 
 "stood guard" over the girl in the barrel (and butter) ; 
 the other went to her room and came back with a sheet and 
 a shoe horn. They scraped her off as well as possible 
 with the shoe horn, got her out on the sheet and dragged 
 her up to her room. The story ended in this fashion, as 
 told me: The next morning there was apple butter for 
 breakfast but three girls did not eat any.' I have told the 
 story in and around Galesburg a number of times, for it 
 amused me vastly — and I found to my consternation that 
 I can not live down the rumor that / was the one in the 
 barrel. I assure you I was not even among those present — 
 though, I wouldn't put it past me in those days had the 
 chance occurred." 
 
 [252] 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Romances and Near Romances of the "Siwash" Campus. 
 
 A coeducational college without any romances, would 
 be like a stage without any furniture, settings or 
 players. Wherever the sexes mingle together in class- 
 rooms or on the campus, there you will be sure to find the 
 heart throbs of real romance. Close environment and 
 daily personal contact are sure, sooner or later, to bring 
 kindred souls together into the bonds of a lasting affec- 
 tion. Of course, the number of such affairs at "Siwash" 
 were myriad in number. Therefore, it will only be possible 
 to recount here, such as possessed some particularly in- 
 teresting features, which might serve either to interest 
 or amuse the reader. 
 
 The following interesting romance is here presented 
 just as it was written for this book at the request of 
 the author, by Charles W. Martin of '86. 
 
 "Romances at Knox — Yes, there were many of them in 
 my time, beautiful romances, which budded and blossomed 
 and were fruitful in long happy lives. Many a young 
 student there discovered his fairy queen, helpmate and 
 companion in his life's journey. 
 
 I remember the first morning I crossed the City Hall 
 Park to enter the portals of Old Main. I was one of a 
 procession of young men and girls, most of them from 
 serious families living in town or from the country side 
 within a radius of 150 miles from Galesburg. They were 
 fine examples of budding manhood and womanhood. 
 
 The girls were mostly from Knox Seminary and walked 
 
 [253] 
 
in pairs or in groups. The furtive glances from the timid 
 young men were not altogether unnoticed by the coy 
 maidens, for they were practically all strangers to each 
 other. As classes were formed and months rolled by, 
 this condition changed and many a young man loitered 
 about the front portal of Old Main to enjoy the privilege 
 of walking across the park with some fair classmate. 
 
 Toward the end of the scholastic year these friendships 
 became more noticeable. It was a case, as the French 
 would describe it, of 'Chaque un avec sa chaque une.' 
 
 But you have asked me to relate some romance at 
 Knox in which I was personally interested. Alas! the 
 only romance in which I participated, was an unfortunate 
 one. It originated out of sympathy for a young prep, 
 a Galesburg boy, whom I had met in high school, a blond 
 whom we will call Dick. He possessed a wonderful 
 vocabulary and was extremely romantic and sentimental. 
 Toward the end of the scholastic year he confided in me 
 that the beauty of a certain lady residing in Whiting 
 Hall had completely upset him. Unfortunately he was 
 in the Academy and she was in College. This created a 
 gulf almost impassible in college ethics. I consoled and 
 complimented him on his good taste, for this young lady, 
 whom we will call Alice, was a charming bit of humanity. 
 A brunette, graceful in poise and carriage, vivacious; 
 she dressed neatly and wore a skirt with graceful flounces, 
 a brightly colored bow at her neck and pretty ribbon or 
 flowers nestled in her wavy chestnut hair. 
 
 Alice was extremely popular with her classmates and 
 especially among the sterner sex. Such popularity was 
 not looked upon with favor by the puritanical matrons 
 of my day. A proper young lady was supposed to be 
 
 [254] 
 
coy and demure. Although Alice had been at our house 
 with my sister on one or two occasions, I did not dare 
 suggest an introduction to the melancholy Dick. 
 
 Although he was stalemated, he kept me advised of the 
 situation — How in mounting the stairs for Chapel exercises 
 in the east end of the second story of Old Main, or in 
 leaving the chapel, he had managed occasionally to walk 
 a few steps by her side in the hope Alice might stumble or 
 drop her books so he could perform a chivalrous act ; but 
 the fates were against him. Finally, I took pity on Dick 
 and decided to help him out. In the City Hall Park I 
 discovered a woodpecker's nest in a large elm tree, con- 
 veniently near the ground. This tree was not far from 
 the Seminary, being across the street to the South. 
 
 I inserted in this hole a small tin can and then a 
 short billet-doux on perfumed notepaper to which I affixed 
 Alice's initials. This note I carried in my pocket until 
 an opportune moment should arrive, and was rewarded a 
 few days later when Dick confided to me as we were about 
 to enter the chapel, that he had had the pleasure of walk- 
 ing alongside Alice as she came up the stairs. This was 
 the propitious moment so I slipped the precious note in 
 Dick's pocket as we later descended the stairs. It worked 
 like magic, for that afternoon Dick waited for me in front 
 of the college to tell me the good news. 
 
 He finally permitted me to read the note which stated 
 that a personal interview was out of the question on ac- 
 count of college decorum ; but that a friendly correspond- 
 ence could do no harm. No sign of recognition, however, 
 should pass between them as Mrs. Whiting, that dear white 
 haired lady who presided over the destinies of the co-eds in 
 the Seminary, would not approve of such frivolities. The 
 
 [255] 
 
location of the woodpecker's nest was suggested as a secret 
 post office. A delightful correspondence then ensued 
 between Dick and myself, as sweet Alice's proxy. 
 
 I really envied the ecstasy in which he lived for a 
 brief three or four weeks. This beautiful bud flowered 
 in romance to bloom alone and die for want of warmth 
 and sympathy. A Romeo without a Juliet. 
 
 Fortunately, the school year was about at an end. Dick 
 did not return to school the next term, was taken sick a 
 year or two later and died. Alice returned for another 
 year and then married, but she too has since passed to her 
 reward, in blissful ignorance of the joyful emotions her 
 beauty and charm had awakened while in school. 
 
 As I look back on this unrequited love, a feeling of 
 sadness comes over me, such as one experiences on leaving 
 grand opera with the plaintive note of the hero's swan 
 song still lingering in his mind." 
 
 "The Story of Diana." 
 
 In the early "eighties," it so happened that a certain 
 "Siwash" undergraduate, like so many another student 
 before him, had the same peculiar dream, three nights 
 running. It was doubtless this unusual succession of the 
 same dream, which caused the dreamer to attach unusual 
 significance and weight to the experience. As to the 
 character of this remarkable dream, it can be quickly told. 
 The student dreamed that he would meet and become en- 
 gaged to a young lady of rare charm and loveliness vj 
 the name of "Diana". Now, the dream was particularly 
 intriguing for the reason that the person who had the 
 dream, had never in all his life met a lady of any age, 
 
 [256] 
 
character or description, who rejoiced in the classic name 
 of "Diana". In an unguarded moment, he related to an 
 intimate friend of his, the story of his dream. The friend 
 thought the phantasy of the vision so full of portentous 
 meaning, that he retold the tale to his younger sister. A 
 few weeks later a cousin came to visit this sister, whose 
 baptismal name was Fannie. However, on her arrival, 
 she was induced to agree to assume temporarily the name 
 of "Diana", when she was introduced to the victim of 
 the persistent dream. The latter dropped in for a call 
 at his friend's house soon after the arrival of "Cousin 
 Fannie." It is easy to imagine the caller's surprise and 
 evident embarrassment, when he was introduced to a most 
 attractive and flirtatious young lady, who answered to 
 the name of Diana. 
 
 In fact, he was so dumbfounded by the occurrence, 
 that he asked the introducer to repeat the name of her 
 guest, which she did. Yes, the unexpected had happened 
 and he had now met in the flesh, the "Diana" of his 
 dreams. No sooner had this realization come over him 
 than he then asked himself this question: Well now that 
 you have found her, what are you going to do about it? 
 That was indeed a problem. If the dream were to come 
 true he believed, in his innocence, that it would be 
 necessary, of course, for him to extend to the alluring 
 "Diana", a formal proposal in marriage. In view of the 
 fact that he had not yet attained his majority, nor finished 
 his college course, it seemed the height of folly for him to 
 even attempt to enter into such a serious relationship with 
 the lady in question. Possibly for personal reasons, it will 
 be better at this point, to allow another than the author 
 to tell the story of Diana. It runs after this fashion : 
 
 [257] 
 
"Come to think of it, I recall another sad romance in 
 which I was an interested participant, during my college 
 days. One of my classmates had a personal charm which 
 endeared him to his fellow students and a gallant manner, 
 due to an aristocratic background acquired from his cul- 
 tured parents, which made him a special favorite with the 
 ladies. We will call him George. 
 
 One day George recounted to a friend a pleasant dream 
 he had had the night before. How he had seen and con- 
 versed with his future fate. The next night strange to 
 relate, the lovely vision of his dream appeared again only 
 more realistic. The object of these dreams, he stated, was 
 a maiden, "Diana," a vivacious, pretty brunette bubbling 
 with charm and humor. 
 
 Alas! there was no one named Diana among the stu- 
 dents or among his acquaintances, so the vision faded 
 and became a mere fairy tale. A month or two later a 
 certain girl from Chicago came to Galesburg on a visit 
 to the friend's family. The latter' s sister recalling the 
 "friend's" dream, induced the visiting lady to permit her- 
 self to be introduced as Diana. She ideally fitted the 
 description of the dream goddess as George had described 
 her. Two of her girl chums had gone on the stage and 
 had distinguished themselves. I believe she also would 
 have liked to follow their example and I am sure she would 
 have made a name for herself. 
 
 When a little later George was formally introduced 
 by my sister to Diana, he was stupefied and apparently 
 had forgotten having mentioned to any one his romantic 
 dream. Then began a beautiful friendship. Card games, 
 suppers, and attendance at many a dance followed. 
 
 [258] 
 
Notwithstanding, the dilemma in which the enthralled 
 swain fonnd himself, this failed to lessen the ardor of 
 his attentions to the bewitching Diana. Towards the close 
 of the visitor's presence in Galesburg, a picnic was planned 
 to Spoon Kiver, in which several couples were to partici- 
 pate. 
 
 The party was to spend the afternoon and evening on 
 the shores of that historic stream and were to return by 
 moonlight. After the rising of the moon on this particu- 
 lar evening, Diana and her faithful follower wandered 
 off by themselves for a farewell talk on the banks of the 
 river. Here it was that a conscience-stricken "Diana" con- 
 fessed with genuine regret that she had aided and abetted 
 other conspirators, in the perpetration of a joke on her 
 companion. She frankly admitted then and there, that 
 her name was "Fannie" and not "Diana". Confronted by 
 a new situation, all the romance of the relationship 
 between the two seemed to vanish. They agreed then and 
 there that they would always be good friends, but nothing 
 more. This ends the near romance of Diana and her dupe." 
 
 Another tale that has been handed down from time 
 immemorial is this : 
 
 A prominent member of the Class of '85 had become 
 so deeply enamored of a certain young lady in Galesburg 
 that one evening while calling at her home he determined 
 to kiss her, and what was more to the point, he mustered 
 up courage enough to tell her so. With proper austerity slie 
 gazed at him coldly and assured him that he would never 
 dare to do such an ungentlemanly thing. But he was a 
 dauntless youth and one of the sort that were not easily 
 discouraged. He put his arm around her waist, which 
 caused her to draw away from him violently, declaring 
 
 [259] 
 
at the same time that she would scream if he undertook 
 any liberties with her. Laughing at her threat, he em- 
 braced her and bestowed a rousing smack upon her lips. 
 Sure enough, she screamed good, loud and lustily, and 
 jumped upon the sofa. Meanwhile the caller assumed 
 an attitude of easy nonchalance by the piano, secretly, 
 however, hoping that the roof would fall in and bury him 
 in its ruins. When the mother of the young lady arrived 
 in the parlor, she, of course, inquired as to what was 
 the matter. To the surprise, as well as to the unutterable 
 relief of the young man himself, the young lady replied, 
 "I saw a mouse." The mother then retired and her ardent 
 wooer kissed her until she could not have told a mouse 
 from the piano. 
 
 As every one knows Knox College and Lombard Uni- 
 versity are now "one and inseparable." It is probably not 
 so well-known, that until the merger of the two institu- 
 tions, Lombard maintained a "Women's Dormitory" of its 
 own, presided over as was Knox Seminary by a Dean 
 or Matron. Thereby hangs a tale which is well worth 
 recounting, for the benefit of all those to whom any 
 really humorous story has its attractions. In the middle 
 eighties a certain Senior in Knox College, who had a 
 special fondness for the Terpsichorean art, was the re- 
 cipient of a very much appreciated courtesy, which was 
 extended to him by certain members of the Universalist 
 Church. This took the form of an invitation to attend 
 a series of dances which were to be held on every other 
 Tuesday evening at McCorney's Hall. While the dances 
 were intended primarily for the benefit generally of resi- 
 dents of Galesburg, yet being a Universalist affair, it was 
 of course, well understood that all students of Lombard 
 
 [260] 
 
University would be welcome to attend. There was how- 
 ever, one serious difficulty in the way of any of the 
 Lombard Dormitory girls attending one of these affairs. 
 They were strictly forbidden to go out to dances, except 
 on Friday and Saturday evenings. Imagine the surprise 
 of the Knox senior in question when he espied one of the 
 Lombard Dormitory girls, with whom he was well ac- 
 quainted, at one of these dances. He inquired how she had 
 managed to be there on a Tuesday evening. Her explana- 
 tion was simple in the extreme. At an agreed hour, her es- 
 cort had come for her in a carriage which was parked a 
 block distant from the Dormitory. She had left that build- 
 ing as if to go out on some errand and then walked to where 
 her escort was waiting for her. She had arranged that on 
 her return from the dance, she would throw a few pebbles 
 against the window of her room. This would awaken her 
 roommate who would come down and let her into the 
 Dormitory. This eminently simple expedient appealed 
 strongly to the Senior in question and he invited the Lom- 
 bard girl who had revealed the secret of her presence at 
 the dance to be his partner at the next dance to be held 
 two weeks later. Making good use of the modus operandi 
 revealed to him previously, he attended this function, had 
 a most enjoyable evening and found no difficulty in re- 
 turning the lady in question without detection to her 
 room in the Lombard Dormitory. Up to this time every- 
 thing had worked out as planned, so far as attendance 
 with a Lombard girl at the bi-monthly Tuesday night 
 dances was concerned. But his next attempt which soon 
 followed turned out to be a most disastrous and unexpected 
 failure. It chanced that about this time, the same Knox 
 Senior had been introduced at some function, to a most 
 
