McGill University - Old McGill Yearbook (Montreal Quebec, Canada)

Page 17 text:

F VTHER TIME has gleaned another sheaf of records from the history of McGill. From his hands we have received it, and in this volume we present it to the college and its friends. In simple devotion to the trust reposed in us by our class and Alma Mater we have pursued our duties with what results you find here. But not by our own unaided efforts have we attained this end. The generous assistance of contributors, literary, artis- tic, and financial, has been freely extended, and for this we return our deepest gratitude. Through restrictions, chiefly financial, the work falls far short of our ambition, yet we hope that in after days : When the fretful stir, Unprofitable, and the fever of the world Shall hang upon the beatings of our hearts, we may often turn to this and enjoy In hours of weariness, sensations sweet. Felt in the blood and felt along the heart And passing even into our purer minds With tranquil restoration. =0 7

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aesculapius To W. O. GREAT were the dreams dreamed in the ancient days, Great dreams of cures from Aesculapius To those that suffered from life ' s diverse ills, And from all Italy flocked the tremblings throng ' s To gfather at the temple of the god. Standing- far up among- the heallhy hills. They bathed them in the waters of the well, And heard but stirring- music or the songs Of far-off birds. And now a priest doth tell Of pleasant healthy lives with nobler thoughts, With thoughts of children and the flowering trees. Of the great sea and sky of cloud-swept stars. So like a dream there came to each a cure, And breathing deeply of the mountain breeze. With sparkling- eyes and glowing flush of health, They take them to their homes and praise the god. — W. L. H. 6

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If in these pages we have preserved against the ruthless tooth of oblivion many of the pleasant memories of this ses- sion and of our college course, we shall feel rewarded for our toil. Year follows year and our university steadily advances. Since the issue of the last Annual marked expansion has manifested itself in the new buildings that have risen to meet our growing needs. The rude framework that a year ago stood across from the entering in of the gate has taken on the exquisite and imposing perfection of the present Strathcona Hall. It is a proud testimonial to the generosity of the students ' Christian friends. Within it the Y. M. C. A. essays a larger service for McGill men. This for the reli- gious and social life of the college. Just one block distant another structure is rapidly assuming the severe but sub- stantial appearance of a most commodious and well-appointed Union. Through the unfailing munificence of the Uni- versity ' s greatest benefactor. Sir Wm. C. Macdonald, a far- ofip dream of past generations of students is here being happily realized. It gives promise of great impulse to college spirit. In its spacious halls the students of all faculties may mingle in common cordial intercourse, and through its influ- ence we trust that college life may assume a more homogeneous and vivacious type. At the corner of Mansfield and Burnside Place there stands another building devoted to college interests. It is the old M. A. A. A. gymnasium rejuvenated, and pending the erection of a distinctively McGill institution of the kind the authorities have secured a lease of this. It will be a marked improvement on the venerable ramshackle on Univer- sity Street wherein, for all too many years, Hercules had his shrine. Another long-standing desideratum — the medical stu- dents ' yearning — was met by the opening last autumn of the excellent new Maternity Hospital. That it is the best institution of the kind on the continent is not too great return for the patience and self-sacrifice of those who for years strove to meet the inadequacies of the old building. Other voices of the past are still not silenced. The call for more college residence has no immediate prospect of response, more than its ubiquitous echo. However, in the light of recent benefactions and the success that has attended the residential scheme as already tried, we have great warrant for hope. Meantime, patience refines. A new epoch in the consolidation of the University ' s forces was reached during the past year by the amalgamation of the Medical Faculty with the Central Corporation. From its foundation the Medical Faculty had been a separate body as far as internal and financial management was concerned. After prolonged overtures an arrangement was made by which it merged its interests with those of the other faculties in one general organization. This, for several reasons, is a mark of progress and should beget that increased strength which, according to the proverb, comes of unity. While this rapid evolution has been in progress at home, McGill men have been splendidly adorning her fair name abroad. We congratulate Prof. J. G. Adami on his appointment as President of the Pathological Department of the British Medical Association for the coming meeting; Prof. E. W. McBride on a similar appointment to the Biological Department; and Prof. F. J. Shepherd on the honorary degree conferred upon him by Edinburgh Univer- sity. Our Rhodes scholars, too, have merited a great claim 8