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BT CHESTER A. MOORES.
PROMPTED br current acltatlon
raliut OrNk Letter Xraternltlea
which rcntiy found cxpraulon In
th thrtend ilrmlniUon of colln
fraternities by the WKconrin Stat
Ijeailatare. the faculty authorities
Into fraternity life here and their In
quiries have eerred to throw many In
tertln; sidelights upon the situation
as It Is at the fnlvertlty of Oregon.
In short, the administration Is hear
tily In sympathy with the fraternity
system aa It Is exemplified In the local
chapters. Their relations with on an
other hare been co-operative as well as
harmonious, and the faculty members
positively assert that they have re
calved material and almost Indispen
sable aid from the fraternity upper
classmen In enforcing; standards of
scholarship and morality.
The success of the system at Ore iron
la graphically attested also by th
rapid development. In recent yars. of
the fraternity and club home Idea.
There are now at the University of
Oregon, exclusive of the law and medl
eal fraternities In the City of Portland.
M men's and women's fraternal or
ganisations with national affiliation.
Th charter for all but three of these
organisations Gamma Zeta of Fljrma
Ku (100). Gamma Alpha of Kappa Sig
ma (ISM) and Nn of Gamma Phi Beta
(Dacembar 101) bays been granted
within th past two yeara. The other
fraternities mentioned In the order of
their Installation are: Chi Omega. Kap
pa Alpha Theta. Acacia. Beta Theta PI.
Alpha Tau Omega. Delta Delta Delta
and Sigma ChJ.
Aside from these there are seven lo
cal organizations of a similar nature.
The popular notion In thfs state that
" the men's fraternities at Eugene are
"hooting houses erected upon public
property" la erroneous In both Its prem
ises. None of these club houses Is
built upon property of a publlo nature.
Thair entire property holdings are own
ad lo whole or in part by the local
chapters or els held by leas from
private capitalists and the taxes and
upkeep are In soma cases maintained by
resident club members.
Accordingly the club home system
represents a considerable saving to the
atata In the matters of dormitory con
struction and maintenance, for without
the chapter house arrangement, the
tata would be under obligation to pro
vide adequate living quarters for tha
out or town students.
Brief Inspection of campus life at
Oregon will, no doubt, readily convince
the skeptic that fraternity houses are
not necessarily "hooting houses. Presi
dent Bchurman. of Cornell, defines a
chapter house aa "an Ideal residential
ThaU." But th critical observer Judging
from without, la too apt to overlook
this feature and dwell upon any weak
Besses he may discover.
It must be admitted that many frat"
men have, by their habits of living,
merited th sweeping assertion that th
fraternity man Is a worldly sort of fel
low. But the spirit of genial democ
racy which has always prevailed In
student life here, combined with tha
fact that Eugene Is a closed and dry
town, offers a dear refutation of this
general belief.
It Is a fact that all ef tha chapters
bar liquors from their premises. Some
of them have even resorted to fines and
military discipline for any member who
comes borne in an Intoxicated condition.
Card playing, as the Instigator of
wastefulness and dissension, has like
wise been placed under the ban by cer
tain of tha Oregon fraternities.
These regulations have In many In
stances been Instituted and maintained
by alumni or faculty adv'sors who are
outside the active chapter. Frequent
visits from these alumni and from
parents and Interested friends have
served aa a powerful uplift In tha gen
eral tona of tha house discipline.
Chapter rfe at Oregon offers an ad.
mlrable substitute for the relations of
tha family life. In this big family,
where SO or IS boys are thrown in in
timate relation with one another, the
I older members exercise parental care
ieanA it It would surprise tha average
a .
-V-
cltlxen to tearn of the scope of their
prerogatives. It Is with a spirit of mu
tual helpfulness that they extend their
counsel and Issue their words of warn
ing. .
Cpperclassmn realise that the Ufa of
their chapter depends upon the stand
ards which they maintain and that tha
entire membership Is to be Judged by
the weakest and worst that there Is In
It. And so the fraternity chapter re
solves Itself Into a school of human na
ture and Into a machine shop for character-building.
It becomes the duty of the upper
classmen to point out. In a spirit of
friendliness, mind you. the faults and
weaknesses of the verdant underclass
men, for every disposition should be
made to conform.
The old timers here In Eugene still
tell of the evolution undergone by Big
Jim Jefferds with his 110 pounds of
crudity and awarkedness. every ounce
of which was. however, tempered with
good nature. Tie lived at ftclo and he
had come to college fresh from the log
ging camp.
Jim "fed his face" with a longshora
man's scoop, buttered his bread In the
palm of his left hand, sang and
whistled through coffee and soup and
Invariably had a bard time in engineer
ing his lettuce salad. His socks were
of the menagerie variety stamped In
variegated rainbow tints, his three
neckties were very ditto and his Bus-day-go-to-meetln
"pants' were at outs
with the hug-me-tlght coat which he
seldom wore.