 [261] 
 
attractive Lombard girl, who possessed great charm and 
 beauty. They had become sufficiently acquainted at their 
 first meeting so that he had been invited to call on her 
 at the Lombard Dormitory. It occurred to him later that 
 he would take advantage of this invitation, to call and 
 invite the lady in question to attend the next dance with 
 him, which was to be held about a week later. So one 
 Friday evening found the Knox Senior en route to the 
 Lombard Dormitory, for the purpose of formally inviting 
 the lady in question to attend the dance that was to occur 
 on the following Tuesday evening. In order to fully appre- 
 ciate the contretemps that followed, it is essential to 
 offer at this point the following information. For many 
 months past, the Lombard Dormitory had been presided 
 over by a Mrs. Hadley, a most charming person, who was 
 well-known in social circles in Galesburg. The Knox 
 Senior in question naturally supposed that the latter was 
 still filling the position. Instead of such being the fact, 
 Mrs. Hadley had recently resigned and her place had been 
 taken by a lady of mature years bearing the name of 
 Miss Mary J. Claycomb. Now it so chanced that this 
 newly installed Dean, was the aunt of a young lady who 
 also bore the name of Claycomb, upon whom the Knox 
 Senior proposed to call on this particular occasion. When 
 the latter rang the bell of the Dormitory, the door was 
 opened by a raw Swedish girl, evidently a neAV comer in the 
 establishment. The visitor stated with great distinctness 
 that he desired to see "Miss Claycomb." Now it so hap- 
 pened that on this particular evening the younger Miss 
 Claycomb was not in, but her aunt, the Dean, was. The 
 caller was shown into the parlor, while the maid went 
 in search of a Miss Claycomb. She returned with word, 
 
 [262] 
 
that "Miss Claycomb" was indisposed, but that she would 
 be glad to answer or deliver any message that the visitor 
 might care to send up by the maid. Calling for pencil 
 and paper which was furnished, the visitor thereupon 
 wrote the following highly incriminating epistle: 
 
 My dear Miss Claycomb, 
 
 I called to invite you to go with me to a dance at 
 McCorney's Hall next Tuesday evening. I, of course, 
 know that it is against the rules for any of the girls in the 
 Dormitory to attend dances on Tuesday evening. How- 
 ever, I think with your assistance, the matter can be 
 arranged in this manner. I will have a carriage brought 
 to within one block north of the Dormitory at 8 :30 P. M. 
 You can then, if you will, join me there and we will attend 
 the dance together. We will probably return about 1 A. M. 
 You can doubtless arrange with your roommate to come 
 down and let you in the Dormitory. Of course, you know 
 that the approved method of awakening a sleeping room- 
 mate is to throw pebbles against the window panes of 
 her bedroom. Trusting that this plan will meet with your 
 full approval and regretting that you are indisposed this 
 evening, I remain, 
 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 XYZ 
 
 A few moments later the waiting senior was startled to 
 hear gales of laughter proceeding from the floor above. 
 Shortly thereafter the maid arrived with the answer to 
 the invitation to the dance. It was a pithy epistle and 
 read as follows: 
 
 [263] 
 
My dear Mr. 
 
 It was certainly extremely kind of you to invite me, 
 a perfect stranger, to attend a dance with you next Tues- 
 day evening. The prospect which you hold out, of spend- 
 ing a few hours in dancing at one of our Universalist 
 Church dances, is certainly an inviting one. However, 
 there are two insurmountable obstacles to my acceptance 
 of your most gracious courtesy. The first of these is that 
 my position as Dean of the Lombard Dormitory will 
 scarcely permit of my violating long established rules 
 by attending the dance on a Tuesday evening. The other 
 obstacle, although of a far less serious character, is that I 
 would not feel exactly right in attending a social affair 
 of this character, with a gentleman to whom I have never 
 been introduced. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Mary J. Claycomb. 
 
 There is an aftermath to this entirely truthful tale, 
 which may be of interest to the reader. Many years after- 
 wards the Senior in question chanced to be attending a 
 reception at one of the many lovely homes in Galesburg. 
 During the evening his hostess came to him and said: 
 "One of my guests, who is the wife of one of the Lombard 
 professors, wants very much to meet you." So it was, that 
 a few moments later the ex-Senior, now in his thirties, was 
 presented to a very pleasant lady whom he was certain 
 that he had never met before. The conversation was 
 opened by the lady in question in the following manner: 
 
 "Mr. many years ago you invited me, then a 
 
 perfect stranger to you, to become your partner at a dance 
 
 [264] 
 
in this city. Circumstances prevented my accepting your 
 gracious invitation on that occasion, but since that time 
 I have always hoped that I might some day meet you. 
 Tonight, for the first time, the opportunity has presented 
 itself." Without a moment's hesitation, the gentleman to 
 whom she was speaking spoke up and said: "Madam, I 
 know your identity perfectly well ; your maiden name was 
 Mary J. Claycomb, and you were the Dean of women at 
 Lombard, when I was a student at Knox." 
 
 [265] 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow. 
 
 There is no story emanating from the "Siwash" Campus 
 which is more full of romantic interest, than is that which 
 portrays the building up from inconceivably crude material 
 of the stately college library so beautifully housed in the 
 Seymour Memorial Library building of today. It is all 
 full of romance and deep human interest from its pitifully 
 small beginning, into the truly great institution that it 
 is today. 
 
 The reader is asked to journey backward fifty odd 
 years, in order to obtain a bird's eye view of the Knox 
 College Library as it was in the eighties. With remarkable 
 ineptness it had been located in the darkest room of the 
 little used third floor of "Old Main." Everything possible 
 seems to have been thought of, to render it peculiarly 
 difficult of use to the students of that period. Professor 
 Hurd, who represented in his own person, a compendium 
 of all useful knowledge, was "demoted" to the post of 
 college librarian. 
 
 The library had no very definite hours when it would 
 be open for the lending of books. To read them in the 
 half-light coming through unwashed windows, was to in- 
 sure early blindness on the part of would-be readers. 
 
 The library had no catalogue until one was prepared 
 with great labor by Professor Hurd, who compiled it in 
 his own handwriting. To outline the character of the 
 books housed within the library room, is a most difficult 
 task. Theological works, bound and unbound copies of 
 
 [266] 
 
early magazines, some few ancient historical works, and 
 a few reference books, made up the literary content of the 
 original Knox College Library. It represented the gifts 
 of remnants of private libraries for which the owners had 
 no shelf room. In 1850, the Knox College Library num- 
 bered some 1,400 volumes. Both the general character as 
 well as the caliber of the collection itself, may be gleaned 
 from the following list of books, which formed a part of 
 the library in the earliest years of the existence of the 
 college. 
 
 To the student of religion was offered such volumes as 
 Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Robert Robinson; 
 George Rosenmullers's "Scholia Novum Testamentum, a 
 formidable work in five volumes written in Latin, with 
 quotations in both Hebrew and Greek. If a man's taste 
 did not run along strictly religious lines, he might turn 
 to the Family Exposition, which was written to "promote 
 Family Religion and to render the reading of the New 
 Testament more pleasant and improving to those that 
 wanted the benefit of a learned education." The library 
 also contained four volumes of the British Traveller, and 
 more wonderful still, for the benefit of an embryo lawyer 
 within the student body there was offered a set of Chan- 
 cellor Kent's Commentaries on American Law. 
 
 The library in its early days seems to have been singu- 
 larly blessed by the possession of a four volume edition of 
 John Payne's "New and Complete System of Universal 
 Geography." This remarkable work appears to have 
 covered practically the entire realm of knowledge of that 
 early day. 
 
 Confronted by the library's early acquisition of this 
 stupendous work of the omniscient Mr. Payne, "one finds 
 
 [267] 
 
difficulty in establishing the thought that the increase in 
 number of volumes since those early days represents 
 growth towards completeness of knowledge, for seemingly 
 that was a goal already reached." Perhaps the fifty-one 
 thousand books now in the library represent an increase 
 in "book consciousness." 
 
 The Knox College catalogue of 1881, must have been 
 prepared by some Ananias, who was possessed of a mar- 
 vellous imagination but was not a great stickler for the 
 plain and unadulterated truth. In it, under a heading 
 which should have read — but did not — "Won't you come 
 into my parlor, said the spider to the fly?", we find the 
 following statement: The College Library contains 4,000 
 volumes. This library is accessible to students (no time 
 mentioned) both in the Collegiate and Preparatory depart- 
 ments. A Beading Koom in connection with the Library 
 (location unknown then and never discovered afterwards) 
 contains the leading reviews, magazines and newspapers." 
 All this emanated from a source which was supposed to be 
 official. 
 
 So much for the unpromising beginnings of a so-called 
 College Library. 
 
 Let us turn now to another chapter of the story of 
 the rebuilding of the Knox College Library. 
 
 Knox College remained many long years after its 
 foundation in 1837 without any suitable and complete 
 library building. Doubtless, there were many students 
 during these years, who at times indulged in day dreams 
 after the manner of youth in every age and clime. In 
 their imagination they could sit on the steps of "Old 
 Main" and see rising before them a stately edifice on 
 which would be emblazoned in letters of gold, the name 
 
 [ 268 ] 
 
of one, who though only an impoverished student, and 
 one whom the faculty held all too lightly, would some day 
 be the proud donor of a magnificent library to the Knox 
 College. Strange to say there was one student at Knox in 
 the early eighties who lived to see his student dream come 
 true. This occurred in 1928, when there was dedicated 
 and given to the college, the beautiful and ornate building 
 known as the Henry M. Seymour Library. It is a matter 
 of real human interest, to know the reasons, which actu- 
 ated the donor to provide a work shop for the student 
 body. The story is simply and beautifully told by Henry 
 M. Seymour himself in the following letter: 
 
 "I will try to tell you briefly how I came to build 
 the library at Knox. 
 
 My reasons for building the Library at Knox began 
 to formulate in 1915. My only boy was accidentally killed 
 in a ball game on the school campus at Payson, at the age 
 of sixteen. 
 
 He was a very freehearted boy and had asked me 
 several times to do something for our school at Payson. 
 We had a tumbledown building and poor equipment al- 
 though the scholarship was high. 
 
 I had great plans for him and when he was killed 
 I felt that I had the work of two men to do. I determined 
 to do for other boys what he might have done. 
 
 The following year I built the "Charles W. Seymour 
 High School" and a Gymnasium two years later. 
 
 In 1922 I gave "Camp Seymour" to the Y. M. C. A. 
 of Illinois. 
 
 I had always felt the one need of Knox College was 
 a Library Building, and that then The "Friends" would 
 
 [269] 
 
fill it. Thanks to Mr. Caldwell and others, this has been 
 done. 
 
 I had intended to erect this building as another 
 memorial to my boy. It was to be called "The Charles 
 W. Seymour Memorial Library." My wife thought differ- 
 ently and conspired with Mrs. Post and Dr. Elder to have 
 it called "The Henry M. Seymour Library." This change 
 was made without my knowledge until it was too late to 
 have it corrected. 
 
 Seymour Hall was built by the wife of my brother 
 L. K. Seymour, in his memory." 
 
 The Henry M. Seymour Library faces the west side of 
 the Knox Campus. It is three stories in height, with an 
 art gallery on the third floor. The building itself embodies 
 the structure bodies representative of the best traditions 
 of late Tudor architecture around the main lobbies. The 
 ground plan of the building so centers as to afford access 
 to all its constituent parts. 
 
 The entrance of the building reveals a lower lobby with 
 marble floors and dark oak wainscoting. From this 
 same lobby a hallway gives access to six rooms devoted 
 to seminars and small classes. 
 
 On the second floor is the main reference room, known 
 as the Alumni Reading Room, which affords an ideal spot 
 for both reading and study. The room has broad tables 
 and comfortable chairs for eighty-four readers and is 
 lined with books for reference. The library is open four- 
 teen hours a day. 
 
 In the south wing of the second floor are two rooms 
 devoted respectively to the Standish and Finley collec- 
 tions. 
 
 Opening to the west from the service lobby is the 
 
 [270] 
 
"stack room" of steel and glass construction capable of 
 affording shelf room for a library of fifty thousand 
 volumes. One of the finest things of all, is that students 
 have free access to the stacks at will. Anyone who has had 
 occasion to use libraries for research work, will appre- 
 ciate this privilege. 
 
 The best description that can be given as to the char- 
 acter of the Library, is to refer particularly to those spe- 
 cial groups of books and related material known as the 
 "collections." 
 
 It has been well said, "that a Library is a remarkable 
 force in the life of a college." 
 
 The erection of the Henry M. Seymour Library was the 
 logical climax of a long development, the growth of 
 Knox resources in the field of books. 
 
 No real "library lover" ever forgets that the value of 
 books is never to be measured by their mere number or 
 the rarity of their kind. "A library is not merely a place 
 where we find the certain answers to known questions. 
 Even less is it merely the place where one finds the ma- 
 terial for required reading * * *. At bottom, the library 
 is the place where students come to know about books, to 
 form friendships with books as the repository of human 
 experience, storehouses of wisdom, the record of great 
 lives, man's effort to struggle upward to something higher, 
 finer and more worth while." 
 
 Some read for instruction; some for diversion and a 
 few merely to kill time. Greater accessibility to books 
 should be the aim of the modern library. Some claim 
 that it is the self-educated, who are the most frequent 
 users of the library. It is the librarian's task, as well as 
 that of the English department, to develop a love for read- 
 
 [271] 
 
ing, for libraries constitute the foundation of all educa- 
 tion in so far as accumulated knowledge is concerned. 
 
 The purpose of any foundation, whether a library or 
 otherwise, should never be to glorify the giver, but to 
 benefit the user. 
 
 Libraries are created, endowed and enlarged for two 
 fundamental purposes. First for reference purposes, 
 second for entertainment purposes. No college is living 
 up to the best traditions of usefulness, unless it aims 
 constantly to induce a genuine love of reading. It is 
 difficult to conceive of any college student passing into 
 the graduate class, without his being interested in at 
 least some form of literary entertainment. 
 
 When the Sterling Library at Yale was built, some- 
 one suggested that the inscription over the doorway 
 should read: "This is not the library. The library is 
 inside." 
 
 There was great perspicacity shown in this remark. 
 No matter how beautiful and ornate the library build- 
 ing itself may be, it is but a shell until it is filled with 
 all that goes to make a great and usable library. 
 
 One cannot write of the growth and development of 
 the Knox Library without mentioning the name of the 
 "Patron Saint" of that institution, Mr. Edward Caldwell. 
 
 In the fall of 1881, there was entered on the rolls 
 of the Knox Academy, a student from Bloom (now 
 Chicago Heights), Illinois, by the name of Edward Cald- 
 well. As Mr. Caldwell is intimately associated with 
 the advent of a real library on the "Siwash" campus, it is 
 fitting that all should know something of the man him- 
 self. 
 
