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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1911)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5, 1911 V. D MttT? Alt.: ft f'V 1 .ijim(iMt,.:'i v,T A Theodore. f 716 ton. Meiew Proctor of Corie.. The lolly, Genial Proctor Who Has Made Friends With the dents He Rules Stu- w JUCH is the hardest job fighting Indians or stagecoach robbers, holdinr riotinr strikers in check, taking charge of a police precinct or teaching Cornell's students to be good? That is a question that Theodore H. Tweston might answer, for he has had expert ence in all these lines. He is the new proctor S at Cornell and is also the lieutenant of police of the twentj-eighth police district, Philadel phia. He has been granted a six months,' eaxe of absence while he tries his hand at curbing as wild a lot of rah-rah boys as ever crossed a campus. Tweston is "sitting on a lid" that many man would balk at. It is an open secret -hat the problem of controlling live, uncon trollable students has been one that Cornell's , officials have been "stum fid" by for years. They believe they have gone and done it." For though Tweston has only been at Cornell a few weeks, he is "in right" already. 7 For that matter, he was "one of the boys" iefore he went there officially. How did he manage itf Why, just telling Indian stories. y All boys, young and old, like Indian stories, especially when they are full of vim, S vigor and blood. Tweston never thought of t, that. He had been at the college two weeks, t- ''looking over the ground." What he saw, ivas so unpromising that he came to the con Xhtsion that he would refuse the job and go tack to Philadelphia. To his amazement he hund that the students themselves wouldn't "have it that way. The very men who had ' opposed the proctor plan and said that they wouldn't have a "spyn on the grounds changed X. their minds and insisted that he be forced to take the position, whether he wanted it or not. Every influence was brought to bear on Wweston and the Philadelphia police authori pties, until Director of Public Safety Henry Vlay advised him to become a "trial proctor," r itfering him six months' leave. I THACA has been the goat for, lo, these many years. Whenever the student body of Cornell has de cided that the' town owed it a good time, and swooped down to collect it, Ithaca has waked up the next morning to, wonder how much was left of Itself. But the climax was reached last year when, all -told, forty-two students were nabbed by the police in Ithaca. Of course, they wtrt charged with petty Senses, such as breaking in bulk windows, indulging . to make-believe hold-ups to have some fun with tha farmers, or putting ttrecrakers under the cafe i chairs, or raising rough house in general. The students . contended that the number 01 arrests was not extraordinary, considering that there were 5194 males V St the university. Of course, there are also 81 1 female .. Students. But they don't count in this controversy rh; officials and the students' committee, conslst - Ing of seven seniors and five juniors, did not agree : with the majority.. SomethinK ha.l to be uone yes and lLU?Cfc nnnhile U'e resl(Jenls f Ithaca, numbering ifl.;0 Were recuperating from the last whole " i. fh,Bltv0r' remem'-. when all tho students are in Ithaca they number one-quarter of the population. th.Thi8 Kmiu ws the last sad expedient , !?iS . d . f ed 0,1 s,op the rushes. H was , lfn;".,:;."!, uarj- 1 was literally . wuv uiW jjiuciui sypietn. AtteT nng leu out tne proctor system. Aftet mucn osltlon, It was tiftftlhragreed to. But even thJt only half the battje? w!here was a p octor to be mWLI1":?.?. 5194 outlaws, if was o found wttn . .1.. . . a,lvc. ' i rw-.l r i. .u1'." "u ': m'nJ their p's and o s? v en luougnt capable of tho task shuddered ! at the mere suggestion. Others volunteered, including MW ?0,,k-Pce Hautenants, hut for one reason or other they were not wanted.