M.L. Latta and three of his Admirable Presidents." In this case Latta
merely takes for himself the upper right-hand corner, the other eminent
persons pictured being ex-Presidents Roosevelt, McKinley and Cleveland.
The star illustration, however, is a "made up" picture, in which a
photograph of Latta, looking spick-and-span, has been pasted onto what
is very obviously a painted picture of a hall full of people in evening
dress, all of them gazing at Latta, who stands upon the stage,
dignified, suave, impressive, and all dressed-up by the brush of the
"re-toucher." This picture is called: "In the Auditorium at London, in
1894." Similar artfulness is shown in pictures of the "university"
buildings, where the same frame structure, photographed from opposite
ends, appears in one case as, "Young Ladies' Dormitory," and in the
other as, "Chapel and Young Men's Dormitory."

In his autobiography, Latta tells how, in the course of getting his own
schooling, he raised money by teaching a district school during
vacation. He says:

After paying my expenses, I had nearly a hundred dollars to return
to school with. When I returned I was able to dress very neatly
indeed, and the young ladies received me very cordially on the
green during social hour. Before I taught school it was a common
saying among the young ladies and young men "Latta"; but after I
returned with a hundred dollars it was "Mr. Latta" all over the
campus. I would hear the young ladies saying among themselves, "I
bet Mr. Latta will not go with you--he will correspond with me this
afternoon." I paid no attention to it. I said to myself, "Don't you
see what a hundred dollars will do?"

In another place the Professor reveals how he came to write his book: