The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 520

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

the Ferguson era, issues to which the public on occasion at-
tached great importance. Ferguson's cottroversy with the
University is said to have been due to "certain alleged irregu-
larities," yet no mention is made of the governor's demand that
half a dozen professors be removed for political reasons. The
court of impeachment is described as a "kangaroo" court, and
the whole list of charges against Ferguson is passed off as
being the work of "professional politicians." Equally amazing
is the fact that in discussing the first term of Mrs. Ferguson
and the election of 1926 nothing is said about highways.
There are occasional errors, of which the following examples
are typical. On page 75 Joe Bailey is spoken of as "the United
States Senator" in 1914, when in fact he had retired from that
office two years before. On page 89 it is stated that the gover-
nor's salary was raised to $10,000 in 1936; actually, it was
raised to $12,000. There are also a few typographical errors.
This first biography of the Fergusons leaves much to be
desired, but as a family portrait it is both valuable and enter-
taining. Its stories of life in the governor's mansion are inter-
esting, and the comments on Austin society and Austin gossip
are amusing. An excellent collection of pictures of the family
occupies thirteen pages and adds materially to the value of the
volume. Mrs. Nalle has respect and admiration for her mother
as a political figure, and there is nothing to indicate that she
ever entertained the slightest doubt as to the integrity and
ability of her father. In commenting upon his death she said,
"Daddy had lived a full life, rich in accomplishment for his
family and his state." She is convinced that in taking "two
governors for the price of one" the state got a bargain.
R. W. STEEN
Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College
A Westerly Trend. By Godfrey Sikes, F. R. G. S. Tucson (Ari-
zona Pioneers Society), 1944. Pp. xiii+325.
This autobiography of Godfrey Sikes, discerning, adventurous,
and good-humored Englishman, seems to have gone largely
unnoticed in Texas. It would be a shame if it continued to do so.
For in the first place it is genuinely good reading about our
own peculiarities and ways. In the second place it will help
disabuse us of a lingering frontier notion that the English are
devoid of wit and humor. And in the third and most important

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