University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

Page 9 text:

THE REDWOOD the students at Santa Clara have been drilling without arms, without uni- forms, without equipment of any kind, under the direction of Captain Joseph L. Donovan. But during the long va- cation Captain Donovan, who for six years has been the dean of the Engin- eering Department at Santa Clara, was detailed to Utah as Commandant of the War Prison Barracks at Fort Douglas. Captain Donovan, an old West Pointer and a Commander in the Span- ish-American war, is a man, every inch of him, and is a remarkable soldier. As a result he is thoroughly popular with the Faculty and Student-body alike. It can well be imagined then how joy- fully the news of his return home was received. But the fact that military training at Santa Clara was carried on so in- tensively without arms made such an impression upon the War Department that it resolved to establish an Offi- cers ' Reserve Corps at Santa Clara. The matter has been brewing for some months now, but it was only a few weeks ago that the news of it being a settled thing reached the University. Santa Clara too is greatly indebted to its friends in Congress and Senate in the persons of Congressmen Kahn and Hayes, and of Senators Phelan and Johnson, as well as to Secretary of the Interior Lane. We feel that the deep place they hold in their hearts for San- ta Clara is not a little responsible. That Santa Clara students now have a wonderful opportunity there is no doubt ; and the way they welcomed the joyful news bore ample testimony to the fact that they appreciate to the ut- most the remarkable favor and privi- lege of being the only Institution of Learning in California to which has been granted an Officers ' Reserve Training Corps.

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Our Military Unit MOST remarkable honor has but a week or two ago been bestowed upon our University. At Santa Clara is to be es- tablished an Infantry Unit of the Reserve Of- ficers ' Training Corps. What this means for the Pacific Coast in general and for Santa Clara in par- ticular can be more readily imagined than described in words. It means that while attending college, our young men can be trained for service, so that on graduation they will receive the rank of Second Lieutenant. It means that military training and the pursuit of one ' s studies will go hand in hand ; and that if at the expiration of one ' s col- lege work his country should need him, the young man will step into the Army as a Commissioned Officer. The final word declaring that Santa Clara was to have this distinction came Tuesday, September 11th, when the fol- lowing telegram was received from the War Department. Washington, D. C. 3 P. M., Sept. 11, 1917. Rev. J. A. Sullivan, Vice President Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif. If you can assure War Department that you will provide one hundred rifles complete for drill purposes by your students. Captain Joseph L. Donovan, retired, will be relieved from duty at War Prison Barracks, Fort Douglas, Utah, and detailed on active duty, stat- us as Professor of Military Science and Tactics, Santa Clara University; and Bulletin will be issued establishing In- fantry Unit, Senior Division Reserve Officers ' Training Corps. Depart- ment has no arms available for issue to colleges at this time. Please advise in premises at earliest date. McCAIN, The Adjutant General. As can be well imagined that very night a te legram went flying back to Washington that Santa Clara will fur- nish the rifles, and another went to Captain Donovan, Fort Douglas, in- structing him to procure those rifles somehow, somewhere, and quickly. The details of the Training Corps are not known as yet; for as we go to press the Bulletin from the War De- partment has not reached us. But we hope that by our next issue to have our new mode of life in all its ins and outs, running along smoothly ; then we prom- ise our readers to satisfy their curiosity to the slightest detail on the new form of life we are leading here at the Old Mission University. Ever since the outbreak of the war

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Convict Number 3875 Louis L. Gairaud. HE murky fog hung low and dismal erer the dank-smelling marsh. The fine sleet-like parti- jny ■■■ ■ cles of water, whipped y V fi by a chilling breeze, I SJ string the faces of the al j men, and penetrated through their clothes, freezing them as they worked. The reeking smell of tules accompanying the marsh fog clung to one with a tenacity that was impossible to rid oneself of. The work progressed slowly. The road was nearing completion, and the men were loath to hurry. The sooner the work was finished, the sooner they would be back in their dark and drea- ry cells. Much better it was to work out here in the mud and fog, with a measure of freedom, than to be shut up in a gloomy prison cell without an op- portunity of moving about. It was just such thoughts of return- ing to the prison that provoked rebel- lion in the heart of Blank. Sentenced to hard labor, for a crime he claimed he had never committed, he was put on the road-gang, at the time engaged in building a new road through a neigh- boring marsh. His unjust conviction rankled in his mind and he was deter- mined to seek a chance of escaping from the dreadful routine of prison life and the monotony of the labor. At least he could make an attempt to es- cape, and if he was unsuccessful, he would only be brought back to the pris- on and probably put in confinement ; but, on the other hand, if he succeeded, he would have a chance of proving his innocence. With this determination fully resolved upon, he bided his time for an opportunity of putting his plan into action. The work was nearing the solid shore and the fill was ne arly complet- ed. But a few yards remained to be filled in, and the hardest part of the work would be completed, leaving only the finishing touches to be made. Blank, realizing that the impending completion of the work might cause the cutting down of the gang, and that his chances for making his getaway were consequently growing slim, knew that he must act at once or fail. Which would be the easier way? To hide in one of the cars after it was emptied, or to quietly slip off the side of the fill and hide in the tules until he could slip away before the men were marched back to the prison? The latter way appealed to Blank more than the former, and he instantly put it into execution.