True. J Ira was seldom Invited to Sun
day night suppers at the sorority
houses.
But "the bunch" moulded him Into
their groove and today Big Jim Jefferds
la pointed to as a typical college man.
see
Then there have been the bullies.
village "cut-ups" who have Just blown
In from th plains determined to revo
lution lie tha whole college with their
Tat-er-bock" tactics. When moral sua
sion does not work with thea fellows,
stronger methods are resorted to. If
they Insist upon coming home "stewed
en souse" night after night. It la bub
ble six times In the tub for them; or
we rmM,m
lair oHt&xz,' y ji liij o wis'ii
i
We Women and Our Darlings
"J VERT woman on earth has got to
have a darling; and some of us
have two or three.
Tou may have gathered the Idea,
from your general observation, that
this la not the caaa. Tou may have de
cided that you have met woman after
woman who hasn't a darling on tha faoa
of tha earth, and doean't want one. Tou
may even have heard certain women
declare that they wouldn't be bothered
with darlings, they being arranged
solely and only for the amusement of
the light-minded.
But there Isn't a word of truth In
this not a single word. And It you
will Just keep your eyes open, at some
quiet and unguarded moment you will
see every on of these alleged darling-
less creatures slipping away from tha
observation of tha general public to
that quiet corner where ahe kaa ber
darling hidden away, hug It up In her
arms and simply love It almost to death.
Thl hidden darling varies In char
acter.
Sometimes It la Juat a memory of
some one who has gone away to wear a
starry crown.
Sometimes It Is not even that, but
simply a slain hope. Sometimes It Is
a desire for tha right to breathe and
live as other people do. Sometimes
ob, aomeUmea t la aa Ideal at seme
THE SUITDAY OHEGCTSIAN, POIilXAND, JATTPA11Y 22, 1911.
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they may take a midnight dip In the
mill race back of the house.
These methods are seldom used now
adays, for more dignified means have
been found to be more effective. Un
ruly neactlonarles are now made to step
out on the carpet and face the grilling
censure of an upperclassmen's meeting.
If they can not be made to respect lira
badge of the order which they are rrear
Ing over their hearts, diplomacy and
strategy are the only remaining foils
with which to place them In the right.
One common practice Is to ignore the
culprit until he gives evidence of his
regret. After days of allent solitude
he Is apt to "take the hunch" and sud
denly awaken to his folly.
When a man Is down In his studies
one who probably Isn't in the least like
It. And oftea and often It Is simply
tha thought of what tha woman herself
used to be like when she was a girl.
Then again you'll find a woman who
has a dog for a darling. She may have
a baby or two also, but that Is an un
important detail. She does so adore
a l St v. m ... St- . .. ,i . .i.t&r-- f- - rrm3rnV7 , f h - , v A
Bingo! "Does 'lm 'ove his own muzzy,
ittla petr
Sometimes, too, a woman's darling Is
Just herself. She says to herself.
"Tou darling Me, I love you dearly, and
now I'll hurry up and corral everything
you want on this wide, green earth, and
everybody will help me, I am sure be
cause you are so sweet and lovely, and
besides that, you are Mel"
And so the woman goes out and
gathers In whatever this darling of
hers wants, and she doesn't stand on
ceremony about It, either, npr say,
"Pleaae," nor "Thank you." nor "Tou
first," nor anything like that. She sees
what aha wants and simply grabs It. It
Isu't selfish, of course. Dear me, no.
She la simply getting what her darling
ought to have.
A woman like that lives, sometimes a
long time before people find out about It.
Sometimes, In fact, she is a devoted wife
and mother, so far as anybody outside
can see. She hates for her children to
har lives fit their own and demands
i '
uW
r.-"--,, : .re? 1 A. ;s7;,,?Na ye . if tf
his case is reported by tha administra
tion office to the head of the house.
These "postings" provoke a "call down-'
on meeting night or some other tonic
better suited to the temperament of the
one in question.
In a well-organized chapter house, the
book worm Is made human; the man
with the proverbial blues 1s shown that
there is at least a little sunshine in
life and the girlish boy la made to cut
their uttermost attention to this darling
of hers; and as 'for John she simply
keepa that poor man's nose to the grind
stone from week's end to week'a end.
Occasionally, of course, he wakens up to
the fact In the case and becomes ex
tremely unpleasant, and then his wife
sighs to her 15 best friends that John
is growing more selfish and self-centered
every day. He doesn't in the least
understand her delicate, sensitive nature.
And here it Is simply the darling me
of hers which Is eating up the entire
family. t
Again, you find a woman every now
and then who has for a darling a nice
little rag baby made all of clothes.
To this fetish she sacrifices cheerful
ly her time and her husband's money.
