University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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held every Sunday afternoon, and colorful they were, with the girls dressed up in their fancy dresses and carrying parasols. Unfortunately, the Rivanna did not prove to be the best waterway for shell races. Most of the shells were too long to negotiate some of the Rivannas tricky hairpins, while others drew too much' water to make it over the rapids. Despite the frequent portaging and occasional salvaging, however, a good time was had by all. After the race, of course, every- one settled down to a glass of Blue-Ribbon beer, as that was the fashionable thing to do in the Gay 905. This is one part of the sport Yd like to see continued? iiTraditions are fine? H. T. Liner said, iibut I am certainly glad they did away with some of them. Believe it or not, things used to be very regimented at the University. Students were required to wear starch-stilf, grey uniforms on many special occasions. But I suppose the most hated regulation was having to get up at a designated time each morning. Eight oblocks were fashionable in the old days tat least in the faculty,s opiniony, and a janitor would make the rounds each morning to make sure that everyone had unracked soon enough to get to class on time. This system wasn,t hard to beat, however. The first person to spot the jani- tor would run around and wake up everyone else. They usually had time to get to their closets and hide. The janitor could tell when he was being tricked. So, whenever he found an empty bed and spied a few toes sticking out from under the Closet curtain, he would come in and stretch out in front of the fire. The stu- dent, left shivering in what amounted to a homemade refrigerator, would sooner or later have no Choice but to come out and get dressed. In his usual unpredictable fashion, and with no seeming reason for changing the subject, Richard Cotts began to speak. iiYou know, one of the most interesting spots around the Grounds is that little group of buildings next to Cabell Hall. The oldest building was built around 1850. It was the house of a farmer named Daw- son. Dawson,s property was separated by a large ravine from the University and was considered by the students of the day to be in the iboondocksf Dawson do- nated his house and nearby barn to the University. It was then taken over, sur- prisingly enough, by a group of students known as the Temperance League. They decided that the University should have a chaplain, so they got together with the four Churches in town: the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Baptist. They all agreed that each church would alternately sponsor a minister for a three year period. After a while, however, the churches began to squabble among them- selves, and for a long time there was no chaplain at all. The chaplain never got much business from the students, anyway, it seems, if you know what I mean. So in 1895, Dawson,s old house and barn were turned over to the students for livinfbr quarters. For many years this was really the place to live, I mean, it was where all the wheels lived. The University decided to build some more houses there. Eventually, there were eight in all, by this time it was called Dawsonls Row. The houses were pretty nice, too. They were red brick with white columns. They looked a lot like fraternity houses do now, only smaller. Cows and goats were kept in some of the outbuildings, and the University had to build a fence across the Lawn to prevent them from grazing there. When the grass got too high, though, they would open the gate and let them in. Gradually, however, the Uni- versity began to build other things like the amphitheatre and Maury Hall, and part of Dawson,s Row had to be torn down. The remaining houses became facul- ty residences and still are today. The rest of Daws01fs Row is goianr to be torn down to make room for a parking garage. Itls too bad, but inevitable, I guess. An important part of the University will be lost? An embarassed silence followed this story. Grant Sayers walked over to the fire and, grasping one of the pokers, kindled the Hame of the waning fire. He began to speak in his own careful succinct manner. iiAlthough fraternity houses and cars

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t h V tagwwyg row? i V- E; mW borrow the money for the sole purpose of playing the game. Thereupon Hillis lit , fxnz-i Rinehart telegraphed the captain of the Carolina team and said, The Virginia TZTTV; 3i- T : team is on the way to Chapel Hill to play you with or without Johnson, prefera- bly without Johnsonf The team left on a special train. The coaches, for some unknown reason, rode in a rear car separated from the team. Many students and alumni, hearing of the game, boarded the train enroute to Chapel Hill, but in their haste many forgot one of the necessary essentials for a good train trip. An honest porter, noting the dilemma that many were confronted with, offered to be of assistance and collected money to obtain the so-called refreshments at the next stop. The porter returned with a heavily laden bag which he hurriedly placed in the car, then promptly disappeared. The bag, however, was not what they had expected, for many did not know exactly what to do with a bag of bricks. An in- genious few tprobably baseball playersy did something constructive with the bricks, while improving their throwing arms. Nevertheless, a few managed to make a very good time of the trip, as my cousins father observed upon waking when he fOund a drunk in his berth. By the time they had reached Chapel Hill, President Alderman had decided the game would be played. At the appointed time, the Virginia team appeared on the field and found the stadium overiiowing with people, most of whom were cheering vociferously for the Virginia team. The game was played with Red Johnson, and, unfortunately, Virginia was so busy watching Red that they somehow forgot to watch Runt Lowe, especially when he scored the winning touchdown? Cary Randolph interjected, iiYou realize there,s always a traditional rivalry between