Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - Banks of the Boneyard (Charles Kiler) [PAGE 43]

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Escapades

47

promising young men got fired, and went right out into the cruel world to become distinct successes in business and professional life. Thus endeth the first color rush at Illinois. Resquicat im pace. There were twenty-seven men and three ladies on the faculty. I have a picture in front of me and there are but two of the men who have clean-shaven faces; the others have full beards, sideburns, mustaches, and all sorts of facial adornment. We had not yet emerged from the whisker era; in fact it hung on for another ten years or more. If you want to get a sure laugh just throw a picture of a man of the '8o's or 'c^o's on the screen today. I was told that the best mustachios grew on upper lips that had never been shaved and of course I wanted one of the best, so I let 'er grow for years without even trimming the darn thing. Mustache cups were in common use on dining tables just as shaving mugs adorned the racks in the barber shops. We men were "things of beauty," but I won't use the rest of that quotation for I can't see how anyone can call a full beard " a joy forever." Among the members of the faculty brought on by Dr. Peabody was the Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, James H. Brownlee. Born in Kansas, he had served in a Kansas regiment, fighting guerillas for the term of his service in the Civil War. Well over six feet tall, always clad in a Prince Albert coat and box-toed boots, Professor Brownlee was a commanding figure who put over his lessons in a big way. His students agree that Brownlee was a great teacher, and when asked for the source of a quotation, or where to find a certain poem or story, his answer was quick and correct. George Huff was one of Brownlee's favorite students, not because of any ability as a writer of English in themes of any character, but because the professor recognized he was teaching a personality. Problems in chemistry and mathematics were easy for George, but when it came to writing an oration he was sunk and besides he was too busy. Once when Professor Brownlee gave us an assignment to hand in original orations, George hired Mickey Quinn to write one for him for a fee of one dollar. When the oration was finished Mickey collected his fee and George handed in the oration without reading it. The next time the class met, the Professor said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud and happy to announce that we have a genius among us. Never have I had the pleasure of reading a more eloquent oration than one that was