Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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Southwestern Reeves liglwtning-express bus and by tlie still more efficient mooclwing system. ln 1888 tlwe Hl.adies Board- ing l-lalln vvas built, a tlwree-story vvooden building at tlwe l'1ead ol Lover's Lane, on vvliat is novv lVlay Queens Green. It vvas destroyed by Fire in 1894. A levv years ago, vvlwen tlwe ground vvas being leveled orl to facilitate the gay- some lrolics of May Day, tlie old well vvas uncovered and lwad to be relilled vvitlm eartlw to prevent old Pluto from carrying oil one ol tlwe clwarming dancers to replace Proserpina, vvlwo must be old and ugly by novvl Joseplm Earp tells lwovv tlwis vvell vvas located. An old man vvallced around lwolding tlie ends of a svvitclw. At tlie point vvlwere tlie loop ol tlwe svvitcli suddenly inclined dovvnvvard tl'ie vvell vvas dug. -l'l'1e vvater vvas pumped into tlwe dormitory by a vvindmill. president Earp resigned in 1890, and Milton E. Pluillips toolc up tlie taslr. qllwere vvas no library except a score or tvvo ol old tomes tlwat no one vvanted. Dr. Phillips was a lover of boolrs. llwe students vvere welcome to use lwis, but lwe tlwouglwt tl'1ey slwould lwave a library of tl'1eir ovvn. So tlwe Magdalena Plwillips l.ibrary came into being. It vvas in lwonor of tlne presidentls vvile and vvas es- tablislied at tlwe grandest party in the liistory ol tlwose early days, lmeld on tlie tvventy-liltlw anniversary of tlweir vvedding. Qld Nortlw vvas ablaze vvitli ligluts, resplendent vvitlw Flovvers, rugs and furniture Cbor- rovved for tlie occasionb, and everybody invited brouglmt boolcs or money lor tlwe library. Page 7

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an alley where a Flourishing poultry busi- ness was carried on. l-lere on Wednes- day morning, September 7, 1886, amid the unacademic quaclcing oF duclcs, and caclcling oF hens, Southwestern opened with 43 students. By New Years day, the enrollment had increased to WQQ. The First Faculty consisted oF Four members. If these Figures seem small, just remember that in the First FiFty years oF l-larvard the total attendance was never over twenty, and usually there was but one Faculty memberl Southwestern has done better than that, and has had much more com- petition than l-larvard hadl President Earp loolced over the student body and ex- pressed doubt as to ever making a note- worthy institution out oF the material in hand. J. Nl. Cottingham says oF the social liFe: ul doubt if there were a half dozen oF us who could spend a quarter without The Story oF Feeling the stress oF it. The girls belonged to the Methodist Church, and, as a result oF revival meetings held periodically, none oF them would go to a theatre or ride a street car on Sunday. What a boon that wasAour little school world lived pretty much to itsell. We wanted nothing and were not disappointedlu Dr. Earp was a notable scholar. When a man came one day to apply For the chair oF Latin, Dr. Earp tool4 down a volume oF Cicero and read several passages. The candidate aFterwards declared it was the First time he had ever heard l.atin read as literature. Dr. Earp had a reading lcnowl- edge oF thirteen languages. At the beginning oF the second school year, the new building was ready. It was a long vvay out oF town. Une had to cross meadows, cornFields, and vast vistas oF Kansas sunFlowers. lrue, iF one had plenty oF time, there was the an- cient mule car with its semi-periodical visits and its deliberate and uncertain movements. OFten the car would jump the traclc and then it was the custom For the second-class passengers fthe boysb to Hpile oFF and push until the wheels condescended to climb the traclcs again. The mules soon learned to stop and very patiently wait For the unloading and pushing process. Forty-nine was the record number oF times the car left the traclc on any one tripl Whenever a student was in a hurry to malce a classfhis saFest route was through the sunFlowersl The mule car was replaced by a trolley car, dubbed by the students the Yellow l3eril.H -lhough it was built For Q0 passengers, Q50 could easily ride, the girls inside, the boys on top. -lhis ancient vehicle stayed on the traclc Fairly well in spite oF Flat wheels, but the boys thought it irresistibly Funny to pull the trolley oFF the 'wire. But science is wonderlull len years ago the trolley was replaced by Speed Page 6

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ln 1892-1893 the enrollment rose to 613, the largest among the church colleges of Kansas, a position Southwestern holds to this day. Classrooms and halls at Qld North were crammed with students. Traffic regulations were imperative, and so orig- inated that vveird system known as Hfaculty regulations, which reached its culmina- tion in the Upurple Book of 1933. The first rule adopted vvas, HKeep to the rightln-athe only rule of discipline in force at that time, although there were some more or less vague understandings about what came to be called closed nightsf, Many vvere the discouragements of the earlier days. Gften there vvere no funds. Money vvasnft easy to borrovv. Teachers' salaries Went unpaid. More than once creditors levied on the furniture, which was then sold at auction at the corner of Ninth and Main, bought up by some friend 4 K ,,...Q.L The Story of of the institution and carted back to the college. Qnce a dray had been loaded with chairs, tables, and apparatus to be sold for debt, when W. C. Robinson ap- peared, paid the bills, and classes vvere resumed. At one time, the greater part of the campus vvas turned over to him and he vvas the ovvner of a collegel Qnce Professor Phillips mortgaged his home to keep the school alive. The professors had to take their pay in slides, preserved frogs, and geological specimens. The panic of 1893 almost closed the college and nearly chilled the enthusiasm of those early build- ers-but not quitel Students could not pay tuition, and no one thought of keeping them out for such a reason, so they signed notesl Drought and grasshoppers added their contributionsmas other contributions ceasedl ln 1894, President phillips re- signed, and William N. Rice took up the vvork. l-le resigned in 1894 and Granville Lowther acted as president in 1895. Chester A, place vvas presi- dent from 1895 to 1899. ln 1896 it appeared the school would have to close-'no funds and prospects slender. ln this emergency, the faculty leased the school and for tvvo years operated the institution Without deficit-the pro- fessors took the tuition that came in and somehow lived on that. Salaries as lovv as thirty dollars a month for a six-hour-a-day teaching schedulel Tui- tion ten dollars a term, often paid in labor or commodities, and in one in- stance, at least, in tovvn lotsl Room- rent a dollar a month, board a dollar ten a Week. Une of the instructors, speaking to the Conference, said, U-lhe aim of education is to make this Chold- ing up a chunk of coalD look like this Cproducing from his pocket a bright silver dollarf' -lhen he said, 'fplease don't ask me vvhere l got it. l bor- rovved it from my roommate. lt's a keepsake of his. -lvvo Ph. Dfs, by accepting a discount, got some cash on Page 8