Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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During the year the Master Car Builders ' Association has installed a massive drop-testing machine near the locomotive laboratory. The drop weighs 1,650 pounds, has a maximum fall of fifty feet, and is equipped with an air hoist for handhng the materials to be tested and with a double cylinder for raising the drop. This becomes a part of the University ' s equipment. Several important improvements have been made on the campus, the most noticeable of which are on the street on which the campus fronts and on the athletic field. State Street has been paved with asphalt for the entire length of the campus, which, together with the improve- ments on the hill and levee, makes a continuous asphalt drive from the University to the city. The old board fence surrounding Stuart Field has been torn away, and replaced by a neat, strong, iron and wire fence. The bicycle track has been graded away, the whole field leveled off, and the cinder track improved. During the summer of 1903 the dairy barn at the farm was struck by lightning and totally destroyed. It will be replaced during the coming summer by a large, new building, modem in every particular, which is being planned by Professor Van Norman. The attendance at the University this year has been the largest in the history of the institution. The total enrollment was 1,434, distributed among the classes as follows: Seniors, 199; Juniors, 250; Sophomores, 336; Freshmen, 428 ; Senior Pharmacy, 36 ; Junior Pharmacy, 50 ; Resident Graduates, 24 ; Non-Resident Graduates, 9 ; Special 20 ; Winter Course, 82. This is a total of one hundred more than last year, and this in the face of increased entrance requirements. The instructional force consists of one hundred members. The attendance at the University is now as large as can be accommodated with the equipment at hand, and it is expected that the future growth of the institution will be along the lines of greater efficiency and a widening of its sphere of influence rather than a large increase in numbers. October 31, 1903, will long be remembered as the date of the saddest and most terrible event in Purdue ' s his- tory. It was the occasion of the annual football game between Purdue and Indiana Universities, which was to have been played at Indianapolis. The scenes on the morning of that memorable date were those of gaiety and antici- pation. At both universities enthusiasm was keyed to a high pitch, the capital was in gala colors, and from the surrounding towns on every side spectators were arriving to view the most important athletic contest in Indiana. From Bloomington a special train was bearing the supporters of the Indiana team to the capital. At Lafayette two Big Four trains were made up, carrying Purdue students and citizens of Lafayette; the first one consisting

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THE OLD BOILER ROOM -THE LAST FIRE

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of nine coaches, carrying about a thous- and persons, and preceding the second section by ten minutes. In the first coach of this train were the football team and their intimate friends. The train moved rapidly toward the city, making but one stop on the way. The cars were gay with banners and colors, and re-sounded with the songs and yells of the joyous crowd. Contra.st this scene with the one into which it was transformed almost in the twinkling of an eye, when, on rounding at high speed a curve at the entrance of the city, the Purdue train crashed into a cut of coal cars slowly backing toward it. The engine was buried in a mass of wreckage. The first coach, in which the ill-fated team rode, was reduced to splinters; the second, containing the Purdue band and a number of ladies, was thrown down the steep embankment, while the third coach was forced high on top of the wreckage ahead. A dozen lives were snuffed out in an instant, while strewn among the debris were forty or more persons, mangled and suffer- ing, but living. But no scene of wild excitement and commotion ensued. With coolness and self-control those who were unin- jured set to work quickly to extricate and care for their unfortunate comrades. The wounded proved themselves heroes to a man, and many were the scenes of Spartan self-control and self-forgetfulness displayed. With the aid of ambulances, carriages, and wagons of all descriptions from the city, fortunately near, the dead and injured were removed to places of professional care. In all seventeen persons lost their lives as a consequence of the disaster. All but one were connected with the University. Forty or more were injured, some slightly, others maimed for life. The cause of the accident was the neglect of the train dispatcher to give notice of the approach of the special. The blow almost paralyzed the University for the time, and it was not for weeks and even months afterward that affairs assumed a normal aspect. School work was resumed on the Tuesday following the disaster, though for some time it was carried on in a perfunctory manner. There was scarcely a person in the University who was not called upon to mourn the loss or sympathize with the injury of some friend. Memorial exercises in.memory of the departed were held in Eliza Fowler Hall on Wednesday, November ii, during the morning and afternoon. Addresses were delivered by President Stone and by Oliver F. Cutts. There were short addresses by representatives of the trustees, faculty, alumni, and the University classes. Many rep-