Washington and Jefferson College - Pandora Yearbook (Washington, PA)

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f iii A fx f 4 'f ' ,. . 2 1.-,cgi ..... ., , ,AA yi if A 1 s Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was an alumnus ot' Jelferson College in the Class of 1857, and was trained for the ministry in the Western Theologi- cal Seminary. Before his election to the presidency, he had hcld pas- torates in Baltimore and in Allegheny City, and after leaving the col- lege, in Denver, Cincinnati, and Kansas City. In 1884, he was modera- tor ol' the Presbyterian General Assembly. He died in Washington, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1887. Funeral services 'were held for him in the Second Presbyterian Church ot' Washington, of which, through- out his whole administration ot' the college, he had been acting pastor. We do not think of Dr. Hays as a great scholar, but as one who was able quickly to avail himsell' for any need ol' the work ol' scholars. He was a man ot' tireless energy, a popular preacher and lecturer, and wrought in many fields ot' activity besides those ol the ministry and education. He was tall and slender in figure, with abundant dark hair, sprinkled, towards the last, with silver, his eyes were brilliant, his mouth large and often wide-spread for laughter, and his whole coun- tenance full of expression, allording ready indication ol' kindliness or scorn. Dr. Hays- Doc, we always called him when not in the pl'CS- ence - -was very much ot' a man. The students liked Dr. Hays, as did all who knew him, he was what we call to-day a good mixer, every one recognized and admired his talents, his enthusiasm and his energy, and the college will always be his debtor for the services he rendered to it. ' Alonzo Linn, LL. D.,-Clurum el vzfzzcrabile nomen. Dr. Linn- Professor Linn sounds more familiar---was born in Butler, Pennsyl- vania, September 26, 1827, and died in Washington, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1901. He was an alumnus ot' Jei'l'erson College in the Class ol' 1849, took a theological training in the Western Theological Seminary, 1851-1854, and was licensed, May 3, 185-1, by the Presbytery of Redstone, but never held a charge. From 1854 to 1857, he was pro- l'essor in Lal'ayette College, he was for a short time principal of an academy in New Brunswick, New Jersey, then professor in Jefferson College, and from the union of the colleges until the time of his death professor at Washington and Jefferson. Helwas from August 3, 1870, Vice President ot' the College. 27

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gat ' A I E m ,W M ..... It .. ,.N,.,..,.,..., , . ..,..,... , .,... Un 33531335 .45 -.lf-wad 4 .,I,::f'1 -.,v. L tts e f f ! f .A nn an im '--V -'AJ f' t- -'-W., -V t.Q,F.l,.l.f,7 'F . f 3,3 j '- .,.. l ,,.M, tiff ' i f I ' , W f ,, Al t as l . mttumtmm... J,,, ,, , , alia, irascibleg I recall that at a public meeting in the old Court House he made a dive into a crowd ot' disorderly students and caught an un- otifending youngster and nearly pitched him down stairs,--these and others were in oiticc just before our day, or for a briet' period after- wards. When I come to the men who taught our class, how many a11d what kind ot' tales dare I tell out of school? A member ot' Congress who once had to make in the House a memorial address for a deceased fellow- member who had not had one ot' the most savory ot' reputations, came in great perturbation to Tom Reed, and asked, Heed, what on earth can I say about that man? Oh, answered Heed, say anything but the truthg it's customary! I, on the contrary, want to tell the truth about those venerable old-tilne teachers, for venerable they were, in character, though not always in years. It astonishes us now, old as they seemed to us then to lea1'n how young, in some cases, they really wereg Dr. Hays, for example, was but thirty-two when he became president, and only fifty-nine when he died. I do not want to record here such memories ot' those men as would be suitable to serious biography, but rather such as most endear them to the hearts ot' us who knew them, and who, though we sometimes bedeviled them, still loved them. Frown as you may, sirs, upon student pranks, let the gravest ol' you come to- gether and recall the old days, and these, not your academic 'honors' and achievements, will be the things you will most eagerly talk about. After all it is the touch ot' nature that makes the whole world kin,--student- world or boy-world. 'l'he'humanest touch in that wonderful human document, the Confessions ot' St. Augustine, is that which the saint gives in the story ol' how he, with his boy companions, used to rob the orchards in his native town ot' Hippo. As theologian, he tries to make these pranks support his favorite dogma ol' total depravity, but he tails: across the space ol' nearly two thousand years we hear the laughter ot' those jolly youngsters as in the white African moonlight they climb the walls and eat the juicy oranges and grapes, and we laugh with them. The boy's will is the wind's will, and the thoughts ot' youth are long, long thoughtsg but they are not evil continually, good Bishop. Dr. George P. Hays, who was elected President ot' the College. August 3, 1870, and served until June, 1881, was born and reared near 26

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fn? . ...,,... tt t tt T ' ' 1 2 ' fz Q - wr. in mu T i WEBMUF ' M ' 7 7 i if ff1 1fviTil5lHt g 2. Washington and JeH'erson has no name in the list of its faculty members more venerated than that ot' Professor Linn. To many a graduate a11d many a former stude11t his name is almost a Sy110llyll1 ot' the college title, or stands at least, without detraction from the worth ol' other men, for all that gives the college its fame for scholarship and efficiency in teaching. His versatility and the range ot' his attainmcnts is shoW11 ill the fact that at tlii t'erent times he filled with success nearly every chair in the College, though he was most noted for his teaching of Greek. Dr. Linn was not one who wore his heart upon his sleeve, but be- neath a manner that was often austere his heart was warm. The dullard often fared pretty badly at his hands, and the egotist or the shirker got from l1i1n scant mercy. But it can be said of him as it was of Golds1nith's dominie: Yet, he was kind, or if severe in aught, The love he bore to learning was in fault. The severity ol' his discipline became a tradition ol' the college which was handed down from departing to incoming classes. He was a bold man who dared to enter Professor l.inn's class room with no preparation of the lesson assigned. And there was no lesson, no subject, which Linn could not make attractive. A classmate ot mine once paid him this tribute. Searching his mind for gestion of the very uttermost degree of a teacher's power to interest his Btll1S1l'ltll1, that man could make even what, to him, would convey sug- ol' dryness, and the severest test students, he exclaimed: Why, ll l1lfSSi0IIlll'l1 report' interesting!,' Like many other teachers, Linn had certain mannerisms and cer- tain stock methods ol' maintaining order in the class room: e. g., if a student leaned back in his chair so as to lil't the front legs ot' the chair from the floor, Llllll would exclaim: Gentlemen, all the chairs in this room are quadrupeds! and, ot' cou1'se, the student would settle down to a normal position. Il' any one took out his watch to look at the time, Linn would say: The bell will ring, sir, when this period is over! He would rebuke students who were talking in class by addressing, not the talkers, but the man reciting: Stop, sir! he would ery, You are disturbing the gl4llHl'lI'lI'I1 who are holding a conversation at the other 28'