1891] Pioneer Students 



Bert Fesler, one of my former Indiana students, now dis- 

 trict judge in Minnesota, was master of Encina Hall, a posi- 

 tion filled by him for one year with firmness and justice. But 

 the entire lack of tradition among a body of students drawn 

 from all parts of the country made the duties extremely com- 

 plex and trying until the colts were fairly broken. After varied 

 experiences, control was finally put in the hands of the residents 

 themselves through the so-called "Encina Club," an arrange- 

 ment on the whole satisfactory. 



In charge of the boarding arrangements at Encina was Handling 

 George Adderson, formerly an English butler. Tall, heavily Encina 

 built, and with face and beard strongly suggestive of pictures 

 of the Almighty in certain religious books, he was also fre- 

 quently identified as Santa Claus. He had a loud voice, gruff 

 exterior, and kind heart a combination contributing both to 

 fear and affection. The business of feeding students, however, 

 is a somewhat thankless job and after a time it was turned 

 over to private enterprise. 



In the course of the first week occurred an episode 

 characteristic of the happy-go-lucky type of some 

 of our younger boys. On the railway switch running 

 up to the University stood an empty flat car, tempt- 

 ing to some sort of prank. Crowding upon it, 

 therefore, a group of dare-devils started it off and 

 spun down the grade to the main track at May- 

 field, where -they finally succeeded in stopping. No 

 real harm was done, but a tragic wreck would have 

 ensued had they met a moving train. 



As a matter of fact, however, general student 

 morale was high from the beginning, and the early 

 leaders took seriously the duty of initiating rational 

 and wholesome customs. Those who found them- Dropped 

 selves out of harmony soon left the university, f f of 

 either of their own accord or "by request," being the campus 

 then, according to accepted phraseology, "dropped 

 off the edge of the campus." Before the first week 



C 403 3 



