r\(\ tos, presented ten years before, stuck up in a niche among their 

 gods. . . . How can one describe the virtues of a mother? 

 My blackhaired sister, Grace, is a musician and the business 

 head of the family, living in our home at River Forest. Next 

 comes my sister Lillian, who is the beauty, the songstress and 

 the favorite. She fell in love with a Mr McCuskey, who took 

 her to India as a missionary. I haven't forgiven him for 

 that. . . . 



On the John situation, this sister Grace had just reported: 

 "Yes, you have sent money enough. I have some of papa's too, 

 but as he was in debt & the house just had to be fixed & painted 

 & interest & taxes & all & John's clothes, everything . . . this 

 year has been a fright. . . ."A letter from the father (July 

 11, 1904) brought evidence that he had gone through the 

 catalogues of various American agricultural colleges and had 

 softened somewhat in his insistence upon the purely classical 

 in higher education : 



The course is almost equivalent to that of the ordinary college. 

 It is scientific rather than classical, though modern languages 

 are included. I think he had better be allowed what he has set 

 his heart upon. Tell me how you will be fixed financially when 

 you go home. We are about $300/ in debt on account of 

 numerous weddings, etc ! but we shall be clear by April next. 



The happy outcome of John's serio-comic was thus heralded 

 by him (August 4, 1904) after a year in Washington and 

 Jefferson college: 



It's the University of Illinois that I'll go to, Bill, and I hope 

 that one year there will be sufficient as I not only want to get 

 started farming but this school business is a great expense and 

 a whole lot of it, waste time. ... I want to quit monkeying 

 with algebra, geometry and library science and take agron- 

 omy, animal husbandry, some parts of horticulture, a little 

 veterinary science, soil culture and irrigation. Also, I'll try to 

 make it less at Champaign than at W and J and I'm sure it 

 will be. 



With warm thanks to Wherry for what he was doing, he 

 added a postscript: "Your fame has reached this country, Bill. 

 A doctor here reported that Wherry of Manila had discovered 