 He was born on an Illinois farm on May 26th, 1861, 
 
 [272] 
 
and entered the preparatory department of Knox College 
 in the fall of 1881. There he remained until the end of 
 his Junior year in the College. Mr. Caldwell earned 
 his way through Knox, serving as janitor of several 
 churches, and also did clerical work in the Henry 
 County surveyor's office. At the end of his Junior year 
 he transferred to the University of Michigan, where he 
 took a course in engineering, and secured the degree 
 of A. B. His first year out of college was spent as 
 transit man with a "Santa Fe Railroad" surveying party 
 in Kansas and Nebraska. The next, he spent at Cornell 
 University, where he studied Electrical Engineering, and 
 was given the degree of M. E. in that branch in June, 
 1888. On June 5th, 1889, he married Lucy Smith Morse 
 of Tremont, Illinois, a graduate of Knox in the class 
 of '86. His first business connection was with the 
 Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company. A few 
 weeks after he was married, he found himself walking 
 the streets of Boston, out of work. The Sprague Com- 
 pany had lost its Boston contracts, and had been forced 
 to withdraw from electric railway work in that locality. 
 More through chance than design, he got a job doing 
 editorial work on a small magazine dealing with elec- 
 tricity. This proved to be a turning point in his business 
 career, for the reason that he has ever since been close to 
 the publishing business. He next came to New York as a 
 sub-editor of the "Electrical World," now one of the peri- 
 odicals of the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. For 
 thirty-six years thereafter he served both the McGraw-Hill 
 Publishing Company and the McGraw-Hill Book Com- 
 pany, in numerous capacities. He filled the position of 
 associate editor of the Electrical World, business man- 
 
 [273] 
 
ager of the Electric Railway Journal, treasurer of the 
 McGraw-Hill Company, and president and treasurer of 
 the McGraw-Hill Book Company. He retired from active 
 business in 1927. 
 
 As for Mr. CaldwelPs social and educational connec- 
 tions, he is a member of the University Club of New 
 York, and the Grolier Club, as well as a member of eight 
 of the historical Societies of the Mississippi Valley States. 
 He also has been a trustee of Knox College since 1923. 
 
 It should be a matter of interest to all, to learn in 
 very brief detail, just what special facilities the "library" 
 has to offer to the student who enters its portals, that 
 is not to be found in the average college collection. The 
 answer to this very pertinent query is, to be found in 
 the location within the library building of the following 
 twelve collections: 
 
 (1) The Finley Collection; 
 
 (2) The Standish Collection; 
 
 (3) The Lysander Cassidy Collection; 
 
 (4) The George Fitch Collection; 
 
 (5) The Edward and Lucy Morse-Caldwell Collection; 
 
 (6) The Janet Greig-Post Southwest Collection; 
 
 (7) The Malvina M. Bennett Collection; 
 
 (8) The Ella Park Lawrence Collection; 
 (90) The Hurd Collection; 
 
 (10) The Phillip J. Stoneberg Collection; 
 
 (11) The Bender Collection; 
 
 (12) The Preston Player Collection. 
 
 The following brief description of the origin and pur- 
 pose of the several collections is here offered: 
 
 [274] 
 
(1) The Finley Collection. 
 
 On the north wall in the Finley room of the Knox 
 Library hangs a framed display poster printed partly 
 in English, partly in French. Translated it reads: 
 
 University of Paris Department of Letters 
 
 Academic Year 1910-1911 
 
 History 
 
 Mr. John H. Finley, President 
 
 of the College of the City of New York 
 
 Regions Where the French Were Pioneers 
 in America. 
 
 Thus the Sorbonne was advertising the fact that Dr. 
 Finley had been appointed by the president of Harvard 
 University as exchange lecturer to the French University 
 on the Hyde Fellowship. 
 
 In the twenty-four lectures Dr. Finley told his French 
 listeners the story of their own explorers, Champlain, 
 Nicolet, La Salle, Joliet, Marquette, Tonty, Hennepin, 
 and many others ; and he traced for them the transforma- 
 tion and development of that section of America so 
 sprinkled with those French names. These colorful lec- 
 tures, also presented in other French cities, were com- 
 bined in a book, "The French in the Heart of America." 
 
 In the summer of 1921 a copy of that book chanced 
 into the hands of Mr. Edward Caldwell, a classmate of 
 Dr. Finley, a lover of Knox, and a collector of books by 
 hobby. As Mr. Caldwell read the book he conceived an 
 
 [275] 
 
idea, and in December he sent Knox College a snm of 
 money with the request that it "be used for the library 
 in the purchase of books on the early history and romance 
 and subsequent development of the Northwest, the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley, and especially the State of Illinois," and 
 that "such a definite and specific group of books might 
 well be called the 'Finley Collection on the History and 
 Komance of the Northwest'." 
 
 Two years later Mr. Caldwell sent a contribution of 
 nearly a thousand volumes to the Finley Collection "pur- 
 chased in Florence and Rome, in Berlin and Leipzig, in 
 Paris, London and Edinburgh, as well as nearly a hun- 
 dred places in the United States and Canada." In a 
 public address he said: 
 
 "I shall hope that Knox College students may here 
 find renewed interest in the romantic story of those 
 splendid and courageous exploits of Champlain, Nicolet, 
 Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, Tonti, and many others, as 
 they pushed westward over lake and stream and prairie 
 until they and their colleagues had established the out- 
 posts of Europeon civilization on that long line that 
 finally stretched from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico. This 
 once far-flung colonial empire of France, in the center 
 of which Knox College was established less than seventy 
 years after France gave up her control, may well claim 
 the study of those who now reap the princely harvest of 
 which the early explorers dreamed. 
 
 'It is my earnest wish that other friends of Knox may 
 make similar and greater contributions to the library 
 which, through Mr. Seymour's generosity, is soon to have 
 a new and modern building in which to house its collec- 
 tions.' 
 
 [276] 
 
Mr. Caldwell in speaking of the Finley Collection, to 
 which his own contribution has been more than 3000 
 volumes, assembled by him with historic intelligence as 
 well as collecting zeal, adds the following: 
 
 "It was my thought in thus originating the idea of 
 this collection, that Dr. Finley, as a graduate and past- 
 president of Knox, an educator and editor of international 
 reputation, and a lecturer at the Sorbonne in Paris on 
 these very subjects, was entitled to be thus remembered 
 by his alma mater" 
 
 (2) The Standish Collection. 
 
 Dr. John Van Ness Standish was born in 1825 and 
 died in 1919. He came to Galesburg in 1854. By his 
 will Knox College was given his personal library of 
 2500 volumes, together with a fund of $25,000, the in- 
 come of which was to be applied annually to the pur- 
 chase of the "choicest and best books." The books so 
 provided are to be found in the Standish room. 
 
 (3) The Ly sander Cassidy Collection. 
 
 The collection was named in honor of Lysander Cassidy 
 of '89. By the will of Dr. Elizabeth Cassidy of the Class 
 of 1891, a trust fund was established in 1935 for the 
 maintenance of the Lysander Cassidy Book Collection. 
 This contains a collection of rare books and a library on 
 international relations and allied topics. 
 
 (4) The George Fitch Collection. 
 
 A fund of $12,000 was subscribed in 1916 by his class- 
 mates as a memorial to George Fitch of the Class of 1897, 
 the creator of the Knox patronymic "Siwash," and of 
 "Petey Simmons." 
 
 [277] 
 
(5) The Edward and Lucy Morse Caldwell Collection. 
 In 1930 Mr. and Mrs. Edward Caldwell, of the class 
 
 of 1886, made a gift to the college of a substantial sum, 
 the income of which is to be used for the purchase of 
 "books, pamphlets, periodicals, maps, manuscripts, photo- 
 graphs and engravings for the library of Knox College, 
 and for such binding, rebinding, and repair thereof as 
 may be necessary." This fund is known as the Edward 
 and Lucy Morse Caldwell Foundation. 
 
 (6) The Southwest Collection. 
 
 The Southwest Collection, founded by Mrs. Philip 
 S. Post in 1933, with a nucleus of 200 volumes, and main- 
 tained in large part by her gifts, is devoted to the archae- 
 ology, history, literature and romance of the Spanish 
 southwest. Receipt of the bookplate designed by Ralph 
 Fletcher Seymour, of Chicago, formally opened the collec- 
 tion at the homecoming celebration in 1935. 
 
 (7) The Malvina M. Bennett Collection. 
 
 In 1934 the library acquired by the will of Malvina 
 M. Bennett, instructor in public speaking in Knox Col- 
 lege, 1880-1891, her private library of dramatic literature 
 and a fund for its maintenance. This collection will pro- 
 vide Greek, Elizabethan, and modern dramatic literature. 
 
 (8) The Ella Park Lawrence Collection. 
 
 Likewise available for the study of art is the Ella 
 Park Lawrence Collection, established in 1928, through 
 the generosity of Mr. George A. Lawrence, of the class 
 of 1875, as a memorial to Mrs. Lawrence, of '78, an 
 honorary A.M. (1922). This collection, besides works 
 of reference and standard handbooks, is especially rich 
 
 [278] 
 
in portfolios of engravings and reproductions of famous 
 works of art. One hundred and seventy-five volumes and 
 portfolios and 400 pictures are available. 
 
 (9) The Hurd Collection. 
 
 The Hurd Collection was presented to the library by 
 Miss Mary Hurd, in memory of her father, Professor 
 Albert Hurd, who taught continuously at Knox College 
 from 1851 to 1906. 
 
 (10) Philip J. Stoneberg Collection. 
 
 Philip J. Stoneburg, of the Class of 1899, willed 
 his estate of the value of $30,000, to the college. The 
 library receives the income from this bequest. 
 
 (11) The Bender Memorial Collection. 
 
 The Bender Memorial shelf in the library has been 
 founded by Julian T. Bentley, '30, of Chicago, and others, 
 in memory of the late Koberts J. Bender, '11, a former 
 trustee of Knox. At the time of his death last year, 
 Mr. Bender was vice-president of the United Press. From 
 1915 to 1920 he was a famous news reporter in Washing- 
 ton, D. C. His father, Victor E. Bender, '85, was also 
 prominent in newspaper work in Omaha, Neb. ; Council 
 Bluffs, Iowa, and Springfield, 111. He, too, was a trustee 
 of Knox. When a student, he captured second prize in 
 1885, in the Interstate Oratorical Contest, when the late 
 Senator Albert J. Beveridge took first. 
 
 (12) The Preston Player Collection. 
 
 The Preston Player Collection added to the library was 
 a fine and most valuable gift received from the estate of 
 Mr. Preston Player of New York. It consists of about 
 325 books and pamphlets, 35 maps and 60 or more 
 
 [279] 
 
prints. These, with a few exceptions, all relate to the 
 Mississippi Eiver — its discovery, history, commerce and 
 romance — from 1541 to recent times, from De Soto to 
 Mark Twain. Mr. Player's will disposed of this collec- 
 tion to his executor, the Guaranty Trust Company of New 
 York, requesting that it be given to some suitable in- 
 stitution that it might be preserved as a distinct collec- 
 tion. Through the efforts of Mr. Edward Caldwell (>86), 
 and Francis H. Sisson ('93), the Knox library was chosen 
 as the most appropriate place for the preservation of this 
 almost unique collection about the mighty river that has 
 had such a great influence on the history and growth of 
 Illinois. The College will prepare a special bookplate for 
 the Player Collection to indicate its origin and will shelve 
 it as a distinct and separate unit. It forms a valuable 
 supplement to the Finley Collection, which covers much 
 more broadly the entire Mississippi Valley. 
 
 The collection has so many outstanding items of in- 
 terest and value that it is not possible to do more than 
 mention a few of them. Among the 60 prints are no 
 less than 32 published by Currier & Ives, all of them in 
 splendid condition and many with brilliant coloring. All 
 of the prints are of Mississippi River scenes — New 
 Orleans, St. Louis, Cairo, and the steamboat races and 
 other activities that so vividly portray the early life along 
 the river. 
 
 The Friends of the Knox College Library. 
 
 No story of the founding and growth of the Knox 
 College library could possibly be complete without ref- 
 erence to a voluntary and unincorporated organization, 
 known as the "Friends of the Knox College library." 
 
 [ 280 ] 
 
The inception of this really remarkable body, composed 
 of men and women graduates of Knox College, is again 
 entirely due to the enterprise and farsightedness of Ed- 
 ward Caldwell of the class of '86. We take the liberty 
 of quoting from a pamphlet written by Mr. Edward Cald- 
 well, which contains the substance of a paper, read by 
 him at a conference of the American Library Association 
 at Kichmond, Virginia, in 1936. It reads in part as 
 follows : 
 
 "The College library is housed in a modern library 
 building only eight years old, the gift of Henry M. Sey- 
 mour, one of our former students. It now numbers about 
 45,000 books and pamphlets, two-thirds of which have 
 been added since 1923. In the last three years the addi- 
 tions have been about 11,000, half of these by gifts. The 
 productive endowments on which the library depends are 
 five or six funds that total about $82,000, and to this 
 ear-marked income the college administration adds each 
 year about $5,000. In 1932 we were favored with a gift 
 of $10,000 from the Carnegie Corporation, that in the 
 next three years added 4,100 volumes to our shelves. 
 Previous to this a check-up with the Shaw list of books 
 for college libraries, showed that we had 5,261 books in 
 this list or 37.1% of the total, as against 18.7% average 
 in more than 200 college libraries similarly checked. Our 
 main reading room seats 84, with about 30 more avail- 
 able seats in other rooms. Students have free access to 
 nearly all shelves. * * * 
 
 "The Friends of the Knox College Library are domiciled 
 in New York City, where it was organized five years ago 
 this week by a small group of alumni, stimulated by the 
 opportunity that came with the new library building, 
 
 [281] 
 
and the evidence that the library was rapidly becoming 
 an important factor in the educational life of the college. 
 It was evident that both students and faculty would use 
 more and better books if they had them, and the Carnegie 
 Corporation, with its $10,000 gift and the Shaw list, was 
 pointing out the deficiencies and the way to improvement. 
 
 "After assurance from the college president and 
 librarian that our plan met with their approval, we began 
 our project at an informal dinner of 16 men and women, 
 all but three of them Knox alumni. At this dinner we were 
 ably assisted by Dr. John Finley as chairman, and Mrs. 
 Finley was our hostess. I outlined the plan, told what 
 others were doing. In a similar way at Princeton, Har- 
 vard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins ; Harry Kurz, then one of 
 our faculty, told about the place of the library in the 
 college life. We exhibited a few interesting books, and 
 then had a general discussion. The result was an en- 
 thusiastic launching of an informal organization patterned 
 on the Princeton plan, without constitution, by-laws or 
 dues. The details were to be arranged by a committee from 
 which should be selected an advisory council of about 20, 
 one or more in each of the chief centers where Knox people 
 are located — from Los Angeles to Boston. These names 
 were chosen from our best known and most influential 
 alumni. Their chief duty was and is to preach the gospel 
 of good books and more books for the Knox library, and to 
 suggest desirable new members. Our only expense has 
 been for stationery, printing and postage, and it has been 
 the privilege of some of the officers to meet the modest 
 bills for these items. 
 
 "Our membership has grown to over 300. It was and 
 continues to be carefully selected from those who were 
 
 [282] 
 
known to meet our one requirement — a serious interest 
 in library books generally, and in the growth and im- 
 provement of the Knox College library. Each member 
 was invited by personal letter and asked to sign an ac- 
 ceptance blank that, like many other features of our 
 plan, is a close imitation of that used by the Friends of 
 the Princeton Library. It is brief, simple, and imposes no 
 financial obligation. 
 
