University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

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OniV t • A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. LITTLE more than a generation ago S I. was born. Her right was a landed estate, the gift of her maternal father, U. S., to be held in trust by the mother for the daughter ' s sole use and benefit. The hawk ' s eye which the mother is credited with possessing must be the product of evolution, for far-sight is not apparent in the hasty conversion of land into money at a time when the least possible benefit could result from the sales. The mother ignorant of the needs of a growing child first gave her shelter under a borrowed roof and compelled her to subsist upon the slender income of her wasted patrimony. A few years pass during which many of immature age seek the guidance of the little maid ' s servants through the rudiments of an education. At the same time a few gather crumbs of wisdom which they carry to the hungry children of the regions round about. Soon the mother removes to another city and places her child now ten years of age in the old house which she cannot carry with her. Leaving she says, I will send you regularly the income from your patrimony, so that you may pay your servants for attention to those who may seek your counsel. Each corner must contribute a little wherewith to eke out the slender stipend your servants will receive. The servants proved more willing to make sacrifices, than was the mother to contribute anything out of her abundance. After a strenuous effort the mother opened her purse to such an extent as to provide a boarding hall for the use of men and women (an effort to exclude young women having met with a righteous rebuke) who were drawn to the fountain of knowledge over which the attractive little maid presided. To the hall now well filled comes suddenly a cry of distress from the godfather whose life is threatened. The call needs no repeating. Thoughts are turned from brain-forming to bullet-firing and to bandage-making. 7

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For four years our little maid has abundant room at her disp osal. But she rejoices in the loyalty of her absent admirers. The fierce cyclone passes. The life of the godfather is saved. Many who have learned by a bitter rience their need of a higher education now crowd the vacant halls. The mother whose hawkeye is opened by the lessons of the war makes provision for a slight equipment for scientific purposes, yielding to an appeal to religious sentiment for the erection.of a chapel and giving a lower story to science. The boys returning from the war find the mistress they had left a child now in blooming young womanhood. With increased room and a still meagre cash account, she welcomes back a body of admirers the like of whom will probably never again appear. Her servants have suffered a change, but the same spirit of sacrifice prevails. The godfather in gratitude for the service rendered him in his terrible trial makes another donation of land to the mother. An opportunity is now sented for righting her early wrong. But the opportunity is lost. hawkeye is closed. Another daughter, I. A. C., claims the bequest, The mother in her unwisdom separates the sisters, provides distinct homes, divides what she can herself bestow and duplicates servants. Her twin sister W., who at the first imitated her example, now displays the greater wisdom. The result is apparent in the rapid growth of the cousin W. U. Here it may be said in passing that an older sister M. showed her wisdom in retaining her first trust until such time as a reasonable price could be secured for her land and M. U. now leads all her cousins. But S. U. I. neither frets nor sulks. She girds herself afresh and says to her faithful servants, Stand by me and we will yet gain the victory over this second disaster. Law and Medicine are welcomed to the best the houses can afford and accept the corners of chambers, vacated kitchens and bed-rooms and damp cellars. To Homeopathic Medicine is given a small annex outside the campus, as large; however, as the liberality (?) of the mother would permit. At thirty years of age the mature woman pleads with her mother for an addition to her regular income. It is granted upon CO11(141°11 that she will dismiss from her home all who cannot enter a collegiate class. . The mistress at once complies, finds her friends increased by the act, and is able to increase slightly the number and the pay of her servants. The mistress takes pleasure in leading through a malodorous basement pied by the medical students a committee sent by her mother to look into the. house-keeping of her daughter. The report is so strong in regard to the sanitary condition of the house that the mother doles out barely enough to provide for correcting the defects noted 8