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Excerpts
from Wally-l postings by Wabash alumni
“George was at his
best in the car when we let him "drive."
The dog would sit in the driver's seat like royalty
while his human passenger would drive the car from
the side. This never failed to get the attention
of passersby who all seemed to know George by name.
From David Gillespie ’62
I am a Delt from the 1958-1962
era, which was the heyday of George Dog. George
actually belonged to the next door neighbors to
the "old Delt house" at 506 W. Wabash.
George would not stay at home, attracted I guess
to the many young men next door who gave him unending
attention. So the neighbors (whose name I cannot
now remember)gave him to us.
George had several litter mates
around town. One belonged to the County Sheriff.
If you will recall, that dog was always hanging
out of the back window of the Sheriff's patrol car.
Another sibling belonged to the barber who ran the
shop in the downtown hotel (I can't remember the
name of the hotel now). That dog seemed always to
be asleep in one of the barber chairs to the point
where they finally took that chair "our of
service" and devoted it to the dog.
George was a "piece of work,"
which was, of course, no reflection on the behavior
of his many masters. Like most boxers, he passed
wind regularly. He loved to go to Professor Karl-Heinz
Planitz's German classes because Dr. Planitz seemed
to like him and spoke to him often saying, "Gaorg,
hast du gas?" George would yawn and assume
a new sleeping position much to the envy of we weaker
German students who, sadly, would also rather have
been sleeping. George attended other classes but
often of his own accord wandering in and out of
classrooms at will. This occurred mainly in Center
and South Halls. I don't recall ever seeing George
in any Division 1 buildings and wonder if there
was a message in that behavior. Maybe some Division
1 types saw him there but since I avoided those
places like the plague, I did not see him there.
To my knowledge, no one ever objected to George's
presence, only his farts. Can those be separated?
George had other attributes and
idiosyncrasies. He was in his glory on dance weekends
because the ladies loved him and "made over
him' to excess. But George was missing certain male
accouterments and never seemed to respond to this
female attention like we students longed to respond.
I think this frustration led George to frequently
drink too much on dance weekends, an affliction
which sometimes also presented itself in the behavior
of his "masters." Usually though, these
"masters" were the ones who did not have
dates for the weekend. I can tell you from personal
experience that one should not sneak up on George
on the morning after a big dance night when he was
"sleeping it off" behind a chair in the
house library and yell. Especially if one wanted
to remain free of bite marks.
George loved to sit in a chair
on the front porch of the house and watch the world
go by as did several of his "masters."
Some of those "masters" spent too much
time watching the world go by and began watching
their grades and their future go by. George, of
course, had no such worries. He only needed to know
when his next meal was ready.
George would often take off for
downtown on his own. I followed him one day and
he went to the post office, the courthouse and the
barber shop. I swear I think he was visiting his
siblings. When I pulled up in my car (a '49 Chevy
on which I could change the water pump in 30 minutes
flat) he would hop in without hesitation. He was
at his best in the car when we let him "drive."
George would sit in the driver's seat like royalty
while his human passenger would drive the car from
the side. This never failed to get the attention
of passersby who all seemed to know George by name.
On one occasion during winter
"someone" coaxed George into the communal
dorm and under the warming electric blanket of Brother
Bob Charles who was not fond of George. George apparently
liked the warm bed as there was no problem in getting
him in the bed, under the covers and asleep (with
snoring of course). Later we all heard the footsteps
of Brother Charles coming down the stairs to the
dorm and his waiting warm bed. I confess it was
difficult not to giggle under the heavy atmosphere
of anticipation. The next thing heard was George
growling rather viciously and Brother Charles taking
God's name in vain as he voiced his displeasure
at George's presence in his bed and his anger at
those who would pull such a despicable trick on
him. As I remember, George finally removed himself
from the warm cocoon, but not without further displays
of his displeasure at the interruption, and wandered
back upstairs to sleep in more hospitable environs.
Brother Charles, meanwhile, was continuing to rail
at unknown perpetrators while trying to "clean"
his bed of George's presence.
Obviously I have fond memories
of George and our time together in Crawfordsville
as I am sure many of my fraternity brothers do also.
George added a richness to my college experience.