 "Among those invited were former donors obtained 
 from our library records, a long list selected from the 
 alumni directory by the librarian, with the assistance of 
 the alumni secretary, and from five to ten special names, 
 chosen from each of the last ten classes of graduates. The 
 responses were more gratifying than we had any right 
 to expect. It was at once evident that we had tapped 
 a rich reservoir of sympathetic interest among a group 
 of people, many of whom were already familiar with our 
 needs and ready to help in meeting them, but waiting 
 to be told what would be acceptable or more useful. Our 
 original 16 dinner guests and all others who had ex- 
 pressed a sympathetic interest were regarded as founder 
 members. 
 
 "Our aim has been to interest other people, either 
 within or outside of our membership, for the avowed, 
 and expressed purpose of building up the library's re- 
 sources, first as an aid to the curriculum — for both 
 teachers and students; and second, to cultivate an ac- 
 quaintance with books and a taste for general reading. 
 This last purpose should be emphasized; for the post- 
 graduate education of 95% of the college community 
 will depend chiefly on the intelligent use of good, sub- 
 stantial books. In the last analysis I believe the chief 
 
 [283] 
 
inspiration of the Friends of the Knox College Library 
 is the love of books, and the desire to place them at the 
 service of the younger generation of boys and girls who 
 come to the college as they do for four years or less to learn 
 what human history and human experience, human 
 thought and human effort, as recorded on the printed 
 page, may teach." 
 
 Before closing this chapter dealing with the Knox 
 College Library, reference must be made the "K Shelf," 
 devoted entirely to the literary work of Knox alumni 
 and alumnae. Surely they have contributed both large 
 and wisely to the writing of books of all kinds and de- 
 scriptions. They cover a wide range of subjects indeed: 
 romance, poetry, history, biography, humor, research, 
 science, law, medicine, and all forms of fiction will be 
 found represented on the "K Shelf" of the Seymour 
 Library. One will find there a share at least of the 
 cream of the worthwhile books of the past fifty years. 
 
 [284] 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 Knox Intelligentsia. 
 
 Every college in the land, which can boast of a con- 
 tinued existence of one hundred years, has graduated cer- 
 tain classes in which they take particular pride. They 
 constitute the "show pieces" on every occasion when there 
 is any college "window dressing" to be done. 
 
 For many long years Yale University has boasted on 
 all occasions of two classes of which they are perhaps 
 inordinately proud. These are the classes of 1837 and 
 1856. The class first mentioned had enrolled among its 
 members, Chief Justice Waite of the United States Su- 
 preme Court; William M. Evarts, United States Senator 
 and former Secretary of State ; Edward S. Pierpont, former 
 Attorney General of the United States and one-time 
 Minister to the Court of St. James, at London. For two 
 years it had as one of its members. Governor Samuel J. 
 Tilden of New York, who ran against Governor Hayes of 
 Ohio for the Presidency in 1876; another member of the 
 class was the great scientist, Benjamin Silliman. 
 
 The Yale class of 1856 had as graduates of subsequent 
 distinction, Chauncey M. Depew, Senator from the State 
 of New York; also David J. Brewer and Henry B. Brown, 
 both of whom sat upon the bench of the United States 
 Supreme Court for many years. 
 
 By universal consent, the class of 1882 at Knox College 
 is regarded as the especial pride of that institution. For 
 the great ability of its male members and the pulchritude 
 of its women, it easily stands first among all the classes 
 
 [285] 
 
which have graduated since the chartering of our Alma 
 Mater in 1837. 
 
 Such an accumulation of talent in one class is, of 
 course, due to some turn of the "wheel of fortune," which 
 lumps a galaxy of geniuses into one class, instead of 
 spreading them through several classes. Among the 
 distinguished members of the class of '82 at Knox were, 
 Samuel S. McClure, John S. Phillips, Albert B. Brady, 
 Robert Mather, Lynden Evans, Edward S. Carr, Harry 
 M. Joralmon, Frederic Bancroft, Hiram B. Scott and 
 Nels F. Anderson. 
 
 So much emphasis has been laid in these pages upon 
 the humorous and athletic aspects of campus life at Knox 
 during the first century of its existence, that some ultra- 
 critical reader of this book, may rest under the impression 
 that there was no intellectual work carried on in the in- 
 stitution during this period, which was worthy of the 
 name. Let us disabuse at once the mind of these doubting 
 souls, who, without any foundation therefor, cherish such 
 a belief. All one needs to do is to turn the pages of 
 the "Knox Alumnus Centenary Directory," or of the 
 "National Cyclopedia of American Biography" and of 
 "Who's Who In America," in order to realize what truly 
 amazing success has attended the post-graduate careers 
 of scores of Knox men and women. 
 
 Because of the exacting discrimination exercised in the 
 inclusion of names therein, "Who's Who In America" pre- 
 sents what is generally recognized as the best available 
 group for an inquiry of its unique character. Inclusion 
 of a name in the book, is in itself recognition of a con- 
 siderable measure of success and worthy achievement. 
 More than this, it is reasonable to assume, that the edu- 
 
 [286] 
 
cational attainment observable throughout the volume, is 
 most conducive to creditable reputations in the various 
 departments of useful endeavor. It is the well-educated, 
 who are for the most part, freely represented in "Who's 
 Who In America." 
 
 Figures bearing upon the age at the time of admission 
 to "Who's Who in America" are given therein as follows : 
 "General recognition for "Who's Who" honors is in nearly 
 all instances, gradually attained. If the date of admission 
 then truly represents recognition of worthwhile achieve- 
 ment, then the period intervening between graduation and 
 inclusion in "Who's Who," may at least be regarded as an 
 index of the opportunities inherent in each occupation. 
 This period for educators, is in round numbers, eighteen 
 years, and for scientists, twenty years. More time is re- 
 quired for recognition by those engaged in other pursuits. 
 Writers require twenty-two years, editors, twenty-four, 
 doctors, twenty-five years, artists, twenty-six years, and 
 lawyers, thirty years. The business man requires thirty-one 
 years on the average to attain a place in "Who's Who." 
 The average age for admission to "Who's Who" is slightly 
 above fifty years. Hence it is apparent that the requisite 
 degree of eminence for inclusion in "Who's Who" roster 
 of American notables is achieved by the majority after 
 the half century milestone has been passed." 
 
 We have Biblical authority for the statement, "that 
 by their fruits ye shall know them." This assertion is 
 peculiarly applicable to the colleges and universities of 
 this country. Educational institutions are evaluated, not 
 by the ability of their faculties, but by the worth and dis- 
 tinction of their graduates. Many an institution which 
 aspires to rank as a college, is never known to the out- 
 
 [287] 
 
side world, until its graduates, by some well deserved 
 distinction, have brought home to the public at large, the 
 knowledge of its existence. 
 
 When a college is recommended as a desirable place 
 to send a young man in search of an education, one of 
 the first questions asked by his parents is this : "What is 
 the caliber of the graduates of the institution and Avho are 
 they?" 
 
 It is truly a fascinating task to follow the careers of 
 former students of Knox, who, in the vernacular of the 
 "running track", have started from "scratch" and then 
 have moved upward towards the accomplishment of real 
 achievements in the professional and business worlds. 
 Lack of space alone prevents what would be a most pleas- 
 ing task, to wit : To present extended sketches of "Who's 
 Who" among the graduates and former students of Knox. 
 As a preliminary to what follows, brief sketches will now 
 be presented of some of the more distinguished Knox 
 graduates and former students. 
 
 It is by no means an exhaustive list. Others perhaps 
 equally entitled to notice, have necessarily had to be 
 omitted for lack of space to incorporate more biographical 
 matter in this book. 
 
 Henry T. Rainey, '83. By universal consent, it is now 
 recognized that the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
 tives ranks in official circles next to the President of the 
 United States. It is for this reason, that Henry T. Rainey 
 of the class of 1883 at Knox, is given first place in the 
 following brief sketches of thirty-seven of the leading 
 graduates and former students of Knox College. 
 
 Mr. Rainey, who was born and raised in Carrollton, 
 Illinois, entered as a freshman at Knox in the fall of 1879. 
 
 [288] 
 
He thereby enrolled in what has been most mistakenly 
 called the "Wicked Sophomore Class of '83." At the close 
 of his Sophomore year, he, in company with nearly all of 
 the male members of his class, left Knox for good. The 
 canse of his departure is set forth in Chapter I of this 
 book. In the fall of '81 he entered Amherst College, from 
 which institution he was graduated in 1883. He was a 
 member of Congress for fifteen full terms. He served 
 there on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. In 
 1931, Mr. Kainey was chosen as floor leader for the Demo- 
 cratic Party in the seventy-second Congress, when the 
 control of that body passed into Democratic hands as the 
 result of the November, 1931, election. In 1933, he was 
 elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and 
 continued to hold that position until his death in 1934. 
 On June 27th, 1889, he married Ella McBride of Harvard, 
 Nebraska, who was herself a graduate of Knox College in 
 the class of 1880. Mrs. Rainey is a woman of great ability, 
 which was recognized in the bestowal upon her by her 
 alma mater of the Honorary Degree of L. L. D., in 1932. 
 
 William Lincoln Honnold was born in Oconee, Illinois, 
 on April 16th, 1866. He entered Knox College in the fall 
 of 1886, but did not graduate. In 1895, he graduated 
 from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. 
 
 Mr. Honnold was with the Mahoning Ore Company, 
 Hibbing, Minnesota, for three years (two of which were 
 prior to graduation), 1893-1895. He was identified with 
 the development of this important group of iron mines 
 from the prospective to the productive stage, advancing 
 successively through various subordinate positions to that 
 of assistant superintendent. 
 
 From 1895 to 1898, Mr. Honnold was superintendent 
 
 [289] 
 
of the California Exploration Company, San Andreas, 
 California, a company that had undertaken to prospect a 
 number of gold bearing claims but which met with no 
 success apart from a temporary encouraging outlook at 
 the Yhorpe mine, of which he was manager from 1898 
 to 1899, a position that afforded more personal profit in 
 the way of professional experience than return to share- 
 holders, since the ultimate outcome was disappointing. 
 
 He was then consulting engineer in America for the 
 Consolidated Mines Selection Company (London), 1899- 
 1902. He traveled widely, examining and advising on both 
 metal and coal mines in the United States, Mexico, Canada 
 and Alaska. From 1902 to 1912, he was consulting en- 
 gineer in North Africa for the same company, then manag- 
 ing director in South Africa, 1912-1915, and chairman of 
 the boards of directors of various subsidiary companies 
 constituting the Mines Selection group. 
 
 At the beginning of this fourteen-year period, the 
 position of the Consolidated Mines Selection Company 
 was relatively unimportant in South Africa, being essen- 
 tially that of a shareholder concern with scattered in- 
 terests in a number of properties under the control of 
 others. This situation was gradually improved, mainly 
 through recognition of the opportunities afforded by a 
 previously unappreciated district known as the Eastern 
 Rand, and in time the company became the titular and 
 administrative head of one of the important groups of the 
 Rand. Incidentally, the outlook of the Rand, as a whole, 
 which is responsible for about a third of the annual gold 
 production of the world, was enormously improved, with 
 corresponding economic and social advantages, especially 
 to the British Empire during that period of the World 
 
 [290] 
 
War in which it was in large measure carrying the burden 
 of Allied finance. 
 
 In addition to professional and administrative activi- 
 ties in South Africa, Mr. Honnold was prominently iden- 
 tified with the interests of the mining industry and of the 
 country generally, being a member of the Executive Com- 
 mittee and vice-president of the Chamber of Mines, the 
 responsible co-ordinating and guiding organization of the 
 mining industry as a whole, and sitting on important 
 committees, including those having to do with the rela- 
 tions of the mining industry and the government, the 
 employment of white and native labor, with welfare and 
 health conditions and with mining methods. He was a 
 member of various commissions and committees, appointed 
 by the government to advise on matters involving the 
 mines, a member of the Board of Control and of the 
 South African Institute of Medical Research, a member 
 of the Council of Education of the Transvaal and a mem- 
 ber of the Council and vice-president of the South African 
 Institute of Mining Engineers. 
 
 Mr. Honnold left South Africa in 1915, joined the 
 Commission for Relief in Belgium and was made Director 
 in London. He was transferred to New York in August, 
 1916, and served as Director in America until December, 
 1918. In recognition of his services with the relief work 
 in Belgium and France he had the following decorations 
 conferred upon him: Commander, Order of the Crown 
 (Belgium), Medaille, Commemorativ du Comite National 
 (Belgium), Medaille, Reconnaissance Francais (French). 
 
 At the close of the World War Mr. Honnold went to 
 Europe as special representative of the Guaranty Trust 
 Company of New York and associated banks, which had 
 
 [291] 
 
undertaken to facilitate the rehabilitation of Belgian 
 finances. Subsequently he visited South Africa, and on 
 returning, spent some time in London and New York, in 
 connection with the affairs of the Anglo-American Cor- 
 poration of South Africa, Limited, which he had been 
 instrumental in forming, and of which he is one of two 
 permanent directors. The latter corporation had suc- 
 ceeded to the position of the Consolidated Mines Selection 
 Company of South Africa and, in addition to gold mining 
 in the Transvaal, is prominently identified with copper 
 mining in northern Khodesia, and diamond mining in 
 South Africa, as well as with the Diamond Corporation 
 and the Diamond Trading Company, through which the 
 world's output of diamonds is marketed. 
 
 Since 1922 Mr. Honnold has resided in Los Angeles, 
 California. From March, 1930 to June, 1933, he was a 
 director of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern 
 California, serving as chairman of its engineering com- 
 mittee. His activities now include: permanent director 
 of the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa, 
 director of Hazeltine Corporation, Mayflower Associates. 
 Member of Board of Fellows of Claremont Colleges, 
 trustee of California Institute of Technology, director of 
 the Commission for Belief in Belgium Educational Foun- 
 dation. Member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society 
 of America and the American Institute of Mining and 
 Metallurgical Engineers. 
 
 James G. Needham, '91. Following graduation he 
 spent a year at Johns Hopkins. For two years he taught 
 biology at Knox. Then followed two years of graduate 
 study at Knox. After nine years spent as Professor of 
 Biology at Lake Forest College, he went to Cornell Uni- 
 
 [292] 
 
versity at Ithaca, N. Y., to assume the chair of entomology 
 and limnology, which he held for thirty years. It was at 
 this period of his career, that he began the pursuit of the 
 Dragon Fly. This he continued until he has become 
 known all through the scientific world as the greatest 
 living authority on that subject. In writing the author 
 recently, Dr. Needham made the following sketch of his 
 teaching at Cornell : 
 
 "At Cornell I had the privilege of opening the first 
 university course in limnology to be given in America, 
 and of offering graduate work in that field. I also in- 
 augurated a course in general biology that ran up to 
 more than 650 annual registrations. I ended up by giv- 
 ing a general university lecture course on the biology 
 of the human species. The lectures of that course I have 
 just completed revising for publication in book form. 
 
