The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-03-18

the Interest Of Colleges, is COMBATING
Prejudices and Giving Information in
Regard to the Beautiful Building, the
Field liz Occupies and the Monetary
Needs of the Institutional Concise and
Comprehensive Statement.
A reporter for the Eagle, finding tina.
the editorial Of yesterday morning had
aroused much attention by its exposure
of the attacks on Paramount college,
sought Mr.. Charles H. Davidson, vice
president of the Kansas National bank,
who is treasurer of the institution, and
asked for further information. Mr..
Davidson, having his hands full Of
bank business, referred the reporter TO
Mr.. Walter H. Graves, one Of the trus-
tees.
II wish" said Mr. Graves, in response
10 the question of what he had 10 say Of
the fight on Paramount, ''that Dr. Morri-
son were here 10 answer you. He is now
In the east, where he has been since Oc-
tober last, working among the friends Of
colleges to secure a sufficient endowment
for E'airmount. He has felt the effects
OF the opposition which has come from
parties in Topeka, Kansas City, Man
haitian and elsewhere, but has, like a
good general, made that opposition a
stepping stone to success. That is, the
opposition having advertised Paramount,
though unfavorably. he has found that
people already know OF the college; and
Of r,a ind nr -o1
feli which it occupies, the vast stretch of
pcpulous country around Wichita, and
the strategic importance Of this location,
have usually changed those ill-disposed
or Indifferent into cordial friends. And
you know that a friend gained from the
opposition is a double friend
But what is to be gained by these
people even if they succeed in destroying
Fairmount?"
That. said Mr.. Graves, sis a ques-
ton that l can't answer. 1 don't get
their point of view. In my judgment,
however, that opposition will gradually
vanish as they realize the need of such
an institution and the rapid progress be-
ing made in its development 1 will say
that it all now depends on Wichita In
fact, we have far more to fear from the
possible indifference of friends here than
from the opposition of the whole state
OF Kansas besides"
Il am afraid that do not quite get
your meaning. Surely, Wichita has felt
keen interest in the college"
Yes, and all connected with the col
lege appreciate that interest. But L
don't believe that one man in fifty COM
prehends the magnitude and Importance
Of that work on Paramount hill. We
have this year enrolled one hundred and
thirty students. That is nearly twice as
many as we enrolled last year. With
less effort we shall enroll next year two
hundred and fifty, and then the work
will hardly be begun. 1t is not at all
heavy draft upon the Imagination of one
who has studied this subject to see 500
students in regular attendance before
the year 1900. These will be mostly col
legiate students; for while we shall doub: !
less continue the academy department
the recruits of the college ranks viii
come mainly from the thirty odd high
schools and academies within easy reach
of Wichita Now what will 500 stu
dents mean, purely as a matter Of
financial interest? l, will mean the ad-
dition of a hundred thousand dollars a
year to the business of Wichita, direct
II. 1t means far more than that. 1t
means the erection of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth of buildings in
which do the continually spreading work
Of education. 1t means far more than
that. 1t means the permanent addition
to the population of Wichita of thou
sands of the best citizens of the state,
who come to give their children a high |
er education than their own schools af- !
ford, and to enjoy the intellectual and |
social atmosphere of college town. |
Once here, most of them stay here. That |
is the experience of every town of i'm |
portance that has in it good college.
And / want 10 say word about that. !
There is no college in this country that |
X doing more thorough work than Fair |
mount IS doing. The courses of study |
are not very extensive as yet-we have |
rot the variety of electives that you find |
In The great universities-but there is no |
school that gives a more thorough clas- |
steal o rliterary training than Fairmounc |
is doing. today. And the variety of spe- !
cisl studies viii come in time, when we
e, our endowment. And l want to tell
you about that now"
"An right. sir. fire away"
You know the Ole saying: The gods
help them that help themselves Wei, |
we've been helping ourselves. Since the
schoo! started. a comparatively few peo-
pie in Wichita have contributed about
s. 900 for its maintenance. This has gone
mostly into improvements. We have put
in fine heating apparatus. We have
finished off needed recitation rooms
We have improved the grounds. While
We have been doing thi~ he Education
Society of Boston has contributed nearly
200 for the payment of teachers sal
aries alone, and is giving us this year
$4,000 more for that purpose. and will
give an equal amount for each Of sew
eral succeeding. years, until we can Sc
cure productive endowment.
TIE president Dr. Morrison. in the
face of adverse criticism. has already
this year sent back some money and
writes very encourageingly Of the pros
pec1 for the future And We have an Of
Ter Of $1,000 from lady in this city con-
iitioned upon getting valid Subscriptions
u $4,000 more by the 9th OF ApIa. Half
IF this amount has been raised in sums
IF 500 and more, from twenty-five sub
scrbers, and now We want the people of