Fortunately, someon had the presence of mind to
have George sit for a photographic portrait before
his departure from this earth. To the best of my
knowledge, that portrait still resides at the Crawfordsville
home of fraternity brother Professor Austin Brooks,
class of 1961. I saw Aus at the 40th reunion of
the class of 1962 in May of this year. Sadly, I
neglected to ask about the portrait of George Dog
but I honestly do think about him from time to time.
“A number of
dogs around town looked like Wooglin. My wife, a
psychiatrist, suspects that we Betas enjoyed Wooglin's
exploits and, thus, chose not to have him neutered.”
From Dr. Philip Coons ’67
I am a Beta and was at Wabash
from 1963 to 1967. I think George was still alive
when I arrived.
But our chapter mascot was Wooglin,
a black and white collie mix.
A number of dogs around town looked
like Wooglin. My wife, a psychiatrist, suspects
that we Betas enjoyed Wooglin's exploits and, thus,
chose not to have him neutered. Who knows?
Anyway, when I was in Crawfordsville
recently I saw a stray who looked like Woogie. Perhaps
we Betas were proud of his genetic lineage!
Woogie, like other campus dogs,
was prone to flatulence. He could empty the Beta
TV room quite rapidly. Departing chapter members
would whine, "Aw, Woogie," in their haste
to exit.
We Betas used to have a song with
the words, "go to Wooglin when we die."
After being around Woogie, I was not sure that I
wanted to go there. It could be a smelly place!
In my last year or so, a companion
was provided for Wooglin. Fritz was a St. Bernard.
I felt really sorry for the pledges who had to clean
up his drool. One would have to change clothes after
one of his dog kisses.“Word got to the Phi
Delts in Crawfordsville that we should have a "marriage"
of the two dogs.”
From Earl Johnson, USAF Maj. Gen (Ret.)
OK, gang, You asked for it:
It was in the midst of the Depression
Years and was most certainly the Year 1934. I was
in my Freshman Year.
The Phi Delts at Wabash had "Old
Ben" .a St. Bernard male, a gift of Ben Evans,
Class of the 1920's somewhere. The Sigma Chi's at
Depauw had a female Great Dane, in a heat, and somehow
word got to the Phi Delts in Crawfordsville that
we should have a "marriage" of the two
dogs.
The "ceremony" took
place on the old eastside porch of the old Phi Delt
house and was attended by at least forty or fifty
students several of whom were Sigma Chi's from Depauw.
The reason I know all this was that I was a Phi
Delt pledge and had to attend the two dogs after
the "marriage" ceremony since they did
not want to leave each other.
In due time the female Great Dane
from Depauw delivered either 9 or 12 puppies and
the agreement was that Wabash would get half of
them and Depau could keep half. So in a few weeks
half-breed puppies from Depauw began to appear on
the Wabash campus. I know one went to the Phi Gam
house, another to the Sigma Chi's, perhaps the Kappa
Sigs got one, but in any event these pups were all
over the campus and in the classrooms in due time.
You could tell they were Old Ben's off-spring for
he had weak hind legs and all the pups had "weak
hind legs".
When I had graduated in 1938 and
had gone off to war in 1941, the off-springs of
this "marriage" were still evident on
the Wabash campus. This is one of the reasons if
you were to go by the Phi Delt house today (Year
2002) you will see a male, St. Bernard mascot named
"General III" which is in memory of one
of the great periods of my life.“I humbly suggested
that rather than a dog we buy ourselves an elk which
would distinguish Kappa Sigma from every other frat
on campus.”
From Page Stephens
The only dog I had any problem
with was the late and lamented Delt's dog, George,
who was so flatulent that he could clear out a lecture
hall in a few minutes if given the chance. Fortunately
the Delts never brought him into a major class which
was held in a large room but some of them did bring
him along when they attended one of their upper
level courses in Professor Russell's classes which
he held in his office in Yandes and George's farts
could make the atmosphere in the room unbearable
in a few minutes.
One day, back when I was still
a member of Kappa SIG, the chapter debated whether
or not we should get ourselves a dog like so many
other frats had.
I humbly suggested that rather
than a dog we buy ourselves an elk which would distinguish
KS from every other frat on campus so that when
a newcomer to the campus first saw it grazing peacefully
on the campus they could be told that it was the
Kappa Sigma elk.
For reasons which are still beyond
me, my suggestion was turned down.
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