Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-01-23

forth in the daily reports
About this time Woodrow was read
ing Cooper's sea tales and Marryats
yarns, and, though he had never seen
a ship In his life-never even seen the
ocean-he knew every particular of
every class of type Of sailing ship,
the name. place and use of every spar,
sheet and shroud
At Columbia Woodrow, as he began
now to be commonly called, attended
the school kept by Mr.. Charles Hey.
ward Barnwell. But his real education
continued to be conducted by his ia.
Their.
He was now approaching the age for
college. In spite of his late start at
books, he had rapidly qualified in the
ordinary preparatory studies, and at
seventeen, in the autumn of 1873. he
was sent off to college.
Davidson college. in famous Mecklen-
burg county, N. G., Is a prosperous in
stitution now and forty years ago was
a stanch school. The fact that DR..
Wilson had been approached in connec-
ton with its presidency may have had
something to do with it's choice for
Woodrow.
Living was rather primitive; the boys
kept their own rooms, filed their own
lamps. for they had only Kerosene; cut
up and brought in the wood for their
own fires and carried in water from
the pump outside Wilson's room was
on the ground floor. luckily; it was
rather job to carry arm loads of wood
to remote rooms on the upper floors.
There still fingers at Davidson the ira
dition that Tom Wilson established
record in the minimum time necessary
to dress. cross the campus and be In
his seat when the before breakfast
chapel bell stopped ringing
instruction at Davidson was rather
better than was common at small col
leges in those days Still. It can hard
ly be said that Wilson received much
intellectual impulse here, although he
probably added something to his stock
Of knowledge. His college mates in
cluded n score or more who afterward
made regulations In the world, per-
haps the most eminent being X. b.
Glenn, who became governor Of North
Carolina His classmates remember
nothing unusual about Wilson when
at Davidson college. They say he had
an open. engaging face, pleasant man
ners and was very generally liked.
They agree that he was not very much
Interested in games. which then con-
sisted of baseball and shiny, How
ever, he played baseball for awhile
on the college nine and had the pleas
ure Of hearing the captain say. will
son, you would make dandy player
If you were not so d lazy" He
was great walker and Mt times
seemed to like to be alone. walking
the country about apparently wrap
ped In thought. Still he was. as n
rule, n very social animal and a great
talker In congenial company. Wnen
the fellows repaired to his room they
would generally find him curled up on
the bed with book In his hand, read
ing, He Joined one OF the literary
societies, the "Eumenean."
Once year. in February, n holiday
was given to every student on which
he was to plant n tree. so. whether
Wilson did 1t to get the holiday or
because he wanted to do something
useful he planted an elm on the
campus ut Davidson. and 1t stands
there strong and upright today,
Early in the year small incident
In class fastened upon him nick
name. The rhetoric class being en-.
gagged upon that well known part Of
Trench's English, Past and Present"
which sets forth (much after the man
ner Of the Wanda In the opening
chapter In "1vanhoe'D how good Saxon
beasts take Norman names when they
come to the table, the professor asked
Woodrow, What Is calves meat when
served ut table," and received the
hasty reply. "Muttonw Wilson was
Monsieur Mouton" for the rest Of the
year.
Indeed. he did not finish the year. fot
he fell i'll just before the examinations
came on and was taken to his home
then at Wilmington y. c., to the pas
torate of the Presbyterian church ia
which city DR. Wilson had Just been
called
Woodrow remained In his fathers
house at Wilmington throughout the
year 1919, 1t had been determined
that he should not return to Davidson
but should go to Princeton. and he
spent the year tutoring in Greek and
few other studies.
In truth, there was n good deal OF
play done that year too. The boy had
grown too fast and was hardly tit foi
the rigid schedule of college life. Sc
he took II easy" Wilmington was an
old and historic place, 1t was sea
port; for the first time Woodrow saw
a ship and caught the smell OF the sea
Talk was still full of the adventures OF
the blockade runners Of the war lately
ended, Wilmington having been in
vorite port of the desperate men and