Virginia and Carolina. TiYea, I wish they had not discontinued the tradition of Carolina Try-Outsf Phelps Lambert said. iiCarolina Try-Outs, the story goes, were held on the East Range, where duels had been held in the University,s earlier days. The iTry-Outs , consisted of several crap games, and every student pledged to drop out when he had lost ten dollars. The five surviving members of the TTry-Outs, had to bet their winnings on Virginia in the Carolina-Virginia game that weekend. TiOn one occasion the University had a new professor who had formerly taught at West Point and consequently believed in strict discipline and administrative con- trol. University students, on the other hand, favored individual freedom. Anyway, the new professor was quite shocked at the Carolina Try-Outsf and he undertook to gather evidence to present to Dean Page. The professor found some torn Checks, pieced them together, and reported to Dean Page the names of the guilty. Calling the students to his office, Dean Page reprimanded them, reminded them of the Universityis regulations against gambling in the open, and suggested that in the future the students should be more careful in the disposing of their checks. Phelps, sitting up in his chair, downed the last swallow of beer which came right back up in the form of a boisterous belch. Excuse me, that one slipped? Lam- bert said apologetically. iiMy Cod, youire crude? said Rhett as he swirled his whiskey sour. itVVhat I was going to say, Lambert answered, uwas that the University should revive the crew team. Before intercollegiate athletics had become a permanent part of the University, students were apt to try anything to develop their athletic ability. One group of Visionaries became interested in boat races, and sent letters off to various wealthy people in the state asking for money to form a crew. The response, though not overwhelming, was adequate, and a boat house and terrace were erected on the banks of the Rivanna River. Students took up the sport with great enthusiasm, and soon a University Boat Club was established. Races were

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,tmmmhw s; 2 W L km 5 fwamwmmwmk ggtj are now status symbols of the Grounds, the situation was not always thus. In the early quarter of our present century, the Cavalier, to be considered a true tweed, had to live at one of the several large boarding houses which then housed the University. These houses were renowned for their Hnely furnished isitting rooms and their sumptuous fried Chicken, and, although a room on the Lawn was nice, a room at Miss Betty Bookefs or Miss Pageis was said to be paradise. Students were required to live in the boarding-houses so that the landlords would have a steady income. Freedom from competition caused the living standards to fall, and the students complained bitterly. They reasoned that if a keeper failed in his re- sponsibility, the boarder should be permitted to seek a new residence. In this manner reasonable standards could be maintained. We can certainly sympathize with our predecessors even though these monopolistic practices no longer exist? Sayers made good use of this attentiveness 0f the group and launched into anoth- er story, iiThroughout the history of the University, the Cavaliers have shown great ingenuity in devising ways to trouble those who were either uncooperative or ornery. One of the most ornery and uncooperative of this motley group was Mr. William Pratt, who was gatekeeper of the University during the 1850s Mr. Pratt, who had to arise at night to open the gate for late visitors to the Uni- versity, was quick to condemn any student who remained out past the idecent, hour of nine oiclock. Yet the University men, unheedful of his preaching, still caroused in the Vinegar Hill bars, especially on weekend nights, and tapped on the gate to get Mr. Pratt to let them in. iiSour from his loss of sleep, Mr. Pratt abandoned his; evangelism and decided to leave the gate open on weekends. The students, however, soon devised ways to deprive Mr. Pratt of his sleep. Upon returning from a sortie into Vinegar Hill the students would file by Pratt,s house and reach out with their riding or buggy whips to tap once on the window of Mr. Prattls bedroom and once on his front door. iiThe University soon lost Mr. Prattls services. He reportedly moved to Washington and Lee, which, as he declared, was a quieter place? Seemingly pleased with himself, Grant again drew from his vast storehouse of knowledge and recounted one more story he had heard. iiBack in the days when the University was under construction, Mr. Jefferson commissioned an Italian named Raggi to come over and carve some columns. Raggi came over, made some preliminary drawings, and then returned to Italy. Shortly thereafter the Universityls founder received an enormous bill for the drawings. Despite his rage, Mr. Jefferson allowed the Italian to return and commence carving the actual capitals for the columns. Raggi, confirming his nationis propensity for large families, arrived on the Grounds with his wife, children, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Mr. Jeflerson set him to work carving Corinthian capitals out of Albemarle stone tan impossible tasky, and Raggi spent his remaining days hacking away with hammer and chisel 0n the steps of the Rotunda? Lambert opened another beer and with a faraway gleam in his eye began to re- count his favorite story. iiI bet you haveift heard the real reason why the serpen- tine walls are serpentine rather than straight like most walls. The Student Guides may have told you that Mr. Jefferson designed them that way in order to conserve brick, as only one thickness is needed. Or, perhaps they told you that the undulating pattern directs more heat and light towards the rare and exotic plants in the gardens Well, these explanations are only clever contrivances - the real story is much less ingenious. It seems that for some reason or another, Mr. Jefferson was one afternoon locked in his wine cellar at Monticello. Having at hand no other nourishment, he was obliged to indulge himself with wine until