The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-08-05
SCHOOL LIFEAT RUGBY.

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| SCHOOL LIFEAT RUGBY.
Self Ru1e by Young Decentralization
| of an Ancient and Fa NOUS Seat of
| Learning.
| Correspondence of the Chicago Record !
Rugby, July 14.-Rugby is railway
center. Dickens called it 'sMugby juno
tion'' in one of his novels-I do not under
stand why he should speak of it contemp
tuously-and two of the great trunk lines
of England use 1t as division headouar
tiers; but 1t is better known as the seat of
one of the famous schools ssof the world
Thomas Hughes made Rugby familiar to
the boys and girl of America and surrond
ed it with the romance of boyhood. He
went to America afterward, taking
| colony of his countrymen to Tennessee.
where he founded town of the same
name, to carry out some utorian ideas,
which was failure, cost him fortune
and shortened his otherwise useful life.
Elton is the favorite school of the nobility.
Rugby of the gentlemen commoners.
Most of the Elton boys go to Oxford, most
of the Rugby boys to Cambridge, al
though both schools feed both UNIVERSE
ties with freshmen.
Rugby is fourteen miles north of the
center of England, and an equal distance
| from Birmingham, the great iron foun-
| dry of the kingdom, where Joseph Cham
berlain, now minister of the colonies,
was born and raised, and gained his first
political fame. while mayor, by introduce
ing municipal reforms which American
cities are frequently advised to study.
| The ancestors of President Garfield
came from the little village of Lawford,
in this neighborhood, and the register of
| the parish church, which runs back to
1875, is full of their names. Near by also
is the seat of the earl of Craven, who
married an American girl, Miss Bradley
Martin, of New York. His ancestor. sew
eral generations removed, was a merchant
tailor in London, and, having taste for
politics, got himself elected an alderman
and afterward lord-mayor, and was
| knighted and then raised to the peerage
| by George Nv.
Rugby school was founded by London
grocer, and it is, therefore, eminently
proper that gentlemen commoners''
should be educated here. His name was
| Lawrence Sheriff, and, dying a bachelor
| in 1567 left his money to build school
! in his native town. 1t has since received
| many rich endowments, and has turned
out some of the most eminent men in
English history. DIR. Thomas Arnold
| who was head master for forty years
| elevated the school to its present distinc-
| tion, and his venerated dust lies under the
| middle aisle of the splendid chapel In
q recess in one of the corners of the
chancel, upon sort of Shelf is a marble
| effigy of the great educator, and under
| him sleeps Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, dean
| of Westminster, who was also head mas
| ter of Rugby, and one of the sweetest
characters the world has ever known. l
| have never seen more life-like or beau
| tiful statue.
There are $50 splendid looking boys at
! the eldest nineteen years of age. They
| are grouped in eight "houses, each being
distinguished by ribbons Eof different
colOrs, which are worn as bands around
| their hats or In rosettes on the lapels of
their coats. They have distinctive uni
form of gray trousers and blue hlouses,
which Is neat and comfortable, for every
day dress, but on Sundays and HOLIDAYS
| they appear in suits similar to those worn
| by the boys of Elton, that are more famil-
| lar, and small stove-pipe hats.
| Each group of seventy or eighty sleep
and take their meals in their own
| houses which are detached, but all
meet for recitations in the same halls,
which are venerable with age. The DOR
mitories acco immediate twelve boys, each
of whom has single iron bedstead and
| box or wardrobe for his clothing, For
study each is assigned little cell. six
| feet square, well lighted and well venti-
lated, and decorated and adorned accord
| ing to the means and the taste of the &C.
cupant. The photographs of parents,
sisters and sweethearts ornament the
| walls,s interspersed with sporting pic
lures and home scenes. A tiny table, a
desk chair, bookshelves and an easy chair
| are the only furnishings allowed, and
| they fill the little rooms 50 full that there
| is scarcely space for two people to stand.
When the study bell rings the boys retire
| to their cells until they are called to their
recreations or Rotations. There are COM
mon sitting-rooms where they can meet
and amuse themselves on fainy days and
during the evening. These apartments
| and the dining-rooms are 7ery plain, and
| look like those of a monastery. The play
ground is beautifully shaded field of
seventeen acres, with cricket wickets,
tennis courts and spaces marked out for
football The popular game of football
as played throughout the world originated
at r ugby.
The boys are divided into six forms, or
classes, according to age and academic
standing, and the older boys, CONSTITUTE
ing the sixth form, are intrusted with the
government of the school. They are held
responsible for the good behavior of the
youngsters, and when offsnses against
order and discipline are committed they
administer the reproof or punishment.
but in cases of injustice then is an appeal
to the head master. Corporal punish
ment is permitted The sixh-form boys
can "cane" or "birch" the ,ounger ones
necessary, but they are infreluent. Lying
| and gross breaches of discipline are the
THE TRIUMPH oFLoVE!