Page 8
University Daily Kansan Friday, April 17, 1953
Room In Library Recalls Lawrence's Colorful Civil War Days
Bv TOM STEWART
Lawrence will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1954, and proof that it was one of the most colorful, bustling, early Midwestern communities can be found in the Lawrence room on the top floor of Watson library.
Few persons visit the Lawrence room, and very few even know the small museum exists, probably because the door is locked most of the time.
Inside are irreplaceable souvenirs of the early days of Lawrence—pictures, books, maps, and even a small "six-pounder" cannon.
A portrait of Amos Lawrence for whom the city was named, seems to be the logical starting point in the
history recorded by the room's contents. Mr. Lawrence was treasurer of the New England Emigrant Aid company, which in 1854 sent one of the first groups of settlers to the Kansas Territory.
Another portrait showing a key figure in Kansas history is that of Gov. Charles Robinson on the north wall. Near it is the picture of John Brown, fiery abolitionist of the Civil War era.
The issue of slavery seems woven into many of the relies in the room. For instance the cannon, known as "Old Sacramento," fired the first shot for pro-slavery forces and also the first aganit slaves slavery.
times by groups who opposed each other on the slavery question.
This paradox is explained by the fact that in disputes along the Missouri-Kansas border the cannon was captured and recaptured several
A portrait of the infamous raider Quantrill who led his men in the 1863 'Lawrence Raid' is on the museum's ext wall. The number of museum's thieves that died was at about 135 by a nearby newspaper of that time.
Survivors of the raid contributed many articles to the museum, which was begun in 1927 by the late Carrie M. Watson, librarian for more than 40 years. The present library building, built in 1923, was named for her.
Other citizens contributed to the collection historical relies which had been kept by their families for years. The initial gifts were made by the executor of Gov. Robinson's estate.
all that remain from the Free State hotel, which was burned by a group of pro-slavers from Missouri. The hotel had gained a reputation for catering to persons opposed to slavery.
An old chair and a call-bell are
When the Missourians decided to come to Lawrence and destroy the hotel they planned to do it with the little cannon, "Old Sacramento." They decided to settle for merely burning the building, though, when it became clear that the cannon fire couldn't knock the walls down.
During this raid, the type from the newspaper "Herald of Freedom" was thrown into the Kaw river by the marauders, who didn't care for the paper's anti-slave slant.
The type was carefully recovered by the townspeople, and melted into cannon shot. With "Old Sacramento"
—which had again switched sides —they later attacked a camp of guerrilla fighters, shouting, "The Herald of Freedom is issued again!"
First editions of three Kansas newspapers, the "Herald," the "Free State," and the "Kansas Tribune," are to be found in the Lawrence room, as are maps drafted at different times in the city's history.
One for 1855 has the north-south streets named for states as they are today, and the east-west streets named for revolutionary heroes. The latter streets have since distinguished by a numbering system.
The Lawrence room, which offers to do the remembering for persons who don't quite "remember back when," is in the charge of a librarian, Miss Maud Smelser.
2 Students Have Cooking Spree
By TOM STEWART
At least two foreign students looked forward to Easter vacation as a chance to forget what they consider "drab, uninteresting American food" while they went on a spree of cooking up some fe 'n foods of rather doubtful identity.
Ranen Sinha, graduate student from Calcutta, India, and Alvaro "Tico" Wille, college senior from San Jose, Costa Rica, collaborated in producing several "Indian" dishes which are lacking in America.
Taking slightly more than an hour, the two chefs cooked what Sinha described as "ghee" "curry," and polo with slight modifications because American analyses couldn't supply all the desired ingredients.
As he casually measured out four handfuls of uncooked rice, Sinha said, "Americans don't know how to cook it. We shall do it with a ghee."
"What is a ghee, Sinha?" Wille asked.
The Indian student explained that ghee is butter which lends a certain special flavor to food because it has a rich and carefully to the precise peak of flavor.
