Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/40

30 CEO. B. KUYKENDALL How the years have flown by since we were boys together. The last time I saw him was at Newport, Oregon; he was going to see his married daughter who was dangerously ill. When the old Umpqua Academy was in the height of its usefulness and influence, there used to be a number of boys and young men come in from distant parts of the country and "kept batch," or boarded themselves and went to school. They came in from southern Oregon, from about Jacksonville, Le- land, Canyonville, Cow Creek, Looking Glass and from the northerly parts of the county, from Yoncalla, Elk Creek, Green Valley and the classic precincts of "Tin Pot" and "Shoestring." Among the boys that "batched" were Henry Byars, Calvin and David West, Lowery and Ed Watson and P. L. Willis, John Allen and sisters, the Applegate boys, and many more. Most of these attended and belonged to the debating society at the Academy, and some, if not most of them, there had their first experience in "speaking in public." The Academy boys were a pretty good lot, generally free from drinking, card playing, and worse vices, but they were a lively lot, and some of the old folks said they were "a leetle too full of vinegar," and of course the vinegar would slop over occasionally. There used to live just a short distance below the academy, Dr. Miller, a large, rather tall, sedate man, who administered allopathic doses of medicine during the week, and on Sunday gave good strong doses of orthodoxy from the pulpit. He was of the old style physician who bled people, not when they settled with him, but with a lancet. The doctor had two daughters, the younger of whom, Ella, was regarded as quite handsome and good looking. Some of the young fellows found the Miller home an exceedingly attractive place to visit, but the doctor was a little inclined to be austere, and was not in favor of alliances, taking a neutral position usually, but assuming a belligerent attitude on provocation. He had a brother-in-law that lived with him, George Young, who was a capital hand at a practical joke, and hearing of the success of the clothes stealing raid on Frank Carter, concluded to