Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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The latest gift of this munificent friend of Bethany is the handsome new Hall of Agriculture, rising at the northern end of the college building. It occu- pies the site of the wing destroyed some years ago by fire. The spacious Oxford window of painted Gothic above the main portals of the building rivalls in symmetry and proportion those of European colleges. This, with the fine castel- lated tower which so nobly completes the dignity of the whole, sends one ' s thoughts dreaming of Old World legends in stone and story. It is to such legacies as this that Bethany is indebted for the charm of her name. Our state institutions far and near have rich and costly structures reared at the expense of the body politic, and their material equipment is surpassingly adequate for the purposes of intellectual training. In Bethany the affections of men have slowly grown with the growth of the trees, with the slow lapse of years. What Bethany has today of worth is the gift of hearts that love her, loyal sons who have held her in reverence, and, after years of success in the marts of busi- ness, have returned to honor her with their substance. We have here also gifts that speak not only of the sunshine of prosperity but also of sorrow — votive gifts to those who come no more. Such are the gifts of men like Thomas W. Phillips and jM. M. Cochran. In these Bethany has an inheritance rich beyond the cost of brick and stone and sculptured shield. Here sentiment, like a frail Daphan- ous robe ' throws its tender grace over all things — over the college, over the entire little valley, couching in the embrace of the hills to the soft inland murmur of waters. In the clear pools of her little river, great men of the Restoration have been buried in Christian baptism ; in the folded hills lie the ashes of her dead. The holiest affections of the human heart have sung themselves into the very walls of each rising structure. All these things lend an indefinable charm and will ever give to old Bethany the sanctity of a shrine. Page Eleven

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The Charm of Bethany Prof. A. R. Bourne. For many years Bethany was so far away from the world — so remote from all that goes to make up the rush and the clang of modern existence — that even the Disciples of Christ seemed half inclined to shove her gently into obliv- ion and go about more important concerns of church and education. True, Bethany was rich in sacred associations. She had great presences about her. Quietly camping on her little hillside cemetery were her Campbells and her Pendletons and through the long night of her humiliation they pointed their white shafts ever toward the stars, registering mute prophesies of things to be, prophesies of things which are now coming to pass. For a new Bethany is rapidly springing up beside the Old Bethany of song and story. If you are skeptical, reader, about this new Bethany, get off the train some fine day at the little town of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and take the trolley for Bethany. Pretty soon you will be speeding through one of the most picturesque valleys in this country. As you swing around the curves of a clear little stream, glide over the bridges, skim the brink of the precipices, emerge from a tunnel or so, you will begin to feel the charm of life in a region where most of the world ' s voices come softened through all manner of green and tranquil things. Soon your car will have leaped the final chasm and landed you in the principal street of Bethany. You may be surprised, even though you were one of the Centennial pilgrims, to find yourself, not in a sluggish little hamlet, lost in dreams of the past, but in the midst of appearances resembling a Kansas boom. What has come over this drowsy little daughter of the hills? Bulidings are ris- ing ; a superb new gateway crowns the slope leading to the campus. On every side is felt the throb of new life. As you alight from the trolley you will notice on your left, where the old Ranch used to stand, the Percy Cochran Memorial hall, erected to the memory of one of liethany ' s sons by his father. Judge Coch- ran of Uniontown, Pa. Just in front of you rises the imposing new gateway a])proached by a spac- ious avenue paved with brick, and bordered on each side by a wide strip of green sward and concrete paving. The gateway is of Gothic design, the architecture of which is wrought out in harmony with Collegiate Gothic of the main college buildings. It consists of two hexagonal columns of dark red brick, supported on white stone foundation and surmounted by white stone turrets tipped with Goth- ic finials. Between these columns is a pair of handsome wrought iron gates. To left and right of the colunms is thrown a graceful wing pierced by an arched gateway for pedestrians. The tripple gateway opens on a paved court formed by a semi-circular excavation in the slope of the hill from wJiich broad flights of steps lead in a spiral to a stone platform faced by a stone parapet. From this platform the m ain walk, after passing another flight of steps, rises by a gentle slope to the great front door in the center of the building. From the same plat- form cement walks, winding to right and left under the trees, approach the various other buildings. This entire structure was erected at a cost of $3,000 and is the gift of Mr. Earl W. Oglebay of Wheeling, West Virginia, an alumnus of the college. Pa{ie Ten

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H X n o O 5 o Pa e Twelve