Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-06-07
College Yarns

1t has the added merit of being a
perfectly true story, and it was told
as such at recent banquet at the Uni.
versity of Chicago by journalistic
graduate of the University of Missouri.
In words it ran as follows:
You have heard, gentlemen, of the
big man at the great university who
leaves college and becomes once more
a mere freshman in his struggle with
the outside world. You have sympa.
thized through pages of picturesque
print with the Sights that have been
pot upon him by the older men who did
not know or care for his academic
'bigness. And finally you have reioic-
ed with him in his inevitable hour of
| triumph when he obtained an unob-
tainable bit of news and showed the
sneering crowd the stuff that was in
him.
Good college yarns are made of
such events, but they rarely happen
IN real life. For myself l believe in
college men, and am therefore, pleas
ed being able to tell youe just such a
story-one that really happened to a
graduate OF your university.
1T took place abuot three years ago.
There was dreadful double murder.
SO shocking and so mysterious that it
agitated Chicago for weeks and
months before it's final solution.
Every newspaper used it's best men
in writing the accounts of it and in
experimenting the detective work of
our able, but conservative, city police.
The star writer's were helped out by
cub reporters, who were supposed to
DO the leg work And here is where
Jimson, '02. came into the game.
"Jimson had left the Midway the
month before with stout body and a
| courageous mind. All he wanted was
a chance-and the Lanthan murder
brought it to him.
He arrived on the scene one after
noon when every newspaper mind In
Chicago was concentrated on deter.
/ mining whether young Lanthan had
killed his mother as we'll as his sweet
heart; and If SO. where he had hid
den the old woman's body. The re-
porters believed that the double mur-
der had taken place, and that one
body had been buried in the basement
OF the Lanthan home. The police
pooh-poohed the idea. Therefore the
star writer's decided to dig up the
floor of the basement and find out
who was the correct guesses.
1t was the morning paper men who
concocted this plan. They kept 1t 70
cret from the representatives Of the
afternoon papers, as they wished to
make 1t breakfast table beat. But
unfortunately they reckoned without
Jimson. That young man worked for
an afternoon paper. and he had been
told to watch the Lanthan house.
And he did It, He never took his
eyes off it. And naturally he saw his
rivals enter the basement one by one
with shovel or two concealed be
meath their raincoats. Whereupon ne
procured a pick AK and offered his
services as an able-bodied laborer.
No one knew him for a newspaper
man and his football muscles looked
so inviting that he was joyfully hailed
within the basement Once inside ne
said nothing but silently began to
WELD his pick. Soon he struck soft
place In the dirt floor, and In little
while the shoveis laid bare the grew
some thing that had once been living
woman. Quick, quiet notes were
taken Of all printable details, some one
gave Unison 80 cents for his trouble.
and the morning newspaper men left
the house of death to have luncheon
and talk over their scoop
When they got downtown some
hours later their city editors dryly
handed them copies of the Even
ing -, containing full account
OF how its reporter had dug up the
body of Mrs. Lanthan. Jimson had
telephoned the whole story into his
office.
There you have It: the young alum
nus, lonely and despised OF men.
turning trick that the Oldest man IN
the business would have given his last
cent to win. II at once gained an
advance in salary and a proper stand
ing among HIS fellows. And for one
rejoiced at this practical denonstra
ton that college education did not
UNFIT men for the struggle OF life"
The speaker paused to let the men
about the tables give cheer for
Jimson and the success he had won.
Then the Missouri man continued