 The scientific research with which I have regaled my 
 drooping spirits, has mostly been done on dragon flies. 
 I began it when I was an instructor at Knox, moving my 
 household out to a cottage on the bank of Purington Lake, 
 to be with them. That was the local headquarters of the 
 dragon flies, and there I could watch their doings, morn- 
 ings and evenings. That was a great season — one of 
 the best I have known. 
 
 My most interesting journeyings were, first, near my 
 boyhood home in the Lincoln Country in Illinois — down 
 on the Sangamon River, there to hunt, and fish, and swim, 
 and steal watermelons ('twas no sin at that time and 
 place). 
 
 Next, a vacation collecting trip for birds, made in 
 the good company of Johnny Stowell (Knox, '91), when 
 we were Freshmen together. We rode down the Mis- 
 
 [293] 
 
sissippi to New Orleans in a skiff, carrying tent and 
 collecting and camping outfit, lived off the country, col- 
 lected together, got lost together, contracted malaria to- 
 gether, and after returning, worked together at taxidermy 
 in the Old West Bricks on the specimens collected, the 
 sale of which helped pay our way through college. 
 
 Next, along the bits of woodland and native prairie 
 that then remained along the tracks of the Burlington 
 railroad near Galesburg, a few times with Professor 
 Albert Hurd, and later with the Knox girl, Anna Taylor 
 ( '93 ) , who later became my wife. Next, among the beauti- 
 ful Piasa Bluffs that border the Illinois Eiver at its 
 mouth, collecting trilobites with Hugh Weston ('92), 
 and chicken sandwiches with Lauros McConachie ('90). 
 Next, across the continent in an old Buick car, and all 
 over California, where for a year I was an exchange pro- 
 fessor. Next, around the world and well over China, 
 where, for a year I was the guest of the China Foundation 
 and gave lectures in fifteen universities to some of the 
 most cultured audiences that I have known, and lastly, 
 by aeroplane to South America, viewing from the sky 
 many successive scenes of entrancing beauty." 
 
 Samuel S. McClure, '82. In the life story of Samuel 
 Sidney McClure one finds events, which would outrival 
 the fiction written many decades ago by Horatio Alger. 
 Starting his career amid the most discouraging surround- 
 ings, he attained almost unbelievable success as an 
 editor and publisher of world-wide renown. No man 
 today, prominent in the public eye, embodies in his per- 
 sonality more that is typically American than Mr. 
 McClure. 
 
 He started as a green country boy, and worked his 
 
 [294] 
 
way through Knox College. After leaving that institu- 
 tion, he became editor of the "Wheelman." He worked 
 for a while for the DeVinne Press and the Century 
 Company. Than he successfully launched the famous 
 S. S. McClure Newspaper Syndicate. In June of 1893, 
 eleven years after leaving Knox, he launched McClure's 
 Magazine, and at its inception sold 20,000 copies at fifteen 
 cents per copy. Later on it attained a circulation of 
 approximately 400,000 copies. Subsequently he organized 
 a book publishing company, known as the S. S. McClure 
 Co. Mr. McClure has also published a very interesting 
 autobiography. 
 
 John C. Olsen, '90. Consulting Chemical Engineer, 
 Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic In- 
 stitute in Brooklyn, N. Y., Founder and President of the 
 American Institute of Chemical Engineers, also Author of 
 Textbooks on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. 
 
 Philip S. Post, '87: One of the most distinguished 
 graduates of Knox College and one who was universally 
 beloved was Philip Sidney Post, a son of General Sidney 
 Post, who won great renown in the Civil War by his 
 bravery at the battle of Nashville, Tennessee. General 
 Post also represented the Galesburg district in the Federal 
 House of Eepresentatives for a number of years. Philip 
 S. Post was born in Vienna, Austria, while his father 
 was United States Consul General there in 1869. Mr. Post 
 was elected Judge of Probate for Knox County, Illinois, 
 in 1898. He acted as Master In Chancery for the Illinois 
 Circuit Court from 1903 until 1907. After his gradua- 
 tion from Knox he served as Secretary to the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents in Washington, D. C. While serving as 
 Judge of Probate in Galesburg he organized the first 
 
 [295] 
 
Juvenile Court in his home county. In 1907, he removed 
 to Chicago to assume there the responsible position of 
 General Counsel and Vice President of the International 
 Harvester Company. In his capacity as Vice President 
 of that Company, he was given the complete charge of the 
 Industrial Kelations, of what came to be known as the 
 "Harvester Trust." While at the summit of a highly 
 successful combined professional and business career, Mr. 
 Post died, in 1920. In 1902 Mr. Post married Janet 
 Greig, a graduate of the class of 1894. For many years 
 before his early demise, Judge Post had been a member 
 of the Board of Trustees of Knox College. It is unques- 
 tionably true that Philip Sidney Post was one of the most 
 popular, as well as one of the most highly esteemed 
 graduates of Knox College. 
 
 Alfred M. Craig, '53. County Judge; Member of the 
 Illinois Constitutional Convention, 1870; Associate Jus- 
 tice and Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, 1877- 
 1900. Was prominently mentioned in numerous leading 
 newspapers of the country for appointment as Chief 
 Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 
 
 David D. Colton, '53. Lawyer. Went to California 
 soon after leaving Knox. He was one of a noted group 
 of pioneers in that state, which included Collis P. Hunt- 
 ington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles 
 Crocker. So far as investigation shows, he was the first 
 Knox man to become a millionaire. In appreciation of 
 the benefits he had received from his membership in the 
 Gnothautii Society while at Knox, he founded the Colton 
 Debate Prize Fund. 
 
 Steven V. White, '54. Lawyer, financier, and one of 
 the most noted and spectacular operators on the New 
 
 [296] 
 
York Stock Exchange. Was known as "Deacon" White, 
 owing to his prominence in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, 
 and because of the fact that he was the main financial 
 support of Henry Ward Beecher, during the famous Tilton- 
 Beecher Trial. He served in Congress '87-88. 
 
 John P. Wilson, '65. Drafted the law creating the 
 Sanitary District of Chicago ; won for the City of Chicago 
 the ownership of the Lake Front. General counsel of the 
 Worlds Columbian Exposition. Member of the Illinois 
 Tax Commission, 1910 ; one of the leaders of the Chicago 
 Bar. He was a lawyer of truly commanding ability. 
 
 Samuel R. Van Sant, '70. Served in the Civil War ; 
 prominent for his activities in steamboat transportation 
 on the Mississippi River. Member of the Minnesota House 
 of Representatives and Speaker of the "House" ; Governor 
 of Minnesota, 1901-1905; successfully frustrated "Jim" 
 Hill in his effort to place the Northern Pacific and Great 
 Northern Railway under one management. Was Com- 
 mander in Chief of the G. A. R., 1909-1910. 
 
 Edgar A. Bancroft, '78. Lawyer. Secured the famous 
 injunction against Eugene V. Debs, in the railroad strike 
 of 1894; Republican Presidential Elector in 1888; Am- 
 bassador to Japan, 1924-5. First Knox Orator to win the 
 Intercollegiate and Interstate Oratorical Contests. 
 
 Edwin S. Carr, '82. Son of a pioneer Illinois physician 
 and captain of an Illinois company of Cavalry in the 
 Civil War. Edwin S. Carr was educated at Knox College, 
 Chicago Theological Seminary and Yale University. He 
 studied philosophy at Harvard University and Heidelberg 
 in Berlin, Germany. From these institutions he has re- 
 ceived the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and 
 Doctor of Divinity. Has always been a student of public 
 
 [297] 
 
affairs and upon his retirement from long service as a 
 minister of the Congregational Church, he became an 
 author and writer of note in this field. He traveled ex- 
 tensively in Europe, studying economic and governmental 
 conditions. He studied labor problems in the field and 
 at Chicago University, and afterwards canvassed Illinois 
 in the interest of a state law for vocational education. His 
 son, Eichard S. Carr, enlisted April, 1917, in Captain 
 McQuade's company; served honorably in France; is now 
 Captain in Officers Keserve Corps. By a small majority, 
 was defeated for Congress in 1930; was renominated at 
 the Primary in 1932. 
 
 Lynden Evans, '82. Distinguished member of the 
 Chicago Bar. Member of Congress, 1911-1913. Author of 
 "Illinois Overruled Cases." 
 
 Robert Mather, '82. Attorney for and Vice-President 
 of the C. R. I. and P. R. R., 1889-1909 ; Chairman of the 
 Board of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing 
 Co. As a lawyer he ranked as one of the ablest members 
 of the Chicago Bar. He was both a brilliant and able 
 advocate. 
 
 Frederic Bancroft, '82; Educator and author of 'The 
 Negro in Politics," "Life of William H. Seward," "Life of 
 Carl Schurz." Edited the "Mission of America" and other 
 war time speeches of his brother Edgar A. Bancroft of '78. 
 
 John S. Phillips, '82. Manager and Treasurer of 
 McClure's Magazine ; President of the Phillips Publishing 
 Co. ; Editor of the American Magazine. Editor of the 
 Red Cross Magazine; Director of the Crowell Publishing 
 Co. 
 
 Walter Alison Edwards, '83. Born at Normal, 111., 
 1862. A. B. at Knox, 1883. A. M., 1886, L. L. D., 1902. 
 
 [298] 
 
Studied Latin and Greek at Gottingen and Tubingen, 
 Germany, 1886-1889. President of Throop Polytechnic 
 Institute, Pasadena, Cal., 1897-1907. Head of the Los 
 Angeles High School Classical Department since 1907. 
 
 John L. Kennedy, '83. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland m 
 1854. Came to U. S., 1873. Knox College, 1879-1881. 
 Hon. A. M., 1898. L. L. D., 1915. Admitted to the Bar in 
 1882. Member from Nebraska 69th Congress, 1905-1907; 
 Republican candidate for U. S. Senator from Nebraska, 
 1916. 
 
 Everett E. Ellinwood, '85. Mr. Ellinwood was born in 
 Rock Creek, Ohio in 1862. He attended Knox College 
 from 1881 to 1883. He received his L. L. B. from the Law 
 School of the University of Michigan in 1890. He went to 
 Flagstaff, Arizona in 1890. For thirty-two years has 
 been general attorney for the Phillips-Dodge Copper in- 
 terests in Arizona. After three years of practice in 
 Flagstaff, he was appointed U. S. District Attorney. He 
 held that position for five years. Stage robbery and 
 smuggling were the two most common crimes to come 
 before the Federal Court in those days, along with the 
 perennial charge of selling liquor to Indians, which still 
 flourishes. He has never spared his time or his energy in 
 the service of Arizona. To name a few of his activities, 
 he has been delegate to a Democratic national convention ; 
 has served on a committee for uniform laws through the 
 United States, and has been general counsel of the Ameri- 
 can Bar Association. As a member of the Arizona Con- 
 stitutional Convention in 1910, he refused to sign the 
 Constitution because of the provision relating to the recall 
 of the judiciary. He was chancellor of the University of 
 
 [299] 
 
Arizona Board of Regents from 1923 until 1927, and has 
 been a regent since 1932. 
 
 Edward Caldwell, '86. Publisher and Editor. Formerly 
 President of the McGraw, Hill Publishing Co. Organizer 
 and Chairman of the "Friends of the Knox College Li- 
 brary." 
 
 George L. Bates, '85, is famous as a naturalist and 
 ornithologist. He spent many years in French Cameroon, 
 West Africa. He also wrote the first grammar and dic- 
 tionary ever published in the Bulu dialect. He is now 
 permanently associated with the British Museum of Na- 
 tural History in London, England. 
 
 Francis H. Sisson, '92. Advertising Specialist and 
 Banker. Vice President of the Guaranty Trust Company 
 of New York City, and one time President of the American 
 Bankers Association. 
 
 George L. Naught, '96. Lawyer. Distinguished in 
 college as an orator of great ability. Has been for many 
 years General Counsel of the American Surety Company 
 in New York City. 
 
 George H. Fitch. Author and Editor. Originated the 
 name of "Siwash" for Knox College, through his brilliant 
 and famous "Siwash" stories. Editor of Peoria Herald 
 Transcript. 
 
 Allan C. Rearick, '97. Lawyer. Specialist in Railroad 
 Litigation and Interstate Commerce Law. 
 
 Lauros G. McConachie, '90. Editor of the legal pub- 
 lications of the New York State Department of Educa- 
 tion and Labor; author of "Congressional Committee's, 
 National Expansion." 
 
 Nelson Dean Jay, '95. Banker. Member of the firm of 
 J. P. Morgan and Co., and in charge of their Paris office. 
 
 [300] 
 
John H. Finley, '87. President of Knox College 1892- 
 1899; Professor of Political Science at Princeton Uni- 
 versity 1900-1903; President of the College of the City 
 of New York 1903-1913; Commissioner of Education of 
 the State of New York 1913-1921; Associate Editor of the 
 New York Times since 1921. Co-author of "Taxation in 
 American Cities/' "With Eichard T. Ely," "The French 
 in the Heart of America," "A Pilgrim in Palestine," "The 
 Debt Eternal." 
 
 Otto A. Harbach, '95. Professor of English at Whit- 
 man College 1895-1901; playwright and lyric writer for 
 musical comedies; author (lyrics) of "Three Twins and 
 Bright Eyes." Also wrote the following plays : "Madame 
 Sherry," "Girl of My Dreams," "The Fascinating Widow," 
 "Dr. DeLuxe," "The Firefly," "High Jinks," "Katinka" 
 and "The Silent Witness." Also collaborator of a "Pair 
 of Twins," "You're in Love," "Going Up," "Tumble Inn," 
 "Up in Mable's Room," "No, No, Nannette," "Rose Marie," 
 "Sunny," "Song of the Flame," "Cat and the Fiddle" and 
 other plays. 
 
 Charles F. Gettemy, '90. Journalist, Assistant Federal 
 Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; 
 Secretary to Governor Guild; author of "The True Story 
 of Paul Revere." 
 
 Ernest E. Calkins, '91. Dean of American advertising 
 agents; author of "Modern Advertising," "The Business 
 of Advertising," "The Advertising Man," "Louder Please," 
 "Printing for Commerce," "Business the Civilizer" and 
 "They Broke the Prairie." 
 
 Oscar M. Lanstrom, '91. Physician and politician 
 extraordinary; editor of the Montana Daily Record; 
 
 [301] 
 
chairman of the Montana Eepublican State Central Com- 
 mittee; Republican nominee for United States Senator. 
 
 Thomas H. Blodgett, '99. Promoter and reorganizer 
 of industrial corporations; president of Outing Publish- 
 ing Co. 1909-1915; chairman of board and president of 
 the American Chicle Company since 1922; chairman of 
 the Board of Consolidated Laundries Corporation and 
 Snider Packer Corporation; director of the American 
 Water Works Company, West Penn Electric Co. and 
 Fiduciary Trust Co. 
 
 Albert Britt, '98. Editor of Public Opinion 1901-1906; 
 Railroad Mens' Magazine 1905-1909; Outing 1909-1923; 
 president of Knox College 1925-1936; author of "The 
 Winds Will," "The Boys' Own Book of Adventure," 
 "Lincoln for Boys and Girls." 
 
