The Columbia evening Missourian., 1922-05-03
Wise Teacher Sparrow Tells
of the Significance of Columns
BY C.. ". Marsaiek

: Grafton. But, having taught many be
fore, she well understood young sparrows
and answered, Come e,hen, let u
swing in the shade on the second column
where the ivy clusters thickest; and
shall tell you the story Of the column
and the ivy
!. She flew to a strong arm of the ivy
and the five son-sparrows fluttered up I,
her side. As the Foster Mother begaI
to speak, the breeze ceased to whisper
and listened; the ivy hushed its rustln,
leaves and listened; and the statel,
columns leaned to hear.
"Now a long time ago." she began
''men came here and established the Uni
versily. They we're uprighteous men
leaders in thought, and had at heart the
best interests Of mankind. They had
ideals, and although they knew that in
the lifetime of a man, ideals are moi
achieved, they established this University
with the hope that, through education
mankind would progress toward the reali.
zation of its Ideals"
1T is true" murmured the Breeze, ''for
|. myself, carried the good news over
all the land
"And,' continued the Foster Mother,
''hte Good Spirit" which is everywhere,
blessed the venture and helped to make
the University successful"
''Pooh!" disgustedly exclaimed the
third column, which was quite bare Of
ivy, success exists only in the gathering
of money; money is power and makes
men great and successful"
That is true" agreed the sixth col.
umn. which too. was almost bare Of ivy.
'onc must get all tlllt he can of worldly
goods and pleasures for himself; other
wise. how could he have that which
makes happiness?" But the other
columns murmured that this could not be
true; and the Ivy was glad that it did
not cling TO things of such repulsive ma
lures.
AT that time" continued the Foster
Mc;hcr to the son-sparrOws, who had
listened, as children do, in big-eycd awe
to the voices of opinion, There was only
one building on the campus, and these
columns mark the site where it stood.
Across the front of the building was a
wide portico with six massive columns
supporting the roof
''Oh, | know" said the bright SON.
sparrow, ''these are the old columns;
and he gazed at them in wonder at their
age.
Yes, son, these are the columns; but
you are thinking ahead of my story; list
Ell to me patiently. Now, all went well
with the University for many years.
However, there were those who. came to
the University with selfishness in their
hearts, and there were many who left
without knowing anything about the wei
fare of mankind or of bro,her-love. This
was because the Evil Spirit was here too.
as well as the Good Spirit, just as they
are every place where men live; and the
Evil Spirit makes men successful
"UnsuccessfulI' echoed son-spar.
row. Il thought that man had only to
be yiriuous, and success would attend
him.
THIRD COLUMN EVIL
''Oh. no, my son, that is a false philoso-
ply of life. The Evil Spirit is mighty
and strong, and often overcomes the
Good Spirit
We'll spoken" gleefully said the bare
third column, Il admire things that are
strong like me. regardless of their other
characteristics. The Ivy shuddered and
clung closer where it grew.
'And it happened" went on the Foster
Mother, ignoring the columns remark,
that one night the University building
was destroyed by fire, and the work Of
the Good Spirit was partly undone. Moth
ing was left but these six columns.
''The undaunted men of the Univer-
sity, then, assisted by the Good Spirit.
erected larger and better University
buildings. And in order that the true
purposes Of the University should not
be forgotten, they stood the six columns
on the site Of the old building, there to
ever remind the students that the Good
Spirit should prevail.
But what the founders Of the Univer-
sity did not know" she continued, was
that the Good Spirit, when the Univer-
sity was founded, had claimed the
columns as her own; because they were
noble and symbolic Of herself. Later on,
hoping to immortalize the purpose of the
University, the Good Spirit decreed that
the columns were symbolic Of the name
Tigers which has six letters; and in
honor of the founders. that the first let
ter stood for Tolerance; the second for
intellectually; the third for Generosity;
the fourth for Endurance; the fifth for
Regard; and the sixth for Sympathy.
Upon learning of this, the Evil Spirit was
more jealous than ever of its arch-ene-
my; and when the building was destroy.
ed, the Evil Spirit seized two Of the
columns. and decreed that they should
be symbols Of two evil forces, Greed and
Selfishness, instead of Generosity and
Sympathy.
"And so, my dear sons, although the
six columns are still symbolic Of the
name Tigers the Evil Spirit is present
as we'll as the Good Spirit; both are ev-
ery place where man goes.