Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-20
TEMPLE ~ MANY DARK DAYS BEFORE
SUCCESS CAME TO CROWN ITS EFFORTS
COntCeH Clues Re-
sumo of Work Done in
Concluding article of
Series Telling of the Uni
uersity
By DIR. RUSSELL H.. CONwELL
CHAPTER VIII

ing back they appear now TO be a nee
eessary background or artistic contrast.
1t was good for us hat We bore the
burden in our youth" Faith in the
merit of the work and in the ultimate
triumph Of good kept the workers
from being utterly cast down. There
was a need of money-a crying, des.
perate need. And while we cannot
Emphasize too much that education
which Is worth more than a great for.
June, yet while food and attire must
be purchased. and a shelter be pro.
yided for our little ones, We must not
despise money. Many thousands Of
Temples best scholars were compelled
at first to study some branch which
would help them 10 the necessities of
life. The practical business courses
were a necessary preliminary TO the
entrance into the so.called higher
Courses. 1t was dis~courasing to have
so many of our students limit their
education to the money standard. An
advance OF fifteen or twenty dollars
p week would often lead them to
give up their ambition for the higher
places and the accompanying broad
culture.
But the question of money was
always in our own thoughts, and we
could not blame them. The college
was continually ove%rrunning it's nor
NAL income and special gifts were
d~readfully uncertain. The opening of
the full college course III arts n
sciences was a fair Illustration of the
dangerous risks the institution had 20
assume III order to advance. The full
college grade opened with one stu.
dent, for whom there was, of course,
provided the same complete faculty
as would be necessary for a class of
one hundred. The expense was alarm
ing, and it required an almost reck.
less ~stubbornneSs to go on with 50 lit.
tie tuition and no other income. Go
ang in debt every day at such a rate
was a disheartening experience itself.
But the worst experience was the un.
rest in the faculty. who considered the
Venture a ridiculous failure, and felt
that its fall would injure their stand
ing. But. necessity is the mother of
invention and it is now clear that
we would never have studied so close
~ the needs of h people and would
have gone on much less effectively if
we a begun with ample funds and
large buildings. The tree grows best
NV cAdlpbS llStll IIlOSl lullN 10 tine
conditions Of it's environment. The
college was compelled to consider
carefully the dispositions and hin
urances OF the prospective students and
go to them. in order to help them.
The most of them could not buy cost
ly clothing. nor join expensive clubs.
Their pride would hinder their atten.
lance on classes with the rich. Their
leisure hours were few and their reci-
tations must be adjusted to their labor
conditions. But two or three students
from other more distant institutions
We're found to Join the one lone stu
dent and then the class went on with
the yegular course copied from the
curriculum of Princeton and Yale.
Elne great expense above the low tut
ton brought the friends of the college
into frequent and anxious consulta.
iations. The attempt was made 70
raise a few scholarships of one thou
sand ollar each. But while several
gifts were made by personal friends
or the management. the donors re.
,sidered 1t any honor TO subscribe for
FUSED to- have it known that they con.
"a Scholarship"
The idea was laughed az as n fonlish
and egotistical assumption of college
names. While now eager students
apply years in advance for the scholar
SHIPS and often accompany their ap.
plications with a petition signed by
legislators. judges n noted men vet
then the giving OF the first full col
aege diplomas was to the public a bur-
lesque. But it was heart-breaking to
the workers and led many TO forsake
IA labor. But here and there when
the needs seemed beyond supply some
unknown woman Or personal friend
would send in a check or leave the
UsnIIA0a n Gift in lfa "a. hA., ,-.1N usI -
Were no large donations in the first
thirty years of the college life. But
abe most crushing experience in all
Nhose years of work was in connec.
zion with expected gifts which the col
Iege never secured. One liberal citi-
zen who had endowed another col.
slege promised that he would leave
Temple SIS 900 in his will and consult
ed often with the president OF the col
lege about the form Of the bequest.
sBu when he died it was found that
rhe will containing the donation to
Temple had been ready for the donors
signature for some time but accident.
ally had not been signed.
In another case the head of the great
city street car system promised the
president and confirmed the generous
offer before a committee Of the trus-
tees, who called at his Broad street
home, that he would give $25, 900 with
in q few days. He told the president
shortly before his death that he had
arranged TO send his check at the
tdeclaration of the next annual divi.
sdend of the trolley corporation. He
died suddenly and the widow and heirs
tdeclined to recognize or pay the do
nation out of the many millions he left
ito them. A more sad heart could
.fscarcely be found in the city than the
tcollege presidents heart when that
loss was finally apparent. He had
Borrowed money for necessities on the
strength of that promise and poor men
tafterward gave a months wages each
to meet the obligation.
In another case, wnen the dishon-
xesty or weakness of a trusted friend
ssof the college had brought the corpora
! ton into a great loss more than $50,
fO00D a great relief was felt in a
tuottce from an old lady that she was
making a gift TO the college or $40 900
I'm her will n she wished the college
4to know about the mscter, so as to be
2ours TO claim it" at her death. She
died a few months later, then eighty
Three years old. but had by a codical
|xiven her whole estate to the church
OF which h was a communicate.
Again an old lady who inherited large
Tracts of Pennsylvania coal lands
fpromised a gift of $4,000 when the
" Iands should be sold. But a flaw was
found in the title which was not cor.
fected until after her death, Once
8ore a wealthy old gentleman pro-
ned 20 buy and give the Baptist Tenn
Tor a chapel for the university and
x...l ~, - -. g.. ~