- Ho the authorities found r themselves Just where thev started auluurules louna Then some one suggested Lieutenant Tweston it Is not actually known who it was, -but Jt Is rnmhrl that it might have been Captain T R Phlllins C 2 c of the Cornell battalion, if. ha dldnVa, in i once in a While, even If on la u..": .'"""'uu " Tweston thought 1 t- Pherefore bstwe he decided, and thereupon hied him off to ith.Pr .".u' out ring s word to snv one 10 Ithaca, with him JT . Pertment, Arid no one at I thai-a or Cornell knew s until tb end .of two weeks, when ho toM ,v.he Wfi" varsity paopl. that he didn't want ?h. r?oban4thheur vwe .v 'j. .' -at -. - ir nm m m imi b mi-. . i m f a ipb. a vi jJaT.v. v;.:',yi.r-. :.: M iJli l I " B, I . j '. W. ' II 11111111 . . , is - i. I lllli I -rZlj f lifmffiyite? d ..,..,1 back to his desk In the Philadelphia police station, content und satisfied. But that Is not the end of the story. This is what really happened: Tweston played detective. He went to Ithaca, making frequent trips to Cornell, becoming acquainted with the haunts of the boys, and then learning all about their doingsanil their Ideas of the proposed proctor plan. For It was only proposed at that time. Well, what he heard wa enough to make him hike back to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, he had become a great friend of the boys. The strange man who came into town ani was so much interested In them became one of the .idols of the hour. Some of the boys told him about the proctor. "We'll give him a tussle," one said. "We're not going to have any spies around here." HE LEARNED A LOT "Spies" The word burned Tweston to the quick. Then others told him about the tricks that were played on the professors, and a few were--bold enough to untold the schemes they had for getting even with the proctor when he got too fresh. Tweston agreed with them. "That's right; make It hot for him." Then the various manners of hazing the new boys were also unfolded to Tweston, and he learned some thinps that the professors who had been there for years didn't know. But he can be trusted tq keep little things like that up his sleeve. Visits to the favorite cafes were on the program, and Tweston kept "tabs" on th,e boys who are in the habit of sipping too freely. They will get some of his fatherly advice later. But, no matter where he was, Tweston always made it a point to return to Cornell with the rest of the hunch on the "Midnight Owl." And, as he said after ward, "That was some owl, let me tell you." The boys own the whole train. Every one else has to take a back wat, or wherever else the boys feel like letting them en. Even the locomotive whistles cannot drown the shouting and hallooing. On these excursions, the Philadelphia police officer was there with a fine line of jokes and stories, so murh superior to the college brand that ho was unl- Teachig II T HE use of college education I Kansas, bleeding Kansas, has settled that carking doubt once for all. Henceforth no refinld, cultured alumnus of the Kansas Agricultural College will rise from the table with his smiling apparatus gashed on either side from awkward insertions of knifefuls of pie or fried eggs into the dark recesses beyond. No Ked Cross nurses, equipped with first aids to the wounded, will stand ready to stanch thoso crimson flows at frat banquets. The styptic pencil and the sticking-plaster will no longer be served with the toothpicks and the mint gum that elegantly wait on good digestion. For Kansas Agricultural College has taken by the horns the bull of bad table manners and, be ginning with the time-honored practice of jamming one's table knife into his vitals via the esophagus, has undertaken to make the average man, a safe bet at a pink tea. . r o F COURSE the new. high-class? swell-front education that includes deportment In its"cur riculum Is of some use, even thougti all the other courses and training burn out to be Junk. Bill's brains, such as they are, just happened In him, as Bill's family had them to supply. Bill's learn ing could have ueen acquired by arduous study of the world's great classics and the "Child's First Spelling Book" under the gasoline lncandescents that have been substituted by modern science and for tha fire-it grt-wrmtnrsAb6alncolrihad, to utilise. ut no amount or seit-neip could .give, ambitious Bill the tip that, in the mors recherche circles of society, it is considered de trop to lean back In your, chair and rest your boots on the quartered oak dining table before the blano mange is passed around. These refinements of feeling may be lunaU, but you'va got versally voted a "fine fellow." Finally several of the "frats" got together, decided to give a dinner and invite the stranger on the eve of his departure. Cap tain Phillips was also Invited, and just before the i. inner the latter learned who the stranger was. But he Jtept mum until the right time. The dinner took place during the Christmas season. The fraternity dining room was decorated with holly and