Third Edition- Completely Revised LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN IN MEMORY OF STEWART S. HOWE JOURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION C C81uEe 1924 / The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN MAim19r1 L161 — O-1096 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/concerningcornelOOenge CONCERNING CORNELL THIRD EDITION COMPLETELY REVISED 1924 Cornell Co-operative Society Ithaca, N. Y. Trade Agents CONCERNING CORNELL BY O. D. VON ENGELN, '08 Professor of Physical Geography in Cornell University THIRD EDITION CORNELL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY TRADE AGENTS ITHACA, NEW YORK 1924 Copyright, 1917 by O. D. von Engeln THIRD EDITION - COMPLETELY REVISED 1 924 The Morrill Press Fulton, N. Y c CSU£e CONTENTS Page PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xv CORNELL— A Poem. By President A. W. Smith . . 2 CHAPTER I THE CAMPUS 3 Happy environment of Cornell — Original appearance of the campus — Requirements of an ideal site for an American university — Charm of the Cornell quad- rangle — Tour of the campus with incidental remarks on: — Getting signed up — War activities — History of the totem pole — Under the elms — Standing room only at a church — The Cornell chime — Some details of university management — Study and play with the architects — History of the McGraw-Fiske Mansion — Two inventions — Education of the engineer — Winter sports on Beebe Lake — The allround fitness of Cornell — Climate of the storm country — A meal at the cafeteria — Teaching domestic economy — The realm of poultry husbandry — Campus distances — Aviation officers' ground school — Extent and diver- sity of Cornell — At the hour — In college precincts. CHAPTER II THE FOUNDER— EZRA CORNELL 105 Birth and parentage — Family fortunes — Youthful enterprise — Departure from home — Arrival in Ithaca — Rise from mechanic to mill-manager and business agent — Marriage — First home — The tunnel project — Building a mill — Out of employment — Purchase of patent rights in an improved plow — Acquaintance with Mr. F. O. J. Smith — Walking trips to Georgia and Maine — The Cornell apparatus for laying the first telegraph line — Ezra Cornell's entrance into the telegraph enterprise — Rapidly acquired comprehen- sion of the defects and difficulties of the project — Wrecking of the pipe-laying machine — Ezra Cornell's learning — Completion of the first telegraph line and vi Concerning Cornell the first messages — Ezra Cornell as telegraph con- Page traetor and promoter — Organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company — A fortune realized — Early appreciation of public needs — Promotion of agriculture — Political career — The Ithaca Cornell library — Early appreciation of the need for practical with liberal education — Trustee of the New York State Agricultural College at Ovid — Founding of The Cornell University and difficulties of its early years — Situation of Ithaca with respect to transpor- tation routes — Railway financing — Crisis of 1873 and illness of the Founder — Death — Personality of Ezra Cornell — Ezra Cornell on the campus — Rela- tions with students — The Villa Cornell — True and firm — Remarkable equanimity. CHAPTER III OF HISTORICAL INTEREST 154 Sources — The unlike natures of the founders — Edu- cation of Andrew D. White — Impress of President White's training on Cornell University — Mr. White in Europe and as professor at the University of Michigan — First meeting of Andrew D. White and Ezra Cornell — The Ithaca library — Geography of Mr. Cornell's and Mr. White's lives — The Land Grant Act of 1862 — Extent of land rights received by New York State — The People's College and the New York State Agricultural College — Incorpora- tion of Cornell University — Management of the Land Grant fund — Attacks and disparagement — The new education at Cornell and the resulting criticisms — The nonsectarian pulpit — The opening day — The campus in early years — Rapid growth in plant — The Chi Psi fire and the McGraw-Fiske will contest — Goldwin Smith — Louis Agassiz — Special lectures in later years — The College of Agriculture — The Department of Mechanic Arts — College of Arts and Sciences — Professor T. F. Crane — Other colleges — Dr. Law and the New York State Veterinary Col- lege — Cornell University Medical College — Number of faculty and students — President Adams's adminis- Contents vii tration — Faculty representation in the governing of Page the university — Administration of President Schur- man — Typhoid fever epidemic — The Infirmary — Military instruction — Great material expansion — Establishment and growth of The New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University — Presi- dent Livingston Farrand — Need of greater free endowment. CHAPTER IV STUDENT LIFE 226 Cosmopolitan nature of the student body — Cornell an entity — Finding a room — Places to eat — Fresh- man rules — President's address — Attending classes — Incidents of instruction — Evenings — At the game — The Cornell yell — Cornell spirit — Preliminary ex- aminations — Marking of papers — Block week — Junior week — The Short Horns — Underclass mud rush — The Pageant, May, 1917 — Spring day — The Cayuga regatta — Senior singing. CHAPTER V STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND OBSERVANCES .... 256 Scope of the title — Opportunities for self-supporting students at Cornell — The status of organized stu- dent activities at Cornell — Reason for the multi- plicity of such organizations — Undergraduate view- point of the functions of student activities — Intel- lectual, college, sectional and social clubs — Feminine clubs and societies — Competitions for student publi- cations — The Cornell Daily Sun — Other Cornell publications — Debate — Dramatic organizations — Musical clubs — Athletics — Undergraduate managers — Class honorary societies — Student politics — Com- mittee positions — The order of shingle hunters — Student observances — Banquets and athletic rallies — Dances — Spring day — Freshman cap burning. CHAPTER VI FRATERNITIES AT CORNELL 287 Number and membership figures of fraternities at Cornell — Increase in number of fraternities — Ad- viii Concerning Cornell vantages of fraternity membership — Some adverse Page influences on scholarship — Expense of fraternity membership — Eligibility — Rushing rules — Effect of freshman residence in university dormitories on fraternities — Fraternity influence — Financing the purchase of a fraternity house — The fraternity and the university — Choice of a fraternity — Inside the chapter house. CHAPTER VII ATHLETICS AT CORNELL 305 Cornell literally triumphant — Tribute to Cornell athletics in the Boston Transcript — Another point of view — Innuendos — Record of the Cornell crews — Charles E. Courtney as an oarsman — Cornell vic- tories with Courtney as coach — Courtney's disci- pline — Winning the Inter-collegiate Track Trophy — Cross-country record — Moakley and the Cornell runners — The rise of the Cornell football team — Champions in basket ball — Premier title in base- ball — A Cornell coach of wrestling and a champion- ship team six times in eight years — Insistence on satisfactory scholarship by faculty and coaches — Great number of men participating in athletics at Cornell — Making a team — Criticisms of college athletics — Gala athletic days at Cornell. CHAPTER VIII INSTRUCTION 336 The point of view — Purpose of Cornell University — Relation of the professional colleges to the College of Arts and Sciences — Is a college course worth while — Requirements for admission and graduation at Cor- nell — Nature of instruction — Need of a larger general endowment — Prospect of securing such moneys — Laboratory practice — Credit hours — Overwork and underwork — Scholarship — The Graduate School — Summer Session — Extra curriculum instruction — Advantages of residence in a university community — Curious requests received by the university — Vocational opportunities for college graduates — Functions of University training. Contents ix CHAPTER IX Page GEOGRAPHY OF THE ITHACA-CORNELL REGION 379 The study of geography as experienced and ap- praised by the founders of Cornell University — Physiographic history of the Ithaca-Cornell region — Primeval aspect of the Cornell country — Primi- tive resources and industries — Climate — Indian oc- cupation of the region — Ithaca city park — First white settlers — Early routes of communication — Early commerce — Canals and railroads — Agricul- tural development — So-called abandoned farms — Crops — Early industries — Modern enterprises — Advantages of the region as a university site — Ithaca as a residential center" — Cayuga Heights Village — Future prospects of the region — "Ithaca Invites You." CHAPTER X OVER HILL AND INTO HOLLOW 439 Scenic charm of the Finger Lakes region — Six Mile Creek city park — The ride around the loop — Gold- win Smith walk and the Forest Home path — Story of the white maiden captive — The swimming pool — Ezra Cornell's tunnel — Lake Cayuga, a warning — Taughannock Gorge and Falls — Buttermilk, Enfield and Watkins glens — Minor gorges and trout fishing — Climbs to hill-top vantage points — Easy walks with fine views — Motor trips. INDEX 451 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES Face Page In College Precincts — Frontispiece The Commanding Site of Cornell. Photo. © Troy . . 6 A Short Cut to Learning on the Cornell Campus ... 7 Straight Memorial Union 10 Baker Laboratory of Chemistry 11 Barnes Hall 20 The Memorial Apse in Sage Chapel. Photo. Morgan 20 The Library Tower at Night. Photo. S. S. S 21 Sage College and Barnes Hall Viewed from the Library Tower 28 Morrill Hall 29 McGraw Hall and White Hall 32 Main Drafting Room, College of Architecture .... 33 Franklin Hall 38 Ithaca and the Panorama of the Hills 39 Baker Tower and the Residential Halls. Photo. © Troy 42 Front of Sibley College and White Hall 43 Sibley Dome 48 Rand Hall 49 Students at Work in the Sibley Machine Shop .... 49 The Front of Risley Hall 50 A Bright Winter Day 51 A Snow-Banked Path on the Quadrangle 62 Lincoln Hall 63 The Museum of Classical Archaeology . 63 The Portals of Goldwin Smith Hall 64 The Library, Boardman Hall and Stimson Hall. Photo. ©Troy 65 Class of 1872 Elms 80 Rockefeller Hall 80 Roberts Hall and the Home Economics Building ... 81 The Nook, Ezra Cornell's First Home in Ithaca. . . .112 The Lower End of the Tunnel 112 The First Telegraph Instrument 113 Beebe Dam and Beebe Lake 113 Ezra Cornell in 1857 128 Ezra Cornell in 1874 129 Entrance to the Villa Cornell 144 Illustrations xi Fact; Page Ithaca Falls 145 Andrew D. White 160 Henry W. Sage 161 The First Faculty 176 Sage Chapel 177 McGraw Hall 192 In Baker Court. Photo. Troy 192 Goldwin Smith 193 Some Early Admission Cards 198 The University Faculty in 1916. Photo. Troy ... 199 President Livingston Farrand 202 Presidents White and Schurman in Graduation Day Procession 203 A Company of the Cornell R. O. T. C 224 Statue of the Founder 225 At the Hour 230 The "Six Frosh" 231 At a Football Game, Schoellkopf Field. Photo © Troy 234 Campus, Early Spring, 1869 235 Campus in 1877 235 Sites, Agriculture College and Playground, 1904 . . . 235 Decorated for the Parade 240 Freshman Banquet Rush 241 A Group from the Pageant. Photo. Morgan .... 241 The Spring Day "Peerade" 246 Spring Day on the Quadrangle 247 Senior Singing 250 Receiving Diplomas 251 A Fraternity Lodge 304 Typical Dining-Room in a Fraternity Lodge 304 Northwest Corner of Quadrangle At Night 305 N. Y. S. Drill Hall at Night 305 Courtney and the Coxswains 320 The Swimming Pool in Fall Creek. Photo. © Troy . . 320 Finish, Cornell-Pennsylvania Cross-Country Meet. . . 321 Charles E. Courtney 336 Cayuga Regatta, May 27, 1916. Photo. © Troy . . .337 At the End of Goldwin Smith Walk 352 The Path to Forest Home Village. Photo. Morgan . . 353 An Old Colonial Home in Ithaca 432 An Old Colonial Home in Ithaca 432 xii Concerning Cornell Face Page The Clinton House 433 The New Ithaca High School 433 Taughannock Falls. Photo. Daugherty 448 In Enfield Glen 449 IN THE TEXT Library Tower from Sage Chapel Walk Title Page Cornell from West Hill 1 Map of the Campus 9 The White Gateway 10 The Cascadilla Building 11 The Giant's Staircase, Winter 12 Front of the Old Armory 15 The Totem Pole 17 Weather Bureau Kiosk 18 Cascadilla Bridge with the University Club in Distance 19 Interior, Sage Chapel 22 Ringing the Chime 25 Entrance, Baker Tower 41 In Baker Court 42 The Suspension Bridge over Fall Creek 46 The Castle-like Proportions of Risley Hall 47 Triphammer Falls and the Hydraulic Laboratory ... 49 The Waiting Line at the Toboggan Slide 51 A Toboggan Spill 52 The Exedra 61 From the Entrance Porch of Boardman Hall 64 Bailey Hall 69 Home Economics Building 72 The Loggia, Roberts Hall 76 Fernow Hall 87 Schoellkopf Memorial Field and Training House ... 95 The Drill Hall 97 Veterinary College, Hospital Buildings 99 James Law Hall 101 Site of the Tunnel 114 Description of the Wrecking of the Pipe-Laying Machine 123 Near Sage College 181 South Side of Sage Chapel 183 Goldwin Smith Walk 197 Goldwin Smith Hall 205 Illustrations xiii Page Columns of Goldwin Smith Hall Entrance 207 President White Statue 212 A Corner of the New Residential Halls for Men. . . . 228 Entrance, Prudence Risley Hall 229 Forest Home Path in Winter 245 "When the Sun * * * *" 254 Student Head 257 Student Head 273 Student Head 276 Student Head 281 Student Head 284 Student Head 286 Entrance to a Fraternity Lodge 287 Entrance, Rand Hall, Night 338 Upper Cascadilla Gorge, Winter 347 A Snowy Day 356 A Cornell "R. O. T. C." Group 364 Planting the Class Ivy, Commencement W T eek .... 376 Block Diagram of the Ithaca-Cornell Region 389 An Old Stone House 403 In DeWitt Park 407 The House of Mystery 409 City Hall, Ithaca 422 An Historic House, Ithaca 425 An Early Colonial Home, Ithaca 432 A Movie Theatre in Ithaca 435 Map of Roads and Points of Scenic Interest Around Ithaca 440 Inspiration Point 441 In Upper Fall Creek Gorge 443 Cayuga Lake from Renwick Pier 445 MAPS Map of the Campus 9 Block Diagram Map of Region 389 Map of Roads Around Ithaca 440 ACKNOWLEDGMENT (second edition) THE author desires to express his deep sense of obligation to the many different persons who helped him in the original production of this vol- ume and with its revision for this, second, edition. To mention all by name would require more space than this page affords and to omit anyone would be ungracious, since each of their contributions was essential to the making of the book. But it is only proper that the work of the Faculty Com- mittee intrusted with the critical reading of the original manuscript be specifically acknowledged. To the promptness of these gentlemen at that time and their kindly attitude the writer owes much. It is appropriate, also, that the aid of the many readers of the first edition be gratefully acknowl- edged. Their collective approval and purchases have made possible, so soon after the first issue, this second and revised edition. The record of the first fifty years of Cornell still constitutes the bulk of the volume. But in the revision it has been endeavored also to incorpo- rate the, already noteworthy, accomplishment of the second new era of Cornell; particularly as such rejuvenescence is in accord with the predic- tion of the Preface to the First Edition. Note to the Third Edition. — Although only a few years have passed since the Second Edition was issued many changes have taken place at Cornell. Since then the university has come under the able administration of Dr. Livingston Farrand. The magnificent Baker Laboratory of Chemistry and the Straight Memorial Union building have been added to the equipment of the institution. These are outstanding items. Those of lesser import are so numerous as to preclude their listing here. In the text, however, it is endeavored to make a faithful record of all those changes that have signifi- cance. The approval given the two previous issues, together with the indicated need of bringing the contents up to date, is the warrant for a Third Revised Edition. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION THOMAS HUGHES, who wrote "Tom Brown's Schooldays," and who may, accordingly, be quoted with some appropriateness in a volume such as this, avers that he once made a resolution never to write a preface. His idea seems to have been that a preface is unnecessary if the author is content to have his aim read in what he has written. But, alas, in its sixth edition, Thomas Hughes broke his resolution in order to defend both the content and the purpose of the famous book. In view of this history the present writer may be par- doned for inserting the apology, if such it is, in the first edition, in order to make sure that it will appear at all. First, then, it is hoped that this book is not the one too many. A shop-girl, at Christmas time, puzzled to find a suitable gift for a friend, consulted a mutual acquaintance. "Why," said the confi- dante, "get her a book." "No," answered the prospective donor, "that won't do, she has a book already!" In a university community most every one has a book. Yet it may be that there is still room on the shelf for another, and it is the hope, perhaps fond, of the author that this volume will fill that place. Next it should be said that the excuse the author offers for attempting to describe Cornell is that he has frequented her halls both as an under- graduate and graduate student and as a member of the faculty; and not that he can claim to know xvi Concerning Cornell Cornell so intimately as do those who have been much longer in her service. The project in any event is overly ambitious, and in this aspect recalls the lament of the old professor who, after thirty years of study devoted solely to the dative and ablative cases, remarked: "he would much better have stuck to the dative !" Finally, it is hoped that if the text prove unat- tractive buyers will find enlightenment and enter- tainment in the pictures. But with regard to these there is also occasion for misgivings; for it was found that the barber who formerly presided over the third chair back had been discharged because "he got so he illustrated his stories with cuts." Seriously, there is a good reason for the appear- ance of such a volume as this at the present time, for its publication will help to invite attention to the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Cornell, 1868-1918. The end of the world war may well mark the initiation of a new era in the history of the institution. In that case these pages will afford some summary of the first fifty years of progress, at any rate in contrast with what the future shall bring forth, even though the great strides forward of the past are herein lamely told. It is with this idea in mind that the writer presumes so far as to think that the volume may have some permanent value. And, as is usual, the preface is the last word set down; at that time the need for apologies is most acutely felt. Ithaca, N. Y., 1917. CONCERNING CORNELL CORNELL A POEM* By President Albert W. Smith Lo, at her feet the valley lies; She stands in changing shade and shine Of brooding clouds and sunny skies Amidst the hills of oak and pine. Her bells ring out o'er winter's snow, To summer skies, in autumn's haze; And many murmuring waters flow Where we exulting sing her praise. She sees the lake with mirrored shore, Or swept by winds and flecked with white. Beneath the stars she watches o'er The city twinkling through the night. The chiming hours too swiftly run While blithe or sad we tread her ways, Till all the golden days are done In which we learn to sing her praise. *This poem was originally very kindly offered by, then, Dean Smith for first appearance in this volume. Owing to a delay in publication it was earlier printed elsewhere set to music. CHAPTER I THE CAMPUS F T MUST be confessed that most of us are crea- * tures of environment, in that we are depressed and unhappy if our surroundings are not agreeable. We do our best work, we dream big things when the spirit is free from the petty discomfort aroused by any unfitness of the scene. It is true that the genius may rise above such minor distractions and achieve greatness in a sordid habitat. But the average person becomes sensible of leisure, and of ambition to enjoy a broader intellectual life, most keenly when the flesh is satisfied and the mind con- tent. He smiles when nature smiles. It is, there- fore, pleasant to write down, as a first thing in this book, that the Cornell Campus is beautiful. Beau- tiful, not merely as pretty, but in a way that in- spires one with a profound conviction of the entire appropriateness of the scene and its setting. Nor is this the pronouncement only of the writer and of the tribe of Cornellians. Unprejudiced visitors, both foreign and American, have been unstinted in their praise; they have declared that the site of Cornell is practically unrivalled elsewhere in the world, that it is uniquely fit for a seat and abode of higher learning. No need here for damning with faint praise. While many details give each their touch to make up the attractiveness of Cornell as a whole, a broad perspective first, will best serve to put 4 Concerning Cornell those readers who are unfamiliar with the univer- sity in sympathetic touch with my theme. Some kind of standard on which to base a judgment is needed. Thus the surroundings of European uni- versities, particularly those of England, are pro- verbially charming and picturesque. Much of this attractiveness they owe to the dignity and mellow- ing effects that come with age. It is not so with Cornell. One can best appreciate this by going back, only a comparatively few years, with Cor- nell's revered first president, Andrew D. White, to the time when Cornell was but a vision of the future. In the introduction to a pamphlet for the guidance of class secretaries, published in 1914, Mr. White wrote: It is difficult for me to realize that the day-dreams of Ezra Cornell and myself as we stood together for the first time on the hilltop which has since become the campus and discussed plans for the university which now bears his name, have become realities within a single generation. The wooded ravines of Cascadilla and Fall Creek were beautiful then as now, but the clear land between was but a meagre pasture, furrowed by ancient glaciers and divided by rail fences, with only here and there a tree left standing in a soil apparently too scanty to be valuable. The Cascadilla Building of gray stone in the distance and a few cottages and barns were the only structures on these two hundred and fifty acres. The ideal so firmly fixed in the mind of Mr. Cornell of a university with many buildings and with hundreds or perhaps thousands of students, seemed so remote as to be mere phantasy. The village of Ithaca, clustered among the trees of the valley be- low us, the wide sweep of the wooded hills beyond and the blue water of Cayuga in the distance were vivid The Campus 5 realities; but the university domain which has now become increased to more than a thousand acres, with its scores of buildings, its towers and spires, its chiming bells and the hurrying crowds of students were as yet unthought of. In the closing sentence of the quotation above, Mr. White gave a suggestion of the present day Cornell. By attempting to form a concept of an ideal site for an American University, we can in certain measure put ourselves in the position of the Founder and Mr. White in those early days when they dreamed and, above all, planned the future. In some such frame of mind the Harvard writer must have been who pictures the distress of an en- tering freshman of that university on finding Harvard a composite article made up of many more or less insignificant buildings crow T ded in by commonplace streets. He had expected to find it, no doubt, the typical American college, a few im- posing edifices surrounded with glorious country, a great campus and the Charles River. The few red buildings forming the rectangle, looked like some- thing out of the ordinary it is true, but still he half doubted, and to make sure he hailed the first man who looked like a student with: "Say, is this Har- vard ?" If we can agree with the Harvard writer's characterization of what the setting of a typical American university should be, then we are in a position to appreciate how completely the present day Cornell fulfills such an ideal. There are more than a few imposing edifices and they are not sur- rounded by commonplace streets. Instead they 6 Concerning Cornell rise, with impressive individuality, from a com- manding site. The glorious country, miles and miles of it, stretches out to view on every side and the university dominates it all. The campus is truly great, it encompasses more than a thousand acres, and the scenery that is its very own is in itself romantic enough to give inspiration to an American Walter Scott. In place of the Charles River one may look with even greater enthusiasm upon the fair expanse of Lake Cayuga, winding northward to the horizon. The greatest of these advantages, the com- manding site from which the glorious country and the prospect of the lake are visible, was present at the university's beginning. The elevated position of the campus is expressive of the high ideals and lofty aspirat'ons of Cornell. But the charm of the Cornell setting is more intimate and pervasive than could be engendered by simply crowning the hill. It is within the quadrangle, sequestered on all sides by the college buildings, that one becomes par- ticularly imbued with that indefinable feeling called college spirit. It would be difficult to tell from whence exactly emanates this consciousness of something partaking at once of cloistered learn- ing and throbbing life. The buildings must cer- tainly contribute a part. Although comparatively few years have elapsed since the formal opening of the university in October, 1868, much of the qual- ity of quiet dignity, of tested fitness, has become attached to Cornell's halls. They lack the moss- grown picturesqueness of the continental institu- The Campus 7 tions but they are old enough to be mantled by the ivy. Hence, from the vantage point of the Cornell quadrangle, one can not feel much sympathy for the American professor who quotes from Mr. Ben- son's essay "From a College Window" as follows: My room looks out into a little court, there is a plot of grass, and to the right of it an old stone-built wall, close against which stands a row of aged lime-trees. Straight opposite, at right angles to the wall, is the east side of a Hall, with its big traceried windows en- livened with a few heraldic shields of stained glass. While I was looking out today there came a flying burst of sun, and the little corner became a sudden feast of delicate color, the rich green of the grass, the foliage of the lime-trees, their brown wrinkled stems, the pale moss on the walls, the bright points of color in the emblazonries of the window, made a sudden delicate harmony of tints. I had seen the place a hundred times before without ever guessing what a perfect picture it made. Inside the porter sat in his comfortable den with his feet on the fender, reading a paper After this quotation, the American professor bemoans his fate because he finds that from his office window at the university: The outlook is pleasing but lacks inspiration. The grass is green enough, when not wholly worn shabby by students seeking a short cut to learning. The American elms rival the English lime-trees, the sun is brighter, the sky bluer than across the waters. But there is no den, no porter! It is quite evident that this professor is not from Cornell. Though the environment of his college may not be ideal, it is clear, also, that some- 8 Concerning Cornell thing American is lacking in his make-up if he can not find inspiration in the brighter sun, the bluer sky, and the graceful American elms. We may be sure that the Cornell elms already outrival the aged English lime-trees although the elms have not yet attained their full maturity of growth. The "short cut to learning" is present also on the Cornell quadrangle. Of it we are no less than proud. Far from being a source of irritation such paths add much to the pictorial interest of the scene. Moreover, while ivy-mantled walls and stone walks, hollowed by the passing of many feet, bestow a distinctive charm that bespeaks the mel- lowing effect of age, it must not be forgotten that Cornell is still growing. The number of her stu- dents increases each year and new buildings rise to accommodate them with classrooms. With enough of age to give stability, one feels that this growth expresses the strong vitality of the university. Accordingly the excavations for a new foundation are not an eyesore. But, please pardon the perversion, we must not neglect the trees by looking at the woods too long. I want that you should know and enjoy Cornell in all her intimate detail. Let us therefore undertake a systematic tour of the Campus, lingering here and there on the trip, as our inclination may dic- tate, to get some insight of the living, as well as of the material organism of the university. I have you with me in spirit, yet you must see everything through my eyes, and I can only talk to you in cold print. There is danger that the picture may be 10 Concerning Cornell distorted. I must always remember that we are doing this together and that as your interest is in the things that are directly before us, I must keep our progress to an orderly course lest I lose you. Mine, you see, would ordinarily be a difficult role, and I might hesitate to undertake the part were it not for the fact that to cloak my indifferent ability as a guide, there will be something to interest us every bit of the way. THE WHITE GATEWAY We enter the Campus at its southwestern corner where town and gown are marked off by the White Gateway, a substantial memorial of sandstone ma- sonry, with inscriptions and adornment that ad- mirably express the spirit of the institution. The iron scrollwork that forms the central crosspiece of the gateway bears the original university seal and motto expressing, in his own words, Ezra The Campus ll Cornell's ideal of the purpose of the university from the date of its inception: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." The donor of the gateway, .Presi- dent A. D. White, has addressed himself to those who come to take advantage of this splendid offer. His advice, carved on a granite block set in the west side of the structure, is well suited to guide a university career and to crown its fruition: So enter that daily thou mayest become more learned and thoughtful, So depart that daily thou mayest become more useful to thy country and to mankind. THE CASCADILLA BUILDING Passing through the gate we follow the walk that borders the deep gorge of Cascadilla Stream. On our right is the massive, square Cascadilla Building, the first structure owned by the univer- sity. At the opening of the institution this build- 12 Concerning Cornell ing housed the registrar's and the faculty offices, in addition to providing faculty and student living rooms. For a number of years just past it had been used only as a residence hall for students and fac- ulty. The whole interior of the building has, how- ever, very recently been entirely remodeled and refurnished and made the first of the university dormitories for men students. Continuing up hill we turn to the left and come then directly to the stone-arch bridge over Casca- dilla Stream. One may lean far out over the para- pet of this bridge and look directly down on the rushing white current of the waterfall known as the Giant's Staircase, many feet below. In its winter casement of ice, particu- larly when a heavy snow- fall clothes in white every twig and branch of the trees that spring out from the gorge walls on either side, this fall presents an attractive sight. In sum- mer the view down the length of the gorge, over the tops of the evergreens opens a long vista to the far western side of Cay- uga Valley. This out- look is especially beauti- ful in the evening when the sunset colors tint the THE GIANT S STAIRCASE- , winter sky. The Campus 13 Cascadilla Bridge is the beginning of Central Avenue. As in every great city there is an artery of traffic where the city's life pulses most actively and visibly, so, also, at Cornell we have, in Central Avenue, a similar thoroughfare. Over some por- tion of its length the greater part of the student body passes several times a day going to and from classes. Consequently, its blue, flag-stone pave- ment serves as an effective publicity medium for white-chalked announcements of undergraduate affairs. These signs are the fruit of midnight toil on the part of the student competitors for manage- rial positions in the various college organizations. Now it is a football game that is proclaimed, a few days later a glee club concert date and next an exhortation to subscribe for the Cornell Sun, the college daily, may appear. In the first week of the school year the avenue is a scene of feverish ac- tivity. Its whole length is dotted with student business agents. The returning undergraduates, particularly the incoming freshmen, must be cajoled or threatened into signing a contract for this, that and the other necessity. Particularly persistent are the subscription canvassers for the various undergraduate publications. There is an almost endless number of such periodicals. A printed form is thrust at the classman and he is urged to "Subscribe for the Sun!" "You can't get along without the Sun, all the college news every morning!" He subscribes. Then he has to ward off a "Widow" man, acting and active for the humorous semi-monthly; the agent for the 14 Concerning Cornell Cornell Graphic, the pictorial sheet that has ousted the Cornell Era, for years the literary journal at Cornell, and other agents for the Sibley Journal and the Cornell Countryman. Perhaps even the Alumni News is sold to a freshman! On several occasions an enterprising junior has been discovered selling Official Announcements of Courses, distributed gratis by the university, to untutored freshmen at twenty-five cents the copy. Of course that is hilariously funny to every sopho- more, especially if the vender is a popular ath- lete. Perhaps not second in aggressiveness to the publication agents, are the emissaries of the ath- letic office disposing of season tickets with their barking queries and commands: "Got your season ticket yet?" "Don't shortskate; buy a season ticket, good for all games!" Next comes the laundry agency solicitor, "signing up" the under- graduate wash and dispensing lettered bags. There still remain the pressing contract purveyor, who sells agreements to keep trousers creased in varying numbers and for various time periods, and a host of less ubiquitous individuals who are in pursuit of some especial quarry. Indeed the avenue is at this time the stage for a veritable running of the gauntlet by the uninitiated, especially when the victim is from necessity or habit inclined to provide his purse with secluded shelter. It is said that, when later in the year a certain freshman was approached by one of the workers of the Young Men's Christian Association with the query: "What are you doing for your immortal soul?" The Campus 15 he answered, unthinkingly, still on the defensive, "Oh, I've signed up with the other fellow!" But let us continue our tour. Crossing the bridge we note on our right the Kappa Alpha fra- ternity house on the crest of a knoll, and directly opposite it, half hidden among tall trees is the Psi Upsilon Lodge. At the head of the first slope we catch a dis- tant glimpse of the valley of Cayuga Lake with the broad lawn and house of the Sigma Phi fraternity as a foreground. Just across the avenue from this house is the red brick Armory, and, attached to it in the rear, the Gymnasium, where the fam- ous Cornell oarsmen receive their early spring training on row- ing machines. Both the armory and gymnasium are at present wholly inadequate to the needs of the student body, although the latter at the time of its completion was considered the best equipped col- lege gymnasium in the country. FRONT OF THE OLD ARMORY 16 Concerning Cornell Cornell owes part of its endowment to land grants made by Congress under the Morrill Act, and must, in accordance with the provisions of that act, give adequate training in military science to all but specially excepted undergraduates. Of- ficers of the United States Army are in charge. The commandants detailed to Cornell for a num- ber of years in the past inveighed against the insufficiency of the armory quarters for training the cadet corps. The demand for better facili- ties finally became so insistent that the New York State legislature was compelled to recognize the need, and, in 1914, provided for the erection of a new drill hall, completed in 1917, with four times the floor space available in the armory. This action was especially gratifying to Cornellians when, in the same year, the War Department at Washington for the first time included the university in it^ small list of the distinguished institutions selected from among many giving instruction in military science. That distinction was won each year from 1919 on. There is ample evidence in the record of the Great War that the military training Cornell affords is most effective. Over three thousand Cornell graduates and undergraduates held com- missions in the Army and Navy during the world conflict and among these were two generals and ten colonels. In view of the comparatively small total of living Cornell alumni, less than thirty thousand, this is a remarkable showing. Consequently it is not surprising that a completely equipped artillery unit has now been added to the corps. The Campus 17 In the hollow below the armory is the old uni- versity heating plant that has recently been aban- doned. A great modern plant situated three-quar- ters of a mile distant from the Library Tower now furnishes steam heat to all the university buildings. The Totem Pole, a curious monument for this part of the world, formerly stood close by the armory. It was secured for Cornell by Professor Fernow on the occasion of the Harri- man Expedition to Alaska. Such poles are similar to the coat of arms of an European family. It seems that the ex- pedition got word of a deserted village of the Tlingit Indians, said to contain a large number of these totem poles and to be situated on Cape Fox. The professors from other univer- sities w T ho were members of the expedition immediately set to work to secure one of a small type of poles that the Indians kept indoors. Professor Fer- now had scruples about taking the totems, moreover he was not sure that Cornell wanted one. So it was not until some of the others, working in pairs, vaunted of their prowess in get- ting down to the ship unusually large specimens of the indoor type, that he essayed the same task single handed. Having some knowledge of me- chanics, as he modestly puts it, he easily succeeded THE TOTEM POLE 18 Concerning Cornell in this, and then attempted the removal of the large, outdoor pole now on the campus. At this task the ship's company helped him at a critical moment with their tackle, else he might have been discomfited. Having to choose between the two poles, he fixed on the larger, weather-beaten one. Thus Cornell was the first university to se- cure a "full-grown" specimen of the Alaskan totem pole. This pole has recently been moved to the northwest corner of Hoy Field, the baseball grounds. It has also had its original coloration restored and the planting at its base is in keeping with that it had in its native setting. Retracing our steps to Central Avenue and con- tinuing our walk along it we pass the United States Weather Bureau kiosk where the weather predic- tion for the day is posted each morn- ing, and a rain gauge, a barom- eter, maximum and minimum thermometers, thermograph and other weather instruments, are in operation. It is a great comfort to stop on a frosty morning and ob- serve how low the temperature actually is, inas- much as the weather is the great staple of conver- THE WEATHER BUREAU KIOSK The Campus 19 sation on a university campus as well as elsewhere in the world. Sage Cottage, formerly used as a women's dor- mitory, comes next on the left. It now houses the University Club, whose membership is made up of CA6CAUILLA BRIDGE WITH UNIVERSITY CLUB IN DISTANCE the faculty and administrative officers of the uni- versity and their wives, and, by election, other residents of Ithaca. Across the beautiful sloping lawn to the right is Sage College, one of the two large dormitories for women that the university now possesses. In the corner stone of Sage College Ezra Cornell deposited a mysterious letter, of which only he knew the contents, saying in the closing remarks of his speech at the laying of the stone: "The let- ter, of which I have kept no copy, will relate to future generations the cause of the failure of this experiment, if it ever does fail, as I trust God it never will." Cornell was one of the first institu- tions of higher learning to adopt co-education. 20 Concerning Cornell Opposite Sage College we come to the most attractive part of Central Avenue. Beautiful urn- form elms, in unbroken, parallel rows, completely overarch the roadway. Their graceful boughs frame a leafy vista that leads the eye inevitably to the crest of a gentle slope where the quadrangle begins. There the prospect ends, but a slight curve in the roadway brings the gray spire of the library tower into view above the tree-tops, an allurement suggesting other enchantments beyond. For the moment, however, we are satisfied with the scene that is before us. It is the one view that every ama- teur photographer who comes to Cornell attempts, indeed selects it usually for his first picture. We next pass by the last remaining of a row of professors' houses. The houses at the upper end of the row were torn down in 1924 to make room for the Straight Memorial Union, in front of which we now stand. Willard Straight, Cornell '01, directed in his will that something be done to make Cornell a more hu- man institution. His widow, Mrs. Straight, after much study came to the conclusion that a Cornell Union would best serve the need her husband had conceived to exist. The building she has graciously provided will henceforth be the social and recrea- tional center of the university. If Willard Straight meant, as is probable, that he wished to devise means through which the university group, under- graduates, faculty and alumni could come freely and naturally into social contact, the Union is al- together a fitting solution. Barnes Hall The Memorial Apse in Sage Chapel The Library Tower at Night The Campus 21 The smaller women's entrance is at the lower corner. We go in through the main entrance at the upper end. On the main floor is the feature room of the Union, a combined lounge, banquet and dance hall, that is especially a memorial to Mr. Straight. Its size, its height, the dignity of its fittings and the beautiful outlooks from it across the valley all contribute to this end. Another fea- ture of the building is the complete theatre on the lower level at the southwest corner. On this level we find also a cafeteria; on the upper floors are bed rooms for the returning alumni, private dining rooms, committee rooms and recreation rooms. Barnes Hall across the avenue from the Union is the home of the University Christian Associa- tion. Previously to the building of the Union, Barnes Hall provided the undergraduates with as much of clubhouse facilities as its size permitted, a reading room and a "coffee house" with walls uniquely decorated being its especial features. Just beyond Barnes Hall to the north is Sage Chapel. In its Memorial Chapel the founder of the university, Ezra Cornell, and the first presi- dent, Andrew D. White, are interred; as are also John McGraw and Jennie McGraw Fiske, his daughter, all notable benefactors of the institution. In the Sage Memorial Apse at the front of the building lie the mortal remains of Henry W. Sage, after whom the chapel is named, and whose gift it was to the university. His wife lies at his side. Around the walls of the chapel auditorium are many commemorative tablets. These, and the 22 Concerning Cornell memorial windows of stained glass, constitute a Cornell roll of honor, recording for posterity the noble lives and deaths of those whom Cornell is proud to honor for distinguished association with her as students, faculty or benefactors. Because of these records the chapel has been termed a Cornell Westminster Abbey and is even so revered by Cornell ians. As a whole the chapel is quite generally consid- ered one of the most beautiful places of worship in INTERIOR SAGE CHAPEL America. There are but few examples of mosaic work in the United States which rival either in size or merit that which adorns the memorial apse. Painted on the brown ground of the center of each of the sloping panels of the roof of the chapel are ecclesiastical emblems on canvases of quatrefoil The Campus 23 shape, namely "the temple, the ship on the wave, and the ship and the pennant — all symbols of the church; the anchor which is a symbol of hope and patience; the lamb of piety and wisdom, the lamb and pennant, of the Redeemer; the cross of the redemption, the interwoven triangles of the Trin- ity; the lion, symbol of the Tribe of Judah, the open book with a hand pointing to the Beatitudes, a symbol of the Gospels; the sword and the palm, of martyrdom and victory; the chalice of faith; the flaming heart of fervent piety and love; the stand- ard, the wreath and the crown, symbols of victory over evil ; the sun, stars and the crescent moon , of the luminous nebula which emanates from and surrounds the Divine essence; and finally the burn- ing bush, symbol of the religious fervor of the mar- tyrs." The whole scheme is "rich in its suggest- iveness of the centuries of Christian tradition, harmonious in its coloring and entirely appropriate in its design and execution." Cornell students are not required to attend chapel at any time, nevertheless the building is generally crowded beyond its capacity every Sun- day, and at both services; the one in the afternoon being principally musical. Before the hour of ser- vice one may often witness the curious spectacle of a large crowd of young people waiting for the doors of a church to be opened. It is sometimes impossible to secure even standing room if one comes a few minutes late. In recent years it has been found necessary to limit attendance to those holding cards of admission, which are supplied to 24 Concerning Cornell every student and to faculty members and, on application, are furnished in restricted numbers to others who may wish to attend. There is, of course, an adequate explanation for such conges- tion. It may not be ascribed altogether to the capacity of the chapel, though this would not, it is true, accommodate one half of the undergradu- ate body. Rather it is due to the fact that while it is hard to drive students it is easy to attract them. Cornell is non-sectarian, but far from irre- ligious. On each succeeding Sunday the Sage Chapel pulpit is filled by a different notable preacher representing many creeds in the course of a year. Consequently, Cornell undergraduates have had the opportunity of hearing such great men as Phillips Brooks, Henry Ward Beecher, Ly- man Abbott, Edward Everett Hale, Hugh Black, Henry Van Dyke, Robert Collyer, and others of equal renown. It is no wonder, therefore, that the chapel is filled to overflowing at each service. Emerging from the dim aisles of the chapel we find ourselves at the base of the great square tower of the University Library, in the spire of which is hung the famous Cornell chime. No words can describe the tender, eager love of every Cornellian for the music of those bells. During his under- graduate years they greet him merrily, exhilarat- ingly, every morning as he wends his way up the avenue to his first class. At one o'clock they peal forth again, exultingly; half the day's work is done. And then at night, old and loved, tender melodies give gracious benediction to those de- The Campus 25 RINGING THE CHIM! parting from the hill. The most poignant regret of the senior, bidding good-bye at graduation time to campus scenes, is that he may no longer thrill to their notes, wafted gently afar, or pealing full and sonorous across the quadrangle. On returning from a va- cation the classman feels a glow of satisfaction as once more he comes with- in their spell, and this is magnified into a wave of affection a thousand times greater in the breast of the alumnus revisiting Cornell, alma mater, after an absence of long years, when the bells first fully recall the many happy memories of his undergraduate life. The historical interest of the chime is as charm- ingly sentimental as its music. The original nine bells were presented in September, 1868, the first year of the university, by a young lady, Miss Jennie McGraw, who had become greatly inter- ested in the new institution and had expressed a desire to President White to make some gift show- ing this feeling. One year later a tenth bell, a large one in the key of D, destined to become the clock bell of the university, the one on which the hours are struck, was added to the chime. This was pre- sented by President A. D. White, on behalf of Mrs. Mary A. White, his wife, and bear3 her name and a 26 Concerning Cornell quatrain, written for the bell by James Russell Lowell, who was at that time one of the nonresident professors at the university : I call as fly the irrevocable hours, Futile as air or strong as fate to make Your lives of sand or granite; awful powers, Even as men choose, they either give or take. One must read these lines several times over in order to get their full import and impressiveness. Then they grip the imagination by their almost fear- ful directness. If each student might be required to repeat them every morning as he went to his day's classes, what a force for earnestness of pur- pose they would exert on the undergraduate mind ! On the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the university, 1908, all but the two largest bells were recast and four new ones added. By these changes the chime has been made practically ideal for its purpose. The number and the weight of the bells, a total of over nineteen thousand pounds, is such as to allow of a great variety in programs and to insure richness of tone and great carrying power. The bells are rung by hand. The student who de- velops most skill in competitive trials is, as occa- sion arises, appointed to the position of chime- master. In consequence of the wealth of musical ability that must be present among so large a number of young men from families of culture, as are represented in the university undergraduate community, such selection insures that the bells are always in capable hands; thus their ringing each day gives a new joy. It is worth the while of The Campus 27 strangers to come to Cornell if for no other purpose than to hear the chime. There is current among the undergraduates a legend that the playing of the "Changes" at the beginning of every morning and noon ringing, Sun- days excepted, was stipulated by the donor, who is also credited with the composition of the piece that, consequently, is known among the students as "The Jennie McGraw Rag." Neither presump- tion is correct. Years before the founding of Cor- nell, Andrew D. White had been struck, on hearing the ringing of the "Changes" on the bells of Lon- don on Christmas Eve, by the way they kept the air filled with music. Accordingly, with the sanc- tion of the trustees, he formulated a rule requiring the rendition of the "Changes" at the beginning of every week-day morning and noon playing of the chime and this has been the practice from the very first days of the university. Before continuing farther on our tour of the campus, it will be well to climb to the top of the library tower to get a view over the whole of the university domain and miles of its environment. The key to the door at the base of the tower we obtain at the treasurer's office in Morrill Hall, the next building north. We ascend the spiral stair- case, and arriving, panting, at the top (the tower is nearly one hundred and seventy feet high) pause for breath, the while we peer at the ponderous mechanism of the great university clock whose four great dial-faces present themselves to each of the cardinal directions. When any two of these clock 28 Concerning Cornell faces, illuminated, are seen from a distance at night, the effect is curiously suggestive of the wide, un- blinking eyes of a great owl solemnly watching over the seekers of learning below. The square corner of the tower and its peaked roof contribute much to this resemblance, which, in conjunction with the commanding position of the tower, is almost hu- morously symbolical of the university as an em- bodiment of wisdom. Having satisfied our curiosity with regard to the bell-ringing keyboard we climb the last few steps of the iron stairway, finding ourselves then directly beneath the great bells of the chime. Exercise of a little agility, in squeezing through the massive framework supporting the bells, enables us to get an outlook on each side of the tower. The view in every direction is impressive. From our position at the center of the circle, we can survey in all directions an area of country swept by a seven mile radius, and some of the distant hills are fully fifteen miles removed. To the south the low sloping nose of South Hill projects itself between the Inlet Valley on the west and the Six Mile Valley nearer at hand. Directly below, Central Avenue extends ribbon-like to the tall Armory flag-pole, beyond which the avenue disappears under border- ing trees. Sage Chapel, Barnes Hall and Sage College appear to be part of an architect's water- color sketch. To the west lies the town, huddled in the valley and almost hidden by trees; while the distant prospect consists of the steep slope and long extension of West Hill. East Hill comprises the The Campus 29 flat and slope on which the university is situated. The fiat itself falls away southward toward the Six Mile Valley but rises gently eastward as part of the broad, upper Cascadilla Valley. In the distance the Cascadilla Valley merges itself into a tumble of forest-covered hills, but nearer at hand, on the east, is the wide domain that has become the particular province of the Agricultural College of the uni- versity. The graded expanse of Alumni Field, with Bacon Hall, the baseball cage building, and Schoellkopf Memorial Training House, each occu- pying part of its area, is also in the scene toward the east; though this part of the view is cut off in part by the high sky-line of the roofs of the Veterinary College buildings and the huge Drill Hall. To the northeast is seen a cluster of buildings quite near at hand, of which the most prominent is Goldwin Smith Hall, which faces the quadrangle. Beyond this a great expanse of level country extends to the horizon, a region of farms pleasantly dotted with forest and field and marked here and there by a tall, isolated, green pine tree. But the view, to the north and northw T est, of the unruffled reach of Cayuga Lake, shimmering blue in the sun, is the best of all. The stretch of water along the west side of the lake from the lighthouse to the point where the bend of the shore line cuts off from view its farther reach northwestward, is the course used by the long famous Cornell crews in their spring and autumn training. Descending from the tower, after having ori- ented ourselves from so lordly a vantage point, we 30 Concerning Cornell renew our exploration of the campus with a visit to the University Library itself. On the bronze tablet set in the south wall of the outer entrance is an inscription: THE GOOD SHE TRIED TO DO SHALL STAND AS IF 'TWERE DONE GOD FINISHES THE WORK BY NOBLE SOULS BEGUN which gives a hint of the interesting history of the structure. Miss Jennie McGraw, who gave the original chime, married Professor Willard Fiske. On her early death, in 1881, it was found that Mrs. Fiske had bequeathed a large part of her fortune to the university for the founding and endowment of a library. This will was contested and her im- mediate purpose was defeated when Cornell lost the suit. At this juncture Henry W. Sage, her friend, came forward with a gift that made possible both the building and endowment of the library. To this fulfillment of Mrs. Fiske's wishes, through the generosity of Mr. Sage, the inscription refers. It is worthy of mention here that the university eventually received, under the will of Professor Fiske, a sum of over one-half million dollars for the use of the library, the purpose to which his wife had intended that her fortune should be devoted. The library itself is rich in a variety of literary, historical and art treasures and much time might be interestingly spent viewing these. The collec- tions of illuminated medieval manuscripts, speci- mens of early printing and first editions of famous The Campus 31 books that are displayed in the Library always attract attention. The admirably arranged main reading room accommodates over two hundred students and contains a selected library of some eight thousand volumes of general interest, access- ible to any one. Above the shelves hang portraits of famous lecturers and benefactors. Espec'ally nota- ble among these is the large portrait of the founder of the university, Ezra Cornell. In the reference room, adjacent to the reading room, are kept the encyclopedias, atlases, statistical and bibliographi- cal volumes that afford the first clews to the facts in various fields of knowledge. The north side of the building is given over to seminary rooms, with books on special subjects, and to the housing of the White Historical Library, a wonderful collection. Many interesting volumes are on display in the show cases among its shelves and here, also, are preserved numerous significant relics connected with the history of the university. Of only second- ary importance to the White Historical Library are the special Icelandic, Petrarch and Dante collec- tions of books. In the whole library there are now over six hundred thousand volumes. Thus, with re- gard merely to the number of books, it is the fourth largest university library in the United States. Its relative worth may not, however, be judged by mere size. Far more important is the quality of content. In this respect the Cornell Library ranks very high. Most new purchases are made on the recommendation of the faculty experts on the vari- ous subjects. This system insures that the best of 32 Concerning Cornell available new and old publications, only, find a place on its shelves. Thus the library is a potent factor in securing and keeping many professors at Cornell, who, except for its scope and quality would be attracted by higher salaries to institutions where such excellent library facilities for investiga- tion are not available. This great storehouse of human knowledge is safeguarded by fireproof stacks, constructed of glass, iron and stone. A visit to the periodical reading-room in the south basement of the building, will be well worth while to those interested in current technical literature. Emerging from the library and continuing northward along the sidewalk we come next to Morrill, then to McGraw and then to White Hall. These are the oldest buildings on the campus, are similar in architecture and are built of local stone, quarried on the campus itself. Originally it was planned to have the university face the west, with a main highway in front and the quadrangle at the back of these first buildings. The ivy -covered walls of blue-gray stone and the uniformity of de- sign make this row of three old buildings perhaps the most satisfying structural unit on the campus, even though foot traffic now all passes, and stud- ents enter them, at the rear. Morrill Hall was the first university building erected on the quadrangle. It now houses the uni- versity business offices on the two lower floors. On the upper floors are laboratories and classrooms for the study of experimental psychology. These con- tain some interesting apparatus for determining and z The Campus 33 recording sensation. In the President's office ; s a model of the complete scheme of the new Resi- dential Halls, which we find to be fascinatingly beautiful and imposing even in miniature. The university Co-operative Store, familiarly the "Co- op," is located in the basement of Morrill Hall. Between Morrill and McGraw Halls is the statue of the Founder, Ezra Cornell, facing that of his coadjutor, Andrew D. White, on the opposite side of the quadrangle. Going behind the statue there is revealed a magnificent prospect of the valley which may be viewed comfortably from the seat carved in the glacial boulder that is a memorial to Professor R. S. Tarr. In McGraw Hall are housed the departments of geology and zoology, as well as so much of a natural history museum as Cornell possesses at present. Entering McGraw by the first door to which we come we note a huge slab of Connecticut Triassic sandstone mounted on the side wall of the hallway. This contains gigantic fossil footprints of the three-toed Dinosaur, Bron- tozoum giganteum, terrible, thundering, giant liz- ard; one of the great, biped reptiles of Mesozoic geologic time; an age the remoteness of which is measured by some millions of years. In one of the footprints may be noted the delicate mold of the scales of a ganoid fish on which the reptile trod, all those unthinkable ages ago. The geologic lecture room is on the left at the end of the hall. Above it is the laboratory for physical geography, replete with relief models and pictures of various interesting regions of the earth's 34 Concerning Cornell surface. The middle entrance of McGraw opens on a stairway leading to the Museum of Natural History, also on the second floor. Here are dis- played a great variety of stuffed animal forms, es- pecially birds, also a collection of human brains and monstrosities of animal life, such as three-legged and two-headed calves. The specimen of greatest interest is an Egyptian mummy, divested of all its wrappings, enabling one to gaze upon the form and figure of a man who lived his mortal span thousands of years ago. At the north end of the museum a door opens into the zoology lecture room and laboratories. The geological faculty has charge of the seismograph or earthquake recording machine which is located in the basement of the south end of McGraw. An understanding of phy- sics is required to appreciate the working of this instrument in detail, but we can see the smoke- blackened drum on which the pen traces the tre- mors of the rocks when an earthquake is in progress. The lower floors of White Hall are occupied by the department of mathematics while the two up- per floors are given over to the library, recreation, lecture, display and drawing rooms of the College of Architecture. At this point it may be well to clear up a possible misconception. Although the College of Architecture, as such, has only a part of White Hall for its own particular studies the teach- ing of its students is by no means restricted to these quarters. For instance, the architects study ma- terials of construction with the civil engineers in Lincoln Hall, a building devoted primarily to the The Campus 35 engineers' work; botli engineers and arts students are taught geology in McGraw, and so on. The limited funds of the university do not permit of duplication of either equipment or teaching staff for especial needs, consequently there is co-opera- tion in teaching between all departments and col- leges. Similarly, to promote efficiency and econ- omy in university administration and instruction, the engineering colleges were combined during the academic year 1920-21 under unit management and with provision for uniform schedules for all underclassmen in these branches. The drafting rooms that occupy the whole upper floor of White Hall interest us because of their ad- mirable convenience of arrangement. Below these, on the third floor we find the reference library and the exhibition rooms of the college. This special library is a good place to spend a whole afternoon in a merely cursory inspection of the hundreds of finely illustrated books on architectural subjects that it contains, or in glancing over the many color and photographic reproductions of the world's masterpieces of art that are on file, as both books and reproductions are readily accessible to the visitor. Occasionally the two large exhibition rooms at the other end of the floor are used for some special display of art subjects, but we are more apt to find their walls hung with specimens of the students' own work in design, drawings from life or water-color sketches. It will be apparent from the nature of this work that the artistic studies of the architect require that there be less 36 Concerning Cornell formality in his instruction than is the case in other branches of learning, for there must be a certain amount of waiting for inspiration when one is en- gaged in creative effort. Thus the architects, while at work on some problem, commonly alter- nate between hours of feverish activity and periods of relaxation when ideas fail. Accordingly we need not be surprised at the sight of a small recreation room furnished with a piano, or to learn that the freshmen are required to change the needles and the records on the college victrola. In part because of such social spirit, though also because the work requires a large measure of co-operative sugges- tion and criticism for attainment of the best results, men of the College of Architecture have bonds of comradeship stronger than exist in any other college on the campus. The basement rooms of White Hall were formerly used as workshops and for the storage of tools and supplies by the plumb- ers and electricians employed by the university. But pressure for space when the department of landscape art was transferred from the College of Agriculture to that of Architecture made it neces- sary to convert the basement work rooms into class rooms. These quarters are cramped and none too well lighted, but are not unattractive as remodelled. The architects, and their associates in landscape art and fine arts, are planning for a building adequate to their needs which they hope to see erected on the site between Sage College and Stimson Hall. Judging from what we have already encoun- tered it is quite evident that, while college buildings The Campus 37 are not primarily museums, each one nevertheless has a new variety of interesting content. Therefore we feel that every one of those still awaiting us has possibilities and must not be passed by without at least inquiring as to its use. Thus, Franklin Hall, named after the first American electrician, as we are informed by the medallion portrait and inscrip- tion over the door, is an especial province of the department of electrical engineering. In the base- ment of this building are laboratories for research experimentation with electrical machinery, on the floors above lecture and drawing rooms. The top floor, however, provides studios for the free hand drawing, life and modeling classes of the architects. We find ourselves in typical artists' quarters when we enter these rooms. Easels, curtain partitions, a great collection of casts from the best periods of the sculptor's art, unfinished and finished work, both drawings and paintings; all contribute to the ensemble. It would seem that the Cornell archi- tects working in these studios and living amidst the varied natural beauty of the university's site must be keyed up continually to a fine frenzy of inspira- tion. Franklin Hall is the second from the west of the row of buildings that marks off the northern end of the quadrangle. While walking along its front toward the building at the west end of the row, Morse Hall, we should devote at least passing notice to the medallion portraits of famous electri- cians and physicists that are set in its walls. Only a few steps carry us from Franklin Hall to the 38 Concerning Cornell front entrance of what remains of Morse Hall, where all branches of chemistry were formerly taught. On February 13, 1916, practically the whole interior of Morse Hall was destroyed by fire. What remains of the structure is being used for store rooms and as an office and class rooms by the professor of music. But we may next, quite appropriately, go east across the north end of the quadrangle and visit the Baker Laboratory of Chemistry that replaces Morse Hall and was first used in 1923-24. This new laboratory occupies the commanding site above East Avenue where President Schurman's house formerly stood. It is an imposing square structure with walls of local sandstone. The ma- sonry courses are laid to show to best advantage the coloring and the smooth natural faces of the weathered joint planes that are a characteristic geological feature of the rock in the Ithaca region. The effect is altogether pleasing, and is similar to that achieved in the Drill Hall, the new Residential Halls and the Straight Memorial Union by use of the same material. The new laboratory is the gift of George Fisher Baker of New York. It cost one and a half million dollars to erect and equip. It was the donor's wish that excellence and complete- ness of equipment should be the special end to be striven after in planning the building. This ob- jective appears to have been very fully realized. It would require much space of printed page to enumerate, only, the many separate laboratories, lecture and balance rooms the building contains. 41 ^ ir! nw ^ m ft The Campus 39 In some of the larger laboratories, where the ele- mentary classes are taught, as many as three hun- dred students can be accommodated readily at one time. In some of the smaller laboratories for special kinds of investigation, into which we peer, are mysterious pieces of apparatus that we may not even pretend to understand. The one for chemical microscopy is especially enticing. We get a sense of the completeness and adequateness of the build- ing on viewing the large special library, the mu- seum, and the main lecture room that seats five hundred. We also come to the conclusion that the design and fitting of a building for chemical inves- tigation is a vast problem. Behind the lecture desk is a veritable battery of stop cocks for supplying different gases, as well as a maze of switches con- necting with electrical currents of varying in- tensity. Thus practically any kind of chemical experiment can be demonstrated before a large class. The lectures in elementary chemistry of- ten have both a popular and spectacular interest. Visitors are privileged to attend single lectures in most university courses. They should enter the lecture room before ten minutes after the even hour in order to avoid disturbing a class in session. It must be admitted, notwithstanding the varied and interesting content, that outdoors is sweeter than a chemistry laboratory, especially when a view is to be had such as is spread before us now as we return to the site of Morse Hall and stand at the edge of the terrace level on which the quadrangle is situated. The steep slope of a de- 40 Concerning Cornell scent just beyond enables us to overlook miles of country both to the south and west from our view- point on the entrance steps. Below is spread the wide floor of the upper end of Cayuga Valley; the church spires and tops of the taller buildings of the city of Ithaca, well named the Forest City, just peep above the sea of trees that covers nearly all of its expanse. In the farther distance we look up the narrower Inlet Valley. The lines of the hills, in wide perspective, carry our vision to the far limit of the horizon from the west around to the south. Every part of the broad panorama is beautiful. The gentler slopes of the hills are marked off in broad acres of farmland, each different crop having its own peculiar tint of yellow or green. Dark lines of woodlands locate the courses of the smaller tribu- tary streams that flow to the larger valley at our feet. As the cloud forms in procession hurry past the sun, already west of the meridian, the purple shadows, endlessly changing, move majestically across the landscape completing one picture while making another. It is an outlook that never tires, while stirring within us a vague desire to wander over the slopes of the hills and to seek out their far distant notches to see what lies beyond. Such is the scene that will always greet the eyes of the students who are housed in the new men's dormitories that now, in part completed, occupy the slope just below us. So fortunate a site on which to build residential halls is rarely found. The great field which is a part of the campus, is of ample area for the buildings. The descent of some The Campus 41 sixty-five feet in its width, while making the archi- tectural problem difficult, insured that its solution would be picturesque. The halls, Baker Tower, North and South Baker Halls and Founders' Hall, and others already done, and the connecting steps are built of local stone which brings them into har- mony with the three older university buildings on the level above. Altogether the scheme is most commendable. The need of such residential halls at Cornell is acute. Of nearly five thousand stu- dents who are now attending Cornell about fifteen hundred live in fraternity houses, over three thousand others must shift as best they can in private rooming and boarding-houses. In the spring of 1914 the gift from George F. Baker of one hundred thousand dollars for the erection of the first of these new residential halls was an- nounced; further gifts of this generous donor and alumni funds have provided for the buildings now existing. Gifts for several more have already been made by other donors. The architects say that no college possesses a more stimulating oppor- tunity for obtaining beau- tiful architectural results, and that this residential tract promises to become one of the most distin- guished scholastic groups in the United States. ENTRANCE, BAKER TOWER Concerning Cornell On the terrace level to the west and below Morse Hall the Chi Psi Fraternity House rises from the site of the fa- mous McGraw-Fiske Mansion which was de- stroyed by fire on Decem- ber 7, 1906. The present building is a handsome structure. Moreover its lines and general contour are reminiscent of its predecessor, but both in imposing exterior and beauty of interior it falls far short of the original mansion which cost approximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was built in 1879-80 for Mrs. Jennie McGraw Fiske who died in 1881 without having occupied the house. Until 1896 the building remained untenanted. Then it came into the possession of the Chi Psi fraternity and was occupied by the members of that organi- zation at the time of the fire. The original mansion was modeled after a famous French chateau near Blois. To give some idea of the thought and money lavished on its construction it may be noted that the carved woodwork interiors were imported from Italy and that mosaic workers, the most skilful to be had, were brought from Rome and Venice to give the best expression of their art to its completed IN BAKER COURT The Campus 43 decoration. To native Ithacans the mansion was always a wonder place and its prominent position made it a conspicuous landmark for many years. We now retrace our steps past Morse and Franklin Halls and continue east along the front of the main building of Sibley College of Mechani- cal Engineering and the Mechanic Arts. We find only a monotonous repetition of drafting and reci- tation rooms in the west and east wings of the building but under its central dome is the Sibley Auditorium and, on the floor below the Audito- rium, a lounging and reading room for the Sibley students with the Sibley special reference library adjacent. But the thing for us to see is the little mechanism in the glass case on the northwest wall of the reading room. It is the original telegraph instrument used in sending the first telegraphic message: "W T hat Hath God Wrought?" from Baltimore to Washington. The practical success of this invention was due largely to Ezra Cornell's scheme for stringing the wires on poles after the original attempt to lay underground cables had failed because of defective insulation. Its financial success, also, was assured eventually through the establishment of the W'estern Union Telegraph Company for the organized use of the invention. In this enterprise Ezra Cornell amassed his fortune, the money that subsequently made possible the founding of Cornell University. This happy out- come of one invention is in distinct contrast with the tragic failure of another, of which the elaborate mechanism that stands in the obscurity of the 44 Concerning Cornell opposite corner of the room from the telegraph instrument is a monument. It is a machine for setting type, marvelously intricate and complicated in design, probably mechanically inefficient but excellent in its detailed workmanship. It was destined to failure at the moment of its first com- pletion because at the same time the much simpler type-casting machines, now so generally used, came on the market. A large part of Mark Twain's for- tune is said to have been lost in the development of the ponderous ingenuity we here see relegated to a dusty corner, and no doubt the whole life work of its inventor as well. Next to the east of the main building of Sibley College we come to Rand Hall, planned to be the first of a group that is to extend westward in a row replacing the old shops, for Sibley, like other col- leges of the university, has outlived its earlier accommodations. Rand Hall is a modern shop building, its walls are little more than frames for huge areas of window glass. Instead of being dark and smelly, as factories have been in the past, its interior is always flooded by light and air. In this respect, therefore, Rand Hall, Mrs. Florence Os- good Rand Lang's gift in 1911, is in sharp contrast with the older Sibley shops that we will visit next. The first floor of Rand is occupied by the machine shop, the second floor is replete with dynamos, rheostats and transformers ; it is the main labora- tory of the electrical engineers. On the third floor is the wood shop, where all kinds of woodworking are taught. In the machine shop is a motto board, The Campus 45 quoting Robert Stevenson, which gives the key- note of the kind of training that Sibley stands for: "It is necessary to educate an engineer in the work shop. That is the education emphatically, which is calculated to render the engineer most intelli- gent, most useful and fullest of resources in times of difficulty." It is interesting to know that in the machine shop of Sibley, the college undergraduate gets equivalent practical experience in almost as few hours as it requires months on the part of the apprentice in the industrial world. Across the roadway behind Rand Hall is a small frame building in which practice in foundry and forge work is given. All such classes develop sureness of eye and hand. It is amusing to see the Sibley students at the end of a term lugging huge iron log chains to their rooms, so proud are they of their handicraft. But in the experimental en- gineering laboratories, just opposite the forge room, tests are given that require the application of intelligence more than muscle. The experiments assigned demand a broad basic knowledge of math- ematics, physics and chemistry for their acceptable performance. Accordingly such experiments are deferred until the junior and senior years. As we pass through the connecting rooms on the lower floors of the two long shop buildings, going from east to west, we meet successively with apparatus for experimentation on the fatigue strength of metals, by bending a bar back and forth hundreds and thousands of times until it finally breaks; great machines to test the compressional and tensional 46 Concerning Cornell strength of different materials; a room full of small engines for trying out various valve settings; another with air compressors; then a gas engine laboratory; next to that a series of large Corliss steam engines and apparatus for determining their power, and, in the end room on the west, a large refrigerating machine. On the upper floor is a fuel testing laboratory and in the basement apparatus for measuring the flow of water through weirs and nozzles. Between the main building of Sibley in front, and the shops to the rear is a large boiler plant used for supplying steam to run the various engines and machines as well as for tests on the efficiency of boilers. From all this it will appear that a Sibley student must needs acquire quite a lot of practical experience before securing a diploma. THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE OVER FALL CREEK Passing out of the experimental laboratories we get some fresh air, and a new and exceptionally good view of Cayuga Lake, before descending the The Campus 47 cinder path to the suspension foot-bridge across the Fall Creek Gorge that yawns before us. Standing on the swinging bridge we get an adequate con- ception of the imposing proportions of this chasm from the free view up and down its length that this position affords. Up-stream from the bridge, over a hundred feet below us, is the swimming pool much resorted to by both men and women students on warm spring afternoons and during the hot days of the summer session, when it is especially popular. On the floor of the gorge beside the curved water- fall is the university power plant. This and the swimming pool we attain by a path descending to stairs on the far side of the gorge and find water wheels and generators capable of developing over one thousand horse power. As the water supply is not adequate to develop so much energy at all seasons the authorities are at present planning to build a great storage reservoir a number of miles up-stream. \Yhile standing on the foot-bridge we noted a great square tower of red brick, rising, castle-like above the trees on the far side of the head of the gorge. That is the topmost part of Prudence Risley Hall, the new dormitory for women students, recently completed at a cost • , 1_ J J THE CASTLE-LIKE PROPORTIONS of three hundred of risley hall 48 Concerning Cornell thousand dollars; the gift of Mrs. Russell Sage. We approach it from the rear, following the road- way that runs parallel to the gorge; and note with pleasure the effective architecture of the structure as presented from this view point with the dining- hall in the foreground. Passing around to the front we find the sweep of its concave arc equally imposing. On entering and inspecting its invit- ing halls and the beautifully decorated dining hall interior, we feel that the women students are cer- tainly pleasantly housed in this building. The spec- ifications for this new dormitory called for sunlight in every room and this has been achieved. It was planned to have the senior women students and sophomores, sister classes, occupy Prudence Risley Hall, while juniors and freshmen were to reside in Sage College dormitory. This plan would operate to prevent the development of any feeling of supe- riority on the part of those who might otherwise be permanently established in the more modern dormitory. But as Sage College and Prudence Risley Hall together are inadequate for housing even a majority of the women students, plans are being made for the erection of other dormitories and sorority houses on the university acres lying north of Beebe Lake and opposite Prudence Risley Hall, a pleasing and secluded site on the east end of which the new Astronomical Observatory stands. Prudence Risley dormitory marks the begin- ning of an extension of the campus beyond the north and south confines previously marked off by Cascadilla Creek and Fall Creek. Turning south- Sibley Dome Rand Hall Students at Work in the Sibley Mac mine Shop The Campus 49 ward toward this main area of the university do- main we recross Fall Creek on the iron arch bridge that spans it at a point where the gorge is very deep. Looking up stream w r e see Triphammer Falls, and, to the right of it, the Hydraulic Labora- tory of the Civil Engineers. With reference to tests on the flow of water under pressure head this laboratory is unique among similar ones at other engineering colleges because of the great fall that is available. As a consequence researches having a very important bearing on hydro-electric power engineering have been conducted here. TRIPHAMMER FALLS AND THE HYDRAULIC LABORATORY Above the pretty, step-cascades of Triphammer Falls a concrete dam holds back the placid expanse of water that forms Beebe Lake. This lake is another of the blessings of university life at Cornell 50 Concerning Cornell as it affords a most convenient center for skating and tobogganing in winter. Its practical utility as a power water reservoir is thus supplemented by service as handmaiden to sport. Lying in a shel- tered amphitheatre between steep hills it freezes over readily and smoothly after the first few days of winter cold and usually remains ice-covered for several months. Its expanse is amply sufficient to accommodate hundreds of skaters besides pro- viding room for a hockey rink on which the uni- versity team plays its home games. A season ticket arrangement provides funds for keeping the surface clear of snow and for the labor inci- dental to icing the long slope of the steel tobog- gan slide that descends from above the hill on the south side of the lake. In January, 1923, a winter sports house, "The Johnny Parson Club," was opened. This is an attractive stucco building located on the north shore of Beebe in which, on the entrance level, is provided a restaurant seating ninety persons, and below, at the lake level, a warming room that will accommodate about two hundred skaters. On Saturday afternoons in winter, if skating is good, and the weather just a wee bit mild and sunshiny, one is always sure of finding a great crowd assembled at Beebe. The graceful evolu- tions of the skaters furnish a pretty sight, one that invites even the most sluggish soul to participa- tion. But first and foremost of the winter joys at Beebe is the toboggan slide. The slide at Cornell differs from those in many other places in that it H • ' . • The Campus 51 is not banked for the length of the course. On leaving the incline, the toboggans shoot out upon the level expanse of the lake ice, and, if the condi- tions are favorable, have acquired momentum enough to carry them across it to the far shore. It is, therefore, incumbent on the steersman, perched precariously in the rear, to keep the flying machine THE WAITING LINE AT THE TOBOGGAN SLIDE headed true and straight on its course, else an upset is certain. The steersman's whole body often ex- tends at arm's length behind the toboggan, like a rudder on an airship. Only his shoe tips scrape along the ice as he swings from side to side. Such steering is an art not learned in a first attempt. Consequently one often sees a toboggan swing sideways into the snow. Then a grand spill occurs, man and maid, indiscriminately, turn summer- saults; a sight which affords unlimited amusement to an ever present crowd of spectators. Skiing on the hills affords the most exciting of all the winter 52 Concerning Cornell sports. Although the feats of Cornellians who in- dulge in it do not rival those of the Scandinavians, still the ski runners who come hurtling down the long hill slopes at the east end of Beebe, or down A TOBOGGAN SPILL the less steep inclines to the west of Central Avenue are always sure of a gallery, though this is apt to applaud their tumbles more vociferously than the flying leaps they accomplish successfully. It is difficult for me to refrain from expatiating, continually, while we are on this tour, about the diverse exceptional advantages of environment that Cornell enjoys. We have, to be sure, our- selves been engaged in appraising both buildings and location. In the halls we have found every in- ducement and facility for the acquisition of learn- ing; in the open a wealth of inspiration afforded by the broad free outlook over hill and dale and lake. But one feels impelled constantly to break away The Campus 53 from the detail of the inventory and to enlarge on the luxury of the whole. Where else, pray, may there be found a plateau with its summit crowned by a score and more of pleasing buildings, whose interiors are crowded with treasures of books, speci- mens and mechanisms, and of which the single structures are attractively grouped and set about a campus and quadrangle dotted by noble trees in groves and avenues ? At every turn the structures and trees frame and furnish the content of a beautiful landscape picture. This picture changes with the seasons, thus adding the charm of variety to its fascination. Where else can one find a cam- pus bounded by profound chasms that impress one by their immensity with the greatness of the works of nature, and are decorated in their length with a hundred waterfalls large and small ? The beauty of these gorges robs the senses of any feeling that hurt has been done to the bosom of Mother Earth by the opening of such great rents. What pleasure to lift the eyes and sweep a horizon enclosing long hill slopes and deep valley furrows, forest and farm in unending succession; a town, the busy habitat of man; and the solitary ribbon of blue lake waters continuing many miles and lost to sight only in the distance? Where else a university home provid- ing the outlook and the invitation to recreation of a summer playground: tramping, fishing, riding and sailing; and in winter giving such convenient opportunity for that season's brightest sports and exercise as Beebe Lake and its domain afford? And with that the half has not been said. For, 54 Concerning Cornell while the buildings on the campus provide place for acquiring the culture of books, experiment and specimen; and the outdoors inspiration for the mind and invitation to bodily activity; this out- doors is but a wider campus, a wonderfully rich university of natural history abounding in phe- nomena of biological, geological and geographical interest of such variety as to have invited the en- thusiastic comment of celebrated scientists from the time of the first founding of Cornell up to the present. Now, perhaps, we can grasp something of the full fitness of Cornell. Rich in man-made and man-gathered equipment for learning, located where nature has provided inspiration for the poet, beauty for the artist, problems in power and trans- portation engineering, a rich field for collecting and study by the naturalist, withal insistent invitation to healthy outdoor recreation by the whole univer- sity community, such is Cornell. On the bright morning of a new day we recom- mence our inventorial tour with fresh zest and vim. The sun shines clear, the air is a sparkling tonic. Yet it must be confessed that while such days are not infrequent at Cornell, they often fail to come as often and in as unbroken succession as Cornel- Hans would wish. The climate of the Cornell region is not all that might be desired. Perhaps there will be some among the university commu- nity who will feel that you should not have been told this, but if you are expected to enthuse un- The Campus 55 reservedly with me about the many happy circum- stances that form the Cornell environment, your confidence must not be that of a fair weather friend. The Cornell region lies in the average storm track of the west wind belt. As a result practically every weather disturbance that crosses the United States from the west is felt in this region. Overcast skies are common, we normally have frequent rains and usually much snow. Un- fortunately too, the university session beginning with fall and extending through winter and spring comes in the eight months of the year that include both the disagreeable transition seasons. Summer is usually delightful throughout, so is early fall and late spring. But in late fall and early spring, weeks pass with murky sky overhead and mire under- foot. Yet this only makes Cornellians appreciate more the balmy days of later spring when the fresh green leaves peep forth from the swelling buds of the elms and the scent of myriad lilac bushes per- fumes the air. Cornellians are equally sensible of the mad invigoration of the Indian summertime when the landscape is a riot of red and yellow color. To be sure there is a small quality of mildness in the Cornell winter. One realizes then, as seldom in the other seasons, that the campus is a hilltop, consequently gets the weather — all there is of it. Fiercely buffeting winds, whistling around corners of buildings and bringing with them blinding flur- ries of snow that pile up in drifts across the walks, are typical of winter days. But bright and balmy sunshiny days come between. After all the little 56 Concerning Cornell tempers of the winter weather are of minor import, they only bother when one needs to get up un- pleasantly early to make an eight o'clock class. The iron bridge, from which we viewed Beebe Lake, carries the roadway that is the continuation northward and westward of East Avenue. East Avenue itself extends southward parallel to the east side of the quadrangle in the rear of Lincoln and Goldwin Smith Halls. Lincoln Hall, at the northeast corner of the quadrangle houses the College of Civil Engineering. The building is very pleasantly ensconced behind a clump of oak trees that undoubtedly constitutes the most artistic sin- gle feature of the quadrangle, and is said to mark the site and to have been the ornament of the Johnson homestead, a log cabin that was probably the first white man's house to be erected on the quadrangle. The many-gabled roof and ivy- covered red sandstone walls of the structure add not a little to the picturesqueness of this corner. While the upper three floors of Lincoln Hall contain drawing and recitation rooms quite sim- ilar to those we have met with in other build- ings, there is on the first floor, at the north end, a museum of instruments and models of structural units related to civil engineering activities that are worthy of inspection. Among those objects a re- lief model of the campus, showing the contour of the land and all the buildings as they existed in 1895, is especially pertinent for comparison with conditions as we find them today. In the basement below the museum is a laboratory, for testing the The Campus 57 strength of structural materials, that contains some curious machines. Of these one, a compression- strength-testing device, is such a giant as to project up through the first floor as though it were a great whale come to the sea surface to breathe. Goldwin Smith Hall of Humanities, to which we come next, has long been in our eyes, as it is easily the most imposing edifice on the quadrangle. Its only possible rivals on the campus are the Univer- sity Library with its tower, the Baker Laboratory of Chemistry and the Bailey Auditorium of the Agricultural College. The acceptability of Gold- win Smith Hall from an architectural viewpoint must be a matter for the individual taste of the critic. It does photograph well and there can be no doubt but that the massive columns of the portal give the building distinction and a classic flavor that reflect the kind of studies sheltered un- der its roof. A sense of solidity and permanence is further conveyed by the square-hewn and large- block masonry. Every feature of the building may therefore be thought of as symbolizing the traditional and fundamental importance of the study of Greek and Latin, of philosophy and history. With the furtherance of these studies at Cornell the name of Goldwin Smith, historian and publicist, must always be intimately associated. In the early years of the university he was its most distinguished professor of history; his wife con- tributed generously to the erection of the building and he gave his own fortune to endow the chairs of the liberal studies now taught in its halls. These 58 Concerning Cornell things are all set forth on the bronze tablet in the entrance hall inscribed, by direction of the univer- sity authorities, with an extract from Goldwin Smith's will as follows: ALL THE REST AND RESIDUE OF MY ESTATE I GIVE, DEVISE AND BEQUEATH TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ABSOLUTELY TO BE USED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR THE PROMOTION ESPECIALLY OF LIBERAL STUDIES, LANGUAGES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, LITERA- TURE, PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, FOR WHICH PROVISION HAS BEEN MADE IN THE NEW HALL WHICH BEARS MY NAME AND TO THE BUILDING OF WHICH MY WIFE HAS CONTRIBUTED IN CONFIRMING THIS BEQUEST MY DESIRE IS TO SHOW MY AT- TACHMENT TO THE UNIVERSITY IN THE FOUNDATION OF WHICH I HAD THE HONOUR OF TAKING PART, TO PAY RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF EZRA CORNELL, AND TO SHOW MY ATTACHMENT AS AN ENGLISH- MAN TO THE UNION OF THE TWO BRANCHES OF OUR RACE ON THIS CONTINENT WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH THEIR COMMON MOTHER Goldivin Smith The Campus 59 Mounted on pedestals that stand in alcoves to the left and right of the inscription are sculptured portrait busts of the benefactor and his wife. These serve to familiarize the hundreds of students who come to classes in this building with the features of its patrons. Other inscriptions in Latin and English, over the portals leading to the basement rooms from the lower hallway, tell of Goldwin Smith's active connection with Cornell University as resident professor of English history, 1868-72, and of his life and work. In the basement rooms under the front of the building we find the Museum of Classical Archae- ology. This consists, principally, of a collection of nearly five hundred full-size plaster casts of notable examples of Greek and Roman bronzes and mar- bles. These casts, for the most part, were made to order under the direction of the foreign museums possessing the originals. The collection is intended to furnish the best possible illustration of the de- velopment of ancient sculpture, and, as a museum of classical sculpture, is said to be excelled in the United States only by that of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Wandering from one to the next of these many faithful replicas of what was most beautiful and imposing in ancient art, even the uninitiated sightseer, unfamiliar with the myths and legendary lore of Greece and Rome, must ex- perience thrills of pleasure at the satisfying perfec- tion and graceful postures of the human form as variously and fascinatingly manifest in these por- trayals. We find old favorites in the collection. 