These decrees went into effect at noon. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon
the war-dogs broke their leashes. Four was the hour when the "night"
edition of the _Evening Chronicle_ came smoking hot from the presses. It
appeared that young Jones was the son, not merely of a plumber, but of a
plumber who was decidedly prominent in lodge circles and the smaller
areas of politics. His case was therefore precisely the kind that the
young men of the Chronicle loved to espouse. The three-column scare-head
over their bitterly partisan "story" ran thus:
POOR BOY KICKED OUT
BY PRESIDENT WEST
Close beside this, lest the reader should fail to grasp the full meaning
of the boldface, was a three-column cartoon, crudely drawn but adroit
enough. It represented West, unpleasantly caricatured, garbed in a
swallow-tail coat and enormous white gloves, with a gardenia in his
buttonhole, engaged in booting a lad of singular nobility of countenance
out of an open door. A tag around the lad's neck described him as "The
Workingman's Son." Under the devilish drawing ran a line which said,
succinctly, "His Policies." On page four was a double column,
double-leaded editorial, liberal with capitals and entitled: "Justice in
Silk Stockings."
But this was only a beginning. Next morning's _Post_, which West had
counted on to come to his assistance with a ringing leader, so earnestly
discussed rotation of crops and the approaching gubernatorial campaign,
that it had not a line for the little disturbance at the college. If
this was a disappointment to West, a greater blow awaited him. Not to
try to gloss over the mortifying circumstance, he was hissed when he
entered the morning assembly--he, the prince, idol, and darling of his
students. Though the room was full, the hissing was of small
proportions, but rather too big to be ignored. West, after debating with
himself whether or not he should notice it, made a graceful and manly
two-minute talk which, he flattered himself, effectually abashed the
lads who had so far forgotten themselves. None the less the
demonstration cut him to the quick. When four o'clock came he found
himself waiting for the appearance of the _Chronicle_ with an anxiety
which he had never conceived possible with regard to that paper. A
glance at its lurid front showed that the blatherskites had pounded him
harder than ever. A black headline glared with the untruth that
President West had been "Hissed by Entire Student Body." Editorially,
the _Chronicle_ passionately inquired whether the taxpayers enjoyed
having the college which they so liberally supported (exact amount
seventy-five hundred dollars a year) mismanaged in so gross a way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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