Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/55

 UMPQUA ACADEMY 45 Chester. He kept a little way station where he dealt in a few such articles as tobaccos, canned foods, crackers, oysters, sar- dines, nuts, candies, etc., and occasionally furnished a traveler with a meal and bed perhaps, but his main source of income was from the disposal of intoxicating drinks. He had no license, so he would sell a stick of candy, a bunch of grapes, or some such article, and give the purchaser a glass of beer, whiskey or wine, according to his desire. The boys, or rather, some of them, from the Academy, would make clandestine visits, occasionally, to this old man's resort some two or three miles distant, and indulge in his forbidden fruit. I cannot now recall that any such visit of students ever came to the atten- tion of the Academy "over-seers." During the time Professor Herron was principal of the Acad- emy he lived in the old T. F. Royal home, located down in the bottom west of the Acad'emy, some two hundred yards. At this time there was a small building in the yard and near the professor's dwelling, occupied by Miss Florence Elliff, a daugh- ter of Hardy Elliff, who resided out beyond Canyonville, on Cow Creek, and another young lady, who were attending the Academy. One evening a rather unruly young man from Calapooia, then about eighteen years of age, escorted Miss Elliff, on horseback, out to Edwin Otey's, some three miles in the country, to attend a dance. They returned before day- light the next morning, but the fact became known among the friend's of the young people, and several of them deter- mined to go and do likewise. During the week the trip was fairly planned, and when the night set for the occasion arrived the boys had borrowed a wagon and, with the assistance of Charles Kuykendall, they purloined a team of horses from the stable of his father, John Kuykendall, and had collected, boys and girls, under the oak trees around the Academy building, preparatory to starting. In the meantime, Will Kuy- kendall had become suspicious in some way, and went to the barn, to discover the horses were gone, and just as we were making ready to start Mr. Kuykendall, with his sons William and Henry, appeared on the scene looking for their horses ; and of course our game was up.