60 Concerning Cornell also rarer pieces of which we do not know the names, still less the history. The guide-book which the curator kindly furnishes, has, consequently, been quite thoroughly conned when we are ready to depart. The main floors of Goldwin Smith Hall are divided chiefly into lecture halls, rooms for recita- tion classes and faculty offices, and each one of its kind has a modern and inviting aspect. They are attractive and usable rooms without being ornate. In addition to large lecture halls at the north and south ends of the first floor of the building, there is a quite capacious, amphitheatre lecture hall, pro- vided with an ample stage; this occupies an exten- sion eastward from the central part of the main building. This hall is much used for presentation of one act plays by the Dramatic Club and as a rostrum for visiting lecturers. Many distinguished personages each academic year use its platform for an address or a series of discourses. Such lec- tures are generally supported by endowments; that provided by Mr. Jacob H. Schiff for the founda- tion bearing his name, and further entitled "Hu- man Civilization," being noteworthy because the income from it is sufficiently large to permit the calling of eminent speakers from overseas. On the second floor of Goldwin Smith Hall are offices and an educational museum, a rather inadequate ex- hibit, while the third floor is fitted up as a read- ing room with open shelves holding a good refer- ence library of volumes pertaining to the subjects taught in the Hall. On leaving the building by the The Campus 61 south entrance our attention is attracted by the large oil painting by I. Gari Melchers, that hangs on the side wall. Its convincing realism makes this picture a fitting nucleus for the future art collection of Cornell, where search for eternal ver- ities, even their minutae, should never flag. Emerging from the south entrance of Goldwin Smith Hall we come directly into an ornate marble exedra, the setting for a stone table surmounted by a bronze sun-dial, the latter very appropriately inscribed "Asa Shadow Such is Life." THE EXEDRA, GOLDWIN SMITH HALL A little stone bench inscribed: Above All Nations is Humanity, " which stands infront of the building, is Goldwin Smith's own campus memorial. This was carved by some English students who came to Cornell at Goldwin Smith's suggestion. The south side of the quadrangle is marked off by three buildings, Stimson Hall just opposite us, Boardman Hall its neighbor on the right and the University Library which we have visited. In Stimson Hall is located the Ithaca division of the Cornell University Medical College. The major 62 Concerning Cornell equipment of this college is situated in New York City, in touch with ample hospital facilities and clinical opportunities. Only the first year's in- struction in medicine is, therefore, given at Ithaca. The Cornell Medical College is a graduate school. To become a candidate for its M. D. degree a student must have previously had an A. B. degree conferred upon him, or have successfully pursued studies substantially equivalent to such attain- ment. On account of such very high entrance requirements, the enrollment in the Ithaca division of the Medical College is small as compared with that of the other major divisions of the university. Nevertheless a full staff of instructors is maintained for the first year's subjects, consequently the medi- cal student at Ithaca is insured personal tutoring almost by men of professorial rank; certainly a rare privilege. Entering the building we are impressed by a spick and span cleanliness of its halls and walls that is in happy accord with the ideals of modern medicine in its fight against filth as the fostering refuge and distributing medium of disease produc- ing bacteria. At the east end of the structure is a typical medical amphitheatre with seats in steep tiers so that the topmost spectator can look directly down on the work of the demonstrating operator, accordingly be able to watch his procedure with a facility nearly equal to that of the student close beside the instructor. This amphitheatre extends through the basement floor to the main floor above. Cold storage and embalming equipment in the cr Lincoln Hall The Museum of Classical Archaeology The Campus 63 basement make possible the preservation of a large number of cadavers for the use of the anatomy classes; which have large, well-lighted, dissecting rooms on the third floor. These rooms are not open to visitors except by special permission from the director, granted only when some reason or in- terest other than normal curiosity can be given. The second floor laboratories are, however, open to all, and while not so gruesome in aspect as the dissecting rooms, are nevertheless equipped with weird enough complications of apparatus to con- vince the laity that modern medicine has at least the setting of the traditional occult. The appropriateness of the name Morrill Hall, after Justin Smith Morrill, author of the Land Grant Act, applied to the first building erected on the campus; of the names White Hall and McGraw Hall, Morse, Franklin, Sibley, Lincoln and Gold- win Smith Halls, is quite obvious to any one at all familiar with Cornell and national history. The der- ivation of the names Stimson Hall and Boardman Hall is not quite so obvious. Thus Stimson Hall was named, at the request of Dean Sage, the donor of the building, after Dr. Lewis A. Stimson, pro- fessor of Surgery at Cornell University, as a recog- nition of Dr. Stimson's influence in securing the establishment of the major part of the Medical College, located in New York City. Boardman Hall, similarly, is named after a member of the faculty, Judge Douglass Boardman, the first Dean of the College of Law. The lower floor of Boardman Hall is wholly 64 Concerning Cornell given over to lecture halls, two large ones at either end of the building and a smaller one in the middle. On the walls of these rooms is hung a quite notable gallery of small portraits of English and American lawyers and judges, many of them autographed, while the stairway is adorned by a large oil paint- ing of Ezra Cornell. On the second floor are the FROM THE ENTRANCE PORCH OF BOARDMAN HALL offices of the dean and the several professors. The whole of the third floor is occupied by the law library and reading rooms ; the open shelves of the former have accommodations for over sixty thou- sand volumes and there is space for three hundred readers. The library at present consists of some fifty-four thousand volumes and is a quite notable, and in some respects unique, collection. The nu- cleus on which it has been built was the well-known TuE Postals of Goldwin Smith Hall The Campus 65 collection of Nathaniel G. Moak presented to the College in 1893 by Mrs. A. M. Boardman and Mrs. Ellen D. AYilliams as a memorial to Judge Douglass Boardman. The library at present ranks after the Harvard Law Library as an all round collection, but is probably second to none in the completeness of its set of law reports of Great Britain, British Colonies and British dependencies, no better exist- ing even in England. In the Cornell College of Law instruction is given not only in the principles of substantive law but also in the principles of pleading and in the general and fundamental rules of practice. Thus, while its graduates need actual experience to become masters of the details of prac- tice, they are so well grounded in the general rules as to become proficient speedily in the art of pro- cedure. In making the round of the inner quadrangle, complete here at Boardman, we have walked nearly three-fourths of a mile, as a glance at the map will prove. Our visits to classrooms, laboratories and lecture halls in the buildings would easily make up the full mile. It is a half mile from Central Avenue stone-arch bridge to the front of Franklin Hall. These figures help to a realization of the actual dimensions of the campus. They are the more significant when it is noted that our trip thus far has covered only about one-half of the campus area actually occupied by buildings. AYhat we have seen may well be termed the old campus, though it includes several new buildings within its pre- cincts. But a new campus, as extensive or more 66 Concerning Cornell so than the old, has grown up practically within the last decade. It lies to the east of the earlier domain and is, in fact, still in active process of development. Toward it we may next turn our steps. Crossing East Avenue at the end of Presi- dent's Avenue (which extends parallel to the lengths of Stimson and Boardman Halls) we find ourselves in front of the President's Residence, erected and presented to the university by A. D. White, first president of Cornell. It is now oc- cupied by Dr. Livingston Farrand, the fourth regularly inaugurated president of the institution. The parallel rows of elms that border each side of President's Avenue and extend northward along East Avenue to the number of seventy-two trees are the memorial of the Class of 1872, the first class to be graduated from Cornell in the full four years' course and it is to this fact that the little marker stone set at the end of the avenue, with its inscription: "Prima Interpares, " first among equals, refers. Turning to the north and then following the cement walk up the slope to the right, brings us to the south, main entrance of Rockefeller Hall, the home of the department of physics. This building is the outpost of the new campus and in a sense marks the general characteristics of all the structures that stand on this extension of the academic domain. Its architectural outline and mass as well as its structural shell, have been made subservient to utility and economy. The walls are The Campus 67 of brick and the dominant idea of its plan was to provide as great and varied facilities for teaching and research in physics as possible with the sum of money available for its building and equipment. While the building has a pleasing, substantial ex- terior, only an examination of its interior arrange- ment and equipment can make fully evident how well the physics faculty knew just what they want- ed and how much of it could be got with Mr. John D. Rockefeller's gift of two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars. As Mr. Rockefeller stipulated further that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be set aside by the university authorities to provide an income for the maintenance of the building, it would seem that quite adequate provision has been made for the subject of physics at Cornell. In the south wing of Rockefeller are large lec- ture halls, one seating six hundred, the other two hundred students, each fitted with a multiplicity of conveniences for demonstration experiments in mechanics, heat, light, sound and electricity; the lecture desks surpassing those of chemistry in the intricacy and variety of their stop-cock and electri- cal connections. These include a switch, connected with a lifting apparatus and shutters, for darkening the room in a few seconds when it is necessary to use the stereopticon lantern. Between these lec- ture rooms are apparatus-rooms crowded to ca- pacity with complicated devices, each one a marvel of mechanical execution, in whose construction the ingenuity of master minds is written quite as legibly as if set forth in print. In the basement 68 Concerning Cornell below are research laboratories, with massive con- crete foundations to insure freedom from vibra- tions; a mechanician's work shop and, under the north wing, a quite complete plant for the liquefac- tion of air, also a small ice-making machine. On the main floor of the north wing is the dynamo labora- tory, a jungle of wires and switchboards, inter- spersed with the black, squat forms of the genera- tors. Into this room it is not safe to venture with- out a guide. At the north end of the main building are other electrical laboratories while the main corridor of the first floor is flanked by offices and reading rooms. On the second floor are the labora- tories in which the large classes in general physics conduct a variety of elementary experiments. These present an interesting sight when the classes are at work, the students singly, or in pairs, or in groups of three or four, each intently engaged in some manipulation having for its purpose the securing and setting down of data for future com- putations. Here, again, shrewd planning is in evidence to have all this work go on at the same time in orderly fashion. Similarly well arranged are the photographic laboratories that we reach by climbing the north stairs to the third floor. The equipment of galleries, dark rooms and printing rooms, with which this branch of the department is fitted may well be the envy of many professional commercial photographers. The courses offered are popular with undergraduates, a fact not to be wondered at in view of the strong incentive of the beautiful Cornell environment to picture-making. The Campus 69 On this third floor there is also a laboratory for advanced general physics and special research, laboratories for spectroscopy, photometry, electric wave and high temperature measurements. Adja- cent to the general laboratories on the second floor is a reference room for students' use with several volumes ingeniously screwed fast to the reading desks to prevent their being carried off — a scheme that provokes a smile and is interestingly reminis- cent of the chained volumes of the Middle Ages. Leaving Rockefeller Hall by its north entrance we turn east on Reservoir Avenue and approach the west side of the splendid, new Bailey Audito- rium that has b een provided by the state as part of the equipment of the New York State Agricul- tural College at Cornell University. This is an im- posing structure of brick and concrete, semicircular in ground-plan, of classic design and provided with colonnades of limestone monoliths at the entrance and along either side. These large columns greatly enhance the architectural dignity of the building and mark it off distinctly from the other structures of the new campus. Both from the spacious front vestibule and from the loggias at either side, wide BAILEY HALL 70 Concerning Cornell doors open into a corridor that surrounds the auditorium chamber, which has seating capacity for two thousand persons. The stage has a very wide opening but it is neither deep nor very high, and in these respects would have been unsuited for the presentation of dramatic pieces requiring the use of scenery of modern elaboration. But it was quite well adapted for the accommodation of the great pipe organ presented by Andrew Carnegie through the late first president of Cornell, A. D. White. While not one of the largest, either in size or number of pipes, this instrument with its range of ten octaves, its six divisions, including an echo organ in the dome at the center of the building, the choir organ in the room over the west rear entrance and a cathedral chime, is distinctly one of the notable organs in America. Practically the whole university community may be numbered as music lovers, accordingly it is not surprising to learn that frequent organ recitals are attended by capacity audiences and that the first time the Annual Music Festival was held at the Auditorium a financial loss was threatened because practically all of the two thousand seats for the four concerts were disposed of in season-tickets at a reduced rate. A large sale of seats to single concerts at higher prices had been anticipated by the management. When it is re- membered that the town and college population together total only twenty thousand persons, and that Ithaca is not a wealthy place, it will be under- stood that quite a measure of musical appreciation is expressed by such a season-ticket sale. In this The Campus 71 connection it is apropos to add that although on the completion of the Auditorium it was feared that its acoustics would be unutterably bad, this difficulty has been entirely eliminated and at pres- ent it is a well-nigh perfect audience chamber. Similar praise applies also to the seating arrange- ment (place is almost equally desirable anywhere in the hall) and to the generally pleasing architec- ture of the interior. What might have been dressing rooms for beautiful leading ladies and handsome stars, at the rear and in the basement of the Auditorium, had the stage been differently planned, have been con- verted by the agriculturalists into classrooms and laboratories for a department that studies plant diseases, officially known as the department of plant pathology. Studying vegetable diseases in an auditorium where music festivals are held ! But then it is well known that agriculturalists, the world over, are prone to such incongruities, and of such there must be gradations and refinements. Ac- cordingly we must accept the pig in Paddy's hut and the plant diseases in the Auditorium as exam- ples of a similar phenomenon representing ex- tremes in the range of its possibilities. However, it should be said that the department of plant pathology would be only too happy to move out of these cramped quarters. The small stucco structure that occupies part of the area to the south of the Auditorium entrance was the Rural School House. This building was planned to demonstrate a one-teacher country school 72 Concerning Cornell but as the arrangement is already out of date and may no longer serve as a model the building has been given over to the Cornell Countryman for offi- ces. In this connection it is of interest to note that the New York State Legislature has authorized a further building program for the Agricultural College involving the expenditure of three million dollars, and that plans are now (1924) in hand for these new structures by the State Architect. The beautiful garden of perennials south of the school building is a demonstration plot tended by stu- dents in the classes of the department of floriculture. A short distance east from the Auditorium is the Home Economics Building. This occupies the northwest corner of the Agricultural College quad- rangle, which, while not on so extensive a scale as HOME ECONOMICS BUILDING the older quadrangle, comprises a similar rectangle marked out by buildings, walks and parallel rows of handsome elms. It is now noon and we will do well to enter the attractive cafeteria in the base- The Campus 73 ment of the Home Economics Building to secure refreshment and to rest our somewhat weary limbs. On entering we are confronted by a huge pile of trays, each supplied with a paper napkin. In boxes, close by, are knives, forks and spoons. While securing a tray and implements we may study the menu that is conspicuously posted on the side wall with the prices stated for each article of food. Then we pass along the serving table that extends nearly across the room and select what we wish to eat, item by item. Competent carvers supply a choice of meats, other helpers dish out vegetables, kept hot on steam heated tables, we pick up our own dessert, ready in rows of dishes, then are supplied with hot coffee or tea from huge urns, and, at the end of the serving table, pay the cashier for our meal. After securing a glass of ice- cooled water from a convenient tap we are ready to select a place at one of the small tables in the attractive dining hall before us. From out the north windows there is a pleasant view and a cool breeze blows in over the green lawn. Altogether, the setting is quite agreeable, we find the food well cooked and the meal proves very enjoyable. In addition to insuring students good meals at a convenient point, the management and operation of the cafeteria provides a practical laboratory in which the home economics students may become versed in the buying, preparation, cooking and serving of foods in great variety on the scale that this is done in institutions where large numbers of people must be fed at the same time. A costume 74 Concerning Cornell shop at the west end of the basement room affords the same opportunity to get practical experience with clothing that the cafeteria does with food. Frocks are there designed and made for customers as in commercial establishments. Passing upstairs in the Home Economics Build- ing we find on the first floor, offices, classrooms and, at the east end, a model apartment in which young women students in turn have to practise family housekeeping. The appointments and arrange- ment of this apartment are always subjects for animated discussion when bona-fide housekeepers come to call. An assembly room, seating three hundred persons, occupies the center front of the second floor. Opposite it is a large family kitchen and a dining-room for serving. At each end of the main hall are laboratories where the principles of food preparation and nutrition are taught experi- mentally. It will be noted that the importance of giving comfort to the inner man is fully recognized by the department. Among the women students of the university it has come to be considered in- cumbent on the girl who is betrothed during her college career to change her course so as to include cooking courses in the home economics department; indeed the attitude of men of the university toward co-education has actually become much more tol- erant since home economics courses have been established. On the third floor of the building various sewing crafts are taught, there is also a chemical laboratory, while on the fourth floor we find a large well-lighted drafting room where prac- The Campus 75 tical instruction in house planning, decorating and furnishing is given. Ingenious methods are em- ployed to give the home economics work a real significance. Thus in one class each girl is required during the term to invent some labor-saving device for the home. This may take the form of an im- provement on an earlier device (thus one girl attached a sawed-off broom handle to the hand- hold of a dust pan, obviating the necessity of stooping) . The girls even have a practice baby to attend. The problem of providing an adequate wardrobe for a family of five with a total annual income of one thousand dollars engaged the atten- tion of another group. (This before the high prices of 1917 and after became current!) After discus- sion as to the maximum amount that would be available for clothing it devolved on each student to make her own list of the needs and to complete the outfit at rates prevailing in the local shops, the total cost not to exceed the budget. The family did not get ultra-modish habiliments, moreover father and brother suffered somewhat since the women did the buying, nevertheless the show- ing was quite creditable. The rural economy de- partment also has offices in this building. We cross the new quadrangle now to the main agricultural college building. This has been offi- cially named Roberts Hall, after the first director of the institution, and quite appropriately, as it was the first to be erected of the group of structures that now constitute the college. Roberts Hall is comprised of a group of three buildings, consisting, 76 Concerning Cornell as originally planned and occupied, of a central administrative section joined by loggias to the Stone Hall section on the west and class rooms on the east. Entering the basement of the central section we find ourselves in the domain of the mail- ing department, a scene of bustling activity as this department sends out literally thousands of agri- cultural bulletins and circulars dailv. This is one THE LOGGIA, ROBERTS HALL of the ways in which the college keeps the farmers of the state, who can not all come to the school it- self, posted on what is new and worth while in the agricultural field, and particularly in regard to the experimental results secured by its own faculty. The special devices employed in addressing and printing circulars are quite up-to-date and would do credit to the equipment of a progressive mail order concern. A case of models showing, by The Campus 77 means of hundreds of miniature replicas of early forms, the probable development of the plow, stands in the basement passageway leading west- ward. The north basement room at the west end is occupied by one of the plant physiology labora- tories; here the workings of the plant organism are studied as minutely as doctors scrutinize the functions of the parts of the animal body. There is, however, no such outcry against the vivisection studies of the plant physiologists as the doctors of medicine must combat. Possibly this accounts for the greater cruelty of the plant scientists ; thus they have among their apparatus a horribly efficient looking press for squeezing all the juice from a living plant regardless of the feelings of the poor vegetable. Opposite this laboratory on the south side of the basement is a well lighted and inviting room that houses the Agricultural Library (num- bering now some fifteen thousand volumes) and a number of comfortable desks for readers. On the first floor of the Stone Hall section is another laboratory for plant physiology investiga- tion, also offices for the department of farm practice and of the farm superintendents and the periodi- cal room of the college library. The farm practice department administers the requirement that stu- dents must have actual farm training, by finding summer places for the embryo agriculturists and checking up on the kind of work they do in these positions. On the third floor are the main lab- oratories, offices and herbarium of the department of botanv. All instruction and research in the 78 Concerning Cornell subject of botany is now done in this department of the College of Agriculture. We cross back to the main section of the build- ing by the upper passageway. In the hallway of its third floor a number of cases, with display trays at the top, provide accommodation for a collection of some five hundred to seven hundred thousand insects. The curator knows that we can not hope to see them all, therefore has put the more repre- sentative local, and striking foreign, specimens of the different orders in the glass cases at the top with interesting bits of reading about each. In the laboratory at the west end of the hall, on the north side, are wall cases with specimens of highly colored exotic butterflies mostly from South America. We are interested to learn that as much as ninety dollars has been paid, though not by Cornell University, for a rare specimen of one such form. In the laboratory opposite, a similar case illustrates protective coloration of insects. Here are bugs looking for all the world like dead leaves, or like the twigs to which they cling. In a series of cases at the east end of the hallway are displayed a great number of glass models of the marine inverte- brates, jelly fish from tropical waters, sea lilies, sea anemones and the like, each a marvel of delicate workmanship. As may be guessed this is the do- main of the biological departments; the third floor being the special province of the entomologists. The practical application of the entomologist's work is indicated by a case in the center of the hall in which species of insects destructive to cultivated The Campus 79 plants are shown with examples of the nature of the harm they do. In addition to occupying the third floor with their entomological collections, laboratories, classrooms and offices, the biologists' activities extend to the fourth floor where there is similar provision for nature study and limnology, a technical term for the study of the life of inland waters. To supplement their indoor studies the biologists further maintain an insectary in which the life history of insects may be studied, a fish hatchery in Cascadilla Creek and a field laboratory in the Renwick marshes below the city of Ithaca. While the biological province extends to the fourth floor of the main section of Roberts Hall, a large part of that floor is devoted to the meteoro- logical department maintained in co-operation with the United States Weather Bureau and com- prising one of its observatories. Here we find a full set of meteorological instruments, including an automatic triple-recorder electrically connected with apparatus on the roof and so devised that it will register graphically the variations in direction and velocity of the wind, the amount of precipita- tion and the duration of sunshine and cloudiness. The section director of the observatory extends a cordial welcome to look around, tells us of what stuff the weather is made and so clearly that we soon feel confident of becoming weather prophets ourselves. He shows us how he makes his daily weather map and the process of reproducing it for distribution, then directs us to the roof for a view of his apparatus in action as well as for a pleasing 80 Concerning Cornell outlook over all the country round, similar to the prospect we enjoyed from the library tower. From the roof we descend by the central stair- way to the second floor, where the departments of horticulture and floriculture are located. In addi- tion to the usual apportionment of the space into offices, classrooms and laboratories we find the hallway of this floor lined with cases that contain exhibits of a pomological character. One of these, at the west end of the hall, is of exceptional interest — The Morris Collection of the Edible Nuts of the World. It includes about two hundred varieties and is considered one of the best collections of its kind. The inviting appearance of some of the little known specimens suggests future great possibilities for the comparatively undeveloped branch of agri- culture included in the technical term nuciculture, the growing of nuts. The first floor of the main building contains the administrative offices of the college. A fine por- trait of former Director Roberts, after whom the building is named, adorns a panel of the central staircase wall. To the north of the main hallway passageways lead to the assembly hall in which an audience of about six hundred may be seated. This hall has, in the past, indirectly exerted a great in- fluence on the life and school spirit of the agricul- ture students in that, by affording a convenient meeting place of ample size, it has made possible frequent rallies of the college congregation. Thus it has offset the tendency to decentralization that naturally develops in assemblies where, despite a Rockefeller Hall Class of 1872 Elms H^ 3 05 a ST The Campus si basic unity of purpose, a great diversity of special interests exists. It may be pointed out that the Arts College suffers from precisely such lack of com- munity feeling. In view of the great growth of the Agricultural College this function of the assembly hall has been, in large part, transferred to the new Bailey Auditorium. Thus the agriculture students may expect, as in the past, to enjoy spirited talks by their college dean, and other agricultural leaders, addressed to the whole student body, as well as to hold representative ''get together" meetings of their own, despite their continued increase in numbers. The east end of Roberts Hall, corresponding to Stone Hall on the west end, was until the end of 1923 particularly the province of the dairy depart- ment. Now this department has quarters of its own in a Dairy Building that is located next north of the Animal Husbandry Building. The base- ment laboratories of the former dairy department are to be given over to the mailing department and to repair shops. Upstairs we find lecture rooms and offices for the departments of pomology, farm practice and meteorology. On the third floor are drawing rooms where instruction in the graphic arts is given to all agricultural students who may need it in their work. Leaving Roberts Hall we may interrupt our regular round of inspection by making a visit next to the new Dairy Building. The extensiveness of the dairy interests of the farmers of New York state has insured that this building be very com- 82 Concerning Cornell pletely equipped and fitted with all modern devices for dealing with and manufacturing dairy products. Around the hallway of the main entrance we note reading rooms and extensive suites of offices for the staff, shared temporarily with members of the faculty of the department of rural engineering. On the second floor of the main building there is a large lecture room and around the front a series of chemical laboratories, each one devoted to a special purpose, as, for example, a dairy chemistry labora- tory, a technical control laboratory, an elementary testing laboratory. The third floor of the main building is similarly given over to a variety of bacteriological labora- tories. In one of these we find a large class of young women (from the home economics school) most industriously engaged in determining the number of bacteria in various food products and in finding out how fast they multiply. We are not particularly attracted by the odors given off by some of their specimens, and, in view of the results of their tests, we feel impelled in the future to look somewhat carefully into the antecedents of the oysters, condensed milk, hamburg steak, sausages and other similar food products of which we are invited to partake. This work is very practical. The student's attention is directed to the effects of the presence of the micro-organisms studied, and to the precautions that must be taken to prevent infection, rather than to the learning of the Latin names and classification of the various growths. Descending again to the main floor we go The Campus 83 through a central doorway and down a few steps into the manufacturing wing that extends to the east for two hundred feet. Here we encounter first a series of rooms in each of which a different variety of cheese is made. Then there is a room in which ice cream is manufactured, another room is an advanced butter laboratory, a third is an elementary butter laboratory. We wonder just what the difference between advanced butter and elementary butter is. We are surprised too at the variety, complexity and size of the machinery used in dealing with this one product, milk. An im- mense refrigerating plant, pasteurizers, separators, cream ripeners, churns, bottle washers and bottle fillers are a few of the items. There are other rooms at the far end of the wing on an upper floor where milk is received in vast quantities, condensed, powdered, made into butter and made into cheese. A specimen of the cheeses made was sent to, ac- cepted, and eaten by English royalty, a fact that testifies to its excellence if of no other interest. Some notion of the scale of operation is afforded by the annual production figures that have been attained; butter over three hundred thousand pounds, cheese of various kinds over fifty thousand pounds. It must not be thought that these manufactures are simply a commercial proposition conducted with the sole idea of producing revenue for the department. They serve to make the student of dairy industry thoroughly familiar with creamery operations on a large scale, to supplement his theoretical with practical training. This explains 84 Concerning Cornell the rows of student chairs in some of the manufac- turing rooms. The classes not only take notes but also perform many of the operations. Altogether this is the best kind of training; the combining of the practical with the theoretical. Increased educa- tional efficiency would result if it could be applied to all kinds of subjects. If a student of English, for example, could be made to write a book while studying composition it might well be that he would more appreciate the very practical applica- tion of the precepts presented; especially if he had to make his book so good that it would sell at a profit, as must the dairy products. As we come outdoors again we are facing west. We retrace our steps to the east end of Roberts Hall and then go across the Agricultural College quadrangle to Caldwell Hall, in which the de- partments of soil technology and agricultural chemistry are housed. The appointments of this building give evidence of much care in its planning; the lecture room at the east end being especially admirable in its arrange- ment and well worthy of the study of any educator who may be responsible for the provision of a similar room elsewhere. A fine portrait of Pro- fessor Caldwell of Cornell University, one of the foremost and earliest agricultural chemists in America, occupies the place of honor on the walls of the lecture room. A number of laboratories for the investigation of soils by both elementary and advanced students, as well as various department offices occupy the rest of the building, except that The Campus 85 a part of the space on the second floor and on the fourth floor is given over to the departments of rural education and rural engineering. The east end of the Agricultural College quad- rangle is marked off by the old animal husbandry building, now remodelled to house the department of farm management. The building itself is an unprepossessing wooden structure but its class- rooms and laboratories contain interesting charts on the cost of production of various farm products. The similar shed-like structure behind the old animal husbandry building is the home of the rural engineering department. While unpretentious like its neighbor, the building is not lacking in inter- esting content. We find exhibition set-ups of water supply and electric lighting systems for country dwellings, models of modern plank frames for barns and an elaborate apparatus for testing the character of spray discharged by fruit spraying nozzles of va- rious types, significantly designated a spray ograph. Among the trees on the slope to the north of the Rural Engineering Building is a modest structure which formerly housed the department of landscape art, but is now also devoted to the purposes of the rural engineers. The department of landscape art has been made a part of the College of Architec- ture. While landscape art remained in the Agricul- tural College a large number of students were here taught the various considerations that enter into the problem of providing an artistic and delightful outdoor setting for the modest country home as well as for the mansion on an estate or the great 86 Concerning Cornell public building. Moreover the Agricultural Col- lege intrusted this department with the preparation of part of its campus plan, an expression of confi- dence that, while seemingly only logical, is the more noteworthy in that it has not always been accorded to the experts of other departments of the univer- sity when practical problems in their fields have come up. The building itself has a very attrac- tive interior arrangement, its atmosphere seems conducive to artistic effort. Retracing our steps we now go south to the collection of greenhouses and attached laboratories that are situated just to the east of Roberts Hall. These are given over to instructional and investi- gation work in floriculture, vegetable-gardening, plant-breeding, soils and plant-pathology. Usually they contain some attractive massed growth of flowers, at present vari-colored carnations, but the greater part of the glass-house space is devoted to experimental planting. Accordingly, the exhibits are interesting only in their technicalities; which we can not stop to have explained to us, because they are so numerous and involved. However, we do note and wonder about a large number of stands of wheat, each stand growing in a separate large pot. The wide diversity in height and general sturdiness of growth shown by the different stands according to the kind of soil and other conditions supplied, indicate the methods by which the fittest plants are culled out, deficiencies of soil detected and characteristics of growth noted at all stages. To the northeast of the greenhouse range we The Campus 87 note a red brick structure with a tiled roof, the university nitration plant, given by Andrew Car- negie to prevent the recurrence of a typhoid epi- demic such as unhappily developed in 1903. At present both the city of Ithaca and the university have adequate nitration plants and make frequent careful tests of the water supply. Close adjacent to the filtration plant is the new forestry building, Fernow Hall, erected at a cost of one hundred and twenty thousand dol- _==£ lars. The teaching of ^xfi professional forestry in American univer- sities had its beginning at Cornell, where the FERNOW HALL first college of forestry in the country was estab- lished by New York State in 1898. After a period of efficient work its activities were suspended in 1903, but in the fall of 1911 were again resumed with the administrative organization of a depart- ment of the College of Agriculture. From 1914 on the work has been centered in the new building we are now visiting. Here are laboratories for testing timber, several for the study of wood technology, an herbarium, a museum and appropriate class and lecture rooms. In the attic a pleasant room has been fitted up for the forestry club, as well as photographic galleries and dark rooms. The de- partment of plant breeding also occupies quarters in this building. A suggestion of the high regard in which scientific forestry is coming to be held is 88 Concerning Cornell given by the fact that at the dedication of this building a letter was read from a man, not con- nected with the university, expressing his interest in the renewal of the work at Cornell and the hope that in the future a timber might be developed combining qualities not now possessed by any one wood. He further enclosed his check for five hun- dred dollars to be used as the department saw fit, a gift from a private individual to a state supported institution, a rather unusual sort of donation. The tall smokestack that projects above the top of the slope to the northeast of Fernow Hall marks the location of the heating plant formerly serving the College of Agriculture. Steam is now furnished to all the buildings of the college from the new university plant. The old heating station is on a direct north-south line with the Poultry Husbandry Building which faces the main highway leading to the east. Here we have an Agricultural College department with a distinctly specialized field, snugly established in handsome quarters and at home long enough to feel quite at ease. One senses that the officers of this department have, to a large degree, realized their ideals of equipment, and while we may chuckle at the idea of a ninety thousand dollar university building the larger part of which is given over to the interests of the humble hen, one must admit that she is made much of here, and deserved- ly. Her antecedents and descendants, her anatomy and superstructure, her consumption and produc- tion are all studied in minute detail. In a museum The Campus 89 room on the second floor is a picture chart of the record of the premier of her kind, Lady Cornell, with her portrait in the center flanked by repre- sentations in oil of the enormous pile of eggs she laid, of the food she ate; and tables showing what she cost while living and the values she produced before she died. Indeed matters are juxtaposed much in that way throughout the department. Thus at the east end of the basement room are three mammoth incubators each capable of bring- ing to life three thousand chicks at a time, to say nothing of a number of smaller foster-hens. As a counterbalance to this teeming new-life zone there have been installed at the other end of the base- ment a series of refrigerating rooms where dressed poultry is kept in cold storage. On the first floor we find, at the right of the main entrance, a laboratory for cleaning, testing, grading and pack- ing eggs. We are astonished at the number of de- fects the hen is apt to conceal in her white-shelled product, and how surely these stand revealed under the scrutiny of the poultry husbandry experts. We learn that eggs are best both as to quality and price in March and April; their fluctuating value is indicated for a period of several years by a large quotation board in the main hall. Below this is an illuminated lantern-slide display illustrating the various ills that hens are heir to. As in the base- ment, the egg laboratory on the right is unfeelingly placed opposite a killing, picking and packing laboratory on the left. The killing is done most scientificallv; the manner is illustrated bv a colored 90 Concerning Cornell diagram on the wall. The fowl is hung head down- ward, its throat is cut and its brain pierced. This lets the blood escape and relaxes the tissues that hold the feathers. We are told that an expert can kill, dress and dry-pick a bird in four minutes but it takes the beginning student about half an hour. Everything is done with the utmost cleanliness and economy, they even save the fine feathers. On the other floors we find departmental offices, labora- tories, and classrooms used by the department of farm crops as well as by the department of poultry husbandry for theoretical instruction in these subjects. Auxiliary buildings adjacent to the main structure provide houses for egg production, for fattening, brooding, breed observation, food and supplies. In addition to this equipment the depart- ment has a farm of eighty acres, about one mile north of the building, where flocks, numbering some seven thousand individuals and of a great variety of breeds, are maintained. Surely the facilities for study of the hen are well nigh complete at Cornell. Leaving the Poultry Husbandry Building we follow the road eastward for nearly a quarter of a mile before we come to the Animal Husbandry Buildings, erected so far out in order to be near the University Barns which are located still farther to the east. No doubt emulation of the poultry husbandry equipment animated the planning of the animal husbandry professors, for their facilities rival if they do not excel those of the poultry men. The Animal Husbandry Buildings consist of a three-story main structure and directly behind it a The Campus 91 stock- judging pavilion. The south end of the base- ment of the main building is fitted up as a farm slaughter room with an inclined passageway for leading animals directly to the killing room. Ad- jacent to the killing room is an up-to-date refrig- erating room which in turn opens into a cutting and curing room. Under the east wing of the building we find a room for smoking meats, a room for mak- ing lard, another for curing and storing hams and bacon, and a pickling room. A boiler room, locker and lavatory facilities occupy the rest of the space in the wing. On the north side of the basement is a laboratory for experimental breeding. A large lecture room providing seating capacity for two hundred persons occupies the space of the first and second floors in the east wing. This room has been so arranged that animals may be led directly from the outside on the lecture platform. The first floor space of the main building is devoted to offices and classrooms. The second floor is fitted up for the study of animal nutrition. Here are laboratories for the examination of feed both macroscopically and under the microscope, as well as by chemical analysis. On the top floor we find the departmental library adjacent to a room for advanced research. A harness room and a pedi- gree laboratory occupy the space at the north and south ends of this third story. The judging pavilion, in the rear of the main building, is a one-story structure one hundred and sixty feet long and eighty feet wide, the whole nterior consisting of one large room. In the center 92 Concerning Cornell is a great, tan-bark floor, giving ample space for putting a horse through his paces, while seats around the sides will accommodate some four to five hundred spectators. Incidentally it may be stated that a Cornell graduate who had had in- struction in this department was so much impressed by the merit of the system used in grading the animals that he wrote a long article for the Sunday edition of a New York City newspaper proposing that young men should adopt a similar scheme when choosing a wife. He included a detailed statement of the number of points to be allowed for beauty, neatness, form, amiability and a long list of other attributes, but it must be admitted that at last account he was still a bachelor. Whether this was because he could not find a candidate whom he could score high enough to be acceptable as a life-partner or whether, on instinctive, as op- posed to scientific judging, eligible candidates have spurned him would make another story. Behind the judging pavilion, on the far side of an intersecting highway, are the University Barns, the larger structures being the Horse Barn and the Dairy Barn. A considerable number of horses are kept, as, in addition to their use for purposes of instruction and experimentation, these animals are employed on the University Farms and in drawing freight and other hauling needed by the univer- sity. Most of the horses are pure-bred Perch erons. The dairy herd consists of Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys, Short Horns and Ayrshires. In addition to this stock a flock of about fifty sheep is main- The Campus 93 tained and a number of swine are bred each year. Over nine hundred acres of land are included in the College Farms which extend east, north and south, beyond the University Barns. Tillable fields, pasture lots, wood and forest lots, orchards, plots for soil experimentation, vegetable gardening and floriculture are all included in this area. In June an especially gorgeous display is presented by the peony field when the largest collection of cor- rectly named varieties of peonies to be found any where in the world is in bloom. This is located op- posite the rifle range on the country road that leads past Forest Home village. Here, too, many varie- ties of iris, phlox and gladioli are grown. A very large representation of the cultivated hardy flora and sylva is already included in the plantings on the university grounds and it is planned to estab- lish a garden of the native species on the long strip of land that borders the north side of Cascadilla Creek. With this as a central point of interest the university will possess a Botanic Garden that will afford a very wide variety of illustrative specimens for instructional purposes, while at the same time the garden will add much to the natural beauty and interest of the Cornell environment. The rear side of the stock judging pavilion is three fourths of a mile removed from the focus of the university campus, marked by the University Library. As there is only a ten minute interval between class periods it will be appreciated that the limit of expansion of the university campus has been very nearly attained. Even now a student 94 Concerning Cornell who has a class at one hour in the Animal Husband- ry Building and one in the succeeding period in mathematics at White Hall, may not loiter if he would arrive at the second class on time. He has nearly a mile to cover in ten minutes. We appreciate this extensiveness of the uni- versity domain as we return westward from our visit to the University Barns across the wide ex- panses that comprise Alumni Field. This is the new playground and athletic field for the whole university that covers an area of fifty-seven acres, all of which has been carefully graded at a heavy expense, in large part paid for by alumni contribu- tions. We pass first the tennis-courts, all in a row, and accommodating a great number of players at one time. Then we cross the great Students* Com- mon where there is ample space for some dozen baseball games to be in progress at once. Here we find that it needs only the provision of adequate grounds to bring about active participation in out- door sports by the great mass of students. The whole field is peopled, it is hard to count the num- ber of games being played. On the terrace level below the Common and to the west is a similar large expanse, the Playground, also open to stu- dents generally and as well occupied. For the most part the contests here are between teams in well organized leagues playing off the Inter College Series, the Inter Class and the Inter Fraternity Series. But pick-up nines are also in evidence, in fact every gradation of skill in playing seems to have found opportunity to participate. The The Campus 95 handsome structure at the south end of the play- ground, which we are now approaching, is the gift of the late Willard Straight, of the class of 1901, in memory of Henry Schoellkopf, member of the class of 1902. It has, accordingly, been named the Schoellkopf Memorial Hall. It pro- C SCHOELLKOPF MEMORIAL FIELD AND HALL vides handsomely equipped quarters, including baths and locker rooms, for the various varsity and visiting teams. Its elaborate, octagonal, cen- tral hall, moreover, gives an adequate setting for the display of the innumerable banners, pennants and cups that are the spoils of Cornell's athletic vic- tories. Prominent among these is the great Inter- collegiate Track Cup which found a permanent home at Cornell when, by a splendid victory, the Cornell Team of 1914, for the fifth time since the cup had been placed in competition achieved the Intercollegiate Championship in Track. From the terrace level of the Memorial Hall we look southward over Schoellkopf Field and Stadium where varsity contests in football and track are now staged. On its east side is an immense con- 96 Concerning Cornell crete stadium recently enlarged so that it now provides room for nearly twenty-two thousand spectators. When the stands are full the crowd itself makes a very imposing spectacle as seen from the west. The building with the pyra- midal roof that projects up from the level of the terrace next lower is Bacon Practice Hall. Nearly all of the interior of this building is com- prised in one large room, an indoor baseball cage on whose earthen floor candidates for the varsity baseball team are trained and sorted while the skies outdoors are still overcast and the ground deeply covered with snow or mud. On a dark March evening the radiance from the myriad elec- tric bulbs that glow under its glass roof and whose rays also flood out through its spacious windows envelops the hall with a blaze of warm light and gives it a cozy and bright appearance in the midst of the bleak winter landscape. On the lowest of all the levels and at the south- west corner of the new athletic domain is Hoy Field, named in honor of David F. Hoy, registrar of the university, an enthusiastic fan and for long years chairman of the baseball committee. The burning of part of the equipment at Percy Field in the spring of 1920 led to the decision to play the varsity baseball games in 1922 on this new field. Altogether the provision for outdoor sports on Alumni Field is on a scale commensurate with the size and athletic standing of Cornell, and equally attractive in plan and appointment. It is quite appropriate that another branch of The Campus 97 physical training, that of military science, now has its new home so near to the athletic precincts. The new Drill Hall, for which the New York State Legislature appropriated three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the spring of 1914, occupies the area across the road from Hoy Field and to the west of the Playground. The drill hall proper is three hundred and sixty-two feet long and two hun- dred and twenty-five feet wide, and thus provides a vast expanse of open floor space. This has made THE DRILL HALL it possible to drill the whole cadet corps throughout the winter. Furthermore it is now feasible to give instruction in military science to both underclasses instead of only to the freshmen, as had been the case before the war. During the war this building was tendered to the national government by the "uni- versity for use as quarters and classrooms by a ground school for officers in training for the army aviation corps. A temporary mess hall adjacent 98 Concerning Cornell to the main structure supplied a suitable eating place. Some six hundred men were in training at one time and as soon as one group completed the course the outgoing men were replaced by a group of new recruits of equal number. The splendid physique of each and every one of these men and their general capableness of bearing made a notable impression on all the university community and evoked much envious comment among the under- graduates. The highway between the Playground and the Drill Hall leads to the last group of buildings we must visit to make our tour of the university complete. These buildings constitute the New York State Veterinary College, which, like the Agricultural College, is state supported but is under independent administration. The three buildings that extend from south to north along the highway constitute the new hospital for large and small animals. The southern-most of the three is the Farriery. Its ground floor is devoted to an isolation ward and wards for horses and cattle, with an adjoining demonstration hall. On the first floor, at the level of the highway, is the farriery forge-room, fully equipped for the teach- ing of horseshoeing. A six weeks* course is given each year to practical horseshoers, in this subject, in addition to thorough instruction to veterinary students. The third floor of the Farriery is used for storage and a lecture room. The central structure of the group is the Medical Building. In it are a drug room, clinic hall, physical examination The Campus 09 room and wards for large animals on the ground floor. The second floor has, in addition to student and research laboratories, an amphitheatre lecture VETERINARY COLLEGE, HOSPITAL BUILDINGS room with seats in tiers at the same steep pitch that we found in the lecture room of the Medical College. An interesting feature in the construc- tion of this and other of the Veterinary College Buildings is the evident provision throughout for the housing, moving of, and for operations on large animals, patients, but not necessarily always patient. On the third floor of the Hospital Build- ings are quarters for the grooms and internes to- gether with a large laboratory. The attic pro- vides facilities for the storage of grain and hay. The north building of the group is a Small Animal Hospital. It also houses the department of materia medica. Here we find a number of kennels pro- vided for small animal patients and an operating room with modern equipment for their surgical 100 Concerning Cornell attention, as well as lecture and laboratory rooms for the instruction of students. The exterior architecture of this group of three buildings is of rather unusual design. The pro- nounced vertical element apparent in the elevation of the main portions of the structure is further em- phasized by the steep roofs that cover them, by the paired, chimney-like shafts that project above the ends and sides of the units, and by a central tower that surmounts the whole group. The effect is certainly distinctive and invites much comment. Between the hospital buildings and the main building, James Law Hall, are a number of smaller structures belonging to the Veterinary College. Each of these has a distinctive use. Thus there is a Surgical Ward, an Operating Theatre, a Post Mortem Building and a cottage for the groom. James Law Hall has a larger variety of inter- esting content than the hospital buildings. Its front entrance opens directly into the large museum of the college. Here we find a great collection of specimens illustrating the anatomy of nearly every kind of domestic animal, large or small. On one shelf is a model showing the mechanism of the eye, on the other the preserved stomach of a sheep, a third has specimens of tuberculous tissues from cows. The second floor houses connected labora- tories, that devoted to physiology being especially replete with interesting apparatus. Here are kumo- graphs, sphymographs, tambours and centri- fuges. We can not stay to study what even The Campus 101 JAMES LAW HALL the names may mean. On the third floor we are similarly confronted by complications in equip- ment provided for laboratory bacteriological and pathological study. A large lecture room occupies the upper floor of a two-story wing that extends to the east. On its ground floor are the anatomical lab- oratories where the veterinary students dissect animal bodies as pains- takingly as the medical students work over human cadavers. In the new wing on the south side of James Law Hall the Flower Library of veterinary books and periodicals is now housed. This wing also contains a large auditorium, offices and a diagnosis laboratory. Emerging from James Law Hall we stand for a moment under its portico and admire the broad lawn that extends to East Avenue. We follow a path along the side of the lawn to this highway, where we enter under the shade of the Ostrander Elms. This fine, double row of trees was the gift of a farmer, John B. Ostrander, who although he could boast of but small store of worldly wealth, was nevertheless moved by the same abundance of heart that actuated the Founder, Ezra Cornell. In the early days of the university, Ostrander offered his "fine lot of young elms" to Mr. Henry W. Sage 102 Concerning Cornell with the sentiment: "They will make a shade for somebody after you and I are gone." Now that his gift has come to fruition we, who are here to enjoy it, are humbly appreciative of the largeness of spirit that prompted an offering from which only a later generation than his might expect to benefit. We are grateful too, for we are weary, and it is pleasant to rest under these green boughs and con- template the large external proportions and the still vaster internal complications of the present day university whose physical resources we have just finished surveying. It is indeed a great institution. Nor has it come to a standstill, content with its present status. At every hand we have met with evidence of growth and expansion. Its interests and the varie- ties of instruction it affords are nearly as manifold as the diverse fields of all human endeavor. Truly the motto bestowed by Ezra Cornell "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any subject," has been abundantly realized. We have inspected the university's equip- ment, have seen some of its work in progress. Where we have best understood what was being done, where the subjects approached more nearly the interests and activities of the every-day life of the multitude we have lingered longest and have profited most in our tour. But this only serves to convince us that the more technical fields and de- partments have equally great fascination for those who possess the keys to their appreciation. Above all, though, we have been impressed by The Campus lo:j the natural beauty of the university site. From a score of points of view the campus presents itself as a picture, perfect in composition and color. The very number of pleasant outlooks we have seen suggests that there are more. We want to stay and explore them all. We are eager to be numbered among the throng of students that, when the big clock-bell strikes the hour, crowds the walks and cross paths on the way from one class to the next. They idle or hurry, those students, according to their disposition, or perhaps as the next class may be in a building near or distant. It is an animated scene the quadrangle presents in that ten minutes between classes. Freshmen, wearing their diminutive gray caps, patter back and forth; groups of upper classmen gather in door- ways, a professor carrying a portfolio bulging with books and papers is a conspicuous figure. In that ten minutes at the hour acquaintance nods to ac- quaintance, friend chats with friend, it seems that every one on the campus is in sight. Between the hours, however, the great quadrangle, by contrast, seems as silent as a graveyard, betraying no signs of the swarming young life the halls so abundantly contain. It is a positively eerie feeling that comes over us when the last student hastens from our sight into the shadows beyond yon portals. Now it is late afternoon. A shower just over has made clear, brimming pools of the hollows in the worn, blue flagstones of the quadrangle walks. The sun bursts out from behind a scurrying white cloud and the little silver lakes mistily reflect the azure 104 Concerning Cornell of the sky. The air has been washed clean by the late downpour; it is cool and fragrant with the scent of the freshened vegetation. Stragglers from afternoon laboratory classes emerge from the vari- ous hallways, wherein they lurked during the rain, and continue their interrupted way. The arched boughs of the graceful elms, the deep green of the ivy covered walls and, at the end of the vista, the gray spire of the library tower, all contribute to make the scene a truly idyllic episode. We feel we are in college precincts, it is the enchantment of the Cornell campus that has here concentrated itself in a single perspective, and will continue always to hold us by its charm as it does each under- graduate and alumnus of alma mater, Cornell. CHAPTER II THE FOUNDER— EZRA CORNELL EZRA CORNELL, the founder of Cornell University was born at Westchester Landing, Westchester County, New York, January 11, 1807. Westchester Landing was situated at the mouth of the Bronx river. The place is now called Cornell Neck and is a part of New York City. It has become the fashion of late to discount the claims of New England historians as to the part their ancestors had in the development of this country. Whether or not these claims can be justified, with regard to the whole, certain it is that Ezra Cornell did not have a minor role in the drama, nay pageant; and his forbears were in- dubitably of New England stock for generations back. His coadjutor in the founding of Cornell University, Andrew D. White, though he may have been introduced to Bismarck, so the story runs, as one "born in Homer, reared in Syracuse, president of a college at Ithaca, " was similarly of a long line of New England ancestors. Ezra Cornell's father and grandfather were both named Elijah, and were born and reared in Bristol County, Massachusetts, near the town of Swansea. His grandmother, too, Sarah Miller, had been brought up in that neighborhood. At the age of nineteen, Ezra's father was indentured to Asa Chase of Somerset, Bristol County, Massachusetts, to learn the potter's trade. Though of humble 106 Concerning Cornell parentage and station in life, Elijah Cornell was not uneducated, as is attested by the fact that he taught school, both as a young man and in his later days. On July 4, 1805, he married Eunice Barn- ard, daughter of a retired New Bedford whaler, at New Britain, New York, at a Friends or "Quaker's" meeting, to which religious sect both the bride and groom and their parents belonged. At the time of his marriage Elijah Cornell was thirty-four years old, had been living in Westchester County, New York, and shortly after removed to Westchester Landing, where Ezra Cornell was born. His father and his elder brother, a ship carpenter, meanwhile had joined forces in building a vessel for the Atlantic coasting trade, unfortunately lost on its first voyage. As the vessel was not insured, this disaster cost the partners the greater part of their savings and resulted in the removal of Elijah Cornell to Madison County, New York, where he purchased a farm on Crum Hill, about three miles to the east of the village of DeRuyter. A settlement of "Quakers" no doubt attracted the elder Cornell to DeRuyter, but the locality did not prove a profitable field of labor. Accordingly he returned, after three years, to Westchester County, to work at his trade of potter, earning, however, only ten dollars per week. Later, follow- ing the same calling, he was employed at Tarry- town and then at West Farms. Ezra Cornell, the founder, says his earliest recollections are asso- ciated with Tarry town. He remembers that "one Sunday 'everybody' turned out and went up the The Founder — Ezra Cornell 107 turnpike to see the soldiers march through who were 'going to the lines/ this was probably in 1812. " [Page 1 of an incomplete manuscript autobiog- raphy written out for S. I. Prime, dated June 9, 1873.] Also more happily: "The illumination of the village of West Farms at the proclamation of peace occurred when we lived there and I well remember it and the great rejoicing of the people for the return of peace." In 1817 Ezra's father moved to near Englewood, New Jersey, and set up earthenware manufacture in partnership with Edward Marshall ; but competition and depression of the business proved so severe that in 1818 he sold out and once more removed to DeRuyter. The journey from New Jersey to DeRuyter, "up country, " was made with a two-horse, covered wagon, and was for the most part through an un- inhabited wilderness, in almost a straight line across an exceedingly rough, and still a difficultly accessible, part of New York State. Young Ezra, now twelve, the oldest of six children, must have driven the team at times, and thus early been inured to pioneer life, for the journey took about three weeks of November and December, 1818, for the two hundred and fifty miles they traveled. Farming having proved again unprofitable, by itself, the father set up an earthenware pottery on his own place and marketed the product in the neighborhood, where, owing to the remoteness of the locality, his goods had a ready sale for years. In the work of the shop, as well as on the farm, he used the labor of his sons, and was thus able to 108 Concerning Cornell maintain in comfort and contentment what event- ually became a family of eleven children. Ezra, at the age of seventeen, with the aid of a brother one year his junior, cleared and planted to corn four acres of land that had been a beech and maple woodland, between March 1st and May 15th, in payment for the privilege of attending school during the December, January and February pre- ceding. That summer Ezra's father employed a carpenter to erect buildings for the pottery on his farm; Ezra helped this man in the work, and shortly discovered a mistake in the layout — so early did he show an aptitude for mastering me- chanical problems. In the next year, again with the assistance of the younger brother, he cut the timber for, and framed a two-story dwelling house for his family. It was the best in the place when built. The neighbors, asked to assist in the raising of the structure, as was the custom, marveled at the perfection of the work of the young builder who had so achieved without instruction or supervision, and the feat won him an enviable reputation for practical ability in the neighborhood. His success aroused in Ezra the ambition to set up for himself. Accordingly, at eighteen, he left the parental roof, and proceeded to Syracuse, some thirty miles northwest of DeRuyter. At Syracuse he found employment as carpenter, and within three months after he left home was engaged in contracting for himself. Then he went to Homer, where he was employed for one year in a machine shop. Homer was about twenty miles from De- The Founder — Ezra Cornell 109 Ruyter, and Ezra frequently walked home on Saturday night and returned to his work, also on foot, the following Monday morning. Learning that Ithaca, New York, was waxing prosperous on account of its connection, through Cayuga Lake, with the newly completed Erie Canal, Ezra, in his twenty -first year, set out, again on foot, for that place from his home at DeRuyter; and, after the journey of about forty miles, in April, 1828, arrived at the settlement, of then about two thousand people, that was to be his future home. Ithaca, was, indeed, at the time, a thriving community; for all the country to the south of it, as far as Binghamton, New York, and Towanda, Pennsylvania, sent to Ithaca their lumber and grain for shipment to eastern markets, and received in return a variety of mer- chandise from distant points (particularly salt from Syracuse) and land plaster, gypsum, then much used as a fertilizer, from local quarries along Cayuga Lake. Ithaca, accordingly, enjoyed all the advantages of a terminal point such as, on a larger scale, have made Buffalo prosperous until today. Since this was before the advent of rail- roads the immense amount of teaming necessary made a constant stream of traffic over the roads extending southward from the town. On his arrival in Ithaca, the young mechanic was possessed only of fifteen dollars and a spare suit of clothes. He was, however, immediately able to secure employment in the machine shop of the cotton factory of Otis Eddy, which stood no Concerning Cornell on what is now the site of Cascadilla Dormitory. It seems that Ezra had known the proprietor, Mr. Otis Eddy, earlier, at DeRuyter and had been influenced by him to come to Ithaca, though apparently not with any promise of a position. Having proved himself competent in this capacity, Ezra was in the next year invited to superintend the overhauling and general repair of Beebe's flour and plaster mills located at the lower end of Fall Creek gorge, just across the bridge from Percy Field. This business, too, he accomplished suc- cessfully, and as a result came into the employ of Colonel Beebe for some twelve years from 1829 to 1841. (In the manuscript autobiography, Ezra Cornell says he worked for Colonel Beebe only ten years.) During the latter part of this period he became confidential agent and general manager for the proprietor and in this connection acquired an extensive knowledge of business. It must not be imagined that it was all easy sailing for the young man, Cornell, from the time he arrived in Ithaca, on through these years. He himself said later that he had seen the time when he could not get credit in Ithaca for a bushel of potatoes or a bag of flour ! Shades of the departed — what a change today, when the amount of credit available to any student in his university is such that it often proves to be the individual's undoing. Why this grinding poverty of the founder? Be- cause he never ceased loading himself with further responsibilities. In that phrase, it seems to the writer, is afforded a concise summation of his The Founder — Ezra Cornell ill whole life. He kept taking them on, those re- sponsibilities, one after the other, each greater than the one preceding, really tremendous ones at the last; and it was the load he was carrying that eventually weighed him down into the grave be- fore his time. Though this conception of his ca- reer has not been emphasized by others it may be left with the reader to judge of its truth. Scarcely had he gained a foothold in Ithaca when he married. That was in 1831, and the bride was Mary Ann Wood, daughter of Benjamin Wood, resident in the township of Dryden, four miles from Ithaca, but formerly of DeRuyter, where Mary Ann was born. Benjamin Wood was a native New Englander, born in Scituate, Providence County, Rhode Island, and thus in Ezra's mar- riage to his daughter is completed the chain of New England ancestry in the birth of Cornell Uni- versity. It is related that Mary Ann had a rival, one Welthy Russell, who, as a pun on her name would imply, was the daughter of quite well-to-do people; and Ezra had a rival in Ben Smith, de- scribed as a dapper young fellow — this when all four were living in DeRuyter. One day Welthy showed Ezra a knick-knack "frame" that Ben had made for her with the remark, "Ezra, does thee think thee could do as well as Ben Smith has done this ? " Such praise for an insignificant trinket must have disgusted the practical Ezra and it seems to have ruined Welthy 's chances. Never- theless the remark rankled, for years afterwards when Ezra had won fame and fortune, and when 112 Concerning Cornell Cornell University was first rising, Welthy, with a natural pride in the eminence of a former De- Ruyter boy, came to Ithaca to see his works and sought him out. During the interview the found- er ventured to ask: "Welthy, does thee think Ben Smith could and would have done as well as this ? " While Mary Ann's folks were by no means poor, she was one of eleven children, hence brought no large dowry to her husband. While it may be questioned whether Ezra Cornell could ever have been persuaded to regard his wife in any sense a responsibility, still he probably was not blind to