Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-04

Ethics" 1t is his attempt to
mould his boys and develop the
most important quality of all.
7 moral character and the spirit.
| When it comes to the triumph
of the spirit he likes to tell the
story of the last minute break
he got in the purchase of the
school property when defeat
seemed a certainty.
That was in 1884. His school
was then situated in the old
/ Walsh place on a hill north OF
Bradley boulevard, which was
later called Whitehall and
burned when occupied by an
other school. In driving about
the neighborhood with Mrs. Ban
field he decided that q gentle
mans farm on Wilson lane, de-
voted largely to the riding horse.
would be the ideal place for his
school.
Gets 3O-Day Option.
When he heard that it was
going on the market he obtained
30-day option to buy it for
$4,000. He arranged a first
trust for 900 and set about
raising the remaining $35. 900 by
getting parents of his pupils to
subscribe to per cent debenture
bonds.
"We had raised about $29, 900
on the debentures by the lastday
of the option" he says. Il had
been offered a substantial profit
on the option and the owner of
the property had a better offer
in the meantime. He wanted to
see the option expire. A friend
of mine who was a director of a
bank had assured me he could
get the rest from his bank on my
note.
I'VE went to the bank at 2
o'clock in the afternoon. The
option was to expire at 8. The
banker looked over the papers
property to be used for a school
with a $4,000 first trust already
against it. He turned the loan
down.
1--WE left the bank. My friend
turned toward the right. That
was the only reason I turned to
the left. 1 saw a sign, H. l..
Rust CO. I walked in and asked
for Mr.. Rust. The young woman
asked me if wanted to see Mr..
Rust, junior or senior. l said
senior had never met the man.
l walked into his office. He said
later that my color was green
and the perspiration was drip
ping from my face. It was 2::20.
Il said, Mr.. Rust. I want to
borrow $4,000 and told him the
story of my option. He said, Mr..
Banfield, I'll be very glad to
lend you $4,000 He called for
his checkbook and wrote a check.
l said, It's got to be cash: the
option calls for cash. He called
his bank and arranged for me to
cash it. I took the check. I'm
not sure that I said. Thank YOU
was in a daze. I went to the
bank, cashed the check and
arrived at the real estate office
with the money just before 3.
"A couple of days later, when
1 had recovered my wits, went
to Mr.. Rust's Office. He wasn't
there. His secretary had the note
ready for my signature. She said,
Mr.. Rust said you would be back
to sign this"
Il met him later and asked him
how it happened that he was so
willing to lend $4,000 to a man
he had never seen before. He
said. I play golf at the Chevy
Chase Club frequently with DR.
William Berry Marbury. He was
a boy at your school and has
often told me what a good school
it is
Paid Back in Month.
The rest of the debenture was
subscribed to in the next few
weeks. and Mr.. Rust was paid
back in the next month.
Landon School has grown and
prospered since. Milo Perkins,
whose two Landon School sons
were killed in accidents, one On
train, the other in plane.
made stable contribution to
the construction of gymnasium.
There is modern low building
for the middle school, and an
administration building. All the
buildings that were on the place
are in use. The barn houses the
school buses. The comfortable
residence is used for the 40
boarding pupils. One of the
masters. a bachelor, lives with
them.
One remarkable thing about
the Banfield story is that in his