about its umbrageous walks , imbibed
the spirit of its historic associations ,
the then mushroom city of Lincoln
and the modern architecture of the
University building standing in the
desolation of a treeless campus , pre
sented neither an impressive nor an
inspiring sight. Ninety students
registered on the opening day , and
the attendance soon increased to one
hundred and thirty , which was the
maximum during the year ; of these
but one was admitted to the junior
class , two to the sophomore , five to the
freshman , twelve to what was desig
nated as the University course , while
the rest were placed in the Latin or
preparatory school , ninety-two being
in the first and eighteen in the second
year. In. this department the curric
ulum of the first year consisted of
introductory Latin to Caesar's Com
mentaries , elementary algebra , natur
al philosophy , English analysis , physi
cal geography and physiology ; the
second year Cicero's Orations to Vir
gil , algebra , Greek or German , out
lines of history and /oology. The
regular college course was similar to
that of other institutions of like char
acter , though somewhat abbreviated
by reason of the small teaching force.
Most of the students were residents
of Lincoln , but there were a number
from adjoining counties , six coming
from ' ' Old Otoe , ' ' four young men.
Paul Morton , Wallace Stevenson , Ed
ward P. Holmes and Steptoe Kinney ,
and two ' ' co-eds , ' ' Helen Utloy and
Ellen McNamara.
The machinery of school work had
scarcely been put in motion before
the students organised a literary so
ciety with the Hellenic name "Pa"
ladian. ' ' Shortly thereafter ap
peared the college paper appropriately
christened ' ' Hesperian Student.
The first election of officers held by
the Palladians was a most exciting
affair. The rivalry of the different
candidates who desired the honor of
becoming president was intense , and
no professional politicians ever mani
fested more interest in the result of a
national election than did these young
men and ' 'co-eds' ' over the choosing of
the first presiding officer of the new
ly-organized society , and it was aftei
midnight of the evening on which
the election was held before the re
sult was determined , and , T. Stuart
Dale gracefully thanked the members
for ' ' the unexpected honor. ' '
There were some famous debates in
those early days in which not only the
students but state officials , legislators
and prominent lawyers of Lincoln
often participated. I remember two
especially interesting events of this
kind ; one on the question of protec
tion versus free trade , and the other
over the annexation of Cuba. All
sorts of subjects were selected for de
bate and the "boy orator" being
much in evidence had no hesitancy in
tackling and solving to his entire sat
isfaction at least , the most abstruse
problems of political economy , philos
ophy or morals , neither was he de
terred from taking up the controversial
gauntlet when thrown into the foren
sic arena by judges , lawyers or mem
bers of the faculty.
There were neither dormitories nor
mess tables in these adolescent days
of university life. Paul Morton ,
Wallace Stevenson and myself boardet
with Elder Young who lived in Kin
ney's O street addition ; 'twas a half
mile or more to school and the inter
veiling prairie was unoccupied by
either fence or building ; boy-like we
- . ,
-SRI iruiggg.
used to put off the time for setting
out for morning chapel to the very
ast moment , then starting on the
jump wo raced over the treeless plain ,
icross the"disputed eighty , " climbed
; ho five-board fence around the cam-
Mis , landing in the chapel on time ,
Breathless , but exhilerated by the
morning's run. Towards spring , how
ever , for some cause which is not now
recalled , we moved into town and
: ook up our quarters with a family
who lived near the Clifton Hotel.
Here the three of us occupied one
room , the two younger boys sleeping
together. The eldest of the trio had
just begun the cultivation of a mus
tache , and to hasten the day when he
could proudly sport a hirsute cover
ing on his upper lip , shaved fre
quently ; you may believe that he was
the envy of his younger room-mates
who regarded the possession of
" mustachios" as the s me qua non of
manly adornment ; but if the keen-
udged raiser was as yet not required
upon his face , one of the boys found
it invaluable as an instrument for re
moving troublesome corns , and now
after more than a quarter of a cen
tury , and at the safe distance of two
thousand miles ; tenders his apology
and thanks for its use , ' ' borrowed dur
ing its owner's absence. " Bathing
facilities in. those days were of the
most primitive character ; a wash
bowl of water , soap , sponge and a
coarse towel were the means usually
employed. Our bedroom was directly
over the kitchen and the pipe from the
cooking stove had originally come up
through the floor , but this had been
changed so that it entered the chim
ney below , leaving an uncovered hole
directly over the stove. One Sunday
morning , the oldest of us having
just finished washing his feet , left
the bowl for a moment on the floor
dangerously near the aforesaid aper
ture. We had been a little indolent
that particular morning and only the
shrill voice of our landlady calling us
to breakfast finally caused us to get
a "move on ; " whether it was in the
struggle as to who should first be
tumbled put of bed , or whether we
were cultivating an appetite for the
matutinal meal , which was being
kept hot iipon the stove , by a rapid
firing of pillows at each others heads ,
is not now remembered , at any rate
someone's foot struck the edge of the
wash bowl and its contents were
upset into the stovepipe hole , and
following the natural laws of gravi
tation , descended upon the hot kitchen
stove , flooding the victuals with
water from which had just emerged
a pair of more or less odoriferous pedal
extremities. Result : A furious land
lady , a ruined breakfast , a house
filled with the odor of steamed food
and three young men whose appetites
were temporarily , abated.
