The Two Towers: Main

lived in mid-Victorian formality. The courtliness with which these ladies graced any social occasion was a never-ending source of delight. With dresses sweeping the streets long after the fashion had changed, collars hugging their chins, flowering hats, and lorgnettes, they may have been in this world, but they were certainly never of it. Professor Coombs was relentlessly loyal to his sisters; all his life he made no other living arrangements except for frequent visits to his family in a Southern state.

When Alton L. Smith, professor of Drawing and Machine Design, was made assistant to the president, some of the pressure was relieved for Professor Coombs as well as for the president. But the voluminous records kept piling up, chiefly because of a new rash of committee and faculty meetings, which often started early in the morning and lasted all day--sometimes until well into the night. At these meetings each student's progress was carefully discussed and charted. This weary custom was relinquished when a committee took over the main part of the responsibility, but even then, the work was burdensome for the president. When a small printed card reached Dr. Hollis' desk announcing: "Typing done neatly and swiftly," it found a susceptible prospect. This, he thought, is just what we need.

With the appearance of the young Gertrude Rugg, with her china-doll complexion and naivete to match, the office bounced alive. Her nimble fingers typed the records almost as fast as her nimble brain could sort them. In time she became the registrar. She even became an unofficial member of the faculty, sitting in on committee meetings not only to take notes but also to give counsel. She became the safe sounding board for teachers, students, and parents; there was no work, no matter how important, that could not wait if anyone came to her door with the plea: "Miss Rugg, I have a problem."

Her desk became the kitchen stove around which Tech life clustered for warmth and cheer and comfort. She became the memory on which the professors relied--she and her little black books which were as complete a Tech chronology as could be found. Certainly she was the information center of her day, with "I'll ask Miss Rugg" the crutch which supported many a limping fact.

There had, and have been, other registrars, "recorders," and administrative helpers, but hers became a unique role. Partly because she made it so, partly because of the period when she served. Administration was a pie that had not as yet been cut up into many neat little pieces. It was something that was nibbled at from many directions, and sometimes it landed all on one plate. Usually it was Miss Rugg's.

With the administrative problem shoved aside for the moment, the professors turned their magnifying glass to other matters to discover the reason for their suspected doldrums.

Dr. Hollis even turned the glass on the outside activities of his professors and, even more embarrassingly, on his own. It sometimes seemed that Dr. Hollis spent as much time away from campus as