University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

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was a blaze, and just as it burst out of the windows and doors two men came in sight of the campus. In a minute the alarm had been given and a crowd beg-an to gather. The hose carts soon reached the place, but the building was entirely enveloped in flames, and there was no hope of saving anything in it. The main attention of the fire company was directed to the new Liberal Arts Building, which was finally nearing completion. The people stood about in helpless groups, some judiciously seeking the shelter of buildings across the street, while others stood out in the open the men curled up with their hands in their pockets and their faces drawn far down in their coat collars to protect them from the driving sleet, which stung as it struck some unprotected spot. The women wore all sorts of wraps from table covers thrown about their heads to seal-skin coats. A few still clung frantically to umbrellas, which the wind often almost tore from them, but most of them held their umbrellas dripping and stiff at their sides. Every now and then some one fell, in trying to change his position, and got up again with a grim, enduring expres- sion upon his face made more grim lit up by the blaze mixed with the gloomy blackness of the night. The fire seemed to have about died out. and many had already started home, when the cry was raised that South Hall was on fire. They hurried back, and saw that the south side of the brick building was already ablaie. Students hurried out from the midst of the crowd into the building. Chairs were thrown from the windows, men came out with desks, pictures, busts, pianos, and finally with a carpet from the society halls on the third floor. Others, of the in- structional staff, appeared with armfuls of books, papers, etc: handed their burdens to any one stand- ing near and hurried back again into the quickly burning building. It is said that a great explosion was heard when the orations of the Zetagathians and Irv- ings caught fire, and that the Irvings began to tear from the walls the paper wh ich had been put on at the beginning of the term. When the top floor fell in, a sigh went up from some of the society members, while some turned away for a minute. The rest of the building burned, quickly, and gradually the flames, reflected in the water and ice, became less fierce, until only a blaze shot up now and then. The crowd had gradually thinned out. and the last few stragglers went quietly away. When day came it was still dark and rainy, but groups of people kept coming and going to look upon all that was left of the two well known old buildings four charred brick walls, with parts fallen away, and, in the middle, a black smoking heap. The townspeople looked almost with satisfaction declaring that it was well the old buildings were gone, that they had been condemned years ago and were no longer fit for use. The students at first seemed inclined to rejoice that this was the last of those

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THE BURNING OF OLD SOUTH HALL AND THE MEDICAL BUILDING |T last the five or six girls remaining in Irving Hall had finished piling up the dishes in the corner with the ice cream freezer all that was left of the annual spread given by the old Erodelphians to their freshmen mem- bers. They turned out the lights, and, banging the door, which locked hehind them, trooped down stairs, busily talking of the success of the spread and declaring it the best they had ever had. After a burst of applause, the door of Zet hall was thrown open, and the audience began to flock out, discussing the farce, and trying to decide whom they thought had done the best. The Hesperians and Zetagathians stayed in the hall, and, as soon as the last outsider was gone, they set about having a general good time, and making away with what was left of the Christmas dinner of the farce. Then there was a great rush among those who had taken part, hunting up their belongings. After some dispute as to whose duty it was, the lights were turned out by one of the tallest ones, who stood upon a chair with arm raised, and called, Are you ready? I ' m going to turn it out now. Then they groped down the stairs, uneven from long use, with their hands upon the balustrade, which bent and seemed about to break under the slight weight. Soon the last person had passed out of the long echoing hall. When all had become quiet, a short old man with a pipe in his mouth came out from among the shadows of Central Building, went over to South Hall, closed the door with a bang, and, pulling out a bunch of big rattling keys attached to a chain, locked it, as he grumbled, Phat the divil d ' yez be afther wantin t ' stay so late fer? Then he went slowly back to Central Building and sat on watch. Gradually the few stars, which had shone in the early part of the night, were hidden by the fast gathering clouds, making a murky blackness over all which seemed so thick as even to shut in the rays from the gas lights in the campus so as to make them only dim, struggling, yellow spots- A drizzling rain mixed with sleet began to fall, and froze as soon as it reached the ground, covering the streets and walks with a glassy sheet. The wind, which had sprung up, rattled the ice-coated branches of the trees together, often with such force that the ice upon them broke and fell with a clear crack upon the frozen ground beneath. Suddenly a flickering light shone through one of the windows of the Medical Build- ing. For an hour or more it gradually grew larger and larger, but the town wassleeping the rain fell and the wind blew. Then the light began to grow more rapidly until it

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I empty halls with their floors worn into splinters, and of the cold rooms; but they soon began to recall the good times they had had in this or that society hall; or how they had fooled a certain professor in some room, or the names they had carved upon the window- sills and chairs. The greatest consolation was that they would, in all probability, get out of classes for a week at least, for how could classes meet after the loss of two of the main buildings? The members of the instructional staffs shook their heads and said it would put them in a bad fix, as there had been little enough room before; then, too, there were many specimens lost in the Medical Building which could not be replaced for years. Quietly the faculty called a meeting, and by noon proofs of the programs for the Medical students were ready and the an- nouncement was made that classes in all departments would go on as usual the next morning, the places of meeting to be poste d upon the bulletin-boards later. Accordingly every student went to his eight o ' clock class Monday morning, possibly lamenting the loss of the anticipated holidays, but prouder of his Alma Mater. LBII.A KEMMKREK.