These three young men , as I have
said , were "Otoes , " two were native
Nebraskans , and all were sons of early
settlers in the Trans-Missouri region.
The father of one had been the pioneer
neer miller of Nebraska City , of an
other a leading lawyer and jurist of
the early days , of the third for many
years editor of the first uewspapei
published in Nebraska , pioneer arbori
culturist of ' ' . '
, originator Arbor Day.
From no class of citizens did the Uui
versity receive more hearty sup
port and encouragement thai
from the pioneer settlers. Its
inception and early establishment was
due to the persistent and determined
efforts of those men who had come to
STebraska during its territorial days ,
whose children were born and nurtured
within its confines. Through the press
and in legislative halls , by pen and
voice they iirged the speedy endow
ment , organization and opening of the
.nstitution. From the impetus given
.t by these far seeing men and the
thoroughness with which its intellect
ual foundations were laid by the little
jand of educators who composed its
first faculty , much of the success
which has marked its career is due.
[ n the eloquent language of a pioneer
lawyer and law maker of Nebraska ,
the Hon. A. J. Poppleton , taken from
an address delivered at the fifth an
nual commencement of the University
is portrayed the sentiments with
which these up-builders of the com
monwealth regarded the institution ;
' ' Let then the University go forward
in the noble career to which every
voice of the future calls it. * * *
Let it do its appointed work faith
fully , unflinchingly , completely , and
we at least of the citizens of the state
who early cast our lot within its bor 1
ders and have ever looked forward to
the everlasting repose beneath its sur
face , may descend to our final rest as
sured that however feebly and im
perfectly our hands have helped in
some measure to rear a common
wealth under whose safe shelter ages
hence shall live in peace amid virtue
a prosperous and happy people. ' '
Of the individual careers of
most of the students of the
time of which I am writing ,
I am not familiar. Long absence
from my native state has made
me a stranger to their records ; how
ever I hear of many of those charter
pupils who have become more or less
prominent in the respective voca
tions which they adopted after
leaving the University. Some have
become legislators and judges ;
Dale , the first president of the Pal
ladians , has for many years been the
efficient secretary of the state board
of University regents ; ho and Snell
were the first two graduates , the lat
ter is now on the bench of one of the
northwestern states. Holmes is judge
of the judicial district of Nebraska ,
Stevenson has occupied the position of
county. clerk of Otoe county , Paul
Morton is second vice-president of
the Atchison , Topeka & Santa Fo Rail
road Co , and at the head of the traffic
department of that great transcontinental
tinental line. In this , which he aptly
terms the' ' of ' '
ly Age Transportation ,
he has attained a foremost position in
the ranks of the brainy men who man
age the vast railway interests of this
country.
Others who were schoolmates in
those days of the early ' 70's , have
achieved more or less success in the
vocations which the'y have since fol
lowed. The prqhpetic words quoted
from the University address , deliver
ed on that memorable evening thirty
years ago , have been verified ; mem
bers of the alumni , which now
numbers more than fourteen hundred ,
have left their' ' impress for the good ,
the true , and the ennobling on every
school district of every county , ' ' and
the precious advantages of the Uni
versity have been improved , until
the ' ' fruits of this system of educa
tion not only cluster richly in the
legislative , judicial , and executive de
partments' ' of this and other common
wealths , but also along the busy thor
oughfares of trade and commerce.
STEPTOE KINNEY. -
San Diego , Gal. , Oct. 1 , 1901.