For it she walks miles and miles and
rides more miles, paying good money for
taxi hire when she has hash for dinner
and not much of that, most likely.
She watches the shop windows and
talks to Madame Cerlsa over the phone
with all the earnestness of the priestess
making arrangements for the annual
sacrifice. She eyes the garments of her
friends with a malevolent glance, meas
uring the money and time expended -on
them, and she's mad as a wet hen when
they are better than hers. She gives
to this darling of hers every single near
thought she has in that head of hers,
when the gray matter is all dried up
and fluffy. Just like dandelion heads
when you blow them puff! and they're
gone In an Instant!
Then again there is, sometimes, ia a j
I
off his frills, his laces and his overly
nice ways.
From these incidents one may see
that there are grave dangers lurking In
the strength of upperclasa prerogative.
Unless the men at the head of the
chapter are safe and sane, a mistaken
policy may be advanced. But the grow
ing Influence and responsibility which
village somewhere but only once In a
while, I am sure a woman who has a
darling spite.
Somebody has said something or done
something several years ago, and she Is
going to tell you that she Isn't the one
to forget a thing like that! She would
not walk on the same side of the street
with that woman, not for the world!
And so she goes on and warms this spite
In her breast and feeds It the best blood
she has, and cuddles It close and cradles
It In her arms. And the miserable thing
repays her by poisoning her life and eat
ing her heart right up. And this goes
on and on, till, after a while, the real
woman Is eaten all away and the thing
that Is left, wearing her features and her
clothes, and recognized by her family
as the real woman, is nothing of the
sort. It Is Just that mean, hateful spite
that has devoured her and taken her
place, and nobody knows anything about
it!
Sometimes a woman's darling Is a
large slx-by-three-foot man with a
number 18 collar and a hilarious dis
position. She acquired him In early
youth, most likely, and he has occupied
the position of darling for a good many
yeara And In spite of the fact that
he crowds the niche so early set apart,
she couldn't endure the thought of a
change. In faot. If something like a hard
cold or touch of malaria or something
like that seems to threaten to remove
him from that niche, she hurries around
and takes care of him as If he were
the most precious thing In the whole
wide world. And her heart all curls
up with fear, and her eyes can hardly
tear themselves from this darling of
hers, because she thinks, "Oh, what If I
shouldn't be allowed to keep him any
longer!" And when It Is all over and
he is up and around and laughing at
her, and occasionally curling a big arm
about her shoulders, sort of rough,
maybe, but with all the love of his
heart, she simply sings for Joy and
considers that this is a nice world and
one where the good Lord takes care of
his own.
Again, sometimes a woman's darling
Is Just a little bit of a plnk-and-white
baby with blue eyes. I think, myself,
that this Is one of the very nicest dar
lings that a woman can have about the
place. And Just every so often, this
darting is, as it were ,a co-darllng with
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Is felt by the upperclassman has been
known to place even vicious young men
upon their good benavior.
The fraternity senior Is usually steady
and sober. He Is even hls unnatural
self. For the sake of the example
which he sets for the new men he is
prone to step into the Ideas of an old
maid, at provoking times. In a certain
sense thla spoils an upperclassman and
checkmates his happy times at college.
However, the means Is usually Justified
by the end. In substance, the senior
unselfishly sacrifices his Jollity and non
senslcals for the sake of the Impression
able underclassmen. For to be able to
rule and advise, he must preserve dig
nity and command constant respect.
But in case of pending disaster, the
local alumni as the fostering mother
and the National organization of the
fraternity as the actual life-savers, are
ever ready to lend a guiding hand In the
preservation of the sacred traditions
upon which every order Is founded. The
faculty adviser Is also liable to blame
when things go bad.
And at Oregon an unusually healthful
atmosphere of co-educational life serves
as a distinct check upon dissipation and
loose standards.
A wrong notion exists that fraternity
life Is an expensive form of living ob
tainable only by the "silk-stockinged"
few. Such has not proven the case at
Oregon. Estimates have shown that It
la less expensive to live at a chapter
house than at many of the private
boarding places. A large number of
the fraternity men at Oregon today are
working their way through college in
whole or in part. The duties of houso
managership are Invariably carried on
by one of the needy members of tho
chapter, who receives his board as com
pensation. Help la hired and every pos
sible economy of living is practiced.
The fraternal sphere at Oregon has
always been so large and the freedom
of organization so great that there has
never been any considerable tinge of
snobbery or false aristocracy. Student
the big, slx-by-three-foot man. And
when this Is the case, why, right there
we have what they are always telling
us we ought to live In all the time a
happy home.
