The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-12-29

Elton Fags Who Are Forced 70
Wait Upon tho Older Students.
The Art Of Cooking Acquired In IN o.
pleasant Manner In the Old Ed-
ucationsl Institutions
OF EnEland.

Ths Art OF Cooking Acquired In IN o.
pleasant Manner In the Old Ed-
ucationsl Institutions
Of Engiand.
Most people contemplating . debate
In the house of lords from the gallery
would be surprised to hear that good.
iy proportion of the grave and reverend
scigniors engaged In settling affairs OF
state on the very steps of the throne were
adopts at frizzling the toothsome sau-
sage and cooking the homelike "bloat'
er." Yet so il Is, according to the Boz
ton Herald. for nearly half of the peers
of England are old Etonians, and one
of the Oldest institutions still cherished
under the shadow of the distant spires
and antique towers sacred to the memo
ry of King Henry's shade is that OF
Tagging" The first and second day OF
every term, when the whole school has re.
turned, sort of slave market Is held
in each house, at which the upper boys
have the privilege of choosing from
among the lower boys their own par
ticular flag for the next three months
or so. In some houses where the lower
boys-that is, boys who have moi
reached the fifth form-are numerous,
an upper boy may have two such SER
vitors for his own exclusive use. The
duties of an Eton fag are many. The
fag is responsible for getting his mas
ter out of bed in time for early morn
ing school. A dangerous and thank
less task to perform on big boy who
is hard sleeper and free with his fists
and quick at throwing shoes when once
awakened. School over, the fag has to
prepare his masters breakfast. He
lays the cloth, makes the tea and toast
woe betide him If the latter be
burned or cut too thick--boils the eggs
and fries any extra luxuries in the way
of bacon and sausages his master may
send him to purchase in the town.
The same round of duty has TO be
gone through again at supper time.
But tagging at meals is by no means
the only service which the lower boy
has TO render. He has to scrape the
mud off his masters football boots, to
put his clothes away after cricket or
running with the beagles, and take
notes to other boys in other houses.
Mr.. Gladstone was somewhat lucky
in his tagging at Eton, as he tagged for
his elder brother Thomas, and naturally
got let down easier than if he had been
apportioned to some strange boy. The
marquis of Blanford and his brother.
Lord Randolph Churchill, had the repu-
tation of being incorrigibly idle fags,
but when they chose to exert them
selves they were excellent cooks, and a.
such were much in request. His equal
ly difficult to imagine the dignified Lord
Chief Justice Coleridge making toast
and boiling eggs for his master" but
tradition has il that he was most cx}
emplary fag.
In addition to their regular daily work.
for their own master, the lower boya
have to fag in q desultory way for any
upper boy who may want him during
the day. The headmaster's birch doea
not inflict such wounds as the vigor-
ously applied toasting fork of an in
censed fagmaster. The most tedious Of
oil kinds of tagging is to have to sit
and read out the "crib" or translation
to number of upper boys preparing
their Virgil or Thucydides. This duty
combines all the irksomeness OF =
school lesson with the disadvantage OF
learning nothing in return for It. When
q lower boy has neglected his work and
his fagmaster Is not an advocate of cor
poral punishment q common form q
correction" is to send the offender uY
70 "Layton's"-a famous confectiunez
in Windsor-to fetch penny bum dur
ing his playtime. The length Of The
walk spoils the erring fags chance Of
playing football or otherwise amusing
himself in that particular plAytime.
and he has to prove that he has really
been to Windsor and back by Bringing
the bun in one Of "Layton's" bagu.
Sharp boys have been known to obtain
a regular stock Of these bags from
"Layton's" on some pretext or other.
and on the next occasion they were sent
for the penny bun to purchase that
comestible at one of the "sock shops
in college and envelop IL in the wrappez
as evidence of a journey that had moi
been undertaken.