greens and dark red electric lights were placed In the chandeliers. Yes, that is an important part of the story. The dinner progressed just as other dinners pro gress until Captain Phillips was called upon to speak. What he said ran something like this: "Boys, you have often heard me talk beforo and tell of my experiences In the army. But we have one with us tonight who wasln the stirring Indian wars long before my days, and who can tell you of many battles that he took part In. I want to introduce to you my friend. Sergeant Theodore H. Tweston." There were, of course, loud cheers. Tweston stood over In front of the large open fire place and began his talk. It Is to be understood that he started In the usual way. by saying that he was not in the habit of speaking to such an assemblage, etc But then, by degrees, he got to the point where he related his stirring adventures with the Apache, Ute anil Sioux Indians. He supplemented by telling that he received hla first craving for a military career as a lad in Frankfort, Ky., when, at the opening of the civil war. his father and two brothers joined N WIV to have somebody put you next to the hunch before you're sure It'a real good form to. refrain. Elbows are different. An undergraduate, blowing himself and his beloved to a bang-up pazaca dinner, seldom has to spill more than eight glasses of water and the soup before be recognises the inconvenience of using; the table for poker practice; be can hide his hands better In his pants pockets when he Isn't using pant But them to eat with. a full college course on tin a-enaral subtext nf .lhn'wa h.nrf. wilt -7,i -hWl..r"Yt.Xi.:i -rtverjthi-hfftleir Undergraduate an aplomb, a comma il faut, a, jo ne sals quol, that ought to go with the nippiest heiresses who ever bumped Into a Fifth avenue grubfest nd were particular about their style of eating. That, In fact, is the be-all and end-all of any college educations Bill knows he's bound to land -at tha head of the meat trust or ths steamship, trust, or some- S 1 - M W a il W v ' mm I' ll m n tr J II , tfCorsfe ltYcrj&f the ranks. His day came at last and in 1873, when only 11 years old, he Joined the regular army for five years. Then he got Into the gist of the story. He, was General George Crooks' courier during the three Indian wars, and was also Custer's aide before the famous massacre. He Was wounded by a Sioux Indian at Rosebud creek, but his most exolting experience occurred during the Ute Indian battles along the 'Black Fork river and near Fort Brtdger, Wyo. The young courier learned of the plans of the Ute tribes to ambush his comrades. Tho only way he could get to his chief was to run a gauntlet ot musketrv fire from. the Indians, who were secreted on both sides of a narrow ravine which he was forced to cross. Tweaton was wounded, but he kept on. The last shot from the enemy killed his horse and he was forced to drag himself the rest of the way on foot He was played out when he reached the camp, but he was able to give his message to General Crooks, and that satisfied him. Crooks promote Tweston to corporal and then to sergeant for his gallant act, and also praised him In his general orders. " . Then Tweston told the. boys that the Indians didn't occupy' all his time when he was in the army, but he also had considerable trouble with the Jennings party, who tried to force the Indians from their grounds. Tweston was one of those delegated to break up the clique, and he told of the thrilling experiences in the MM TO thing, before he gets through with the career he has framed up for himself back On- the farm while he Jammed the corn into Kansas' sod or the apple or chards ot the future into the eternal rocks of New England of the present , But what of the appalling day when, his fortuna made, of the standard American size say, $100,000,000 or so he is invited to . eat lady-fingers and Imbibe tea with the haughty belles of the Upper Ten? What If, on that glorious occasion, he shouldn't be able to know, positively and with the ease of early college experience, whether to,. leave the napkin folded flat or . to keep a wary eye for an 18-carat gold napkin ring in which to stick It?. . , , Then there's coffee. Didn't Governor John W. Leedy give himself dead away while he was cam paigning for re-election in .Kansas a dozen years ago by pouring his coffee into his saucer and, blowing it to cool it Instead of knowing how to be dignified and haut ton about it, and turning the job over to