 The remaining portion of this chapter will be devoted 
 to merely mentioning by name some of the more distin- 
 guished among the Knox Alumni. These will follow the 
 broad lines and avenues of Politics, the Judiciary, Law, 
 Medicine, the Ministry, Education, Science, Literature, 
 Editors, Business Engineers and Architects. 
 
 Following the foregoing, we find the following list 
 (which is by no means exhaustive) of graduates and 
 former students of Knox, who have attained marked 
 success in these particular fields of human endeavor: 
 
 (I) Politics: Henry T. Rainey, '83, Speaker of the 
 National House of Representatives : Steven V. White, '54 ; 
 Joe R. Lane, '78; George W. Prince, '78; Lynden E. 
 Evans, '82 ; John L. Kennedy, '83 ; Edward J. King, '91, 
 and Charles E. Swanson, '02, all members of the Congress 
 
 [302] 
 
of the United States: Job. A. Cooper, '65, Governor of 
 Colorado, and Samnel E. Van Sant, '70, Governor of 
 Minnesota ; Edgar A. Bancroft, '78, Ambassador to Japan ; 
 Clark E. Carr, '59, Minister to Denmark; William E. 
 Phelps, '57, Minister to Russia; Francis Colton, '55, 
 U. S. Consul to Venice; William C. Wilson, '88, Comp- 
 troller of the State of New York ; Oscar M. Lanstrun, '91, 
 Chairman of the Republican State Committee and Re- 
 publican Nominee for U. S. Senator in Montana; L. H. 
 F'oote, '56, Minister to Korea; Lincoln H. Jelliff, '87, 
 member of the Canadian Parliament ; Ralston Hayden, '10, 
 Vice-Governor of the Philippines. 
 
 (II) The Judiciary: Alfred M. Craig, Chief Justice 
 of the Illinois Supreme Court; Charles C. Craig, Justice 
 of the Illinois Supreme Court; George A. Cooke, Justice 
 of the Illinois Supreme Court; George A. Scott, '87, Jus- 
 tice of the Illinois Supreme Court; E. T. Wells, '55, Jus- 
 tice of the Colorado Supreme Court ; N. C. Sears, '75, and 
 Thomas A. Taylor, '81, Judges of Illinois Appellate 
 Courts. The following graduates filled positions on the 
 Trial Court benches: Arthur A. Smith, '53; Thomas 
 Harrison, '53; E. P. Gates, '67; George H. Castle, '72 
 Merritt W. Pincney, '81; Chester M. Turner, '84; O. A 
 Lucas, '85; Fred. B. Brown, '85; J. H. Hopkins, '87 
 Phillip S. Post, '87; Frank E. Blane, '88; William C 
 Wilson, '88; Albert Bergland, '91; Oliver T. Pitcher, '64 
 Luke Palmer, '72; Andrew Thornell, '72. 
 
 (III) The Law: David D. Colton, '53; John P. Wil- 
 son, '65; George A. Lawrence, '75; E. A. Bancroft, '78; 
 Robert Mather, '82; John L. Kennedy, '83; E. E. Ellen- 
 wood, '85; Phillip S. Post, '87; Geo. A. Cooke, '92; George 
 
 [303] 
 
C. Gale, '93; Franklin H. Hess, '94; George L. Naught, 
 '96; Allan C. Kearick, '97; Lysander Cassidy, '89; James 
 K. Bradwell, '55; Ted L. Holman, '07; Sidney P. Simpson, 
 '17; Kobert B. Porter, '02; James A. McKenzie, '59; 
 Hayden S. Cole, '82; Edward C. Knotts, '84; Robert C. 
 Morse, '84; Alfred W. Bays, '01; Lyman P. Wilson, '04. 
 
 (IV) Medicine: Dr. Henry M. Hnrd, '62; Dr. William 
 A. McCandless, '71 ; Dr. Arthur W. Hurd, '80 ; Dr. Frank 
 T. Fulton, '94; Dr. Loyal Davis, '16; Dr. William H. 
 Maley, '94; Dr. Andrew M. Harvey, '89. 
 
 (V) The Ministry: John R. Williamson, '57; Alfred 
 L. Riggs, '58; James A. Adams, '61; Edward O. Holyoke, 
 '81; Edwin S. Carr, '82; Roy B. Guild, '94; William B. 
 Lampe, '07. 
 
 (VI) Education: Henry E. Hitchcock, '46; George 
 Churchill, '51 ; Milton L. Comstock, '51 ; Erastus S. Will- 
 cox, '51; Charles W. Leffingwell, '62; Walter A. Edwards, 
 '83; Frank H. Burt, '86; John H. Finley, '87; John C. 
 Olsen, '90 ; Everett W. Olmstead, '91 ; William M. Lewis, 
 1900; Selden Gale Lowrie, '07; Edwin L. Hurd, '53; Mary 
 Allen West, '55; A. J. Anderson, '56; Thos. R. Willard, 
 '66; Geo. H. Perkins, '66; Albert R. Taylor, '73; Henry 
 W. Read, '75; Chas. C. McClaughry, '85; (Penologist) 
 Albert Britt, '98; Francis M. Bruner, '57; Mary E. 
 Gettemy, '57 ; Albert R. Taylor, '73 ; Milton M. Churchill, 
 '77; Hiram B. Scott, '82; Chas. T. Wyckoff, '84; Lloyd 
 W. Short, '19; Geo. W. Hunter, '23; Robert Lee Suther- 
 land, '25 ; Hermann R. Muelder, '27. 
 
 (VII) Science: James G. Needham, '91; George L. 
 Bates, '85. 
 
 [304] 
 
(VIII) Literature: Erastus S. Willcox, '81; Eugene 
 Field, '72; Clark E. Carr, '59; Frank S. Hoffman, '73; 
 Frank H. Severance, '78 ; William M. Salter, '71 ; Frederic 
 Bancroft, '82; John H. Finley, '87; Chas. F. Gettemy, '90; 
 Earnest E. Calkins, '91; Lauros G. McConachie, '90; 
 James G. Needham, '91 ; George H. Fitch, '97 ; Arthur W. 
 Dunn, '93 ; Allen A. Green, '03 ; Harley J. Van Cleave, '09 ; 
 Joseph R, Hayden, '10 ; Ralph Waldo Trine, '91. 
 
 (IX) Editors: Marshall C. Hazard, '61; Joseph B. 
 Bates, '66; Fred R. Jelliff, '78; Samuel S. McClure, '82; 
 John S. Phillips, '82; John H. Finley, '87; Robert J. 
 Finley, '87; Victor E. Bender, '85; George H. Fitch, '97; 
 Robert J. Bender, '11; Albert A. Boyden, '96; Albert Britt, 
 '98; Elizabeth B. Scrips, '57. 
 
 (X) Business: Steven V. White, '54, one of the his- 
 toric figures of the New York Stock Exchange; Job A. 
 Cooper, '65, banker; Harry A. Joralmon, '82, banker; 
 Cyrus W. Avery, '68, manufacturer; Edward Caldwell, 
 '86, publisher; Charles L. Johnson, '86, banker; Chas. F. 
 Gettemy, '90, newspaper correspondent and public official ; 
 Ernest E. Calkins, '91, advertising; Otto A. Harbach, '95, 
 playwright ; Nelson W. Willard, '96, and Robert Rice, '96, 
 railway executives; Charles W. Martin, '86, and Frank 
 T. B. Martin, '98, insurance; Thomas H. Blodgett, '91, 
 capitalist and promoter extraordinary; Nelson Dean Jay, 
 '05, banker and member of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co. ; 
 Chas. E. Junod, '05, banker; Francis H. Sisson, '93, 
 banker; Charles C. George, '85; John E. Frost, '71, Land 
 Commissioner of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail- 
 way; Frank M. Lay, '92, manufacturer; Leroy McWhin- 
 ney, '05, banker; Sol T. Kiddoo, '06, vice-president of 
 
 [305] 
 
Fairbanks, Morse & Co.; Eobert J. Bender (1911), vice- 
 president of the United Press. 
 
 (XI) Engineers: William S. Turner, '79; William 
 Honnold, '86-'87; Clyde W. MacCornack, '01; Geo. F. 
 Gebhardt, '95. 
 
 (XII) Architect: Walter E. McCormack, 1901. 
 
 (XIII) Playwright and Dramatist: Otto A. Hauer- 
 bach, '95. 
 
 (XIV) Artist: Belle Blood, '79. 
 
 (XV) Military: D. R. Clendenin, '54, Brigadier Gen- 
 eral ; James A. Mars, '99 ; Willard H. McCormack, '94. 
 
 [306] 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Theft of the Senior Silk Hats in 1886. 
 
 Tradition has almost the full force of law, among the 
 undergraduates of institutions of higher learning in the 
 United States. All college classes make due obeisance to 
 college customs and usages that have back of them the 
 authority of great antiquity and general observance on the 
 part of those who preceded them in matriculation in 
 classic halls. 
 
 For many years prior to 1885-86, it had been an 
 unyielding tradition at Knox, that all the male members 
 of the Senior Class, should don for use on all state 
 occasions, black silk tiles, of the type which in earlier 
 years had been facetiously termed stovepipe hats. Such 
 priceless additions to the attire of grave and reverend 
 Seniors, were priced by the conscienceless hat dealers of 
 that early period at the astounding figure of seven dollars 
 for a hat. To the impecunious students of those "late 
 Victorian days," the accumulation of even such a sum as 
 seven dollars, was a matter not only of great moment, but 
 was attended with no small difficulty and bitter self- 
 denial. 
 
 Yet, such was the pride of the men of the Senior Class 
 of that day, that they would have been willing, had it 
 been necessary, to forego even food and articles of cloth- 
 ing in order to purchase headgear of such extraordinary 
 beauty and elegance of aspect. 
 
 By universal agreement between the men of the class, 
 
 [307] 
 
the hats were to be purchased in time to be worn at the 
 first Senior Class party to be held at the home of one 
 of the members in the early fall of 1885. The resplendent 
 headgear once purchased was looked upon in the same 
 light as some priceless treasure, to be cared for with cease- 
 less vigilance on the part of the owner. 
 
 Kumor was rampant around town at this period that 
 many of the Seniors slept with their highly prized head- 
 gear each night by their bedside so that no kleptomaniac 
 among the lower classmen should succeed in making off 
 with an article of such great intrinsic value. When the 
 eventful evening of the party arrived, warm and moonlit, 
 the men of the class departed from their respective abodes, 
 wearing their immaculate head-gear, in search of the 
 ladies whom they were to escort to the party. 
 
 Once arrived at the home of the host of the evening, 
 the hats were deposited in a bedroom located on the 
 second floor; the windows of which were securely locked 
 and fastened. The betting odds, had they been called for, 
 would have been a hundred to one, against the success of 
 any attempt that might be made on the part of marauders 
 from among the underclassmen, to take and carry away, 
 with felonious intent, the head-gear of the gentlemen of 
 the class of '86. 
 
 However, the "bookmakers" of that day, in offering 
 such odds, would have failed completely to make due 
 allowance for the fertility of resource on the part of 
 certain members of the Sophomore Class. This group, 
 numbering about a dozen, had conspired together to 
 attempt by "hook or crook" to rob the Seniors of their 
 silken haberdashery on the night of their first class party 
 
 [308] 
 
in the fall of '85. To accomplish this result, they were 
 forced to tamper with the loyalty and integrity of one 
 "Judas" among the members of the class of '86. 
 
 According to the story told to the author in recent 
 years, a bribe was offered by certain Sophomores and 
 accepted by a member of the Senior Class, in consideration 
 of which, the latter was to slip upstairs, while refresh- 
 ments were being served, and unfasten the window of the 
 room wherein the silk hats of the Seniors had been de- 
 posited for safe keeping. The historian of this ruthless 
 adventure had observed the momentary departure of his 
 classmate from the parlor on the ground floor, but had 
 thought nothing of it at the time. Later on, when the 
 party broke up and the loss of the hats had been discov- 
 ered, suspicion as to the identity of the traitor was at once 
 directed in the direction of this individual. 
 
 An agreement was made between three of the Seniors, 
 that they should meet in front of the home of Attorney 
 George W. Prince as soon as they had escorted certain 
 ladies of the class to their respective places of residence. 
 About one a. m., three of us rang the bell of his residence 
 and asked permission to interview three members of the 
 Sophomore Class who roomed in his house. The honor 
 of this nocturnal visit to these particular men was due 
 to the fact that the callers had unanimously arrived at 
 the conclusion that they were the parties most closely 
 connected with the disappearance of the missing head-gear. 
 Our selection of these three men was in itself a tribute to 
 their vivid imaginations and extreme cleverness in execut- 
 ing a practical joke of this character. When the three 
 visiting Seniors knocked at the door of the room occupied 
 
 [309] 
 
by the three Sophomores, it was opened by a very stalwart 
 individual, clothed in his night shirt, but clutching in 
 his arms one of the rifles used by the student training 
 corps, with bayonet attached. 
 
 Naturally the three warlike and highly incensed Sen- 
 iors obeyed the command to halt and demanded a parley. 
 This being granted and a temporary armistice being de- 
 clared, a modus vivendi was agreed upon to the following 
 effect: That the stolen hats would be returned to the 
 owners intact on the following afternoon, and that no 
 vengeance should be wreaked on any member of the Sopho- 
 more Class for their part in the successful execution of 
 the plot. 
 
 No immunity, however, was demanded as to the ac- 
 complice, without whose venal services, the trick could 
 never have been successfully accomplished. Thereupon, 
 the three Seniors, along about three a. m. wended their 
 way to the home of one of the ladies of the Class, where 
 the suspected member of the Senior body occupied a 
 room. 
 
 Admission to the house was willingly granted and the 
 three Seniors strode to the bedside of their now trembling 
 classmate and demanded that he, without stopping to 
 dress, should accompany them on a journey to a pump 
 which was located on the lawn near the house. On the 
 trip thither, the air was rent with prayers for mercy and 
 with fervent denials on the part of the prisoner, as to 
 his having had anything to do, with aiding and abetting 
 the Sophomores in the theft of the silk hats. Notwith- 
 standing, these denials, the body of the Senior in ques- 
 tion was properly inverted and his head and mouth were 
 
 [310] 
 
placed in close proximity to the nozzle of the pump, from 
 which an ample supply of water flowed until the victim 
 admitted his guilt and begged to be released. He was then 
 permitted with such dignity as he could muster, to re- 
 ascend to his room. 
 
 The next day the missing silk hats were returned un- 
 harmed by the clever Sophs, and thus ended the near- 
 tragedy incident to the "rape" of the Seniors' hats in the 
 fall of 1885. 
 
 [311] 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Campus Ghosts. 
 
 One of the greatest pleasures that can fall to the 
 lot of either a Knox student or graduate, is to wander on 
 a warm June evening upon the Knox Campus, and there, 
 seated under a broad maple, just as the dusk of evening 
 is changing into the blackness of the night, to commune 
 with the ghosts of students who have passed on and whose 
 spirits seem to hover about the campus at such times. 
 