the fact that the nine children that were the result of their union made a considerable demand on his income. Moreover his marriage did not meet with the approval of his home people, for Mary Ann was a "world's woman" while Ezra and all his forbears were " birthright' ' Quakers. The DeRuyter so- ciety of Quakers to which Ezra belonged, on hear- ing of the wedding, accordingly sent one of its members on a forty-mile tramp through winter snow to inform Ezra that he had been "turned out of meeting" for "marrying out," but that they would reinstate him if he would say he was sorry — but this Ezra indignantly refused to do. While at heart he remained a Quaker to the end of his life, it may be that this incident had much to do with the establishment of a nonsectarian pulpit at Cornell. In the summer after his marriage, Ezra bought several acres of land in a hollow across the creek "The Nook" Fzra Cornell's First Home in Ithaca, as it appeared in 1907 The Lower End of the Tunnel The First Telegraph Instrument Beebe Dam and Beebe Lake The Founder — Ezra Cornell 113 and to the north of the mills, opposite Percy Field, and there built a small house, long known as "The Nook," in which the family resided for twenty years. It was far from commo- dious, this first own rooftree of the founder. One room served as a living-room, bedroom and kit- chen and in the attic above it the children slept. One little table, only large enough for two, was all they had for serving their meals. Was it any won- der that Goldwin Smith found Ezra Cornell, later, a man "eminently plain, frugal and abstemious in his own habits. " There was a time, not so very far back, when the dignity of labor was a matter for sentiment, when this theme was commonly the subject of prints adorning the walls of homes. The present generation in the midst of easy living had lost all due legard for its true value, and it needed a world war to bring us once more to a realization that the toil of the farmer and the mechanic is the fundamental measure of production, and that we need to pay due meed to their station in life. Than this, the humble home of the founder needs no further apology. At seventeen young Ezra " undertook' ' to clear off the woods and plant their area to corn, at seven- teen he undertook to build a two-story house, at eighteen he undertook to shift for himself, at twenty-two, to overhaul a mill, at twenty-four, to marry, and in the same year to drive a tunnel through several hundred feet of solid rock. Per- haps the last two undertakings should not be men- tioned in the same category, but like those that 1 1 4 Concerning Cornell preceded it they were untried and new things, all successfully accomplished. The " tunnel" is perhaps the most enduring monument of the founder's own labors that exists about the university. When he entered the em- ploy of Colonel Beebe, all the mills then supplied with power by the Ithaca Falls secured their water through a wooden flume attached to the overhanging rock cliffs on the south side of the stream. This structure was constantly in need of repairs, its annual maintenance, consequently, involved a consider- able charge, and the work itself was dangerous on account of the exposed situation. Further- more, ice frequently interrupted the flow of the water in winter. It remained for Ezra Cornell to find a permanent solution of these difficulties by means of a tunnel, through the rock cliff, that would provide an uninterrupted flow of water from a point above the falls, over a rock bed, di- rectly to the mills. The several owners were at first skeptical of the plan but finally agreed to provide the necessary funds for its execution. Though without experience in such work, Ezra was nevertheless put in charge, and, proceeding SITE OF THE TUNNEL Upper entrance i9 at ba3e of cliff in distance on left The Founder— Ezra Cornell i i 5 from both ends at once, managed so well that the two excavations met in the center of the cut only a few inches out of line; and the total cost was below the estimated figure. This tunnel has ever since continued to serve the purpose for which it was designed and at little or no cost for upkeep. As essentially the same plan has been adopted for the most modern of the power plants at Niagara Falls, it would seem that Ezra was at a very early age capable of seeing the best means to an end, at any rate where engineering practice was involved. It was Ezra, also, who engineered the construction of the first Beebe Dam, which resulted in the crea- tion of a storage reservoir, Beebe Lake, with con- sequent insurance of an even flow of water and provision against seasons of drought. That he was hampered in carrying out his in- novations by the preconceptions of how things ought to be done entertained by the workmen he employed, and the characteristic way in which he met this difficulty are indicated by the following paragraph from his autobiography. "In 1838+39, I built a flouring mill for Mr. Beebe with eight Runns of Stone. This mill was the most complete in all its arrangements of any mill in the state at that time and was undertaken under circum- stances which led me to refuse to employ any mill wright or any man who had ever worked on a mill. I made all the plans and drawings for the mill, layed out the work and made all the patterns for the gearing and all castings with my own hands and generally superintended the entire work. " 116 Concerning Cornell In the year 1836-37, the United States suffered a severe financial crisis, and as a result of this, ow- ing to the general depression in industry, Colonel Beebe, in 1841, sold his mill property, which was converted into a woolen factory, and Ezra Cornell lost the position he had held for twelve years. It is interesting to note that in later years Ezra Cor- nell was able to give employment to his former patron (who never recovered, financially, from the disaster of the panic period) and in many other ways made easy the declining years of the man who had given him his confidence in youth. After seeking employment for several months with no success, Ezra Cornell determined to strike out again into new fields. He purchased the state patent rights for Maine and Georgia of an im- proved plow and, in 1842, set out for Maine to in- troduce the new invention. In this connection he sought and made the acquaintance of the editor of the Maine Farmer, Mr. F. O. J. Smith, then a very influential man in that state. He succeeded in convincing Smith of the merits of the plow (one can well believe that it must have been a worth while device if the practical mechanic, Ezra Cor- nell thought well enough of it to purchase an in- terest in it) and Smith gave the plow very hand- some notices in his paper. Cordial relations were, consequently, soon established, and the office of the paper became for the time being a sort of head- quarters for the New York plow-agent. In autumn of the same year, 1842, he visited Georgia. After arriving at Washington, D. C, he The Founder — Ezra Cornell 117 chose as a matter of economy, because he liked it, and because transportation facilities were meagre, to make the rest of the trip and his travels in the state itself on foot; in all about fifteen hundred miles covered at an average rate of forty miles per day. But he was unable to persuade the southern farmers to give his plow much attention, and re- turned to Ithaca with little to show for his efforts. After spending a few months at home, he set out, once more on foot, in July, 1843, for Maine, to close up his plow interests in that state, and ar- rived at Albany, one hundred and sixty miles dis- tant, in four days' time. From Albany he went by rail to Boston and from there on foot to Portland, another one hundred miles, made in two and one- half days' time. He said, at a later date, that if he had time to spend in pleasure travel he would pre- fer to walk wherever satisfactory arrangements for baggage transport could be made, and that the pedestrian enjoys unique opportunities for really becoming acquainted with the country through which he passes. If he could have lived to be whirled through the country at the rate of thirty or forty miles per hour in an automobile, he would have been convinced more than ever that his way was best for actually seeing things. On his arrival in Portland, Cornell, of course, immediately sought his old friend Smith, and in so doing came upon that gentleman at a very in- teresting juncture. What happened he himself set down in a memorandum book, and in view of the far-reaching bearing of this meeting on the 1 1 8 Concerning Cornell future fortunes of Ezra Cornell, and ultimately on the founding of Cornell University, it is well that we have the story in his own words: "I found Smith on his knees in the middle of his office floor with a piece of chalk in his hand, the mold-board of a plow lying by his side, and with various chalkmarks on the floor before him. He was earnestly engaged in trying to explain some plan or idea of his own to a plow manufacturer, who stood looking on with his good-natured face enveloped in a broad grin that denoted his skepti- cism in reference to Smith's plans. On my en- trance Mr. Smith arose, and grasping me cordially by the hand, said: 'Cornell, you are the very man I wanted to see. I have been trying to explain to neighbor Robertson, a machine that I want made, but I cannot make him understand it;' and pro- ceeding, he explained that he wanted a kind of scraper, or machine for digging a ditch, 'that will leave the dirt deposited on each side, convenient to be used for filling the ditch by means of another machine. It is for laying our telegraph pipe under- ground. The ditch must be two feet deep, and wide enough to enable us to lay the pipe in the bottom and then cover it with the earth. Congress has appropriated $30,000 to enable Professor Morse to test the practicability of his telegraph on a line between Washington and Baltimore. I have taken the contract to lay the pipe at $100 per mile, and must have some kind of a machine to enable me to do the work at any such price. ' "An examination of a specimen of the pipe to The Founder — Ezra Cornell 119 be laid, which Mr. Smith showed us, and a little reflection, convinced me that he did not want two machines as he said, one to excavate, and the other to fill the trench after the pipe was deposited. I, therefore, with my pencil sketched a rough diagram of a machine that seemed to me adapted to his necessities. It provided that the pipe, with the wires enclosed therein, was to be coiled round a drum or reel, from whence it was to pass down through a hollow standard, protected by shives, directly in the rear of a coulter or cutter, which was so arranged as to cut a furrow two and a half feet deep and one and one-fourth inches wide. Arranged something like a plow, it was to be drawn by a powerful team, and to deposit the pipe in the bottom of the furrow, as it moved along. The furrow being so narrow would soon close itself and conceal the pipe from view. " After some effort he succeeded in convincing Smith of the practicability of his plan and was engaged to construct the machine. It is regrettable that there has not been constructed, for exhibit at Cornell, a counterpart of this apparatus (if the original is not available) for its invention certainly marks the occasion of Ezra Cornell's entrance into the field of electric telegraph development to which he was to contribute so many other ideas, and a business from which he derived, eventually, the large fortune that was, in part, to make possible the establishment of Cornell University. Shortly before the completion of the apparatus, Smith became so enthusiastic that he invited 120 Concerning Cornell Professor Morse to come and see it tried. This invitation Morse accepted, and at that time first made the acquaintance of Cornell. When, on August 17, 1843, the first trial of the machine was attempted on a farm near Portland, the four yoke of oxen that had been secured to draw it proved quite unruly and, when they once started, kept on with a rush for a much longer distance than it had been planned that they should go. Smith and Morse, both greatly excited by the commotion with the animals, had given all attention to their movements. When the team finally came to a halt, no pipe was in sight either on the drum or along the ground. This caused Smith to inquire anxiously if it had been forgotten to put the pipe on the machine. Ezra, who had kept his eye on his handiwork, regardless of the antics of the oxen, assured them that the pipe was in the ground as planned. Smith was still in doubt and directed the driver to get a spade and dig, and the pipe was shortly recovered from its resting place. After it had been rewound on the drum, a second trial, at a less rapid pace, was made and both promoters had the satisfaction of seeing the pipe deposited in the earth exactly as desired. This gave Smith so great confidence in Ezra Cornell, both as a mechanic and practical man, that he urged him to go to Baltimore and take charge of the laying of the pipe. At first Cornell was disposed to decline this offer as it necessitated abandoning his Maine plow business. But, he says, "A little reflection, however, convinced me The Founder — Ezra Cornell 121 that the telegraph was to become a grand enter- prise, and this seemed a particularly advantageous opportunity for me to identify myself with it." A compromise in regard to the settlement of the Maine business was made, and October, 1843, found Cornell actively engaged in laying the test- line of pipe between Baltimore and Washington. It is of interest, in view of the way that the telegraph wires still follow the tracks, to record that it was decided that the best route and place for the pipe would be between the double tracks of the Balti- more and Ohio railroad. This was perhaps the first step toward the later close-linking of rail- road and telegraph interests all over the United States. It had not been realized, however, how vital and difficult a matter the effective insulation of the telegraph wires was, especially when placed under- ground. Had this been understood at first, it is quite probable that much more care would have been given to the making of the cable, and then we would not have had to endure all these years the unsightly poles that still everywhere mar the land- scape. For had it been possible to make the primi- tive line work underground, it is quite probable that the telegraph and telephone in all their later developments would have staid underground. In- terestingly enough, it was Ezra Cornell who con- stantly warned the inventor and his scientific assistants that their insulation tests were incon- clusive, but these advances were rebuffed. As an instance of how thoroughly Ezra, in the mean- 122 Concerning Cornell while, had mastered electrical technique it may be related that, finding professional jealousy too great to permit advantage being taken of his suggestions, he finally concluded to make a test on his own account. The method of Cornell's test marks his apti- tude in the new field. Each pipe contained four wires, one each black, red, green and yellow. These Morse's assistants tested by attaching a battery to the black and red wires and completing the circuit with a galvanometer at the other end of the section attached to the same wires. If a cur- rent was recorded the section of pipe was passed as satisfactory. Convinced that this test was inade- quate, Cornell persuaded the man in charge of the battery to go out with him at midnight for a surrep- titious trial of his own devising, namely to connect the black and red wires to the battery and then, at the other end, a mile distant, to attach the green and yellow wires to the galvanometer. As he had expected this gave a strong current and proved conclusively that the insulation was im- perfect. The self-appointed midnight testers did not, however, dare tell Morse of the results of their experiment. Consequently the laying of the pipe continued uninterrupted until about ten miles of the line had been put underground. By that time, Morse had become apprised of the situation and there occurred a little scene, so graphically de- scribed by Cornell that it is here inserted in fac- simile of his own handwriting. The Founder — Ezra Cornell 123 JSZ^ < — ( WA *~^~— f***rv*z> «^*Aac=^. — * . / * ; *£•* , J^- ~- A-=^t -^-y y^^tA^ og^/^yj^j. rex ir*//**?-/^^ "US- Cci^, *~+- L+~'fu^ ^^cr /s- ~sr^^. J~~*^ X& Ta£**AS JT~~j a+Zju.. J sfrputs *~^- *^~ «~w«: ^'— -**^- /- •"?*-? ** DESCRIPTION OF THE WRECKING OF THE PIPE LAYING MACHINE From uncompleted manuscript autobiography It has been intimated that, because of the de- ficiencies of his early education, "Cornell had not great book-learning, " and that, on account of his many years of manual labor, "when his stiff hand wrote a letter he might spell no better than William 124 Concerning Cornell Shakespeare." [W. H. Corbin, "Ezra Cornell- Centennial Address."] But Cornell's aptitude in mastering the technique of electrical circuits from books, and the easy hand of the manuscript here reproduced rather completely negative such state- ments. On the other hand it was Ezra Cornell who wrote to Andrew D. White, the scholar, as follows: "I hope you will write often, in case I can read what you write. You know I have no time to waste." Nor does it seem plausible that his pre- cise utterance was due to the fact that "every word was apparently slowly and painfully thought out. " [Hewett, " Cornell University — A History " Vol. I, p. 60.] There is evidence that he was not at all unready in speech. On the occasion of the first Founder's Day, January 11, 1869, he was presented with a birthday cake. The speaker who had the honor of tendering the gift remarked among other things that it was from "a lady friend." [Wilder, Cornell Era, May, 1907.] In receiving the gift, Ezra Cornell very aptly made answer to this by saying, "This splendid cake sur- passes in beauty and excellence all presents I have received from ladies, excepting those which have been presented to me from time to time by the lady at my side, my good and beloved wife," — a sentiment well worthy of Theodore Roosevelt, of a later generation, than whom few were more ready of speech. When it was finally decided that the plan of placing the wires underground would not be possi- ble within the limitations of the fund placed at The Founder — Ezra Cornell 125 Morse's disposal by Congress, some other solution had to be found. Painful economy was now neces- sary and, again in opposition to the experts, Cornell proved the practicability of removing the wires from their lead covering without melting the latter. Moreover, he set himself at the task of more completely mastering electrical science and managed to secure the necessary books, despite an attempt on the part of one of the scientific staff to thwart his purpose. From this reading, Cornell became convinced that the wires would need to be placed on poles and it was not long before Morse informed him that he had come to the same con- clusion. Then arose the question of insulators, and once more a suggestion of Cornell's was at first vetoed, in favor of the design of one of the expert staff, only to be adopted later, when consultations with eminent electricians proved it to be the only feasible solution. Cornell, on the reorganization of the work, was, accordingly, appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Telegraph, in charge of the work, by the Secretary of the Treasury. The wires were put on poles and the line completed by May 1, 1844. Then was sent the historic first message : "What hath God wrought ! " (Ezra Cor- nell insists that many other messages must have been sent before this one could have been sent, and that he had no knowledge of such a message having been sent at all except from the newspaper stories printed long afterwards.) Shortly after this the National Democratic Convention assembled in Baltimore and telegrams of the proceedings were 126 Concerning Cornell sent to Washington, causing great excitement among members of Congress, who crowded the basement room in the Capitol where the telegraph instrument was located. The exploit demonstrated the practical value of the invention and, in a popu- lar sense, convinced the public of its success. But a fortune was not yet in sight for its pro- moters. The instruments devised by Morse could only with difficulty be made to work over the forty mile circuit. When tried on a hundred mile circuit from Philadelphia to New York they failed utterly, according to Ezra Cornell's written word, and it was Cornell, the self-taught electrical expert, who supplied the improvement to make them work. Congress, on recommendation of the Postmaster- General, to whom the matter was referred, never- theless declined to purchase the patent rights for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. The line from New York to Philadelphia was built by a private company composed for the most part of men who had, comparatively, but small wealth. In the construction of this line Cornell was employed as superintendent, at a salary of one thousand dollars, five hundred of which he immediately in- vested in stock of the company. This line was completed in 1845; in the same year a line from New York to Boston and another from Albany to New York were projected. The section from New York to Albany was built under contract by Cornell, in 1846, and from this venture he realized six thousand dollars, the first big money he had been able to acquire after thirty-nine years of in- The Founder — Ezra Cornell 127 cessant hard labor. Shortly thereafter, however, he made large profits on lines into Canada and thus laid the foundations of his fortune. Yet when he undertook to extend the telegraph field more wide- ly, by connecting up Chicago with the east, in 1847, and trusted to stock subscriptions from towns along the route and in Chicago, he found it impossible to raise a single dollar in the terminal point, and once more was compelled to shoulder a vast responsibility by investing all his available funds and obligating himself for a large amount more to carry through the enterprise. In this, too, he was successful, and his son, A. B. Cornell, rails at the marvelous change that had come over Chicago, which in 1847, he writes, "was unable or unwilling to take a share of the telegraph stock" but now "in this year of the Lord, 1884, the citizens of Chicago are paying at least three thousand dollars per day for telegraph service." It would be unfair to estimate, in similar terms, how much more vastly the citizens of Chicago are humbled by the telegraph tolls they pay today. The next company Cornell organized was not, however, so fortunate. This was a line from Dun- kirk to New York, and, encouraged by his previous successes, he urged his friends to take stock in the new enterprise. All would have gone well if a novel type of insulator, again devised by experts of that day, had not broken down in service, with the result that the company failed. Why does this always happen when friends and family connec- tions of the promoter have been induced to come 128 Concerning Cornell into the project ? But by this time the advantage of the telegraph was duly appreciated by many businesses and succeeding ventures proved profit- able. In the west where mails were slow its intro- duction proved especially acceptable. Then a new danger developed. Despite the protection the original companies felt they had acquired in pur- chasing the patent rights, pirate parallel lines were built and a ruinous competition for business en- sued. In 1854 this reached its height, and in that year Ezra Cornell met with an extremely painful railroad accident, an injury to his hand and arm, that kept him for several weeks in confinement. This gave an opportunity for his rivals to spread reports that Cornell was insolvent and to make attempts to gather in his telegraph stock. Fortu- nately these attacks did not succeed to any great extent and, in 1855, under the leadership of Hiram Sibley, a consolidation of interests was effected by the organization of the Western Union Tele- graph Company, which Andrew Carnegie, him- self ex-telegraph messenger, who ought to know, considered the first American "Trust." It was only by dint of much persuasion, however, that Cornell was induced to merge his interests with that of the combine. Originally a "western" company it soon recognized no limit to its opera- tions other than the continent of America, and, being for fifteen years the largest individual stock- holder, its success finally provided Ezra Cornell with the fortune, estimated at two million dollars, that he was to devote to so good purpose. Ezra Cornell From ;i hitherto unpublished photograph, apparently taken in 1857 when Cornell hud just come into tits fortune Courtesy of Mr. F. C. Cornell Ezra Cornell From a photograph made in 1874, shortly before his death The Founder — Ezra Cornell 129 The merger of the telegraph interests, in addi- tion to securing for him a large fortune and a pro- portionately great income, also assured to Ezra Cornell a far larger measure of leisure than the grinding necessity of his early years, and the unre- mitting labors required in the amassing of his wealth, had ever before permitted him to enjoy. The central control by the combine relieved him of the burden of watching over the separate in- terests of each of the many companies in which he had invested. But, assured of this leisure, and with an income that was truly of princely magni- tude for those days, he scarcely remained idle for a moment from that time on until the day of his death, and his future labors were all to be for the benefit of the community, both near and far. Many men have endured as great hardships, struggled as persistently and worked as unremit- tingly, as did Ezra Cornell, for their own advance- ment in wealth, in power, in renown; and no great merit need be accorded them for their eventual successes. But Ezra Cornell is in a different class. As soon as he had achieved for himself he faced right about, and, in the same determined and self- immolating way, literally fought to secure for others some of the privileges that had been denied his youth. It is, moreover, apparent that from an early date he was able to perceive exactly the things within his power that were best calculated to be of benefit to the public, and, as the preceding paragraphs have been a record of multiplying re- sponsibilities in the pursuit of personal fortune 130 Concerning Cornell that came to a climax in the successful combine of the telegraph interests, so the paragraphs that follow are in the main a recital of a piling up of other burdens, undertaken for the general good, that came to a climax only at his death. From the first he perceived and wrought for those things that would yield a return far in excess of the initial outlay. Thus, in 1840, when his means were most slender, he purchased at a cattle- show a fine, thoroughbred, Short Horn bull, pure bred Southdown sheep and Berkshire pigs, and improved through them the stock of Tompkins County farmers; stock that still continues to have an enviable reputation among growers, and owes its excellence, no doubt, in large part to this initial impulse provided by Ezra Cornell. In the several acres that surrounded his small home on Fall Creek, he developed an excellent orchard and ac- quired a high standing as an authority on the nature of insects injurious to fruit, and methods of combating their ravages. When, in 1857, he had become possessed of a fortune, he was able to gratify these desires for the improvement of agriculture on a larger scale. Accordingly, he purchased a farm of three hundred acres, a large part of which was subsequently to become the campus of Cornell University; and on this "Forest Park" estate built a residence, established fine herds and conducted a wide variety of agricultural experiments. That the name, "Forest Park, " of his second home-site, was well chosen is evident from the setting of the house in a sightly grove, at what is now the northeast The Founder — Ezra Cornell 131 corner of Stewart and South Avenues. He organ- ized a Fanners' Club of Ithaca and provided it with meeting and reading rooms; in 1858 was made president of the county agricultural society and, in 1862, became president of the New York State Agricultural Society. In that capacity, and in the same year, he went to the International Exposition at London as the official representative of the society. This was the only opportunity of his life- time for travel in Europe, and in the interval be- tween May and September, in addition to his duties in connection with the exposition, he visited noted herds in England, made observations and purchases of the stock, and made a trip, several weeks in length, through the continental countries. It is not surprising that, in an agricultural district, the value of the services of such a man in state affairs was not slow in getting recognition. Hence his nomination, in 1861, by the Repub- licans for member of the Assembly of New York State from Tompkins County. This action was taken without Mr. Cornell's knowledge, so that, when elected, and reelected the next year, it may be said that he volunteered this service also. In 1863 he was elected state senator and served in that capacity for four years, positively declining a renomination in 1867, because of the other bur- dens he had meanwhile been shouldering. In the senate he first met Andrew D. White, and the eventual result of their acquaintance was the founding of Cornell University, as is detailed else- where in this volume. His political career, it will 132 Concerning Cornell be noted, extended through the Civil War period, and his attention as legislator during this time was directed first to all those acts having for their pur- pose the sustaining of the federal authorities in the preservation of the Union, and after that to legislation bearing on the welfare of agriculture and public education. It is an interesting fact that Ezra Cornell pro- ceeded in his efforts to remedy difficulties by his benefactions in the same order that he had en- countered them in early life; it seems as if he forgot no step. With the troubles of the agriculturalist he was familiar in boyhood, hence his first aim was to improve farm conditions. Then he seems to have remembered how meagre was his opportunity to secure even a rudimentary education, particu- larly the necessity of borrowing books, and the difficulties he encountered in this connection, both in Ithaca, and later in New York and Washington when he wished to study electricity. Hence the determination to found a free library. In later life he had been impressed by the great value of a technical education, hence his determination that this should be available to poor boys, and, as a result, the crowning achievement of his career — the founding of Cornell University. Finally, real- izing from his own success in promoting the tele- graph, that rapid interchange of thought and goods was essential for national development, he put the whole strength of his mind and fortune to the task of railway building. The book difficulty he solved in characteristic The Founder — Ezra Cornell 13o fashion. We have it from the pen of no less an authority on the subject than Andrew Carnegie [Centennial Address, 1907] that "to Cornell is to be awarded the credit of being one of the foremost to establish on this continent a library free to all the people. " For that is what he did, and the project had become a firm purpose in his mind as early as 1857, almost immediately after he had become possessed of the means to accomplish it. It is sufficient to say, without reviewing the devel- opment of the plan in detail, that in 1866 the Ithaca Cornell Library was presented to the citizens of his home town as an institution " which" (in his own words) "shall be free to all residents of the county of Tompkins." At a cost to himself of some sixty -five thousand dollars, he provided, not only for the erection of a building to house the library, but also for the first lot of books and for its maintenance, thus outdoing the illustrious Andrew, who praised Cornell, but believed that the beneficiaries should bear a large share of the cost. It should be especially noted, also, because it presages, in a significant way, the similar attitude he took in regard to Cornell University, and the profound influence this attitude has had on all university life since, that the management of the library was entrusted to a board of trustees ex- pressly selected as representative of all creeds and of the other varied interests of the county. It was to be a nonsectarian institution and as such it fore- shadows the, even more definitely fixed, like policy 134 Concerning Cornell adopted in the management of the university that bears his name. In the years that followed, Ezra Cornell's time was almost wholly taken up with the affairs of Cornell University. The need for an institution which should combine "practical with liberal edu- cation" [Ezra Cornell, "Opening Address," Octo- ber 7, 1868] must have been in his mind for a long time if the following incident, related by Daniel Butterfield [Founder's Day Address, 1898] may be interpreted as an indication that he appreciated the value of such teaching at the time of the occur- rence. It seems that Butterfield returning to his home during a vacation period in his sophomore year at Union College, in 1844, found his father entertaining a visitor, a tall, straight man of some thirty-seven years, who asked the young student many pertinent questions regarding the instruction in the natural sciences and chemistry and particu- larly about the magnetic telegraph. The boy was able to describe this apparatus and then the stran- ger asked if it was simple and easy to operate, and Butterfield junior answered that any young man or young woman of sufficient intelligence to learn piano playing could do it. Then the stranger said, "The boy has got it, college is doing him good," and brought his fists to the table with emphasis. On this the father said, "My son, this is Mr. Cornell, and we are going to build a telegraph line from New York to Buffalo. " That the impress of this incident, and probably of others of similar na- ture that are unrecorded, was enduring is indicated The Founder — Ezra Cornell 135 by the fact that in 1850-54, when many public bodies, for example the legislature of the state of Illinois, were addressing memorials to Congress asking that grants of public lands be made for the purpose of establishing industrial and agricultural schools, Ezra Cornell was in active correspondence with Professor J. B. Turner, of Illinois, who was an earnest advocate of this idea, in regard to the form and scope of such institutions. [Hewett, Cornell University — A History.] In 1862, as President of the New York State Agricultural Society, Mr. Cornell was, ex officio, a trustee of the first New York State Agricultural College, located at Ovid, Seneca County, New York. This institution had been started by lead- ing agriculturalists of the state and its resources consisted of a loan of forty thousand dollars from the state and an equal sum raised by private con- tributions. These funds had all been expended in the purchase of a site and the erection of a building. Its doors were first opened to students in the au- tumn of 1860, with an entering class numbering between forty and fifty and a faculty of five pro- fessors. There was, however, no endowment and little equipment. In 1861 the Civil War began, and, as many of the students enlisted and the insti- tution's affairs were languishing financially, the trustees decided not to reopen that fall, and this action proved to be the end of its career. The object of the institution had, however, interested Cornell greatly and when, in 1865, it developed that the People's College at Havana could not ful- 136 Concerning Cornell fill the conditions under which it had received the Land Grant Fund, Cornell proposed to his fellow trustees of the Agricultural College that he would give the institution three hundred thousand dollars provided that the college be removed to Ithaca and that it receive from the legislature one-half the income of the Land Grant Fund. How this first offer to the cause of higher edu- cation eventually led to the founding of Cornell University is related in another section, but it is interesting to note here Ezra Cornell's early insist- ence on Ithaca as a university site; especially in view of his disinclination to have his own name used in designating the institution and in connec- tion with a story current in the early days of the university. It is related by Goldwin Smith, that Cornell was urged to locate the university at Syra- cuse on account of the superior urban facilities there available, but that he refused for the reason that, when a mechanic, he had once waited all day on the bridge at Syracuse to be hired and at last had been hired by a man who cheated him of his wages. It should be remembered, too, that in all his university planning he had in mind to help those in as narrow circumstances as were his early days. This is emphasized by a sentence from his "Opening Address": "I believe that we have made the beginning of an institution which will prove highly beneficial to the poor young men and poor young women of our country. " From the time when he made the first offer of three hundred thousand dollars to the New York The Founder — Ezra Cornell 137 State Agricultural College until the charter of Cornell University had been formally granted (April, 1865) the realization of this project had been the chief care of the founder. It seems strange, now, that he should have been compelled to make a fight for the privilege of giving so gener- ously to the cause of higher education and that he needed, indeed, to endure personal villification to achieve his philanthropy. But no sooner had this been accomplished than he turned to the still great- er task of making it secure. He was now great, in Ithaca, where he had been little, than which there is said to be no keener pleasure, and it might seem that he could now rest content and let others care for the work he had so well begun. But such was not Ezra Cornell's way. Immediately the Land Grant was secured for Cornell University and he had visions of how its value might be greatly en- hanced, by locating desirable western lands instead of selling scrip. With him to plan was to do. As the state was not permitted to make locations out- side its own boundaries, as the university could not afford to do so, and as no one else would, he set himself to the task, and thus entered again upon the same sort of arduous toil that had been his portion in earlier years. His agents cheated him, and he did his best to retrieve their faults for the benefit of the university. His entire personal for- tune wavered in the balance but he held steadfast to his purpose not to sacrifice any particle of what had been so dearly won. Two years before the university opened its doors to students, he had 138 Concerning Cornell entered upon the task of realizing this greater en- dowment for Cornell and he bore the burden of personal and financial responsibility of the vast enterprise for eight years. It was only a few weeks before his death, in 1874, that he was relieved from his contract. During the long years of waiting for the pine lands to bring some return, the university often faced bankruptcy. Students flocked to the institution, crowding its limited accommodations, professors were appointed, but there was not enough money to pay the bills and salaries. The year 1873 was a time of panic, Ezra Cornell had broken his fortune in paying taxes on the lands, and worse, had broken his health in the service of the university; the trustees had loaned, on what seemed worthless security, one hundred and seventy thousand dollars, and gave, as a free gift, one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars more to tide over emergencies. And yet, as the founder was going down into his grave, he held fast to his determina- tion that the lands should not be sacrificed, and almost his last words were, "Don't give up my policy. The lands will yet be worth three millions of dollars. " And while this fight was going on to save Cornell University the personal attacks upon Ezra Cornell reached their height. Meanwhile, the founder had burdened himself with still another responsibility, the financing of several railroad lines, and this burden also he shouldered for the immediate benefit of his fellow citizens of Ithaca and the ultimate good of Cornell University. When Ezra Cornell first came to The Founder — Ezra Cornell 139 Ithaca the town was enjoying unwonted commer- cial prosperity on account of its geographical situa- tion with respect to the canal and lake system of transportation which at that time afforded the only feasible means for the long distance conveyance of bulk goods. Ithaca, at the head of Cayuga lake, was the shipping center for all the products of those sections of New York State and northern Pennsyl- vania lying to the south of it, over a quite extensive east-west range. In turn, supplies of merchandise received over the Erie canal and Cayuga lake route for this quite wide territory were landed at Ithaca and from there carried to their final destination by the teams that had brought the grain, coal and lumber for export. While Ithaca thus commanded the trade of its hinterland it continued to be the commercial center of all the region and prospered accordingly. But, beginning with the extension of a canal from the southern end of Lake Seneca to the Susquehanna river, there came a falling off in trade, and later, when the Erie railroad was built through the southern tier of New York counties, with branches to Syracuse and Canandaigua on the canal, the business of Ithaca declined until it was confined almost altogether to the trade of its own home county of Tompkins. So complete a reversal of conditions as Ithaca suffered has seldom been experienced by a center of population. From the point of greatest commercial importance in its sec- tion, Ithaca became, in fact, the most isolated of local villages with the change from water to land routes. The traffic that had formerly flowed along 140 Concerning Cornell this one chief north and south route was broken up into a large number of short, local, north and south, overland feeders to the east and west railroad lines, the Erie on the south, and the New York Central on the north, leaving Ithaca stranded as a midway point between the two trunk systems. Such continued to be the situation at the time of the founding of Cornell Universit}'. True, a branch line railroad between Ithaca and Owego had been built, connecting the town with the Erie system, and steamboats made connection in sum- mer with the New York Central at the northern end of the lake. But at best these were sorry con- veniences in comparison with the advantages en- joyed by places on the main lines. Thus Andrew D. White recounts that owing to the necessity of living in the university "barracks" during the first few years of the institution's existence, he could not have his family with him, accordingly devoted to them, at Syracuse, the time from Satur- day afternoon until Monday morning. In summer the trip by boat to the train that this necessitated was not so bad, as it was possible to read or write en route, but in winter he had to drive nearly twenty-five miles through mud, slush, sleet or snow to catch the train at Cortland. One such journey took ten hours and the sleigh was upset three times in drifts on the way. This condition was early recognized as the most serious embarrassment of the location of the uni- versity at Ithaca. As, on the other hand, the loca- tion in his home town had been about the only The Founder — Ezra Cornell hi personal demand made by the founder, it is natural that he must have felt the matter keenly and set about in characteristic way to remedy it. Thus in 1866 there was organized the Ithaca and Athens railway, with Mr. Cornell as president, to connect with the Lehigh railroad, giving an outlet to New York and the east. While this road afforded some relief, there still remained the urgent demand for adequate connection with the New York Central system. About this time a law was passed author- izing the bonding of towns and villages to provide for railroad building, and under this stimulus three other roads began building, one along the east side of Cayuga lake to Cayuga bridge, another on the west side of the lake to Geneva and a third from East Hill to Cortland. All of these have since been merged into the Lehigh system. For these projects the town and village of Ithaca bonded themselves to the extent of six hundred thousand dollars. The easy issuing of the bonds of course encour- aged other towns and villages also to encumber themselves in the hope of achieving commercial prosperity and the net result was undue promotion and speculation. The town and individual sub- scriptions were usually only sufficiently large to provide for right of way and grading, leaving all the other construction work and equipment to be secured by mortgage on the roads themselves. Prices on materials, owing to the great demand, rose to extravagant figures, and the excessive costs involved made it difficult to place railway bonds at a satisfactorv rate. 142 Concerning Cornell Although Ezra Cornell had subscribed liberally to the several Ithaca projects, he had taken no active part in their organization, as his time in this period was more than occupied in conducting the business of the Land Grant contract, the location of the western timberlands and their management for the benefit of the university. Hence it was only when the heads of the Ithaca and Geneva road, unable to secure the necessary financial assistance elsewhere, appealed to Cornell for help, that he was actively drawn into the enterprises. First he was induced to invest eight hundred thousand dollars in the Ithaca and Geneva project to provide for its completion, and later a similar amount in the Cort- land enterprise, which otherwise must have been abandoned. Thus, after having devoted three- quarters of a million dollars of his fortune directly to the interests of the university, he now added another million and a half to his obligations in order to promote its prosperity and that of his home town. To assume this load he had to dis- pose of all his remaining valuable telegraph stock, by which two-thirds of the sum was raised, and to borrow the other third on his personal credit. Despite the enormous and diverse responsibili- ties under which he was now proceeding, Ezra Cornell went forward with courage, and with his old-time energy and perseverance; and all might have come out well had it not been for two unex- pected calamities. True, urged by various friends, Andrew D. White ventured to remonstrate with the founder for going into these railway enterprises The Founder — Ezra Cornell 143 so heavily at his time of life, and while under so heavy a financial burden elsewhere, but to this he only answered: "I shall live twenty years longer and make a million dollars more for the university endowment. " But in 1873 came a financial crisis that disturbed, and even destroyed in part, the foundations of the business structure of the United States. Interest on railway bonds was defaulted by nearly every one of the enterprises; such bonds shortly became almost worthless securities. And in the midst of the struggle and discouragement of this upheaval, Ezra Cornell was prostrated, on June 9, 1874, with pneumonia. He was confined to his bed for several weeks, and although he slowly improved in the months that followed, and was even able to make a trip to New York and the sea- shore later, he never made any decided recovery. Meanwhile knowledge of his illness impaired his personal credit and made it necessary for him to do the business that absolutely demanded his atten- tion under even greater harassment than would have been the case normally in those panic days. No doubt the anxiety of the circumstances ma- terially aggravated the effects of the disease. Eventually the founder, too, felt that the end was near. Judge Finch [Founder's Day Address, 1887] has recorded the first pathetic signs of sur- render of his tremendous personality. During a consultation one day, over a particular danger to the university, Ezra Cornell folded his hands on the table, placed his head upon them and said only, "You must do the best that you can, I am not 144 Concerning Cornell well!" From that time on he grew steadily weak- er. It is a pleasure, however, to set down that be- fore he died, on the ninth of December, 1874, the university trustees were able to take over all the obligations that the state held against him and to place in the founder's hands as he sat in his sick room every bond he had given in connection with the Land Grant contract and to assure him that his work for the university had not been in vain. Just a few weeks before his death, too, it was found possible to complete a contract that discharged him of some three hundred thousand dollars of personal liabilities in the Cortland railroad and also, thus, to assure its completion. Though his estate did not receive a cent of return for the half million he had actually invested in the road, this arrangement nevertheless achieved the purpose for which he had entered upon its financing. This left only the Ithaca and Geneva enterprise unsettled at the time of his death, and his executor managed to sell his interest in this for two hundred thousand dollars, about one-third of the sum he had put into it. Of his original two millions this money was about all that remained, and the balance, plus all the energy of his latter years had been spent in the promotion of unselfish interests, first and foremost of which was Cornell University. To the very end of his life he persisted; on the day of his death, he arose, dressed, amid the protestations of his family, and gave attention to some business matters during the morning. Overcome by weak- ness he was, however, compelled to seek his couch Entrance to the Villa Cornell Over the Door is the Motto '"True and Firm" p. a < -r E- ~ The Founder — Ezra Cornell i 15 before completing the work and died shortly after noon. Thus the end of his deeds — but what of the man himself ? The founders of the earlier American uni- versities are mere wraiths of a long distant past — Harvard, Yale, Amherst; and their contributions to the institutions that bear their names were only in the nature of a nucleus. On the other hand, the great funds that have been bestowed on institu- tions newer than Cornell, involved no personal sacrifices on part of the donors. After they had given they still had plenty. Only Ezra Cornell gave both his fortune and himself to his institution and that so recently that men still live who worked with him. Hence, Cornell University may very truly be said to have a real founder, a man whose personality can be realized today and it should be the endeavor of every alumnus and alumna of Cornell to keep this memory vivid for uncounted future generations of Cornellians. Thus each grad- uate of Cornell will receive a heritage of personal inspiration from the life of the founder of a charac- ter denied to the students of both the tradition- worshipping and the noveau riche institutions. Ezra Cornell was a tall man, six feet or slightly over in height, angular and spare in form, but of muscular build, for he ordinarily weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds. In early life he was of commanding presence but became slightly bent (what wonder!) in his later years, and had then a slow, steady, stiff gait. His features were rugged, their most marked characteristics being his 146 Concerning Cornell prominent cheek bones, his high unfurrowed brow, thin compressed lips, and a firm jaw, only partly concealed by a sparse, gray beard. He had also shrewd, sharp, straightforward, blue eyes, and his expression in repose was stern, austere, even for- bidding. Gold win Smith says "his figure and face bespoke force and simplicity of character. " To a stranger he seemed hard and repellent and likely to be proud. An observer who knew both men relates that he immediately reminded one of Abra- ham Lincoln; there was the same angularity, the height, the slight stoop, the quiet manner and the habitual gravity of expression. In demeanor he was most reserved, too brusque for dignity at times, with an exceeding reticence often trying to his most intimate friends. His voice was com- monly harsh and shrill, he had a good memory and was a close and careful observer. Altogether this made a rather forbidding exterior, but it belied in many ways the cordial and sympathetic soul that it covered, for in conversation his face became ani- mated, his eyes were illuminated by flashes of kind- liness on occasion and his humorous appreciation of situations soon made itself apparent to those who had concerns with him. During the early years of the university, he was a familiar sight on the rough unfinished campus over which he commonly drove in a shabby buggy, to which was hitched, surprisingly enough, an equally shabby horse. His garb was modest, so much so that it surprised many of the early stu- dents who had never before seen a millionaire; but The Founder — Ezra Cornell 147 it seems he commonly wore a tall hat. The grumb- ling of the students at the unfinished conditions of the university was quelled most effectively by the earnest and devoted labors of Cornell himself in pushing things to what then stood for completion. On the first day that the university was open to students, a notice was posted that all who desired work might report the following morning at seven o'clock for labor in constructing a road from Morrill Hall to Cascadilla Place. On the appointed day an army of students with wheelbarrows and shovels began work upon the crest of the (then) hill be- tween what are now the Psi Upsilon and Kappa Alpha chapter houses. Before night something that looked like a rough opening through the thick- ets extended down the slope to the creek. Ezra Cornell visited the scene and laughed heartily at the initial success of his effort to combine liberal and practical education. On November 10, 1868, it is recorded in the "Ithaca Journal" that "the way the boys take hold of the spade and wheelbarrow indicates the stuff that great men are made of. Mr. Cornell himself, as if taken with the spirit of the thing, was seen a few days back, with a pick-axe in his own hands, giving the boys his personal counte- nance and management. " The founder quite frequently attended lectures and laboratory classes as is attested by the diary of one of the first faculty noting seven appearances in his classes. Although it can not be said that he was ever popular with the student body as a whole, 148 Concerning Cornell those who came to know him liked him much, for he showed many personal kindnesses to individ- uals. But as for the commonalty, the situation can not be better expressed than by the speech of one of their number who said: "If Mr. Cornell would simply stand upon his pedestal as our 'Honored Founder' and let us hurrah for him, that would please us mightily; but when he comes into the laboratory and asks us, gruffly, * What are you wasting your time at now ? ' we don't like him so well." To tell the truth he probably "scared the undergraduates stiff," while chuckling himself at their fluster. Imagine the president of the uni- versity, now, pursuing such tactics, and some idea of the effect will be gained. That Cornell himself quite enjoyed these en- counters will be further apparent from the follow- ing episodes. On one occasion a student obsessed with a hobby for autograph collecting appeared at the founder's house, asked for Mr. Cornell and was informed by the servant that Mr. Cornell was at dinner. " Well, " said the collector, "I only wanted his autograph with a thought or sentiment." The servant disappeared and shortly returned with a slip of paper for the delighted and expectant visi- tor. When, however, the importunate youth had read the sentiment his feelings must have been mixed for it ran: "I do not like to be disturbed at my meals. Ezra Cornell." Another time some students came to inquire whether they might buy some apples from the university orchard for their club. Cornell asked how many thev wanted. The Founder — Ezra Cornell 149 The spokesman answered," Ten bushels." Immedi- ately Cornell queried, "How many have you had already." At this the students were thrown into great confusion and owned up to " a bushel or two !' ' The founder's eyes twinkled then as he told them to help themselves, that he thought they were perhaps entitled to a "few more" as a reward for their honesty. If he saw a boy smoking, he would go up to him and ask him if he had fifty per cent of brain power to spare. Altogether he must have been quite a trial to the student body and he himself must have enjoyed the situation. Yet Ezra Cornell was a man wholly without personal vanity. His modest attire and frugal life indicate this and it is apparent from other facts. In his last years he w r as engaged in the construc- tion of a new residence known later as the "Villa Cornell . " It is quite unlikely, however, that he w T as responsible for that name. The building is now the Delta Phi chapter house. Ezra Cornell's first in- terest in its building probably was the prospect of enjoying the commanding outlook, afforded by its site, of both the lake and valley and its convenience of location to both the town and university. He was, however, never to have the pleasure of living in the structure though he gave much time to its building. Nevertheless its cost (one hundred thousand dollars) seems to have caused him some concern, a sense of personal extravagance, for he once remarked, "That new house of mine is a piece of folly," but immediately after continued, "no, I think our mechanics here will be benefited by hav- 150 Concerning Cornell ing before them a perfect piece of work. " And he proceeded accordingly, for he visited various quar- ries to select the best stone in the state, employed stone carvers that had been at work on the Cologne cathedral, and brought skilled carpenters from England. The stone carvers fashioned a scroll in the stone above the front entrance of the new house but left it blank. On seeing this Andrew D. White sug- gested to the founder that he have carved there the translation of an old German motto " Treu und Fest," "True and Firm." As Cornell made no objection this was done, and it certainly was a rubric entirely symbolic of his character. In his business affairs he often needed to oppose deter- mined individuals and great combinations of capi- tal but his firmness, perhaps persistence would be the better word, carried him through, for as he said himself, laughingly, my way is "to tire them out. " He had no misgivings in regard to the coming im- portance of the university he was creating. "With the confidence of a prophet he pointed first to one elevation and then another naming over one by one the buildings which were to adorn them in the future," as he walked over the campus, with its then solitary structure, in converse with one of the first faculty. On another occasion he gave voice to his envy of a younger man, " who might reasonably expect to see how the scene would look after the changes of twenty-five years, while for him there was no such hope." To Gold win Smith he said that he hoped the day would come when there The Founder — Ezra Cornell 151 would be five thousand students in his university. Could he have lived to see the fiftieth anniversary of the institution, as did the co-founder, Andrew D. White, he would have found that hope realized. When suggesting the legend "True and Firm," Andrew D. White was careful to point out also that some people might translate the last word as "obstinate. " It was well that he did so for petty detractors immediately cited it as a proof of Ezra Cornell's vainglory. But it is not likely that this did much to shake his equanimity in view of the extraordinary composure and fortitude with which he withstood the bitter and malicious attacks he had to endure in connection with both the project of Cornell University and his plan for increasing its endowment. In each case he was "true" to his purpose and "firm" in his determination to see it through — no more. Obstinate is hardly an adjec- tive to apply to a man who disposed of his private fortune for the public good and then also used every personal energy to promote the well-being of his philanthropy. When the bill for the incorporation of Cornell University was being considered by the New York State legislature, and a lawyer, em- ployed by one of the sponsors of a small college opposing its passage, in his speech called Ezra Cornell's project "a selfish scheme," a "job," a "grab," and pictured the founder as a swindler, the subject of the remarks remained perfectly calm, his only comment being "If I could think of any other way in which half a million dollars would do so much good to the state I would give the legisla- 152 Concerning Cornell ture no more trouble." But he could not, there- fore, remained firm in his purpose. Later when the founder was bitterly accused, again in the legisla- ture, of using his land contract, made for the benefit of the university, to enrich himself further he made a call on Andrew D. White the following morning at six o'clock, rousing him by throwing gravel against his bedchamber window, and calling out serenely, "Come down here and listen to the chimes; I have found a spot where you can hear them directly with one ear and their echo with the other." After the echo had been investigated he said seriously: "Don't make yourself unhappy over this matter; it will turn out a good thing for the university. I have long foreseen that this attack must come, but feared it would come after my death, when the facts would be forgotten and the transactions little understood. I am glad the charges are made now while I am here to answer them. " It must not be inferred from this that he was entirely unfeeling. In his own family when the attack was discussed he remained silent for a time, then his eyes filled with tears, he said, "Girls, I am willing to abide my time — perfectly willing to abide my time. " The committee appointed to in- vestigate the matter, though in part hostile to the purpose of Mr. Cornell's plans, the enrichment of Cornell University, completely exonerated him of any selfish motive and of the slightest deviation from the course that the legislature had itself authorized. Most of the attacks were inspired either by The Founder — Ezra Cornell 153 narrow, conservative hatred of a builder along new lines or by plain envy on the part of institutions or individuals. A would-be socialist, who sought to banter him by saying in his presence that "he thought he should have just about one-half of Mr. Cornell's means," earned Ezra Cornell's immediate retort, "It would be great fun getting it back again." Plain, hardworking, frugal; kindly and sympa- thetic under a forbidding exterior and gruff man- ner; self reliant, determined, true to his purposes; farseeing and capable of action in accordance with his vision, despite discouragement, detraction and defamation — such was the founder. In the words of Gold win Smith: "Now Ezra Cornell sleeps in his grave of honour. His epitaph in the Memorial Chapel like that of Wren in St. Paul's Cathedral, might be Circumspice" CHAPTER III OF HISTORICAL INTEREST THIS short account does not pretend to be a complete history of the university, even in outline. There is, indeed, small need for anything of such pretensions. President White's "Autobi- ography" supplies the personal reminiscences that give an insight into the men and conditions that led to the founding of the institution and tells the history of its early years. This work every under- graduate should read. As a matter of fact it is one of the best sellers at the local bookshops. The entirely admirable account of all the signif- icant events of later years, penned by Professor Huffcut, former dean of the College of Law is, on the other hand, too little known, primarily because it is buried in an obscure government publication. To indicate the difficulty of even referring to it, and in the hope that this will lead to its being more often consulted, and chiefly as an acknowledgment of how much these paragraphs owe to his work, the full title of the document in which Professor Huffcut's history appears is given on the following page. The best general sources for information of changes since 1898 are the Cornell Daily Sun, the undergraduate newspaper, and The Cornell Alumni News, the alumni weekly. Cornell University owes its existence to the genius, enthusiasm and labors of two men, Ezra Of Historical Interest 155 Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, and in almost equal measure to each of them. Absolutely unlike in temperament, education and tastes, the one of mature years, a business man, self-made; the other (whole number 264) UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION, NO. 3, I9OO CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY EDITED BY HERBERT B. ADAMS NO. 28 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK BY SIDNEY SHERWOOD, PH. D. CORNELL UNIVERSITY. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ITS FIRST THIRTY YEARS 1868-1898 BY ERNEST W. HUFFCUT. PAGES 3l8-4-*5 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I9OO in the prime of early manhood, the son of well-to-do parents, a brilliant university scholar; these men nevertheless worked together, and in entire har- mony, to bring about the founding of the institution and to guide it successfully through its early years. 156 Concerning Cornell Some account of Ezra Cornell's life appears in the preceding pages of this volume. Andrew Dick- son White was born November 7, 1832, at Homer, New York; and died at the President's House, Cornell University, November 4, 1918. His ances- tors were members of a group of New Englanders that came at the close of the eighteenth century to live in the "Military Tract" in western New York, which included the region about Homer. As he said himself, they were all "good stock," but added that he never found time to verify the tradition, of the truth of which he had doubts, that his father's people were descended from Peregrine White of the Mayflower. His paternal grandfather had been the richest man of the township, but, af- ter a fire that swept away his uninsured mills, be- came one of the poorest and lost his health. Thus it fell to Andrew D. White's father, Horace White, a youth in his teens, to care for the family and re- trieve its fortunes. This he did so well that he became one of the leading business men of the country and was made president of a bank in Syracuse. Young iVndrew never knew poverty, everything about him was good and substantial though, as he says, the family mode of life was far from extravagant. He was taken to a public school at three years of age because a colored servant, who wished to learn to read, slipped into the classroom with her young charge. Whether because of what he there absorbed, or because of a precociousness that would have led to the same result in any event, he Of Historical Interest 157 himself learned to read at the age of four. When he was seven the family removed to Syracuse and there the young scholar attended the public schools and at the age of twelve entered the Syracuse academy. In that school he came under a group of very good teachers and in his free hours devel- oped a great liking for machinery. Later he en- tered a classical school, so called, and learned Latin and Greek. At this time he took up debat- ing in a village club organized for that purpose and read Scott's and Dickens's novels. At seventeen he was sent to a small New York denominational college much against his own will. As the college with only forty students was in sore need of all the instruction fees it could collect, the authorities hesitated even to offend a student; a fact well known to the undergraduates themselves. In con- sequence, President White says, more dissipation and wild pranks occurred at this "church college, " that boasted of its Christian influence on its stu- dents, than he ever even heard of at all the half- dozen large universities in America and Europe with which he was later connected. One of the diversions was rolling cannon balls along the corri- dors at midnight, with easily imaginable results in the way of din. A tutor who had captured and confiscated two of the balls one night, essayed to secure a third on the following night, jumping out from his door, but this one had been heated to nearly redness and started from a shovel. As a re- sult the poor fellow wore bandages for many days. In 1850, having been sent back to this college, 158 Concerning Cornell after vainly pleading to be allowed to attend one of the larger New England universities, he found the life so distasteful that he deliberately left it during the autumn term and took refuge with a former teacher, passing three months in study while hiding in the little village where this man lived. After Christmas his father relented and the young man was permitted to enter Yale University. At this institution the young scholar found himself in a much more congenial atmosphere, at least in so far as classmates were concerned. Whether this was because in the larger student body he naturally gravitated into friendship with those who had simi- lar tastes, or whether the stricter discipline of the larger institution suppressed the riotous element among the undergraduates does not appear. In any event, many of his friends at Yale later became eminent personages, an indication at an early age of his natural trait for aligning himself with those most worth while. But with methods of instruc- tion at the Yale of this period he was discontent- ed. Collegiate education then tended to follow classical lines, the course of instruction was fixed, exercises consisted for the most part in recitations heard by, at best, uninterested and bored tutor- instructors and classes were dull in the extreme. The professors themselves, able men in general, were difficult of access, and their worth-while, lecture-instruction was in general discounted by the dry-as-dust recitations they countenanced and, indeed, conducted in person in certain instances. All studies were neglected that did not affect Of Historical Interest 159 "marks" and "standing." All this Mr. White calls the "Yale System." Despite these handicaps, the undergraduate, Andrew D. White, found inspiration at Yale, and very shortly acquired distinction as a student by winning various literary and oratorical prizes with essays on political and historical subjects. That he was not altogether a grind is indicated by the fact that he was coxswain in the first eight-oared boat race between Yale and Harvard. A reflection of almost every one of these early experiences and phases of President White's life may be found in the institutions, organization, and customs of the present-day Cornell University. He seems to have tried to incorporate every influence for good that he encountered ; for what was bad he substituted something different, untried often, but at least of such nature as to avoid the evils with which he had become familiar. At the age of twelve he was able to play a church organ; due to his influence and generosity there are now two magnificent pipe organs at Cornell. At the same age he had great interest in all kinds of machinery — hence the sympathetic attitude he displayed in the development of the engineering colleges. Art and architecture felt his fostering influence because at ten occurred what he terms an important event, the gift to his mother from his father of a hand- somely illustrated volume "The Gallery of British Artists, " which the boy never tired in poring over. Because he found the "Christian influence" of the up-state denominational college he attended a 160 Concerning Cornell farce, Cornell is nonsectarian in its governing body and faculty, though far from irreligious, as early detractors vociferously asserted. The rowdy be- havior of students he believed largely due to failure to provide some outlet for the physical energy of young men; to this and his own rowing experience is owing the present magnificent standing of Cornell in athletic sports. His early good training in Eng- lish, his personal interest in history, politics and the classics are apparent in the strength and ample provision made for such departments in Cornell. After being graduated at Yale, President White spent nearly three years in Europe. Here he per- fected his knowledge of French by living for a year in a French professor's family and by attending lectures at the Sorbonne. In 1855 and 1856, he mastered German in the same way at Berlin. Between times he had traveled widely on the con- tinent and in England and had been for six months an attache of the American Legation at St. Peters- burg. His studies, meanwhile, continued along historical lines; he gained an insight into European political and social conditions at first hand, and also made himself acquainted with the workings of many European universities. Returning to America in the spring of 1856, he took the master's degree at Yale "in course," and at the commencement exercises heard President Way land of Brown University advise that "the best field of work for graduates is now in the West." The presidential election of that year found him deeply interested in politics, primarily as an advo- Andukw D. White Henry W. Sage Of Historical Interest 161 cate of the anti-slavery cause. In this connection, while a resident graduate at Yale in the following winter, he delivered a lecture on "Civilization in Russia," an indirect attack on slavery in the United States. This interest in politics led him to visit Washington in March, 1857, on the occa- sion of the inauguration of President Buchanan. Politics as practised had been repulsive to him; shabby, dirty Washington of the slave regime absolutely disgusted him. There seemed some prospect of a professorship in history at Yale, but this failed to materialize; hence, impressed by Wayland's remarks on the opportunity in the West, he eagerly accepted a professorship in history and English literature offered him by the University of Michigan, w T here he arrived in October, 1857. At Michigan he came in contact with energetic western students, who put him on his mettle to keep up with them in discussions, the incentive, as he modestly says, for a period of intensive study. Then came the Civil W 7 ar period. President W r hite volunteered, was refused on account of his health, accordingly put his energies into securing the train- ing of others for the army, later went to Europe to promote the cause of the North, and in 1864 re- turned to America. Shortly afterward he received a telegram in Boston that he had been nominated to the New York State Senate; and he was, in due course, elected. This position he had in no way sought; it had come to him altogether unsolicited, a fact in itself quite noteworthy in the annals of American politics. 162 Concerning Cornell Of such wealth in training and experience, then, was the young man, just thirty-two years of age, that Ezra Cornell met as a colleague in the State Senate at Albany in 1864. When first Ezra Cornell's name was called, President White says, he was immediately interested in the man and observes that he seemed "about sixty years of age, tall, spare and austere, with a kindly eye, saying little, and that little dryly. He did not appear unamiable, but there seemed in him a sort of aloofness." What Ezra's first impressions of the young Andrew were is not recorded but no doubt they would furnish an equally pithy characteriza- tion. That these two men, so utterly opposite in age and experience, of whom the one had attained great distinction by scholarly achievement and right thinking so early in life, and the other gained wealth and influence only after years of toil and vicissitude, should later have been so steadfastly associated in the grand adventure of founding Cornell is a matter of fascination; that they were brought into intimate relations almost immediate- ly after their meeting in the senate seems more than a coincidence. On the organization of the senate, Mr. Cornell and Mr. White were each made chairman of a committee, Mr. Cornell on agriculture, Mr. White on education. There was certainly no obvious connection between these two groups, yet among the first things to be referred to Mr. White's committee was Mr. Cornell's bill to incorporate a Of Historical Interest ig:> public library at Ithaca that Mr. Cornell proposed to found. This bill greatly interested Mr. White because it included among the trustees representa- tives of all the interests of the town, Mr. CornelPs political opponents as well as his friends, and the pastors of all churches, Catholic and Protestant, and provided for the endowment of the institution his, Mr. Cornell's, gift of one hundred thousand dollars, a quite munificent sum for a library for a small town in those days. Since such ideas were wholly in accord with Mr. White's own convictions, it was only natural that their conferences in regard to the bill soon established a friendship that con- tinued unbroken until Mr. Cornell's death, and that the library was established substantially as propos- ed by Mr. Cornell, the bill having Mr. White's hearty support until it became a law. That these two men should have been brought together immediately after Mr. White's entrance into the senate is noteworthy, but that almost the next circumstance should bring their committees, hence their several leaderships, into close relations is no less than remarkable, and has a dramatic interest for all Cornellians, for unless this had taken place Cornell University would never have been founded, nor would any institution equivalent to it have been developed in New York State. Of the same singularity are the circumstances that both Mr. White and Mr. Cornell had spent their boy- hood days at points in central New York separated by only a few miles, that their paths and experi- ences had then been of so widely different nature, 164 Concerning Cornell and that now the most intense interests of each were again to revolve around a narrowly restricted area of the same part of the state in which each had spent his early days. If, in an atlas, the towns of Homer, DeRuyter, Cortland, Geneva, Moravia, Ithaca, Syracuse, Havana and Ovid on the map of New York State are encircled with a pencil-line, there is presented the small region in which their youthful undertakings and those of manhood's prime were centered ; while if from this area, on a world map, widely divergent lines, extending on the one hand north and south to Maine and Georgia and west to Wisconsin; and, on the other, east to Yale, to England, France, Germany and Russia, are drawn, it will be appreciated how far apart, geographically, as well as in interests, their lives between these periods had been. To understand the situation that brought Senator Cornell's committee on agriculture into direct relations with Senator White's committee on education, it is necessary to go back a few years and to become acquainted with the facts connected with the passing of the Morrill or Land Grant bill of 1862 by the Congress of the United States and the subsequent action on this law by the New York State legislature. That such a measure was passed at a time when the country was involved in civil war is in itself remarkable. It proposed to endow at least one college in each state with public lands to the amount of thirty thousand acres for each senator and representative in Congress and pro- vided that the object of such colleges or college Of Historical Interest 165 should be * 'without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the states may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and prac- tical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." This act entitled New York State to "scrip" representing nine hundred eighty-nine thousand nine hundred and twenty acres of land, as no scrip was issued for less than one hundred and sixty acres. To realize on this it was necessary that the scrip be sold, as no state was permitted to locate lands in another state, and there were no public lands in New York State subject to entry. As other states were in the same plight, and as public lands of wide extent were subject to entry by any one at one dollar and a quarter per acre the selling price of the Land Grant scrip at best was only eighty- five cents per acre and it soon declined to sixty cents, with a poor market. Nevertheless it must be remembered that the portion that fell to New York, owing to its large representation in congress, was the largest received by any one state, over one-tenth of the whole; and in actual extent, if measured in contiguous terri- tory, of princely domain. Thus it exceeded the total area of the state of Rhode Island by some three hundred square miles. On May 5, 1863, the state legislature formally accepted the grant and authorized the comptroller 166 Concerning Cornell to sell it and to invest the funds in bonds bearing interest at not less than five per cent. At the time Cornell University was granted its charter, the comptroller had sold seventy-six thousand acres and estimated that the whole could be disposed of so as to yield an annual income of forty thousand dollars. By this statement one may measure what Ezra Cornell secured for the university by his business shrewdness and personal efforts over and above what he gave of his own fortune. On May 14, 1863, the whole of the New York State grant was voted to the People's College of Havana, New York, through the efforts of state senator Charles Cook, patron of this institution. The People's College today is Cook Academy, a preparatory school, for its founder was liberal only in what he wished to get for the institution. The original People's College was projected to teach practical sciences essential to agriculture and the useful arts, to provide labor for its students, men and women, and to require both students and faculty to labor from ten to twenty hours each week. It had not been opened when the Land Grant endowment was bestowed on it, and at the time when it finally lost the grant had property valued at seventy thousand dollars only, though it had had two years to comply with the terms of the gift, namely, that it have ten competent professors and suitable buildings and equipment for the teaching of two hundred and fifty students. An- other condition of the charter was that the in- stitution was to be free of all encumbrance yet the Of Historical Interest 167 so-called donor, Mr. Cook, could not be induced to cancel a mortgage of some thirty-one thousand dollars that he held on its property. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate to try, in the session of 1864, to get the whole of the grant for his institution without any pledges whatsoever on the part of the People's College. A bill to repeal the grant to the People's College was introduced in the senate, in 1864, but failed to pass. Then Mr. Cornell introduced a bill to divide the Land Grant fund between the People's College and the New York State Agricultural College at Ovid, where now is located the Willard Asylum for the Insane, a place about twenty miles distant from Havana, the site of the People's College. The State Agricultural College was sponsored by the New York State Agricultural Society, and had been incorporated in 1853 by the legislature under an act providing that, on condition that an equal sum be raised by private subscription, the state was to loan the institution forty thousand dollars for twenty-one years without interest. By 1858, an estate of over six-hundred acres overlooking Seneca Lake had been secured and in 1860 a building had been erected and the institution opened with a class of some fifty students and a faculty of five men. With the outbreak of the war, in 1861, how- ever, the institution was closed and had not been reopened in 1864. Of this college Mr. Cornell was a trustee. Mr. White immediately opposed Mr. Cornell's proposal to divide the Land Grant fund, on the 168 Concerning Cornell ground that it should not be frittered away, and, on Mr. Cornell's trying to have the bill referred to his own committee on agriculture, insisted that it should be referred to the committee on education with the result that the senate referred it to their joint committees. Then during the entire session Mr. White deliberately thwarted any report on the bill. In the following summer Mr. Cornell invited Mr. White to attend a meeting of the State Agri- cultural Society, of which Mr. Cornell was then president, and there proposed a new bill granting the State Agricultural College an income of thirty thousand dollars from the Land Grant fund on con- dition that it have an independent endowment of three hundred thousand dollars which he himself offered to provide. To the disgust of the audience, Mr. White again objected, this time urging Mr. Cornell to ask for the whole Land Grant fund and add to it his proposed gift. No definite action seems to have been taken. In 1865, when the legislature met again, Mr. Cornell, after an earlier conversation on the matter, came to Mr. White and said he had come to the conclusion that Mr. W T hite was right, the Land Grant fund ought to be kept together, that he now proposed to found a new institution that should have all of it and that in addition he would give a site and five hundred thousand dollars instead of the three hundred thousand he had offered at Rochester. To this proposal a number of the friends of both the People's College and the State Agricultural College quite enthusiastically acceded Of Historical Interest 169 later, among them Horace Greeley, long a trustee of the former institution. Under these conditions it would appear that the new institution, the future Cornell University, ought to have been started with great acclaim. But there was to be no plain sailing at this time or for a long time after. On February 4, 1865, Mr. White introduced a bill to establish The Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. The location at Ithaca Mr. Cornell insisted upon, though Mr. White would have preferred Syracuse. But al- though he insisted on the Ithaca site, the founder was dubious in regard to calling the institution after himself, suggesting "Ithaca State College" or something of that nature. Only after it had been pointed out that nearly every great eastern institution was named after its chief benefactor did he yield. Then began the struggle. On Feb- ruary 4th Mr. White introduced a resolution re- questing the Board of Regents to inquire into the condition of the People's College. On the 7th he further introduced a bill incorporating The Cornell University and endowing it with the whole of the Land Grant fund. This was referred to the joint committees on agriculture and education. On the 15th the Regents reported that the People's College had failed to qualify. On March 9th the Cornell incorporation bill, after having been reported and recommitted to the joint committee, was again taken up in Committee of the W 7 hole and then amended to so as to give the People's College three months more to offer a cash deposit of one hundred 170 Concerning Cornell and eighty-five thousand dollars in lieu of the earlier conditions. As amended it passed the sen- ate by a vote of twenty -five to two on March 16, 1865. In the assembly the bill was referred to the committee on colleges, academies and common schools and the committee on agriculture jointly. Meanwhile the forces in opposition were rallying. A number of smaller colleges, all with some influ- ence in the legislature, pressed claims for some part of the Land Grant. Mr. Cook of the People's College, bitter because his project had failed, em- ployed a lawyer to oppose the Cornell bill in com- mittee, and this man sought to bring the Cornell scheme into suspicion and contempt. He called it a "job," "grab," "monopoly," "a wild project," and said Mr. Cornell was planning to rob the state, that he was a vain and selfish speculator, "seeking to erect a monument to himself," and insinuated that those associated with him were either dupes or knaves. But the bill was nevertheless forced out of committee by its friends, after about a month, and considered in committee of the whole. The friends of Genesee College at Lima proved especial- ly strong and forced an amendment that in addi- tion to giving Cornell five hundred thousand dollars Mr. Cornell was also to donate twenty-five thousand dollars to Genesee College. This amend- ment Mr. Cornell accepted and in this form the bill was passed April 21, 1865, but only after Mr. White and others stood in the cloak room and fairly shamed waverers, afraid of their small college Of Historical Interest i 7 i constituents, to vote as their consciences and the best interests of New York State dictated. The indignity of the amendment, however, caused so much disgust in the state, when it became generally known, that in 1867 the legislature passed an act refunding the twenty-five thousand dollars, not to Mr. Cornell, for he would not accept it, but to Cornell University. The People's College having failed, in the time allowed, to furnish the one hun- dred and eighty-five thousand dollars required by the legislature to secure to it the Land Grant, the great endowment came, after such struggle, into the undisputed possession of Cornell. Not satisfied with what he had already done, Mr. Cornell, immediately after the university was assured, gave to the trustees of the institution his farm of two hundred acres, after it had been unani- mously agreed that this was by far the best site for the campus in the neighborhood of Ithaca. Then, as a business man, realizing that the money to be secured from the sale of the Land Grant scrip by the state would be but a meagre sum in comparison with what might be obtained by judicious action on part of a corporation or individual, he set about augmenting it in characteristic fashion. The state could not locate lands in another state, the univer- sity needed all its funds for buildings, equipment and expenses. Accordingly Mr. Cornell sought pri- vate aid with a view to the purchase of the scrip from the state and the location of lands that would sell at a great advance in a few years. In this he was unsuccessful, no one dared join him. Then he 172 Concerning Cornell determined to bear the whole burden himself. In 1865 he secured permission to buy one hundred thousand acres at fifty cents an acre on condition that all profits resulting from the future sale of the land should come to Cornell. In 1866 an act was passed in the legislature authorizing the comp- troller to sell all the remaining scrip to the trustees of Cornell University at a price not less than thirty cents per acre, or if they would not take it, then to any person who would pay to the state all the net profits of the transaction. The trustees had no funds, hence Mr. Cornell proposed that he would buy the remainder of the scrip at the thirty-cent rate and from the profits of its sale pay thirty cents more per acre to the state; the sixty cents per acre realized in this way, together with the funds from previous sales, to constitute the Land Grant fund and be subject to its restrictions in the expenditures of Cornell University; the balance of the profits to constitute a separate fund, known as the Cornell Endowment Fund, and to be free from such restric- tions. This proposal was accepted and Mr. Cornell purchased the balance, the remaining eight hun- dred thirteen thousand nine hundred and twenty acres of scrip. Reverting then to the toilsome personal indus- try of his early years for the benefit of the new university, Mr. Cornell undertook the gigantic task of locating this vast acreage, and actually succeed- ed, in the course of a few years, in taking up over five hundred thousand acres, mostly in fine timber lands, in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kansas. In Of Historical Interest 173 addition to the personal labor this involved, it was necessary for him to advance for the original pur- chase, for services, taxes and interest another five hundred thousand dollars over and above the original endowment of the same amount that he had provided. Before 1870 the value of the scrip was so much enhanced that it was possible to sell some three hundred thousand acres of the part not located at about one dollar per acre, but this was done against Mr. Cornell's judgment. At another time, when he was urged to sell a portion of the lands at a sacrifice, he said in effect, "No, I will wear my old coat and hat a little longer and let you have a little more money out of my own pocket. " In October, 1874, several months before Mr. Cornell's death his holdings were transferred to the university. With this transfer all the costs of their purchase and upkeep were of course also put upon the institution and it entered into a period of financial stress that was almost as great as that borne by the founder in his later years and which undoubtedly hastened his death. Before 1881 nearly four hundred thousand dollars had to be taken from the productive funds of the university to pay its own expenses and carry its lands. It was indeed a land-poor institution at that time. But, fortunately, Mr. Cornell's successor in the management, the chairman of the board of trus- tees, Mr. Henry W. Sage, had knowledge of timber lands and faith equal to that of the founder, and in the face of bankruptcy, held on. Thus in 1881 and 1882 the university was able to realize two million 174 Concerning Cornell three hundred thousand dollars from the sale of one hundred and forty thousand acres of the land. This cleared the financial skies, and it is conse- quently unnecessary, here, to follow the history of the Land Grant farther. But to emphasize the sagacity of the founder it should be noted that from a federal gift that was expected originally to yield an annual income of only forty thousand dollars, Cornell University has realized over five and one-half million dollars which in 1915 brought an income of over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Ezra Cornell sowed one to reap ten. It will readily be understood that the attacks on Mr. Cornell and his institution when it was first sought to secure all the Land Grant for Cor- nell did not grow less bitter or decrease in volume as the new university got established and the founder began his land-locating operations. The latter were in themselves calculated to arouse sus- picion on part of those who have little faith in the honesty of purpose of any man, and to give oppor- tunity for the slanders of the invidious. A shrewd business man intrusted with a state resource that might be made to yield millions — was it natural to expect that he would not himself profit enormous- ly? And the fundamental innovations of the in- stitution itself aroused the antagonism of many honest but conservative people. The public relies on its own inertia to crush the individual reformer, and generally succeeds, but any reform or change backed by great material resources it fears and hates. Of Historical Interest L75 In 18G9 a Rochester paper published an edi- torial article asserting that Mr. Cornell's land- scrip operations were one of the most stupendous jobs ever "put up" against the state and asked "what becomes of the twenty-three million dollars that will be realized on these lands ? They will go to the Cornell family. Mr. Cornell will sell the lands to a company of which he is chief, fixing his own price, and his company will make twenty-five to thirty million dollars. " This attack Mr. Cornell answered simply by explaining in full his dealings and in conclusion, adding, that he had lived in the state sixty years, had had personal and official re- lations with a great many of his fellow citizens and would leave to their judgment on the editors and himself the onus for the epithets "swindler" and "corruptionist." This by no means put a stop to the slanders, and when, in 1873, a bill was intro- duced for a settlement between Mr. Cornell and the state, the occasion was seized by the repre- sentative from the district of the People's College for an especially vicious attempt to besmirch Mr. Cornell, by denouncing him once more as an unscrupulous and iniquitous land grabber. This speech created a sensation and was widely quoted by the press. Mr. Cornell at once requested by telegraph an investigation by a commission of citi- zens. After an exhaustive examination not only of Mr. Cornell's dealings, but of the whole conduct of the university, this commission reported that no single fact indicated that Mr. Cornell had sought to gain any pecuniary advantage for himself or his 176 Concerning Cornell family and that while some witnesses objected strenuously to the conduct of the business between the state and Mr. Cornell and the objects he sought to achieve, all disclaimed any purpose to charge that he had enriched himself. This complete vin- dication finally allayed the general abuse. An ex- ception was the Rochester newspaper that had been too sorely wounded to quit and continued to assail Mr. Cornell up to the year of his death. The institution fared no better. Mr. White, while he had gone so far as t© draw up a "plan of organization/' had no idea of becoming its first president. His duties as president of a bank, di- rector of several others, and of sundry corpora- tions; as senator of New York State and lecturer at the University of Michigan, seemed to him suffi- ciently varied and involved without adding any further burdens. When nominated for the position by Mr. Cornell, he was greatly surprised and only consented to serve with much reluctance. A wiser thing than his election to the presidency has seldom been done. By this act the flood of ideas that Mr. White in his years of experience as student and teacher had been gathering, was permitted to flow unhampered over the dry-as-dust system of uni- versity education that had so long prevailed in the United States; a flood that was to irrigate and bring the field to a new fruitfulness, not only at Cornell, but elsewhere as well. This very fresh- ness, however, made the new institution a bright target for self-appointed critics and brought also a variety of other troubles. 8&& The First Faculty Picture reproduced by courtesy of B. S. Monroe Hon. Hon. Prof. D. Willard Fiske Prof. Theodore W. Dwight Prof. Goldwin Smith Prof. James R. Lowell Prof. Wm. C. Russell . George Wm. Curtis . Prof. Rev. Wm. D. Wilson . Prof. John L. Morris . Prof. Ziba H. Potter* . Prof. Homer B. Sprague . Prof. James M. Hart* C. Caldwell Names as listed by photographer except for corrections in spell- ing and initials. Also those marked * were assistant professors, and of these, Thomas F. Crane is omitted, as well as Albert X. Prentiss, James M. Crafts and Albert S. Wheeler, full professor-, as given in a list by Dean Huffcut, while the name of Lewis Spauld- ing does not appear in Dean Huffcut's list. Ezra Cornell, Founder 12 A. D. White, President 13 Prof. Louis Agassiz 14 Prof. C. Fred Hartt 15 Prof. Eli W. Blake 16 Prof. James Law 1 Prof. Lewis Spaulding* 18 Major Joseph H. Whittlesev 19 Prof. Burt G. Wilder 20 Prof. Win. C. Cleveland 21 Prof. Evan W. Evans 22 23. Prof. George £ \\ X \ ■> Of Historical Interest 177 Learning by rote with dull recitations was to be put in the background. The brightest young stu- dents of the most eminent scholars were to con- stitute the resident faculty. This faculty in turn, as well as the student body, was to be inspired by lecture-series given by eminent nonresident pro- fessors. Instead of a rigidly prescribed course, the student was to have the widest possible latitude in his choice of studies. Students in classical courses were to meet and work with students in the agri- cultural and mechanical colleges, all were to be equal in dignity and standing in the university community. Mr. Cornell had said "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study. " Ambitious and energetic students lacking the necessary funds for pursuing a college course were to be provided with an opportunity to labor for their self-support. The charter of the university provided for one scholarship to be awarded annually in each assembly district of the state, entitling the holder to free tuition for four years. Co-education was implied, though the in- stitution did not at first definitely commit itself to admit women. The students were to be considered as responsible citizens; faculty members were not to act as policemen. The institution was to be strictly nonsectarian — "at no time shall a majority of the board of trustees be of any one religious sect or of no religious sect;" "persons of every religious denomination or of no religious denomination shall be equally eligible to all offices and appointments. M The trustees were not to be appointed for life, but 178 Concerning Cornell only for five-year terms, they were to be chosen by ballot and the alumni, eventually, were to select one-third of their number. No honorary degrees were to be conferred. While these ideas are old now, and have in many instances been adopted elsewhere, they created a great commotion then, as may well be imagined if one will picture the stir that would result if an equal number of radical departures were proposed by some foundation of the present time. Before Cornell came into being, universities existed almost solely for the professional and social classes. The union of literary and practical studies upon an absolute equality, with liberty of choice on part of the student in the one field or the other or both was the fundamental feature of the "Cor- nell Idea," and those in authority at the older institutions immediately declared that the experi- ment was foredoomed to failure. Charles W. Eliot, himself later president of Harvard, gave it [Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 23, p. 215] as his deliberate judgment that the practical spirit and the literary and scho- lastic spirit were incompatible within the same walls. Others were not so restrained in their statements, one of the leading New York city newspapers re- peatedly charged President White with "degrading classical studies." When, however, a few years after the opening of the university, intercollegiate contests in Latin, Greek and mathematics were staged and Cornell took more first prizes in these subjects than did all the older institutions together, the talk of degrading the classics somehow died out. Of Historical Interest L79 The idea of providing labor for self-support of students led to other difficulties — many of them quite comical as they now appear. During Presi- dent White's absence in Europe for the purchase of equipment and securing a faculty, the founder took it upon himself to write a letter to the New York Tribune announcing that students could support themselves while pursuing their studies one-half of each day in the university by laboring the other half. Had President White been consulted he probably would have pointed out that the average student hardly marks up to Ezra Cornell stuff in earnestness, endurance and capability for self- sacrifice. As a result of this letter a lot of eager applicants came on at the opening of the university and insisted on being provided with work. Those who were able to perform any sort of skilled labor were employed readily enough, but many had not even done any manual labor. It was shortly found that it would be cheaper to support most of these at a hotel and to employ day-laborers in their places than to let them go on "working." Thus the husking of the corn from the university farm by student labor was found to cost more than the corn could be sold for in the market! One man came all the way from Russia, had in fact to de- pend on charity to make the last stages of the journey, and on arrival was found to be utterly incapable of sustained effort of any kind, mental or physical. The most definite aim he seemed to have was to convert the United States to the Russo- Greek church. Others, good scholars, but unable 180 Concerning Cornell to do even the lightest tasks in caring for the uni- versity grounds, wrote bitterly to the metropolitan journals denouncing Mr. Cornell's bad faith. Of like nature were the troubles that arose from the motto, "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study. " A west- ern teamster offered his services, and on being asked what he wished to study said he wanted to learn to read! Of course he was very indignant when told that the public school was the place for him. All these reminiscences and many others of similar nature, are recounted by President White in his "Autobiography," and in his own inimitable and fascinating way. A paper at a rival college said that the "op- tional" course at Cornell must be a very hard one, and referred also to the probable undergraduate pleasure in taking courses under "nonresident professors. " In another sense, it was perhaps this kind of a professor from Cornell that made neces- sary one of the few faculty interferences with student self-government. Various complaints had been made against a stalwart New England student and finally he was summoned before the whole faculty, solemnly assembled around a long table. The culprit was brought in, and after evading vari- ous questions with great ingenuity he was asked, "Mr. , did you, last month, in the village of Dundee, Yates County, pass yourself off as Pro- fessor of this university, announcing a lecture and delivering it in his name ? " He answered calmly, "Sir, I did go to Dundee in Yates County, Of Historical Interest 181 I did deliver a lecture there, I did not announce myself as Professor of Cornell University; what others may have done I do not know; all I know is that at the close of my lecture several leading men of the town came forward and said they had heard a good many lectures given by college professors from all parts of the state and that they had never had one as good as mine." President White says he had difficulty in restrain- ing himself, the faculty were plainly in the same condition, the youth was hurriedly dismissed, and the faculty enjoyed a hilarious laugh and the cul- prit was troubled no further. It must not be sup- posed that women have only become militant since they have made suffrage a pertinacious political issue. When women were admitted it was feared that a great deal of "spooning" would result. Quite the contrary proved to be the case. What did make trouble in later days was the "lady" warden and the rules of Sage College, the women's 182 Concerning Cornell dormitory. Again and again committees came to the president insisting that there should be no lady warden, that the women should be free to go every hour of the twenty-four as were the men. This led in time to a Women's Self Government Asso- ciation which continues into the present. It is quite possible that some of its regulations of con- duct are more severe than were those imposed by the "lady" warden of earlier days. If the "Cornell Idea" of great liberality in choice of study and combination of classical and practical courses provoked criticism, the notion of a nonsectarian control and pulpit may indeed be said to have started a storm, primarily because the denominational colleges feared the competition of Cornell. For years Cornell University was de- nounced as irreligious, and as a godless institution. Yet all the public schools of the state were, and are, similarly wholly free from denominational con- trol. The charge of irreligion was groundless. At first, simple religious exercises were conducted each morning except Sunday in a classroom, at- tendance at which, though voluntary, was quite good. To provide for Sunday services, Henry W. Sage offered to build a chapel, one of his sons endowed a preachership fund, another provided a fine organ. The chapel was erected and the preachership endowed under the conditions that services should never be given over to any one sect and that attendance be voluntary. On the estab- lishment of such Sunday services the attacks on Cornell changed from accusations of godlessness to Of Historical Interest 183 that of "indifferentism." What really irked the sincere churchmen seems rather to have been Cor- nell's "undifferentiationism" (a word not much more awkward than indifferentism which they might have coined) ; if so, it indicates the narrow- ness of some of the clergy in a time not long past. SOUTH SIDE OF SAGE CHAPEL In any event Cornell's system of religious instruct- ion bids fair to become the prevailing one in the universities of our country. Invitations to preach in the chapel were ac- cepted by eminent clergymen of all Christian de- nominations but those of the Roman Catholic faith. That the latter have not sent some of their learned divines continues to be regrettable. A distinct effort was made to keep out all sensational preaching, the chapel was not to be a place for amusement or "for ground and lofty tumbling by clerical performers." This ideal should command the attention of those who under other auspices 184 Concerning Cornell and a different roof have in late years brought re- formed train robbers, and, if one may put it that way, a reformed baseball player to give religious addresses at Cornell. Having followed so far the history of the in- tellectual and moral concept of the university it remains now to go back to the opening day of the new institution and gain an insight of its material and community status and development. It was indeed, as Ezra Cornell truly said in his speech on the opening day, October 7, 1868, not to see a university finished but to see one begun that the guests had been invited. Perhaps an ex- ception should be made of the two creators of the institution, they were indeed "done" at the time. Mr. Cornell, from his labors in locating lands, Mr. White, from travel in Europe securing materials; both from the arduous toil of preparation for the opening, were worn out; and had been under care of physicians and in bed for two or three days be- fore the inauguration. On the appointed day they had to be taken in carriages to Cornell (Ithaca) Li- brary Hall where the morning exercises were held. Mr. Cornell, unable to stand, read his address in a low tone, seated in a chair. It was a very im- pressive scene and almost incapacitated Mr. White, also worn by illness, from speaking after him. Their two addresses embodied the whole spirit and purpose of the university, ideals that have since all been practically realized. Mr. Cornell's words: "I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with Of Historical Interest 185 liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the manufactories, for the investigation of science, and for mastering all the practical questions of life with success and honor, " and Mr. White's elaboration as to how this was to be done; pledg- ing the university to a policy that should unite liberal and practical education under perfect equal- ity among widely differing courses of study, de- claring war on pedantry and Philistinism, provide an epitomized statement of all that has been since accomplished. But of material possessions little was visible then. The only building for instruction, Morrill Hall, was unfinished, Cascadilla Hall, which was to be the home of many of the faculty and stu- dents, had no doors on many of the rooms and no heating apparatus. The beautiful campus of to- day was for the most part a ragged cornfield sur- rounded by rail fences. At the north end, where now is Sibley College, rickety barns and slovenly barnyards offended the senses. Between the Cas- cadilla building and the South University build- ing, as Morrill Hall was then called, were two deep, unbridged ravines, Cascadilla Creek gorge and a lesser one that extended up across what is now the green between Sage College and the old Armory. Not even a completed road connected the two. Aside from the unfinished Morrill Hall, the only other university structure was a tempo- rary wooden campanile in which hung a chime of nine bells, the gift of Miss Jennie McGraw. 186 Concerning Cornell Yet there were compensations. The day was perfect, the time that of Indian Summer and in the afternoon when the exercises were continued on the campus, there was spread before the audience a landscape clothed in all the gorgeous panoply of a deciduous-forest autumn, caressed by balmy breezes and bathed in hazy, golden sunlight. Not only that, but a view that embraced miles of hill and dale and the blue sheen of Lake Cayuga, a panorama that for variety and picturesqueness is unsurpassed by the site of any other university in the world. Hence, when at the close, George William Curtis, the orator of the day, burst into his peroration, comparing the university with a newly launched ship — "all its sails set, its rigging full and complete from stem to stern, its crew em- barked, its passengers on board; and even while I speak to you, even while this autumn sun sets in the west the ship begins to glide over the waves, it goes forth rejoicing, every stitch of canvas spread, all its colors flying, its bells ringing, its heart-strings beating with hope and joy; and I say, God bless the ship, God bless the builder, God bless the chosen captain, God bless the crew, and, gentlemen undergraduates, may God bless all the passengers!" it is no wonder that the hearts of all those present swelled with emotion, and it was no doubt thought then, as now, that the bells of the chime ringing out for the first time put a fitting climax to a very notable occasion. One interesting thing was the fact that a larger number, four hundred, of students pressed for- Of Historical Interest 187 ward for admission to the new institution on its inaugural day than had ever entered any college in the country as a single class. Four seniors, of whom Senator Foraker was one, left a Pennsyl- vania college with the express purpose of becoming members of the class of '69, first to be graduated from Cornell. The need for more buildings and equipment immediately became acute, indeed this has harassed the presidents and trustees from that opening day until now. In 1869, a large wooden building was erected as a temporary expedient, but, although permanent building after building fol- lowed, this wooden structure continued to house the latest overcrowded department until 1890, when it disappeared from the campus. In the fall of 1870, White Hall was finished, and in 1871, Sib- ley College, the gift of Hiram Sibley, was erected, and McGraw Hall, the gift of John McGraw, as well as President White's residence on the campus, were being built. At the laying of the corner stone of McGraw Hall in 1869, a local orator, in- spired no doubt by the grand effort of Curtis at the inaugural said, "Fellow citizens, when Mr. Cornell found himself rich beyond the dreams of avarice, did he give himself up to a life of inglori- ous ease? No, fellow citizens; he reared the beau- tiful public library in yonder valley. But did he then retire to a life of luxury? No, fellow citizens, he came up to this height (here a great wave of the hand toward the vast amphitheatre below) and he established this universe!" As Goldwin Smith remarked to President White who had not caught 188 Concerning Cornell this, and to whom he repeated it. "There is noth- ing more to be said; no one need ever praise the work of Mr. Cornell again. " In 1875, both Sage Chapel and Sage College, the gifts of Henry W. Sage, were dedicated. Here it may be mentioned, that in actual money gifts Mr. Sage was the greatest benefactor among all those, not even excepting Ezra Cornell, who helped so generously in the early years. Mr. Sage's gifts eventually attained the grand total of one million one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, to say nothing of his services as trustee in conserving Ezra Cornell's land investments, so that when the student of the present day refers to Cornell buildings or other entities to which the name Sage is attached, it should not be lightly, but with the same sense of appreciation that per- tains to the words Cornell and White. More- over what Mr. Sage provided, he also provided for and generously, and thereby hangs a moral that other intending benefactors who may read these lines will do well to search out. In 1883, Franklin Hall and the old Armory and Gymnasium were built by the trustees. Between 1885 and 1892, Barnes Hall, Morse Hall, Lincoln Hall, the University Library and Boardman Hall were erected. The placing of Morse Hall on the promontory extending from the northwest corner of the quadrangle was a mistake, for this site had previously afforded one of the finest views in this or any other country. The first university preach- er to occupy the Sage Chapel pulpit, Phillips Of Historical Interest 189 Brooks, when standing on this spot was quite evidently overawed by the beauty of the scene spread at his feet. Happily this error will prob- ably be soon effaced, but through what was for a time a distinct calamity, the almost total destruc- tion by fire of the original Morse Hall, and subse- quent additions, on the morning of February 13, 1916. Cornell has now the fine, new Baker La- boratory of Chemistry that occupies a site on the northeast corner of the campus, overlooking the quadrangle. But provision has been made for preservation of the view from this high point. Un- happily, however, President White did not live to see the original mistake in location of Morse Hall, which he greatly deplored, completely rectified. The building of the University Library was the indirect outcome of the McGraw-Fiske will contest, another most dramatic episode in the history of Cornell, and again one that had a calam- itous aspect. Miss Jennie McGraw, who gave the original chime of bells that were rung at the open- ing of the university, was the daughter of the John McGraw who provided McGraw Hall. At the death of her father in 1877 she inherited the bulk of his great fortune. About a year later Miss McGraw went abroad in search of health, and while on this trip was married to Willard Fiske, a professor of Cornell University and its librarian, at the American legation at Berlin, where President White was then residing as minister to Germany. Just before her departure for Europe, Miss McGraw had given orders for the construction of 190 Concerning Cornell a magnificent mansion on a site just below the Morse Hall site, and commanding, like it, a most extensive prospect of the valley and lake below. This mansion she was destined never to occupy, for on returning to her home city, ill, in 1881, she lingered only a few days in sight of the towers of her new residence and on October 1st of that year passed away. The mansion was purchased later by the Chi Psi fraternity and, singularly enough, was, on December 7, 1906, like its neighbor, Morse Hall at a later date, destroyed by fire; a fire marked by what has been perhaps the most frightful trage- dy in the history of Cornell, for it cost the lives of four students and three volunteer firemen of Ithaca. The memory of this tragedy should be kept green, not only because of the many precious lives it cost, but also because it was the scene of deeds of heroism that must ever persist as shining monuments of Cornell spirit and utter sacrifice. It was an icy-cold and black-dark December night. A gale of wind howled without, accompa- nied by fitful snow flurries, blinding while they lasted. At midnight, when the last man to bed of the inmates of the doomed structure had re- tired, there was no warning of the impending dis- aster; at forty minutes past three in the morning the whole mansion was enveloped in flames. How long before that the twenty-six members of the fraternity had been awakened by the smoke and flames no one knows, but when they first realized the fire all egress by the stairways had already been cut off. There were no rope fire-escapes, so that Of Historical Interest lqj the only hope of rescue lay in getting out on a win- dow sill, and from there to the ground; or else climbing to the roof, and either climbing or jump- ing from that. The sleeping rooms were, in every case, filled with smoke when the men awoke; in some the flames were already gaining entrance; there was no time to secure any clothing. Grelle, Pope, Uihlein and DeCamp first climbed to the roof. Their cries gave the alarm. On the roof they separated. DeCamp and Uihlein escaped by climbing down the vines along the outside wall for some distance, and then jumping to the ground. Pope and Grelle determined to try another route. Pope led the way across the roof to a place directly over the window of McCutcheon's room. Here Pope swung over and down, and kicked in the window. Flames immediately burst out and en- veloped him. He let go his hold and fell to the ground. Then, recovering, he ran across the lawns to the Phi Kappa Psi house, about two hundred yards away, and aroused its occupants by his screams. Almost crazed by the pain of his burns, he collapsed as soon as the doors were opened. He was taken to the hospital later, and, although his life was despaired of for days, eventually recovered. While Pope and Grelle were climbing over the roof toward McCutcheon's rooms, McCutcheon himself was being rescued by his roommate, Curry. Curry awoke to find the room filled with a dense smoke. Half unconscious, he broke out upon a balcony through a window, and after being revived there by the fresh air, returned to Mc- 192 Concerning Cornell Cutcheon, who was unconscious. He attempted to carry McCutcheon out, but failed, and barely suc- ceeded in reaching the balcony again. Once more he tried, and this time managed to drag McCutch- eon, whose night clothes were now in flames, to the window. Here he found himself exhausted by his efforts, and could not take the body to the balcony. But help had arrived. Halliday, Gibson and Good- speed, men from the Alpha Delta Phi house, who had also been aroused by the cries of the men on the roof, had brought two ladders with them, and, climbing from these over the snow-covered slating, they secured McCutcheon at the window, and carried him to the ground. His burns were, how- ever, fatal; he died in the afternoon of the same day, after only a few minutes of consciousness. Curry, after McCutcheon's rescue, reentered the house for a third time, in a vain effort to find Nichols and Grelle, but, baffled by the flames and smoke, was compelled to give up, and, covered with cuts and burns, had to be assisted to the hospital. Grelle was left behind on the roof after Pope had fallen to the ground. The flames from the window that Pope had kicked in, swept toward the roof and Grelle stepped back to escape their heat, only to fall into a skylight, from whence he dropped into a closet near McCutcheon's room. He was seen to come into the room from which Curry and McCutcheon had been rescued, and make for a window. Just as he reached it, the floor gave way and he disappeared from view. Death had claimed two victims. McGraw Hall One of the First Gifts to the University In Baker Court Goldwin Smith Of Historical Interest 103 O. L. Schmuck, a senior, had made his way to the gutter of the upper roof, through a gable win- dow, when he remembered that his roommate, W. H. Nichols, also a senior, was yet in the house. With the greatest fortitude, he reentered the room, then a mass of flames, to save him. The task was hopeless, and with clothing in flames, Schmuck regained the window and dove through it to the ground, three stories below. His fall was broken by a bush, but he received injuries which caused his death in the hospital a few hours afterward. "He died indeed, but his work lives, very truly lives. ,, But the roll of death was not yet complete. The furious north wind, unabated, fanned the flames so that no amount of water could quench them. Only ruined walls, on the exterior, and a flaming mass inside, remained at six o'clock. At seven, most of the firemen and spectators had left the scene. But at that time three firemen were still directing a stream through a window on the north side of the ruin, when, without warning, the massive stone wall fell outwards, directly in the face of the wind, and crushed the three, Messrs. Rumsey, Robinson and Landon. Seven had now given up their lives and Death was appeased. Today another structure occupies the site of the historic mansion, but the memory of the latter, its tragic end, and of the actors in that drama, can not be effaced. "The pride of the deed will remain after the bitterness of grief has passed, and every man with the stamp of Cornell upon him, will stand 194 Concerning Cornell straighter at the thought: They had tasted the flames, but they went back. They went back." When Mrs. Fiske's will was opened it was found that after giving her husband three hundred thou- sand dollars and making ample provision for those near and dear to her and a multitude of charities, she had left the university an endowment of nearly one and a quarter million dollars. Of this sum forty thousand dollars were to be devoted to providing a hospital for students on the campus; fifty thousand dollars were to be used for main- taining McGraw Hall, and the balance was given for building and endowing a university library. This magnificent bequest was, however, for the time completely lost to the university. Two things prevented its acceptance, one that the university was chartered to hold only three million dollars endowment, and it already held funds ex- ceeding that amount; second that Professor Fiske and Mrs. Fiske's relatives appeared as contestants of the will, the latter making claim under a condi- tional provision in her father's, John McGraw's, will. Mrs. Fiske's married life, though it extended only a little over one year (July 14, 1880 to her death October 1, 1881) had been very happy; and at first Professor Fiske joined most heartily in carrying out the provisions of her will. Later, however, Professor Fiske decided to fight the claim of the university to the bequests his wife had made. A decision by the Court of Appeals, made only a few years earlier, that might prevent the university from accepting the bequest, was also discovered at Of Historical Interest 195 about the same time. The case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States but after seven years of litigation the estate was divided between Professor Fiske and the McGraw heirs. That Professor Fiske held no grudge against the univer- sity itself is indicated by the fact that on his death, September 14, 1904, it was found that he had willed over five hundred thousand dollars to Cornell for a library endowment fund, and he had, in addition, made other gifts during his lifetime. The charter of the university had, meanwhile, been changed by the legislature so as to remove all restrictions in regard to the amount of its endowment. But before the contest over the will was finally closed Henry W. Sage again came forward and pledged himself to be responsible for the cost of a suitable library building, the university to repay him if it finally won the suit. On October 7, 1891, the library was formally opened, and as the case was then definitely lost, Mr. Sage at these exercises not only presented the university with the building but added also three hundred thousand dollars for a permanent endowment. Any account of the early years of the university would be entirely inadequate if it failed to contain more than a reference to the nonresident professors. First and foremost of these, in distinction perhaps according to personal opinion, but certainly first in the value of his services to the university, was Goldwin Smith. As a matter of fact he can hardly be called a nonresident professor, for he lived at Cascadilla with the rest of the faculty and students 196 Concerning Cornell during the first year, and endured their privations (on date April 20, 1869, is found a memorandum on the business manager's notebook to the effect "Mr. White wishes a bell for Prof. Goldwin Smith's room to enable him to call servants without being obliged to hunt them up") and steadily refused to accept any compensation. It is true he could afford this last, but other professors equally able to give their services without charge have not always been so minded. If a later generation of the public has forgotten Goldwin Smith it only marks the differ- ence between then and now. His espousal of the cause of the North during the time of the Civil War, almost alone among Englishmen, had earned him the deep gratitude of patriotic Americans. An ob- server (S. D. Halliday) relates that, when, on the night of the day of his arrival in Ithaca, Goldwin Smith entered the Cornell (Ithaca) Library hall to give his first lecture every one in the audience spon- taneously rose and remained standing until he had taken his seat on the platform. At that time Professor Smith referred to the fact that he was an Englishman and was to lecture on English history but, he said, I will try to be impartial "for while I love England much, I love humanity more. " What must have endeared Goldwin Smith es- pecially to his Cornell audiences was his humor, his fund of anecdotes, his dignity and the habitual fastidiousness of his speech. Yet, writing appre- ciatively in the "North American Review" Vis- count Bryce tells this of his first meeting with Gold- win Smith at Oxford in 1861. "Drawing a chair Of Historical Interest 197 toward him, I sat down and waited. Presently he said, 'Of what did King John die?' I did not know and ad- mitted my ig- norance. * He died of a sur- feit of peaches and new ale' said the pro- fessor, adding in a reflective tone,* it would give a man a considerable bellyache, ' thereupon he proceeded to deliver in grave and measured accents, a discourse upon the Angevin Kings and their policy. " Such was the man whom only the austere Ezra Cornell, however, was privileged to call "Goldwin." The other nonresident professors were Louis Agassiz, James Russell Lowell, George William Curtis and Theodore William Dwight, all famous names now, and men who must in their time have done much to make the institution seem a real university. Of Agassiz, who was then the foremost figure in natural science, it is related that once when driving near Forest Home he saw a strange bird flying into the woods. Jumping out of his GOLDWIN SMITH WALK 198 Concerning Cornell carriage, he called to a boy to hold his horse and then rushed pell-mell after the bird. A farmer coming along asked "whose horse?" and the boy answered "belongs to a crazy Dutchman who is down in the woods looking for a bird's nest." Agassiz spoke good English but on one occasion, at least, got a little mixed. A student, after one of the lectures in Library Hall (most of those by the nonresident professors were given there) evi- dently of the mind that this natural science was approaching very nearly an attack on the Bible, stood up and asked, in effect, whether Agassiz really thought the world was made in six days. Agassiz had difficulty in understanding his ques- tioner and asked him to repeat his query. Still he was in doubt, and the question was repeated again. Then in despair Agassiz said, "I do not mean what you understand." The audience laughed, but the great naturalist probably never knew why. Finally Agassiz was made to under- stand and he answered simply that "he did not regard the Bible as a scientific work on geology." Such series of lectures have continued to be an attraction at Cornell down to the present time. The speakers are no longer appointed nonresident professors and the lectures given by any one man are usually fewer in number than was the case in the first years, though there are now several foun- dations that provide for an extended treatment of some topic. Probably the increased facility of travel and the greater numbers that can be reached in a Cornell audience of today, together with the IHHIHHHHB^lHi Jirsi Jnaaal tbmnrtastnual Thuiwfar. July Fii«, (JXS,, 9 «. M. ^r rsi Cornell ijsrart hall PtoVjw 6E0RGE WIUUM CURTIS. ^ * "V */, ***-*>. '«#«, *«*;;;• v* ^//, Some Early Admission Cards ■ (€?:*•? 1|>s4flfcY m& «>> c o z 3 HHRBH «*>" a « **" & tr>4o Of Historical Interest 199 modern wider variety of interests, making it pos- sible and profitable for a personage of national, or even international repute, to come to Cornell for only a single lecture, are responsible for this change. In fact the number of lectures and lecturers is now so great that the calendar of the week often scarce- ly affords them all room, and a person so minded could attain a liberal education at Cornell by sim- ply attending free lectures by eminent personages in every field of art and science pure and applied. In such fashion then, have the original nonresident lectureships really perpetuated the old "Optional Course' ' that was formally abolished and disap- peared from the curriculum in 1896. The following programme for the year 1915-16 will give some idea of what is afforded, but it should be remembered that it includes only those lectur- ers who were officially invited by the university. In addition there are each year a multitude of lectures under the auspices of departments and various semi-official organizations. NONRESIDENT LECTURERS, 1915-16 Thomas Hastings: Modern Architecture. Frederico Alonso Pezet: Latin and Anglo-Saxon Races in America. Lecture on the Goldwin Smith Foun- dation. L. Ward Bannister: Western Water Rights and Irri- gation Law. Moritz J. Bonn: Course in International Economics; Course in Economic Organization and Social Legis- lation in Germany. Lectures on the Jacob H. Schiff Foundation. Charles Z. Klauder: Planning of the College Dormi- tory Group. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter: Christianity at the Parting of the Ways. 200 Concerning Cornell James Brown Scott: The International Court of Jus- tice. Lecture on the Goldwin Smith Foundation. Theodore Burton: 1915 and After. A. Kingsley Porter: The Esthetic Appeal of Mediaeval Architecture. Lyman P. Powell: The By-Product of the Modern College. Sumner Robinson: The Province of Interior Decora- tion; Interior Decoration and the Human Tempera- ment. Moritz J. Bonn: The Jew in German Business Life. Major General Leonard Wood: Military Education in School and College. Charles Wellington Furlong: Venezuela, the land of the Orinoco. Benjamin S. Hubbell: Designing a Museum. Jacob H. Schiff: Business. William H. Taft: Our World Relationships and Pre- paredness; The Supreme Court and Popular Self- Go vernment; The League to Enforce Peace; The Limits of Jurisdiction of the Three Branches of the Federal Government; The Presidency. Lectures on the Goldwin Smith Foundation. John L. Elliott: The Citizen and Community Organi- zation; What some great Americans have thought of Religion. T. A. Daly: The Laughing Muse — A Talk on Current Verse in Dialect and Otherwise. Rowland Haynes: The Citizen and the Recreation Needs of the Community. John Martin: The Citizen and the Schools. Victor Horta: The Nationality of Belgium and Its Influence Upon Her Architecture; Mediaeval Archi- tecture in Belgium; The Evolution of Renaissance and classic Architecture in Belgium in the Nine- teenth Century. Eugene T. Lies: The Citizen and Poverty. John A. Fitch: The Citizen and Industry. P. van den Ven: The University of Lou vain. Mrs. Kennedy Fraser: Songs of the Hebrides. Selskar M. Gunn: The Citizen and Public Health. Anatole Le Braz: Le Genie de la France. Katherine Bement Davis: The Citizen and Crime. Elmer S. Forbes: The Citizen and the Homes of the Community. R. Clipston Sturgis: Architecture as a Universal Art. Miss Frances A. Kellor: The Citizen and Immigration. Of Historical Interest 201 A. L. Brockway: The Architect and Citizenship; City Planning and the Architect. Robert Studebaker Binkerd: The Citizen and the Physical Development of His Community. Charles A. Beard: The Citizen and Public Service. Rev. F. M. Crouch: The Church and Citizenship. Dr. Henry M. Payne: Across Siberia. G. Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science. Dr. Thomas J. Headlee: A Successful Campaign against the New Jersey Mosquito. Edward A. Moree: The Citizen and the Press. Hon. Charles S. Whitman: Citizenship. Alexander Meiklejohn: The Liberal College. Curiously enough, the only one of the regular courses of study that gave the first administration difficulty in establishing firmly was the course in agriculture, the course, after mechanical arts, per- haps nearest the heart of the founder; those two being also the particular kinds of education that the author of the Land Grant bill, Justin S. Mor- rill, especially wished to promote; and by the pro- visions of that bill the initial impulse was given for the founding of Cornell University. As President White says, from 1868 to 1873 in agriculture they seemed to be playing "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. The question was should practical farming be conducted as a business opera- tion, to teach students to get profits from the land; or as a model farm, regardless of balance sheets, having in mind only methods; or on a wholly ex- perimental basis. Several professors of agriculture tried their skill in solving this problem between the years mentioned. Finally there appeared an elegant young candidate, from an agricultural school in Scotland, who was engaged with many 202 Concerning Cornell misgivings. The New York farmer who acted as farm manager had high hopes of the new professor, but these soon waned when he saw him day by day going over the farm with gloved hands and never touching an implement. Finally the farm manager came to warn the president saying, "Yew kin de- pend on it, he ain't a goin' to do nothin' ; he don't know nothin' about corn, and he don't want to know nothin' about corn; and he don't believe in punkins!" He did build a barn of somewhat striking architecture that long remained a feature of the landscape. Then he departed to become head of an agricultural college in Canada, a posi- tion he soon lost. Meanwhile three men, the Hon. John Stanton Gould, who lectured on practical agriculture in a way to make men want to get a spade in hand, Professor George C. Caldwell in agricultural chemistry, perhaps to be regarded as the American founder of that branch of the science, and Dr. James Law, veterinarian, a most thorough and efficient man in his line and a strong man in the university councils, saved the day for agriculture until Professor I. P. Roberts was called in 1873. Under his leadership and later under that of L. H. Bailey, all faltering disappeared and the course in agriculture came into its own. The "Department of Mechanic Arts," since long known officially as "Sibley College of Mechan- ical Engineering and the Mechanic Arts," but now, in 1920, combined with the College of Civil Engi- neering under a single administration, narrowly escaped becoming involved in a hobby of Ezra Livingston Farband Of Historical Interest 203 Cornell's that would probably have been a great mistake in connection with the engineering course. His project was to establish great factories, in which the students were to do the work; produc- ing, for example, shoes and chairs for the trade. Such enterprises are now, however, engaged in on a large scale by various departments of the Col- lege of Agriculture. He was finally dissuaded from the idea by many arguments, but it must have ap- pealed to him greatly. But it was evident that merely theoretical training would not suffice to produce graduates who could take their places immediately in the practical world of engineering. Accordingly a mechanical laboratory was es- tablished, including machine shops, wood shops, foundry and forge, and students put to work, as a part of their regular course, in producing, not samples of highly ornamental work, but such things as steam-engines, power-lathes and tools of precision of the best design. These attracted much attenlion at the Centennial Exhibition in Phila- delphia in 1876, except from the New England authorities of that time. These authorities were especially loud in their praises of the kind of work sent by the Moscow School of Technology, Russia, but afterwards the head of this school confessed that its men and its machinery had failed utterly in supplying what was needed in their own country for the building of the Trans-Siberian railway, and that American men trained by Cornell methods and their machinery and locomotives had supplied the demand. Shop practice of similar kind on the 204 Concerning Cornell most modern types of machines continues as a regular part of the Sibley curriculum but mer- chantable articles are not now produced as a matter of course work. Sibley College owes its name and most of its material resources to Hiram Sibley and his son, Hiram W. Sibley. At the time when the Rochester paper made its attack on Mr. Cornell, Hiram Sibley, a resident of that city wrote: "I am not skilled in newspaper controversy, so I will simply add to what I have already given to the university a special gift of thirty thousand dollars which will testify to my townsmen here my confidence in Mr. Cornell.' ' In all he gave over one hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars. The two original stone buildings, facing the quadrangle, were joined in 1902 by the Sibley Dome; and in 1911 Rand Hall provided a machine and wood shop conforming in every detail of construction and equipment with modern factory design. The electrical engineering department, connected with Sibley college in ad- ministration, was the first of its kind in the country and perhaps in the world. It owed its inception in part to the fact that a dynamo built in the machine shops made the Cornell campus one of the first electrically lighted areas in the United States. That Cornell should have been in the forefront in the development of electrical engineering is espe- cially appropriate in view of the fact that it was through the electric telegraph that Ezra Cornell amassed his fortune. The history of the College of Arts and Sciences Of Historical Interest 205 is mainly one of changes in the nature of the courses offered for various degrees, changes in the require- ments for entrance, addition and expansion in departments and courses. Its "Optional Course" of early days was unique in that any student regis- tered in it might freely choose all his work for him- self, subject only to the conditions of taking such subjects as he was fitted to pursue and attending three exercises daily. This last provision, no doubt, is the genesis of the customary "fifteen hours" of work carried by ordinary students, inasmuch as classes were not originally scheduled to meet on Saturday. The complicated story of these changes has been most concisely and effectively told by Pro- fessor T. F. Crane, in his speech on "The Liberal Arts at Cornell' ' at the dedication of Gold win Smith Hall, published by the university in a pam- phlet entitled "Proceedings at the Dedication of Gold win Smith Hall. " With the exception of Pres- ident White, no more competent person could have been chosen for VI this task, for Pro- fessor Crane has been identified with the active work of the col- lege from its very start, was its first dean, acting in qoldwin smith hall 206 Concerning Cornell that capacity from 1896 to 1902, was dean of the university faculty in 1901 and acting president of the university for the year 1899-1900 and again in 1912-1913. Of the original faculty of the university only Professor Crane remains a campus figure to link old and new. One of the most affecting scenes ever witnessed by the writer was the presentation of a pair of candlesticks to Professor Crane in the libra- ry of President White's house on the occasion of Professor Crane's retirement from active service, in 1909. From almost the opening of the university Mr. Crane and Mr. White had been associated; and at this time it must have seemed to them that one of the last firm strands connecting their active energies with the conduct of the university they had helped found and built up, was being severed. Because of these associations and his affability, Professor Crane is one of the few men in the faculty that all the student body of many generations have known by an affectionate nickname, "Teefy." "Remember me to * Teefy* Crane" runs a line in one of the old Cornell songs. In connection with this Professor Crane tells an amusing story on himself. Recently he visited the University of Minnesota and a former colleague now at that institution, whose guest he was, in- formed him that the Minnesota students, too, sang that song, but with no knowledge of its allusions, and that before his, the colleague's, arrival they had been of the opinion that "Teefy" must be some "barkeep" at Ithaca! Of Historical Interest 207 Until the completion of Goldwin Smith Hall of Humanities, in 1906, the Arts College had no real home. Its departments were scattered in various buildings and the freshman student in its courses was often considerably puzzled for the first few weeks as to just which building and which door he needed to find for his next class. Some of the de- COLUMN3 OF GOLDWIN SMITH HALL ENTRANCE partments, it is true, were provided for in buildings devoted only to their needs, particularly the sciences, but the languages, history, political science and philosophy were without an established domain. If they were the last to come into their own, their faculties have at least the satisfaction of now occupying the most imposing building on the campus. This the trustees furnished, but Goldwin Smith himself established the subjects it houses on an enduring basis by willing (he died June 7, 1910) almost his entire fortune of more that seven hundred thousand dollars to be used for 2 OS Concerning Cornell the promotion especially of the liberal studies. The College of Civil Engineering, 1868, the College of Architecture, 1871, the College of Law, 1887, the New York State Veterinary College, 1894, and the Cornell University Medical College, 1898, in general have developed steadily from their first inception. The New York State College of Forestry established in 1898 by the legislature of the state, continued only until 1903, when its facul- ty was dismissed because the legislature refused to maintain it longer owing to differences in opinion between the college and state officials in regard to the proper conservation of forest lands in the Adi- rondacks that had been allotted to the college as a demonstration area. Instruction in forestry is now provided by a very efficient department of the New York State Agricultural College at Cornell University. The New York State Veterinary College de- serves more extended mention for two reasons : the first that it has been distinguished by the services of Professor James Law, the second that it was the first of the colleges at Cornell University to be established and supported directly from state funds. When President White returned from his trip to Europe in the interests of the university, in 1868, the wits said that he had "brought back with him an Oxford professor and a Scotch horse-doc- tor.' ' The horse-doctor was James Law, and he soon made himself a force both in the university councils and among the farmers of the state. The great annual loss of farm animals from various Of Historical Interest 209 diseases had up to his time been taken as a matter of course by the agricultural community in the United States but Dr. Law soon brought about a change from such a view. The entrance require- ments to the course were rigid from the start and as a result its graduates very shortly occupied important positions and accomplished great things in veterinary science. Dr. Law's own services to the state and nation may well be said to be in- valuable. As President White put it: "It is not too much to say that he has, during his career at Cornell University, prevented the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars from the cattle plague. " That New York State has recognized in a sub- stantial way these services, and others of similar nature rendered by the agricultural teaching at Cornell University, is due entirely to the initiative of President Schurman. At the very outset of his administration, in his inaugural address, he urged that the state should aid Cornell University, espe- cially its departments of agricultural and veterinary science, subjects that touch most nearly the state's interests; that the state should do this not only for selfish reasons, but also because Cornell had for years provided university instruction free to great numbers of its sons and daughters and received nothing in return, and that other states had been very generous to their state universities. As a result of this speech, delivered in November, 1892, the legislature early in 1893 voted fifty thousand dollars for a building and equipment for instruction in dairy husbandry. This building was erected in 210 Concerning Cornell the same year and now constitutes the north end of Gold win Smith Hall. (Though this would seem to indicate a very material linking of the most primitive of stages in human culture with its great- est refinements, it should be said here that dairy husbandry was removed to other quarters before the philosophers moved in.) In the following year a similar appropriation was made for a veterinary building, and, in 1895, one hundred thousand dol- lars more. This property, however, belongs to the state, and its provision marks the establishment of the New York State Veterinary College, since sup- ported by the state, as is now also the College of Agriculture. In 1913 large additions to the Veter- inary College buildings in the shape of hospital quarters were completed and occupied. The Cornell University Medical College ac- quires distinction from the fact that unlike the rest of the colleges of the university its main work is not carried on at Ithaca, but in New York City. It has a building on the campus, Stimson Hall, com- pleted in 1901, the gift of Dean Sage, but only the first year's work in medicine may be done in Ithaca. The requirement of a college degree in Arts or Sciences for entrance to the medical course is an- other factor that makes its position in the scheme of instruction different from that of the other colleges. Except for the provision that a student who has done three years' work for the bachelor's degree (including certain subjects) may substitute the first year's work in medicine for the senior year of Arts, and thus secure an M. D. degree after Of Historical Interest 211 seven successful years of study, the Cornell medi- cal college would be a strictly graduate institution. This requirement was put in force in 1908, pre- viously to that a student might enter the medical college with only secondary school training. Formerly, also, two years of the medical course were offered at Ithaca but the second year has been su pended because of the heavy expense involved in its maintenance. This is regrettable, for while it is absolutely essential that the two last years of a medical course be pursued in a large city, where hospital facilities are available that a small town does not afford; on the other hand both the uni- versity and the student would gain from having second year medical students come into the home environment of Cornell. In New York City the full four years' course is provided. The main college building, completed in 1901, occupies an entire block on First Avenue be- tween Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth streets and cost nearly a million dollars to erect. It is directly opposite Bellevue hospital, and one of the four divisions of this institution, which receives some twenty-four thousand patients annually, is intrusted to the Cornell medical faculty for medical instruction. Similar facilities are afforded in New York hospital for surgical cases. In addition to the main college building the equipment includes also the Loomis Laboratory, a five-story building, devoted almost entirely to research work. Both these buildings were given, and the whole college maintained from year to 212 Concerning Cornell year, until 1913, by Col. Oliver H. Payne, when the same generous benefactor transferred to the uni- versity for the future endowment of the New York City division of the medical college over four mil- lion dollars, the largest single gift ever made to a medical college in the United States. This munif- icence of endowment then, happily for it, also sets apart this division of Cornell University from its sister colleges, no one other of which is so amply provided for on a permanent basis. When President White took office in 1868 he had associated with him in the faculty seventeen professors, three assistant professors and five non- resident professors. When he resigned the presi- dency in 1885 there were fif- ty-six teachers of all grades. During the incumbency of President Adams from 1885 to 1892 this number rose to one hundred and twenty- three. During the twenty- eight years of President Schurman's administration, the period between 1892 and 1920, the increase con- tinued at an even more ra- pid rate and the entire in- structing staff now includes some nine hundred per- sons. Of these about three hundred and forty have the rank of professor or assist- UM0ORSXJX PKKSIDENT WHITE STATUE Of Historical Interest 213 ant professor. It is not possible to be very exact as new appointments and resignations are of al- most daily occurrence. Thus the count of the professorial members of the faculty on the fiftieth anniversary of the found- ing of the university (1918) approached very closely the total number of students that entered the institution in the opening year. But the stu- dent body has increased in like proportion. In 1868 four hundred and twelve students entered, in 1885 the student body had increased to six hundred and forty-nine persons, in 1892 there were seven- teen hundred in attendance and in the academic year 1915-16 the total of regularly registered stu- dents was five thousand six hundred and fifty-six. Probably the ratio of professors to students is about the same now as it was at the beginning of the institution, for in the later years a certain pro- portion of the faculty has not been actively en- gaged in the instruction of students in residence. In June, 1916, a total of sixteen thousand and forty- seven first degrees had been granted and there were twenty-seven thousand alumni, including all who had been students for any time. During the first fifty years of growth there were three administrations, those of Presidents White, Adams and Schurman. The events and development of President White's time have been referred to in preceding paragraphs. On his re- tirement he nominated his successor, Charles Ken- dall Adams who had been for fifteen years a pro- fessor of history at Michigan University, where 214 Concerning Cornell President White had come to know him, first as a pupil, and later as his successor in the chair of history. For several reasons President Adams seemed eminently fitted for his new office as head of Cor- nell University. Of all American universities at that time the University of Michigan was nearest like Cornell in its ideals and organization, and President Adams had been educated there and as a member of its faculty had contributed much to its development. He had made a special study of the subject of university government both in this country and abroad. And finally, he was a man of great industry and method, an organizer, and it was felt that such a personality was needed in view of the promised expansion of the university in the near future. These expectations President Adams more than fulfilled. During his time the first rapid growth in material resources and numbers of students and faculty took place. The material prosperity of the seven years of his administration is estimated at three million dollars, the student body increased from five hundred and seventy-seven to fifteen hundred and thirty-eight, and the faculty from fifty-six to one hundred and twenty-three. An interesting fact is that in this time there was a five-fold increase in the number of classical or arts students. This extraordinary expansion may be said to have established finally the fact that the liberal and the practical studies can exist in har- mony within the same halls, and may be cited to Of Historical Interest 215 confute the dictum of so celebrated a personage as Matthew Arnold who said: "Cornell University rests upon a provincial misconception of what culture is, and is calculated to produce miners or engineers or architects, not sweetness and light. " With the exception of the final decision against the university of the McGraw-Fiske will case, already mentioned, President Adams's administra- tion was not marked by any especially dramatic incidents. In a broad way the changes he intro- duced were simplification of courses, a large scheme of elective studies and more adequate provision for post-graduate instruction. Agassiz had said that research by the faculty was essential, that gradu- ate students would not flock to Cornell until its professors were known to be adding to the sum of knowledge. That this end had been attained is indicated by the increase of graduate students dur- ing the seven years, from thirty-three to one hun- dred and thirty; and that it continues to hold true by the fact that in 1916 four hundred and eighty- two graduate students were in residence. Other new things were the enactment of a statute by the trustees providing for a "Sabbatical year" for professors, the granting of honorary degrees, and the establishing of a "University Senate/ ' The first gave a year's absence on half pay to pro- fessors who had served seven years, the second was a short lived departure from the traditional policy of the university to grant no honorary degrees whatsoever, a policy that has very recently (1916) been reaffirmed by the trustees and faculty. On 216 Concerning Cornell recommendation of President Adams, however, two such degrees were granted in 1886, and Presi- dent White and David Starr Jordan, '72, later president of Leland Stanford, Junior, University, have the distinction of being the only persons with Cornell degrees not earned in residence. The alumni, while recognizing the entire worthiness of the persons selected for the honor in these cases, were averse to the change, and on their petition, without prejudice to the degrees already granted, the faculty and trustees rescinded their earlier action on the matter. The university senate, also, had a short, and seemingly tempestuous, career. Formed in 1889- 90 it only lasted until October, 1893, when it was abolished by the trustees. This body consisted of the president and all the full professors, in all thirty-five persons. Its principal function was to consider nominations of professors made by the president and vote on them yea and nay, and trans- mit its vote with reasons to the trustees. The chief arguments in favor of such an arrangement are first, that no one man, the president, can be sufficiently conversant with the multitudinous spe- cialized fields of modern science and learning to select the most promising candidates in each to fill new or old chairs, nor yet can the trustees, a body of men whose main interests are usually in business affairs; and second, that the special faculty group already appointed to a given department should have a voice in regard to changes or ad- ditions to its personnel. But this method of meet- Of Historical Interest 217 ing the need for such faculty counsel apparently did not succeed very well, for its practical workings led to its official repudiation. That the faculty, which is essentially the uni- versity, should have some representation in its governing board, nevertheless continued as an undercurrent idea in the management of the insti- tution. It was not, however, to come to the sur- face again until President Schurman after twenty years service as chief administrative officer, with, consequently, well matured ideas on the subject, in 1912 placed before the trustees a definite plan for attaining this end. His proposal, as eventually adopted, was that the faculty should elect, prefer- ably from its own number, not more than three representatives to meet with the trustees, but without vote, and with terms not exceeding three years for any one representative. Also that from the faculty of each college at Ithaca (except the state colleges) there should be elected two repre- sentatives, who, with the dean of the college, should constitute a committee to confer with the several committees of the trustees on such matters as affect the welfare of the particular college. Three years later, in April, 1916, after it had been dis- cussed fully at various times, both by the faculty and trustees, this plan was adopted. By its dual provisions it gives the professoriate representation both in the general affairs of the institution and in the interests of each special group. This is considered a "new, radical and highly important change in the government of the uni- 218 Concerning Cornell versity." It is the latest of the " Cornell Ideas" on university organization, and, like its predeces- sors, seems likely to have wide adoption by other institutions; already two have taken it up as the practical solution of an acute problem. What the ultimate outcome of this scheme will be can not now be said, but it certainly avoids the difficulties of the earlier senate plan and it has been predicted that it will develop in the faculty "a keener sense of independence, a stronger feeling of power and authority, a readier recognition of responsi- bility, and a heightened appreciation of the work and calling of the professor." It is a pleasure to record that the three first representatives of the faculty were Prof. John H. Comstock of the class of 1874 and since then almost continually asso- ciated with the university, always a forceful personality; the energetic professor of machine design, Dexter S. Kimball, and the professor of economics, Walter F. Willcox, calm and judicial in temperament. That these three men have always had the best interests of the whole university at heart there is no doubt, nor can the trustees have failed to profit by their intimate knowledge of, and sound judgment on, its intellectual life. President Adams resigned in 1892 because of differences in opinion in regard to administrative matters between him and the board of trustees. He was then called to the presidency of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, a position he continued to hold until the time of his death, July 26, 1902. His successor was Jacob Gould Schurman, who Of Historical Interest 219 came to the university in 1886 as professor of phil- osophy, and in 1892 was unanimously elected presi- dent, and resigned in 1920, having served almost continually through the intervening time except for absences during two full years, when his place was filled by Prof. T. F. Crane. Mention has already been made of events that have occurred in President Schurman's adminis- tration, and several of his policies are the topics of preceding paragraphs. In addition to the McGraw-Fiske and the Morse Hall fires, one other calamity befell the university during this time, the typhoid fever epidemic of 1903, which, because of the loss of students' lives it entailed, was the greatest tragedy the institution has known. The Ithaca city water supply, used by a large propor- tion of the students, became contaminated and as a result some two hundred and ninety-one students fell ill of typhoid fever in the first months of the year 1903. Of these twenty-nine died. During February and March one-third of the entire stu- dent body departed for the term. That the fault was entirely in the city water supply is indicated by the fact that not a single person living where the private water supply of the university was fur- nished (notably the women in Sage College) be- came sick. Though at such terrible cost, the epidemic had one good result, it led to emergency measures for immediately safeguarding both the city and the university water. Before the fall term of the next year modern filtration plants were in- stalled in each system and extraordinary care has 220 Concerning Cornell been exercised in continually testing the water they furnish, so that the supply has ever since been of exceptionally high quality. In April, 1917, the state authorities gave Ithaca the second highest rating for purity of water supply among all places in the state with a population of five thousand or more inhabitants. It should also be noted that the late Andrew Carnegie, then a trustee of the university, paid for the erection of the university filtration plant, which is named after him, and also paid the bills of all students who had been ill and who could not easily afford the expense this involved. Mr. Carnegie afterwards said that of all the money he had expended in various philan- thropies this item had given him the most satis- faction. It is pleasing, also, to be able to follow this nar- ration with the statement that on the death of their father, Henry W. Sage, his sons, Dean Sage and William Sage gave to the university the family mansion on State Street, Ithaca, to be used as an infirmary for Cornell students and further endowed it with one hundred thousand dollars. The su- preme easement, afforded by this facility during the epidemic, needs hardly be indicated, its pres- ence and use undoubtedly saved many lives. In 1912 its accommodations were much enlarged and it now again amply serves the hospital needs of the much larger student body of today. To the Land Grant act passed by Congress when the very existence of the nation was threat- ened by civil war, Cornell University owes its Of Historical Interest 221 founding in great part. One of the specific pro- visions of this act was that instruction, in the in- stitutions that were to benefit by it, should include military tactics. Once again, in a time of world stress, the country has been involved in armed con- flict; and it is a patriotic pleasure, as well as a matter of pride in being a Cornellian, to record that the university has fulfilled this obligation not only in the letter but also in the spirit, and that, at times, with a considerable handicap to its de- velopment along other lines. For several years in succession now the War Department has included Cornell University in the list of "ten distinguished colleges' ' selected for excellence in military training from all those throughout the United States at which officers of the regular army are stationed. The inspecting officer in 1916 reported that at Cornell University the military spirit is developed and nurtured "to an extent not otherwise to be found in colleges of this size" and that the instruc- tion is "of such extent and thoroughness as to qualify the average graduate for a commission as lieutenant of volunteers. " Thus it was that in the momentous spring of 1917 when other institutions were making a great newspaper to-do over their hundreds of students organizing in squads for shirt- sleeve calisthenics and broomstick drill, Cornell had a corps of two thousand men, uniformed and equipped with the latest model of arms, and trained in all the modern arts of warfare including en- trenchment, as it had developed on the battle-fields of Europe, and as taught them by soldiers return- 222 Concerning Cornell ing from that front. No need for Cornell to stand ashamed when the nation called to arms! Many of the other new buildings acquired or erected during President Schurman's administra- tion have been referred to in previous connections. In chronological order the more important ones are: The Infirmary, 1897; Stimson Hall, 1901, the gift of Dean Sage; the Medical College, New York City, 1901; Sibley Dome, 1902, the gift of Hiram W. Sibley ; the Hydraulic Laboratory in Fall Creek Gorge, 1902; the Carnegie Filtration Plant, 1903; Goldwin Smith Hall, 1904; Rockefeller Hall, 1904, the gift of John D. Rockefeller; the Loomis Labora- tory, New York City, 1906; Roberts Hall, 1906; Rand Hall, 1912, the gift of Florence Osgood Rand Lang; Bailey Hall Auditorium, the Poultry Hus- bandry and the Home Economics buildings, 1912; Prudence Risley Hall Dormitory, 1913, the gift of Mrs. Russell Sage; the Animal Husbandry and Forestry buildings and Caldwell Hall in 1913. During the years 1914 and 1915 there were erect- ed also the new residential halls for men, Baker Court, North and South Baker Halls and Founders' Hall, chiefly from gifts by Geo. F. Baker, assisted by alumni contributions. In recent years the alum- ni have also contributed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the construction of the Alumni Field and the University Playground. Individual alumni and their families have provided during the same time the Schoellkopf Memorial athletic build- ing, the Football Stadium and the Bacon Hall for baseball practice. During 1917 the new Drill Hall, a Of Historical Interest 223 truly vast structure, furnished by the state was completed, and the new Astronomical Observatory located on the north side of Beebe Lake was under construction. The university lands include nearly one thousand four hundred acres, a vast estate in comparison with the two hundred and sixty acres owned in 1902. Up to that time there had been an addition of only sixty acres to Ezra Cornell's original gift of two hundred acres. This list reads like portions of the Book of Numbers and will accordingly be passed over very light-heartedly, but the very space it occupies will serve to impress the extraordinary material expan- sion the university has experienced in the past few years. A large part of this is due to the establish- ment in 1904 of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, a further result of President Schurman's policy of calling on the state to do its share in the higher education of its sons and daughters. Under the inspiring leader- ship of Liberty Hyde Bailey, its director for the ten years, 1903-13, the College of Agriculture grew by leaps and bounds, so that in addition to the increase in buildings that has led to the creation of the "new quadrangle," there was also an increase in numbers of students registered in the course, from one hun- dredandforty-twototwelvehundredandsixty-three. President Schurman, after his resignation in June, 1920, became United States minister to China. During the following year and a half the presi- dential chair was occupied by Albert W. Smith, '78. The administration of President Smith had a sym- 224 Concerning Cornell pathetic human quality best indicated by relating that he was affectionately known to the under- graduates as "Uncle Pete. " Meanwhile a committee from the trustees and faculty was engaged in a patient search for a new president who should be first a scholar and should have also superior administrative ability, personal magnetism and a wide knowledge of men and affairs; a combination of qualities possessed, each in a marked degree, by only few men in any gener- ation. Eventually this committee nominated Dr. Livingston Farrand who was elected and became the fourth duly inaugurated president of Cornell University on October 20, 1921. Livingston Farrand was born in Newark, New Jersey, June 14, 1867, was graduated from Prince- ton with the class of '88 and has an M. D. degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons be- stowed in 1891. From 1903 to 1914 he was pro- fessor of anthropology at Columbia University. In 1914 he became president of the University of Colorado. During the war he directed the cam- paign against tuberculosis in France and later was made chairman of the central committee of the American Red Cross. He had resigned the presi- dency of the University of Colorado and was living in Washington, D. C, when elected to the presi- dency of Cornell. The record shows that the nominating committee solved its problem most excellently — the performance of the man since entrance into office proves that a happier choice could only have been an infinitely remote possibility. Troy Statue of the Founder Unveiled Sunday, June 22, 1919, Semi-Centennial Celebration Fiftieth Commencement Week Of Historical Interest 225 Provided thus with an able leader the great need of Cornell now is for a much larger endowment. The most pressing demand is the necessity for larg- er salaries for the faculty, which in any analysis is really the university. The average salaries of the professorial rank at Cornell are today lower in buying power than they were a score of years ago. But it is idle to specify; what the university should have is, bluntly, an endowment two times or three times that which it now holds, the income from which should all be free for use where most needed. Five millions of such a fund has already been secured in the Semi-Centennial Endowment campaign in contributions by Cornell alumni and alumnae and undergraduates. But many more millions are needed. In the early days of the insti- tution, when great wealth was much more uncom- mon than now, men gave freely without attaching strings to their donations. They did not require that buildings be put up as monuments to them, that others should match their contributions and the like. Why not similarly now, when there are hundreds who possess millions. If some guarantee is needed that the institution is worthy, what bet- ter one can be found than that its own alumni have given so liberally. And surely it is more gratify- ing to give one's self than to have the same sums wrested from one by income and inheritance taxes. Hence Cornell calls: Step forward gentlemen, the university needs your most liberal support and will in the future as in the past prove most worthy of your trust! CHAPTER IV STUDENT LIFE THE student body at Cornell includes repre- sentatives from every quarter of the globe. During the academic year just preceding the Great War there were registered as undergraduates over one hundred and eighty foreigners. Canada sent fifteen, the same number came from Mexico and the Central American Republics. Cuba and Porto Rico together contributed thirty-four, Hawaii and the Philippines furnished twenty-three. Twenty- seven students came from four South American countries. There were twenty representatives from eight European nations. China sent forty-four students, Japan six, other Asiatic countries five more. One man came from Egypt, four journeyed from South Africa. If graduate students were in- cluded, a still greater diversity and considerably larger total would be manifest. Student life at Cornell had a distinctly cosmopolitan aspect and has, since the war, regained much of this diversi- ty. When it is added that nearly every state in the Union sends some of its sons, it will be quite clear that student existence must make quite dif- ferent impress according to the particular mind on which its different phases are recorded. What the New Yorker takes for granted may seem very nov- el to the man from Arizona or the Asiatic native. Despite such obvious differences in the point of Student Life 227 view, it is quite possible to give some aecount of the routine and incidents of the average undergraduate existence, enough at any rate to suggest its variety of interest. One reason for this variety is that Cornell is an entity; she is unique among the great- er eastern universities in that she is not merely an adjunct to some large city as Harvard is to Boston, Yale to New Haven, Columbia and Princeton to Xew York, and Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Set off by herself among romantic hills, she has devel- oped her own life uninfluenced by the sordid lures of a city environment. Picture the arrival of an unacquainted fresh- man at Cornell. As he steps off the train he is met by student room-agents who offer to locate him comfortably. He has received from the university authorities a list of accredited rooming houses and has some idea where he wishes to live and how much he will pay. He may have previously en- gaged a room in one of the university's new residen- tial halls. If so, he needs only to be directed to his quarters. If not, he inspects a number of rooms, finds one that suits his fancy, and arranges to lease it for the term, signing a contract to that effect. Formerly it was the unwritten law that engaging a room at the opening of the university bound the student to keep it for the year, though no formal agreement of any kind had been entered into. This has now been done away with, but while it held, differences between landlord and student tenant were many and often led to the local courts. As students usually got the worst of a legal encounter 228 Concerning Cornell they often resorted to rough expedients in order that they might be ejected from rooms they no longer cared to occupy, either because the land- lords or landladies failed in their duties, cleaning, provision of adequate heat and the like, or because the student had been taken into a fraternity and wanted to live in its chapter house. One man in- sisted on literally covering the walls of his room with tacks in order, he claimed, to hang a multitude of magazine prints. Others had friends come in to sing at all hours of the night. The new system binds the landladies as well as the students and has resulted in a great improvement A CORNER OF THE NEW RESIDENTIAL j n fag COndiUonS. HALLS FOR MEN mi . 