The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-07-24
LIKE TIRED CHILDREN
War Weary Soldiers Of
England Return to
Their Colleges
TO COMPLETE COURSES
Lives Quickenod With
New Concern for Those
Who Fought

N. &. Field iu The New York TIuru).
There was time nt oxford
when the only occasion at which an
undergraduate with his cap and
gown could bs seen Wheeling a
'pram" Wv when he was being
ragged" That time la past. The
war has done that. for there arc
real babies being whcvlrd about in
'prams" and they belong to tho
etudcnts who wheel them. People
In oxford have grown nccuEt omcd
20 the sight Of a pcrumhul1tor
standing before the gates Of Mazda
len or nalliOl or All Souls. but to
tho stranger within the gates Of tho
city the effect IL rather startling.
more so at oxford than II would be
In college At home. for In America
our boys do not wear tho academic
garb In the street. while In English
e"ats Of learning they do. TINT Is
how presumably the Htudout is
forced 10 maintain the dignity OF
his position.
At any rate. oxford can show the
effects OF tho war In pretty much
the same way Hs Manchester or
London or any city or town OF Eng.
land. II has changed In good
many more ways than somo OF tho
masters and dons viii admit. Those
are the ways OF the tides of unrest
In queslions social. economic and
political
on thing, however. upon which
don and student mind agree. ~ that
oxford has become moro demo
cratic II had TO be. klpling may
nave written something about the
coloncls lady and Judy O'Grady
being the Same under their skin,
and thn 4
but oxford didn't or. II Il did. II
drew the line right there. ono point
was certain The colonel and rat
O'Grady were not the samc under
their skin. That hns changed. Tn
dergraduntes OF 1914 have come
back to school--not a few of them
colon"ls and very many of them
majors. onptalna and licutenants-
with vastly different idea of the
worth and the makeup OF the Pat
oGradys OF England.
War IricndshIps.
Queer friendships, queer aasori-
atoms. queer groupings have grown
up as result. There are stories
to sway. tales OF heroism and death
TO tell and bundles or bunkies'
brothers to look up. There is hard
y boy In the university who has
s''N "'''' WA MN ,
H he wasn't In II II was because he
was too young--thero is no other
reeson--thon his brother or his
father was. That history In tho bond
or democracy among the student
body.
Tho writer was interested in find
ing out what the war had done to
the boy as an Individual apart from
what IL had done to him AZ mem.
Dor or a group. In almost every
instance the answer was that hs
was more serious. more anxious to
get at the meaning OF things. more
practical In his choice of subJecta,
and. strangely enough. more eager
90 read and write poetry. one mem
Der OF the university staff ex-
planned It.
we thought at first" he said,
that the boys who went away from
Oxford would not return after the
war. They had seen 30 much, suf
Tered 40 much. learned so much and
30 quickly OF life. Yet those, II
seems are tho very reasons which
brought them back. They wanted
10 get away from tho memories OF
the things that had hampered They
wanted to live In an atmosphere
that was the direct antithcsis OF the
was quiet and slow and mind build
Ing; they were tired OF the life that
was hectic and rapid. and body and
soul destroying. Change from the
war fever. In a word. was tho thing
they craved. Many OF them have
told me that the most beautiful
thing they could think OF after the
horror of battle was the cloistcrcd
quiet OF the moss-grown walls OF
Oxford. When the war ended they
came back to II liko tired children,
Eorgttfulncss IOuud.
mot "A few OF them returned
manned men-armlcss. legless
shellshocked. We thought they
would be problem, that thoy would
DO sensitive and sclf-conscious about
their new handiCAps, They were no
problem. There were so many of
the same kind, you see, that nu
man could feel that he was differ
ent- In that | think, oxford dii
these men the most good. There
were innumerahle instances where
boys that had been kept at hospitals
being treated for shcilshoCk were
sent back to the college on trial, aq
II were, and recovered almos,
miraculously. There was no hos
pitalization here. The lie Of the
university had to SO on In order
TO remain here tho hoy had TO take
gave him no tlmc for torturing
his old place lu the work. That
thought or sclf-pity.
student life as rule is not
associated with great seriousness
and thoughtfulnoss. You get that
IN a number OF men, It is true, but
not In the majority. Rags and horse
play and general high spirits used
to be the order of the day. That
oeems 10 have gone to a great eX.
tent. The men are quIeter more
thoughtful. a good many OF then
turn to the humanistic subjects &c
find there the peace aud stud,
which the war disturbed. but tn,
greater number. It seems. want L
specialize in subjects like agricultur,
Economics, modern history. sociol
ogy. 1t Is a desire, take It, to llnl
nm their war experience with prlc
tical facts OF lire.
.Something else. Before the wa
tho student at oxford took IN,
charm OF the place, the beauty @
it, the tradition of It. as n matte
OF course. These things nevc
meant very much to him. The
were here, he was among them
what use was mere thinking O