The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-20
THE OLD COACH.
%There goes his coachw

"There goes his coachp'
1.-THE coaahw
'eThe proessor's hearseln
"Oh, my, what lark itwould be-n
'Wen, why not tonight, eh, boysS Now's
our time. What do you sayr'
Agroupot half dozen boys stood in the
shadow Of one of ths white pilIared, brick
paved, cloister like oolonnades, or rows -
watching an old fashioned chaise as it
came up the road from tho town, and
| passed around to the rear Of one of the
professors residences-that of Professor
w.
When the vehicle had disappeared be-
hind the row the six young students saun-
tered off in pairs TO continue their confer
ence in the seclusion af one Of those curl
Gus old serpentine brick walls which are
counted among the sights of the place
For the scene we are describing was at
the University of Yirgiuia, at Charlottes-
vile, an institution with O history.
A few miles down the Rivanna river.
under the shadow OF the Little Mountain,
stood the colonial Homestead where Thomas
Jefferson was born 147 yeare ago. The
future framer Of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence and third president Of the United
States was, from all accounts, an exceed
ingly live and spirited youth. His student
days were spent at Williamsburg, the CO.
lonial capital of Virginia, down in the
peninsula or southeastern portion of the
state, midway between the York and James
rivers. Here was the seat of the renowned
William and Mary college, the most an
cient Institution of learning in this country
after Harvard. '"Tom" jefferson figured
prominently in many college escapade
and in letters of his, which are still pre-
served, he habitually calls the venerable
town "Devilsburgh."
When Jefferson became man he real
lied at least one of the dreams of his youth
by acquiring the magnificent lands upon
and around Monticello Qtalian for Little
Mountain), and building upon the summit
the classic and stately mansion that was
his home during the remainder Of his long
and illustrious hfe
In the same elegant and substantial style
Of architecture as his own mansion he
drew the plans for what he intended should
be the noblest university buildings on this
continent. The construction Of these build
ings, on the opposite edge of Charlottes-
vile from Monticello, Jefferson personally
superintended, and watched eagerly from
four or five miles away. He was in every
sense of the word the ''Father Of the Uni
versity of Virginia''-a title beloved by him
and embodied in the simple epitaph pre-
pared by him for his tomb, which even
omits mention of the fact that be was pres
ident of the United States of America.
Considering how much of tom" Jeffer-
sons own buoyant personality went into
the organization of the university, it is not
surprising that traditions of mirth and
jollity should have been handed down from
one generation of students to another, even
unto this day. 1t has been the alma mater
of many of the south's most brilliant men,
including the poet, Edgar Allan Poe. Each
one Of these, without doubt, left the i'm
press of his peculiar personality upon the
unwritten chronicles of the institutions
merry making, and when on a modern field
day or festival you see a rakiSh looking
student wearing blue ribbon badge with
some such mystic inscription as "Eli Ba-
mana" you may be sure he is up to a con-
siderable amount of surreptitious fun.
The half dozen hopeful youths intro
duced at the opening of this sketch were
not unworthy inheritors Of the traditions
of Charlottesville Two of them carried
in their pockets bits of iron that had once
been part of the hour hand of the great
clock over the main portico below the
dome Of the rotunda, and which had been
purloined at dead of night at the i'm
minent risk of somebody's neck.
At least three of the number could have
told-but wouldn't-why the bell some
times refused to ring, and how it hap
pened that one Sunday morning live bear
was prowling about in the chapel, and
came within an ace of breakfasting upon a
doctor of divinity.
Not one of the six was stranger upon
Vinegar Hill, locality known to students,
and where the midnight oil is burned not
necessarily over books and study.
So they stood in the curve of the brick
wall and discussed their plan of campaign
with all the directness and audacity Of
veterans.
The roads are in good condition." one
was saying, "and the old trap will run
easily"
"As noiselessly as a ghost" put in a
second.
This allusion to supernatural travellers
did not seem to be relished by others of
the party, one of whom remarked as he
glanced at the sky:
at won't be pitch dark, will it? We want
to be able to see our way, you know"
ooh, don't you fret" spoke out Zach
Blakey, who was apparently the organizer
and leader of the enterprise in hand.
THE gravestones are white, anyhow, and
it'll have to be a pretty black midnight
when we can't see them. Now remember the
signal: When the tree toad cFoaks three
times you fellows are to glide like specters
from your studious chambers, fit along
under the inky shadows of the passages
and Join me under the old tulip tree back
OF the professors row. Then and there
Will begin the nights work destined to be-
come historic as The mystery of old W.
coach Let every man do his duty, and
NUNS the word"
Each boy placed his forefnger upon his
sealed lips in token of inviolable secrecy,
and so they dispersed amidst the deepen
ing shades of the somber autumn twilight.
Just before the stroke of midnight three
distressful sounds, which q powerful imagi-
nation might possibly have credited to the
vocal organs Of a very dissipated tree toad,
might have been heard-and were heard by
at least five pairs of anxiously listening
ears-proceeding from the gloomy shadows
of an antique tulip tree that stood little
distance back of one of the brick rows
bounding the lawn, or campus, on each
side. \ moment or two later five suspicious
looking figures emerged from as many
quarters and made stealLhily for
the spot whsre Zach Blakey was imperson-
atinG the tree toad, for this occasion only