Once in a while, too, you find a wo
man who has a darling ambition. She
can sing, maybe, or write, or paint
pictures. And to this she gives her
thought and her work and her deep,
deep love. Tears and years she will
dwell alone In the world, for all her
crowds of friends, exoept Just this dar
ling of hers. And when, after a while,
she gets for It the success it has been
all this time crying for day and night,
the woman is very, very happy. Don't
you allow anybody romancer or story
writer or anybody else to tell you
that she Isn't happy. She Is. It isn't
the same kind of happiness, perhaps,
that she would have If her darling had
been a little pink baby with blue eyes.
I am not saying that It is. But it Is
real happiness Just the same.
Then, sometimes you find a woman
whose darling is an Idea. When this is
the case, it Is apt to ,be what the wise
men call an altruistic idea. She wants,
for some reason hidden deep down In
her heart, to be of service to her kind.
She will not, she thinks, have any little
pink baby of her own, but she Is going
to live so that every little baby In the
world, pink, maybe, or all blue and
shriveled with hunger and cold such
as no baby ought ever to dream of, will
be the better and the happier because
she has lived.
I have seen a woman with that sort
of Idea for a darling, and presently her
arms would be stretched out so that
the poor and the suffering and the un
happy and the wicked would all find
refuge there. Her hands would rest on
the bowed shoulder of the girl whose
own mother wouldn't speak to her, and
would bring her into touch once more
with things deoent and of good report.
Her clear eyes would look right down
Into the soul of a man, blasted and
twisted and burnt by the very flres of
the pit, and after a while, because of
the help she brought him, that poor
brother of hers would become a differ
ent man. Not such a very fine product,
you doubt. Oh, how do you know?
Only the good Lord may know how One
the product Is.
Tha woman with tba lv f the peo- j
3,
CJ&L Z7JI JZ. OZ GZ ' Q
life here has ever been characterized
by a spirit of genial democracy. Th
secrecy in Greek letter life is nominal
rather than real.
Charges which have been advanced
against the fraternities at Oregon.
and that unfortunate evils have devel
oped during the "rush" season for new
members, are In a limited degree, mer
ited. But the childish mistakes. Jeal
ousies and ambitions which have
brought them are on the rapid decline
and the promise Is that they are soon
to be eliminated.
However, with or without fraternities,
there are bound to be political cliques.
The time has already come at Oregon
when the man who has earned fame
and respect through faithful service and
undying loyalty receives more homage
than the man who has gained a title
through political combinations.
In the scrap that is gone through each
year for new members it is inevitable
that there be more or less friction. But
this too is being overcome by a sense
of large-mlndedncss which has somehow
developed.
All fraternity men hold their college
abovj their fraternity. They realize
that the college could easily exist with
out the fraternity, but that the frat
ernity oould not possibly exist without
the college. It is this understanding
which leads them to cast aside their
petty differences and in a spirit of
friendliness pull together for the ulti
mate good of the university.
With these minor weaknesses on the
rapid down grade, the fraternity life
situation at the University of Oregon Is
approaching the ideal. .
Ia summing up. It Is permissible then,
to make particular application of the
statement made by President Hyde of
Bowdoin, who Is not a fraternity man:
"On the whole, the fraternities exert
20 times as much influence regularly for
good, as now and then one temporarily
may work for evil."
University of Oregon.
pie for her darling comes, after a while,
to embrace the whole world in her arms
and to carry in on her heart; and then
to lay It, her heart's darling, at the
feet of him who carries all our sorrows.
Yes, there are women like that. Tou
can think of the names of some of
them right this very minute, and so
can I.
But this sort of darling, we are told
by many able writers, never turns out
well. They say that after a while the
woman cherishing it will And that she
has been cherishing something stuffed
with sawdust, and the sawdust will run
out, and then where is she at? They
declare that all women, in the long run,
prefer the same sort of darling, and
that Is a home, a husband and a baby;
that other darlings fill up only the
mentality and not the heart, and are
therefore to be discarded by all true
women, or they will find themselves,
after a while, yearning with out
stretched arms for what they have for
ever lost.
And I think that is about true. But
as it Is also true if you cherish the do
mestic darling and discard the other,
having once had It, it Isn't so strong an
argument as you might think. Why, we
all, after we get to any reasonable age
at all, are stretching out yearning arms
to something or other that we have for
ever lost. You know that yourself. We
shed a lot of valuable things as we get
along through this Journey of life.
And one of the greatest mistakes ever
promulgated in a world of amazing mis
understandings is this idea that every
woman of us has the same sort of dar
ling. This idea Is repeated, reiterated -and
stated again and again; but, I as
sure you, there isn't a word of truth
in It. Not only is this not the case,
but it is an idea calculated to promote
great misunderstanding about us wo
men in general giving, for instance,
the notion that we are all alike.
And yet when you think about it
seriously, I believe that, deep down in
every woman a soul, whether she be
good or bad, happy or miserable, she
knows that truth and purity and love
not where she Is, perhaps, but some
where, somewhere are the very dar
lings of her heart.
(Copyright, 1911, By Charlotte C
Rowett).