Bloomers From the Belfry
by Virgil Y. C. Eady, Jr.
When my daddy was dean, I was in his office one day and saw a key in his desk. I asked him what it was to and he said it was to the big door at the top of Seney that led up to the tower. I said, “I’ve always wanted to go up to the top of Seney! Can I borrow it and go take a look?” He said it would be ok, so I took the key – then jumped in my car and went into town to have a copy made. So then I had a key I could use anytime I wanted.
Sometime later, that would be in the 1950s, I was a student there and proposed to one of my friends that we try and fly a flag from the top of Seney. For a flagpole, we used one of the cane poles that were growing by Mr. Dickey’s house. They grew up to be about thirty feet long. It was about two o’clock in the morning. One of us went up the tower and dropped a rope down to the other who tied it to the pole and then we pulled it up to where the bell was. There were cross-braces up there we had to climb on to get the pole into position. Fortunately, we pulled that off and got the pole in place. Then we had to come up with something to hang from the flagpole. I came up with this great idea that we should go to town and buy the biggest pair of red bloomers we could find. So we did, and we attached the bloomers to the pole. Then got back down and I dutifully locked the door.
The next day, everyone could see these red bloomers flying from the top of Seney.
Sometime later, that would be in the 1950s, I was a student there and proposed to one of my friends that we try and fly a flag from the top of Seney. For a flagpole, we used one of the cane poles that were growing by Mr. Dickey’s house. They grew up to be about thirty feet long. It was about two o’clock in the morning. One of us went up the tower and dropped a rope down to the other who tied it to the pole and then we pulled it up to where the bell was. There were cross-braces up there we had to climb on to get the pole into position. Fortunately, we pulled that off and got the pole in place. Then we had to come up with something to hang from the flagpole. I came up with this great idea that we should go to town and buy the biggest pair of red bloomers we could find. So we did, and we attached the bloomers to the pole. Then got back down and I dutifully locked the door.
The next day, everyone could see these red bloomers flying from the top of Seney.
My dad thought it was kind of funny, but Mr. Jackson, the business manager at Emory at Oxford, went livid. He told the work crew to get it down, but they couldn’t figure out how to get up there and take it down. It was much too dangerous, they said. So it stayed up there and Mr. Jackson stewed and stewed about it the rest of the spring and into the summer.
Well, I was on the maintenance crew at Emory at Oxford and I finally said to Mr. Jackson that I might be able to get it down for him. He asked me who I needed to help me, so I asked for Charley and Robert, the two strongest boys I knew. We did it. We got it down and I was a big hero -- and no one knew it was me who put it up there in the first place.
Sometime later, my buddy, who helped me put it up there, evidently told some of the boys in the dormitory how it happened. Fifty years later, we had a reunion on the Oxford campus. We were sitting in a room, eating and one of the alumni came up to me and said, “Virgil, I’ve been meaning to tell you. We finally decided that you were a regular guy when we heard about that bloomer episode. We thought you were kind of stuck up until then, but when we heard about that, it cast you in a different light. And I said, “Well, I’m happy that I passed your inspection.”
Well, I was on the maintenance crew at Emory at Oxford and I finally said to Mr. Jackson that I might be able to get it down for him. He asked me who I needed to help me, so I asked for Charley and Robert, the two strongest boys I knew. We did it. We got it down and I was a big hero -- and no one knew it was me who put it up there in the first place.
Sometime later, my buddy, who helped me put it up there, evidently told some of the boys in the dormitory how it happened. Fifty years later, we had a reunion on the Oxford campus. We were sitting in a room, eating and one of the alumni came up to me and said, “Virgil, I’ve been meaning to tell you. We finally decided that you were a regular guy when we heard about that bloomer episode. We thought you were kind of stuck up until then, but when we heard about that, it cast you in a different light. And I said, “Well, I’m happy that I passed your inspection.”