1 hat renting rooms to students has, nevertheless, been quite profitable is indicated by the following figures taken from a want advertisement in a local paper, Ithaca Jour- nal, November 21, 1913. A house, nearly new, of twenty-one rooms, including student furniture, is offered for sale at eleven thousand Hve hundred dollars. The gross income for the preceding year is given at two thousand and fifty-six dollars, the fixed charges at four hundred and four dollars, leaving a profit of sixteen hundred and fifty-two dollars. It should also be noted that, in addition Student Life 229 to this net income, the landlady would have a home for herself at least. The earlier difficulties between landlady and student were often the result of the activities of un- scrupulous rooming agents. Such a student agent got the first week's rent for locating a man in a house on his list. Thus many undesirable houses were filled while better places remained empty ENTRANCE, PRUDENCE RISLET HALL Tbe new dormitory for women students 230 Concerning Cornell because not listed. Moreover the greenness of freshmen is proverbial. A stock story refers to an episode that is said to have occurred in Cascadilla Hall. A freshman moving in found an upperclass student removing his effects which had been stored in the room over summer. After packing every- thing movable; in Cascadilla all furniture was for- merly the student's own property, the freshman's eyes bulged on seeing the older student starting to screw at the connections on the steam radiator with a very efficient looking wrench. "Here, what are you doing?" he asked. "What do you think? Taking down the radiator, it belongs to me." "Why I won't have any heat." "No, unless you get another one." "How much do they cost?" "Well, a new one would cost you twenty-five dol- lars, but I'll let you have this one for ten rather than move it. If you'd said anything I'd a offered it to you in the first place but I didn't want to push it on you. " "All right ! I'll take it, " said the freshman, hurriedly. After getting settled in his room the student's next task is to locate an eating place. In former years, this meant finding a regular boarding-house suited to his taste and purse, but such dining- rooms have nearly all disappeared. The few that remain are those that charge relatively high prices and retain a patronage by serving good food in something approaching a homelike atmosphere. The fraternities also attempt to preserve such conditions at their tables. The majority of the students, however, have recourse to a cafeteria, 'The Six Frosh" Student Life 231 where meals are served on the same plan as that of the restaurant in the Home Economics department : help yourself, choose what you wish from a wide variety offered for inspection before selection, much or little as the appetite at the moment dic- tates. This plan has many advantages. In general it operates against overeating, a student may be economical if he wishes; on the other hand when very hungry he can have a good "feed" without needing to call for "seconds'* of each serving. A wide variety of food can be served economically at each cafeteria primarily because the expense of waiters is eliminated and second because the meal hours can therefore be extended over a longer peri- od and a greater number of diners served at one place. The longer time that meals are available is a great convenience, and, as the customer pays cash for each meal as he gets it, there are no bad accounts, and the customer is under no obligation to return to the same place for the next meal. Thus the numerous competing establishments make available to the individual a great variety of fare and the further possibility of becoming widely acquainted by eating at different places. At one cafeteria they have even gone so far as to clear away the tables after dinner to make room for dancing to the music of a victrola. That the cafe- teria system is economical is further demonstrated by the fact that it has been adopted by the man- agement of the university dormitories and that these authorities have found it possible to provide an orchestra several times a week as an added 232 Concerning Cornell feature to attract students to eat in their establish- ments. So attractive indeed are the cafeterias that many faculty members and their families occasion- ally avail themselves of the privilege of dining in them. Having provided himself with a room and found a place to eat, the freshman is ready to go up on the campus, perhaps to register, perhaps to take en- trance examinations. On the way he encounters the many solicitors whose efforts have already been described. He has been careful to purchase and wear the gray "frosh" cap that custom prescribes. On consulting his " Bible," the handbook of sug- gestions to entering students that the Christian Association issues each year, he learns of other rules that he is expected to obey. Thus he must not smoke on the campus or on the street, must refrain from entering certain resorts down town and must be up the "Hill" by half -past eleven every night. When attending the theatre he must not sit in the front rows, and at games he is restricted to certain stands. If he does not adhere to these and other rules, his name may, at the request of the Student Council committee, be published in the Cornell Daily Sun. That may not seem a very awesome punishment, but it is effective, for the freshman class itself takes the greatest pride in seeing that these regulations are enforced. Men of quite dig- nified maturity are often included in the freshman numbers; these as well as the youngsters wear the insignia of their class. Indeed the older men seem to feel they are in this way renewing their youth Student Life 233 and seldom object, though their appearance may appeal a bit to the risibilities of the observer. But the cap-mark serves to promote freshman acquaint- anceships and the other rules are quite wholesome in restraining the native exuberance of the new college boy. One university rule, at least, in re- gard to registration, the freshman ought to know about, and that is that as he writes down his name on the official card, thus shall the university always thereafter know him. If he writes Bill Courtcliff Harries, Bill Courtcliff Harries he must be, though he was christened William. The trustees may so far relent, when it comes time for him to get a diploma, as to add a line at the bottom that Bill has changed his name to William, there is no other recourse. No doubt this rule was made because of Alice wishing to be Alys, and no doubt the friendly registration official will give a word of caution, nevertheless one trembles for Bill. During the early weeks of the term a member of the Fresh- man Advisory Committee (made up of junior and senior classmen) calls on each of the freshmen at his room and offers such counsel as may seem perti- nent. It is reported that one freshman after listen- ing attentively to the enthusiastic exposition of his mentor asked, very business-like: "How much do I owe you for your trouble?" To say that the ad- visor was somewhat disconcerted is putting it mildly, yet in view of the soliciting he had probably undergone since entering, it is not surprising that the freshman felt that everything offered had its price. Only quite recently a Sibley student, who 234 Concerning Cornell had no doubt heard the story of the sale of the radiator recited on a previous page, in a spirit of emulation attired himself in his shop clothes, en- tered the room of a freshman in the same Casca- dilla Hall, tinkered with the radiator for a while and then said, "Three dollars, please; I'm the plumber." He got it too. On the first day of instruction the president formerly made an address annually to the students. This was one of the few occasions, the exercises on Founder's Day was another, when one might see a large part of the student body together in one place on the campus. At other times when large numbers congregated, guests and townsfolk were also much in evidence, as at games and on the occasions of the different student celebrations. The desirability of more frequent assemblages of the student body itself has in recent years been met by the institution of a Convocation Hour. At a number of times during the college year, class exercises are suspended between twelve and one in the afternoon and the university turns out en masse to listen to some notable personage, as for example ex-President Taft. In 1920 a Convocation for the recognition of scholarship was held and was very successful, hence promises to be an en- during feature. The need for meetings of this kind has been proved by the large attendance at those that have been held. In fact the size of the audience has been the greatest embarrassment. There is no hall on the campus large enough to hold all those who desire admittance. ml jl- I 8- ' SB 1 m m "«j - 7- * ■ - ^ v"* W a ti _o p "S H * - ti < a *> fa .,- C. H "So -d 3 V J J ►h* 2U 3 O ^ Oh X Student Life 235 Very soon the student finds himself fitted into the accustomed humdrum of university work. No longer does he puzzle what class he has next and where in the maze of buildings that particular room is located. The greatest bane of his existence now is the necessity of making eight o'clock classes. These come three mornings a week in his particular schedule and it is beastly to have to get up so un- pleasantly early. Nevertheless he finds the uni- versity system a pleasant relief from the dull routine of the preparatory school. Here one's classroom hours vary with the days. Thus there may be only one lecture one morning, though to compensate for this, one may need to attend four or five exercises the next day, or perhaps spend two and a half hours in an afternoon laboratory period for a single credit hour. University courses are arranged on a basis of credit hours, each lecture or recitation in a week counting one hour credit, each laboratory of two and one-half hours' duration one credit. From twelve to eighteen or more such hours of instruction per week are carried by each student. Failure to do satisfactory work invites suspension from the university for a term, if re- peated on reinstatement, permanent expulsion. Our freshman being of a studious turn of mind felt that he must look to his laurels in this new sphere of learning. He had rather imagined that a majority of his fellow students would be the picked men of their respective communities and that it would not be so easy to keep to the front as it had been in the mixed crowd of the high school. To his 236 Concerning Cornell amazement he finds that this is not so. The rapid- ity with which some subjects are covered by the long assignments does bother him for a time but he soon learns that because a class meets only three times a week it does not follow that he may idle a- way all the intervening hours. Many of those hours out of class are meant for reading and study, and must be so spent, if he would keep up with his work. Failure to keep up with the work is the particularly wide and easy road to a "bust," the Cornell term for suspension at the end of the term. There was formerly an equally popular path to busting, perhaps coordinate with failing to keep up with the work. Its nature is indicated by the refrain, "Give My Regards to Davy:" Give my regards to Davy, Remember me to Teefy Crane. Tell all the pikers on the Hill That I'll be back again. Tell them of how I busted, Lapping up the high, high-ball — Oh! we'll all have drinks Down at Theodore Zinck's, When I get back next fall! Happily times have changed, nowadays down- town dissipation consists most commonly in an evening at the "movies." The revised version of this song, quoted on next page as it appeared in the Sun's nonsense column, "The Berry Patch," in 1920, signed "Lord Helpus," is indicative of new diversions; the question of participation in which has become a great moral issue with the male student body. Student Life 237 Give my regards to Gladys, Remember me to Maud and Jane. Tell all the tea-hounds on the Hill That I'll be back again. Tell them just how I busted, Listening to the jazz band's call — Oh! we'll all write a berry in the old Wisterie, When I get back next fall! The freshman finds that certain of his lecture classes are very much worth while and occasionally something happens, even in ordinarily dull recita- tion periods, to relieve the monotony. Thus there was quite a sensation when a none too attentive student misunderstood the English professor's in- structions to write an essay on "Intimations of Im- mortality" and handed his in headed "Imitations of Immorality." One shudders to think what the contents may have been. After some time the freshman gets acquainted with all the men living in the same house. This may be a slow process but it is an interesting fact that such a group, brought together quite fortui- tously, very generally develops strong bonds of fellowship. In this may be found another good argument for the establishment of Commcns at Cornell University. The renovation of Barnes Hall and the installation there of a "coffee house" has met this need in part. The Cornell Union, however, will permit many more men to win the broader ac- quaintanceship which they fail of obtaining in the limited group inhabiting any one rooming house. As in the fraternities, the men in rooming houses quite commonly get together for a social 23S Concerning Cornell hour after dinner, possibly in several groups be- cause they need to meet in one of the single rooms. In the absence of a piano, as an incentive to music, conversation usually develops into a discussion of the relative merits of athletic teams or perhaps some kind of an "argument" is started. The top- ics considered are almost infinite in their variety, but only too seldom are the subjects of the curricu- lum included. After several hours devoted to study there may be another period of relaxation before retiring. A "feed" is then in order. Possi- bly some prank is concocted. There is always a fertile brain to evolve some scheme. A rather fastidious youth was so rash as to gloat openly at having a fresh jar of a new and especially good kind of cold cream he delighted to use after shaving. That night the jar was emptied of its contents and clean, fragrant, white library paste substituted. The application of this compound, and the commo- tion ensuing a little later, of course gave infinite delight to the conspirators the next morning. A rather crusty old fellow who for a long time was landlord in one of the larger rooming houses suf- fered because he was too prompt in suppressing any unseemly noises. He reserved a room for him- self at the end of a narrow hallway the greater part of the width of which was taken up by a row of empty trunks. One night the students remained quiet until they were sure he had retired, then stole up and warily distributed sticky fly-paper all along the passageway leading to his room. This accom- plished, one of the number started down stairs Student Life 239 dragging an empty trunk behind him, while the others abetted the resulting din by rolling various objects around the halls. The old gentleman, as expected, jumped right out of bed and without stopping for slippers rushed down the hallway. During the time he, perforce, adjourned to the bathroom in an endeavor to free his pedal extremi- ties from their encumbrances, merriment for once reigned unchecked in that house. When Cornell students spend an evening down town, Ithaca requires that they shall comport themselves with dignity. One can not well blame the town authorities for being very stringent; if once a horde of five thousand students gets out of hand in a small place the scene is apt to be painted very red. Formerly punishment for rather mild offenses was too commonly in the nature of rather excessive fines. Now the university employs a proctor, one of whose duties is to nip incipient trouble in the bud. If it does occur he acts as an intermediary between the offender and the law. But it is vain to hope that all escapades can be suppressed, just as it is ridiculous to feel that the university is responsible or should feel compro- mised because of them. No one can guess where the next difficulty will develop. Thus who could fore- see that a certain student would become so much enamoured of the charms of a feminine vaudeville star playing at a local theatre, as to feel impelled to stand up and level a four-foot-long telescope at her that he might have a closer view? Possibly because it was not in the act the audience roared, 240 Concerning Cornell nevertheless the student was promptly arrested. In the early weeks of the fall term, one attrac- tion, football, is supreme. Small wonder that with stands filled with cheering thousands, a fervor of enthusiasm should be aroused in even the most sluggish soul! The freshmen have their own sec- tion; cheerleaders whose evolutions would be an eye-opener for even the most athletic musical director fairly pull yell on yell from their husky throats. Whether the team is successful or not, these vocal incentives to put forth their best efforts continually ring in the ears of the players. But what a wild outcry ensues when Cornell crosses the goal line, especially if the game is an important one. The Cornell yell is famous of yore and its simple directness makes it very effective. At present what are termed "three short ones" and the "long yell" have the vogue, but it is said that these are only indifferently successful modifications of the original Cornell yell. This was composed of the words, " Cornell — I — yell — yell — yell — Cornell ; " was given only once in a considerable interval, and was spoken very slowly. It is said that the bark- ing roar produced could be heard at points four miles distant from the origin. Efforts have been made to revive it but the present generation seems to prefer something more continuous and rapid to the greater volume of the old yell. Scenes and occasions like these, with their emo- tional interest, develop that intangible thing called college spirit. In the minds of many practical persons this is a silly affectation of callow youth. 1 v* n . *^0m^? hip Freshman Banquet Rush A Croup from the Pageant May 191- Student Life 241 But Cornell spirit of the true sort sinks deeper, it is a great affection rather for the university, a pride in her standards, a belief in her ideals and a sincere wishfulness to become a worthy graduate from her halls. Such is the feeling that, when the game ends, whether it has been won or lost, impels every undergraduate to rise and with bared head to sing the Alma Mater with his thousands of class- mates while the shadows lengthen and the mellow Indian summer afternoon comes to a close. In the middle of the term many professors announce preliminary examinations. In courses where they are given there are usually several such tests before the final. As the term standing of the student in the subject depends very largely on the marks received on the preliminary examinations it behooves the undergraduate to make a good show- ing. Some departments excuse students who have a term average of eighty-five or over from writing the final examination. In such cases there is an added incentive to do well in the earlier tests. Even those students who habitually practise "sharp- shooting for a sixty,' ' the passing mark; figurative- ly at least, sit up and take notice when the time for preliminaries draws nigh. Too often though they come away in the same frame of mind as the individual who headed his paper: "Lord God of Hosts be with us yet Lest we forget, lest we forget. ' ' and at the end set down: "Lord God of Hosts was with us not For we forgot, for we forgot. ' ' 242 Concerning Cornell Undergraduates quite commonly have a feeling that they are held too strictly to account in the marking of examinations at Cornell. It is interest- ing in this connection to record the change of feel- ing generally experienced by young instructors engaged in grading papers. When first given the task, they generally voice the sentiment of the students on this subject and deliberately try to be generous in their marking. Perhaps before they have finished with the first set of papers, almost without fail when they come to the second lot, their mental attitude changes and they need to be cautioned not to expect too much. Indeed the utter imbecility shown by some answers would try even proverbial patience. Perhaps indifferent in- struction in many preparatory schools is most com- monly to blame for the poor results. Thus it is a fact that many students do not understand the English language well enough to interpret ques- tions intelligently. The grammar and handwriting of the answers is often such as to make one ashamed to need to consider them even, coming from uni- versity students. If preliminary examinations excite some meas- ure of apprehension in the undergraduate mind, this is nothing in comparison with the mental anguish suffered during "Block Week," as the period in which the term examinations are given is called. Happy then is the man whose work has been good enough to secure for him an exempt. The examination schedule extends over ten days, mornings and afternoons, and the less fortunate Student Life 243 brethren put in anxious hours of tutoring and cramming in the time that precedes the particular tests each needs to pass. Once in, stay in, is not true of Cornell as it is in some schools. Here the incompetents are ruthlessly weeded out and sent home at the end of each term. While they may sympathize with the man who has failed, Cornell men are glad this is done for it insures that the Cornell degree stands for four years of conscien- tious and successful study. After the travail of mid-year Block Week comes Junior Week with its attendant festivities and bevy of fair guests. Free from mental cares, the under- graduate plunges into a round of reckless physical dissipation which perhaps leaves him even more exhausted than did the examinations of the pre- ceding period. So many events must be crowded into so short a period that the nights as well as the days are filled, no time is left for sleep. The Musi- cal Clubs give a concert, the Masque a play, there are breakfasts and tea dances and private theat- ricals. But the great occasion is the Junior Ball. A considerable portion of the gaunt interior of the Drill Hall is converted to a fairy bower for this event. It gleams with a myriad of lights, while great garlands of flowers and greenery are fes- tooned from the ribboned canopy overhead. The sides are measured off in an unbroken row of boxes, each gaily decorated with furniture and trappings from the college homes of the occupants. The girls also do their part to enliven the scene by reserving their prettiest gown for this dance. 244 Concerning Cornell Indeed there is a gown for every possible occasion and if the fair maid can possibly manage she has a different one for every event of its kind. During this week local taxicab-men, caterers and decorators reap a rich harvest. Of late years, there has been considerable agitation to keep down the expenses of participation in the entertaining. Thus flowers for the girls were for a time taboo. The Bailey Auditorium provides a suitable hall for the Musical Clubs concert, obviating the large expense involved in leasing the local theatre. Sim- ilarly the use of the Drill Hall has made possible the accommodation of greatly increased numbers at the dances and this has resulted in a much re- duced cost of individual tickets and possibly also in the expense of decoration. During the winter months the university com- munity is augmented by the presence of some six hundred or more short or winter course students registered in the College of Agriculture. To these the regular undergraduates apply the term "Short Horns." These "Short Horns" comprise mostly farmers and other agricultural workers, largely from New York State, who wish to get in touch with the latest methods and ideas in their various lines. Younger men predominate though there are quite a few men, and women, well advanced in years. Probably these students derive greater practical benefit from their short period of instruc- tion than do many undergraduates from a four- year course. They certainly take themselves very seriously and the efforts of some of their number Student Life 245 to dress and act the part of a college student are often amusing. Their conversations, too, are apt to be quite droll, as this, overheard on Central Avenue: "You ought to 'ave been to the Poultry 'Sociation meetin'." "Why?" "Fellows almost got to hitten each other." "How'd that come?" " Couldn't decide about the pin, some fellows want- FOREST HOME PATH IN WINTER ed a egg on it, others a hen. Looks like it might break up the 'Sociation. " The first outdoor diversion afforded after the skating and tobogganing days of January and February have been succeeded by an apparently interminable epoch of gray skies and snow-ooze is the Freshman Banquet Rush. This comes on one of the first bright Saturdays of the spring. 246 Concerning Cornell when the frost is out of the ground but while the soil is still wet and soft for many inches below the surface. At the call to arms the freshmen and sophomores range themselves on opposite sides of a square on the Playground and divide into squads of about fifty in single line on each side. Each individual is decked out in the oldest clothes he owns or can borrow. At the crack of a pistol the rival bands, each with locked arms, edge cautiously toward the middle of the field. There the lines suddenly break and a man to man encounter ensues. The object of the game, for the freshmen, is to get to the far side uncaught, for the sopho- mores to permit no freshman to pass their line. On being downed the freshman must be held for three minutes to perfect the capture. After several encounters have occurred the battlefield becomes a sea of mud. As the classes number each about one thousand men the spectators are afforded the unique thrill of seeing hundreds of individuals successively roll and struggle in the mire. A suffi- cient compensation for the soft ground is the mini- mized danger of injury in the encounters. The event usually winds up in a free for all, mud- slinging contest, after which the sophomores paint the faces of their captives in brilliant hues of green, blue and red, and supply them with signs and banners proclaiming their insignificance. Thus accoutred they are paraded about the Campus for the edification of the multitude. But after the parade the freshmen are permitted to escape to much needed shower baths and, after a thorough Student Life 247 wash, to enjoy their first class-banquet in peace. This rather tame affair is the only survival of the strenuous freshman banquet proceedings of earlier days that came to a climax and were abolished after the fall of 1904. The object of the sophomores in those times was to prevent, by cap- ture and imprisonment, as many freshmen as possi- ble from attending the banquet, especially the class officers; or to usher their captives into the midst of the banquet with faces grotesquely painted and in garments as freakish as could be devised. That, after parading the captives so decorated and in manacles through Ithaca streets. During the sev- eral days that preceded the banquet it was neces- sary for freshmen to go into hiding and to go to classes only in numerically strong bands if they wished to avoid abduction. Holes were even chopped into the roofs of houses by the sopho- mores in their endeavors to capture freshmen sequestered in attics. On the night of the banquet, freshmen, w T ho had until then escaped capture, made their way to some secluded rendezvous from whence they proceeded in a body to the Armory where the banquet was held. Inside the Armory was a safe haven but sophomores guarded the approaches and perhaps turned the stream from a fire hose on the freshmen stormers. Altogether those were rather riotous days and when, finally, university work came to be seriously interrupted, and property damage amounted to considerable sums, the faculty put a ban on the whole affair. For one year everv semblance of a rush was abso- 248 Concerning Cornell lutely prohibited. In the following year the under- graduates secured permission to stage the modified performance of today. In marked contrast with this spectacle, now officially designated the Underclass Mud Rush, was the picturesqueness and beauty of a pageant given by the women of the university in May, 1917. In a series of episodes this depicted the part that women have had in the development of universi- ties, in science and learning, from the days of the Greeks and Romans down to the present. The spectacle was staged in the natural amphitheatre of Cascadilla Creek. The participants in varie- gated gowns, extended in intricate figures of dances ancient and modern, over the young turf and pro- jected forth boldly by the background of just- greening trees on the slopes, provided a most brilliant ensemble, not soon to be forgotten. Spring Day, also, has a recent origin. Its incep- tion was a comic parade held on the campus in the morning of March 29, 1901, as an advertising stunt in behalf of a performance by the Musical Clubs at the Lyceum, in the night of the same day, for the benefit of athletic finances, which were at that time at a very low ebb. The parade idea immediately caught the student fancy and in the following year a bright undergraduate mind con- ceived that some cash might be collected at the time of the morning lark. This was accordingly designated "A Campus Frolic" and its program consisted of a series of tugs of war between teams from the various colleges, held in the intervals be- Student Life 249 tween classes. Meanwhile student venders sold rattles and other noise making toys at profiteering rates. The impromptu performance proved to be great fun, and the fact that two hundred dollars net gain resulted was sufficient incentive to at- tempt something of the same sort on a more elaborate scale in the next year. Hence 1903 saw a tent erected on the quadrangle, a special recess period reserved for the show and the official de- nomination of the revelry as "Spring Day," to indicate that its purpose was to give expression to the undergraduate joy at the approach of the vernal season. The feature this time was the ex- hibition of the "much mooted Mouch-Mouche, ,, which proved (after the payment of twenty-five cents to enter an ante chamber, bare of all but its canvas walls, and another dime to pass through into an inner enclosure) to be a little red and black pig. The success of "Mouch-Mouche," and of "Mzupzi" which followed, suggested giving each succeeding Spring Day a distinctive name, at first merely grotesque and beguiling, later one both allusive to the mercenary designs of the perpetra- tors and also susceptible of utilization in advance advertising of a cryptic sort. Of these, "H. A.S. H." (have a shekel handy) "Oui Gneau" (that no change is returned) and later ones referring, as a final kink, to a titular genius, as "Hell Puss," featured on the placards as a disreputable torn cat (help us) "Mister Enuf" pictured as a dime novel sleuth and indicating that the shows would pro- 250 Concerning Cornell vide mystery enough; are representative of the racy fertility of the undergraduate mind as applied to its own devices. There was a hiatus for several years because of the war and the Student Army Training Corps administration, but this was successfully bridged when "Colonel Hardly Fair" (to so delude the un- sophisticated) presided at an indoor carnival of the same general character as Spring Day in the winter of 1919 and gave a military flavor to the official housewarming of the new Drill Hall and its dedi- cation to university uses. "Hoodoo Eve" (some who do, some who do not dance) presenting also: "The Organ Ref rightful," "The Move Ease," the "Meeting of the Plague of Nations" and similar skits, "all hoodooed," followed in March, 1920, and the spring of 1920 witnessed the revival of the old time Spring Day in the guise of a "Roman Carnival." From the original location on the quadrangle the shows have moved successively to the Armory green, the Library slope and now to Schoellkopf Stadium which promises to be a permanent site. They continue to retain much of their old time flavor and resemble most the side show offerings of a big circus. For the actual celebration many tents and fakirs' booths are set up during the night preceding and in the early morning of the day. At about ten o'clock, a grotesque parade is organ- ized downtown, and slowly wends its way up the hill, accompanied by an ever increasing throng of students and visitors. A few moments after the a "3 rti V 3 "I oS 1 — k £ & z £ X S Receiving Diplomas, at the Registrar's Office After the Graduation Exercises Student Life 251 field is reached every attraction is going full swing. A great variety of shows is offered each one by a different organization. The Cosmopolitan Club's attraction is usually especially elaborate, for its members may draw on the talent and costumes of nearly all nations in planning their exhibition. The advance advertising of the Bull Fight in 1905 re- ferred so insistently to the presence of a real bull and to Spanish-American undergraduate mata- dors that the newspaper fraternity were sold and, in turn, almost succeeded in bringing the univer- sity into disrepute by virtuously denouncing the proceedings, before the event. A real bull appeared in the parade; the fight, however, centered about a papier mach'e beast animated by a couple of students possessed of a surplus of animal spirits. Nothing could better indicate the attitude of all present than the success, at a recent celebration, of a little booth built four square and waist high, in the center of which a big, china wash-bowl re- posed on the sward. Its promoters barked : " Come on, come on, all you have to do is throw your money in an old-fashioned wash-bowl!" — and that indeed was all. Foolish as it may seem it is nevertheless true that they collected many dollars by this expe- dient. At another booth you are invited to at- tempt to cast wooden rings over the heads of a lot of live ducks swimming about an artificial pond. Do you catch the subtlety of the duck, "ducking"? Things such as these make up the attraction of Spring Day; every body comes ready to smile and pay. 252 Concerning Cornell The Spring Day shows are closed at one o'clock- They are followed in the early afternoon by an intercollegiate baseball game. Then the crowd hurries to board the observation train for the re- gatta on Cayuga. In its every detail this is the most picturesque spectacle of the year at Cornell. The observation train, thirty-five or more cars long, banked high with seats and crowded to capacity with a gay freight of holiday makers is in itself a unique sight. It winds ponderously along the shore of the lake, an engine puffing at each end, the while the bright colors of the gowns worn by the feminine passengers stand out in pleasing con- trast with the dark rich green of the foliage on the steep slope and the high rock cliffs that overhang the tracks. Banners wave, Cornell colors predom- inating; heads bob, everybody is interested and excited. Along the shores and on the lake the scene is equally animated. Here thousands of other spec- tators have been gathering for hours past, coming by motor, afoot and afloat. Over the wooded hills on the far side of the water the sun is sinking low, evening clouds gather and the whole scene is soon aglow with the golden colors of a Cayuga sun- set. Now the course has been cleared, the waters are oily smooth, the crews are at the start, they are off. Rhythmically the oarsmen sway, faster for- ward leap the slender shells, in perfect form the Cornell crew plies the nearly invincible Courtney stroke. From the observation train, keeping just abreast of the racing eights comes a continuous roar of cheering. The last half-mile is reached, it Student Life 253 is still nip and tuck which crew will win, the op- ponents are raising the stroke, Cornell holds steady, it is the opponents' last spurt, they can not keep it up, true to form Cornell is forging ahead, now it is a half length, a length, that Cornell leads, she crosses the line, the race is won ! There comes then a tremendous burst of cheering accompanied by the whistles of excursion steamers and metallic toots from countless motor boats. After that the whole assemblage streams back to the city. The transfer of the Poughkeepsie regatta to Cayuga in 1920 gave the most important inter- collegiate water event of the year a Cornell setting. It was then hoped that this could be made a per- manent feature, for the lake course is ideal, both for the racers and the spectators. When Spring Day has come and gone the year is rapidly drawing to a close. Seniors begin to dis- cuss their prospects, many are seeking positions in the professions that they have been, for four years, training to enter. They are looking back- ward too, with both pleasure and regret, on their undergraduate careers; with pleasure, because op- portunity for the enjoyment of such years came to their lives, with regret because they failed at times to recognize the advantages that were theirs. Like childhood and youth, college life is a stage in the process of existence that may not be recalled. It differs, though, from ordinary periods of life in that it may be missed. But no Cornell alumnus would exchange those four years in his life for any other experience, and it is an inkling of 254 Concerning Cornell that feeling which the seniors are now first learning to know. It fastens on them most strongly when they forgather those last few times as classmates at Senior Singing. Men to whom the Cornell melo- dies are much more familiar by ear than by per- formance nevertheless once or several evenings seek a place in the group that crowds the portico and steps of Goldwin Smith Hall. For there, while the sun is slowly sinking and the evening light grows dimmer, the seniors as fancy directs give voice to all the Cornell airs, grave and gay. They look out across the quadrangle whose confines their, often unwilling, steps have so many times measured and find that its familiar features have suddenly become tenfold more dear. In front a great throng of undergraduates and faculty has gathered to hear their swan-songs. This audience applauds vigor- ously their lighter efforts but stands hushed when the singers, soon to pass out from these scenes, with vibrant voices render one of the heritage of grand songs that express the deep measure of affection of Cornellians for when the sun . . Alma JVlater. Student Life 255 Then the underclassmen in the crowd feel sordidly grateful that it is not they who must depart for always, the while they extend muttered sympathy to the group on the steps. The seniors themselves fail to appreciate how great their sentimental attachment is for all that spells college days in the first few gatherings for Senior Singing when all the student body is still in residence. But when, ex- aminations over, the numbers leave for home and the ranks of the audience are thinned to fewer than those of the singers, then first the seniors realize how they are to be cut off. Completely appro- priate then in sentiment and to the time and place, are the very last stanzas to which they give voice, those of what is perhaps the most beautiful of all Cornell airs in both words and music, the "Even- ing Song :" When the sun fades far away In the crimson of the west, And the voices of the day Murmur low and sink to rest — Music with the twilight falls O'er the dreaming lake and dell 'Tis an echo from the walls Of our own, our fair Cornell. Life is joyous when the hours Move in melody along; All its happiness is ours, While we join the vesper song. Welcome night, and welcome rest, Fading music fare thee well; Joy to all we love the best, Love to thee, our fair Cornell ! CHAPTER V STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND OBSERVANCES THE term "student activities" may be used in a broad sense to include all participation by students, either individually or cooperatively, in affairs other than those prescribed by the curricu- lum. By adding the term "observances" to the title of this section, it may also be made to include some account of the various occasions, commonly called college customs, in whose fulfillment a large part of the undergraduate body has an interest. Thus broadly defined, student activities and ob- servances comprise many phases of college life. In their relation to the educational purpose of the institution, they range from matters that are di- rectly coordinate with the work of instruction and research, to those which are allied to it, and to such as are in the nature of distractions from it. The efforts of individual students toward self-support, and an enterprise of so dissimilar character as the management of a college dance, are both part and parcel of student activities. Thus some student activities may be held entirely praiseworthy and commendable while the development of others has made them, recently at least, the target for much adverse criticism. Since the efforts of the working student to win his way have always been considered deserving of sympathy and cooperation on part of the faculties, this kind of student activity may well be consid- Student Activities 257 ered first. Possibly no other American university affords the self-supporting student so good oppor- tunities as does Cornell. While not many men, probably, succeed in paying all the expenses of a four years' course by their earnings during the terms of residence, quite a number are able to meet all their obligations by supplementing such earn- ings with money acquired during the summer va- cation periods. Usually the undergraduate can get away from Cornell early in June and need not return until late in September. Thus he has from fifteen to sixteen weeks wholly free to devote to summer employment. It must not be inferred from this that the Cornell summer vacation is un- usually long; it does extend over a slightly greater period than that of some other institutions of the same rank, but, on the other hand the Christmas and Easter vacations at Cor- nell are shorter than is custom- ary elsewhere, only one holi- day is allowed at Thanksgiving time, and comparatively few other legal holidays are ob- served by suspension of in- struction — hence, if indeed the Cornell undergraduate has a few days longer vacation in summer, the period of instruc- tion is not diminished thereby. Opportunities for earning money while in residence no doubt vary greatly in 258 Concerning Cornell different educational communities. In the smaller institutions of collegiate rank there is comparatively little opportunity for self-support. Such colleges are located, as a rule, in small communities, the busi- ness enterprises of which are themselves, commonly, in large part dependent on the custom of the stu- dents and of the institution. Moreover, the ma- jority of the students are drawn from the immediate locality in which the institution is located, and, in general, from families of no great affluence. The institution itself being small, its administration is not complex; consequently is carried on almost wholly by its regularly employed faculty and offi- cers. Thus, as neither the college nor the student body spends much money, there is little to be earned. On the other hand, it will be noted that of the large universities in the East, with which Cornell may be compared in this connection, most are located in, or very near, large cities. This kind of location affords both a variety and multiplicity of employment for students that is not available at Cornell. But under such conditions the working student has little part in the university life. More- over, even if he finds employment in the immediate university community, he is usually at a great social disadvantage in comparison with the status of students who pay their way with money from home. This is a handicap, and must be considered in the question of self-support while at college. For instance, a large number of students in almost all institutions find employment as table waiters. Student Activities 259 Such service carries no stigma with it at Cornell. Men who have waited on table are elected to class offices, make fraternities, and commonly are the good friends of those whom they serve. The com- pensation for waiting on table is usually free board and the work requires about twenty-five hours per week. It should be noted that the spread of the cafeteria system at Cornell is responsible for a marked reduction in the number of waiters needed. Free lodging is the usual compensation for tend- ing furnace at one of the numerous rooming houses for students, though at many private residences similar service is rendered for cash wages. Such work has the disadvantage of necessitating both late hours and early rising. Yet it is surprising to learn how much outside labor some students can perform without suffering either physically or men- tally as a result. Several years ago a man was graduated from the Sibley College of Engineering with high marks and good health, who had, during his undergraduate years, regularly risen at four, fed the furnace at his rooming house, then walked half a mile to the college classrooms where he per- formed some light janitorial work, came back, had his breakfast, waited on table and then went to his classes. At noon and night he also waited table and looked after the furnace. Yet this student managed to find time to see nearly all the inter- collegiate athletic contests that occurred at Ithaca, and there again turned his presence to good ac- count by securing a position as ticket taker at the grandstand, thus securing his admission and a 260 Concerning Cornell money payment in addition. Of course, only a few men are capable of carrying such a load of work and also succeeding in their studies, especially when meeting the exacting schedules of the engineering colleges. The great majority of college students who seek employment desire only to husband and supplement their resources, rather than to earn all their expenses, and it will be appreciated that the money saved each week by securing free board and room means a very considerable reduction in out- lay. At Cornell the total expenses for a year can be kept down to six or seven hundred dollars by the practice of rigid economy, and free board and room will account for at least half the sum. Most student workers are unskilled laborers. In addition to waiting on table and tending furnace, many, consequently, are also employed at such tasks as mowing lawns, washing windows, polish- ing floors, as chauffeurs, clerking in stores, espe- cially in those that sell student supplies. Such men are also available for the work of returning books to the stacks at the University Library. The usual payment for services of this kind is from twenty to thirty-five cents per hour. Students capable of operating typewriters or taking dictation are al- most sure of employment at considerably higher pay in copying theses, lecture notes, professors' manuscripts and the like. Mechanical and archi- tectural draftsmen earn considerable money by making drawings for books. Soliciting subscrip- tions for periodicals and selling books, room deco- rations and pictorial calendars from room to room Student Activities 281 net a handsome profit to a number of students who have the salesman's gift of persuasion. Musi- cians are in great demand; they find places in the orchestras of local theatres and in some cafeterias. Violinists and pianists, particularly, are much re- quired for playing at innumerable dances. They charge from two to three dollars per hour for their services. A student is each year appointed to ring the University chime, a position to which both salary and prestige attaches. Again, student offi- cers of the cadet corps receive salaries that may be as high as several hundred dollars yearly. Upper- class students do some tutoring, at from two to three dollars per hour, though most of this falls to graduate students. About fifty undergraduates are employed in the work of instruction with the title of student assistant, and are paid from one to five hundred dollars per year. These men prepare and arrange laboratory materials, operate stereop- ticons, and grade reports and examination papers. Before the war many students were engaged in business enterprises. There were boarding-houses and cafeterias under student management, one cafeteria was cooperatively owned by students. Individual students owned and operated stores, a floral shop and a barber shop have been included in the number. The most common device of the student founders to insure the permanency of such enterprises is to organize the business on a com- petitive basis. Students from successive entering classes are given places in the management as a reward for the best showing made in business 262 Concerning Cornell getting and other competitions organized to per- mit of a demonstration of general usefulness. This scheme is particularly adaptable to agency busi- nesses, of which the laundry agencies are the most conspicuously successful. Much student laundry is shipped to large laundries in neigh- boring cities. A considerable force is needed by each agency to solicit accounts from the entering students in fall, and during the year, to gather up the bags of laundry each week, to deliver the pack- ages of freshened linen and to collect the bills. For such services the competitors are paid a fixed wage and the most industrious and successful of their number is made assistant manager in his junior year, and becomes the manager in his senior year. The assistant manager and manager share the profits of the enterprise, which amount in some cases to several thousands of dollars annually. Stu- dent rooming agencies, one of which is now official- ly recognized by the university authorities, and acts under their supervision in locating new students in congenial quarters, are conducted on similar lines. One man earned eight hundred dollars more than his expenses during his college career in purely com- mercial enterprises. The Ithaca Gun Company uses the free afternoons of some fifty undergrad- uates who have mechanical skill, at high pay and finds their labor particularly efficient. No statis- tics are available, but it is a safe estimate that at least five or six hundred Cornell students are each year earning all or part of their expenses in term time. Student Activities 263 Self-help is a student activity in the sense that it requires much energy that might be devoted to scholastic duties, but it is a means to an end, the attainment of a university education, and as such the individual seldom permits it to interfere with his principal purpose except perhaps in such in- stances where the financial returns are so large as to overshadow completely the original motive. But the term student activities, in the sense in which it is generally used, applies only to the organized enterprises initiated and carried on by large or small groups of undergraduates as side issues, mainly distractions, from the chief end of the university. These exuberances, if such they may be called, are accorded recognition and a certain degree of sanction and supervision by the faculty of the university. Under this category come athletics, student publi- cations, debate teams; musical, dramatic, intellec- tual, sectional, social and honorary clubs and associations, and the political organization of uni- versity classes, including the system of class officers and committees. The control of the university varies from strict supervision, with regard to the eligibility of players or performers and approval of schedules, in the case of organizations that rep- resent the university abroad, as, for instance, athletic teams and the musical clubs; to a general requirement of the maintenance of a satisfactory standard of scholarship in their studies and de- cency in their print from the editorial boards of publications. A large number of organizations are simply permitted. So long as they do not give 264 Concerning Cornell offense to the community or bring the university into disrepute, such organizations may continue to exist with practically no supervision on part of the general faculty. The university authorities do, however, reserve the right to regulate or abolish any association of undergraduates that may, in their opinion, be prejudicial to the maintenance of a proper standard of scholarship or detrimental to the general welfare of the community. Under such slight restraints a multitudinous variety of organ- izations have sprung up, the total membership of which is large and complexly interwoven. For all of these the university is, in some sense, sponsor. The great development, and the important place and influence these associations have in Cornell student life is, no doubt, owing in large measure to the fact that Cornell, only, of all the large American universities is located in a small com- munity, distinctly remote from any large popula- tion center. Since the varied places to go, and the many things to do, that are available in a big city are not to be found at Cornell, the students must, of necessity, in large measure provide their own distractions. This accounts for the remarkable number of undergraduate organizations and the great interest in such affiliations at Cornell. While the great development of student activi- ties finds its reason in the conditions stated above, it should be noted further that their existence is justified by undergraduates on altogether different grounds. Their functions, as conceived by the average student, are, first, to advertise the institu- Student Activities 265 tion, second to promote community interest, loyal- ty and pride in the alma mater, and third, and possibly most important, to supplement the courses of instruction (largely theory in undergraduate opinion) with opportunities for participation in practical affairs, conducted on the same competi- tive basis that is in effect in the business world. Student activities, moreover, furnish a means for acquiring prestige, the fame of being a prominent student and, consequently, a reputation for lead- ership among one's fellows. As the resources of the university are hardly adequate to provide for the large enrollment of the past few years, it would seem that advertisement to attract still greater numbers, without also securing a greater endowment, is not a great help. If the advertising is thought of as a proclamation of Cornell's facilities for students who need her train- ing, it can, indeed, be defended, and if, further, it is an aid in securing benefactions the advertise- ment the institution gets from student activities may be well worth while. It is also true, no doubt, that the various organizations do much to promote community interest. The other two ideas, that of supplementing university instruction by practical training and the acquirement of college honors have, however, the chief place in student imagina- tion. It will serve for better understanding to de- fer discussion of this point of view until after a survey has been made of the extent and ramifica- tions of the student-activities world. First may be considered a number of clubs and 266 Concerning Cornell associations that come into a single general class because they are in many cases promoted by the faculty, and have, as a rule, some intellectual purpose. These are, perhaps, the least typical of the student activities. In general their names will indicate their scope. Thus we have the Ethics Club, the Cornell University Flying Club, the Poultry Association, the Cornell Civic Club, the Rifle Club, the Agassiz Club, the Chess Club, the Cornell Forestry Club, the Cornell Masonic Club, Le Cercle Francais, the British-American Club, the Cornell Menorah Society, and the Pomology Club. This list is not altogether inclusive and some of those mentioned may not have survived the war. Membership in these is open, as a rule, to all undergraduates on either application, expres- sion of interest, proficiency or avowal of similar affiliations, though in some cases it depends on election. The honorary scholarship societies, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi (science) Tau Beta Pi (engineering) and the newly established Phi Kappa Phi, general scholarship society, are akin to these in one sense, but membership is attained only by election and depends on a high standing in the several studies and promise of achievement in research. A third class of societies is comprised of the various sectional clubs. In general these also are described by their names, as: The Southerners, the Dixie Club, the Maryland Club, the Adiron- dack Club, Exeter Club, Hill School Club, Cornell Chicago Club, Rocky Mountain Club, Latin Amer- ican Club, Culver Club, and Chinese Students' Student Activities 267 Club. The Senators are Washingtonians, Scalp and Blade members hail from Buffalo, while those in Mabrique come, presumably, from the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Richmond and Queens, note the composite name. The fact of residence in a locality represented by a sectional club as a rule entitles any under- graduate to membership in the organization, but in some cases he may join only on invitation from those already members. The sectional clubs, in which the latter provision is effective, might per- haps better be classed with the so-called social clubs, in all of which membership is by election. Of the social clubs it will suffice to suggest some- thing of their nature by listing the names : Book and Bowl, Manuscript, Sunday Night Club, Beth L'Amed (Mummy Club), Ma jura and Scroll and Spade. Several of these have been characterized as little more than mutual-admiration societies. Slightly different, again, is the Cornell chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, professional journalistic frater- nity. One of the principal functions of this organ- ization is to stage an annual dinner, considered the most recherche of such affairs in the Cornell year. Certain of the societies listed in the above para- graphs are open to both men and women students, but in most cases only men are eligible for mem- bership. Accordingly, there are also a number of wholly feminine associations, among which may be mentioned the Cornell Women's Dramatic Club, Sports and Pastimes Association, Mortar Board, 268 Concerning Cornell Raven and Serpent, and Sedowa. In the sense that all these clubs and associa- tions exist for and because of the university and not it for them, and in that they do, in some measure, reflect the life of the community outside the class- room, they come under the classification of student activities. But they belie this grouping in that the activities of their members are not on the whole very strenuous. Their membership lists are made up by application or invitation to join, while in the typical student activity participation results from competition and achievement. Physical prowess, musical or dramatic ability, business en- terprise, and facility with pen and pencil are each made the measure of eligibility for one or several branches of student organizations that require ac- tual performance on part of the individuals in them. These competitive organizations are also more representative in that any undergraduate is free to enter their contests and try outs on his own initiative. In support of the undergraduate contention that student activities are worth while because they supplement the training offered by the uni- versity with productive experience, the field of student publications could probably be cited most convincingly as an example. In striving to be- come identified with the management of the more successful of these enterprises the student com- petitors have a double incentive, the prestige that is acquired by a position on their staffs and the monetary reward. Probably the honor attached to Student Activities 269 the office is as much, if not more, in the minds of the competitors than the financial returns, but the latter are by no means of insignificant account. Thus the Cornell Daily Sun, the student morning newspaper, carries about one hundred dollars' worth of advertising in an average daily issue. It may be estimated that its yearly revenue from ad- vertising and subscriptions amounts to thirty thou- sand or more dollars. Each year two freshmen and two sophomore competitions are held to fill the places on its staff made vacant by graduation and other causes. The one open to freshmen in October for editorial positions is typical of all the competitions for places on the publications and its conditions may, therefore, be stated in illustration of their nature. The contest extends over a period of approximately seven weeks and is divided into a preliminary and final part. The preliminary part occupies about two weeks and at the end of that time the more promising candidates are started once more on an equal footing for the remaining period. At the end of the competition the one man most acceptable to the existing board is given a permanent position on the staff. This carries with it also the possi- bility of election to the position of editor-in-chief, or of managing editor at the end of the junior year. The success of a candidate is measured in part by the amount of acceptable local news he turns in, but his initiative and personality, as judged by the men already elected to permanent positions, have considerable significance in the final choice. In 270 Concerning Cornell competitions for places on the business manage- ment the work consists in securing subscriptions, selling advertising space and collecting moneys due the paper, and the candidate who shows, again according to the judgment of the existing board, the greatest business ability and enterprise is adjudged the winner. As on the editorial side the posts of business manager and circulation man- ager are held by seniors. Fifty-eight freshmen entered a recent editorial competition, which gives some suggestion of the degree of interest shown in these trials. As a college newspaper the Cornell Daily Sun undoubtedly ranks among the best in the country. Its articles on student affairs are usually quite ac- curate and newsy, and its reports of academic occasions, such as university lectures, in recent years are a notable improvement on the, before the event, speaker's statement it had been the custom to publish. But there is still opportunity to develop further the news interest of these intellectual events. What the four thousand sub- scribers of the Sun would like to read about these lectures is: What did the undergraduate reporter think of them, was he interested and impressed or bored and irritated, and why? The great difficulty of securing and writing numerous such stories is, however, that it would entail an enormous amount of underclass "compet" time being spent on out- side activities. As it is the faculty is com- plaining that the competitions are so exacting as to cause an almost complete neglect of studies on Student Activities 271 part of the leading candidates during the period of the trials. If this condition endures the whole system may come under faculty ban. More competitors must be secured or the situation met and remedied by creation of numerically much stronger, permanent, "reportorial" and business staffs composed of sophomores, juniors and seniors, all sharing in the prestige and more tangible per- quisites of the organization and having a voice in the election of the senior chiefs. Such an enlarge- ment of the staff would serve also to eliminate, in part, oligarchical and persona grata tendencies in the management of which complaint is heard from time to time. A much greater number of under- graduates would also receive something more sub- stantial than "the experience' ' and the "thanks of the staff" in return for their efforts during the competitions. Competition for places on the business staffs of the other Cornell student publications that have a wide circulation are equally strenuous with re- spect to the amount of time they require. But it should be noted that the Sun places all its profits, in excess of modest salaries, into a sinking fund for the eventual establishment of a university press, and the board of the Cornell Widow, the comic semi-monthly, recently voted to pay all its profits into the university for a similar purpose. Artists and jokesmiths find places on the Widow's staff. In 1920 the Widow carried off all honors in a contest for college wits conducted by one of the 272 Concerning Cornell leading humorous weeklies of the country. The Cornell Era was, in 1924, superseded by a pictorial sheet. The Era was the earliest of Cornell student publications; founded, as Chancellor Jordan, Cor- nell '72, recently said, because the student body of that time felt that a new era in education had started with the opening of Cornell. In those days the Era had a literary flavor, a field it had quite completely given up later in favor of timely articles on student affairs. There were formerly, also, two annual publications, The Cornellian, published first by the fraternity group and later by the junior class, and the Cornell Class Book, containing the record of the senior class. These volumes are now combined into one publication issued by a joint board comprising the "Cornell Annuals, Inc.," places on which are now, as in the case of the other publications, filled by compe- tition. The pages of The Cornellian comprise a catalog of the personnel of faculties, upper classes, fraternities, clubs, athletic teams, boards of pub- lications and committees, together with a general record of the year's events. There are also por- traits of every member of the senior class. The new pictorial magazine, the Cornell Graphic, is a Cornellian replica of the illustrated supplement of a Sunday newspaper. Other student publications have each their special circle of readers as indicated by their titles : The Cornell Countryman, the Sibley Journal of Engineering, The Cornell Law Quarterly, The Cornell Chemist and The Cornell Forester. The Student Activities 273 first two are issued each month, two are quarter- lies, the last is an annual. Though not an under- graduate venture in any sense, the Cornell Alumni News needs to be mentioned here to complete the roll of publications that reflect student life in some measure. As many as tw T o hundred different stu- dents are at work on these publications at some time during the year and over one hundred men are regularly on their staffs for the whole of the college terms. In the student pub- lications undergraduates have an opportunity to voice their opinions on a variety of matters. De- bate associations had a quite prominent place among student activities in earlier years, but they have since suffered con- siderable decline. A Debate Council still exists with machinery for arranging intercollegiate de- bate meets with Pennsylvania, Columbia and other colleges and for selecting the teams that represent Cornell in these contests, but the debates themselves evoke comparatively slight enthusiasm. A number of young orators try for places on the several Debate Stages, contests for university prizes founded in the period when debate had more importance as an undergraduate activity. 274 Concerning Cornell Dramatic organizations are in a more flourish- ing condition. This is particularly true of the Masque which devotes its energies generally to the production of one or two farces or musical comedies during the year, though occasionally more serious plays are undertaken. To qualify for membership the undergraduate must be able to entertain in the manner of professional vaudevillists. There is also a Dramatic Club which recognizes histrionic talent of the legitimate order and each year stages a num- ber of meritorious productions. In addition to these general organizations several societies, whose activities are allied with those of the modern lan- guage departments occasionally choose casts from among their members to present plays in foreign languages, sometimes on a quite elaborate scale. The Cornell Savage Club, the only branch of a famous original dramatic society of the same name in London, though not an undergraduate organi- zation primarily, each year elects a number of students to membership. Its productions are like those of the Masque, perhaps even more frivolous, but the Savage Club has also a social side. Quite frequently its members entertain prominent pro- fessional actors who appear at the local theatres. While the combined membership of the two general dramatic societies consists of about ninety undergraduates there are, in the musical organi- zations of similar scope, the Cornell Glee Club, the Cornell Mandolin Club, the Cornell Band and the Cornell Orchestra, more than two hundred men enrolled. This larger membership list, and the Student Activities 275 esteem in which membership in the first two of the organizations mentioned is held, are in part due to the fact that the Glee and Mandolin Clubs make an extended concert tour during the Christmas va- cation. Usually performances are given in seven or eight large cities during this trip and the clubs have traveled as far west as Denver. Only a selected number from the whole membership can be taken on the tour and, as the clubs are quite lavishly en- tertained with receptions, dances and smokers by the alumni resident in the different cities visited, there is naturally a keen rivalry to make the trip. Consequently each member of these organizations is careful not to miss practices and rehearsals. The University Orchestra has an endowment of twenty thousand dollars, provided in his will by the late G. W. Hinlsley, '15, the income from which is used for equipment, and for scholarships to which only members of the organization are eligible. In addition to the out of town concerts of the Glee and Mandolin Clubs, there are also a number of public appearances of all four of the general musical organizations during term time in Ithaca. A Festival Chorus, largely made up of undergraduates, is trained almost every year, and a separate college organization, the Agricultural Glee Club, has also been maintained. Whatever the relative status of the other organ- ized student activities there can be no question but that athletics leads them all in popularity. It might, perhaps, be fair to say that the popular- ity of a student activity is in inverse ratio of its 276 Concerning Cornell intellectual interest. In any event only members attend Glee Club rehearsals while many under- graduates keep faithful watch of the football prac- tices. Not that athletic interest centers exclusive- ly on football. Crew, track, and cross-country run- ning are other major sports, and the minor sports, basket-ball, lacrosse, hockey, fencing, wrestling, swimming, soccer, tennis and golf have each a number of followers. The training in riding afford- ed and the presence of the horses needed by the artillery unit of the cadet corps have given opportunity for the organization of a polo team. Probably as many as five hundred dif- ferent students try hard each year to secure a place on some one of the var- sity squads and possibly half this num- ber are retained for the season and give from two to three hours of their time each day, sometimes for three months in suc- cession, to practice and taking part in the events. For the major sports training tables are main- tained and the men who are privileged to eat at these boards must live the simple life. They are not supposed to smoke, go to the theatre or stay out late at night. Even soft drinks are denied them. They are urged to find time and energy to keep up with their studies, though this, except for men of unusual capabilities, is a difficult mat- ter. Physical exercise in moderate doses is a re- laxation from mental effort and gives stimulus to further studious activitv. But the football and Student Activities 277 crew men draw far more deeply than that on the store of energy possessed by the average man. The Cornell faculties, on their part, can see no good reason for permitting an athlete to secure the Cornell degree without his keeping up to the stand- ard of scholarship required of other students. It follows that the man who makes the football team, or the varsity crew, and is also graduated at the end of four years, must be the possessor of unusual ability and energy. As a near approach to the ideal, all-round, man he commands the admiration of both faculty and students. In view of the elaborate scale on which inter- collegiate athletics are now conducted, with con- tests in distant cities, gate receipts of large figures, and much paraphernalia for each sport, it is not surprising to find that a manager and assistant manager is required for each team. It is the busi- ness of these men to care for clothing and proper- ties, to arrange for transportation and attend to all the routine work connected with the various contests. Similar positions are part of the organ- izations of the musical clubs and the Masque. These men work under the supervision of a grad- uate manager, a salaried official employed by the Athletic Association. The undergraduate manager in each branch is a senior, his assistant a junior, and under them are two sophomore and freshman competitors, each one striving to prove himself worthy of succession to office in his upper-class years. These rivals carry water, hold blankets, sell tickets, try to be always on the job. It is a curious 278 Concerning Cornell sort of perversion that at an institution of higher learning there should be active rivalry in almost everything except the acquirement of knowledge. There are, however, several phases of student activities that do not come directly under the competitive system. The class honorary societies, for instance, are self perpetuating. But as these societies usually confer membership on the basis of particular distinction in other student activities, they are in effect the ultimate goal of the various competitors. To them are elected the star athletes, the editors-in-chief of publications, the business managers of various enterprises including those of the musical and dramatic clubs, as well as the leading performers. Sphinx Head and Quill and Dagger are senior societies, Aleph Samach is the junior organization. Some of the colleges have further their own senior honorary societies, as for example, Heb-Sa and Helios in the College of Ag- riculture. Although these associations are self per- petuating, their elections generally meet with the approval of the men particularly interested. The two senior societies wield a considerable influence, though this has latterly been made effective through the agency of a Student Council, which now exercises supreme control over all branches of undergraduate activity and is an elective body. The senior societies themselves were accepted, for- merly, as the supreme arbiters and mentors in student affairs and any project that did not meet with their approval was taboo. As these societies are at the apex of the student activities system, Student Activities 279 they can usually make their rulings effective with those most concerned and, having the student pub- lications under control, initiate such movements or spread such opinions as they feel are worth while. The "Red Key" dispenses hospitality to visiting athletic teams and has thirty juniors, the president of the Savage Club and the head cheer leader as its members. It is noteworthy that practically all the acri- monious debate in the student world centers about the one phase of undergraduate life that is not directly subject to the competitive system, namely class politics. Class members of the Student Council are selected by ballot. The contests formerly centered about the office of the class president, as that person once had a considerable patronage to bestow. This consisted, primarily, in the appointment of committees to take charge of the dances, banquets, rallies and other occasions that come under class auspices. As committee positions afforded considerable self advertisement, without necessitating the expenditure of great effort or the display of special ability, they were much sought after. It was, for instance, particularly nice to be in the lime-light during Junior Week, when fair guests perused dance and other programs and as- sumed that the committee lists were made up of the prominent men of the class. In former years a committee position also often insured quite val- uable perquisites, as, for example, gold watch fobs as souvenirs of the occasion bought with part of the proceeds. This has been wholly done away 280 Concerning Cornell with. All accounts are now audited and any bal- ance put in the class treasury. But it may readily be perceived how the prejudice against general elec- tive and appointive officers arose, and why each year there were accusations of ring politics with "letters to the editor" and the proposal of various schemes to counteract the tendency to fill com- mittee lists with the names of friends and hench- men. Appointments tending to greater efficiency in committee work seems to be the reform most desired. In the interest of efficiency there has been much agitation that the number of men on each committee be greatly reduced. Yet several years ago no fewer than three hundred and seventy names appeared in a total of twenty-four commit- tees. One-third the number, no doubt, could have attended much better to all the business. The titles of these committees suggest their scope and purposes. There exist the Student Council, a Freshman Advisory Committee, com- mittees on Senior Ball, Senior Banquet, Class Day, Alumni Pledge, Convocation Hour, Junior Promenade, Junior Smoker, Sophomore Cotillion, Sophomore Smoker, Sophomore Rush, Freshman Banquet, Freshman Cap-Burning and Spring Day. The Student Council now has greatest impor- tance. This committee formulates the rules for freshmen and acts as intermediary between the faculty and student body on matters concerning student governance and deportment. The pledge of the Student Council committee, that a given evil will be abated, is usually considered the end Student Activities 281 of such a difficulty. The Council also names all the undergraduate committees; its mandates gen- erally are respected by the classmen. Membership in a club, the winning of a place on the editorial or business staff of a publication, making an athletic or debate team, election to a musical or dramatic club, election to class office, appointment to committee positions are each and all "student honors." Every such achievement, and some not enumerated, is marked by the con- ferring of a diploma certifying to the fact. This practice has given origin to the "Order of Shingle Hunters." To belong, one must be able to point to at least so much space as one side of a room dec- orated with nicely lettered sheep skins, properly ornamented with seals and tastefully framed; sig- nifying a wide connection with student activities. It would be difficult for an outsider to conceive how much of a fetish the acquirement of a variety of such tokens has come to be among a certain element of the undergraduate body. Indeed the acquisition of its diploma is often of greater import to the shingle hunter than the in- terest of the particular activity. In a word, the possessor of a num- ber of the more coveted of these certificates considers himself one of the elect in the student world. It still remains to give some account of the student observ- ances, as those functions, social and agglomerate, that give most of 282 Concerning Cornell the committees an excuse for existence may be collectively termed. Certain of them afford spec- tacles at once picturesque and interesting, the lat- ter because of the sidelights they throw on student life. Others, as suggested above, are merely ag- glomerative, consist of devices for getting a crowd together in the interest of some special enthusiasm. Still others are of a purely social character, dances for the entertainment of guests and the banquets of the various classes. Of the banquets little need be said except that they promote democracy and that the modern or- der has finally ended the serving of alcoholic bev- erages at Cornell student gatherings of this nature. Once upon a time the Senior Banquet was apt to be an uproariously wet occasion. But even before prohibition was enforced there was an agitation against the custom of treating and drinking; ac- cordingly, it came to be the affair of the individual rather than of the student community or any definite group in it. The various stunts, smokers, crew and football celebrations are "get together" occasions at which athletic prospects are discussed, past victories and defeats reviewed. At the Junior Smoker it is the custom to make formal presenta- tion of the varsity letter and class numerals to the athletic stars of the various teams. This is the great athletic meeting of the year. There are, however, more such athletic rallies during the year than the committee list indicates, in fact it would seem that they are filled into practically every dull interval. At each of them the coaches, cap- Student Activities 283 tains and managers exhort the undergraduates to be loyal to the teams, to search out promising men for each sport and to encourage such men to enter the competitions. It does not require much ora- tory to fire enthusiasm at such gatherings and they are usually marked by overflow attendance. During term time university dances are con- fined to "All Cornell Hops" at the Armory and the invitation affairs of various organizations. But two great events of this nature, the Junior Promenade and the Sophomore Cotillion, were the central features of Junior Week, which occupies the interval between the first and second terms. These big dances were held in the Armory, which in recent years had been crowded almost to suffo- cation by the dancers, the growth of the universi- ty having been such that the throng wishing to participate had utterly outgrown the accommoda- tion afforded by the old building. The erection of the new Drill Hall with floor space sufficient for the seating of an audience of eight thousand has relieved this congestion and has made the Junior Promenade a truly wonderful spectacle. The diffi- cult problem of the acoustics has been solved by use of great curtained hangings and the placing of the orchestras in specially constructed, raised boxes. As it is, the picture of color, light and animation presented on each of these occasions is quite charming. All the bareness of the walls and roof is hidden under elaborate canopies of ribbons and flowers, with a myriad of electric lights for illu- mination. Boxes for the accommodation of guests 284 Concerning Cornell between dances extend completely around the sides of the room. While the general effect remains the same, the color scheme and details of the dec- orations vary from year to year; formerly the whole arrangement for the Sophomore Cotillion was re- moved and replaced by an en- tirely new setting for the Junior Promenade, although the time interval between the close of the Cotillion and the beginning of the Promenade was only forty or so hours. This entailed some rapid work on the part of the decorators. The first calendar hour of spring has been ushered in by much tinpanning, catcalling and shooting of blank cart- ridges, the celebrants appear- ing at the upper story windows of practically every fraternity and rooming house on the hill ; to the intense aggravation of the local police and resident population. This making of the night hideous is a manifestation of the relief felt by a number of healthy young animals that the long repression of winter has come to an end. Though deferred to a later date when skies are sure to be clear and the air balmy, the official Spring Day celebration had its inception in a like feeling, though its original significance was almost at once lost to sight because of the ends the occasion was made to serve. It is a merry scene full of color. Student Activities 283 The present purpose of Spring Day is to secure money, much money, in a short time and for little outlay, to enrich the coffers of the Athletic Associa- tion. For several years now the show has been scheduled on the morning of Navy Day, an inter- collegiate baseball game occupying the afternoon and the annual regatta on Cayuga the early even- ing. The big day closes with the Freshman Cap- Burning on the Playground. All these events on one day insures the presence of a throng of out of town visitors and their contributions naturally do much to swell the total receipts of the Spring Day shows. The faculty, recognizing the compel- ling demand of the occasion, has agreed to make it a holiday. Something has already been said