Unfortunately, the peak was by-passed on this occasion, and the heated butter had to be strained through a dish towel to remove a disagreeable-looking black precipitation which had formed.
During most of the cooking, Sinha acted as chief cook, and Wille kept the utensils washed and the food supplies at hand. Once, having been sent to the pantry for ginger, Wille called, "We have no ginger—how about instant coffee?"
Sinha, who rarely turned down a request to add something to what-ever was cooking, replied, "Bring it to me. If it smells all right . . ."
Curry, Sinha later explained, is a somewhat soupy presentation of any usually solid food. Polao was de-
prepared in a thick sauce and the preparation of rice with cheese and spices.
Among other things, the two chefs used more than a half pound of butter, four handfuls of rice, four cups of water, two teaspoons of salt, one fist-sized onion, two potatoes, a can of beef onions, four fried eggs, one fourth of pepper and peppercorn, and a package of frozen branded shrimp.
As they sat down to eat, Wille said,
"You know, Sinha? I think this
needs some more salt."
Engineer-Lawyer Feud Spans Twenty Years
By ED HOWARD
The recent drowning of "Ucle Jimmy" Green with multi-colored paints might have brought a suspicion to your mind that the engineers were at it again. Or it might have raised a question about how the well-known engineer-lawyer feud started.
It all started way back when the engineers had a blarney stone of their own. Apparently some Irish lad in the engine school began a ceremony of kneeling and kissing the blarney stone at a dance on St Patrick's day. Those dances were held more than 20 years ago, before records were kept of the feud.
One night, the stone was stolen,
and the lawyers were blamed. Several small battles occurred after the theft, Once, a large snowball fight,
happened when a group of engineers walked past Green hall on a snowy February day in 1919, and deduced that the usual crowd of lawyers on the steps in front of "Uncle Jimmy's" house were up to no good.
Within a few minutes, the steps in front of Green hall were empty except for shattered snowballs here and there. That noon, a challenge for a snowball fight in front of Fraser hall was accepted by the prospective law men. Later in the day, because the lawyers were asking for their rights from the Senate, they asked that the engineers call off the childish idea of battle.
The following year, some law students forced a group of engineering freshmen to sweep the front steps of Green hall. An upperclassman engineer happened by and ordered the horseplay stopped, but he was forced to show that his fists
Before that, in 1943, the lawyers kidnapped 11 of 15 queen candidates for the Hob-nail Hop. They took the queens to a dinner and dance and claimed afterward that "They had more fun than they would have had at the engineer dance, anyway."
The engineers had to smile at this shrewd bit of feuding, which gained national recognition through various newspapers, but said "We're
The battle has not always been started by the engineers, however. In 1947, a bust of Frank Olin Marvin, first dean of the School of Engineering, was taken from Marvin hall and "presented" in anonymity to the Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City. Two Daily Kansan reporters went to Kansas City to claim the bust, saying "It is the duty of the University Daily Kansan to preserve the peace on Mount Oread."
Then in 1924, the statue was unveiled in front of Green hall. At first the main stunt was to dress "Uncle Jimmy" in all sorts of ridiculous clothing, but lately, paint has been used in place of wearing apparel, and of course, buildings and grounds has found it harder to remove.
carried more weight than his words. The small free-for-all was stopped by a faculty member.
Professionals, Housewives to Attend Writers' Conference June 22-26
TO LEAD CONFERENCE-Mrs. Helen Diehl Olds of Little Neck, N.Y., will lead the writers' conference in juvenile fiction for the creative workshop sessions June 22 to 26. This gathering of writers of Kansas will concentrate for five days of writing and listening to talks by leading writers of fiction, magazine and newspaper articles, and poetry. Miss Frances Grinstead, associate professor of journalism, is director
Austrian Exchange Student Gives Impression of KU Life
By ELIZABETH WOHLGEMUTH
Immediately afterward, a truce was called in the battling, and the biggest prank pulled since then has been periodical painting of the lawyers' beloved statue. Fortunately for engineers, the awyers have knocked out their four friends from K-State have been the culpits on a number of occasions.