 To one possessing the gift of imagination, the college 
 campus at such a time is peopled with phantoms of those 
 long since departed. As they passed in silent review, 
 one recognized here and there the departed spirits of those 
 who had gone before. Then it was that one might see 
 striding across the campus, familiar figures of the heroes 
 of an earlier generation of college men. Sometimes there 
 would appear the pale provocative phantom of some 
 campus hero of years gone by. The men whose spirits were 
 invoked were those that one would have picked as among 
 the choicest and best who had ever trod the silent campus 
 in earlier years. 
 
 It made one's heart fairly burn with gladness to note 
 their welcome presence. There would come over one then 
 a great hope — that some of these great departed souls, 
 might in spirit, come and sit beside the visitor, so that 
 one might talk to them of great events in which they took 
 a leading part. Then the campus suddenly grew dark. 
 But out of the darkness there came forth shades of many 
 
 [312] 
 
who had found a place in after years among the great 
 of the land. 
 
 One will find these invisible spirits to be free, even 
 inspiring ghosts — of a sort that evoke memories of glorious 
 deeds of the past and heroic achievements which had been 
 •theirs since the day when they left the classic shades of 
 Old Knox. 
 
 On these occasions it would have been like an Arabian 
 Night's tale to listen to the wonderous stories these ghosts 
 could tell if they would. If one is but in the proper 
 pensive mood, it is no difficult task to evoke the spirits of 
 these distinguished heroes and statesmen of an earlier 
 day and generation. 
 
 Out of the darkness there materialized one night, the 
 ghost of a familiar spirit. It was that of a man, long, 
 lank and homely of features. No one could mistake his 
 identity; it was the shadowed form of the great emanci- 
 pator, Abraham Lincoln. Yes, it was indeed the spirit of 
 Abraham Lincoln who was revisiting the scene of one 
 of his great debates with Stephen A. Douglas, which was 
 held on the East portico of "Old Main." 
 
 On another night there appeared the shadow of one 
 of the old California pioneers, General David D. Colton, 
 of the Class of '54. Though he said not a word, there 
 came over me the memory of the dramatic events of his 
 career as one of the immortals of the early history of Cali- 
 fornia. He was Broderick's second in the famous Terry- 
 Broderick duel. He was a man of magnificent physique, 
 with square body, stern face, and piercing eyes. He was 
 one of the famous group of men who built the Central 
 Pacific Railroad and made California what it is today. 
 Together with Charles Crocker, Leland Stamford, Mark 
 
 [318] 
 
Hopkins, and Henry Huntington, he built the Central 
 Pacific Railroad and became himself a millionaire. 
 
 One night in particular comes back with great vivid- 
 ness. It was with a feeling of unwonted loneliness that 
 I sought the familiar path that led to the campus. The 
 last sunset glow had faded from the sky before I arrived 
 there. Only the friendly stars gave a reflected light upon 
 the scene. Out of the surrounding darkness appeared the 
 familiar form and faces of two with whom I had long 
 sustained the closest of relations, both, while in college 
 and in after years. A very sacred and enduring friend- 
 ship had sprung up between the three of us, which lasted 
 and became even closer, as we all entered middle life 
 together. Each rejoiced in the successes of the others, 
 and sympathized with them in their disappointments. 
 Although our homes were far apart, we never missed an 
 opportunity of renewing this triune friendship, even if 
 it required a journey of many hundreds of miles, to permit 
 of our having a few brief hours of communion together. 
 Few memories of one's life are more precious than those 
 which relate to our countless meetings together — some- 
 times, when all three were together, and again when only 
 two would meet. These meeting were held in various 
 sections of our own country as well, as occasionally on 
 foreign soil. At last came the sudden break in the rela- 
 tionship, when the death of both these friends within a 
 period of a year, left the third bereft of much that made 
 life so well worth living. And so that evening, there came 
 once more out of the dusk to commune with me in spirit, 
 that modern Bayard, Phillip Sidney Post, '87, sans peur 
 et sans reproche, and the other member of that trinity, 
 John Burroughs Brown of '86. 
 
 [314] 
 
One evening I visioned the presence of one whom I 
 had known well in my college days. I seemed to see be- 
 fore me once more the friendly face and figure of Robert 
 J. Finley of the Class of '87. I wondered if he had been 
 privileged to read as I had, the beautiful and loving 
 tribute that was paid to him by his brother, John H. 
 Finley, now the editor of the New York Times. 
 
 The text of this tribute was taken from the Bible and 
 read in this wise : "Two men shall be in the field, one shall 
 be taken, and the other left . . ." The tribute itself reads 
 as follows: 
 
 "Two men shall be in the field, one shall be taken, the 
 other left" We often read these words lightly, never 
 thinking that such a prophecy can touch our lives until 
 some day one finds oneself alone in the field, the other 
 ploughman gone — alone, save for the memory of him who 
 was taken, and the sight of the earth, which his plough 
 has turned to the sun for future planting and sowing, for 
 future reaping and gathering, and save for the sky with 
 which above him whether filled with stars or clouds, 
 whether painted in blue or gray, the fields can never be 
 desolate, though, a grave be hidden in their furrows. 
 
 It is not for him who is left to sit down on his plough 
 handles and mourn the taking away of his brother plough- 
 man, whose "land" is unfinished, but to call other plough- 
 men to the post, for the field is wide and the ploughing 
 will not be done — though we double and treble our 
 ploughs, till the earth is filled with righteousness. 
 
 I had no thought to speak of him who has been taken 
 away, and of his work until yesterday morning as I sat 
 here, listening to Professor Churchill; and what I shall 
 
 [315] 
 
say, while partly in tribute to him here, where tribute 
 should be spoken, is also in emphasis, if emphasis be 
 needed, of Professor Churchill's thought that there are 
 opportunities fronting every man today, no less than 
 those men, forty, sixty, a hundred years ago, who felt 
 themselves living in a grand and awful time. I shall 
 try to speak of him and of what he did, though I do it 
 with some difficulty, because I know him best and because 
 so much of his work was hidden from even those who 
 knew him well. 
 
 In a great printing house in New York City sur- 
 rounded by boxes and piles of paper that hide it from 
 the sight of the workmen about the shop and the chance 
 visitor, stands a roughly made machine not yet perfected. 
 It has no interest for most of the men who pass and 
 repass that wall of boxes and paper around it, but when 
 I was last in that city, I went to this great printing shop, 
 pushed aside the boxes, and looked in with feelings almost 
 of affection upon this machine, though it was only a col- 
 lection of iron and wood, a combination of wheels, cylinder 
 and brushes — for the man who made it, the young inventor 
 who had put some of his brain and some of his life's blood 
 into it, was the nearest and dearest to me of men — my 
 brother. 
 
 I have only a few minutes in which to speak of the 
 ploughing of this boy — this man. I shall try to tell 
 simply and very briefly the story of his life, and if I 
 speak somewhat of myself, it is only because we were for 
 a good part of our lives inseparable — as one man. 
 
 We were born in the country some miles from a town, 
 though one sprang up later within a half mile of our home. 
 
 [316] 
 
We were so near each other in age that my first recollec- 
 tions are of him. To school we went together; together 
 we worked on the farm, I beginning at eight, and he a 
 little younger; together we built castles in the air; to- 
 gether we went to college, together to the university; 
 together we planned for life ; together, until I came back 
 to this post five years ago, we worked; and together we 
 had hoped to end our life's work. 
 
 As I look back into the earliest years, and the brightest 
 are those, that were then the dark, the rainy days, the 
 days when the ground or weather was too wet for farm 
 work, we worked in the studio out in the yard, which our 
 own hands had built — worked — yes, for artists painting 
 to keep hunger from the door, never worked harder. 
 There, so long as the light lasted, we drew with pencil 
 or painted in water colors, or prepared poetic and prosaic 
 contributions for a press that never saw them or read 
 the books of our own purchase. So happy were those days 
 that I still always have a pleasurable feeling by their 
 reflection, when rainy days come on. 
 
 He, of whom I speak, was never content with what 
 was, simply because it was. He was a sort of frontier's 
 man who marched a little in advance of his fellows. There 
 was no irreverence for the old, but there was present al- 
 ways a desire to improve upon it. The farm machinery 
 bore bits of his labor saving devices ; the old dasher churn 
 was a source of constant stimulus to his inventive mind. 
 I remember the model of one which combined a baby swing 
 with a long box in which a cylindrical churn rolled from 
 one end to the other, furnishing excitement and diversion 
 for the baby while it brought the butter. He always main- 
 tained that it would work, but no mother was willing to 
 
 [317] 
 
let him experiment with her child. The wind, captured by 
 an ingenious device of his, came at last to do the churning. 
 
 Though he had never seen a printing press, he became 
 interested in printing, going so far as to make arrange- 
 ments for the purchase of a second-hand large press, which 
 was to be set up in the loft of the corn crib where in the 
 evenings and during the noon hours the type of the pro- 
 spective newspaper was to be set. The only thing that 
 interferred with the perfection of this plan was the failure 
 of the company organized among the young men and 
 women in the neighborhood, to present the play "Ten 
 Nights in the Bar Room"; for from the receipts from 
 this rustic entertainment it was hoped to secure enough 
 to buy the press. The young man who was to take the 
 part of the father, much older than the rest of us, tired 
 of the repeated reference to his intemperate habits, with- 
 drew and the company disbanded after a few rehearsals. 
 
 From early boyhood he was always spending his spare 
 time in making some device or writing or drawing. So 
 persistent was he in pursuit of this latter art, that with- 
 out teacher or the slightest help from anyone he became 
 sufficiently expert to prepare cartoons for the newspapers 
 and magazines. During his college days, with his eyes 
 ever open for opportunities, he practiced drawing the 
 faces of his classmates and teachers, and during the 
 Summer he went up and down the State with a friend 
 who talked while he "chalked", and there are some here 
 who have not forgotten his skill in "chalking." 
 
 He did not make much money in these trips, but he 
 was always optimistic or melioristic, never sitting down 
 to lament, but always pushing bravely on, expecting better 
 
 [318] 
 
things. There was never a braver, more cheerful boy in 
 the midst of discouragement and there was enough to dis- 
 courage one. 
 
 His homeward journey after one of these trips we 
 have often laughed over. I had been working here in a 
 printing office struggling to keep the "company" on the 
 road, when I was called away suddenly from town. That 
 same night, these same lecturers started homeward, penni- 
 less. By the kind oversight of a freight brakeman my 
 brother had a special (box) car into Galesburg, and some- 
 where up the road in the darkness we met and passed 
 each other, I riding in a passenger coach, he "without 
 money and without a ticket" slumbering in a grain car. 
 But he was undaunted, and if he could not succeed in one 
 way, his will found another. 
 
 There was at least one fraternity in Knox at that 
 time. It was the only fraternity with which I had any 
 connection; it has two members and one — well if all 
 fraternities were dominated by the same unselfish fra- 
 ternal spirit that the other member of this fraternity 
 showed, I cannot conceive that they could do harm to 
 anyone. There are memories, too sacred to speak of, but 
 there are others too; memories of that oratorical contest 
 night here, when he, having waited for an hour or more 
 after the contest near the gate of the home of the young 
 lady whom I had taken to the contest, having waited until 
 the conventional supper at the restaurant was over, 
 emerged from the darkness across the street, and put his 
 arm about me, glad as if he had himself taken the prize; 
 memories of his companionship on football journeys, of 
 his anxiety during the games and of his care of the 
 wounded one after the battle, memories of our perform- 
 
 [319] 
 
ances in old Adelphi; memories of common suffering, of 
 common hoping, of common joy. 
 
 No man ever had a richer, more satisfying friendship 
 to which to turn, one that so answered one's varying 
 moods and needs. It is of his open-heartedness, his fidelity 
 through all circumstances, his generosity, that all who 
 knew him speak. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, the Professor of 
 History in Princeton, fast becoming our most famous 
 essayist, once said to me that he had never known a more 
 unselfish, truer man — and he knew him well. 
 
 I have had the satisfaction of knowing that I have 
 induced at least one man to come to Knox, and my memo- 
 ries of Knox would be measurably less rich if he had 
 not studied here. My own coming to Knox is made worth 
 while by his coming. I have the further satisfaction of 
 knowing that I have led at least one man to the university 
 career, and my memories of Johns Hopkins would be far 
 less bright if his face were not constantly among those 
 memories. 
 
 How he struggled through college and university were 
 a long story to tell, but he struggled always with a joyous 
 hopeful heart, making all about him more courageous and 
 happy in his own optimism, and his own joy. I reread 
 last night some of the letters I have had from his friends. 
 Here are extracts: one from him who traveled with him 
 in his lecture tours, one from a teacher at Knox, one from 
 a teacher at the University and two from those who knew 
 him in the business: 
 
 "I knew him when circumstances were trying to 
 both of us. He was always cheerful, seldom dis- 
 couraged, always active. His head was full enough 
 of work to keep a giant busy." — Bender. 
 
 [320] 
 
Jeremiah Jenks (after speaking of how he prized his 
 friendship) : 
 
 "I know of no young man who seemed to have a 
 more promising future. He had the true spirit of 
 the ideal citizen in service to the people and to the 
 country." 
 
 Kichard T. Ely : 
 
 "I would hardly know how to mention one for 
 whom I entertained a warmer personal feeling. He 
 was one of my best and most loyal friends. He has 
 already done a good work and promised much." 
 
 John L. Phillips: 
 
 "He was a great source of strength. You could 
 always depend upon his fine, fresh editorial judg- 
 ment." 
 
 Samuel S. McClure: 
 
 "I cannot replace him. I know of no one with 
 his ability and knowledge." 
 
 He left the University after taking his doctor's degree 
 to come to me in New York. There was no opening for 
 him there, but he began immediately to look for work. 
 He got something to do soon, as one of the editorial writ- 
 ers on a weekly paper. By night he would draw cartoons 
 which he sent to the daily papers, and now and then one 
 was accepted to our common great joy. He had not been 
 there many weeks before he learned of the project to 
 establish an American Review of Reviews. He at once 
 went to see the editor, Dr. Shaw. Without experience 
 save the little he had gotten in work we had together 
 
 [321] 
 
done on a daily paper during our vacations, he became 
 a member of the staff of this Review, and inside of two 
 years he was for months entrusted with the entire respon- 
 sibility for its form and content. But this was not 
 enough. Though working long hours all the month, and 
 for half the month at least, by nights as well as by day, 
 for the Review and always giving more time and energy 
 than he was paid for, he began to study the machinery 
 of printing. In making up the magazine, he found it 
 was necessary to use a smooth paper for the illustrations, 
 and as that paper was expensive it was customary to mass 
 the illustrations in one or two sections of the magazine, 
 using rough paper for the plain letter press. This neces- 
 sity put the publisher at great inconvenience, which could 
 be obviated only by increasing the expense of the publica- 
 tion. He conceived the notion of putting a coating on 
 the rough paper, which would enable it to present a half- 
 tone illustration satisfactorily. With this problem he 
 struggled for years, experimenting with this coating and 
 changing the form of the machine until he got a result 
 that was fairly satisfactory. He submitted his process to 
 the United States Patent Office for a patent, but was re- 
 fused. He showed in answer that his process was entirely 
 different from the one which had been made the basis of 
 objection, but the Patent Office presented another; this 
 too, he finally answered, and on Christmas, three years 
 ago, telegraphed me that he had at last won. Since then, 
 English and French patents have been secured, and the 
 leading press builders in America have come to see that, 
 if his machine can be attached to their presses, it will 
 revolutionize the art of printing. 
 