the negro porter, or something cultured like that? And soup there's a lot to learn just about soup alone. Nobody can say. there's anything criminal In eating boup as If you enjoy it; but It does become an noying to have a crowd of stuck-up fellow-students propose a banquet, where you are invited to be the guest of honor, and have them explain that they are suffering for the excitement of hearing you eat soup. All these Important details of feeding,- as they are practiced by the purse-proud rich of America, and grown up to by the haute noblesse of effete Europe-, constitute Important features of the coming college courses In table manners, with a possibility of a ? oat-graduate term devoted to the acquisition of menu 'rench, which has now. reached atstage of idiomatic Idiosyncrasy that would have the Forty-five Guards men committing manslaughter and Brlllat-Savarln chasing the waiters up and down tho fire escape. Suppose your college education, whether at Har vard or at the Kansas Agricultural, were so com plete that it would enable you to walk right Into one of those palaces on Twenty-third street or around tt;,!,;,,.;:! woma proBiuy ruii in me injury pi innocent PSr- you a dime for sinkers, and to tell them you wanted consomme aux paillettes d'or, or gelae ds volatile a la Neapolltalne, followed by filets de soles froids dresses sur mousses, with rognon de veau a la Monpensler. and pate chaud de faisan, with a little brlse du prlntemps on the side suppose you could say it Just like that? - Is ths new oollasa education worth while? Will. sayi w, .-. BlMk bills until vCt recalcitrants beat a rotrett back to their komei. . Then Tweton stopped his story; and to one boy at least It proved the proper place, for he was so excited that he couldn't - wait another mlnhte. He was a senior and hailed front Colorado. "My father was In the Jennings party, and he told me about that fight time and time again. Just the same way that you have described it, and you are the very man he praised so much." There certainly was a hearty shake of the hand -between Tweston and the son of his former " enemy v' -.- But this young man wasn't the only one who was excited. When the lieutenant first began to speak the men were sitting at the tables: then, one by one, the majority of them crept across the floor, near his feet Some sat with crossed legs; others rested on their arms, but the were all around him. The few others drew their charts nearer. After that there was hardly a sound until he had finished. It was a shame that there were no artists on the scene. It would have made a great picture. The bright red light from the open fireplace and the red glow from the chandeliers, spreading over the eager faces of the men, gave an enchantment to' the scene that could not be overdone. RAH-RHED FOR HIM The youth from Colorado was the only on that had. the temerity to move. The rest Sat still. Then they started to look at ene another and finally found ' their tongues and all agreed that Tweston was all rignt. And by the time the conversation between the two men had finished, the students were ready with a hearty shout of "Tweston I Tweston! Tweston! Rahl Kah! Bahl" How the news leaked out that Tweston wss slated for the proctorship is not known, but It Is pretty hard to keep a secret from young chaps. Then, again, one ot the students' committee may have been present and smelt a mouse. Anyway, the boys begged Tweston to stay, but he was "oil to Philadelphia in the morning." Tweston's name was on the tongue of nearly every Cornell student, and for the first time there was a general cry for a proctor, In the person of Tweston. But then he didn't want to go. He had become a friend of the boys, he wanted to stay their friend, and he didn't quite figure out how It could be done. Then, again, he wasn't sure if he would be satisfied with the change. He decided that a bird in the hand was better than two In the bush. But that argument didn't suit the Cornell faculty or the students' committee, and they sent a delegation to see Director Clay. The rest of the story Is known, and Tweston started for Cornell. Of course, he knows" that Cornell Isn't going t turn into a, Sunday school right away, but he Isn't worrying on that account . fffrerc fcestor feeps Order "I wouldn't give a continental for any boy who K not mischievous,' he said the day before ha left 1'hilaaelpnla to take nis post at Cornell. He should be competent to express an opinion, too, for he has made