The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-05-14

another boy ia his hnr1fy ~ ifo'b u "
blazing Gro qasa.ug his fayorite sherry
and smol,iu! his pipes Ta make mat
te-s worse we had = -yed ourselves out II
hiseu1pliegs. university hoods, stoies cas-
socks and reEgherDH.rG caps Our ter
-1r stricken appearance when ho I'D
denly opeu7d the door and entered toe
room must have been lCdicrous N the
extreme, for ha burst into such pea! OF
laughter that we uJped for one moment
tbat our oifense would DO parlJned on
account of the excessive impudence dis
played. We were disappointed, how
ever, and suffered.
No boy ever refuses to submit to his
flogging, for the alternative, as rule,
involves private or public expulsion.
Both are liable to affect lads position
in after life, public expulsion particu-
larly so. know of one instance OF this
kind that is especially sad. The victim
Il think that | may describe nm as
such-had been expelled from one OF the
famous public schools for an oitense
which. though most serious in the sight
of the college authorities, would have
been regarded as quite venial by society
or by the world ut large. The fact that
he had been expelled, however, closed
the doors of every other great public
school against him, debarred him the
privilege of completing his education at
the university, and has proved his bane
through life. Notwithstanding his nu-
merous qualities-he is charming and
accomplished man, the heir to a baron
etcy and to an income of.$2O0, 900 per an
num-he has been unable to secure adj
mittance to any of the good London
clubs His beautiful wife and children
are regarded by society with kind of
plying expression, and he himself, poor
fellow, is made to feel by every one that
he is an undesirable acquaintance, solely
because he was expelled from school.
No one takes the trouble to ask why he
was expelled. The fact that he was ex-
. PEELED is considered as sufficient.
Occasionally, when some particularly
dishonorable offense has been committed
by one of the lads, his schoolmates take
the law into their own hands. | can
only recall one such instance during the
whole of my boyhood. The forgery of a
signature to postoffice order for some
twenty-five dollars had been traced to
youth of about eighteen, high up in the
school and on the point of taking up his
residence at the university. The cap
tain of the school assembled all the boys,
some 700 or 800 of them, in the great
hall, and, having summoned the culprit
to stand forth, inquired whether he
would prefer to be sent up to the head
master for hogging and subsequent pub
lie expulsion, or if he would sooner take
his punishment at the hands of his school
mates. He chose the latter.
Four stout hazel sticks were then
brought in, and the captain of the school,
powerful and athletic young fellow,
broke three of them across the shoulders
Of tho forger, who stood up alone in the
center of the hall, with 800 pairs of scorn-
full eyes upon him, and took his twenty
four strokes without flinching Then we
ranged ourselves in two lines, reaching
: from one end Of the hall to the other,
armed ourselves with straps, knotted
y towels, whatever, in fact, we could lay
our hands upon, and forced him to run
the gauntlet once up and once down the
entire line. The punishment thus in
; flicted was so severe that he was con-
fined to the iniirmary for fortnight
afterwarl. At the end of that time he
left for home, in accordance with a
promise exacted from him on the even
ing of his castigation. He was thus
saved the disgrace of expulsion. Of
course the masters must have known of
the whole proceeding, but, as is custom
airy in such cases, they closet their eyes,
|, being perfectly content to allow the
boys to attend to the maintenance of the
honor of the college.
,, One of the most thoroughly national
features of English school life is the sys.
TEN of tagging. Every boy, no matter
whether peer or commoner, has to fag
for one of the older lads during the first
year or two of his school life. The du-
ties of flag are manifold. When was
acting in that capacity was obliged to
get up half an hour before the first bell
rang to heat my masters shaving water
over the gas jet, to fill his bath, and to
brush and lay out his clothes. During
the course of the day would be called
upon to black his boots, to run errands
for him and to serve and prepare his
, tea in his study Any deficiency in my
service or refusal to comply with my
, masters orders involved, first of all, a
, thrashing from him, and then a birch
ing from the head master. My spare
: hours between lessons and on half holt
days would be devoted to fielding for
him at cricket. OF course he, being the
master, kept the bat, the idea of allow
ing flag any innings being regarded as
preposterous.
Before left school had fag of nv
own, on whom am ashamed to say that
| repaid with interest all that | had suf
fered during my term of servitude. Not
withstanding the disagreeable features
of the mental service exacted from the
Tags, the system Of tagging is excellent.