of the nature of the Spring Day shows. Although criticism of these offerings is perhaps out of place, it may be suggested that the spectacles for the past two years have not come up to the stand- ard of novelty and wit attained in former days. Let the younger generation look to its laurels! The Cap-Burning, although it has seemed a sort of anti-climax to a very full day, never- theless deserves a word in this account of under- graduate observances, for it is a very happy event for the first year men. On every week-day of the year, as student custom has prescribed, the fresh- men must wear the dingy gray caps that mark their class. Than these, nothing more insignificant in the way of headgear could well be devised. It is a difficult matter for even the most irrepressible youngster to make a jaunty appearance with that 286 Concerning Cornell cap on his head; though it must be confessed that some come very near achieving this seeming im- possibility. When eventually the day on which they may lay these marks of a lowly status aside for always comes, it follows that the occasion must be accompanied by fitting ceremony and collective rejoicing. Accordingly a huge pyre of boxes and barrels is built up on the broad level of the Play- ground. A huge effigy of the Freshman cap sur- mounts the pile. A torch is applied and, as the flames begin to leap skyward, the whole freshman class assembles and snake dances past the bonfire, each individual member tossing his cap high onto the glowing altar, the huzzas of the spectators mingling with the loud cries of the freshman at the culmina- tion of the glad sacrifice. Ludicrous to be sure, but at any rate one of the few rites among many performed in this world that has not lost any of its significance for the participants. CHAPTER VI FRATERNITIES AT CORNELL THERE are some seventy-odd Greek letter fra- ternities and similarly organized, local, secret societies at Cornell, probably a greater number of such student associations than exists at any other American university. Nearly one-half of these have been established within the last fifteen years. About one-third of the five thousand regular stud- ents in the university are fraternity men. In ad- dition there are probably three hundred women in twelve sororities. The rapid increase in the num- ENTRANCE TO A FRATERNITY LODGE 28S Concerning Cornell ber of these societies has brought what is rather vaguely termed the "fraternity question," at other institutions in a position perhaps most succinct- ly presented by the following sarcastic quip from the Cornell Widow: "Why didn't he make a fra- ternity?" — "Because he couldn't get enough men together." That was not meant kindly, never- theless it reflects what has happened at Cornell and what will probably continue to happen. New organizations have been many in the past decade, no doubt others will come into existence in the future unless conditions change. In other words, if the number of fraternities were to be doubled or tripled, any semblance of that phase of the fraternity question would probably cease al- together to exist. The fundamental reason why fraternities are so essentially a part of Cornell student life, call them a necessary evil if you will, is that the university has not during the recent past provided dormito- ries for the men students. At present several resi- dential halls, accommodating about five hundred men, are available on the campus and the erection of others seems assured. But even these accom- modations promise to do little more than take care of the growth in student population. Except as men may find a place in the university dormitories or become members of a fraternity, they will need, as in the past, to shift for themselves in private rooming and boarding-houses about the town. Because such life is not nearly so pleasant in gen- eral, and does not afford the social and other oppor- Fraternities at Cornell 289 tunities open to the fraternity man, is why the national and local secret societies have, and will probably continue to flourish greatly at Cornell. It is immediately pertinent, therefore, to in- quire into these advantages of membership in a fraternity. Of first importance is the fact that practically every chapter and society owns or leases its house or lodge, thus election to member- ship in a society insures congenial associates. Con- geniality is the ultimate qualification for member- ship in any one of these organizations. This does not mean that they are all cast on the same rigid lines, that a man who would fit in very well with one group of fellows would necessarily be equally eligible for another group. Indeed the ideals, am- bitions, interests and opportunities of the different organizations are probably quite as diverse as the elements of the whole student body and those run nearly the whole gamut of human nature and society. Nevertheless, sympathetic relations are essential to the success of any chapter, hence the careful choice of men by each. The fraternity man at Cornell, therefore, is first of all provided with a roof that he may well call home during his college career, and is assured of congenial companions dur- ing that time. He rooms and dines with kindred spirits. He has a place to entertain his friends and relatives from home, where he may keep them over night when they come to visit. His hospitality is ably seconded by his intimate associates. He par- ticipates, as a member of a recognized group, in university social and athletic events: thus his so- 290 Concerning Cornell ciety has a box at the college dances ; is a member of the interfraternity bowling and baseball leagues. Other advantages of a compact organization naturally accrue. Thus the upperclassmen in a house give the freshmen the benefit of their ex- perience along various lines. They suggest what phase of student activities he may enter into with a chance of achieving distinction: urge him perhaps to take up some branch of athletics. They can help him with his studies; in fact most fraternities rather rigidly supervise the university work of their underclassmen, securing reports of their standing frequently from the faculty. Less commendable, from the faculty viewpoint, is the common prac- tice among the chapters of keeping on file sets of lecture notes, reports on experiments and labora- tory exercises, as well as sets of examination questions in the various courses, and making these available to the students pursuing such work. While there is nothing inherently bad in this, it is, nevertheless, often inimical to good scholarship in that the student may tend to depend on the work of his predecessors instead of doing it him- self. Thus he takes less full notes at lectures, is prone to be superficial in his conning of lessons, and trusts to cramming on the basis of previous examination questions to pass up his courses. He may, indeed, actually copy a report, though that is a dangerous expedient and, because readily de- tected and punished often with expulsion from the university, is probably resorted to only infrequent- ly. Such helps, good or bad, are denied the inde- Fraternities at Cornell 291 pendent student. Since May 2, 1921, an Honor System, administered by the undergraduates, has been in effect. Examinations are not proctored by faculty members, and students report frauds inside and outside the class room. Though only about one-third of the under- graduates belong to fraternities, their members have in recent years constituted nearly fifty per cent of the number of men dropped from the uni- versity at the end of a term because of poor scholarship. Moreover, as high as seventy-five per cent of the upperclassmen dropped at one time have been fraternity men. This, however, is not as desperate as it appears, for the total number of men dropped at the end of a term has not much exceeded one hundred. Such figures are probably accounted for by another factor in fraternity life that adversely affects scholarship ; the opportunity and temptation to devote too much time to social intercourse and recreation. With a boon compan- ion or companions always at hand it is harder to re- sist the allurement of a game of cards, or tennis, or of an evening at the theatre. On the other hand it should be said that some fraternities maintain a high standard of scholarship, despite these counter temptations and attractions of good fellowship. Many good people consider the greatest benefit of a college career to be its social opportunity. That is a quite common attitude among under- graduates. From the standpoint of the purpose of the university, in view of the fact that it is an eleemosynary institution, supported by an endow- 292 Concerning Cornell ment provided solely for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge, one is tempted to take immediate issue with that conception. Yet it must be admitted that these social, that should properly be only secondary advantages of a uni- versity career, are often of preponderating impor- tance in after life. Thus the diffident, uncouth, or perhaps presumptuous novitiate, is taught the social graces, learns to meet people, acquires con- versational skill and is made mindful of the rights and personal idiosyncrasies of others. In these things he both gives and takes. In his own society he acquires, during his four undergraduate years, a wide fraternal acquaintanceship and, if his be a chapter of a national organization, a hailing fellow- ship with a great body of men who will be inclined to help and stand by him in the world of business. It has been suggested in a previous paragraph that every student sociably inclined is potentially eligible for fraternity membership. If he is not elected to one of the existing organizations, or perhaps does not find the members of such groups that he may be invited to join congenial fellows, he may "get enough men together," kindred spir- its, and found one of his own. Of course there are limitations. Considerations of expense deter many students from either entering or organizing a so- ciety. The unavoidable monetary obligations of membership in a society are, of necessity, greater than the cost of an economical, independent ex- istence, if the chief benefits of a fraternal associa- tion, as enumerated above, are to be achieved. Fraternities at Cornell 293 Instead of providing only his own study and bed- room the fraternity man must contribute to the upkeep of a house in which much space is devoted to general assembly rooms. This additional cost is not, however, so great as might be thought neces- sary, for the profit of the landlord and boarding- house keeper are largely eliminated by the internal ownership and management. Statistics secured from a number of fraternities show that room, board, dues and other assessments for the general expense vary between four hundred and eighty and eight hundred and fifty dollars, annually, according to differences in their scale of living. Some socie- ties have very pretentious houses and entertain lavishly. In certain instances the cost is consider- ably higher than the maximum stated, it is seldom lower than the minimum given. On the other hand the independent student may eke out a decent, though very economical existence, on as little as four hundred dollars and a quite luxurious one at an expense of some seven hundred dollars for room and board. The university provides women stu- dents with board, furnished room and a limited amount of laundry service in its two dormitories at an average cost of four hundred and eighty dollars per year. It should be stated that the fraternity man must, in addition to the general expenses noted, pay also an initiation fee which may be only a nominal or a quite considerable sum. It is further expected that he will dress presentably, provide evening clothes, and have pocket money enough to 294 Concerning Cornell indulge, not necessarily extravagantly, in the or- dinary student diversions. He will purchase a sea- son ticket to the athletic events, contribute to various student funds, subscribe to one or more college periodicals. These items jointly may mount up to a considerable sum. Accordingly, it would probably be fair to set one thousand dollars as the nearly minimum annual expense, excluding tuition, of the fraternity member at Cornell. In exceptional instances it will be found that men not able to meet even such a minimum of expense are nevertheless members of a society and in good standing. But such men are usually able to make up the difference by service in the fraternity or with funds secured by outside effort, perhaps in employment obtained through influence of the organization. It does not follow that every student able to afford it desires, or will accept membership in a fraternity if it is offered to him. Many parents will not permit their sons to join a fraternity either because of the extra expense involved or because they fear such associations may divert too much attention from studies. Again, there are some independent spirits who would chafe at the presumption even of any set of their peers passing judgment upon their merits and demerits. Indeed the fraternities already in existence have a hard struggle to recruit each year a sufficient number of desirable men. Yet there remain among the inde- pendents a quite large number of students who are both financially able and desirous of becoming Fraternities at Cornell 295 fraternity members but are not elected. The prin- cipal reason why these men are not chosen is that they are unknown. Data at hand indicate that from one-third to nine-tenths of the freshmen taken into the various societies are recruited from candi- dates recommended by their alumni. Congenial- ity is a prime requisite, of this the alumnus is usually as competent a judge as may be had. Many men who come to Cornell unrecommended to any fraternity very shortly secure invitations be- cause they show athletic or musical ability. Such ac- complishments lift a man above the common level, make him conspicuous, and such powers or skill on the part of its members give the society standing among the undergraduates. An actual canvass of representative fraternities showed that congenial- ity ("we have to live with him") and athletic or musical ability were predominating factors in the election of candidates. Other qualities considered essential, in order nearly according to the number of times mentioned, were: sterling moral character; personality, including appearance; scholarship; family social standing and financial ability, and individual aggressiveness, about equally desirable; while nationality, religion and "good mixer" re- ceived a scattering vote. Of such stuff, therefore, is fraternity material composed. On the whole the standards are quite commendable and if, per- haps, too much emphasis seems to be put upon mere good fellowship and nonscholarly accom- plishments that is but a reflection of undergradu- ate sentiment in general. One quality seems curi- 296 Concerning Cornell ously absent from the reported list. That is the ability to entertain in the sense of entertaining others. Perhaps that is lumped with congeniality, the members feeling that when they enjoy the wit or pranks of individual fraters they simply evince the common good fellowship. Nevertheless, in the language of Arnold Bennett the "card" is quite a factor in providing sparkle to fraternity life. As has been suggested above, the existing fra- ternities are keen to secure men considered to be desirable fraternity material. In fact so strenuous had this competition become that an Inter- fraternity Association was formed and adopted an elaborate set of rules to govern the " rushing," entertainment and pledging, of incoming freshmen. Each fraternity was required to furnish the associa- tion by September twenty-fifth with a list of the freshman it had pledged previous to September first. Between September first and September twenty-ninth no rushing was permitted and fra- ternity men in Ithaca were not allowed to com- municate with any freshman. "There shall be no meeting of trains." On September twenty-ninth invitations were extended to freshmen by mail on uniform cards accompanied by self-addressed en- velopes for their return. The name of one person recommending the freshman might be written on the card but nothing else. Dates were made with freshmen in this manner for the period between October fourth and fourteenth, but no fraternity could have more than two dates with a man during the period. "No date shall interfere with the Fraternities at Cornell 297 freshman's work in the university." "In this first period there shall be absolutely no pledging or communication with freshmen regarding member- ship, nor during the interim between that and the second period for entertainment." The second period, for which dates were made under similar restrictions, began on October eighteenth and ex- tended through to October twenty-first. During that time freshmen might be pledged, but only within the fraternity house and at times when the freshmen had a date with the fraternity. There were further elaborations in the rules, but what has been given will suffice to indicate how the fraterni- ties had hedged about their activities in order to give a fair opportunity to both the societies and the men in making their choices, also to prevent unseemly and undignified scrambles to secure some especially promising candidate. Still later an effort was made to confine rushing entirely to the second term. But the pressure for men, owing in part to the rapid increase in the number of societies, brought about a complete collapse of the system in 1916, and there was for several years a return to the earlier "catch as catch can" scheme of se- curing members; though a small group of fraterni- ties, late in the spring of 1920, had agreed to the adoption of a modification of the old rules. When the first few of the Residential Halls on the campus were nearing completion, a new com- plication was thought to have been injected into the fraternity situation. It was expected that the authorities would immediately rule that freshmen 298 Concerning Cornell should live in the Residential Halls as far as ac- commodations would permit, and, in any event, be not permitted to live in fraternity houses. This action was anticipated by the fraternities and most of them acquiesced in the desirability of such an arrangement, though they asked a year's notice in which time they might adjust themselves to the new conditions. No doubt such a change would be wholesome. Above all, it would promote class spirit and class loyalty at Cornell, would tend to put these on a par with fraternity loyalty and so develop a broader democracy. It is frequently asserted that the fraternity men of Cornell are snobbish, that the fraternities dominate student activities and indeed attempt to influence the faculty and the trustees with a view to promoting fraternity interests, and that to the detriment of the community as a whole. This is the phase of the fraternity question that seems of greatest im- portance to many in their concern for the general welfare of Cornell. The best remedy for such con- ditions, if it be granted they exist, would be, as sug- gested above, more fraternities; or what amounts to the same thing, more men in fraternities. There is, however, little possibility that additional Res- idential Halls will be provided rapidly enough to make any plan of housing freshmen exclusively in them feasible in the near future. Considering con- ditions as they exist, there are without question men who are inclined to be uppish because they enjoy advantages due to organized effort or due to their more fortunate circumstances. But the Fraternities at Cornell 299 majority of fraternities frown on such individuals and urge their men to cultivate nonfraternity ac- quaintances, if for no other reason, merely as a matter of good policy. It is very unlikely that any organized effort is exerted to secure special privileges for the fra- ternities. As opportunity offers single groups may pull a little here or haul there, and the total effect of such diplomacy may at times make itself noticeable, especially in undergraduate affairs. But because of the pressure from within, on account of growing numbers, the societies are themselves favoring curtailment of various perquisites that formerly were theirs. Thus the distribution of class offices, membership on different committees, editorial positions on the annuals, etc., are no longer wholly within the jurisdiction of the fra- ternity circle. Most such honors and the accom- panying emoluments are now awarded according to the outcome of competitions that any student may enter. Perhaps the fraternities do resent criticism from the outside with a little too much choler. For the rest the gravest indictment that may be urged against the fraternities is that they are too much bound up by their own interests, not as opposed to the welfare of the university at large, but in that when their loyalty to the fraternity is exhausted there is too little store left for the greater institution. How this last works out is well illustrated by the method commonly adopted, especially by the younger fraternities, in financing the purchase of a 300 Concerning Cornell fraternity home and by the after results of such procedure. As much money as local capitalists will advance is secured by a first mortgage on the property. The balance of the purchase price is then made up by subscription by the active mem- bers and by the sale of bonds secured by a second mortgage. These bonds are taken up in later years with profits acquired in the management of the house. Eventually the whole debt may be cleared up in this manner. But ordinarily the active chapter depends in some measure on its alumni for financial support, either in the nature of voluntary contributions or by a system of pledges. Inquiries addressed to a number of rep- resentative organizations brought replies indicat- ing that in most cases the alumni give "liberally," "generously" or "slightly" toward the payment of old obligations, upkeep or improvements. Accordingly, when a Cornell alumnus acquires a sufficient start to enable him to contribute to the support of his Alma Mater, he commonly feels it his first duty to help his fraternity chapter. Probably every one in touch with Cornell interests, from the noblest faculty member of them all down to the humblest freshman, would sympathize with and encourage a group of Cornell under- graduates who had banded themselves together fraternally and were endeavoring to secure a home for the organization they had founded and hoped to perpetuate. For, in reality, this amounts sim- ply to the effort of groups of individuals to secure dormitory accommodations. Its detrimental as- Fraternities at Cornell 301 pect is that the financial strain is apt to be a bit heavy for the young promoters and so leave them little able or willing to add to the general re- sources of the university; and, in the case of the older societies, that they will be ambitious to secure too luxurious homes, and thus continue indefinitely to drain the financial cup proffered by alumni. If, then, these sentences by chance come to the eye of some person of wealth he may per- ceive that here is an opportunity to do much toward promoting democracy at Cornell by con- tributing to the erection of attractive university living-quarters. If the freshmen were all housed in such halls, all manner of men rubbing elbows in a great dining-room, with no prospect of a frater- nity election nearer than the sophomore year, a sense of solidarity and community interest, as affecting the whole university, would develop and prevail, and the impress of this would much subdue later fraternity partisanship. It should be added, however, that in the national crisis in 1917, the fraternity men, as a group, were among the first to respond to the call to arms, and in the univer- sity's campaign, in 1920, for endowment funds the fraternity men came forward splendidly. In conclusion, some tentative suggestions in regard to the choice of a fraternity may not be considered amiss by freshman or parents. The former will do well to look up the statistics of such fraternities as may rush him in the latest issue of the Cornellian, the annual statistical publication of the classes, copies of which will be found in the 302 Concerning Cornell university library. Let him note in what other institutions the fraternity has chapters. This will often give an indication as to the general standing of the society. Many of the national organizations publish journals; these are in quite a few instances also on file at the library. A conning of their pages will give an insight into the ideals and aims of the societies. But let him not hesitate to cast his lot with one of the younger, perhaps local organiza- tions, if he feels, after scanning individual records of its seniors as printed in the Cornellian, that the evident characteristics and achievements of these men come nearest to the ideal of development that he himself hopes to attain. He may further be able to find, in back numbers of the Cornellian and Class Book, or on inquiry at the offices of the Alumni Secretary in Morrill Hall, names of alum- ni who are now members of his home community. These names he will do well to write his parents. The parents can do a little investigating on their own part by writing to the secretary of the univer- sity and inquiring about the scholarship standing of the fraternities their sons are invited to join. President Schurman ordered annually the compil- ation of an honor list and a comparative record of fraternity scholarship. This information is avail- able through the secretary to parents. They may be confident that the candidate himself will be fully posted in regard to the athletic and under- graduate activity record of the organization. This section is so much like a letter home- rambling — that there will be no harm in putting Fraternities at Cornell 303 here at the very end what ought, probably, to have been the kernel of the composition, something about the actual life in the fraternity house. Shortly after he is pledged, the freshman is ini- tiated with due ceremony and instructed as to the hailing signs and the significance of various fra- ternity insignia. In accordance with the ruling of the university authorities, initiations must take place within the chapter house and must not in- clude any dangerous features. As most societies include faculty members on their rolls, these provi- sions are no doubt adhered to very strictly. While it is, of course, impossible to describe the different rituals, it may safely be said that if the vows taken were lived up to, fraternity men would very gener- ally be model characters. For various reasons freshmen commonly do not live in the chapter house, but all the members dine there. This is one of the most pleasant fea- tures of fraternity life. Moreover, the fraternity is in position to supervise very strictly the food served, no mean advantage. Often guests are present, frequently faculty members; men from other colleges on visiting athletic teams are enter- tained; thus opportunity is afforded to meet many interesting people. After dinner the men com- monly gather in the library or general lounging room for a social hour, singing songs, practising dances, playing cards. Practically every society has also a substantial fiction library and sub- scribes to numerous popular magazines. During Junior Week and Senior Week house parties are 304 Concerning Cornell the rule. Then all appointments must be fur- bished up for the critical inspection of feminine guests. Then, also, the freshmen's lives are full of duties; they must, for example, keep fire watch through the night, and, when they do find time to sleep, hie themselves to some attic or basement corner. It is at these times, when guests from home are entertained, that the nonfraternity man feels most out of it. He has no proper place to take his friends. This is another difficulty of the independent student that the further development of the Residential Halls plans should be made to solve. WW I Willi A Fraternity Lodge A Typical Dining-Room in v Fraternity Lodge Northwest Corner of the Quadrangle at Night N. Y. S. Drill Hall at Cornell University Night, Winter, 1917. Then occupied by cadets of the School of Military Aeronautics, U. S. A. Cornell Aces, Meissner and Donaldson were trained here CHAPTER VII ATHLETICS AT CORNELL IN athletics Cornell was, in the years just preced ing the Great War, literally triumphant. "We do not need more athletes at Cornell, but more men need Cornell." Such was, in effect, the pithy summing up of the situation by an alumnus. This claim of "all victorious" is borne out by the rec- ords of intercollegiate athletic history as will be perceived on a perusal of the paragraphs that fol- low; that the metropolitan press did and does not make much of Cornell's athletic achievements is regrettable from the undergraduate viewpoint, but is easily understood. The older universities of the east have a vast alumni support; Cornell is only beginning to come into her own in this respect, and, since readers make a paper, the lack of em- phasis on Cornell victories is an immediate con- sequence. Cornell, however, does not need athletic advertising. On the other hand those who need Cornell, and come to Cornell, will find clean sport and high ideals, good spirit, win or lose, and that is what counts most in the world of amateur athletics. Of the truth of this dictum, what is perhaps the finest tribute ever paid to Cornell athletics, may be offered in proof. It is an editorial that appeared in the Boston Transcript, May 30, 1911, under the heading, "Victorious by Land and Sea" as follows: How does Cornell do it? Two boat races, two base- ball games and an intercollegiate track meet for one 306 Concerning Cornell day's athletic spoils. Now are the shrines of victory on the Ithacan strand heaped with the bays of her heroes, and the name of their alma mater a word of praise on the tongues of men. On Cayuga's waters the Cornell boat left the Harvard boat two and one-half lengths behind; the Cornell freshmen had passed the buoys at the finish when the Harvard freshmen had nineteen more strokes to row; the Cornell baseball team in a wrenching fourteen-inning game won from the Yale men with a score of six to five, though those stubborn sons of Eli had tied the game with three runs at the end of the ninth inning. At Hanover the Dart- mouth freshmen were being worsted at baseball by the Cornell freshmen, four to one; thus early does the habit of victory set in with Ithacans, and these lads went home bearing another sheaf of glory for the gen- eral blaze. Close at hand in the Harvard Stadium we saw Cornell's track team, by the more laborious and less spectacular kind of victories, surpass the athletes of every other college of prominence in the East. And three new records were made by Cornell men, two of them by Mr. John Paul Jones, who, if there were any- thing in names, should have captained his university boat; but he served his college well on land. So Cornell, as they say in the Greek histories, was victorious both by land and by sea. We feebly struggle ; they in glory shine. And though beaten, and beaten badly, we can still admire without envy and cheer without regret. As was said in these columns on Sat- urday, next to the honor of beating Cornell is the honor of being beaten by men who play the game so like gen- tlemen, men who can generously win and as handsome- ly take a defeat. Singularly, there is no sting in being beaten by Cornell; it is as if they had all along de- served to win. Whether they come bearing the lyre to sing in joint concerts of the musical clubs or in running togs to march fleetly down the cinder paths, they come as Athletics at Cornell 307 friends, and as such they depart. Some spirit is in that New York State college which compels the re- spect and admiration of us all. Rarely do groups of young men "show up" better than groups coming from Cornell. Why these things are so we may not pretend to know, and if any one possesses the explana- tion it will be received with pleasure; but it is both curious and inspiring to note what a high standard of youthful manhood Cornell maintains and how her men respond to any test from athletics to the summons for personal bravery. The late James McNeil Whistler, with his eccentric generosity, was at a dinner party at which his brother artist, Lord Leighton, was being eulogized for his versatility. The speaker had discoursed warmly of the orator, the scholar and the man, when W T histler broke in: "Paints some, too." And so Cornell is, after all, none of your athlete's college. It trains men, too. In the words of your own hvmn: "Hail, all hail, Cornell!" After such encomiums from the home of the opponents, Cornell undergraduates could endure with equanimity the attempt of the New York Evening Mail, in November of the same year, to excite itself into a flurry by the use of immoderate language in railing at "Cornell spirit" : CURSE OF OUR COLLEGES American colleges are still under discussion, but very few critics get at the real evil that afflicts them. It is an evil more desperate than drink. The American universities and colleges, so far as the undergraduate bodies are concerned, are cursed with puerility from top to bottom — but especially at the top. Many man- ly young fellows enter the colleges; but they are no sooner in than they have this curse of standardized 308 Concerning Cornell puerility hung about their necks, and by the time they reach the upper classes they are the silliest sheep that ever chewed the cud of meek convention. We can illustrate what we mean by making an extract from an editorial in the Cornell Daily Sun, the students' organ at Cornell University. The editorial is addressed to the class of 1915, the freshmen; and to them it gives this warning, which though badly punc- tuated, is very solemn: "If you could remember a few of the cardinal vir- tues how much better it would be for every one. That that small gray cap is always to be worn, save in the specified excepted cases. That smoking on the campus is not for you. That the dearly prized preparatory school insignia show to better advantage ripped off, and the high school pin, even though hid beneath your coat, does surely break the spirit of the rules. That on the Ithaca street railway, if the car be crowded, with upperclassmen aboard, your position is standing. And right here it might well be noted that this rule will never be effective unless upperclassmen cooper- ate for its enforcement/' This, we are given to understand in another part of the article, represents "the Cornell spirit." Cornell spirit! The Cornell tin-rattle, or the Cornell lolipop, would be a better word. If this is the Cornell spirit, Cornell is still mewling in its nurse's arms. If a stu- dent is a man, what difference does it make to him whether the student in the class below him wears on his head a "small gray cap" or a copper-bottomed wash boiler ? And what part of a gentleman's educa- tion is it to be taught to throw another man out of a seat in a street car, in order that one may sit in it one's self? The one thing that is most horribly scarce in American universities and colleges is manly dynamic spirit. The disaster of our college education, thus far, is tendency to extinguish individual initiative. The Athletics at Cornell 309 students become progressively sheep-like all through the course. In forcing the lowerclassmen to put on childish things, the upperclassmen put and keep them on themselves. Instead of thanking God for an inde- pendent fellow, for a good brave rebel, when he comes to the college, they set themselves at work to lick him into a docile and conventional attitude. The result is that, by the time he is a senior, he generally chews the cud of crass, idealess conformity with all the rest of the hollow-horned genus. It would be a blessing for the majority of American colleges if they could be turned topsy-turvy, with the freshmen on top, and stimulated into that desirable diversity that is so healthy for all human beings and so natural to the American race. However opinion may be divided in regard to the wording of the Sun editorial, or indeed, with reference to the whole system of freshman regula- tions (which after all are not enforced in the letter) it is evident from the Boston Transcript's version that the training men get at Cornell does not pro- duce entirely shameful results. It is also quite clear that the writer in the Evening Mail rolled out the expressions, "Cornell lolipop ,, and "Cornell tin-rattle" with quite a bit of unction. There you have the chief reason for reproducing the screed; it illustrates an attitude toward Cornell (this singling her out to bear the burden of what, at worst, is a common fault of the colleges), that not many years ago was shared by all the metropolitan press, and still appears occasionally. Of the same order is the following anecdote, which was printed in the Saturday Evening Post, March 30, 1912, under the caption "Cornell's Comeback": 310 Concerning Cornell In 1897 President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, now of the University of California, was faculty representa- tive of the Cornell navy. Cornell and Yale had had no rowing relations for twenty years, and through the efforts of Professor Wheeler a race was arranged. When the crews of Harvard, Yale and Cornell met at Poughkeepsie in July of that year there was much rowing excitement, and a great crowd was present. Wheeler was aboard the Cornell launch at the starting-line. Harvard and Cornell were ready, but Yale had not appeared. The Yale launch shot out and a man in it shouted: "Yale cannot be here for twenty minutes. Will you wait, Cornell ?" "We have waited twenty years to beat Yale," Wheeler replied, "and I guess we can wait twenty minutes longer," which in those days and at every Cornell banquet since has unanimously been consid- ered a glittering example of the ready comeback, the quick-as-a-flash stuff, to say nothing of repartee. It is always produced just after the close-harmony boys at Table G have yanked the excelsior out of the Stein Song. It was in rowing that Cornell first earned ath- letic fame, and in view of her for long unbroken string of victories in this sport it is not surprising that there should be a little jealousy, coupled with attempts, somehow, to make her ridiculous. These jabs began at a very early date. President White relates in his "Autobiography" that the Cornell crews in their first contest with the other universi- ties on the Connecticut River, at Springfield, were beaten, but took their defeat manfully. When, how- ever, several years later (1875) the Cornell crews met, at Saratoga Lake, the crews from Harvard, Yale and other leading universities, and won both Athletics at Cornell 311 the freshman and the university races, it was, as he says, humorously charged against President White, that when the news reached Ithaca he rushed out to ring the university bells. "This was not the fact. The simple truth was that, being in the midst of a body of students when the news came, and seeing them rush toward the bell-tower, I went with them to prevent injury to the bells by careless ringing; the ringing was done by them. I will not deny that the victory pleased me. " If this early victory was a bitter pill for the adherents of the rival crews, the Cornell record since must be an unending source of chagrin to such partisans. Of sixty-eight American collegiate varsity races, with from two to eleven contenders in each event, Cornell crews have won forty-seven, or two-thirds of all the contests held up to and in- cluding 1920. The freshmen crews have an even better record, having won thirty-seven of a total of forty-eight races in which they have rowed. In addition Cornell freshmen hold the American record for an eight-oared shell in a two-mile race, and the 1901 Cornell varsity holds the world's record for a four-mile race. These notable achievements were, in greatest measure, due the coaching ability of Charles E. Courtney, Cornell's "Old Man," originator of the " Courtney stroke. " Courtney was born in Union Springs, on Lake Cayuga, New York, on Novem- ber 13, 1849, and began to row races when he was nineteen years old in a boat that he had himself built. The first contest in which he took part was 312 Concerning Cornell staged at Aurora, on his home lake and near his home town. Courtney arrived first at the starting place, and, when the other two contenders ap- peared, it was at once noted that their boats were only about one-third as heavy as Courtney's home- made craft, which weighed eighty pounds. No one expected the country boy to make much of a show- ing, but, when the three-mile race was done, Courtney was the winner by a half-mile lead! As an amateur he rowed eighty-nine single scull races and won them all ! In one hundred and thirty-four contests in which he participated he lost seven. Courtney first came to Cornell as a coach in 1883, and with the exception of one year, 1884, continued in that capacity until his death on July 17, 1920. On account of an injury received on the train enroute for Poughkeepsie in 1915, and because of his advancing years, he had not partic- ipated so actively as formerly in the daily work of training for several seasons. But he still contin- ued, however, to act as mentor, and in 1919 and 1920 was again choosing and personally develop- ing the crews. Between 1885 and 1914, the years of his most active career at Cornell as rowing coach, Cornell crews in intercollegiate contests with Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Brown, Bow- doin, Columbia, on various courses, had one un- broken string of victories, and in the Intercollegi- ate Rowing Association Regattas at Poughkeepsie, first established in 1895, Cornell has won fourteen in a total of twenty-three races, with at times six contestants. Athletics at Cornell 313 Courtney much preferred to have a candidate for the crew come to him absolutely without rowing experience, than to have a man who had had pre- paratory school or rowing club amateur training. Those who had never been in a shell before did not have to unlearn faults, and Courtney was quite able to pick out the men qualified for conversion into varsity material, and to develop them into oarsmen of Cornell calibre. In consequence there has never been, in the history of Cornell rowing, any hint of professionalism, and it may be that this ideal, set up so early by the rowing annals, has done much to keep Cornell athletics in all other branches singularly free from that taint. The "Old Man" was an iron disciplinarian. While in training, crew candidates lived model lives. No favoritism was shown, no matter how humble a candidate was, however slight his con- nections with the circles that set the social pace of the university, he had just as good a chance to make the boat, to be stroke indeed, as his ability earned for him, no more, no less; and the social favorites had the same opportunity only. Any suspicion, even, of infraction of the rules that Courtney laid down, or murmuring against his orders was sufficient cause for dismissal of a can- didate, no matter how promising. An example may be cited from the year 1913, when, owing to conditions connected with the dredging of the Inlet, the "Old Man" found it inadvisable to have more than twenty candidates at the regular quar- ters. The rest he sent to another boat-house, up- 314 Concerning Cornell stream. Some of the men, disgruntled because they were not among the number assigned to the regular boat-house, gave expression to their feel- ings, and when Courtney heard of this he promptly dropped all the one hundred and twenty-five can- didates involved, the innocent with the guilty. Despite this drastic action the Cornell varsity crew that year won its race with Harvard and finished second at Poughkeepsie. In the latter regatta the four-oared crew and the freshman eight also won their races. Another instance of Court- ney's discipline is afforded by the famous "short- cake" crew of 1897, which, up to within a few weeks before the races, was the first varsity eight, but the "Old Man" removed them immediately he found that they had broken training table rules by eating short-cake. Nevertheless the varsity finished first that year at Poughkeepsie. When at "The Oaks," the Cornell training quarters on the Hudson, all sorts of non-strenuous games were indulged in to while away the time between rowing practices. But the men were not allowed to play cards for money. On this account the squad one year sent down to Poughkeepsie for a bushel of hickory nuts to serve as counters for a poker game, and a lively tournament began. "By dint of much persuasion," so Courtney told the story, "they finally got me into the game, and at the end of the tournament I had the bushel of nuts. Every night after supper I would bring out the basket and crack and eat a few nuts, much to the discomfiture of the onlookers." A further side Athletics at Cornell 315 light on the characteristics of the famous old coach is afforded by his remark: "For the second time in my life I sat in the observation train at Poughkeepsie during the 1912 intercollegiate regatta. It was also the last time. " "There are no secrets between the oarsmen and myself so far as the way they are rowing is concerned, and I maintain this attitude right up to the day of the races. They can figure up their chances as well as I." But Courtney seldom talked for publication, and on the occasion of student celebrations of Cornell victories it was generally impossible to secure even the attendance of the "Old Man," much less get him to make a speech. That his death should occur while he was on a vacation near his boyhood home for the first time in several years, and immediately fol- lowing a morning fishing excursion on Cayuga, near where he had w T on his first laurels as an oarsman, was a sentimentally-fitting termination of a notable career; that in his last year as coach he should have turned out a phenomenally successful freshman crew indicates that he was the master of his profession until the end. In this first year crew he also left a heritage which will serve to carry the Courtney rowing tradition into future years. That his methods will be preserved at Cornell goes almost without saying; and it was at first hoped that, with John Hoyle, his able coadjutor through many years, available to carry forward his work without a significant break, a continuation of victories would be the share of Cornell crews. 316 Concerning Cornell John F., "Jack," Moakley coaches the "track" teams. This is a superfluous statement, no doubt, to most readers of these lines, but there will be some who should be properly introduced. Moak- ley came to Cornell in 1899, and since then the track teams have showed a steady rise in quality, manifest particularly in their all-round excellence in the varied events that constitute this sport, and by their great preeminence in distance running and cross-country. When the Intercollegiate Track Cup was first put up for competition, in 1904, Cornell teams had never won an intercollegiate meet. That year the team tied with Princeton for fourth place. But in the following year the team won first place, repeated the performance in 1906, and then, after an interim of a year, again in 1908, next in 1911 and finally in 1914, thus securing the fifth leg on the cup and winning this trophy permanently for Cornell. But it must not be presumed that this final triumph for Cornell was a foregone conclusion. Pennsylvania had in the intervening years also secured four legs on the trophy, and that team also showed in 1914 the greatest promise of adding another victory to its string. On the other hand, Moakley was con- fronted with the task of developing a championship team out of a squad that contained only two of the former season's point winners. In the face of such a discouraging outlook the coach and the captain set to work determinedly, developed every latent talent in the candidates who offered themselves Athletics at Cornell 317 for training, enthused, inspired and stimulated the men, so that when the critical contest took place, although eleven of the twelve men who scored for Cornell had never won a point in the Intercolle- giates before, the team nevertheless won; defeating Pennsylvania, which got second place, by twelve points. Moreover, this was done by scoring in eleven out of a total of thirteen events, indubitable evidence of the work of a well-balanced team, not that of a few individual stars. This is only another way of saying that as in crew, so also in track, Cornell develops her own representatives, does not depend on recruiting precocious schoolboy talent. In view of the fact, that as reported by Moakley himself, "Nearly every other college Saturday (1914) wanted to see Cornell win," it seems almost shameful to set down that the Cornell team already has four legs on the new cup, acquired by winning first place in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. As has been said, Cornell track teams are espe- cially distinguished by their distance runners. The continued excellence in such events is commonly explained as a response to the effect of the hilly topography of the Cornell region in developing great endurance in the track representatives of the institution. Such a conclusion is hardly borne out by the facts, one that other college teams train on much more hilly courses than Cornell's do; the second, that it seems evident that while sprinters must be born so, distance runners can be made. In the Intercollegiate Cross-Country Runs, Cor- nell has, if anything, been an even more consistent 318 Concerning Cornell winner than in the track meets, with seventeen team victories to her credit in the twenty-four runs that have been held up to 1924. Moakley's prime task, in addition to training and developing his men, seems to be to inspire them with confidence in their ability. Before the meet in which the first Intercollegiate Cup was finally won, he is reported to have summoned Caldwell and Hoffmire to his room and addressed them as follows: " Caldwell, you have that awful habit of staying behind your man and allowing him to make the pace, so that about the time you are ready to make your bid the race is over. I don't want this to happen this afternoon. Go out yourself and race the boys off their feet. Keep in advance of Mere- dith by all means, because he's liable to spring a sprint near the finish. Of Brown I don't expect much, but look out for Meredith. Stay in front and finish in front. You know what'll happen if you lose. "And see here Hoffmire, the time has arrived when you can show what a great little runner you are. Penn has McCurdy fit and ready to rob us of five points. I know we'll win if you win the two- mile race. It's all up to you. You really don't appreciate what a great little man you are today. But imagine what you'll be in the eyes of the ath- letic public if you allow McCurdy to beat you. That must not happen. You heard what I told Caldwell. That goes double for you. We're out to win cleanly, but you must do your share. " Athletics at Cornell 319 That his advice bore good fruit is proved by the fact that both men won their races in the face of determined competition. And that the Cornell track victories are in no slight degree due to Moakley's training is indicated by the fact that the metropolitan sporting writers acclaim him the "greatest track coach the world has ever known." It was a deserved recognition when this Cornell sport-mentor was made head-coach of the Ameri- can team at the Olympic Games in Antwerp, 1920. Up to the time of Dr. Sharpe's coming to Cornell, in 1912, the Cornell football record had been one of ups and downs, mostly downs. Penn- sylvania, the traditional rival and opponent in the big game of the year, on Thanksgiving Day, had not been humbled by defeat since 1901, the inter- vening years had seen only a tie game in 1906, the single break in a succession of discomfitures, including several disastrous routs. Such a thing as a championship team was dreamed of, but not hoped for, by several generations of Cornell under- graduates. Nor was the Penn hoodoo broken in the first year under Sharpe, once more the score read in the opponent's favor, 7 to 2; during the whole season the team won only three minor games in the ten played. But there were signs of im- provement, the Penn score did not reach the figures it had attained too often in former years. Then in 1913 came the first real fruits of the new regime, the team won more games than it lost, and on Thanksgiving Day it triumphed over Penn by a score of 21 to 0. 320 Concerning Cornell That this victory was not a fluke became ap- parent in the following season, 1914, when the team lost only two of the games played and again defeated Pennsylvania, this time by a score of 24 to 12. Michigan also fell before its attack, score 28 to 13. Now the undergraduates began, really, to perk up, the song of the "Big Red Team": Cheer till the sound wakes the blue hills around, Makes the scream of the north wind yield To the strength of the yell, from the men of Cornell When the Big Red Team takes the field, Yea! yea! Three thousand strong we march, march along From our home of the gray rock height Oh! the vict'ry is sealed when the team takes the field And we cheer for the Red and White. that had seemingly been ill-omened from the time of its introduction, was revived and apparently did not dampen the ardor of the gridiron warriors in the least. But the real triumph came in 1915, the season that furnished forth an undefeated Cornell football team, champions of all, including victories over Harvard, Michigan and Pennsylvania, pre- mier honors for Cornell in the intercollegiate foot- ball world. In the spring of 1919, after the gap of the war years, Dr. Sharpe was called to the position of Director of Athletics at his Alma Mater, Yale. Accordingly it has been necessary to begin over again in the building up of the football structure, The Lath Charles E. Courtney and Two Former Cornell Coxswains JB^^' s* "^Sk Ti - - pfe^ Photo The SwilfkiNG Pool in Fall Creek Athletics at Cornell 321 both coaching staff and players. JohnH., "Speedy," Rush, who had successfully coached Princeton teams for three years, was placed in charge, but he had only four veterans of earlier teams in his initial squad. It was, perhaps, not to be expected that under the circumstances a winning team could be developed in the first year. In any event the season of 1919, in view of the pre-war triumphs was a most unhappy one and ended in a 24 to defeat for Cornell by Pennsylvania. Cornell's long undisputed, premier position in rowing and track athletics makes it evident that the methods pursued in developing teams for these sports are the right ones, at least for use with the material that constitutes the body of Cornell men. While a prep school star may be recruited from time to time and later make good under the red and white banner, it is clear that the greater number of such individuals will con- tinue to enroll in those collegiate institutions for which the particular preparatory schools that develop their football talents are academically, as well as in the athletic field, feeders and adjuncts. A certain element among Cornell undergraduates always deplores this, and hopes that it is a situa- tion that may be remedied by the establishing of a Cornell football tradition on a par with that of these other institutions. While it would not be fair to insist that Cornell will be advantaged, if these youths with a reputation, never, in any great number, enter the institution, for some of the few that have come have won distinction in her halls 322 Concerning Cornell both as athletes and scholars; still it should be recognized that in football Cornell will attain, per- manently, a front rank place only when the same kind of slow but consistent and persistent effort is devoted to developing football material as has been, through a long past, given by coaches and candidates both to the making of crews and track teams. In other words, when undergraduates and management both become reconciled to the fact that Cornell can place no dependence on a supply of ready made material in football, but must work to develop it themselves at Cornell, then the records will show from year to year an undimin- ished lustre. Such a program has, indeed, been entered upon with a large measure of success. The long term en- gagement of Gilmour Dobie to be football coach at Cornell and to look after football exclusively and be in residence the year round in itself indicates that the Athletic Council is appreciative of the fundamental difficulty, and has taken the proper steps to meet it. It had been, up to the time when this arrangement was made, unprecedented among eastern institutions at least, to have a coach engaged to devote all his time to football and to remain on the job throughout the year. But it has been by such concentration and application to the task that Courtney and Moakley achieved their successes and it seems reasonable to antici- Athletics at Cornell 323 pate that the same results can be attained in other branches. Certainly, also, the record of the new coach inspires confidence. A college graduate and him- self a player on a championship Minnesota team, he has, since 1906, successively coached at three different institutions and at all of these has been uniformly successful. Indeed, his teams have the extraordinary record of never losing a game. He came to Cornell from Annapolis. The future should be predicted, not on Dobie's brilliant performance, but on the degree in which Cornell followers of football are willing to work for four years toward the creation of a squad of players from all classes, trained from the ground up, made fit to become football stars of the first magnitude in their senior years and leaving behind them when they are graduated a galaxy of all-Cornell material to fill their places in succeeding seasons. In basket-ball Dr. Sharpe was able to turn out a championship team in the first year of his incum- bency as Cornell coach. In following years the standing of the team in the league was not so high, in 1916-17 it finished last. But it got back to sec- ond place in 1923, and in 1924 finished first under the able coaching of Howard Ortner, C. U. '19. A championship title is never definitely awarded in college baseball, but in 1914 it was conceded that the Red and White team had earned first place. In 324 Concerning Cornell 1915, fourteen of the twenty-six games played were won; in 1916, thirteen of twenty-two, and these included the winning of the three important series, those with Princeton, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In 1924 the team made a better record than it had for a number of years past, winning about two- thirds of the games played. Another sport with a paid coach at Cornell is wrestling, and its leader is Walter C. O'Connell, a Cornell man of the 1911 class. The wrestling teams, therefore, are all-Cornell products, and their record easily equals, if not surpasses, those earned by the Cornell teams of other sports that are more in the public eye. The wrestling team has won the intercollegiate championship six times in the eight years, including that of the 1917 sea- son, that the league had then been in existence. In 1924 Cornell got second place. "Where were the other colleges while all those pre-war championships were being gathered in by Cornell ?" — the non-Cornellian reader may well ask. To answer and to end this review it may best serve to quote once more from the New York Even- ing Mail, which evidently has had a change in heart since 1911, for in 1914, Grantland Rice, writing for its columns on Cornell athletics for that year, said: If Cornell ever started winning football champion- ships her case would quickly come under the grip of the Sherman anti-trust law. For, in other respects — on track, field and water — her mastery is about com- plete. Not even Harvard, with her Brickley and Athletics at Cornell 325 Mahan in football, stands as high in all-around ath- letic achievement as the Ithacan stronghold. Cornell undoubtedly is better in more athletic ways and devices than any other American university. She carries a greater variety of athletic skill, and it's just as well that her football machines are not quite up to her track teams and her crews. Otherwise there would be little intercollegiate competition. Cornell may come in for a bit of spoofing through the fall, but all spoofing ceases when her runners reach the track and her crews reach for their oars. The spoofing is then shifted to the other side of the hedge. In 1915 Cornell won the football championship, and in 1922, '23 and '24 had undefeated teams! Athletics are not conducted at Cornell to the detriment of the students' academic training. The various coaches vie with the faculty in insisting that the scholarship rating of the men in the vari- ous squads be kept well above the passing mark. The faculty has ruled that a man with conditions in his studies may not take part in an intercollegi- ate contest. The iinderfit scholar is a poor candi- date for a place on a varsity team, a source of worri- ment to the several coaches, and the object of much exhortation, on part of the undergraduates them- selves, that he keep up in his studies. And if skill in solving problems, no matter what their nature, is admitted to constitute a part of a rational ed- ucational system, then the mental discipline of learning the rules and science of the various games must be considered as counting for something in the intellectual development of the athletic under- graduate. 326 Concerning Cornell To the uninitiated it may appear that, although the benefit of college athletics outweighs any hand- icap they may impose on the men participating, only a few receive the training involved; that the rest of the undergraduates, in vast majority, on the other hand, idle away their time as mere spectators and rooters for the several teams. Nothing could be further from the truth as far as Cornell is concerned. To begin with, in order that so many aggregations of intercollegiate champion- ship calibre may be assembled, it is necessary that a vast amount of material be available from which the few best men are chosen eventually to represent the university in a varsity team. A compilation made in a pre-war year when four thousand six hundred students were regularly enrolled in the university showed that fully one thousand men were engaged in competition for places on the varsity and freshman teams. In the varsity group the track team brought out two hundred and twenty-five men; rowing, seven hundred; baseball, sixty; football, sixty-five; cross-country, five hundred; basket-ball, fifty-five; soccer, thirty; hockey, forty-seven; swimming, twelve; wrestling, ninety-five; fencing, thirty-five; lacrosse, thirty; tennis, twenty, and golf, thirty. The figures on freshman athletics are : track team, one hundred and twenty-five; crew, one hundred and twenty-five; baseball, five hundred; football, ninety-five; cross-country, thirty. That these conditions have not changed in the return to nor- mal after the war is evidenced by the fact that Athletics at Cornell 327 even more men came out for the several varsity sports in 1919; thus eighty -five for football, seventy-five for baseball and one hundred and twenty for wrestling, figures which happen to be at hand. In addition to the one thousand and more men engaged in varsity and freshman athletics the system of intercollege games established at Cornell a number of years ago, and which has gained popularity, brought another thousand men actively into athletics not of the varsity type. The inter- college system provides an opportunity for athletic rivalry between the various colleges that make up the university. Drill at Cornell is compulsory for freshmen and sophomore students and approxi- mately two thousand men are required to pursue military training three hours a week. In addition to the forms of athletics already mentioned it is assumed that more than two hun- dred men take part in the interfraternity contests such as baseball, football, bowling and tennis. It is undoubtedly true that some students take part in more than one branch of athletics during the year; in the tabulations above there are, there- fore, duplications, but it is fair to assume that the number of undergraduates who during the year get exercise in one way or another reaches the four thousand mark. From this it will be appreciated that the new student at Cornell finds no difficulty in obtaining physical exercise. If he has the latent ability, and the willingness to work, and can also keep up in 328 Concerning Cornell his studies, he can as easily make a varsity team and "win his C." Preparatory school reputations count for little or nothing unless backed up by per- formance of unusual quality in competition with other candidates, nor do social connections influ- ence the coaches in their choice of men. As each season opens there is an urgent call for candidates for the sport, and the larger the squad that reports the happier are those in charge of it. If the frater- nity men predominate in the number of the "C" men it is for two reasons. One, that each frater- nity urges every possible eligible man in its group to "come out"; and after he is in training gives him moral support and encouragement during the strenuous competition that ensues. This is per- haps the greatest handicap of the independent; he has no organized group of undergraduate inti- mates interested in his personal efforts to win a place, consequently he often becomes disheart- ened and quits in the midst of the struggle, or is unsystematic in his training. If the independent has the will-power to keep persistently at it by himself and develops the necessary ability, he is assured of a position on the team. In fact, it is more than likely that he will be preferred of two candidates, one a fraternity man, the other not, for the latter is under the influence only of the coach, and therefore will, perhaps, respond more promptly to that leader's suggestions. The second reason for the preponderance of fraternity men among the varsity athletes is that athletic success is almost sure to gain a man one or more bids to Athletics at Cornell 329 join a fraternity. If so, the independent who has won such success will find that it requires as much will-power to resist the fond embraces of the fra- ternity "rushing teams" as it did to work by him- self for athletic laurels. One of the evils charged against college ath- letics is the amount of money spent in fostering such sports, and the consequent necessity of secur- ing large gate receipts, particularly from football games, to pay the bill. There would be little ex- cuse for bringing up this question in these pages if it were not for the fact that Cornell's superior position in intercollegiate competition of necessity puts her among the institutions that must have the system highly developed. Figures published be- fore the war showed that Harvard, in 1914, spent $160,000; Yale, $100,000; while Cornell ranked third with expenditures of only $75,000. Again, only four hundred men at Harvard then engaged in intercollegiate athletics, so that each man cost about $400 per annum to keep in competition. As has been suggested, most of this money comes from the receipts of football games, a source from which Harvard derived $84,713 in profits in the 1913 season. At Cornell the revenue from football was not nearly so great, only about $10,000 in the same year. In the several post-war years the enormous- ness of the gate receipts at the Harvard- Yale games has been the theme of much newspaper comment. Cornell students, despite such evident disparity in amount of admission money got from the public are, nevertheless, not compelled to buy 330 Concerning Cornell season tickets to the games as is the practice at some institutions. It is necessary, however, to depend on the voluntary purchase of season tickets to supply a large part of the funds. A more picturesque method of making up part of the deficiency is the undergraduate staging of the "Spring Day" circus. To revert to the original question: the specific objections to the raising of so much money for athletic purposes are that it tends to commercialize the college sports; and second, that too small a per- centage of the students take part in the games, the money being spent in the highly specialized train- ing of a few exceptional performers, while the rest of the undergraduate body is physically neglected. The answer to the first objection is that football, the money-maker, is about the only sport into which professionalism has not intruded, and is not likely to intrude. "The public can have its fill of baseball all summer long. It can see noncollegiate track and field athletics, hockey, swimming, wrest- ling and rowing. But it can get the thrill of foot- ball only in the shadow of our seats of learning and in an atmosphere of mellow scholasticism and rigid amateurism. The roughest of our sports is thus at once the most exclusive and the most alluring," says the New York Tribune. It would remain so even if the box-office receipts were dispensed with. Such being the case it is not unfair that the public should pay for providing proper training and care for the students that furnish the spectacle. This applies to the coaching and medical staff; the high- Athletics at Cornell 331 priced and elaborate business organization of athletic affairs is necessary because of the way in which the money must be got. With reference to the charge that only a small percentage of students participate in the advantages for athletic training purchased by this money; the answer is that at Cornell, at least, the charge is not founded on fact. In addition to the figures quoted in earlier para- graphs, it may suffice here to set down that an investigation made in 1915 showed that ninety- two and five-tenths per cent of all the undergrad- uate men at Cornell participated in some directed physical exercise. Half of the four thousand in- dividuals that this percentage includes, are, to be sure, receiving physical training under instruction supplied by university funds, but it is quite notable that the interest in athletic sports accounts for the other half. One other criticism of college athletics is that there are too many intercollegiate contests scheduled for each team. If so, at Cornell the remedy is in the hands of the faculty which has a committee that must ratify all schedules of athletic events, and this body is rather insistent that no individual shall be absent from the university during instruction periods for more than two or three days during a term for the purpose of playing in an outside game. In that respect, at any rate, the evil can not, therefore, be very serious. It remains to say a word about the gala athletic days of the year. In the fall, from one to three football games, important enough to attract a horde of visitors, are scheduled at Ithaca. Of late 332 Concerning Cornell years, with the substantial and ample accommoda- tions provided by the new Schoellkopf Stadium, the setting for these events has been entirely fitting, a thing that was lacking when the games were played on Percy Field, down-town. Now the spec- tator finds himself or herself in the midst of college halls, no incongruous evidence of the world of business is visible, the whole scene is "in atmos- phere." To the right and left are close-packed rows of a gaily-attired football crowd, below is the white-chalked field and its plunging war- riors; while in the waits between the periods there is spread before the visitors' eyes a wide pan- orama of hill and hollow, all decked in the glorious color enchantments of a deciduous forest autumn. The football season provides the kindest weather of the year; on the day of a game one can usually count on a mellow October sun shining down through a golden haze during the contest, and sinking as a great ball of red fire to mark its end. Those who come once to see a Cornell game at Ithaca, have, therefore, immediately an intense yearning to come again. At Thanksgiving time it is the great ambition of each undergraduate to be at Philadelphia for the Pennsylvania game; such a trip may, indeed, be termed the great dissi- pation of the school year. Cornell undergraduates are not accustomed to prance off to a big city to "see a show" or indulge themselves in the other kindred attractions of a great center of population, the big cities are too far away. Hence the planning Athletics at Cornell 333 for it, and the great anticipation of the "trip to Philly." In the vernal season there are usually several baseball games with rivals of such reputation as to attract large crowds, but the crowning day of the year is Navy Day. This has been made a university holiday and is celebrated sometime near the end of May, when the weather becomes settled, warm and fine. In the morning there is the Spring Day circus, in the afternoon a big baseball game and after that the regatta on Cayuga. The last provides the most animated and picturesque of the Cornell athletic spectacles. Long before the sched- uled time of the races, a dozen fleets seem suddenly to have been born on the lake, as innumerable craft; row- and motor-boats, canoes, sail-boats and excursion steamers all ply their way to the end of the course. Then the long moving grandstand, the observation train, comes puffing along down the shore, a two-headed beast, having an engine at each end. Near evening, patrol boats clear the course, but still the wind keeps up and the shells fail to appear. The sun, with evident mindfulness of the deficiencies of Nature, does his best to offset the difficulty by painting a tremendous sunset on the western sky. It comes to dusk, the wind- chopped sea persists. Spectators become restless. The more provident bring forth lunches, delectable bits of food, seemingly fit for the gods, at least that is the way these lunches appeal to those who have not been so foresighted. Soon little bonfires show beacon-like flames all along the steep slope of the 334 Concerning Cornell lake front, and cast a lurid light on the waters below. Finally, at eight o'clock, the wind abates, slow, oily swells replace the choppy sea, and the crews put in an appearance. They start; the obser- vation train rolls along thunderously, with engine bells clanging, suiting its speed to that of the racing shells. Excursion boats careen dangerously as the hoarse bellowing of the coxswains announces the approach of the flying racers from out of the gloom. They pass, thin black streaks filled with rhythmic- ally-swaying figures, and one catches the steady beat of the oars. A faint cheer announces that the line has been crossed; but by now it is so dark that only those who are stationed at the very finish can see who is victorious. Yet every Cornellian is sufficiently happy when the red and white is announced the winner. Between the actual contests there are athletic rallies of varied kinds. Their chief purpose, how- ever, is to encourage students to try out for various teams. Usually also, there are "send offs" when the undergraduates march to the railroad stations to bid good luck and a victorious outcome to a team that is to meet an opponent on a foreign field. Similarly the large and living loyalty to Cornell and Cornell athletic representatives finds expression when the students gather again "to meet the team " on its return. Whether they come as conquerors or conquered, it matters not, there is always a crowd to welcome those who fought well for Cornell's fame abroad. While these occasions Athletics at Cornell 335 are part of the athlete's reward for self-sacrifice and devotion to training, the crowning salvo of applause and public recognition of athletic dis- tinction comes at the "Junior Smoker," when the "Varsity (7s " are awarded to those who have won such laurels, with much speech making and general jollification at a great gathering held in the Drill Hall. CHAPTER VIII INSTRUCTION THE present age may be characterized as one of accomplishment in contrast with the longer epoch of appreciation that preceded it. The point of view of the modern world is essentially differ- ent from that of several generations ago. In the world of letters this difference is quite apparent in that the writing of the younger authors is marked by an almost entire absence of the quota- tions and literary allusions so abundant in the works of an earlier school. Intelligent persons nowadays are not versed in the classics, despite a "five foot shelf of books" and similar expedients, hence quotations from these, however apt, afford but little pleasure. Still less patience would be shown for what our forefathers were pleased to term "the feast of reason and the flow of soul." We are credibly informed that at the bicenten- nial celebration of the founding of Harvard, in 1836, there was speech making, with interruptions only to eat, from ten in the morning until eight at night; and the audiences, made up of the same individuals, were held rapt and attentive for all that time. Today the saying is "No souls are saved after the first twenty minutes." We are ambitious to do and think for ourselves rather than take pleasure in the thoughts and actions of others. Therefore we have "education for effi- ciency. M Tiik Late Charles E. Courtney Instruction 337 And yet we may suspect that education, at least as represented by the acquirement of a col- lege degree, continues to be sought after for the same reason that Ruskin expressed as a desire "to ring with confidence the visitors' bell at double- belled doors. " Modernized, this amounts to say- ing that many students in attendance at our in- stitutions of higher learning are only so ignobly ambitious as to hope that the attainment of a di- ploma will make them bold to knock at any man's door unafraid. Ruskin makes this idea synony- mous with education for "advancement in life, " or as we put it, education for efficiency. Yet, a very real distinction may be drawn between Ruskin's education for advancement in life and our educa- tion for efficiency. Education for efficiency in its ultimate phase is vocational training. One may quarrel whether this should have a place in insti- tutions of higher learning, but of its practical value to the individual and to the community there can be no doubt. There exists, however, today, at Cornell, and elsewhere, a large group of under- graduates, it would not be right to call them stu- dents, that desires neither an education for effi- ciency nor one that "in itself is advancement in life," Ruskin's expression for true scholarship. Such undergraduates require rather a wordy famil- iarity with culture; an opportunity to test what manner of men the faculties, "professors, " are; and after four years of superficial connection with learn- ing, in which they secure a mite of elementary knowledge in many subjects and, perhaps vicar- 338 Concerning Cornell iously, a plenitude of athletics; to have the hall mark of the institution put on them in the matter of a degree, for this serves " to identify you. " This is the class of persons that Ruskin, no doubt, had in mind when he wrote of seeking education for ad- vancement in life. Between them and the earn- est students in the professional schools there ex- ists a wide gulf of difference. It is the student who wishes to put into practice and to enlarge upon what he has learned that Cornell seeks to enroll, and not the man who desires primarily to be iden- tified by her diploma. When Ezra Cornell in his opening address at the inaugural ceremonies of the university said: "I hope we have laid the foundations of an insti- tution which shall combine practical with liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the man- ufactories, for the investigations of science, and for mastering all the practical questions of life with suc- cess and honor;" he expressed as tersely as maybe the whole spirit and purpose of the institution. The keynote of the statement is "prac- tical with liberal education." In the College of Arts and Sciences Cornell has pro- ENTRANCE, RAND HALL, NIGHT Vlded IOr the aCl- Instruction 339 vancement of pure learning; the other colleges are professional schools, the training they offer is for an object directly in view. They do, however, also contribute to the advancement of knowledge, if not along academic lines, then in research both pure and applied. Indeed the faculty of the Agri- cultural College have felt that their courses so truly combine the practical with the liberal education as to warrant their bestowing the degree of Bach- elor of Science without a limiting clause. However, much of the work that the Agricultural College faculty requires of its undergraduates is in the same subjects that the College of Arts and Science includes and, in fact, in courses offered by that faculty. The same relation prevails, though in a lesser degree, in the case of the other professional schools. Each one is dependent on the Arts College in a greater or less measure. Thus regular four- year students in the College of Agriculture are re- quired to take courses in English, Chemistry, Geol- ogy, Physics and Political Science in the Arts Col- lege. The Civil Engineers take a number of courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Economics; Veterinary College students, Chem- istry; the Law students, Economics and other elective subjects. The Medical College is a gradu- ate school and requires the Arts degree or its equiv- alent for entrance. From this enumeration it will be appreciated that the Arts College with its lib- eral studies is the nucleus around which the profes- sional schools have developed. Again, while the Arts College students are required to give approx- ;uo Concerning Cornell imately four-fifths of their time during the first three years of their course to subjects in their own college, they may freely elect subjects in other col- leges to make up the rest of their schedules of study during those years. Moreover, they may devote the whole of the senior year to study in the pro- fessional schools and still be eligible for the Arts degree. Cornell provides liberal with practical education, it is a university where, in accordance with Ezra Cornell's ideal, "any person can find in- struction in any study" an ideal he probably never hoped could be so nearly realized in the short time that has elapsed since the founding. Yet the vari- ous faculties, without putting unnecessary obsta- cles athwart Ezra Cornell's idea of any person, any study, have found it possible to insist on certain requirements and to restrict the choice of electives in such manner as will insure a consistent and prof- itable course of study for each student who is a candidate for a degree. Much has been written in late years about the value of a college education. In these discussions the emphasis is put altogether too much on com- parison of the business successes, judged by relative earning ability, of the trained and untrained man. A favorite device is to gather statistics of this na- ture by sending a list of queries to representative employers asking: Do you prefer college gradu- ates for positions in your business? Are the college men more capable? In your experience are college men more generally successful? and others of the same tenor. But seldom, or never, is there included Instruction 341 a question regarding the effect of the college man's presence on the general welfare of the community. Why not rather judge the graduates by answers that would be received in reply to such queries as : What has the college man done for political uplift and social betterment in your vicinity? On this basis, it would seem that the education which Rus- kin said "in itself is advancement in life" is best. If the narrow criterion of business success, that is now applied so exclusively, could be done away with as a sole basis for judging the worth of a man's life, the college man would push even more rapidly to the front. The graduates of such institutions as the universities of Wisconsin and Cornell, in the degree in which they have taken advantage of the instruction offered, must needs be informed, capable of intelligent judgment, and apt to take a nonpartisan attitude in public affairs. But even when earning ability is made the only standard, college men have quite generally measured up to expectations. In places where mere shrewdness determines advancement it is of course not to be expected that the university graduate will make as good a showing as the man from the so-called school of hard knocks. Perhaps it is true, as has been stated in a criticism of the college of today, that students have too many aids, too much appa- ratus and assistance in their work, and that be- cause of this are not as resourceful as they should be. But it must not be imagined that at Cornell, at least, the student is in any way pampered. In fact the requirements both for admission and grad- 342 Concerning Cornell uation are constantly being made more difficult of fulfillment. It is no longer possible to enter Cornell Univer- sity as a candidate for a degree without having requisite preparation. Formerly students were often admitted with one or more "conditions," which they were required to make up within a specified period. This is no longer permitted. Moreover, after he has been registered as an under- graduate the student must be able to complete suc- cessfully from term to term all the courses specified by the faculty of the particular professional college he may have entered, or if he enters the Arts Col- lege, satisfy quite definite requirements both as to the amount and character of his studies. The con- ditions in regard to the character of studies are such as will insure that the student will get the broad and liberal training that the degree of the College symbolizes. Free election of all sorts of elementary courses, which formerly resulted in very large classes in those that had the reputation of being easy, is no longer permitted. The student is allowed a choice but he must elect enough work in a subject to in- sure his getting more than a mere smattering of its content and he must include a wide enough variety of studies to avoid narrow specialization in his first two years. Some work in each the groups English and history, a foreign language, philoso- phy and mathematics and in one or more of the sciences is prescribed. Members of the faculty advise each student in making a rational choice. In his upperclass years he must elect from certain Instruction 343 groups of studies one in which he will do his prin- cipal work and himself choose a professor in that group to guide his choices and consult with him in regard to courses. In all the student must pass one hundred and twenty hours of work and with satisfactory grades; conditioned courses do not count for graduation. If his standing in any one term is unsatisfactory he is not permitted to register for the next term unless the poor stand- ing is due to ill health or other causes not in the control of the student. If he is allowed to continue after such excuses, or if later reinstated, neither any part of the work nor the residence of the unsatisfactory term is counted toward his degree. Substantially similar regulations govern the work in the professional colleges. These rules will indicate the discouragements from loafing or unsystematic study at Cornell. Instruction is given in lectures, by laboratory practice and in recitation classes. Advanced stu- dents in any subject also take part in seminary discussions and do research work. Perhaps the major part of the instruction is in the form of one hour lectures. The professor, more or less formally, discusses the subject point by point while the stu- dents take notes. Usually text-book study is as- signed to round out the discussion and to furnish the concise definitions necessary. In addition, a variety of reference readings is often required. It is presumed that each hour of classroom in- struction will entail at least two hours outside study on the part of the average student. As a 344 Concerning Cornell matter of fact few courses are given that much out- side time regularly through the term by under- graduates. Special interest in, or difficulty with, a particular subject may, however, result in some individuals giving even more hours to that topic. But the great defect of the lecture system is the fact that it fosters the natural tendency of stu- dents to procrastinate. When they close their note-books at the end of a lecture most undergrad- uates are prone to dismiss the subject from their minds until the next meeting of the class, putting off conning of notes, study of the text and refer- ence reading until just preceding the preliminary and final examinations. In most subjects classes are scheduled to meet either three or five times per week and, although some come together only once or twice in the same period, it may readily be ap- preciated that neglected work even in such classes rapidly accumulates and becomes increasingly difficult to assimilate. The apparent remedy for the inadequacy of the lecture system at Cornell is more recitation classes. At lectures the professor is continually pouring out information and, with the exception of preliminary examinations which come only at intervals, there is little opportunity for the student to reproduce what has been learned, and none to discuss the subject with instructors. The university has not, however, enough income to provide for recitation sections in the majority of courses, though they are held in some. Here is the greatest need of Cornell — more money for a general endowment to Instruction 346 provide higher salaries for the existing faculty and to make possible the appointment of an adequate number of instructors to conduct recitation classes with only a few students in each section. Such recitation classes would provide the personal con- tact of instructor and student that is so desirable and would insure that students keep up with their work throughout the term. But it would not serve to have low-salaried, mediocre men in such posi- tions. They must be competent in their subjects, of forceful personality, able to win and hold the respect of the undergraduates. If Cornell could have leaders in the different fields of learning occu- pying lecture chairs and could supplement their teaching with personal instruction given by prom- ising younger thinkers and investigators, she would make an immense stride forward. This is not a new idea: in fact it was the actual practice in the early days of the institution when Louis Agassiz, Goldwin Smith, James Russell Lowell and George William Curtis were numbered among the nonresident professors who gave courses of lec- tures while younger men carried on the routine of instruction in their various departments. Securing funds for general endowment is prob- ably the most difficult task attaching to university administration because the donor of such moneys can realize nothing tangible from his gift. When a building is given it usually also carries the name of the benefactor or some person whom he wishes honored by a memorial. Indeed gifts of this nature, while providing for the material ex- 346 Concerning Cornell pansion of the university, handicap its intellectual growth. The new structures provide accommoda- tions for the growing number of students but they also add to the heavy burden of maintenance and, by necessitating a larger number of instructors, tend to bring about a general reduction of salaries, with the result that the best professors are attracted away from Cornell by the substantially larger pay offered by other institutions. Nevertheless a start has been made m the matter of providing for this need. The Semi- centennial Endowment Campaign had succeeded by the middle of 1920 in securing subscriptions for five millions of dollars for the general endowment fund and at Commencement in the same year the gift by August Hecksher of five hundred thousand dollars for the promotion of research in science was announced. It is sincerely to be hoped that the opportunity to help Cornell will have a strong appeal to men of wealth who care more for doing practical good with their money than for having their names, or those of a relative or of some ad- mirable personage, appear over the portals ot a university structure. The Medical College of Cor- nell was for years supported by one man without publicity for himself. If publicity is desired a much greater dignity attaches to the endowment of a professorship than to naming a monument of stone or brick. Furthermore the success of Cornell in combin- ing liberal with practical education can not fail to appeal to benefactors who, while recognizing the Instruction 347 value of pure scholarship, nevertheless realize that this is a work-a-day world and that the majority of students are not fitted to become intellectual leaders or research workers. The splendid laboratory facilities of Cornell are one of her greatest assets. Laboratory practice has always been a very essential feature in the scheme of instruction, especially in the scientific and technical departments. By common consent lecture and recitation classes are nearly all sched- uled in morning hours leaving the afternoons free for laboratory periods. The work and experiments assigned in the laboratories are of such nature as to familiarize the student with the material of the UPPER CA8CADILLA GORGE, WINTER subject, its apparatus and methods, teach him to observe and make deductions as to the significance of phenomena and to collect data for the writing of a report on what was done and the results 348 Concerning Cornell obtained. The purpose of excursions afield in the natural history subjects is similar to that of the laboratory practice in that it consists of observa- tion and the collection of data and materials, and in that the field notes are made the basis for an extended report written subsequently. In both cases the time spent in class is usually two and one-half hours, while from one to three or more hours at home are required for writing the report. In some cases, however, the equivalent of laboratory periods is devoted to what is essentially manual training, thus mechanical drawing periods, forge and foundry practice are of this nature. In such cases one unit of credit is allotted for each two and a half hours spent in the laboratory, shop or drawing room. Where outside work in writing a report is required, additional credit may be given. Undergraduates at Cornell carry from fifteen to twenty hours of work per week. Each hour in a lecture or recitation class entitles the student to one hour of credit; each two and one-half hours in the laboratory or field, one hour. Thus a student registered for eighteen hours of work might have one five-hour lecture course, meeting five times per week, two three-hour lecture courses, one three- hour recitation course, in a foreign language say; aud three laboratory periods, one of which carries an extra hour of credit for outside work in writing a report. He spends then, each week, twenty-one and one-half hours actually in the classroom or laboratory. That would be less than four hours per day on his studies. But, as it is expected that Instruction 349 he will devote two hours of home work in prepara- tion for every hour of class work, it follows that, with a schedule as here outlined, some twenty- eight additional hours of outside study are re- quired of him in connection with lecture and reci- tation classes. Add one hour each for writing the report for the two normal laboratory periods and two and one-half hours more for the report on which an extra credit hour is granted and we have a total of fifty-four hours devoted to intellectual labor. That would be nine hours per day. Probably the majority of Cornell students do not devote so much time to their university work. In the engineering colleges and the special course in chemistry it is not unlikely that they do, but probably from thirty to thirty-five hours per week or from five to six hours per day comes nearer the amount of time devoted to study by Arts, Agricul- ture and Law men. The Medical College students (graduates) and the Architecture students have long hours but a large part of their time is spent in laboratory and drawing practice. This estimate of a theoretical average of nine hours per day of study at Cornell was made independently of a similar computation arriving at a like result re- cently published by a member of the faculty. His figures furnished the basis for several editorials in the university daily, The Cornell Sun, conducted by undergraduates, carrying the complaint that Cornell students were compelled to work too hard. These editorials had an interesting outcome in that they led to the publication of statements in other 350 Concerning Cornell college papers in regard to conditions at their in- stitutions. At both Princeton and Yale it appears that students do much less work, that, in fact, the undergraduates themselves realize that they are under- rather than over- worked. It was figured that the average Princeton man spends from twenty to twenty-five hours per week on his stud- ies, the Yale man even less, and that the "passing mark is within the reach of everybody not publicly confined." "Almost nobody is ever expelled." Undergraduates themselves say that "the fresh- man year in college (Yale) is not as hard as the preparatory years just passed and that the two final years are not as hard as the first." At Michigan it was thought that in the professional departments perhaps as much as nine hours' ap- plication per day was required, that this might be excusable in view of the seriousness of their work, but that the literary students probably studied only four or five hours per day. It was felt that there would be cause for complaint if they had to do more because the "laboratory of general culture is as much without the classroom as within. " From this it will appear that in comparison with students in other schools, Cornell undergrad- uates do work hard. It is, in fact, compulsory. The credit hours per week constitute the number of hours' credit given per term. The Arts student must average fifteen hours per term or at least one hundred and twenty hours in the eight terms of his four years' residence; in the engineering schools a considerably greater number of units of work are Instruction 35 i required to secure the degree. Poor work is pun- ished by suspension or permanent dismissal. It is necessary to hold to such rigorous standards be- cause the pressure of numbers, in view of the limitations of equipment and faculty, requires that the unwilling and unfit be eliminated. The Cornell degree means four years of conscientious applica- tion. While the faculty regulations do compel the students to work, it may be complained that the undergraduates take too little interest in their studies. Scholastic attainments are no longer the vogue; high standing in classes does not excite the admiration of fellow students. It is, for instance, difficult to maintain a debate club. Scholarship as such is not prized, except by a few. It is not dif- ficult to see why this is so. The undergraduate demands a present and adequate reward for his efforts. This may be the applause or admiration of his fellows, a position of dominant leadership among them or a substantial money return from some student business enterprise. Athletics pro- vide opportunity for winning applause and hero worship almost ad libitum. If only indulged in vicariously, they supply a strong emotional stim- ulus. The musical organizations are effusively greeted at their every appearance and the man who gains a place in them is rewarded further by an extended concert trip about the country each year. Managerial positions in connection with the athletic teams afford similar opportunities for travel. Competition for all such places is stren- 352 Concerning Cornell uous. The editorial boards of various under- graduate periodicals are at liberty to impress the university community with their views on various matters and the business managers get a comfort- able revenue from the advertising these publica- tions carry. Contrasted with all this, the paltry prizes of twenty-five and fifty or one hundred dollars for the best essay, or poem, or speech or for high standing in class are very poor incentives to effort. Furthermore, a scant line in the college daily is about all the undergraduate recognition accorded the winner. Again, these things are faculty managed and that in itself puts them below par. When it is added that the undergraduate is constantly being invited to discount the future value of his studies by the man-of-affairs lecturer and by magazine articles, which often decry college training for the simple reason that the majority of periodical readers are not college graduates and are, therefore, pleased to learn that the possession of a college degree confers no special advantages, there is little occasion to wonder that only a scant half dozen competitors, perhaps, from among thousands who are eligible, enter a contest for one of the schol- arship prizes. It would be interesting to note the effect of making some of these prizes, not one hun- dred, but one thousand dollars; of printing the win- ning essays in full in the college daily, with com- ments and reviews by faculty members interested in the subjects; of sending the winners as schol- arship representatives of Cornell to other universi- ties to give talks on their particular themes. The Path to Forest Home Village Instruction 353 The setting aside, in 1920 for the first time, of an hour devoted to a university Convocation for the recognition of scholarship proved a suc- cessful step in this direction. It is not meant to imply that zest for study is completely lacking at Cornell. On the contrary deep interest is often shown by a number of stu- dents in a course; and some courses are perennially popular with the undergraduates because of their content or the personality of the lecturer. But, as has been hinted earlier, the great mass of under- graduate students are fitted neither by talent nor inclination to become intellectual prodigies. For that class of students one must turn to the Grad- uate School. That it is worth while, however, for an undergraduate from purely selfish motives, to strive for high marks is indicated by a recent compilation from "Who's Who" in which it was shown that of three hundred and forty-eight high honor men of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst and Brown, one hundred and thirty-one had con- trived to get their names in that list of distin- guished personages. In the Graduate School only students who have already secured a bachelor's degree are en- rolled. The faculty of the Graduate School is made up of those members of the faculties of the other colleges who are personally directing the work of graduate students in any one year. In reality the graduate students themselves select the faculty, for each candidate for an advanced degree chooses the men who will direct his work. The men cho- 354 Concerning Cornell sen are usually themselves investigators as well as teachers, since such men are best fitted to guide the beginning research worker. The purpose of the Graduate School is to contribute to the ad- vancement of knowledge. Each student registered in it elects some problem in the subject in which he is most interested and the solution of this problem comprises the major part of his work. In addition to this, he selects one or two minor subjects, usually related to the major study; to these he devotes the rest of his time. It will be appreciated that work- ing under the direct supervision of two or three specialists and confining attention to two or three related subjects is conducive to intensive study on part of the advanced students. Then undergrad- uate standards of conduct are wholly forgotten; study and the attainment of a solution of the inves- tigation in hand become the chief end of existence. The results secured in the major study are made the subject of a thesis. The titles of some of these works are indicative of the highly specialized char- acter of present day investigation, so much so, in fact, as to be amusing to the layman because of their technicalities. Thus we have, for example "The Fluorescence of Anthracene," Perithecial Development of Sphaero theca humili," "Plane Sextic Curves Invariant under Birational Trans- formation." After the thesis has been completed and accepted, the student must acquit himself creditably in an oral examination, that may be three hours long and is given by his committee, before the advanced degree will be conferred upon Instruction 355 him. It is worth noting that one of the two first advanced degrees given by Cornell was conferred on David Starr Jordan, later chancellor of Leland Stanford, Junior, University and that Chancellor Jordan and Andrew D. White are the only per- sons on whom Cornell has bestowed honorary de- grees. Every other Cornell degree has needed to be earned by actual study at the university. It would not be fair to omit mention of the Summer Session in a description of the instruction given at Cornell. This extends over a period of six weeks, from the second week in July to the middle of August. During this time outdoor Cor- nell is in its most attractive phase; the skies are clear during the day, yet the weather is cool and delightful and almost every evening witnesses a beautiful sunset. The Summer Session, according- ly, is particularly noted for the pleasant oppor- tunity it offers for outdoor natural history study. The flora, the fauna, particularly the birds; the geography and the geology of the Cornell region are then all studied on a multitude of organized excursions. These go out afoot, by boat on the lake, by automobile and in special trains; sometimes two and three hundred persons on a single trip. A series of courses in music is another feature of the Summer Session that attracts hun- dreds. Formerly nearly the total enrollment of summer students consisted of teachers from other institutions who came to brush up on their subjects or get a start in new ones. Recently there has been an increasingly large proportion of under- 356 Concerning Cornell graduates and preparatory students who utilize this opportunity to anticipate work in the regular sessions or to make up deficiencies. In some re- spects the summer work is not so exacting as the winter instruction; for example, students are not required to keep up with the work on pain of dis- missal. This, combined with the greater sociability and the many popular lectures and music recitals, imparts a sense of relaxation that every one enjoys. The educational activities of the university are by no means confined to the formal instruction given in classes. The incidental mention, on pre- ceding pages, of general lectures, music recitals and extension work has indicated this. But such extra-curriculum _ _^ features have a SV'-ifTpy far wider scope than could be de- duced from such remarks. Their extent would be better understood after inspection of any issue of the weekly cal- endar published by the university; nearly every part- ly or wholly free hour is scheduled for some event of popular interest. A SNOWY DAY Instruction 357 Several series of lectures, in which each ad- dress was by a specialist on a particular phase of the general subject, on such broad topics as "The History of Civilization," "Eugenics," and "Inter- national Law" have been a feature in recent years. These occasions are usually open to every one interested. The variety and the merit of the year's program is such that it would in itself afford the foundation for a liberal education. Leaders of the world's thought and achievement speak at Cor- nell, great musicians favor the university with their accomplishments. In view of this and the very attractive environment of the university it is rather surprising that a larger number of people with leisure have not made their homes in Ithaca and enjoyed these advantages. Though the uni- versity thus actually does much in extending its teaching influence to the community as a whole, it must be admitted that its facilities are not quite broad enough to enable it to meet all demands; since only a sorry negative could be returned in reply to the following inquiry recently received at the President's office: "I am studying the migration of birds, and, with a view to learning how much the sense of direction is dependent upon distinctive odors of different localities, and the distance such odors carry, I am taking the very great liberty of inquiring whether you can smell Philadelphia when the wind blows from the south — and if so, what it smells like?" 358 Concerning Cornell Probably a majority of the students at Cornell are the sons and daughters of tradesmen, manu- facturers, professional men, doctors and lawyers; and farmers. A large proportion of the students with fathers in business secure places in the pa- rental enterprises immediately after graduation. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get specific data with regard to the extent to which the university graduate profits directly by his training. Where a niche is provided for the grad- uate simply because he is his father's son, it can not fairly be said that his later position in life is due to his own initiative, much less to the fact that he spent four years at an institution of higher learning. It is probably to such men, as a class, that the social advantages of a college career are of paramount importance. There is, however, a large class of prospective students whose individual decisions, or that of their parents, in regard to a university course, yes or no, are determined primarily by the outlook for a substantial ma- terial reward for such preparation. It was with that viewpoint in mind that the writer addressed a circular letter to a number of faculty members asking what opportunities for earning a living were open to graduates of their colleges or who had specialized in their departments. From the re- plies received it is apparent that members of the faculty are very little in touch with the later careers of the students who have been enrolled in their classes except in the cases of a few in whom they have been especially interested. Possibly if Instruction 359 the plan were adopted of giving each graduate with his diploma five or more cards; one of these to be mailed back to the university secretary each year with answers to printed questions filled in, more accurate information on such points would be avail- able shortly. Statistics made up from replies for a series of years to specific questions of the kind that follow would certainly be very interesting. What positions have you secured because of training, either general or technical, you received during your university career? How large an income do you earn as a direct result of your college training? How much of an increase is this over last year? What are your present prospects for advancement? Of what opportunities have you knowledge that are open to a college graduate with some special kind of training? What have you been able to con- tribute, because of your training, to the general welfare or betterment of conditions, material or moral, in your community? Possibly it would be well to have the replies anonymous in order to minimize a natural tendency to paint the record in glowing colors, on the one hand, and, on the other, to encourage those who have not achieved as much as they had hoped, to contribute their more pessi- mistic reports. Lacking such statistics, only very general answers can be made to the kind of inquiry the questions outline and the general content of the above paragraph suggests. Probably almost every one of the graduates of the Medical College enters into the practice of his profession. As most per- 360 Concerning Cornell sons have a general idea of the fortunes of the medical practitioner in their community, it is hardly necessary to discuss the doctor's career here. Moreover, the Cornell Medical College is now a graduate school and requires seven or eight years' study to secure its degree. This puts the Cornell doctors in a class by themselves not comparable with the graduates from the other professional colleges of the university who secure their degrees after only four years of study. Like the graduates of the Medical College most of the Doctors of Vet- erinary Medicine practice their profession after se- curing their diplomas. However, the writer knows of one who engaged first in photography and is now a life insurance solicitor. Furthermore, the Vet- erinary course requires only four years of study, permits of some specialization during that time and offers a rather wider variety of choice of par- ticular pursuit within the profession than is open to the physician. Recent graduates of the Veter- inary College can readily secure salaried positions at two thousand dollars per year. In the percentage of its graduates that follow the profession for which they have been trained, the Civil Engineering College probably comes next after the medical schools. It is stated that eighty- four per cent of those who receive the Cornell Civil Engineering degree engage in strictly civil engineer- ing work after graduation. Probably most of these begin at salaries of from seventy -five to eighty-five dollars per month. In some cases, however, long established firms of civil engineers will offer a Instruction 361 graduate ninety to one hundred and ten dollars per month because he has had theoretic training in reinforced concrete construction, as this is a new development in the profession and the older men appreciate that they are not fully conversant with its technical details. If those who engage in con- tracting work on their own account are excepted, an average salary of perhaps thirty-five hundred dollars per year would probably measure the ma- terial success of the civil engineers who have had four or five years of experience and who have proved capable men in their profession. It is possible that the percentage of men who go on in their profession is even greater in the case of Architectural College graduates than of those with the civil engineering degree. In both cases this is explained in part by the fact that the total enrollment in these colleges is not large. In other words the graduates are so few that they can be absorbed readily by the demands of the respec- tive professions for new men. The outlook for civil engineers is less promising, however, at the present time than for the architects because con- struction work, particularly railroad building, has in large measure abated. But, if the Panama Canal is completed, governmental railroads in Alaska are now on the slate. Yet within New York State both the barge canal and the Ashokan Reser- voir projects have been completed, many miles of state road have been built and no similarly large scale works are in prospect. Thus opportunities for the civil engineer are apparently fewer than 362 Concerning Cornell those open to the young architect in the same po- sition, since the erection of new buildings, public, industrial, commercial and dwelling-house con- tinues apace and each year sees more substantial structures, of better design and ever more intricate in their interior construction and specialization in material. But, in the case of the modern steel structures, the services of the civil engineer are in as much demand perhaps as those of the architect, in fact here the two professions often merge in one man. The college course that each pursues has also much in common. An aptitude for mathe- matics, especially as applied to mechanical calcu- lations, is essential to happy progress in either course, but while mathematics may be termed the rock on which most embryo civil engineers are broken, lack of artistic instinct more commonly spells disaster in the college career of the architect. In other words while many set out to be civil en- gineers or architects, comparatively few are chosen, because the majority are not endowed with natural ability in mechanics and design. Thus the discus- sion has brought us back to the original postulate that the civil engineers and architects in most cases follow their professions because only a compara- tively small number secure diplomas. The young architect very commonly begins his career as a draughtsman in some established firm at a salary of perhaps one hundred dollars per month. This may very shortly be increased by fifty dollars or considerably more. But to attain a larger suc- cess it is probably incumbent on the ambitious Instruction 363 graduate to open an office of his own after a few- years' experience with an established firm. If he is located in a good community and possesses, in addition to his ability as an architect, the knack of establishing cordial business relations with his prospective clientele, he may hope very shortly to earn from five to eight thousand dollars a year in the practice of his profession. Graduates from the Sibley College of Mechani- cal Engineering have a very much broader field for employment open to them, both as to the variety of occupation possible and the wealth of opportunities along a single line of endeavor, than is the case with the graduates of any of the other professional col- leges so far mentioned. This was especially true during the period of fifteen years or more of great industrial development that recently derived a new impetus from war needs. Because of the active demand during this time for trained mechanical engineers, the courses in Sibley College acquired a sort of vogue that attracted a great number of students, many of whom were only indifferently qualified, either in natural endowments or zest for the work, to become successful in the mechanical engineering profession. At Cornell it was, indeed, quite the fashion for a number of years to be an M. E. student, in fact the undergraduate who confessed to enrollment in Arts or one of the other colleges actually lost caste. Curiously enough, such distinction was owing, in part, also, to the fact that the Sibley students had the reputation of working harder than the men in Law or Arts, the 364 Concerning Cornell other colleges having a large enrollment. The reputation, and the fact, of the hard work en- dures into the present but no especial undergradu- ate prestige now attaches to registration in Sibley. The number of students, however, continues large. It must be remembered, also, that opportunities for mechanical engineers are quite varied and it is estimated, moreover, that scarcely one-half of the men who graduate from Sibley College go into en- gineering work. The courses offered by the college are considered to be excellent business training, especially for sons who will enter manufacturing businesses conducted by their fathers. The broad outlet for graduates who have no such connections seems to be the apprenticeship courses that many of the large manufacturing and operating firms of the country offer. The beginning pay in these is usually one hundred dollars per month and after a few years those who show especial aptitude for the work receive from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars per month for their services. To indi- a 7^r^' p-7^ A CORNELL R. O. T. C GROUP cate the breadth of the field open to the experienced mechanical engi- neer, it will prob- ably suffice to sug- gest that he may engage in the de- sign, erection, op- eration, testing or Instruction 365 sales division of any of the multitudinous indus- tries that make either machines for power devel- opment or machinery that requires power to drive it, either steam, electric or water power. No — even the above broad statement is inadequate to indicate the many branches open, but it does not seem possible to put their extent in a few phrases. This very variety, however, points to another diffi- culty which confronts the young mechanical engi- neer, that of finding his particular opportunity. The legal profession seems overcrowded at present for the beginner. The very dissimilar university courses of mechanical engineering and law apparently enroll numbers of students with somewhat the same object in view, namely, to utilize their training in various business pursuits rather than to enter their professions. Many Law School graduates fail to take the examinations for admission to the bar and of those who do and pass quite a few abandon legal practice after several years. The struggle to establish himself is even more difficult, possibly, for the young lawyer than for the young doctor. But it must not be inferred from this that the legal profession is altogether un- profitable. Nor should such a conclusion be drawn from published statistics that put the average lawyer's income at a very low figure. Such tabula- tions take into account the earnings of those who after a few years quit practice, and, since their number is large, it is quite probable that this un- duly depresses the average. If only lawyers with offices of their own and of at least five years' 360 Concerning Cornell experience entered into the reckoning the figures would no doubt be more encouraging to the young aspirant for legal honors and emoluments. If this be considered unfair it may be pointed out that in the other profession in which beginners are like- wise expected to starve for a few years, that of medicine, an additional four years of study is required to secure a Cornell degree and after that very probably a year in hospital work. All this before he can even begin to earn a living. If mechanical engineering was the vogue among Cornell students a few years ago, agriculture may be said to occupy the same position now. With this distinction, however, that the vogue of agri- culture is due to the present-day wide opportunity for the graduate of that college, even greater than that in the past open to the engineer. Agriculture is popular also with Students from New York State because they enjoy free tuition in the college and because the prescribed general course is now so liberal as to justify the faculty in conferring the degree of bachelor of science without the limiting clause, "in agriculture,' ' as was formerly done. It is the common impression that a course in agriculture fits a man for either one of two things : to go back on the farm and practice scientific agriculture or to teach scientific farming. This is far from being the case as would be perceived from a mere enum- eration of the diverse interests that find shelter un- der the broad cover of the College of Agriculture as organized at Cornell. However, the present popu- larity of the course, the scope of the work embraced Instruction 367 in the college and the fact that its breadth is not well understood by the public, all warrant a little more extended treatment than that. It will be fitting to begin with a consideration of the departments in which the instruction ac- cords most nearly with what may originally have been conceived as the province of the whole college. Thus the teaching of the Department of Farm Management is intended primarily to fit students for the management of their own farms. Besides training in the natural sciences that underly agri- culture, e. g. botany, students specializing along this line are advised to give considerable time to the study of farm crops and animal husbandry. It is estimated that graduates with such training, where situated on adequate farms, are earning labor in- comes of two thousand dollars per year and more, over and above interest on the investment. Such students, when employed by farm owners, do not receive much higher pay than the hired man, but the work is accounted as practical experience, pre- liminary to starting for themselves. As suggested above, the courses offered by the Department of Farm Crops fit in with those of the Department of Farm Management. Specialization in Farm Crops has, however, also secured positions for a number of students as teachers in agricultural subjects, ex- periment station workers and farm bureau agents, as well as in various commercial enterprises con- nected with agriculture, for example in the seed and implement business. A tabulation of the in- comes of recent graduates who have specialized in 368 Concerning Cornell the department shows that on the average they begin at fifteen hundred dollars per year and after several years receive two thousand dollars. Special study in the Department of Soil Tech- nology similarly qualifies men for expert positions in the fertilizer business, in drainage and irrigation enterprises and in governmental soil survey work. These, and like opportunities, are growing in im- portance, but about one-half the men who have specialized in the Soils Department in the past are engaged in teaching the subject. The salaries re- ceived range from fifteen hundred to three thous- and dollars, according to the measure of ability and experience of the different men. In addition to a general knowledge of agricultural subjects, students in this line find the study of plant physi- ology, chemistry, physiography and physics of great importance. While the study of the soil is certainly of fundamental importance in agriculture, it will be appreciated that the special training offered by a department of soils in itself tends to create oppor- tunities for the graduates. Thus, if one fertilizer company employs an expert in soils, the others must soon follow suit. The same logic applies to quite a few of the other technical departments of the College of Agriculture ; their relation to agri- culture is apparent enough, but the occupations of their graduates are quite foreign to any con- ception of the old time farmer who turned furrows, sowed and reaped. While men from the soils department tend to Instruction 369 occupy technical positions, it is easy to understand that the graduates who have done considerable work in the Department of Dairy Industry find their opportunities much more generally in com- mercial work directly connected with the making of dairy products. There is a great demand for such men to manage large dairy plants, though there are also governmental and teaching positions to be filled. In addition to the practical and theo- retical training offered by the department, con- siderable knowledge of bacteriology and chemistry are essential in this line. Salaries are somewhat higher than in other fields ranging from two thousand dollars per year up. In the Department of Vegetable Gardening the best opportunities are similarly in commercial vegetable production. This field is comparatively new and as other agricultural colleges are beginning to realize its importance there is a dearth of men for teaching positions. One man just graduated was offered a salary of fifteen hundred dollars; two others were in line for a position paying eighteen hundred dollars. The man in touch with the latest developments in vegetable gardening, who has also a knowl- edge of pomology and floriculture, will apparently have no difficulty in selling his services to good advantage for some time to come. Men from the Department of Floriculture, who have had but little practical experience, have readily secured positions at from seventy-five to one hundred dol- lars per month. Teaching positions are open, but the salaries do not attract the best men, as the prof- 370 Concerning Cornell its of commercial florists are much greater. Again, work in this department may be made secondary to work in the Department of Landscape Art, in which case the student is fitted to take a good position as superintendent of an estate. Gradu- ates from the Department of Pomology receive from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred dollars the first year they are out of college. In addition to commercial and teaching positions, there is a great demand for men trained in pomology to undertake investigations of special problems for individual fruit growers. Such work is allied with the kind of training offered in the Department of Plant Breeding and that of Plant Pathology, although these departments, like that of soils, tend rather to develop technical experts who are more apt to find their opportunities in governmental investiga- tion or university research work. It is interest- ing to note that wherever the departmental work takes on this technical aspect it tends to become a graduate study. The Departments of Plant Breeding and of Plant Pathology are no excep- tions to this rule. The reason is simple enough: a broad fundamental training is necessary before these highly specialized studies can be undertaken with profit. Thus in Plant Pathology students are expected to have extensive knowledge of organic and physical chemistry, plant physiology and bot- any in addition to a general training in agricultural and cultural subjects. In consequence, only sen- iors and a few juniors find it possible to take up the work, and those who wish to follow it as a pro- Instruction 3 7 1 fession study for the doctorate degree. This means at least three years of postgraduate work, but the doctorate graduates from the Cornell department are all earning salaries from two thousand up to three thousand dollars. Such salaries are, how- ever, exceptionally high for even doctorate grad- uates, and are due in this case to the fact that the subject is comparatively young and because its importance is realized, for the successful control of plant diseases is often a limiting factor in satis- factory crop production. In the Department of Entomology, which at Cornell is a rather narrow title for a department that includes a wide variety of biological branches under a simple organization, much of the work is also quite technical and spe- cialized, though not so much so as in the case of Plant Pathology. But, because biology is one of the fundamental natural sciences of cultural value and popular interest, there is a quite wide demand for students of the subject who have only the bachelor's degree as teachers in high schools and in the governmental bureaus. Such men receive beginning salaries of about fifteen hundred dollars. On the other hand, the study of economic ento- mology is perhaps fully as technical as that of plant pathology, yet it is doubtful whether many of the doctorate graduates in this branch of biol- ogy receive beginning salaries of over two thous- and dollars. The foregoing paragraphs will perhaps suffice to indicate the variety of instruction offered in the College of Agriculture at Cornell and also that 372 Concerning Cornell this college is developing ramifications that were hardly thought of a few years ago. The list is not complete for such important departments as those of Animal Husbandry, Rural Engineering, Rural Education and Botany have not been in- cluded. There remain, however, two departments that merit particular mention here because their subjects command such wide popular interest: the Department of Forestry and that of Home Economics. It was admitted by those most closely in touch with the situation that the forestry profession before the Great War was overcrowded. Despite this fact, the Department of Forestry, then re- cently organized to take up the work that ceased at Cornell when the former College of Forestry was discontinued, had already placed a number of men in advantageous positions in field work. Even undergraduates of senior standing secured summer positions paying fifty dollars per month and ex- penses. The outlook for the professional forester has, however, improved greatly since the Great War; the demand for trained men is greater than the supply. Even if this were not the case the subject would continue to enlist a number of young enthusiasts in whom the fascination of a life in the open subordinates all other consideration. They conceive the forester striding through the un- tamed woodland and they want to take the course. Much the same spirit urged the youth of an earlier generation to seek the wild west. The same mo- tive quite commonly actuated those students who Instruction 373 desired to become geologists; the possibility of en- gaging in field work in remote regions was a great lure. That this was so, despite the fact that both of these professions promised comparatively small reward in fame or money, proves that sordid am- bition even in a commercial age does not always determine the choice of a career. The need of more paper pulp has since, however, made the for- ester's profession lucrative; as the need of oil has made the geologist's likewise profitable. The rapid establishment and continued devel- opment of departments of domestic science, like that of Home Economics at Cornell, in other in- stitutions of higher learning, is perhaps indicative of a new recognition that the largest field for woman remains the home. Feminine leaders are coming to a realization that the emancipation of the home rather than freedom from its duties in business and professional pursuits in competition with men should be the ultimate goal of women's activities. This emancipation is to be brought about by scientific planning of the house and its appointments and by systematic execution of the household routine. It is accordingly quite fitting that the Home Economics Department should be incorporated in the organization of the College of Agriculture for the farm home has perhaps been in greatest need of relief from drudgery and lack- lustre occupation. At present most of the grad- uates from the department engage in teaching which further indicates the demand for the diffus- ion of such knowledge. In institutions where meals 374 Concerning Cornell are served to a number of people they find employ- ment as dietitians, other graduates become stewards, expert buyers and settlement workers. In such positions they receive salaries ranging from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars per year while the teachers earn two thousand dollars and more. It is not pretended that the list of specific vo- cations suggested in connection with the various colleges and departments already mentioned is in any sense comprehensive. A regular four years' course in hotel management is a recent addition to the list of vocational possibilities. But there may be readers of these pages who are seeking a particular life-work that demands the technical training which a university can offer, something that attracts them personally and will afford an end toward which they can bend the studious efforts of their undergraduate years. Their best recourse will be the lists of positions that are filled through examination and appointment by the Civil Service Commission of the federal government. An astonishing diversity of em- ployments is open in the government service to educated candidates and the notices of examina- tions that the commission issues give very detailed statements of the necessary requirements and qualifications for each. The initial salaries offered are also a very good index of the minimum pay received in the various occupations, whether in the government service or elsewhere. The above remarks are especially applicable to the vocational opportunities afforded by the many Instruction 375 subjects, and combinations of them, that may be studied in the College of Arts and Sciences. While several departments, notably those of Chemistry and the School of Education outline courses of study that must be followed by students who wish to follow chemistry or teaching as a profession (and have the department's recommendation as to their fitness for such pursuits) the majority do not, and the students interested, say, in such vocations as journalism, banking, and philanthropy, must be advised by the professors most directly concerned as to the most profitable use of their time. Specific information, in so far as it is available, may how- ever, be of interest. The Department of Chemis- try is in many respects a professional college and a distinctive degree, that of Bachelor of Chemistry, is granted students who complete its prescribed course. It is claimed that practically every one of the graduates can be placed in positions that pay from fifteen hundred dollars a year up to two thous- and dollars, primarily in the commercial and in- dustrial field, but also in the teaching and govern- mental occupations. Applications for men trained by the department are being posted continually throughout the year. In the allied science of phys- ics the demand is also active but the opportunities, other than in teaching positions, are rather spe- cialized; to qualify for which requires, as a rule, postgraduate study. For instance, one of the men who recently received the doctorate degree is now employed as optical expert by a firm that manu- factures lenses for automobile and railroad lamps. 376 Concerning Cornell Postgraduate study is equally essential for profes- sional careers in the natural sciences, geology, bot- any and zoology. The title of one of the courses, Municipal Ad- ministration, in the Department of Political Sci- ence, immediately suggests the new position of city manager that the commission form of city govern- ment is making possible. In the same department the study of statistics, in combination with special mathematical training, leads to actuarial positions in life insurance companies. Somewhat similar opportunities are offered by the government cen- sus bureau. In fact the director of the 1910 census received much of his training in this Cornell de- partment. Psychologists have recently secured many business positions — it is often difficult to say whence the demand will come for a man with some special sort of knowledge. Some departments are distinctly adjunct, but may, nevertheless, be very much worth while. Thus the Department of Oratory does not aim primarily to prepare men for the lyceum or Chautauqua platforms but PLANTING THE CLASS IVY, COMMENCEMENT WEEK Instruction 377 rather to help the student of other subjects to ac- quire ability to express himself well in public. Engineers, architects, lawyers are more and more coming to realize the value of such preparation. In the subjects that are generally known as the humanities, ancient and modern languages, includ- ing also English, history, philosophy and mathe- matics, the direct vocational opportunity is almost wholly in the teaching profession. Students with first degrees who have shown ability in such of these subjects that are taught in the secondary schools may readily secure positions paying at the beginning one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars. After several years experience the average salary is perhaps two thousand dollars. Women students preparing to teach are at- tracted especially by the languages. Graduate work in the humanities, for those who have the special inclination and ability to pursue it far enough, prepares for college instructorships and the eventual occupancy of a professorial chair. Taken as a group the humanities are the basis of all culture, knowledge of them is essential to near- ly every one who makes writing a business, and the modern scientist who is unable to read German and French is in a sorry plight. When only hundreds enjoyed the advantages of a university education, whereas thousands are now enrolled in American institutions of higher learning, all graduates, somewhat regardless of exceptional fitness for such pursuits, could expect to be absorbed into the, so-called, learned pro- 378 Concerning Cornell fessions. The great numerical increase in univer- sity students now demands that the training af- forded be of wider scope and that the institution itself should exercise a selective function. The dullards and unwilling should be eliminated from participation in the instruction offered; students of exceptional mentality should be sorted out for the scholarly careers; the numerous class that is assured financial independence, by virtue of family fortune, should receive primarily the cultural training that will make for intelligent citizenship rather than personal advantage; and by far the largest group, those possessed neither of genius nor inhibited by stupidity, the class that needs to earn a livelihood by the initiative and efforts of its individual members directed to furthering the constructive work of the world, should have made available to it such a variety of vocational training as will permit the particular qualifications of each learner to be utilized eventually to best advantage, for the benefit of the community at large, by fitting him to the occupation for which he is best adapted. Cornell, with her motto: "Where any person can find instruction in any study," perhaps without further conscious direction, tends more and more to conform to such an educational scheme. CHAPTER IX GEOGRAPHY OF THE ITHACA-CORNELL REGION AMONG the undergraduates, at least, there »■ will probably be a good many readers of these pages of the opinion that only the predilection of the author warrants the appearance of this chapter in the volume. Accordingly, it may be well to dis- close to such critics, at the outset, the surprising fact that a number of individuals have asked that a discussion of this kind be included in the book. If that is not enough justification for the insertion of some modern, every-day geography in a college book, then the following items from the experiences of the two founders of Cornell University will, per- haps, serve to convince continuing objectors that, even if a bit unpalatable, a little geographic read- ing, especially on the subject of the environment of their alma mater, will do them no harm. Ezra Cornell had very little formal schooling. Later in life he acquired by his own undirected reading and observation a vast store of useful knowledge. He earned his fortune by promoting, constructing and operating telegraph lines in western states, and finally made it secure by con- solidating these lines into a Wesiern Union Tele- graph Company. Again, he was able to increase enormously the value of the university's endow- ment by investing the funds in western timber lands. In both instances, then, success depended, primarily, upon an intimate knowledge of the 380 Concerning Cornell geography of those areas. And yet, as he himself said, the only lesson in geography he ever had was in giving the boundaries of the state of New York, which was said to be limited on the west by the "unknown regions." Under the circumstances it would not, of course, be surprising if Ezra Cornell had suggested that a mite more emphasis and accuracy be put into geographic training than was afforded him. If his case, however, be thought exceptional, the testimony of Andrew D. White may be more to the point in regard to the basic value of geographic knowledge. Quoting from his "Autobiography": "On arriving at the University of Michigan in October, 1857, 1 took especial charge of the sopho- more class. Among my duties was their examina- tion in modern geography as a preliminary to their admission to my course in history, and I soon dis- covered a serious weakness in the public-school system. In her preparatory schools the state of Michigan took especial pride, but certainly at that time they were far below their reputation. If any subject was supposed to be thoroughly taught in them it was geography, but I soon found that in the great majority of my students there was not a trace of real knowledge of physical geography and very little of political. With this state of things I at once grappled, and immediately "conditioned" in these studies about nine-tenths of the entering class. At first there were many protests; but I said to my ingenuous youths that no pedantic study was needed, that all I required was a prepa- Geography of the Region 381 ration such as would enable any one of them to read intelligently his morning newspaper, and to this end I advised each one of them to accept his conditions, to abjure all learning by rote from text- books, to take up simply any convenient altas which came to hand, studying first the map of our own country, with its main divisions, physical and political, its water communications, trend of coasts, spurring of mountains, position of leading cities, etc., and then to do the same thing with each of the leading countries of Europe, and finally with the other main divisions of the world. To stimulate their interest and show them what was meant, I gave a short course of lectures on physical geogra- phy, showing some of its more striking effects on history; then another course on political geogra- phy, with a similar purpose; and finally notified my young men that they were admitted to my classes in history only under condition that, six weeks later, they should pass an examination in geography, full, satisfactory, and final. The young fellows now took their conditions very kindly, for they clearly saw the justice of them. One young man said to me: Trofessor, you are entirely right in conditioning me, but I was never so surprised in my life; if there was anything that I supposed I knew well it was geography; why, I have taught it, and very successfully, in a large public school. ' On my asking him how he taught a subject in which he was so deficient, he answered that he had taught his pupils to 'sing' it. I replied that if he would sing the answers to my questions, I would admit 382 Concerning Cornell him at once; but this he declined, saying that he much preferred to accept the conditions. In about six weeks I held the final examinations, and their success amazed us all. Not a man failed, and some really distinguished themselves. They had all gone to work cordially and heartily, arranging themselves in squads and clubs for mutual study and examination on each physical and political map; and it is certain that by this simple, common- sense method they learned more in six weeks than they had previously learned in years of plodding along by rote, day after day, through text-books. " Hence, undergraduate readers, do not murmur because some statement of the geography of your new environment is thrust upon you, herewith; for of a certainty you have good warrant that it may be conned to advantage. The Ithaca-Cornell region is one of great geographic interest, and if, in your rides and rambles to its points of scenic at- traction, you can see with the mind as well as with the eye, you will find your pleasure doubled. As for Ithaca itself, remember it was the home of Ezra Cornell, and that, in addition to his love for the university, the Founder also had great pride in his town, and that, despite his early deficiency in such training, no one better than he understood the town's geographic advantages and handicaps. For the sake of conciseness the paragraphs that follow are made quite formal. If some of the matter ap- pears quite obvious to one on the ground, scarcely worth setting forth in print, consider how necessary to a clear understanding it will be to those, perhaps Geography of the Region 383 the members of your own family or some sub- freshman, who may read these pages at a distant place. The Ithaca-Cornell Region is located in west- ern, central New York at the southern end of Cay- uga Lake (the second largest of the Finger Lakes that characterize the general district) and centers about the city of Ithaca, which has a population of seventeen thousand and four people (official report, federal, 1920, census) and is the site of Cornell University. During much of the most ancient geologic time the region was the bottom of a shallow interior sea. This sea varied in dimensions during the different subdivisions of those early geologic ages, was at times widely connected with the open ocean, at others had only a constricted outlet, and seems to have at least once been converted into a saline, desert basin, when salts leached from surrounding formations were precipitated in thick, horizontal layers over its bottom. These layers of sodium chloride are the basis of the present-day salt indus- try of the region and from the days of early settle- ment furnished, by the medium of salt springs, the local supplies of this commodity. It is evident, however, that the sea bottom must on the whole have been progressively sinking while clay, sand, salt and lime layers were being laid down; for while these have shallow water characteristics throughout their vertical sections, they nevertheless aggregate thousands of feet in thickness, as now existing, and that despite the 384 Concerning Cornell fact that much of their original upper mass has been removed by erosional processes. These clay and sand layers were eventually converted into shales and sandstones by the pressure of material (deposited later) of the same kind and by proc- esses of cementation. In the closing epochs of the ancient geologic periods, during the extensive earth movements that have been termed the Appalachian Revolu- tion, and in which the Appalachian mountains were first uplifted, this region in common with wide adjacent areas to the east and west was raised high above sea-level. The uplift in this particular locality seems to have been essentially uniform, slow, and nearly vertical in direction, as the lay- ered sediments were neither much fractured or disturbed. A (comparatively) slight compressive force was, however, exerted for the rocks were folded into a series of east-west striking undula- tions forming low arches and troughs in the rocks. The original slant to the south and west of the sediments deposited on the floor of the interior sea was increased by the uplift, as this was greater in amount to the east and north, but the total departure from the horizontal is only a few degrees. Following the uplift came a long period of denudation at the end of which, in Cretaceous (more recent) geological time, the region in com- mon with much of the rest of the continent had been worn down by rain and rivers to a nearly featureless plain. Another uplift followed, like the first practically without compression. Geography of the Region 385 Thus, once again made a highland, the region also again became the scene of active stream cut- ting which continued until ridges between streams were rounded and valleys were worn and weathered broadly open. The slight slope of the strata to the south sufficed to make north-facing cliffs by weath- ering action, the most conspicuous of which, south of the Niagara cliff, was that due to the resistant top layers of sandstone in the Portage formation. To the east of Cayuga Lake this Por- tage escarpment or cliff is well developed in the Ithaca region along the north front of Turkey Hill and quite distinctly bisects the region into north and south halves. The part lying to the north belongs, in general, to the central lowland of North America, that to the south is part of the Appala- chian Plateau. This small region, hence lies on the boundary zone between two important physi- ographic provinces. To the west of Cayuga Lake the Portage escarpment fades out as a distinct topographic feature and the merging of the plain and plateau upland is inconspicuous. Apparently the main drainage of the region at this time was by a stream to the north along the line of the Cayuga Lake trough. At Ithaca a number of streams flow- ing in broad, open valleys were confluent, both from the east and south, and these seem to have afforded most of the volume for the north-flowing Cayuga stream. Coming from the east was the Fall Creek following the base of the north-facing Portage escarpment. The valley next south of the divide formed by the Portage escarpment was 386 Concerning Cornell developed by Cascadilla Creek also flowing from the east and in its lower course parallel to Fall Creek. Two other streams, Six Mile Creek from the south and the Cayuga Inlet from the south- west, occupied similar mature valleys. The closely spaced points of junction of these streams resulted in the development of an extensive interstream plain by the lateral wearing and weathering away of the spur ends of the divides separating their valleys. A remnant of this plain is now occupied by the campus of Cornell University and the East Hill section of Ithaca with farm lands in the rear. The end of the Portage Escarpment is known as Turkey II ill, its continuation eastward as Mount Pleasant, the divide between Cascadilla Creek and Six Mile Creek is Hungerford Hill, that between Six Mile Creek and the Cayuga Inlet constitutes South Hill. The summits of these divides, as they extend southward, are slightly rolling (in a broad sense, level-topped) uplands and on their wider expanses probably present with but little change the topography of the Cretaceous wearing down to a plain. To the south, possibly some fifteen or sixteen miles from the present head of Cayuga Lake, an east-west divide separated the drainage described from streams flowing into the Susque- hanna. The physiographic development in so far as it is apparent in the present day topography, is indicated in the block diagram which will serve to make clear the important relations. There is some evidence of another uplift follow- ing the development so far described, but if this Geography of the Region 387 took place its rejuvenating effect has been much obscured by shortly subsequent invasion of the re- gion by glacial ice in very recent geological time. The advance of the ice was almost directly from the north in the Ithaca region so that it thrust its front squarely against the rising slopes and escarp- ments of the Appalachian Plateau border. The breaches in the plateau front, made by the north- flowing streams, however, afforded low altitude channels by which the ice could project lobes, in advance of the main front, for considerable dis- tances into the highland area. These north-south valleys were, accordingly, first occupied by the glacier, and, as the ice thickened, they became also the main channels of ice movement southward; were, in other words, the routes of the thickest, most powerful and most rapidly moving ice cur- rents. The erosive effect of the ice was thereby concentrated in the north-south valleys and these valleys were much overdeepened by ice erosion and thus the basins of the Finger Lakes, of which Cay- uga Lake is one, with bottoms in some instances below sea-level, were developed. At the heads of the north-south valleys the east- west Susquehanna divide was shortly overtopped and the ice passing over proceeded to cut this comparatively narrow barrier completely away. Thus through valleys join- ing the northern drainage to the southern drainage by very low gaps were developed, of which the Cayuga Inlet and Six Mile Creek valleys in the Ithaca region are notable examples. The lower end of the Cayuga Inlet valley, in 388 Concerning Cornell part possibly because it was originally larger, in part also because it was more directly in line with the ice movement, was eroded more deeply by the ice than the Six Mile Creek valley, when the ice current, coming in through the Cayuga valley, was divided by the nose of South Hill. Hence, while the Cayuga Inlet valley now enters the main Cayuga valley accordant with the present grade, the Six Mile Creek valley that was less effectively ice-eroded has been left in a hanging condition. The same relations are much more conspicuously apparent in the case of the east- west valleys, those of Cascadilla and Fall Creek. These troughs were nearly at right angles to the line of ice movement, hence were occupied only by diverted and relatively feeble glacial currents. Consequently, as streams once more flowed in these east-west valleys they plunged, at their lower ends, in a series of cascades to the levels of the much more overdeepened north- south Cayuga valley. As time went on the differ- ence in resistance of the layers of the horizontal, bedrock-structure became effective in developing step falls, and as these progressively wore back upstream, the gorges were cut that now mark the north and south boundaries of the Cornell Univer- sity campus, which occupies the western border of the portion of the earlier interstream plain that the ice erosion failed to cut away. Nearby are many other east-west streams that show the same hang- ing condition with reference to the north-south Cayuga valley and a similar later development of gorges and falls. Geography of the Region 389 390 Concerning Cornell A further complication in the development of the valleys must be considered. There were prob- ably two, if not more, ice invasions of the region. After the withdrawal of the first ice, glacial debris, moraine deposited in the valley bottoms, commonly diverted the streams from the axes of the troughs to one side or the other of the valleys. After cutting through the thinner veneer of morainic stuff at such points, the streams were let down on bed-rock; into which they proceeded to cut side gorges. Dur- ing the interval between glaciations these gorges developed to a much larger size than has been possible in post-glacial time. (It is possible that these larger gorges were developed during a pre- glacial uplift of the region and were obscured by the ice invasion and its results.) A second ice advance resulted in further morainic deposits not disposed as the first had been. Consequently the previously developed gorges were in part filled up and the streams once more started along new channels over the valley bottoms. In places they found the earlier gorges and rapidly scooped out the uncon- solidated glacial material, elsewhere they entered on gorge cutting anew. Thus the middle and lower sections, especially, of the east-west streams are at present marked by amphitheatre hollows where the stream is flowing along the line of an interglacial (?) wide gorge and these are connected by short sections of young, post-glacial gorges cut into the bed-rock of the valley side. Though much lowered, the east- west divides between the Susquehanna and the north-flowing Geography of the Region 391 drainage were not wholly swept away in the for- mation of the through valleys. Furthermore, a somewhat prolonged halt in the withdrawal of the ice resulted in the development of a pronounced moraine-loop barrier across these valleys in the former divide region. Thus morainic ridges, plus so much of the original rock divide as remains below them, formed water-partings of considerable elevation during the later retreat of the ice and have continued so since. In the period immedi- ately following the building of the moraines, north- flowing water from these divides was ponded back by the ice that still occupied the lower ends of the valleys and in this fashion a number of progla- cial lakes were created. At first, both the Cayuga Inlet and the Six Mile valley had its separate lake (as well as some of the other valleys) standing at different levels according to the height of the di- vide at the south over the moraine barrier. In the Cayuga Inlet valley this was at about one thou- sand forty feet above the sea; in the Six Mile Creek valley at nine hundred and eighty feet above sea- level. A farther retreat of the ice resulted in the junction of the two lakes, the waters of the one in the Cayuga Inlet valley flowing around the nose of South Hill in falling to the lower level of the lake in the Six Mile Creek valley. As the ice melted back farther to the north, successively lower chan- nels of escape for the water were bared and the lakes in accordance fell to lower and lower levels. During the existence of the high level lakes a large amount of freshly deposited morainic ma- 392 Concerning Cornell terial was peculiarly available for stream trans- portation and this, plus that brought by streams out-flowing from under or in the ice, furnished a great quantity of sediment for deposit on the lake bottom. At the stream mouths huge deltas of gravel and sand were formed at each successive level of the lakes. These deltas are now conspic- uous topographic landmarks as they project in well developed, steep-front and flat-topped terraces on the valley sides. After any one of the lowerings of the lake the stream would cut through the delta just formed and use this material in part to build the new, lower mass. Thus all the deltas are bi- sected by the later channel of the stream that built them. When the bottom of any one delta was reached, the stream found itself superimposed on the bed-rock and started the erosion of a rock gorge. Enough time has elapsed, since the complete dis- appearance of the ice barrier and the establishment of the present drainage levels, for the extension of the delta building, at the mouths of the various streams confluent at the head of Cayuga Lake, to join and completely fill in the end of the basin. Over this delta-filling later floodplain and alluvial deposits have been spread; and by this combina- tion of processes the mile and a half long, level- topped Inlet Plain has been formed. On this plain the main part of the city of Ithaca has been built. As early as 1656 white men, two Jesuit Fathers, entered the Ithaca region and dwelt among the Indians for some nine months. They departed be- cause of anticipated difficulties with the natives Geography of the Region 393 and it was not until 1668 that the mission was reestablished and continued until 1684 at Cayu- ga, N. Y., on Lake Cayuga. In 1671-72 Father Raffeix was temporarily stationed there and wrote an account of the natural aspect of his "canton." From this it appears that while most of the country was forested the Indians had made considerable clearings, the larger ones being "oak openings" which were burnt over annually for hunting pur- poses, while smaller tracts near the villages were planted to corn. Apparently these rather exten- sive cleared areas were located almost entirely to the north of the line of the Portage escarpment. Over the dissected plateau area, from Ithaca south to the Susquehanna, the forest was practically un- broken, dense, and tangled, the "dark forest," according to the testimony of this and other early observers. [These accounts and other information in regard to the primitive flora of the region are summarized in "The Cayuga Flora," by W. R. Dudley, Bulletin of the Cornell University (Sci- ence) Vol. II, 1886.] On the rolling, upland summits white pine pre- dominated. In the valley bottoms at Ithaca, par- ticularly near the head of the delta-floodplain the white pine merged into oak, elm and maple woods, though there were also extensive cleared fields, cultivated by the Indians, on this ground, together with apple orchards, this fruit apparently having been introduced by the Jesuits. The same type of forest continued northward along the shores of the lake and on the lower lands to the east of its 394 Concerning Cornell shore. The front of the delta was marsh land. Lake Cayuga was called "Tiohero" or the "lake of flags and rushes" by the Indians because of such growth at both its northern and southern ends. Extensive swamps were also present at all the wa- ter partings. In these divide swamps the tama- rack, black spruce and balsam fir were native and still occur, as well as the hemlock; though the last is much more abundant in the region, and has its especial habitat, on the sides of the post-glacial gorges. The tamarack, spruce and balsam fir, as well as the wild primrose (Primula Mistassinica) which is found on the cold, wet, south walls of the gorges, are to be regarded as subarctic species which migrated from the north before the continental gla- cier and were left behind in such isolated, but con- genial habitats on the retreat of the ice. Primula Mistassinica for example, now has its natural habi- tat about the shores of a lake of the same name on the Labrador peninsula. On the dry and sandy knolls of the dissected, high-level deltas other ex- ceptional forms occur, as for instance, the pitch pine and the red or Norway pine. In these special instances the native flora shows interesting adap- tations to its geographic environment. Thus practically all the region (for the Indian clearings were largely to the north) had originally a dense forest cover. Of this comparatively little remains. Clumps of trees, farm woodlots, still dot the lower slopes and valley bottoms, and a ribbon of forest marks the course of each of the gorges. Larger tracts of woodland occupy the higher parts Geography of the Region 395 of the uplands and the glacially over-steepened slopes of the through valleys to the south ; and are also found on the swampy divide areas and over rough and stony morainic ground. Practically all of this is, however, second growth timber. As early as 1853 it was noted in a local pamphlet ["Ithaca As It Was," H. C. Goodwin, Ithaca, N. Y., 1853, p. 3.] that three-fourths of the county (Tompkins) was improved land. In 1886 the only virgin tract of white pine consisted of an area about forty acres in extent that occupied the hillocky moraine at the head of the Inlet Creek, and this has since been cleared. Much of this timber was undoubtedly converted into lumber. In 1832 the export of lumber from the county ["Facts Relative to the Trade, etc., of the County of Tompkins," Ithaca, N. Y., 1832, p. 7.] had an annual value of four hundred thousand dollars, but in the same year ashes brought twenty-seven thousand dollars, indi- cating that much timber (estimated at sixty per cent) was burnt in clearing land for agriculture. The ashes were used to make potash, an industry that began as early as 1804. ["Early History of Ithaca." H. King, Ithaca, N. Y., 1847, p. 13.] Latterly even the small timber on the steepened slopes and uplands is being cut and the land allowed to stand idle or used for pasture. Formerly the thick woods on the uplands held back the melting of the winter snows, now the water goes off very rapidly after spring first sets in. Much of the land now cleared ought to be replanted to forest. Neither the early or later clearing had much 396 Concerning Cornell reference to geographic conditions. Woodlots still occupy rich lowlands; barren hillsides too steep even for good pastures were cleared. About thirty years are required to regrow merchantable timber on land that has been cleared and as this is a long time investment it would be well to exempt such lands from taxation until the forest is cut. Land that would not sell for over fifteen dollars per acre as farm land produced nearly five dollars per acre, annually, in natural regrowth of timber without care, for the twenty-two years required to pro- duce the forest. [An Agricultural Survey of (part) Tompkins Co., N. Y. Warren, G. F. and Liver- more, K. C, et al. Bull. 295 Cornell Univ. Exp't Station, Ithaca, N. Y., 1911, p. 471.] The primitive forest abounded in game. Deer were very plentiful, as were also bear; these animals supplied the early settlers with most of their meat. In 1789 the first trading was done by the Ithaca community and consisted of the exchange of maple- sugar and marten, otter, beaver, fox, bear and deer skins, for tea, coffee, crockery, hardware, lead, gun- powder and liquor. In 1823 it was still thought worth while to organize a "Grand Deer and Wolf Drive" because in the southern part of the county the "repose of the settler is disturbed by the mid- night howl of the Wolf and yell of the Panther. " On this occasion some eight hundred men, during two December days, closed in on a section of country about nineteen miles in circumference lo- cated some ten miles to the southwest of Ithaca around Newfield. No record seems to be available Geography of the Region :;i)7 as to the results of this hunt. By 1853 three- fourths of the area of the county was reported as improved land but in 1832 deer skins were still an article of considerable importance in the list of exports. The average and extremes of temperature in the Ithaca region vary several degrees according to the exact locality, the chief factors of this difference being relative elevation and distance from Cayuga Lake. The average annual temperature at Ithaca (campus of the University) is 47° F., that for the six summer months being a trifle below 60° F. and for the winter months 33° F. In the upland-valleys, to the south and west the annual average temper- ature is 2° F. lower than at Ithaca, though the dif- ference in altitude between the observing stations is only a little over one hundred feet. This relation holds, essentially, for all the months of the year, as it does also for the average difference in tem- perature between the two stations on the hottest days for a number of years. But the upland valley station record shows an average of 6° F. greater cold for the coldest days in a number of years. From this it would appear that the effect, on aver- age temperatures, of greater elevation and remote- ness from the lake is a slight annual lowering of the temperature, accentuated in winter extremes. The highest summer temperature officially recorded at Ithaca is 102° F., the lowest— 20° F. This shows the climate to be one of great extremes in annual temperature and the range from day to day is also great; thus it extended over 30° F. in the eighteen 398 Concerning Cornell hours following midnight January 30, 1915. [These and other climatic data that follow are for the most part from: Climatic Summary for Ithaca, N. Y. Published Sept., 1914, Local Office U. S. Weather Bureau, Ithaca, N. Y., and: Frosts in New York, W. M. Wilson, Bulletin 316, Cornell University Agr. Exp't Station, Ithaca, N. Y., 1912.] The av- erage temperature for the months when the uni- versity is in session, October to May, inclusive, is only slightly below 40° F. the optimum average temperature for mental activity as defined by Huntingdon. [Climate and Civilization, Hunting- don, E., Harpers Monthly, Vol. CXXX, Feb., 1915, p. 367.] Perhaps the students and faculty have not appreciated this favoring geographic influence but no doubt it has been exerting its due effect. The influence of Lake Cayuga is particularly marked in connection with the length of the grow- ing season as delimited by the last and first killing frosts. At Ithaca the average date of the last kill- ing frost in spring is May 4th, and the first one in fall October 10th, giving a season of one hundred and fifty-nine days. In the upland valley station, previously referred to, the corresponding dates are May 18th and September 27th, hence a growing sea- son of only one hundred and thirty-two days. This is almost a month's difference, and there is reason to believe that, in locations otherwise favorable and nearer to the lake than the Weather Bureau station at Ithaca, the season may be even longer. It may be noted, in comparison, that the growing season around New York City is two hundred days, at Geography of the Region 399 Buffalo, N. Y., one hundred and seventy-four days, at Columbus, Ohio, one hundred and eighty-three days. In central New York State latitudes hillsides with southern exposure are warmest, next come those facing east, then west and last those looking to the north. From this it would appear that as Cayuga Lake extends north and south, a slope sheltered from the prevailing wind on the west side of the lake has a distinct advantage of location with regard to the duration of the growing season. This may be of more than usual importance in the Ithaca region because the locality lies within the belt of the average track of most of the cyclonic storms that pass over the northeastern United States. The resulting cloudiness reduces the amount of sunshine received at Ithaca to eight per cent less annually than that received at New York City (expressed in terms of the percentage of that possible in each place) and in April to twelve per cent less. Accordingly hours of sunshine count for more in Ithaca than in New York City, especially during the month of April at the beginning of the growing season. It further appears, on examina- tion of the local weather station records, [Compiled at the suggestion of the writer by Mr. L. A. Haus- man, instructor in Meteorology, Cornell Univer- sity.] that during the five years, 1909-13, from four to ten hours more of early morning sunshine, than of late afternoon sunshine were received during each April. In May the reverse is the case. But as April is the critical month when the soil is being warmed up and growth started, it would seem that 400 Concerning Cornell the slopes that face the morning sun have the advantage in this also. The reference to its position with regard to the average track of cyclonic storms will suggest that the Ithaca region is not deficient in rainfall. At Ithaca itself the average annual precipitation is thirty-four inches, at the upland valley station nearby it is thirty-eight inches; New York City has forty -five inches. While New York City has a greater rainfall, it is not so uniformly distributed as the Ithaca precipitation, Ithaca having one hundred and fifty-five days on the average annu- ally with a precipitation of one-hundredth inch or more, while New York City has only one hundred and twenty-eight. However, New York City gets twenty-six inches during its growing season while Ithaca receives only seventeen. Even if the amount of precipitation received at Ithaca during the two months of New York's longer growing season are added, the total falls below New York City's; only twenty-two inches at Ithaca as com- pared to twenty-six inches at New York. As the soils of the Ithaca region have poor drainage con- ditions; are apt to be too wet in spring and too dry in summer it would appear that a higher sum- mer rainfall would be of material benefit to the agriculture of the area. The annual snowfall aver- ages fifty-six inches as compared to thirty-five inches at New York and forty-seven at Bingham- ton. This snowfall generally persists for consider- able periods and affords good sledding, thus materially facilitates country hauling in winter. Geography of the Region 40] The prevailing wind direction is from the north- west, thirty per cent of the time, followed by winds from the southeast for twenty-three per cent of the time. Several minor climatic influences may be noted here. Though possessed of romantic scenery, a lake, gorges, waterfalls and hills, and though read- ily accessible from several large centers of popula- tion the region has never had as great a vogue as a summer resort as might be expected, the primary reason being the cloudiness and coolness of the early summer months. This has made lakeside hotel ventures in general unprofitable as such en- terprises go. Then, too, bathing is not good, partly because of the general absence of good beaches and the abrupt deepening of the water offshore, also because when a warm south wind blows the warm surface waters are drifted to the north end of the lake and the water is cold; while on days when the waters are warm, a north wind usually makes the air too cool for comfort. While the open reaches of the lake are admirable for sailing, sudden squalls are common because of air drainage coming down the hanging valleys and first striking the lake surface at a distance from the shore. Because of this phenomenonand