a study of the male youth during his twenty-five years' service on the police force. And no case in which a boy was concerned was ever brought beforo him that the lieutenant did not straighten out mat ters, generally to the advantage of the young culprit "Cells and harsh words, don't Improve a boy," he declared. "The only way to punish him Is by good advice; given In a gentle tone, and then pat him on , the back and say, 'Bob, you're not such a bad chap after all; show your friends that you can be just as much of a man as any of, them are.' Then you've touched the right spot and the boy will be better. For one thing, kind word's to a boy who Is used to rebuffs and abuse mean an awful lot. Then, again, every boy likes to foel that he Is a man." That is Lieutenant Tweston's loglo. And it has succeeded. It is true that he will now have a different as well as an cider class of boys to deal with. But he Is always "on the Job." So there Is hops. Tweston intends to be a real father to the boys. When he notices sny on the lawn "under the Influ ence," or finds that a lot of them have constituted themselves Into a mob and indulged themselves by making dents In Ithaca, he will have a private session with them. But the hazing. That Is all that Is worrying ths Cornell students. And Tweston won't tolerate It He didn't exactly say that. But when asked what was his attitude towards hazing, he declared: "The duty of the proctor is to see that every rule and law of ths college Is carried out." So there Is still some consola tion. If there Is any sign of falling out between tha proctor and the students, another fraternity dinner can be given. For Tweston hasn't told one-quarter of hi exciting career. . Why, he hasn't told the boys a word yet about tna days when he wasa cowboy, or a messenger on tha stagecoach lines, and the many narrow escapes ha had from death. On one occasion the stagecoaoh , directly In front of him In the Red Canyon, In Wyo ming, was held up by the Indians and John Slaughter, the driver, and a couple named Metz were killed. A negress servant was captured and her body was found in the same place four days later with twelve deep cuts In her body. That escape was evidently enough for Tweston and he came to Philadelphia In 18S0. His police record would fill a book. He was appointed to the Twenty second district by Mayor Smith In and made a number of Important arrests In his earlyrdays. But his most notably courageous act came during the cyclone In August, 1890. when the car depot at Twelfth street and Susquehanna avenue collapsed. Tweston, retaining his self-possession, rang the fire box and then rushed into the building and rescued seven persons from under the falling walls and debris. The firemen arrived on the scene and brought out 'many others from the ruins. Seven persons were killed, but the death roll would have been much greater If It had not been for tha remarkable coolness displayed by the brave policeman. He was publicly commended by Dlreotor Stokley and promoted to be a sergeant at the Eleventh and Winter streets police station. He was afterward transferred to the Twentieth and Berks streets station, and became a lieutenant on Max 13, 1907. ' Again, ths lieutenant prevented a riot during tha car strike in Philadelphia last April, by a few words and the raising" of the hand. Ha was an acting captain In place of Little, who was 111, and was in charge of the Fifteenth and Huntingdon carbarn. He notioed a mob of strikers turning down Fifteenth street from Lehigh avenue. He hurried to the scene, and his men started to follow, but he. told them to go baok. Ha . knew that t was useless for a few policemen to fight against a mob of BOO men, and he knew also that If " any officer lost his .temper and used his hands on the Strikers a fight Would surely follow. Th man were on their way to a meeting at Broad street and Susquehanna avenue. Tweston raised his hand, and instead i of ofderlng them to go back, asked them Kuuiiy n uw imnrTi-TTio r tibbbi manner, - ne explained to them that If they passed the-barn in . sons. The men gathered In a hugs clrcln .bout Thhim and then, taking his advice and probably admiring his spunk In fighting them single-handed, walkifl over ta Sixteenth street and down that thoroughfaMb , This instance will also demonstrate to those "who 'may doubt the sueoess of the kindjwords that Proctor Tweston is going to try at Cornel! that he Is a man ot unusual persuailvs and argumentative abllltlss.