College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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This time we were not to go so long before we made a pause ; we had onlj- gone a comparatively short distance when we stopped, and it did not take me a moment to recognize mj ' surroundings ; for who that has spent three years in dear old Williamsburg will ever forget its quaint houses and streets, its general eighteenth centurj ' appearance, and its greatest charm — its fair daughters ? But there was one change that caught my eye— on a prominent lot near the center of the town stood a beautiful new house — no, it would not be a mistake to term it a mansion. Accosting a passer-by I enquired to whom the new house belonged ; his reply hardly surprised me. Three years ' acquaintance and a knowledge of his character and ability made me easily believe it when I was told that the house was the residence of Judge Oscar Lane Shewmake, one of the ' ' Old Dominion ' s ' ' youngest yet most distinguished lawyers. Nor was I one whit surprised at his choice of Williamsburg as the field of his work ; it is a place of attraction to all, but to some in a much greater degree than others, among the latter being Boots. I was in no hurry at all to leave Ye Ancient Capital, for it always had been a place of great charms to me, but my companion was my leader and her orders I had to obey, so off we went. The time before stopping again was quite long, and I felt sure that Old Virginia had been left far behind. In this I was not mistaken for soon I found myself in the metropolis of our country. Broadway was thronged, and we threaded our way but slowly through the maze of people moving one way or the other, every one .seemingly intent on some impor- tant business. We did not go very far before we entered the door of a large building, a skyscraper, yet more solid looking than most of its kind. Only a glance was needed to see that it was occupied by some rich and im- portant business concern. We went up a broad flight of stairs and on the second floor entered through a door marked Office of the Editor and Pro- prietor, into a beautifully fitted-ui3 office at the further end of which was a man seated at a desk dictating rapidly to a young ladj ' stenographer seated near him. He continued this for a few minutes until he had finished, when he got up and going over to a pile of papers picked up one pre- paratory to reading it. But before doing .so he took from his desk a pair of spectacles, and when they were placed on his nose there could be no mistake — even the addition of a heavy growth of beard and a more abundant sprinkling of gray had not entirely changed John N. Duni- 29

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enough that I could recognize my surroundings. Imagine my surprise at finding myself in such a place ! It had suddenly become very cool ; in fact it seemed that chill November ' s blast had taken the place of lovely May. We were hovering over a great city which lay quietly by the sea. The country, the very atmosphere — everything .seemed changed. Slowly we drifted towards terra finiia, and one of the most imposing buildings I had ever seen. As we were about to enter, I glanced upward and read in the glare of a near-by electric light: THE MELBOURNE TRANSPORTATION . . . AND . . . TRADING COMPANY. E. JORDAN Taylor. ------ President. Then it was that I realized we were in the great Australian metropolis on the other side of the globe. No wonder the atmosphere was cooler than before. Once inside the great building, we were soon in the private office of the president. Charts and maps were scattered everywhere. Several per- sons were in the room, and although I seemed to have had an indistinct recollection of having seen somewhere the name that was on the sign below. I hardly expected to see such a familiar face. A man with a commanding air, evidently the head of the great enterprise, was seated at a desk and the far-awaj- look on his face showed that he was in a deep study. Suddenly he looked up and with a triumphant smile, turned to his private secretary and said: I ' ve n ' lioopcd them up at last ; we ' ll give them Jimmy Jones ' poke now. Then I recognized the speaker as Edward Jordan Ta3 ' lor, for I could never forget the whooper of the class of naught3 ' -three. He had become the Pierpont Morgan of Australia, and was at the head of the ship- ping interests of England ' s greatest colony. He now looked as happy as he did when the manager in mj ' college days, and rode through Senior Latin on a pony, which, by the way, had three other riders. I mentally remarked that it was onlj ' another of Nat ' s schemes — this giant shipping combine which he had managed. But my companion was getting impatient, so leav- ing the ' City by the Sea, we again sped on. 28

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viii, formerly editor-in-chief of the Colonial I ' Xiio, but now editor-in-chief of the American Star, New York ' s greatest and yellowest daily. But the look that came over Nick ' s face as he read was one first of startled interest, then of pain, and then of relief. What could it be that interested and pained him so ? Yielding to my curiositj ' I picked up a near-by copy of the 5 rtr and began to read : A Frightful Explosion. Such articles one reads out of morbid curiosit} and I had not to read very far to .see what had caused the look on Nick ' s face ; the news of the explosion was from an insignificant little place outside of Washington in the District of Columbia, where the government conducted experiments with new combustibles, shells, guns and other munitions of war. One of these experiments had been car- ried on at considerable expense in time and money, and great things had been expected to result therefrom. But the explosion had completely shat- tered all hope for results of any importance fur .some time — and this explo- sive had been expected to supplant, in the approaching war with Germany, liddyte, gun cotton, and various other powerful explosives, on account of its greater destructive power and its cheapness. But it was not the loss to the government that had distre.ssed Nick ; I read further that the explosion had resulted in the death of several men and injury of many others, among the latter being the inventing chemist himself ; and he was none other than our one-time Science Instructor, Earle E. Stacy ! What an untimely acci- dent for such a distinguished and useful man ! but the paper went on further to say that his inability to carry on his work would only be temporary ; his injuries while serious were not fatal. But time was not waiting for us, so we had to move on again. Our course this time was shorter and we were .soon again in a city, but one very different from that we had just left. There was not the strenuous ru.sh and .scramble to be seen in Washington as in New York, for long before 1923 the country had tired of Roosevelt strenuo.sity and had allowed Wa.shington to become quiet again under the administration of a Southern President. But the quiet was all the more noticeable on this occasion, because it was Sunday. Everyone was on his way to some one of the many churches of the city, but the greatest crowd seemed to be going towards the beautiful Episcopal Cathedral. But why, .said I, such an especially large crowd to- day? for I knew nothing to attract so many people from their accustomed places of worship. But I did not have long to wait ; going with the crowd 30