THE UNIVERSITY JUBILEE

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 23

THE UNIVERSITY JUBILEE

REMINISCENCES BY " WULLY." Mr W: Goodlet writes to us:—"l have been asked by a number of the old University students to give my experiences. From 1877, for 17 yeara I -was ehemiatry lab. assistant in the University Council's service under the late Professor Black. Previous to that I was for 'three and a-half years in service with Professor Black at Vauxhall, /Ander en's Bay. That was when the classes wsre neld in the Stock Exchange Buildings. I in with messages when Br Black was indisposed, and delivered them to Mr Purdie, sen., who was acting janitor and curator of the Museum at that time. When I joined the*staff si} "lab." boy, the classrooms were two —"lab." and lecture room, —with a partition between. There were also a balance room and private room. Tho metallurgy and assaying classes were held in " the lab.," and downstairs were furnaces which were built for the melting of metals. The mining students at that time were Memrs P. P. Daniels, Hamann, Butement, and A. Montgomery, and the classes were held at night. The University houses were occupied by Dr Macgregor, who lived at the corner of Leith street and St. David' street; Professor Black; Professor Scott, who had just arrived, a single man, and was joined by Professor .Mainwaring Brown and Mr Hodgkins; and Professor Shand, who occupied the house nearest to the bridge. Professor Sale at that time was living on the upper Port Chalmers road. Later, he came to the house which Professor Macgregor had occupied. Dr Scott removed to a higher level for reasons connected with his wife's health, and Professor Hutton moved into the house he had occupied. The Medical School had started with a few students. Among them, I remember Messrs Montgomery, Cunningham, Johnston, Jeffcoat, and Smith taking the " lab." chemistry classes. Mr Jefferson, the porter, or " corpses' friend," as the students called him, had a very unpleasant duty looking after the bodies and pickling them in the cellar, and carrying them up two flights of s l/airs to the dissecting room. I gave him all the assistance I could in carrying the bodies upstairs and using block and tackle. He also did all the fitting up of the anatomical museum and the mounting of specimens for the Museum, this work being a credit to him. The students used to come down and bounce me on the floor, take nearly all the clothes off me, tie my legs and hands be hind my back, and carry me up to the dissecting room, and put me on the table, and leave me there alongside a corpse. They would then lock the door and clear out. Jefferson would lot me loose, and ask who brought me up there. It was nothing for the students to come downstairs with an arm or a leg or other parts of a body and chase me all over the " chem. lab." It was good fun for them, and I had got used to it. The medical students in those days had more liberty than now, .and they made good use of it. ■ For my part, it was all taken in a good feeling. They were all fine fellows, and good students. Some of them now hold the highest positions in ' New Zealand «and other parts of the world. Among those whom I can remember are Drs Barnett, Somerville, Lindsay, Christie (the first M. 8.), Fleming, Hogg, Allan (Mosgiel), Copland, H. Barclay, M'Kellar, I. W. W. Hunter, Nlewlands, Torrance, J. Fitzgerald, Hardie Neil, M'Brearty, W. Browne, Marks, W. M'Ara, Rogers, C. Snow, T. Will, Smith, J. B. Thomson, and G. Fenwick.

The first lady who intended to join the Medical School as a student was Miss Tracey, now the wife of Mr Druinmond, chief reporter of the Lyttelton Times. She did not get any -encouragement from Dr Scott at the time, and did not have anyone to hack her up. Miss Tracey attended the chemistry classes and other classes, but was very much disappointed at not entering the- Medical School. Miss Tracey. I can remember, was a good student with Professor Black. Miss Siedeberg, who joined the Medical School later, was the first lady to take the medical course, and I must E>ay she deserved great credit for the w%y she stuck to her work in the dissecting room. She had a very unpleasant time among the male students. Thoy did not want lady doctors. I am speaking as one who knows all about it, and the lady students have to thank Miss Siedeberg for her pluck in making -way for them. Miss Cruickshank joined Miss Siedeberg later on, and things went on much better. I had to have hot water and ohloride of lime ready every day, by Professor Black's orders, for Miss Siedeberg to wash her hands and face. The young men would throw the flesh at her every chance they got. This reminds me of the Captain Cain poisoning case at Timaru many years ago. I had to assist Dr Black in the boiling down and testing of the stomach and contents after Captain Cain hod been buried for nine months. It was by me that the boiling was actually done. I was left to look after things when Dr Ogston, Dr M'lntyre, and Dr Black adjourned tor refreshments. They did not ask " Wully " if he wanted any refreshment*. I was locked in between 10 p.m. and 12. The exhibits were ready boiled down -with the chemicals HCI and H2O when they returned ready for testing for the antimony. The next day, after we had a gcod quantity of fat from the stomach and. contents in a poroelain basin, chemicals pure and clean, Dr Black s>aid it was too good to be wasted. He had a small piece to taste, and he said to me: " "Wully, have a piece, man/ which I did. "What do you think of it, Wully?" he asked. I said it would b© all the better of a bit of flavour. With what was left over I propcaed to make some softsoap. " Man, the very thins," he said, " something Bpecial for Miss Siedeberg to wash her hands after she come down from the dissecting room." It was special soap, and I was using, it myself, but Dr Black stopped me. Mi?o Siedeberg gave me great praise for making such nice soap, after Dr Black had told her how it was made. A number of lady "rneds." I remember well were Miss Siedeberg and Miss Cruickshank (who wero the first lady students to practise), Misses Platts, Eidley, Baths*ate, Adams, Collier, Madjdison, and Baird, as well as many others. Among the lady students whom I remember as having taken classes were Miss Freeman,* B.A. (first graduate and winner of the Bowen prize), Mi?£ Marion White, Miss Annie Forbes, Miss Tracey, Miss Fraoer, Miss Steel, Miss Fk>. Allan, Miss Alexander, Miss Baxter, and Miss Duncan.

Classes were arranged in the evening for business men, and Mr "W. Begg (Mayor of Dune&in) attended a olaea for wool testing and dyeing. Professor Black used to say of him: "A fine fellow Bagg, WuDy; good worker and a clean worker: I wist I had more students like hrm."_ I Itnew it well from experience in cleaning up after the students. Other students I remember well are Sir J. Salmond, Mr Sidey, M.P., Dr Chilton,-Sir James Allen, Dr Mellox, and Mr J. Hay. I had the honour of assisting Sir James Allen at. his first public lecture on metallurgy and assaying in the All Saints' Sunday School. He had gone Home to finish hie course at the Mining School, and it was after he returned to Dunedin that I assisted ihim. I was extremely eorry when, through

no fault of mine, I had to resign from the chemistry- classes, as I had a most pleasant time with the students, but I am pleased to say I am again in the council's service, under the Curator of the Museum (Professor Benham, the senior professor), having been janitor of that institution for the last eight years.