University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1912-01-08

According to stories told by his
school fellows and by persons who
knew him during this constructive
period and later on in his life, Eu-
gene Field must have paled the ira
ditiOnal Peck's Bad Boy into a mod
el Sunday School lad of enviable rep
utatiOn by the pranks he played
while a student at the University of
Missouri. Every incident which can
be brought to light in the life of a
man to whom the world has accord
ed fame is eagerly seized upon by
posterity and from the sum of them
an idea of the man himself is
| formed.
! 1t seems a psychological necessity
that eccentricity shall go hand in
| hand with genius, and Field had a
gOOdly share of each, although the
! former apparently predOminated for
the first two decades of his life A
| Ihappy-gO-lucky. lively chap he was.
full of mischief and with a mind
original enough to plan new forms
of it for every minute Of the day. A
strong personality. he led by right
of power. but he could hatch up
more trouble in a single brilliant
moment than he could get out of in
many years.
Among other peculiarities he had
vided himself and his companions
with them quite frequently. He
lived for time while in Columbia
on West broadway, in house sit
| uated where the pOst-Ofiice now
stands. Across the street lived the
Royals. family with which Field
was on very friendly and intimate
! terms. Especially was he favOrite
of Mrs. Royal and he in turn was
devoted to her. From the porch of
her home she could see the windows
of Genes" room Everybody called
him GeneI and often could not help
witnessing the preparation of his
convivia'ities. Feeling it her duty
with him on the subject one day.
He seemed quite amended to reason,
confessed the error of his ways,
said he knew it was unwise for him
self and wrong to influence his COM
rades. finally promising to turn over
a new leaf.
Mrs. Royal flattered herself that
she had made quite an impression
on him. Not many evenings later,
however. while sitting on her porch.
she chanced to look up at the win
dows across the way. Shadows on
the curtain told the story: some
more milk-shakes We're being made.
But this was not all Before long
she say Field come out of the
house with napkin-cOvered tray.
walk across the street and into her
ward. Under the napkin were the
milk-shakes. He was taking his
turn at converting her.
Tales innumerable of his pranks
could be related. He asked
young woman friend to go with him
to dance one time and she consent
ed. 1t was wintry night with the
snow ankle deep and the mercury
registering several degrees below.
The girl expected of course that he
come in carriage-but not he.
When o'clock arrived along came
Eugene on foot with his pumps un-
rer his arm and no sign of con-
veyance. 1t was not that he did not
have the wherewithal to get one. but
he thought it was good joke on the
girl and he wanted to see if she
would go. She went that time but
she never went again.
At another time he was the ring
leader of crowd of boys who stole
the presidents horse one night.
painted it and turned it loose in the
yard. The next morning the head
of the University found strange
horse in his yard, his own nowhere
in sight.
Everybody in town knew Eugene
Field and he knew everybody. He
did countless numbers of things no
one else would have dared to do,
but people said. Its just Gene
Field" and thought no more about
it. He had a wonderfully persuasive
way about him. as the following
story will show. 1t was one of his
chief assets in newspaper work and
an important element which went to
make up his success. He was fond
of giving fine dinners with expensive
wines on the menu. so quite fire.
quently he ran up bill of consid-
cradle size. At one place in Kansas