The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1904-02-09

stairs. The end of the hall was burning when |
left. On my way down l didn't see a single girl
crying or f~ainting,o or trying to do the dramatic"
in anyway. / was never more cool in my life.
And May was the same way. On my way down I
met Louise, my best friend, who rooms in an
other dormitory, coming with a rain coat on and
a pair of bedroom slippers, to rescue me. She
weighs about one hundred pounds, so you can i'm
agine she would have made great Roadway carry
ing my hundred and t~hirty-fve pounds Of avordu-
pois down three flights of stairs. When she met
me coming grinning with all those clothes on,
my blanket around me, and both arms full, my
hair plugged up with two hair pins, and that pic
ture under my arm, she gave a hysterical shrek
of laughter and literally "fell on my neck" May
did not come down till after I did. She went
back into our room after | had turned out the
gas and tried to light it to hunt her watch, but in
her hurry, she broke the match on the gas fixture
and was unable to light it. She hunted for her
watch, a very handsome one that had been her
gr~eatgrandmOther's, but was unable to find it. SO
she gathered ONE little things-her purse, ETC.
and came down. As it happened, / had spent all
the money / had the dav before, except one soil
tary quarter. | didn't stop to get my purse, and
/ left my fraternity pin. / didn't care so much
for anything as | did for that. / almost cried
when l remembered it, but l knew it was "no
good" to cry then.
I carried my pitiful little pile of "doII rags"
to Louise's room and then we went out sight
seeing. And "sights" most of the girls were.
One had on her night dress and a fifteen dollar
hat stuck on her head. Another her coat suit and
hat. but no shoes or undercIothes. One had wrap
ped a sheet around her; one had her manicure set
and powder box; one brought out ~ffty-two cents
clinched in her first, and left about ten dollars
in her purse; one came rushing down the steps
humping a small trunk on behind her. She didn't
stop till she had pulled it across the street IL
front of DR.. McIver's home, when she sat down
on it, happy as she could be. unaware of the fact
that her costume was a little inadequate. Some
of the young men threw their coats around the
girls, and the poor things certainly did need
wraps of some kind.
You must not think that the girls were not
brave, if they did come out of the building like
they did. The flames were discovered by one of
the girls who ran down her hall calling "fre."
and knocking at the girls doors as loudly as she
could. Another girl rang our fre-bcll; another
turned on the fire alarm, and some of them turned
on the hose in the front hall and held them till
the firemen came.
Some of the newspapers made our Waterman
out quite a hero. but when I went down I had my
eyes open good and wide and | didn't see anything
of the Waterman or any other man on the halls.
The men got there after the girls were out of the
building. The girls have all been cheerful, and
this morning were sitting in groups singing.
"Give us some clothes and well go home" The
most of them are pretty destitute.
The people of Greensboro have been sending
clothes and money out for us, and opening their
homes to all the girls. | never saw anything like
it. 1t takes a time like this for us to learn our
blessings and to learn how big peoples hearts are.
/ have had lots of invitations to stay with differ