 This machine stands in the loft of that printing house. 
 
 [322] 
 
It will not be his best monument, though, it should be 
 perfected as he had planned, but it tells what a boy, for 
 he tvas but a boy when he died, may do even at this "late 
 time" as some call it. I do not know that he had more 
 natural talent than the average boy. I do know, that he 
 used what he had, shirking no duty, not pushing himself 
 immodestly forward, but doing quietly, joyously, his best 
 wherever he was. He was not one of those "precious 
 pessimists who, as they go through life, are bored mildly 
 at everything," but one who loved life, who lived loving 
 with a pure heart, those who were about him, and who 
 compelled their love in turn. It is the duty of someone 
 of us to place stars in the catalogue opposite the names 
 of our graduates who die during the year. There is an 
 appropriateness in this marking. Those who leave the 
 body here, become — as the Caesars did in the Roman sky 
 — stars in ours. It was a shock to me, when not long ago 
 I suddenly came upon my brother's name so marked. He 
 has gone early to the stars — o'er early — before his work 
 was done, it would almost seem. But if that life shall 
 stir ours and other lives to better things by its purity, 
 by the noble work and nobler ambitions of him who lived 
 it, who shall say that he has gone o'er early? 
 
 "Two men shall be in the field, one shall be taken" — 
 taken, but into a field of greater beauty than that in 
 which we plough and sow, of wider reach than our small 
 horizon, of greater joy than we know. And a new star 
 is in our heavens to tell us again that there is life — as 
 there are suns — beyond this little earth, a new star to 
 help us keep our eyes toward the skies." 
 
 [323] 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 De Amicitia. 
 
 Possibly the author is risking something in placing a 
 chapter heading in Latin phraseology. He even may have 
 placed undue confidence in the ability of his readers to 
 decipher a phrase couched in a dead language. Be that as 
 it may, the truth of the matter is that no book of remi- 
 niscences emanating from the "Siwash" Campus would be 
 complete, without at least one chapter dealing with fea- 
 tures of college life, other than those that appraise the 
 amount of scholastic learning that one absorbed while 
 attending college classes. The average college president 
 is prone to lose sight completely of certain all important 
 acquisitions that may be secured during the four years 
 of collegiate attendance, which are of far more value to 
 the average student than the knowledge that is obtained 
 from books. 
 
 Among such "acquisitions," the most enduring are 
 those friendships which form such an important part 
 of life within college halls. Therefore, it has seemed 
 fitting to entitle this particular chapter "De Amicitia." 
 In choosing this title, the writer is not unmindful of the 
 fact that a certain citizen of Rome, in the time of the first 
 two Caesars, who rejoiced in the imposing name of Marcus 
 Tullius Cicero, once wrote a treatise entitled "De Ami- 
 citia." It has always been a mystery to those who failed 
 to see anything lovely or appealing in the character of 
 one who, had he lived in our times, would have been 
 termed a "stuffed shirt," to know just why Cicero, who 
 
 [324] 
 
could boast of no real affection for any man, should have 
 the temerity to assume to know anything really worfch 
 while about friendship. Be that as it may, there seemed 
 to be no better heading available for this chapter, than 
 the Latin words De Amicitia. So let us proceed briefly 
 to discuss a subject which cannot fail to strike a re- 
 sponsive chord in the heart of every warmhearted and 
 right minded college graduate. 
 
 In the first place, to possess these great gifts which 
 college life freely offers to those who are worthy of them, 
 one must himself possess what has been most aptly termed 
 the "gift of friendship," as well as that of holding friends 
 throughout the passing of years. On what, does the reader 
 think, are founded such close and beneficient fellowships 
 between two travelers journeying through the same college 
 halls? 
 
 One cannot balance in one hand all the educational 
 advantages of college life, and in the other the fellow- 
 ship Avith kindred souls, who can speak one's own language 
 and see eye to eye with us on those subjects which touch 
 the innermost recesses of one's mind and heart, without 
 the latter outweighing the former tenfold. As the years 
 go by, most of the book knowledge that was acquired in 
 college days has been forgotten; yet the golden chords 
 of memory that bind us to those we learned to know and 
 feel affection for during our scholastic years, will never 
 wear away or fall apart, so long as life lasts. And why 
 should this be? The explanation is easy to find. 
 
 Such relationships are formed at the most impression- 
 able period of one's life. The soil upon which such last- 
 ing friendships thrive best is to be found in its greatest 
 richness on the campus of the American college. There, 
 
 [325] 
 
everything is favorable for their growth. The intimacy 
 of the association in classroom and campus is in itself 
 conducive to the nurturing of such relationships. No- 
 where can be found a spot better suited to this building 
 of life-long friendships than can be found in life upon the 
 playground of the future great, among the undergraduates 
 of our institutions of higher learning. Why should this 
 be? The answer to this query is one easy to find. First 
 and foremost is the fact that securing an education in 
 some time-honored college is in itself a great adventure. 
 Again, there is a touch of romance in the process of be- 
 coming part of the student body in some famous college, 
 which is very appealing to the impressionable youth every- 
 where. 
 
 One of the most difficult tasks in the world is to ex- 
 plain why it is, that supposedly great educators can take 
 such a narrow, bigoted, and false view, as to the basis 
 of selection of those who alone deserve a place in our 
 institutions of higher learning. An American college 
 president of more or less ability, recently published his 
 answer to the question so constantly asked in many 
 quarters — "Who should go to college?" His answer was 
 to the following effect: 
 
 "College is the greatest place in the world for those 
 who ought to go to college and who go for the right 
 reasons. For those who ought not to go to college or who 
 go for the wrong reasons, college is a waste of time and 
 money. 
 
 Who should go to college? In order to answer this 
 question, Ave might well begin by deciding who should not 
 go to college: 
 
 [326] 
 
(1) Young men whose parents have no other reason 
 for sending them other than that they can afford it. 
 
 (2) Young men whose parents have no other reason 
 for sending them than to get them off their hands for four 
 years. 
 
 (3) Young men whose characters are bad and whose 
 parents believe that college will change them for the 
 better. 
 
 (4) Young men who have no other reason for going 
 to college than to avoid work and have a good time for 
 four years. 
 
 (5) Young men who have no other reason for going 
 to college than to have a stadium in which to demonstrate 
 their athletic ability. 
 
 (6) Young men who have no other reason for going 
 to college than the notion that it will help them achieve 
 social or financial success in later life. 
 
 These young men should be kept at home or they 
 should be sent to a country club, a trade school or a body 
 building institute. There is, or should be, no place for 
 them in an institution, whose only excuse for existing is 
 the training of the mind. * * *" 
 
 Any one reading the foregoing ipse dixit of the edu- 
 cational prodigy to whom its authorship is ascribed, 
 wonders if like Paul of Tarsus, he obtained his knowledge 
 on the subject in question through the means of a vision 
 that came to him while traveling on the train from New 
 Haven to Chicago. 
 
 Keduced to its simplest terms, the learned writer's idea 
 seems to be that in instructing the youth of this land, we 
 should exclude all but a very few individuals. These last, 
 
 [327] 
 
to paraphrase Mark Twain, would not be worth educating 
 anyway. These in turn, speaking metaphorically, should 
 be placed in secluded cells, from which all else should be 
 exclued, except the urge to spend all their waking hours 
 in close and absorbing study of something which bears 
 the earmarks of learning. Apparently the character and 
 usefulness of this learning is a matter of little moment. 
 This fact is well illustrated by the following incident. 
 
 Kecently a man died in New York, whose only claim 
 to scholastic distinction was the fact that he was one of 
 the five English speaking authorities on one of the little 
 known languages of southwestern Asia. The deceased 
 savant was referred to by a distinguished college president 
 as u one of the greatest ornaments of our nation's intellec- 
 tual life." 
 
 Another learned man expressed regret that he had not 
 specialized more in his scholastic investigations. A friend 
 of his said, expressing wonder at his making such a state- 
 ment, "Why you have specialized on just one word for 
 ten years." 
 
 The other, who had been a philologist, replied, "Ah, 
 if I had my life to live over again, I would specialize only 
 on the dative case of that word." 
 
 How the college president who discoursed so learnedly 
 on who should and who should not go to college, would 
 have rejoiced at such awe-inspiring exhibitions of scholar- 
 ship. 
 
 Now, let us look at the record in the matter before 
 us, and ask ourselves this question: What sort of a 
 student body would a college have, if the persons men- 
 tioned in the article referred to, should be excluded from 
 the student enrollment? 
 
 [328] 
 
It would unquestionably result in reducing the at- 
 tendance at the institution to a mere handful of students, 
 who would be divided about equally between those mis- 
 named individuals known as "intellectual prodigies," and 
 a small number of pitiable individuals, whose delight it 
 is to spend all their waking hours in unremitting study. 
 Without an enormous endowment, such an institution 
 would have to close its doors forthwith. Only an in- 
 finitesimal number of students, would care to enroll in 
 such an institution. 
 
 One can but thank a beneficent providence, that the 
 ideas expressed by the writer, whose clarion message to 
 the world has been quoted above, have not found any 
 support in the minds of more sound and liberal writers on 
 the subject. 
 
 Conceding, as we freely do, that the raison d'etre of 
 the college of today is to furnish education to the youth 
 of this land, nevertheless we have a right to demand that 
 the word education be defined so as to give it a broad and 
 liberal meaning. The doors of the colleges of today 
 should never under any circumstances be closed to young 
 men properly qualified to pass the required entrance ex- 
 aminations, and who are able to maintain for four years 
 even a passing mark in the studies, which are required 
 for graduation in that particular institution. 
 
 So viewing the situation from a realistic and common 
 sense standpoint and remembering that graduate schools 
 are the sole and natural habitat of those who seek special- 
 ized knowledge of any character or description, we make 
 the following statement as to those for whom college 
 doors should stand wide open today. 
 
 [329] 
 
(1) Those who seek through the close associations 
 of college years, the formation of friendships, which are 
 nowhere so enduring as when formed within college 
 halls. 
 
 (2) The colleges should be open to the children of men 
 who can afford to give them the benefits of a classical 
 education. 
 
 (3) The colleges should be open to those who ap- 
 preciate the social side of academic life and want to 
 share in it. 
 
 (4) The college should be open to those who want 
 the opportunity of indulging in wide and discriminating 
 education under the guidance of those qualified to point 
 the way. 
 
 (5) Young men who enjoy athletic sports and seek 
 to excel therein, should always be welcome to any college 
 worthy of the name, provided they maintain college re- 
 quirements. 
 
 (6) Young men have a perfect right to attend college, 
 who rightly entertain the idea that it will assist them in 
 achieving either a social, professional, or financial success 
 after they leave their Alma Mater. 
 
 [330] 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 "The Old Grad." 
 
 A certain college president possessing a very vicious 
 disposition once remarked publicly that the ideal of 
 every person, who looked forward to occupying the posi- 
 tion of a president of a college, was to find an institution 
 of that character, which did not possess any graduates. 
 
 The "Old Grad" is sure to be found attending every 
 function and every public athletic exhibition in any way, 
 relating to his Alma Mater. He is at the same time a 
 never ending source of inspiration to the undergraduates 
 and the mingled hope and despair of most college presi- 
 dents. Whatever else he may be unto others, he is, at 
 all times, a joy unto himself. 
 
 At seventy, the spotless pages of life no longer lie 
 before our eyes, on which we may write the story of our 
 lives. 
 
 Truly the life of man is a sort of diary in which he 
 plans to write his one story, while truth compels him to 
 write another. Candor compels one to write his life 
 as it actually was, and not as he has planned to make it. 
 It is only the writer of an autobiography, who takes up 
 his task in the sixties, who is able to write the last 
 chapter, wherein he can trace effect to cause, give his own 
 answer to the riddle of life and proclaim to the world 
 just how he has kept to the faith. 
 
 It is a trite saying that men of advanced years re- 
 member the incidents of youth with far greater ease and 
 accuracy than do the events of recent years. This fact 
 
 [331] 
 
is not difficult to understand. The incidents of yester- 
 day are merely unimportant repetitions of events from 
 which the zest has long since been extracted. The days 
 tick by like seconds of a clock, the very sounds of which 
 no longer register on one's sense of hearing. 
 
 We older ones lived in different times from the present. 
 College years come at the most impressionable period of 
 life. They have their inception at a time, when the home 
 ties of the youth are first broken. New bonds must be 
 found, to take the place of those that have been cast 
 aside. Every normal freshman, when he arrives on the 
 college campus, scans each new arrival with a searching 
 eye, in the hope that he may turn out to be a new found 
 friend, ready to take the place of those left behind. There 
 is something about academic soil, which oftentimes causes 
 friendships to grow with unwonted rapidity. When the 
 passage of time has served to prove that such ties possess 
 the virtue of continuity then it is that college life itself 
 assumes an element of permanence, which the student 
 could not be induced to sever, except under the most power- 
 ful provocation. Just how strong and tender are the 
 ties of campus life, only the "Old Grad" possesses the 
 experience which one must have had, as well as the 
 wisdom, which qualifies one to speak. 
 
 Seated before a glowing grate fire as the evening 
 shadows fall, with the flickering flames bringing into bold 
 relief the silver locks of advancing years, the mythical 
 figure of the "Old Grad" can be seen sitting with eyes 
 fixed upon the scenes and the events of his college years. 
 Then it is that he lives once more in the spirit of the 
 past. In imagination he is a youth again. The crowded 
 years that have prssed, fall from his stooping shoulders, 
 
 [332] 
 
like a discarded garment, and he walks once more npon 
 the campns that was his kingdom a half century before. 
 Then it is that the "mystic chord of memory" brings to 
 him the sweet music of those happy carefree years. For 
 the time being, the strength and freshness of youth are 
 again his. He feels once more the warm clasp of the 
 hands of college friends, that were his in sunshine and 
 in storm. He talks again with those whose language he 
 understands. He visits in imagination, the campus where 
 he so often was a gladiator, giving all that was in him, not 
 for self-glorification, but for the sake of his Alma Mater. 
 How pleasing to his soul are those words "his Alma Mater/' 
 He is proud to know that he is one of that august body, 
 known as the college alumni. Then the memory picture 
 fades away, and he finds himself sitting by the fire, that 
 lonely yet familiar figure, the "Old Grad." 
 
 Perhaps some day in the not far distant future, one 
 may see standing on some college campus a stately monu- 
 ment, erected in honor of the "Old Grad." 
 
 Finis. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 I C.K77EF C002 
 
 I TALES FROM THE SIWASH CAMPUS NY 
 
 B35L_ 
 
 3 0112 025410850