1912–13 Volume 37 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

THE SCROLL 549a wondrous change. In those primitive days there was not even one bath tub. Indeed,I doubt if there was one in all Oxford township. The old-fashioned wash tubsufficed in winter, and in summer the bright waters of the Tallawanda made whoeverwould clean and cool.The students who did not room in these two houses of refuge found accommodationsin the village, where all who did not board themselves^"batching" as it wascalled—secured their daily bread. I think I tried most of the village rooms, and allthe boarding places, in a vain search for the flesh pots of Egypt which many of us leftbehind in the paternal home. Those who were "working their way through""batched" all the time and others of us resorted to this style of living when shortof pocket money in order to replenish the store thereof. As I remember conditionsthere were no sanitary provisions anywhere. Nobody had heard of the multitude ofgerms that go about nowadays devouring and terrifying. The old dormitories werea sight to see when one glanced over the exterior of those venerable structures, yetwe remained healthy and strong and ready, as the then near future proved, for war.Miami had in that day seven professors and two or three tutors. These were menof power, able, wise, judicious; and they fitted into the conditions and wrought agreat and good work. Their salaries were pitiably small; they had none of what,nowadays, we call "style," but they were devoted, body, mind, and spirit to theirwork which was not the mere drilling of youth in the contests of books, but was themaking of men. The courage, ability, patience and perseverance and loving kindnesswith which they prosecuted this work, year after year, under all sorts of trial anddiscouragements, seems to me wonderful. There certainly never were any men superioras trainers of youth to the members of that little faculty, and I know not wherewe would look for their equals.The spirit that ruled over and swept through Miami, away back in the fifties ofthe last century is indescribable. It was not belligerent nor contentious. Therewas courtesy and genuine kindness that showed itself in words and deeds on everyhand. There was no malice or uncharitableness nor any spirit of envy and hatred. Butthere was that strong spirit of personal independence, that devotion to what thestudent mind received and accepted as principle, that spirit, in fine, which carried thenation North and South through the terriffic trails of four years' fratricidal war.This spirit showed in the literary societies, in the birth and growth of Greek-letterfraternities—showed on the playground and in the intercourse of the students withthe people of Oxford and the neighboring towns. Some students displayed this spiritwith more energy than others, but it was part of the mental make-up of each andevery one and to it most of us owe whatever of success in life we have WOILThere were three literary societies in Miami in 1854. The Erodelphian—in myday the strongest and numbered among its members the ablest of the student body;the Miami Union—a good, hard-working body that included many that have sincebecome noted men; the Eccrittean, an offshoot of the Miami Union, born of thespirit of independence that I have endeavored to describe above. The interest takenin these societies was'intense, the work done in essay writing and debating of thevery highest value. To be elected to represent your society at the junior fall exhibition,either as poet or orator, was the highest and most coveted of all college honors.There were four Greek Letter Fraternities in Miami when I entered, the BetaTheta Pi and the Phi Delta Theta, organized there and thence founding many chaptersin colleges and universities all over the United States. The Alpha Delta Phi,a highly respectable and exclusive fraternity, founded at some eastern institution,and the Delta Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity of great strength and notable achievement,founded at Yale University.A fifth fraternity, the Sigma Chi, which has become a national body of greatstrength and notable activity, sprang to life during my college days, and as Hon.Whitelaw Reid had much to do with this fraternity's coming into existence, itsbirth is a part of this story. These fraternities were secret with a vengeance inthose days. No one knew where they held their meetings or what they did in thesame. They seldom met twice consecutively in the same place. They had no halls,or chapter houses or any of the attractions of this luxurious day. They got togetherhere and there in solemn and mysterious manner, I have seen art initiation conductedwith due solemnity in the rear room of a negro meeting house, the processionwinding through dark and muddy alleys to reach the rendezvous.The Betas were aggressive in the every-day life of the college, not to say arrogantfor they were numerically strong, numbered among them certain able men, severalof whom were Southerners. The Phis, as I remember them, were aristocratic at leastin appearance. They were the best dressed men in the institution and were genial andcompanionable in their ways, but were not as forcible as some of the others. TheAlphas were good, if not pious. They graduated certain excellent men who havesince become noted in life. Lastly the Deltas went in for men who were good inclass room, and especially for those who were strong in the work of the literaryhalls. Whitelaw Reid was, as he deserved to be, the head of this fraternity.There something over two hundred students gathered and worked under theconditions above outlined. They were the sons of the wealthy and the sons of thepoor. Some were working out their own educational salvation under great difficulties,.However, in democratic Miami there were no distinctions. Every tub stood on itsown bottom and merit was recognized and esteemed wherever and whenever shown.