because of all-year-round low temperature of the deeper waters of the lake, a number of drownings from upset sailboats and an even greater number from overturned canoes have occurred, and this record also adversely affects the popularity of the lakeside as a summer resort. In September, 1779, detachments from General 402 Concerning Cornell Sullivan's army sent out by Washington to "Chas- tise and humble the Six Nations" utterly destroyed the Indian villages along Cayuga Lake and wasted the native plantations and orchards. One of these villages, Coreorgonel, consisting of twenty-five "elegantly built houses" was situated on the mo- rainic hillocks that terminate the delta-fioodplain area on the west side of the Inlet Creek. The Indians who occupied it were not of Iroquois stock, but Tutelos, originally inhabitants of the piedmont country of Virginia and the Carolinas. This is of interest in connection with the place names of the region for the Tutelos removed to this point in 1753 (after concluding a peace with the Iroquois who had long harried them) in company with an allied tribe, the Saponis, who had suffered like tribulations. The Saponis settled in one of the through valleys on the upland to the southwest of Ithaca and this today is called "Pony Hollow" a corruption of the original Saponi Hollow. [See Handbook of American Indians, Bulletin 30. Parts I and II, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smith- sonian Institution 1907, 1910, for references to literature.] Although their settlements were de- stroyed and the Indians themselves driven toward Niagara in 1779, and although they had formally ceded their lands to the state in 1789, it seems that a considerable number of the natives remained in the Cayuga country for some years later, as they are mentioned in the accounts of the first white settlement of the region, 1788-90. Thus it is related that in winter the natives pitched their Geography of the Region 403 wigwams on the level lands within the mouth of the interglacial Six Mile Creek gorge near State Street, securing rather complete protection from cold northwest storms under the steep and high rock walls. This is the area that has recently been made a city park by Ithaca. It is well adapted to such use because of its romantic scenery and the association of the place with the earliest aboriginal occupation of the region adds much to the interest of the park as a recreation center. With the advent of spring the Indians moved to higher ground, par- ticularly to the site of the earlier town of Coreor- gonel where there were native orchards. Thus it appears that geographic conditions exerted some influence on the habits of the Indian residents of the region. In September, 1789, three white families, com- prising nineteen individuals, removed from Kings- ton, N. Y., to the present site of Ithaca, bringing with them some house- hold chattels. A month was consumed by this party in their journey from Kingston to Owego. Their route in the main followed geographic lines and is now paralleled for the most part by rail- ways. From Kingston they went northwestward along a route that is now XfiKK&C 1 * AN OLD STONE HOUSE 404 Concerning Cornell followed by the Ulster & Delaware railway. Cross- ing the divide of the Catskills they arrived at the headquarters of the East Branch of the Delaware River, probably near the present village of Arkville. Here canoes were fashioned in which they floated down the Delaware River to a point a little below the junction of the East and West branches of that stream. This portion of the route is now followed by the Delaware & Northern railway and the New York, Ontario & Western road. From the Dela- ware they portaged across the divide between that stream and the Susquehanna at what was called its Great Bend near Lanesboro, Pa. No railroad crosses this divide just at this point but the Erie railroad makes the climb from the Delaware to the Susquehanna valley just a few miles farther north and continues westward in the valley of the Sus- quehanna River to Owego and beyond. At the Susquehanna the settlers once more constructed canoes and floated down stream to Owego. While modern traffic between the east and the west has abandoned the settlers' route in large part, it is nevertheless of geographic interest to note its directness and the extent to which the stream courses were utilized in making the trip. Nineteen days more were needed to complete the last stage of the journey, the part from Owego to Ithaca, a distance of only twenty-nine miles. While an Indian trail, succinctly described as a well beaten path, marked the way between these points, it seems that the settlers secured horses and stock at Owego, presumably wagons also, conse- Geography of the Region 405 quently it was necessary for them to clear off the forest in advance of their march, hence the long time it took to cover the short distance. The high- way they opened in this manner followed one of the lowlying gaps, across the upland country, due to glaciation, the through valley of Six Mile Creek, which was later destined to become an important factor in the development of the region. Economic motives, a desire to improve their fortunes, led the settlers to emigrate. Purely geo- graphic considerations, however, must have de- termined their choice of a new home. This is a nice distinction but one that may very fitly be made. It is also safe to assert that they would not have pushed on for twenty-nine miles from Owego so arduously without good reason. While in the through valley of Six Mile Creek there has been developed an ample acreage of cultivable lands, it must be remembered that primitively this section was densely forested while to the north the Indians had cleared large areas. But it was probably the wide expanse of almost perfectly level land on the delta-floodplain, at the head of Cayuga Lake, with its area of fertile, deep and well drained soil on its eastern side, in view of the rich and immediate agricutural returns these acres promised, that ex- ercised the controlling influence in the choice of a site for settlement. Visions of a future populous town because of the location at the head of the lake and the abundant water-powers adjacent may also have had a bearing on the decision. The immediate location of the first dwelling 406 Concerning Cornell places was guided by geographic conditions. Three large streams, Fall Creek, Cascadilla and Six Mile Creeks emerge from the rock gorges that terminate their hanging, upper valleys onto the lake-head plain on its east side; no stream of any size on the west side. Because of the abrupt change of grade at the ends of their gorges these three streams have built coalescing alluvial fans on the surface of the delta-floodplain, making the land higher and dryer on its eastern side and pushing the Inlet stream over to the base of the western bluff. Accordingly, as an early writer remarks, the exact location of the first cabin was determined "by the transporting power of Cascadilla Creek. " At this point an In- dian clearing existed and here, too, the first crops were planted. This first dwelling, moreover, was just to the north of the mouth of the gorge of Cas- cadilla, in which there were considerable waterfalls only a short distance up-stream. The immediate utility of such water-powers to the settlers is sug- gested by the fact that as early as the second year a flour mill, crude to be sure, but capable of grind- ing twenty-five bushels of grain per day was erected at the mouth of the Cascadilla gorge. In Six Mile the water-powers were farther up-stream, less ac- cessible; the immediate mouth of Fall Creek seems to have been very swampy, but these streams, too, were put to work at an early date. It is interesting to note further that the business center of Ithaca has grown up on the tract of land between the Six Mile and Cascadilla Creek gorge-mouths that was first settled. Geography of the Region 407 The young settlement early acquired the name of "Maricles Flats" or ''The Flats" because of its environment. Its present name, Ithaca, was be- £ IN DE WITT PARK stowed on it in about 1808 by Simeon DeWitt, who in 1780 was appointed Chief Geographer of the Army of the Revolution, and in 1784 Surveyor Gen- eral of New York State. While "The Flats" was not a very euphonious appellation, it did express a geographic relation, hence it seems unfortunate that this geographer, at least by one-time title, who later resided in the settlement, should not have chosen a pleasing geographic name rather than Ithaca. This name has, however, since the found- 408 Concerning Cornell ing of the university, a degree of appropriateness he could not have foreseen. While DeWitt him- self may not have been responsible for the many other classical place names found in this part of the state, it appears that this example of his served as a precedent. The Jesuit missionaries, who were probably the first white men in the region, undoubtedly came by way of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes route from the east, entered the northern end of Lake Cayuga and followed its extension southward in their explorations. The first merchant of the re- gion, an itinerant trader, brought a small boat load of goods (tea, coffee, earthenware, dry goods, hard- ware, gunpowder, lead and liquor) up Cayuga Lake and exchanged these articles at Ithaca for fur and maple sugar. The very first settlers came by way of the north and south through- valley of Six Mile Creek from Owego on the Susquehanna River to the site of Ithaca at the head of Cayuga Lake. These facts suggest the early importance of the north- south lines of travel and communication in the region. It should be mentioned, however, that a considerable number of the early pioneers who settled at Ithaca came from the east along the course of Fall Creek and that it was along this route that the first road through the forest was cut, completed in 1795, connecting Oxford on the Che- nango River with Ithaca. [Location of Towns and Cities of Central New York. Tarr, R. S. Bull. Amer. Geog. Soc. Vol. XLII, 1910, pp. 738-764. Contains an admirable survey of this topic as Geography of the Region 409 affecting the broader area in which the Ithaca Region is situated.] In the first third of the nineteenth century water routes were considered all important. At an early date nearly every stream was utilized as a highway and with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 a further impetus was given to water trans- portation. Railroads were then considered useful primarily as a means to effect portage between wa- ter routes. From central New York the Susque- hanna river was the great highway to the east until after the opening of the Erie Canal. When the Erie Canal was completed, and opened the way to THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY the west, it was felt that a north-south route con- necting the canal highway to the west with the Susquehanna River route to the east would be of great importance. Ithaca, because of its geograph- ic position at the lake-head terminal of western 410 Concerning Cornell navigation, on the shortest overland route to the Susquehanna, seemed destined to become a great commercial center. As early as 1810 Governor Clinton wrote, "The situation of this place (Ithaca) at the head of Cayuga Lake, and a short distance from the descending waters to the Atlantic, and about one hundred and twenty miles to the de- scending waters to the Mississippi, must render it a place of great importance. " [Life and Writings of DeWitt Clinton, (The), W. W. Campbell, N. Y., 1849] For this prediction, and similar fond anticipa- tions later, there was in those times ample justi- fication ; chiefly because the Ithaca region was then the originating point of a considerable bulk of ex- port traffic that utilized the routes in question. Between 1808 and 1811 a turnpike or toll road was built over the Six Mile valley route. During the war of 1812 the supply of gypsum from Nova Scotia was cut off from the states and this fertilizer material was secured in large quantities along the east shore of Cayuga Lake to the north of Ithaca. On a single day (between 1812-15) it is recorded that as many as eight hundred teams passed over the Ithaca and Owego turnpike engaged in hauling the "plaister" (land plaster) to the Susquehanna River on which it was floated to the south and east. This commodity continued to be of importance in 1825 and the traffic in it is urged in 1862 as a rea- son for building a ship canal from the foot of Lake Cayuga to Lake Ontario. Salt was another min- eral product shipped in quantity from Ithaca at an Geography of the Region 411 early date, eight thousand barrels in 1825 and two thousand two hundred and fifty tons in 1832. ["Facts Relative to the Trade (etc.), of the County of Tompkins," N. Y. Pamphlet printed in 1832 by Mack and Andrus, Ithaca, N. Y., p. 7.] In the latter year nearly two thousand tons of lumber and eight thousand seven hundred tons of wheat and flour were sent out of the region. At that time most of this merchandise was being sent north and east through Cayuga Lake and the Erie Canal and it was estimated that this freight paid canal tolls to the amount of one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars annually. At an earlier date (1810) Governor Clinton describes the shipment of flour from Ithaca to Baltimore, Montreal and New York. For Baltimore it was conveyed overland to Owego where "arks " (barges) could be had for seventy-five dollars. On these the flour was floated down the Susquehanna river, arriving at its destination in from eight to twelve days. At Baltimore the arks were sold for half price as "the rapids of the Sus- quehanna are fatal to ascending navigation. " To Montreal the route was over the lake and the St. Lawrence River to the Canadian port. Montreal was considered the more certain market, expense of transportation being about the same to either Baltimore or Montreal. Goods were also shipped to and from New York City by way of Cayuga Lake, Seneca and Oneida Rivers, Oneida Lake and Wood Creek, by canal (completed 1797) across the divide between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River at Rome, down the Mohawk (canal around Little 412 Concerning Cornell Falls completed 1794) to Schenectady and from thence overland to the Hudson at Albany. It re- quired six weeks to make the round trip from Ithaca to Schenectady with a boat carrying from one hundred to one hundred and fifty barrels of flour. The boats used were small and were propel- led for the greater part of the way by poles. In view of the slowness of such transportation, it is not surprising that the advent of the steam- boat brought a decided stimulus to the lake traf- fic and seemed to emphasize further the coming importance of Ithaca as a terminal point on the shortest route from the east to the west. Passenger business, particularly, was affected. Thus, in The Ithaca Journal of June 7, 1820, it was stated that passengers from New York City for Buffalo could leave the former city at five p. m., go by boat to Newburgh, there take stage, and arrive at Ithaca on the evening of the second day. Embarking on the "Enterprise" (the Cayuga steamer) that even- ing, they would be landed at the foot of the lake next morning, and, resuming the stage, arrive at Buffalo that night, making the whole journey in three days, one day less than by way of Albany. By 1837 there were three steamboats and from seventy to one hundred canal-boats in service on Cayuga Lake. The latter were in large part en- gaged in conveying coal from Ithaca to the Erie Canal and this coal traffic was a very important factor in the apparent destiny of Ithaca as a great commercial center. In about 1825 the importance of the coal de- Geography of the Region 413 posits (principally anthracite) in the Pennsylvania district, directly to the south of Ithaca, began to be recognized. Iron ores, also, had been discovered and the huge traffic that promised to develop in these commodities gave a further incentive to the project of connecting the Erie Canal with the Sus- quehanna highway by some more adequate means of transportation than by wagon. It was pro- posed that the state should aid in the building of a canal over the divide between the lake head and river navigation and the Ithacans urged that this canal should follow one or the other of the two valleys leading south from their town as these were the shorter routes. ["Considerations of the Claims of the Southern Tier of Counties." "Ad- dressed to the Representatives of an Intelligent Public. " Pamphlet, Albany, N. Y., 1825.] There were, however, rival claimants for the route from the head of Seneca Lake, and it was in this valley that the north-south canal was dug, the Chemung Canal connecting the head of Seneca Lake with the Chemung River at Elmira, completed 1833. There were good geographic reasons for select- ing the Seneca-Chemung route as will appear later. Meanwhile the Ithacans and Owegans, undeterred by their failure to secure the canal, and retaining faith in the geographic advantage of their shorter route, organized a company and with private capi- tal built a horse-power railroad through the Six Mile valley. While the Six Mile valley route is at least ten miles shorter than the Seneca-Chemung route to the Susquehanna, the geographic handicap 414 Concerning Cornell of the Six Mile route, that more than offset the advantage of less distance, became plainly manifest when the railroad was built. As the mouth of the valley is hanging above the Ithaca level (due to differential glacial erosion as detailed in an earlier paragraph) it was necessary to convey the cars down the steep slope from the hanging valley lip on an incline. The trains were hoisted and lowered by a system of pulleys and ropes, operated at first by horse-power and later by a stationary steam engine, through a vertical distance of four hundred and five feet within a horizontal distance of only one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three feet. The grade of this incline can still be seen on the nose of South Hill. It is interesting to note that the same cumbersome device was also employed on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the earliest portion (1831) of the present New York Central system, to raise trains from Albany into the Mo- hawk valley. But, while the grade at Albany was readily overcome later, the modern railroad line (Owego Branch, D., L. & W. R. R.) that has suc- ceeded the original Six Mile valle}' enterprise is at present able to descend to the Ithaca level only by a series of switchback spurs. Another road (E., C. & N. R. R.) built later in the same valley, does not even attempt to make the descent but discharges Ithaca freight and passengers at East Ithaca, a station on the level of the hanging valley up. The glacial through-valley south of Seneca Lake is not hanging, furthermore, its bottom is aggrad- Geography of the Reqion 415 ed with morainic and out-wash material through- out its length. Hence, the cutting of the Che- mung Canal through it was a comparatively easy task. The Chemung Canal had, too, the advan- tage of an adequate feeder in the Chemung River whose flow was in part diverted for the lockage down to the level of Seneca Lake. Then the divide at Horseheads is only nine hundred feet high and the level of Seneca Lake four hundred and forty- four feet, while the divide in the Six Mile valley has an altitude of nine hundred and eighty feet and the Cayuga Lake level is three hundred and eighty- four feet. The Seneca-Chemung route has, there- fore, a lower divide and the rise from the lake level is much less. A canal in the Six Mile valley would have been a practical, if not a physical, impossibil- ity. The horse-power railroad with the system of inclined planes was not an absolute failure, but it was not a real success, and within a few years the company went into bankruptcy. 'When the citizens of Ithaca, Owego and Athens, in 1825, petitioned the legislatures of New York and Pennsylvania for state support for a canal to connect Ithaca with the Susquehanna, they pro- posed either the Six Mile route or a route through the Cayuga Inlet valley as preferable to the Seneca route. The Cayuga Inlet valley, like the valley south of Seneca Lake, is not hanging and its bot- tom is also aggraded throughout with glacial depos- its. But the divide is at one thousand and forty feet, the distance from Ithaca to the Susquehanna at Athens greater than from Watkins to Elmira by 416 Concerning Cornell thirteen miles, and there is no large feeder available at the high level. Hence, the Seneca-Chemung route was chosen for the canal, but the Cayuga Inlet valley was made, later, the route of the Lehigh railroad, the only through line entering Ithaca. The passenger business of this road, be- tween New York City and Buffalo, is now sent through Ithaca but the freight business is largely routed over the other loop of the road that parallels Seneca Lake. The reason for this discrimination is that leaving Ithaca, in either direction, involves a climb of four hundred and fifty feet or more, while between similar points on the Seneca Valley route the grades are only a little over one hundred feet. The railroad does not, however, descend to the level of Seneca Lake at its head, but like the E., C. & N. railroad in the Six Mile valley, dis- charges freight and passengers for Watkins on a hillside station above the Seneca lake-head town. The climb out of Ithaca to the north might have been almost entirely eliminated by following along the west shore of Cayuga Lake, but the road across the interlake country had been built before its incorporation into the Lehigh system, it already served a fertile farming country, it connected the towns built at the heads of the gorges and the ad- vantages of the level route would have been more or less offset by the necessity of winding around the minor indentations of the shore. The branch Le- high road built along the east shore of the lake suffers from the latter defect. Another transportation project, by which the Geography of the Region 417 Ithacans hoped to make their city a terminal point, was a direct ship canal to Lake Ontario, in order to get in touch with the western commerce and the Montreal market. Here they came into rivalry with the Oswegans whose route was shorter and better supplied with water. The Ithaca project, however, seemed likely of realization in 1829-35 and led to a fever of real estate speculation in the community which abruptly collapsed in the nation- al panic of 1837. When first agitated, this canal was to be used in conjunction with the horse-power Six Mile valley railroad. In 1862 the project was revived with the idea that the water-powers from the hanging valleys could be used to grind western wheat and that Lake Superior copper ores could be smelted at Ithaca with anthracite coal brought over the Six Mile valley railroad from the Pennsyl- vania fields to the south. But coke from bitum- inous coal shortly supplanted the use of the costly anthracite for smelting and the wheat country moved still farther westward. The Inlet harbor of Ithaca has been improved and made one of the southern terminals of the new Erie barge canal. It may be that this will give some impetus to water commerce on Cayuga Lake, centering at Ithaca, but it can not well do much. In the early days, when the Ithacans first antici- pated great growth, their expectations were built primarily on the basis of the export tonnage of lumber, plaster, flour, wheat and salt originating in the territory. They also hoped to become the outlet for the Susquehanna country. The lumber 418 Concerning Cornell is gone, the plaster no longer in demand, as a great wheat raising section the region can not begin to compete successfully with the western lands, and salt is about the only one of the early bulk products still produced in quantity. The railroads have ab- sorbed the Pennsylvania coal traffic and carry it over other routes. The Hudson-Mohawk gateway enabled New York City to surpass Baltimore and Philadelphia as seaports, hence the difficult grades of the more direct, cross-plateau routes make them of importance only in the coal carrying trade, and this does not affect Ithaca except in the matter of local consumption. If Ithaca ever becomes a com- mercial and shipping center of importance, it must be on the basis of development of resources within the immediate region. As these seem totally in- adequate to bring about such a result, Ithaca can not hope to become, as it did once, "the great central city of New York State. " A number of geographic factors affect the agri- cultural conditions in the region, especially with reference to the kind of crops that have and can now be produced profitably. The origin of the soils, the topography of the region and its climate must all be taken into account. The soils are, for the most part, of glacial origin, rock material fined by glacial grinding, but much of it has been reassorted and redeposited by water action. The uplands, above the level of one thou- sand feet, are quite uniformly covered with glacial till. As the bed-rock is mostly shale and sandstone, the former predominating, the till material con- Geography of the Region 419 sists of commingled shale fragments of small size with clayey and sandy, fine particles making up the bulk of the mass. The substratum is often very dense and hard, the soil itself is usually thin, deficient in lime content and poorly drained. The shallowness is due to the comparatively light load of material transported by the ice in the thinner masses that moved over the uplands and their rapid melting off; the low lime content to the shaly bedrock from which it was derived and the poor drainage to the compaction of the material by the weight of the ice and to the fact that its clayey nature lends itself to puddling. These soils are the famous Volusia series, the worn-out condition of which has been held in part responsible for the de- cline of farming in central New York. The upland country to the south of Ithaca has, in fact, been described as an abandoned farm district. The characterization as an abandoned farm district rests on the evidence of decrease in rural population and the number of unoccupied houses. For these facts the nature and condition of the soils are not wholly responsible. There are no aban- doned farms in the sense of abandonment of title. The decrease in population and the resultant va- cant houses are primarily the result of the intro- duction of machinery in farm operations, and it has been shown by a detailed survey [An Agricul- tural Survey of (part of) Tompkins County, New York. Warren, G. F. and Livermore, K. C. Cor- nell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 295, March, 1911.] that the larger farms 420 Concerning Cornell that have come from this change in methods are uniformly more profitable than small units. The region was settled in the days of the scythe and grain cradle. Hill slopes, too steep for modern cultivation, were then cleared and farmed. These now are waste land or used only for pasture. As noted in an earlier paragraph, they should be re- turned to forest before the soil is all washed down. In the days of early settlement, much of this land, as well as that at lower levels, was planted to wheat, as is evident from the export figures quoted. Now only five per cent of the total acreage in the townships surveyed in detail is devoted to this crop. Probably the depletion of the organic matter originally present in the soil, due to continuous cropping, is in part responsible for the decrease. Another reason for the decline of the wheat crop was the appearance of insect enemies. But what wheat is now raised gives a better yield per acre than the average for the wheat-growing states of the west. Hay is, how- ever, now the universal crop, covers fifty-six per cent of the acreage, buckwheat eight per cent and potatoes three per cent. Topography and climate conditions are also, in part, responsible for the decline in farming on the uplands. With the ad- vent of railroads, shipping points were almost all concentrated in the north and south through-valleys the levels of which are from Hve hundred to one thousand five hundred feet below the hill farms. The glacial over-deepening of the valley troughs made very steep slopes; hence all the descent is Geography of the Region 421 accomplished in a very short distance. Roads, moreover, were laid out at an early date without reference to the valley stations, therefore often lead straight up hill for from four hundred to eight hundred feet just beyond the railroad. Because of such grades, bulk crops, potatoes for example, to which the soil is adapted, can not be very profitably produced. This topographic difficulty must also be contended with in hauling market milk. Cli- matic limitations are imposed by the shortness of the season and the coolness of summer, which makes the growing of corn for grain uncertain. The normal climatic sequence for the region, a wet spring, followed by a dry summer, is a par- ticularly unhappy combination for the thin clayey upland soils. They are boggy and cold in spring- planting time, ploughing tends to puddle them and then in the summer droughts they dry out and bake, partly because they are thin and partly be- cause the puddled condition prevents the vertical rise of water. In addition to the handicap of the hills in haul- ing milk to market, there is a further disadvantage in that the average farm is over three miles from the valley station. How important a factor dis- tance is may be appreciated when it is stated that a farmer within three miles of a market can make a labor income four times as large as that of the farmer seven miles or more away. Despite these difficulties, a large proportion of the farm incomes are derived from cattle production; forty per cent of the total farm receipts, of which thirty-three per 422 Concerning Cornell cent is from milk and butter and seven per cent from stock sold. This is due to the fact that a combination of milk and crops for sale pays better than the exclusive production of either the one or other, because labor can be kept more continuously employed. From the geographer's point of view, it would seem that sheep could be profitably pro- duced on the steep slopes. But the land values are apparently too high for successful sheep raising. In the valley bottoms and on the slopes of the north-south valleys, below the thousand foot level, as well as over the plain to the north of the Portage escarpment, a wide diversity of soils exists. These have essentially the same bed-rock origin as the upland soils but consist of mingled, morainic accumu- lations, glacial out- wash gravels and sands and clay, and delta deposits of sand and gravel made on the bot- toms of the pro- glacial lakes. In contrast with the hill soils, these soils are usually deep, for the wash of ma- terial from over and under the melting, glacial front tended city hall, ithaca Geography of the Region 423 to concentrate the deposit of its morainic load around the margins of the projecting valley lobes. Because of this greater thickness, the valley soils are free from the poor drainage conditions and drying out exhibited by the thin, upland soils. The partial or complete water assortment of the material has resulted in better textural conditions and their diversity permits of a wider variety of crops. Thus, apple orchards and vegetable gardens succeed on the well drained, lighter soils. On the whole, however, the crops are much the same as on the uplands but with better yields and greater profit to the farmer. Only one or two crops de- serve special notice. Grapes are produced, to a limited extent, on the east-facing slopes just above the level of Cay- uga Lake. The soil conditions are essentially the same on the other side of the lake but there few or no vineyards are found. This seems to be a response to more genial climatic conditions on the west side, and is especially interesting in connec- tion with the statistics of an excess of morning sun in April, given in an earlier paragraph. The dry alluvial farms that were cultivated by the first settlers on "The Flats" and planted to corn and potatoes are now almost wholly occupied by the city of Ithaca. On the west side of the Inlet, near the edge of the delta, a part of the originally swampy land has been filled in with dredged ma- terial secured in enlarging the stream to barge canal depth and width. This filled land has been planted in large part to peach orchard. This is 424 Concerning Cornell an interesting experiment, as peaches often fail in the region on account of frosts. In such close proximity to the lake the equalizing influence of the waters may be sufficient to make the crop rea- sonably certain. The early industries of the region were nearly all founded on the water-powers furnished by Fall, Cascadilla and Six Mile Creeks in plunging through the post-glacial gorges to the lake level from their hanging valley lips. In the aggregate the volume of these powers is considerable. Fall and Casca- dilla Creeks descend some four hundred feet within a distance of one-half mile. Because of the early development of these powers and the parcelling out of the rights to numerous individuals it has, how- ever, to date been impossible to utilize the full head provided by the abrupt descent of these streams. With a single hydro-electric power plant and dis- tributing station located at the foot of the gorge of Fall Creek, supplied by the full volume of the stream, a much greater amount of power could be secured than is now or has been. The same thing can be said of Cascadilla. But even in this event at least two separate power plants would be required. In other words it is a geographic disadvantage that the drainage of the comparatively small area that centers at Ithaca should be divided among three streams. The disadvantage does not stop at the power plants. To utilize the fall effectively a large reservoir is needed in the upper valley of each stream, particularly now that the forest has been removed and their volume fluctuates from floods Geography of the Region 425 in spring and fall to mere threads of water in sum- mer. The sites for such reservoirs are, however, available and steps are now being taken to develop the Fall Creek power in an adequate way. Even with such development it is doubtful whether the available power from these streams would be sufficient to supply a considerable indus- trial center as was anticipated in 1835, when, dur- ing the period of speculation that preceded the contemplated construction of a ship canal from the foot of Cayuga Lake to Lake Ontario, the sum of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars was paid for only a portion ("sundry water-powers") of the Fall Creek power rights. On the scale that man- ufacturing enterprises were then conducted this price might possibly have proved a profitable in- vestment if raw materials for conversion into fin- ished products had flowed into Ithaca from the outside as was anticipated. The dependence of the early mills and factories on the water-powers is in- dicated very clear- ly by the way they were all scattered along the stream courses. Their nature indicates that they were also dependent on local supplies of raw material to a very large extent. Grist mills came first, then plaster mills; chair, sash and door AN HISTORIC HOUSE, ITHACA 426 Concerning Cornell factories using the local lumber supply, also saw mills; boat yards, building canal-boats; a distillery (local corn) tanneries, probably dependent at first on the nearby supply of hides but later utilizing only the regional resources of bark, oak and hem- lock; oil mills (local flax seed?) and a paper-mill probably dependent on local supplies of rags. At early dates, however, there were numerous textile enterprises, woolen carding and fulling mills, cotton factories and silk mills which must have received their supplies of raw material from other regions and depended for success on the utilization of the local water-powers or cheap labor. A foundry and furnace for iron smelting was established in 1822, by 1834 there were three such enterprises in Ithaca. It is significant that but few of these industries have survived. Those which were justified geo- graphically in that they were founded on the supply of local raw materials and local demand were emi- nently prosperous in their day. The others, in almost every instance, had ill-starred and short careers. The output of the local factories today consists of very specialized products of high value as com- pared to their bulk, are furthermore largely the creations of local inventive talent and mechanical skill. This is quite fitting in view of the modern topographic remoteness of Ithaca from centers of population, routes of commerce and supplies of bulk raw materials. A factory making a chain drive for automobiles, a shot gun works, a toy- organ company, a paper-mill specializing in waxed Geography of the Region 427 papers, an advertising sign plant and an aeroplane company are now the important industries of the place. The last mentioned concern was attracted to Ithaca, on their own statement, by the geo- graphic advantages of the site; in that the level, unoccupied lands of the delta flat and the open expanse of the lake, gave opportunities for starting and alighting safely and in trying out hydroplanes. Very recently, too, motion picture companies have established a studio on the lake shore. These enter- prises utilize to the fullest possible extent the mani- fold scenic attractions of the Ithaca region and have probably done more than any other agency to bring Ithacans to a realization of the natural beauty of their locality. Two industries making bulk products still exist. These avail themselves of abundant supplies of local raw material, of the facilities for cheap water transportation (which will be much enhanced by the barge canal) and of the exceptionally favorable conditions of location for the manufacture of their respective materials that the region affords. They are the salt plants and the cement plant situated on the east side of the lake near Ithaca. In earlier years salt was made in the northern part of the state by evaporating the brine flowing from natural springs. Now double tube wells are sunk at Ithaca almost two thousand feet to the salt beds themselves which aggregate three hun- dred feet in thickness. Water sent down one tube issues from the other as a saturated salt solution, and is conveyed to settling tanks on the steep hill- 428 Concerning Cornell slope. After precipitation of gypsum and other impurities the concentrated brine is evaporated with artificial heat, the salt dried centrifugally and accumulated on the floor of a storehouse at lake level, whence it is readily shipped either by water or on the railway that parallels the shore line. During the year 1917 a mine shaft was sunk to the salt beds and it may be possible in the future to produce coarse rock salt at a point a few miles down the lake from Ithaca. This will provide a further large quantity of bulk material for ship- ment by water over the lake and barge canal to centers of population east and west. The cement plant is a conspicuous example of the positive influence of a combination of favoring geographic factors in conducing to the prosperity of a particular enterprise, otherwise handicapped. The margin of profit in the cement industry is relatively small, the capitalization required per ton of actual product is the same as that in the pig iron industry, but the finished iron product has a value from three to four times greater than that of the same amount of cement. [Eckel, E. C, A Com- parison of the Iron and Cement Industries, Cement Age, March, 1911, pp. 139-143; also The Cement and Iron Industries, a Comparative Study, Eng. Mag. March, 1911, pp. 854-867.] The tremendous modern use of cement has made possible large scale production in plants of maximum industrial effi- ciency. The Cayuga plant is comparatively dis- tant from the large centers of consumption but has other advantages that outweigh this handicap. Geography of the Region 429 Its supply of raw material is furnished by the Tully limestone and the Hamilton shale which underlies the limestone. At the exact site of the plant the rocks have been folded into a low arch which has resisted erosion because of the durable limestone formation that caps it. The glacial ero- sion of the north-south, Cayuga Lake trough has created a steep slope from the lake shore to the crest of the arch, which is just behind the mill at an altitude of two hundred and fifty-nine feet above the lake level. Glacial erosion has removed practically all the weathered rock material, and the practically complete absence of residual clay, in joint and bedding-planes, renders unnecessary the washing operation to remove such substance that must be adopted in some cement quarries of the United States that are located outside the zone of notable glacial erosion. The limestone is eighteen feet thick at the quarry, thus of ample bulk for large scale production. As much larger quantities of limestone are needed than of the Hamilton shale at its base (into which it passes abruptly) it is of considerable significance that the shale is below, for, if it were above, the cost of its removal or tim- bering would make the enterprise much less profit- able. The steep slope and the amount of elevation above lake level make possible the use of an aerial tramway to carry the rock directly from the quarry face to the upper story of the mill, for grinding, without expenditure of power. This series of geographic advantages have made possible the profitable operation of a small cement 430 Concerning Cornell mill in competition with much larger plants less favorably situated, but possessing more up-to-date equipment. The geographic disadvantage of being comparatively remote from centers of consump- tion, Buffalo on the west and New York on the east, is offset in large part by the availability of a water transportation route to those points. With- out these geographic advantages the plant could not have survived, possessing them it has attracted the attention of a large corporation which proposes to develop it from a local enterprise to an industry of state wide importance. The dominating factor in the development of modern Ithaca as a residential center has been the selection of the place as the site of Cornell Univer- sity. The founder, Ezra Cornell, was indifferent to the honor of having his name attached to the institution but was insistent on the site at Ithaca in preference to Syracuse where it was urged that the university should be located. In this he was amply justified if beauty and natural interest of situation count for anything in the placing of an institution of learning. The campus occupies the interstream plateau between Fall Creek and Cascadilla Creek. This is of ample dimensions to accommodate the univer- sity buildings and grounds and to provide also on the east the farm acreage necessary for the Agri- cultural College experimental plantings. It is a rather adventitious geographic advantage that this limited area of farm land should have very diversi- fied soils, till, moraine, glacial lake sands, silt and Geography of the Region 431 clay and delta material, giving opportunity for tests under a variety of soil conditions. The flat tops of the delta terraces that flank each of the boundary creeks have also provided admirable sites for a number of the buildings. The west edge of the quadrangle is just above the over-steepened slope of the glacially-eroded Cayuga Lake valley, hence commands a view of the country for miles around. To the north one looks over a long expanse of lake; to the west down on the city in the valley below, and across it on a wide extent of field and woodland-chequered hill- side. On the southeast the prospect is even more distant and extends far into the bold and rugged topography of the uplands. It is commonly felt that no inconsiderable fraction of the institution's cultural and educational influence is owing to its aesthetic surroundings, and the site is considered by many to be the most attractive of all the seats of higher learning in America. To this scenic at- tractiveness must also be added the unique op- portunities for natural history studies, including geography, that the complicated physiographic development of the region affords, and which en- tails the existence of extremely varied habitats for both flora and fauna, making it, in consequence, a very exceptionally rich and compact collecting ground for the botanist and zoologist; as was early remarked by the celebrated naturalist, Louis Agassiz. Itself admirably situated, the university, as stated before, is responsible also for the modern 432 Concerning Cornell growth of Ithaca as a residential center. This dates from about the time when the city's dreams of future commercial greatness had been finally dissipated. Since then the interests of the popula- tion have been divided between the business dis- trict on the valley flat and the campus at the crest AN EARLY COLONIAL HOME, ITHACA of the over-steepened slope, separated primarily by a difference in altitude of some four hundred feet. The result has been the development of a hillside town in a place where there was ample room for residential growth on comparatively level lands to the south and west. Practically all the hillslope between Fall and Six Mile Creeks is covered with residences. The actual distance from the campus Old Colonial Homes iN Ithaca The Clinton House Exterior erected in the early days of Ithaca, then known as the finest hotel between New York and Buffalo 4 Ky • 1 ■■■■I ii Illlll iiiflili . . ft*.' 'V ngmyB \ 221 The New Ithaca High School Geography of the Region 433 to the business center of the city is short, but the direct down hill streets are so steep as to be ex- ceedingly tiresome to climb and dangerous to de- scend in winter when there is an ice and snow cover. This steepness has also made the trans- portation problem difficult. The grades are too heavy for trolley lines to negotiate directly. Hence circuitous routes are necessary, with diagonal as- cents of the slopes. Even under those conditions the motors must be geared very low, high rates of speed are impossible. The combination of roundabout routes and low speeds make anything like rapid transit from the valley to the campus out of the question. Moreover, even with their long routes the trolleys do not serve a wide area. The upshot of this, in connection with the utilization of practically all the plateau area by the university, is that the extent of available residential tracts is quite limited. Conservation of time and energy necessitates living at some place convenient to both the town and the campus for a large part of the community. These circumstances, conjointly, have developed the condition of high prices for lands, and exceedingly high rents for apartments in what is in other respects a village residential center. With the increasing use of motor cars, and with the promised extension of the trolley lines an ad- mirable solution of this difficulty has, however, been found, for that part of the community that has its chief interest or business in the university's activities, by the incorporation and development of 434 Concerning Cornell the Village of Cayuga Heights. This thriving and most attractive suburb occupies a portion of the valley slope of Cayuga Lake about one-half mile to the north of the campus. Being outside the city it is immune from the very heavy tax rate levied on Ithaca property. This saving, and the exceedingly fine views of both the lake and valley that Cayuga Heights residents enjoy, probably more than com- pensate for this suburb's greater distance from the business center than that of the other residential districts. The village is, moreover, admirably laid out, and many fine sites are still available for future growth. The hillside site has made the matter of fire protection a difficult problem which is further aggravated by the fact that most of the apparatus is housed in the valley, because the university is exempt from taxation. Modern, motor fire trucks have, however, done much to overcome this diffi- culty. The water supply, too, was for a long time inadequate but by availing itself recently, on a proper scale, of the really excellent opportunity afforded by the geographic conditions for creating a sufficient reservoir, the community has solved the water problem. It will be recalled that the characteristic features of the bottoms of the hang- ing valleys, just above their lips, are a succession of amphitheatres, and connecting rock gorges, de- veloped as the streams flow in and out of their earlier interglacial courses. One of these gorges in Six Mile Creek has been closed by a high dam, and the amphitheatre in the interglacial gorge Geography of the Region 435 above it flooded, providing an ample reservoir at low cost. Moreover, as the drainage area of the upper section of the creek is comparatively small, it can be guarded conveniently against contamina- tion. At an earlier date much of the water supply was secured from artesian wells and such water is A "MOVIE" THEATRE IN ITHACA now used to some extent for making artificial ice. Owing to an unwillingness to recognize the local origin of these artesian waters they were over- developed in an attempt to supply the whole com- munity with them. It is comparatively simple to recount and point out the geographic influences that have and are contemporaneously exerting an effect on the indi- vidual and collective fortunes of a community. To predict what conditions will be important in the future or to suggest better utilization of resources at hand is more difficult and open to criticism as 436 Concerning Cornell opinions may differ. But such efforts constitute a phase of applied geography and one that has been much neglected, hence is deserving of some expo- sition in this connection even though unskilful. The transportation prospect of the future for the region is the maximum utilization of the Ithaca terminal of the barge canal. It is extremely likely that the salt and cement companies will avail themselves of this to a very large extent in shipping goods both east and west. Water transportation is so much cheaper than railroad transportation that if the cargoes were available there could be no question of the barge canal being profitable. Bulk cargoes other than salt and cement would need to be furnished largely by agricultural and lumber products. It might be feasible also to maintain a passenger steamer plying the length of the lake if by arranging circular tours out of New York City by way of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, Niagara Falls, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence, Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson River, enough tour- ists could be attracted to visit the Finger Lake country. Such a steamer would need to be fast and commodious to be successful. The development of the agricultural bulk products would necessitate providing roads to the upland sections with low enough grades for the operation of tractors capable of hauling a string of wagons to the lake terminal. It would also need co-operation among the farmers to provide an adequate quantity of marketable products. But potatoes, apples (properly graded and packed) and Geography of the Region 437 beef cattle in view of rising meat prices could be shipped, and are all adapted to production in quantity in the region. With proper reforestation of the hillslopes and summits there would also be a constantly increasing supply of valuable pine lumber to send out. For return cargoes western corn for cattle fattening and perhaps bituminous coal and coke from Lake Erie ports could be se- cured. Industrial expansion ought to be largely along the line of specialized manufactures, requiring in- telligent labor, such as are now successfully estab- lished at Ithaca. The presence of the University would provide an incentive for the removal of skilled artisans to an inland center. Other salt and cement companies might find it profitable to estab- lish plants. An increasing volume of high value, small bulk products would compensate the rail- roads, at least in part, for any loss in traffic on account of barge canal shipments. The consolida- tion of the water-powers of both Fall Creek and Cascadilla Creek by reservoirs and central convert- ing plants would be of great industrial advantage. Any additional development of industrial or com- mercial activity will, of course, bring about growth in population. This is eminently desirable and will react favorably on the university's interests, for it is extremely unlikely that such growth will ever keep pace with the university's expansion and consequent dominance of the situation. In closing, therefore, it may not be amiss to recommend to such readers of these lines that may be in search 438 Concerning Cornell of a home site where the leisure of ample means may be made enjoyable by both physical and in- tellectual stimulus, that the Ithaca-Cornell region affords these with its beautiful scenery, really fine autumn climate, with access to innumerable con- certs, plays and lectures of metropolitan standard, combined with the pleasure of living in a cultured community. For a family with children to educate the location is almost ideal, for the elementary and secondary schools of Ithaca are of exceptionally high grade, and, combined with the facilities for higher education provided by the university, meet all demands for the training of any generation in any field. And the advertising slogan of the com- munity is "Ithaca Invites You." CHAPTER X OVER HILL AND INTO HOLLOW THE great panorama of nature that is spread before the newcomer's eyes from the vantage point of the Cornell campus is only a formal and distant introduction to the scenic charm of the environment. The grandeur of the initial pros- pect, with its wide expanses of hillslope, its restful valley aspect and the blue lure of the lake waters, only suggests the infinite variety of scenic interest that remains concealed. To know these hidden things intimately calls for something of the ardor of the explorer. For such an enthusiast there are gorges and waterfalls almost without number to be sought out, rambles by purling brooks slipping from field into forest, and unexpected glimpses of shimmering lakes and peaceful country villages to be had from lonely hilltops. It is not a region of rugged and awe-inspiring mountain splendor but of the kind that pleases and soothes from the motor road, yet holds enough of the wilderness aspect in its remoter places to gratify the discover- ing instinct of the tramper. It is not claimed that this scenic attractiveness is a resource peculiar to the immediate environ- ment of the university. It is shared by all the Finger Lakes country of Central New York and the wonder is, that, altogether aside from the fact that Cornell is located in the area, the region is not more favorably known and more commonlv visited 440 Concerning Cornell by the tourist public. It would be difficult to conceive a district holding in store more of quiet beauty and romantic wildness than this. In the past the relative inaccessibility by rail may have had something to do with its not becoming cele- brated, but with the modern vogue for motor- touring, and the completion of excellent state roads, there can be little doubt but that the Finger Lake country will be more and more the resort of ITJiACA . &r?cf /lufomob/'/e ffoac/s fo surrounc//n& tow/sis zfnd offrer />0/'/i. of /rtttresr. AVBURri TAVG-HAC?, co/?rL Boyhood Hom^ ' £*ra Cornet/ \ ^c ore err TffOXTOtf >3/r/A/>/*ce o/"\ V^fsr „ 'OW.TOOt? ?££VlL/.£~0-£OJ^6-£ Stf. Seer *! > m mya/y of. /rnaci for s/re ofO/7/refs/7y VML.LBY " COrihtNG- [CAYOTA *S/=>£f*C£A H0,9S£H£ADS~ BfrtGHQMTOfi L irr/CHOt.s '£*LY / Over Hill and Into Hollow 441 those who plan their trips with discrimination. On the other hand, it is true that Ithaca and Cor- nell are central to some of the finest features of the general region, and on that account this chapter is inserted. These paragraphs and pictures may serve to acquaint some readers with the possibili- ties of the environment or perhaps to incite the incoming undergraduate with an immediate desire to seek out the places mentioned. In either event they will be of good purpose. With past experience as guide, there is at once a great temptation to go far afield, to strike out, immediately, away from the beaten track. That would be a mistake for the newcomer at Ithaca and Cornell. The city itself has recently begun to recognize this fact, the concrete evidence being that a City Park has been made of the Six Mile Creek gorge for that part of its extent that parallels the main street of the town. Within a few blocks of the principal hotels one can descend into a rock- walled chasm, and, following along paths that lead through clumps of woodland, into open glades, to the foot of foaming falls, and along steep ledges, find enough of sylvan beauty to while away an Sj^isiL afternoon most agree- ably. If the hour is not too late, the trolley ride "around the loop," with perhaps a stop at "Inspira- tion Point " will afford 442 Concerning Cornell a delightful relaxation from the earlier walk and an added scenic gratification. Near the summit of its winding ascent, from the valley bottom to the campus plateau, the trolley route along a con- siderable distance affords the passenger an outlook directly down on the city and for miles up the lake. This makes an especially pleasing prospect, one of which even the old inhabitant does not tire; a ride around the loop is quite an institution among the good citizens of Ithaca. Immediately adjacent to the campus, at its south entrance from College Avenue, there is a pretty path among the hemlocks bordering the upper length of Cascadilla Gorge. This was a favorite retreat of Goldwin Smith, during the two years that he spent at Cornell, hence is known as Goldwin Smith Walk. On the far side of the cam- pus, along Beebe Lake and Fall Creek Gorge, is a similar path leading to Forest Home village. Both of these walks are of romantic aspect, the first af- fording intimate glimpses of rushing water in a narrow rock gorge; the latter opening out wider views over the placid waters of the little lake with its forest-covered slope opposite — especially beau- tiful in autumn. From the upper bridge across Fall Creek, on the north side of the campus, one can look down into the tremendously deep lower gorge. Just at this point, so the story runs, as told by Griffis in his "Pathfinders of the Revolution," a white maiden, made captive by the Seneca Indians at the Cherry Valley massacre, was found and rescued by her Over Hill and Into Hollow 443 lover, a member of General Sullivan's expedition. It seems that the maiden had been able to send a letter back to her white friends by a negro captive whom the Indians regarded as a trusty. In this letter she described a hiding place that she had discovered, near a great waterfall, in a gorge at the south end of Cayuga Lake, a place to which she proposed to flee if ever a punitive expedition should be sent into the lake country. The exact locality she fixed as the point where a little primrose, not found elsewhere in the region, flourished on the IX UPPER FALL CREEK GORGE gorge walls, and of this flower she enclosed pressed specimens. Fortunately for the success of her plan the Indians departed several days before the white troops came into the Cayuga region, the maiden was able to elude them, and to attain her retreat: 444 Concerning Cornell where, after an anxious search, her lover eventually discovered her; the little primrose playing its ro- mantic part just as she had planned. The great waterfall of her letter, however, is now identified by the quite unromantic name of Triphammer Falls. Just below the bridge, on the south side, is a path by which one may descend to the bottom of the gorge and, if the water is not too high, follow its course, dry shod, to another large falls just above the suspension bridge. Below this falls is a great pool that in recent years has been a favorite swimming place for the Summer Session students. This pool presents a quite animated appearance on a hot July afternoon, when a hundred or more bathers and divers may be disporting themselves at the same hour. Farther down the gorge is the lower trolley bridge, from the side of which the brink of the Ithaca Falls is visible, as is also the entrance to the famous tunnel constructed by Ezra Cornell. The more adventurous may find the lower end of this tunnel and thus gain entrance for an explora- tion of its length. It will then be noted that the roof of the tunnel is formed by a durable stratum of sandstone, while the passage itself is cut through friable shales. It remained, however, for Ezra Cornell to see how feasible and economical this relation of the rock strata made such an engineer- ing project, and also to carry out the plan. From the brink of the rock wall, above the Ithaca Falls, Cayuga Lake is once more visible and invites a voyage on its waters. If one yields to its Over Hill and Into Hollow 445 lure, bear this warning in mind (the only lines in this volume printed in black face type): Do not venture on Cayuga Lake in any craft that is liable to upset from its own crankiness, from waves or wind, unless you are willing to wear a life-preserver that will support your inert body indefinitely. It will not avail that you are a strong swimmer, the open waters of Cayuga are almost icy cold the year round and soon numb the efforts of the most hardy. Hence almost every year is marred by one or more tragic drownings. CAYUGA LAKE FROM RENWICK PIER In summer, daily steamboat service is available to points on the western side of the lake near Ithaca, occasionally an excursion trip is made to its northern end. On a bright, warm day either the short trip or the long trip is extremely enjoy- able, especially if a stop for dinner is made at Glenwood Point or at one of the other hotels along 446 Concerning Cornell the shore. From Glenwood one has a very impres- sive view of the university buildings crowning the heights above the town. But the main objective of a trip down Cayuga is the Taughannock Gorge and Falls. If the steam- er service is not available to its lower end, the gorge may also be reached by rail or road at its head. For those who love a scramble, however, the climb up the gorge from its lower end is much the better way to get a proper conception of its phenomena. The beginning of the gorge, down stream, is marked by a very pretty, though low, waterfall over the Tully limestone. Just above this point the black cliffs of the Genesee shale begin to rise on each side and shortly attain really grand as- pects. Canyons in the western plateau districts of the United States present sheer cliffs of much greater height, but the Taughannock develop- ment, occurring in what is, in general, a placid agricultural country, gains in impressiveness by this contrast with the normal scenic aspect of the region. Although the gorge is of considerable width, the stream, flowing from side to side over its bot- tom, forces the path at times to slippery ledges, so that the climb up the mile or more of distance to the foot of the big falls is not without its minor thrills. For most of the way the gorge sides are forested but, at its head, the site of the falls is marked by a great open pit, where overhanging rock walls rise on either hand, bare and black, to Over Hill and Into Hollow 447 the plateau level some three hundred to four hun- dred feet above. Into this plateau level a smaller, upper gorge has been cut by the stream, and from the end of this upper gorge the waters plunge in a vertical fall of some two hundred and fifteen feet, or about forty-five feet "higher'n Niagara" in local phraseology. To get a vivid sensation of the actual scale of the place it is necessary to approach the foot of the fall quite closely and then look up. Thus the observer becomes aware of the insignifi- cance of his own stature and the cliffs take on menacing proportions. But the falls themselves are lovely, and in a different way from that of other cascades in the region because of their straight descent. Seen from above, framed by the forest greenery, they make a notable picture. Three other gorges deserve especial mention: Buttermilk, Enfield and Watkins. The first two were purchased and made accessible to the sight- seer by a public-spirited citizen of Ithaca — Mr. R. H. Treman, and he later presented Enfield to the state for a state park, which Watkins has been for sometime. All three are easily reached by motor, over fine state roads, at distances of approximately, three, seven and twenty-five miles, respectively. Buttermilk can be explored in the course of an afternoon's tramp from Ithaca, it is sylvan-dell like in its several reaches and contains many interesting pot-hole cauldrons. Enfield is the wildest of the gorges in the region, its pristine conditions are practically untouched, it, no doubt, will best please the romantic nature lover. The 448 Concerning Cornell exceedingly straight chutes, with sides determined by joints in the bed-rock, of the upper gorge, are a very unusual feature in gorge scenery; and the view from the great Lucifer Falls, a vantage point that can be attained with perfect safety by those who are not made dizzy by great heights, is of exceptionally impressive sweep. Watkins Glen, with its concrete walks and iron railings, gives opportunity to view typical gorge scenery of the Finger Lake country to those who from age or infirmity are not equal to the task of scrambling through the less improved occurrences. The pe- culiar feature of the Watkins Glen is that the water channel, in characteristic stretches, is con- fined to narrow, spiral grooves, and these in turn are quite uniquely fluted. It will be noted that each of the gorges has fea- tures not duplicated in the others, and that is a hint of the further resources of this kind that the region holds in store for the enthusiastic tramper, who may wish to find places less generally known than those cited. Practically every stream of the region, in descending to any one of the lake levels, flows through one or more rock glens. Merely as a suggestion along this line Lick Brook, Coy Glen and the headwaters of Six Mile Creek may be named as worthy of the beginning efforts in a systematic searching out of such places. It may also be hinted that some of these streams yield fine catches of trout to the competent fisherman, to say more would be telling. Only a few miles distant from the campus are - **S>v^ J^-afc* *V ' :: ■ r - Taughanncck Falls In Enfield Glen Over Hill and Into Hollow 449 two quite prominent hill summits, Hungerford Hill to the southeast, and Turkey Hill to the east. Both these afford magnificent views of the country to the north, including the university site and the lake basin. Farther afield, to the south, are other still greater heights that will afford recompense for more ambitious climbs in the wider prospects over hill and valley that are opened up from their sum- mits. On such slopes, too, the arbutus blooms in early spring and, at the end of June, at particular spots, the laurel provides a very riot of beautiful blossoms. For those who do not wish to indulge in the cross-country tramping that hilltop objectives en- tail, smooth going is available to a number of points of considerable interest that also have the merit of providing a pleasant outlook all along the way. Perhaps the finest is the walk across Cornell Heights suburb and the Cayuga Heights Village residence section to the state road that parallels the crest of the east valley slope of Cayuga. This gives many fine views up the valley, over the city, and down the lake; makes one envy those who have their abodes placed on the jutting points that command both these outlooks. It is a walk to take in late afternoon for then one is almost sure to sur- prise a fine sunset, for these come frequently and are famous for their display of color. Other easy walks are through Forest Home village and up the Fall Creek valley to Varna, the one south along the Six Mile valley on the road that continues the State Street highway, or to go out along the Tru- 450 Concerning Cornell mansburg road on the west side of the Cayuga Valley. For the autoist the trip to the George Junior Republic, an institution of national fame, to Dry- den, to Cortland and thence on to Homer is to be especially commended for its beauty and wide extent of view all along the route. Homer is the birthplace of Andrew D. White, is also the home of "David Harum," and has many fine bits of colonial architecture, particularly doorways. Other trips that find especial favor are those to Groton and Auburn by the side of Owasco Lake, to Brook- ton where there is an old mill and some picturesque houses under grand elms, to Slaterville Springs, once a famous resort on account of its mineralized waters that have the peculiar property of giving a metallic iridescence to glass articles immersed in them for a time; and the hackneyed, but always worth while ride to Watkins. In fact, a tour of the whole Finger Lakes district will be found interest- ing, and varyingly so, every mile of the route. INDEX Abandoned farms, 419, 420 Adams, Charles Kendall, administra- tion of, 213-217; resignation, 218 Admission, requirements for, 342 Advertising of university, 2(55, 305 Agusis, J. Louis R., 197, 198 Agricultural College at Ovid, 135, 167, 168 Agriculture, assembly, 81; instruction in, 201, 202 Agriculture. College of, 72 Alumni Field, 94-96 Alumni, number of, 213; loyalty of, 225 Alumni News, Cornell, 153 American University, typical setting, 5; comparison with English, 7, 8 Anecdotes, of student solicitors, 14; of mysterious letter, 19: of wife- selection, 92; of Ostrander Elms, 101; of Ezra Cornell's rival in love, 111; of Ezra Cornell's marriage, 112; of Ezra Cornell as mill build- er, 115; of designing of telegraph laying machine, 118; of first trial of telegraph laying machine, 120: of Ezra Cornell's testing of telegraph insulation, 122; of wrecking of tele- graph pipe-laying machine, 123, of Andrew D. White's handwriting, 124; of Ezra Cornell's readiness of speech, 124; of first telegraph mes- sage, 125; of Chicago's reluctance to invest in the telegraph, 127; of college student and telegraph, 134; of Ezra Cornell's objection to Syra- cuse for site of university, 136; of Ezra Cornell's last illness, 143; of Ezra Cornell and student labor, 147; of Ezra Cornell and autograph collector, 148; of Ezra Cornell and apple seekers, 148; of Ezra Cornell and echo, 152; of Ezra Cornell and socialist, 153; of "Church College" discipline, 157; of Russian student, 179; of teamster and Cornell Uni- versity, 180; of pseudo-professor, 180; of local orator, 187; of Goldwin Smith, 196; of Agassiz, 197, 198; of agricultural professor, 202; of "Teefy ' Crane, 206; of freshman advisor, 233; of freshman and radi- ator, 230. 234; of student in English, 237; of student and cold cream, 238; of students and landlord, 238; of student and vaudeville star, 239; of student and examination, 241; of Poultry 'Sociation meetin', 245; of making a fraternity, 288; of beat- ing Yale, 310; of Crew celebration, 311; of Courtney's first race, 312, of Courtney and "short cake" crew, 314; of Courtney as a poker player, 314; of Moakley and track men, 318; of smell of Philadelphia, 357; of name Pony Hollow, 402; of name of Ithaca, 407; of white maiden captive, 442 Animal Husbandry, 90 Architecture, College of, 34; exhibi- tions. 35; library, 35; study of, 35; new building site, 36; studios, 37 Armory, 15 Arts, fine, 36 Arts and Sciences, College of, 57 Astronomical Observatory, 48 Athletics, 275-277; 305-335; Stu- dent's Common, 94; playground, 94; Interclass, college, fraternity games, 94; Schoellkopf memorial, 95; trophies, 95; Bacon Practice hall, 96; board track, 96; baseball field, 96 Aviation, Army students of, 98 Bacon Practice Hall, 96 Bailey Auditorium, 69, 244 Baker Laboratory of Chemistry. 38, 39, 189 Band, Cornell, 274 Banquets, 282 Barnes Hall, 21; coffee house, 237 Barns, 92 Baseball, 323 Baseball, field, 18, 96 Basketball, 323 Beebe Lake, winter sports on, 49 Biulogical collections, 78 "Block \Aeek," 242 Board, 230-232 Boardman Hall, 63 Boston Transcript, 305 307 Botanic gardens, proposed, 93 Buildings, names of, 63 "Busting," 236, 243, 291, 325, 351 Buttermilk Gorge, 447 "C" men, 328, 335 Cafeterias, Home Economics, 72; 231, 232 Caldwell Hall, 84 Campus, as seen from library tower, 29; beauty of, 3, 103, 104, 188; early appearance, 4, 185; early buildings, 187; environment, 52; extent of, 48, 65, 94; fitness, 6 Cap-burning, freshman, 286 454 Concerning Cornell Cascadilla, bridge, 12, 13; building, 11; gorge, 11, 12 Cayuga Heights, village of, 434, 449 Cayuga Lake, as seen from library tower, 29; view of from Sibley Col- lege. 46; higher levels of, 391, 392, Indian name, 394; effect on climate; 398; as summer resort, 401; early travel on, 412; steamboat service, 445; warning, 445 Central Avenue, advertising on walks, of, 13; view up, 20 Championsbip, in crew, 311, 312; in track, 317; in cross-country, 318; in football, 320; in basketball, 322; in baseball, 323; in wrestling, 324 Cheerleaders, 240 Chemistry, Baker Laboratory of, 38, 39, 189 Chemistry, instruction in, 39 Chime, music of, 24; history, 25; re- casting bells and increasein number, 25; inscription on bell, 26; compe- tition for position of Chime Master, 26; "Jennie McGraw Rag," 27; jn wooden campanile, 185 Chi Psi house, 42 Civil Engineering, College of, 56 Class Book, 272 Class, first, 186, 187 Climate, 54 Clubs, 265-268; 50 Co-education, 19, 177 181, 236 College education, value of, 291. 292, 338, 340. 358-378 College of Agriculture, 72, 77, 93, 202, 223, 339, 366-374, 430, 431; Archi- tecture, 34. 362-363; Arts and Sci- ences, 57, 204-208, 338-339, 342, 343, 375-377; Civil Engineering, 56, 208, 350-363; Law, 63, 365, 366; Me- chanical Engineering, 43, 202-204, 363-365; Medicine, 61, 210-212, 358, 360: Veterinary Science, 98, 208, 360 Committees, 279, 280 Competition, 26, 268, 276, 277 Conditioned Courses, 342, 343 Convocation Hour, 234, 353 Co-operation, colleges and depart- ments, 34 Cornell, Ezra and F.O. J. Smith, 116, 118; and Professor Morse, 120; and undergraduate of Union, 134; and student labor, 147, 179, 202; and Andrew D.White, 152, 162, 163; ap- pearance, 145, 146, 162; and Ithaca site for university, 430; arrival at Ithaca, 109; as university founder, 145; attacks on, 151, 152. 170, 175; at Syracuse, 108; autobiography, 107, 115; birth, 105; characteriza- tion of, 153; childhood, 106; con- struction of the Beebe dam, 115; construction of flouring mill, 115; construction of tunnel, 114; 443; death, 144; demeanor, 146; design- er of telegraph laying machine, 118; education, 108, 123, 124, 132, 379; employment at Ithaca, 109; faith in university's future greatness, 150; family, 112; first home, 113; Forest Park home, 130; fortune, 144; for- tune realized, 129; gentleman far- mer. 130; geography of life, 164; his idea of benefit of university 136; ideal of university, 338, 340; illness, 143, 144, 184: interment, 153; in- ventor, 125; labors for university, 137, 138; laying telegraph pipe, 121- 123; locating timber lands, 172; machimst, 108; marriage. 111; memory of war of 1812, 107; motto. 150; on campus, 146, 147: original- ity, 115; parentage, 105; pedestrian, 109, 117; persistence, 150, 151; philanthropy, 116, 129-131, 132, 133, 163; pioneer experience, 107; pioneer farming, 108; plow agent, 116; political services, 131; portrait, 31, 64; poverty, 110, 113; Quaker, 112; railroad investments, 141, 142, 144; relations with students, 147- 149; statue, 33; telegraph promoter, 126-128; trustee of Agricultural College at Ovid, 135; undertakings, 110,113; "Villa Cornell" residence, 149; visit to Maine, 116, 117; Geor- gia, 116; wife's parentage, 112; youthful builder. 108 Cornell Heights, 449 Cornell Idea, 178, 182, 218 Cornell Neck, 105 "Cornell," poem, 2 Cornell Union, 20, 21, 237 Cornell University, attacks on, 170, 182; buildings. 222, 223: early criti- cisms, 178, 215; early difficulties, 179; endowment, 166, 168, 171- 174, 214; faculty, 212, 213; first class, 186; first president, 176; foun- dation ideas, 177; growth, 214; his- tories of, 154, 155; incorporation, 169, 170; Ithaca site, 169; loyalty of alumni, 225; motto, 177; name, 169; need for larger endowment, 224, 225; number of tudents, 213; opening day, 184; optional course, 180; presidents of, 213, 224; purpose, 184, 338; research at, 215, 346; situation, 140, 227; site, 317, 431 Cornellian, 272 Costume shop, 74 Courses, conditioned, 342, 343 Courtney, Charles E., 312-316 Coy Glen, 448 Crane, T. F., 205, 206, 236 Index Crew, 15, 29, 310-316 Cross-Country, 316 Curtis, George William, oration, 186 Dairy Building, 81 Dances, 263-284 Debute, 273 Departments of animal husbandry, 90 372; biology, 79; botany, 77, 372; chemistry, 38, 84, 375; dairy industry. 82; electrical engineering, 37, 2U4; entomology, 79. 371; farm crops, 90, 367, 3<>8; farm manage- ment, 85, 367; farm practice, 77; floriculture, 72,80, 86,369; forestry, 87, 372, 373; geology, 33; home economics, 74, 373, 374; horticul- ture, 80; landscape art, 36, 85, 370; meteorology, 79, 82; oratory, 376; phvsics, 66, 375; plant breeding, 86, 370; plant pathology, 71, 86, 370, 371; political science, 376; pomology, 370; poultry husbandry, 88; psychology, 32; rural economy, 75; rural education, 85, 372; rural engineering, 85, 372; soil technolo- gy, 84, 86, 368. 369; vegetable gard- ening, 86. 369; veterinary materia medica, 100; zoology, 33 DeWitt, Simeon, 407, 408 Discipline, 263, 264, 280 Dobie, Gilmour, record, 322 Dormitories, 297-301 Dormitory arrangements for women, 48 Dramatic organizations, 274 Drill hall, description of, 97; aviators' quarters, 98; other uses of, 243, 244 335 Drinking, 236, 282 Elms, Central Avenue, 20; Class of 1872, 66; Ostrander, 101 Endowment, 224, 225, 301, 344-347 Enfield Gorge, 447 Engineering Colleges, combined, 35, 202 Era, Cornell, 272 Evening Song, 255 Examinations, 241-243 Excursions, 348, 355 Exedra, 61 Expenses, 260, 293-295, 300, 301 Faculty, on governing board, 217, 218; original, 206, 212 Falls. Ithaca, 444; Lucifer, 448; Taughannock. 446, 447 Farms, university, 93 Farrand, Livingston, 66, 224 Fernow Hall, 87 Festival Chorus, 275 Filtration plant, 87 455 Financial crisis, of 1836-37, 116: of 1873, 143 Fine arts, 36 Finger Lakes region, 439-441, 450 First white man's structure on the quadrangle, 56 Football, 319-323, 331-333 Foreign students at Cornell, 226 Forest Home, 442 Forestry Building, 87 Franklin Hall, content, 37 Fraternities, 287-304 Freshman rush, 248 Functions of university training, 378 Gardens, flower, 72, 93 Gate receipts, 329 Geography of Ithaca-Cornell region, 379-438 Giant's Staircase falls, 12 Glacial period, 387-392, 418, 419, 422, 423 Glenwood, 444 Goldwin Smith Hall, description of 57, 207, 210 Gorges, origin of, 388 Graduate school, 353, 354 Graduation, 342, 343 Graphic, Cornell, 14, 272 Greenhouse range, 86 Gymnasium, 15 Halls, names of, 63 Harvard, campus, characterization of, 5; university, bicentennial celebra- tion, 336 Heating plant, new, 17 Hecksher, August, research gift, 346 Heroism of Cornell students, 191-194 Home economics, building, 72; cafe- teria, 72; instruction in, 74 Honorary degrees, 215, 216, 355; soci- eties, 266, 278, 279 Honor system, 291 Honors, student, 282 Hops, All Cornell, 283 Hotel management course, 374 Hour, at the, 103 Hour, convocation, 234, 353; credit, 235; eight o'clock, 235 Hours, 94, 347-351 Hoy, Davy, 96, 236 Hoy Field, 18, 96, 97 Hydraulic laboratory, 49 Indians, 402. 403, 443 Infirmary, 220 Instruction, 35, 36, 45, 81, 82, 84, 336- 378; hours, 205; practical with the- oretical, 84; undergraduate idea of, 265 Intercollegiate track cup, 95; trophy 316-319 456 Concerning Cornell Ithaca, N. Y., agriculture, 405, 418- 424, 436, 437; as residential cen- ter; 430. 432-434,438; as residence place, 357; canal projects, 409, 413, 415-418; city park, 441; climate, 397-401, 421; decline. 139; early explorers, 392, 393, 408; earlv pros- perity, 109, 139, 410, 412, 417; fire protection, 434; first settlement, 403-405, 408; forests, 393-396, 405; geography of, 379-438; horse-power railroad, 414; hunting in early days, 395; industries, 425,430,437; name, 407; relations with students, 239; resources, 410, 411, 417, 418; salt industry, 383, 427, 428; site of first houses, 405, 406; transportation, 420, 421; transportation lines, 141, 436; transportation routes, 408- 418; trolley system, 433, 441, 442; water-powers, 406, 417, 424, 425 water supply, 434, 435 Johnny Parson Club, 50 Junior, smoker, 335; week, 243, 244, 284, 303, 304 Kappa Alpha house, 15 Labor, student, 147, 179, 203, 256- 263 Laboratory, training in engineering, 45; work, 347 Land Grant Bill, Morrill, 164 Land Grant scrip, 165-176 Landscape art, 36 Law, College of, 63; College, instruc- tion in, 65 Law, James, 208, 209; hall, 100 Lecture system, 343, 345 Lectures, 357; by nonresidents, 198- 201; Jacob Schiff, 60 Libraries, Agricultural, 77; Architec- ture, 35; Arts, 60; Chemistry, 39; Law, 64; Moak,65; Sibley. 43; Vet- erinary, Flower, 101; White Histor- ical, 31; Dante collection, Icelandic collection, Petrarch collection, 31 Library tower, climb up into, 27; loca- tion, 24; owl-like appearance, 28; view from, 28 Library, University, comparative size, 31; content, 30; description of, 30; history of, 30; inscription in en- trance, 30; endowment, 195; Cor- nell-Ithaca, 163 Lick Brook, 448 Lincoln Hall, 56 Mail, N. Y. Evening, 307-309, 324 Managers, 277, 278 Manners, 292 Mark Twain, 44 Masque, 274 McGraw-Fiske Mansion, 189; descrip- tion of, 42; destruction by fire, 190, 194 McGraw-Fiske Will Contest, 194, 195 McGraw Hall, content, 33 McGraw, Jennie, 189, 194; John, 187, 189 Mechanical Engineering, College of ,42 Mechanical engineering, instruction in, 203 Medical College, instruction, Ithaca division, 61 Medicine, College of, 61 Melchers, I. Gari, painting by, 61 Military training, 16, 221, 222, 327 Military training, distinguished in- stitution, 16; inadequate quarters, 16 Moakley, John F., 316-319 Morrill Hall, content, 32 Morse Hall, content, 38; destruction by fire, 38, 189 Motor tours, 440, 441, 450 Mud rush, underclass, 245-247. 248 Mummy, Egyptian, 34 Museum, of classical archaeology, 59; of natural history, 34; educational, 60; entomology, 78; veterinary, 100 Music, 38. 355 Music festival, 70 Musical clubs, 274, 275 Navy Day, 285, 333-334 Neck, Cornell, 105 Nonsectarian control, 133, 160, 177, 182 Nuts, Morris collection, 80 O'Connell, Walter C, 324 "Old Man," the, 311-316 Opening Day, 184, 186 Optional Course, 205 Organizations, 263, 264 Pageant, 248 Parson Club, Johnny, 50 Payne, Col. Oliver H., 212 People's College, 135, 166, 167, 169- 171 Pioneers, 403-405, 408 Pipe organ, in Bailey Hall, 70 Playground, 94, 246 Plow models, 77 Politics, class, 279, 280 Poultry husbandry, building, 88; in- struction in, 89 Power plant, 47 Precincts, in college, 104 schools, 242 Prizes, 352 Preparatory Professors, cottages, 20 Professors, in board of trustees, 218 Crane, T. F., 205, 206, 219; James Index 457 Law. 20S.209: Liberty Hyde Bailey, 223; nonresident. 195-199 Psi Ipsilon, lodge, 15 Publications, undergraduate, 269-273 Rallies, athletic, 282 Rand Hall, 44 Red Key, 279 Regatta, on Cayuga, 251. 252. 306, 333-334; at Pouglikeepsie 314 Religions services, 182-184; attend- ance at, 23; nature of, 23 Research, endowment of, 346 Residence, President's, 66 Residential Halls, 227; description of, 40; gift of, 41; model of, 33; number of students occupying, 288 Risley Hall, gift of, 48; description of 48 Roberts Hall. 75 Rockefeller Hall, 66; research labora- tories, 69 Rooming houses, 227-230 Rules, freshman, 232, 307, 309; uni- versity, 233 Rural Engineering, building, 85 Rural school house, 71 Rush, Freshman Banquet 245-248 Rushing, 296. 297, 329 Ruskin, 337,338,341 Sabbatical year, 215 Sage Chapel, interments in, 21; de- scription of interior, 22 Sage College, 19; "lady" warden, 181 Sage, Henry W., benefactor, 188, 195 Saturday Evening Post, 309 Savage Club, 274 Scenerv, 439, 450 Schoellkopf Memorial. 95 Schoellkoof Stadium, 9 >; enlarged, 96 Scholarship, 291, 302, 325, 337, 344, 351-353 Scholarship Societies, 266 Scburman, J. G., inaugural address, 209: plan for faculty participation in university administration, 217, 218; resignation, 219, 223; Minister to China. 223 Season tickets, 330 Seismograph, 34 Self-help. 256-263 Semi-Centennial Endowment Fund, 225,301.346 Senate, university, 215, 217 Senior Singing, 254-255 "Shingles. " 2X1 "Short Horns," 244 Sil.lev College, location, 43 Sibley. Hiram. 128. 204 Sigma Delta Chi, banquet, 267 Sigma Phi house, 15 Ski running, 51 Smith, Acting President Albert W , 2. 224 Smith, Goldwin, hardships endured by, 196; campus memorial. 61 ; non- resident professor, 195; personality, 196; Walk, 442; will, 58, 207 Smoker, Junior, 335 Societies, honorary, 266. 278, 279 Songs, Big Red Team, 320; Evening Song, 255; Give my Regards to Davy, 236; parody, 237 Spirit, Cornell 241,308.309,334 Spring Day, 248-251. 285, 330 Stadium, Schoellkopf, 95; enlarged, 96 Stimson Hall, 62 Stock judging pavilion, 92 "Storm Country." 399-401 Straight, Willard, 20, 21, 95 Student Council, 278-281 Students, ability of, 235. 242; activi- ties, 256-286; and Ithaca, 239; and war. 301; canvassers, 13; entertain- ment of, 275; fellowship, 36 237, 238. 290, 299, 304; foreign, at Cornell. 226; graduate, 215; life, 226-255; managers, 277, 278; num- ber in fraternities. 287; number in residential halls, 288; out of town trips of, 275, 331, 332; working, 256-263 Study, 201, 348-351 Sullivan's, General, army, 402, 443 Summer Session, 355, 356, 444 Sun, Cornell Daily, 154, 269-271 Suspension foot bridge, 47 Swimming pool, 47, 444 Tarr Memorial. 33 Telegraph, 118-130 Telegraph instrument, original, 43 Tennis courts, faculty, 69; student, 94 Toboggan slide, 50 Totem pole, 17 Track, 316-319 Training table, 276 Training, university, 378 Treman. R. H., 447 Triphammer Falls, 49 Trout fishing, 448 Tunnel. 444; Ezra Cornell's, 114 Typhoid fever epidemic, 219 Underclass Mud Rush, 248 Union. Cornell, 20, 21, 237 University Club, 19 Vacations, 257 Veterinary science, college of, 98 Views, 332; from hilltops, 449; from McGraw Hall, 33; from Morse Hall. 39 Village of, Cayuga Heights. 434, 449: Forest Home, 442. 449 458 Concerning Cornell Visiting Classes, 39 Vocational training, 337 : 341, 358-378 Vogue of mechanical engineering, 363; of agriculture, 366 War record, 16 Water supply, purity of, 220 Watkins Glen, 447, 448, 450 Weather Bureau, kiosk, 18; quarters, 79 Western Union Telegraph Co., 128 White, Andrew D., 70; and Ezra Cor- nell, 131, 142, 152, 162, 163; Auto- biography, 154, 180, 311, 380; birth and parentage, 156; birth- place, 450; childhood, 156; death, 156; early diplomatic career, 160; education, 156-159; geography of life, 164; honorary degree, 355; ill- ness, 184; impress of training on Cornell University, 159, 176; pres- ident, Cornell University, 176; on geography, 380-382; political in- terests, 161; professor of history at Michigan University, 161; resi- dence, 66; state senator, 161, 162; statue, 33; travels, 160 White Gateway, 10 White Hall, content, 34 "Widow," Cornell, 271 Wrestling, 324 Yale, system, 158 Yell, Cornell, 240