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Page 16 text:
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II correspondingly small. Nevertheless, in that period aid was received in some cases, from Dea. J. P. Williston, of Mass., from the Ladies' Education Society, from the American Education Society, or from interested friends. Debts were also incurred, and wisely, too, while dollars gained with such difficulty were spent only at the imperative of necessity. Self-boarding was common, rooms were small and mea- gerly furnished, and there was no such luxury as -furnace heat or electric lights. Tallow candles and oil lamps shed artificial light on Plato and on Porter, wood that was even green made hot stoves then, as was evident when the first college building went down into dust and ashes. The first six years of the college in Grinnell furnished the environ- ment of Bleeding Kansas, fugitive slaves and the Civil Warp the last five were those of political re-adjustments, of national recon- struction. During both these periods governmental issues were of transcendent importance' The war convulsed the college, emptied the recitation seats, and furnished a perpetual theme for individual reliection and daily con- sultation. Fathers and brothers were at the front. Daily reports were of hair-breadth escapes and impending battles, of Shilohs and of Monitors. There was .no time for the surface amenities of social life. Picking lint for wounds of those best loved was often sadly social in Grinnell, interesting indeed, but far from entertaining. A minor tone was prevalent in homes, in class rooms, lectures and ser- mons, while all were waiting to hear whether the news of a battle signified hope, Andersonville, or the burial trench for those absent. College students had ample occasion for seriousness. At one com- mencement every male student, except two, was in the army, and they were too young to be admitted. But even that occasion brought a quiet smile, for the annual oration was an address on the value of a college education to young mm. Notwithstanding all this necessary toil and this personal and gen- eral anxiety, there was occasion and opportunity for social intercourse. The entire town found it helpful to have a sociable occasionally in
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Page 17 text:
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I2 the church where citizens and collegians perpetuated mutual interest and esteem. All general interests were common to town and gown. The College chapel opened its doors now and then very invitingly, and citizens became occasional guests on the campus, though these meetings were supplied more frequently from within college bounda- ries. Entertainments in private houses were somewhat rare fand chiefly in the homes of the Eacultyj and attended by few except when the season wouldpermit an overflow upon the lawn. A glance at the remaining palatial QU residences of that day will reveal the reasons for such limitations. The nrst graduates had always been best known, as they were constantly the most advanced, Their fare- well invitations made the closing months of their course exceedingly social, and created many a problem when, at their entertainments, three young men were expected to escort ten young ladies. One stormy evening brought an unanticipated emergency. A mad little stream covered the return route of twoyoung people as it dashed over the spot where boards had lain. The lady's room was on the other side. The stream must be crossed, her feet must notlbe wet. Ah! They reached her home. He waded, she did not. Gther memories survive, memories sunny enough now, not so sun- ny at that time. On one occasion the Lady Principal invited the advanced young men to spend the evening with her in the company of such young ladies as they might select. She expected to welcome classmatesg ladies from the lower classes appeared. It was a painful surprise, forit was a revelation that, just then, in those upper classes, polemics was not in the state of innocuous desuetudef' Busy people, those profoundly interested in their business, how- ever young they might be, found little occasion to employ long hours or late hours in search of an antidote for mimi. The painful thing itself was as completely French tothem as is its name. The year 1865 was especially memorablein the college no less than in the nation. It was the year for beginning to put off the inten- sity of the English Commonwealth without taking on the reckless- ness of the English Restoration. Then the First President became an
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