Four languages are spoken by Edeltraud Glass, exchange student from Vienna, Austria, who is majoring in languages.
As for the future, we will just have to wait and watch. A lot has happened in the past and a lot could easily happen in the future.
Traude, as she is called by her friends, spends most of her time writing letters to her many friends telling them about her impressions of the United States and the University.
Her biggest disappointment was that she could not speak English as well as she thought she would be able to speak it. "I couldn't speak or understand American English because of the slang," she said.
"The free relation here between students and the professor is very unusual," she said, "because in Austria the professor is glorified and the classroom is very stiff and formal."
"We have more academic freedom in Vienna and are not required to attend classes," she said. "Our exams are a little more difficult, but you have more of them."
glad to see a little life in the Law school after all these years."
Miss Glass enjoys the performances, movies, plays, and concerts that are presented on the campus. She was surprised to see that very few students attend these functions. "Students here are much more interested in sports than in music and drama. Schools in Austria have no student teams such as you have here."
"I didn't understand your rallies following the basketball games," she said. "I just could not get excited."
"I was shocked by the large number of rules and regulations placed on women attending the University. In Austria we have a great deal more freedom and are more independent."
Miss Glass said. "Your hospitality greatly impressed me."
"Students here on the campus study much later at night than we do in Austria."
"I was neither impressed nor disappointed with the United States because we were very well informed and we wore the United States before leaving Aurora."
With a twinkle in her dark brown eyes she said, "Our parties are much the same as yours, only we don't have house mothers attending."
Kansas placed five men each on the 1946 and 1947 all-conference football teams.
By RICH CLARKSON
Both professional writers and housewives will take part in the third annual Kansas Writers' conference at the University June 22-26. The conference is open to all persons interested in free lance writing.
Three featured speakers, a Sunday feature editor, a book author, and a magazine writer will attend the conference, Miss Frances Grinstead, associate professor of journalism and conference director, announced.
Martha Chevens, Westport, Conn., writer, will give the convocation address June 25. She has written short stories and novellies for McCall's, American, Country Gentleman, Woman's Home Companion, and other magazines. Two of her stories have been made into motion pictures. They are "Penny Serenade" and "Sunday Dinner for a Soldier."
She will discuss the development of two of her novels, "Spun by an Angel" and one now in preparation, "Indianola." The latter book has been contracted for by both a publisher and a motion picture company.
Mrs. Helen Diehl Olds of Little Neck, N.Y., will lead the discussions of juvenile writing. Two of her books for girls have been Junior Literary guild selections and her fourth group of children's stories will be off the press this month.
George McCue, assistant Sunday section editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, will speak to the group about Sunday features and the photographic picture story. His job with the Post-Dispatch's feature section, "Pictures," is the coordination of photographs and text.
Two others, a magazine editor and a poet, will complete the conference staff.
University students and high school graduates of exceptional ability are welcome as conference members. The tuition fee of $25 includes the right to submit a limited amount of writing for criticism.
In March 1952, 75-mile-an-hour winds literally blew down the steel beam framework of the new science building causing nearly $40,000 damage. And it is similar Kansas winds that cause the constant flapping of the flags tearing them to shreds.
Every year a small portion of the tax payers' money is spent on new flags to adorn the front of Fraser hall. Why? Well, while Texas is known for its tall stories, Kansas is fast becoming famous for its high winds.
Each year, three or four flags are bought for Fraser. The twin towers of Fraser high above the expanse of the Kaw river valley seem to draw the Kansas winds. It is not uncommon to hear the shrill flapping of the flags anywhere on the campus.
Winds Ruin Flags; Kansas Gets Fame
Nebraska coped six Big Six championships in seven years from 1931 to 1938.