USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 9
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REV. EDWARD SORIN, Founder of the University of Notre Dame.
but also by virtue of his intellect and his noble presence." So on this occasion it might be said of Father Sorin himself : He presided not only by reason of his office, but also by right of intellectual supremacy and patri- archal bearing.
At this chapter were present delegates, not only from the United States and the Dominion of Canada, but also from France, Algiers, the East Indies, and even from Rome itself, where these meetings are usually held. In this instance Rome had given special permis- sion to hold the chapter at Notre Dame, as a peculiar mark of favor to the United States, and as a compliment to Father Sorin, the only American general of a religious order.
It was at the general chapter of 1872 that the gifted and well-beloved Father Augustin
Lemonnier was selected as president and lo- cal superior of Notre Dame. It would seem that the presidency of Father Lemonnier came to add grace and beauty to what was already 'so laboriously and substantially constructed. There is hardly a science or an art in which he was not well versed; and, as Johnson said of Goldsmith, there was nothing which he touched that he did not beautify. Under him all the sciences and the arts flourished as never before; and Notre Dame became in- deed a university.
One of the most signal benefits which Father Lemonnier conferred upon the uni- versity was the establishment of a students' circulating library, known after his death as the Lemonnier Library, and now, under the efficient charge of his beloved friend, Pro- fessor Edwards, grown into the fine college library which is so great a credit to the uni- versity.
The period of . Father Lemonnier's presi- dency was but two years, and yet to many of us that short span seems like a golden age, all was so beautiful, so harmonious. What a pleasant picture arises in the mind at the sound of his name! Even the word was musical, and thus emblematic of the beautiful character which it represented. What a gracious presence, what kindness, what ease, what exquisite taste, what goodness! In him met most perfectly the priest, the scholar, and the gentleman. But he was even more than this: he was an artist in the broadest sense of the term, having a true appreciation of music, poetry, landscape gardening, and gen- eral scenic effect. Molding nature with the hand of art, he would have made Notre Dame as charming as the Pincian gardens. He was, besides, a most genial companion, pos- sessed of a delicate and ready wit and a never-failing fund of good humor.
His active life, from his ordination to his death, was completely identified with Notre Dame. First appointed prefect of discipline at the special instance of Father Dillon, and then vice-president by Father Corby, he had
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filled every position up to that of president and superior, in which he died.
His many-sided sympathies not only ex- plain his popularity with all classes of people, but may also account for his dramatic taste, especially his admiration for Shakespeare; for, like Cardinal Wiseman, he loved and ap- preciated the great bard, and himself pos- sessed no little share of dramatic genius. It was, however, towards the pastoral drama that his taste was drawn, and "Twelfth Night," or "As You Like It," gave him far more pleasure than "Lear" or "Macbeth." Inno- cence, gentleness, and purity had a wonderful attraction for his soul.
To this wide sympathy with others we may also ascribe his marvellous success as presi- dent. For him the term university was a word of marked significance. He would have all departments of study in a prosperous con- dition, the sciences, the arts, the languages, the professions. He would have the various societies active and harmonious. He would have officers and professors working together with one mind. He would have the students contented and rapidly advancing in all knowl- edge. He would have the surroundings as comfortable and beautiful as they were good and useful. Finally, he would have all sancti- fied by a pervading spirit of Christian piety and virtue. To say that, at least in a large measure, he succeeded in all this, is to name him what he was indeed, a model president.
Father Lemonnier and Father Gillespie, each of whom had done so much for litera- ture and art at Notre Dame, died within a few days of one another, the first October 29, and the last November 12, 1874. A like co- incidence had marked the deaths of the two Father Dillons, Father Patrick dying Novem- ber 15, and Father James December 17, 1868. All four bright men, and dying in the bloom of early manhood.
During the last sickness and at the death of Father Lemonnier, Father Patrick J. Colo- vin was vice-president and director of studies; and after Father Lemonnier's death remained
as acting president until his selection as presi- dent, which office he held until 1877.
Father Colovin was a ripe scholar, and a man of fine presence. Under his presidency the work so well commenced under Father Corby and Father Lemonnier was carried on with success. Father Colovin was devoted to solid learning, and there is no doubt that the standard of the higher studies was sensibly raised during his administration. Notre Dame moved ahead steadily on the road of perma- nent prosperity. Father Colovin's occasional addresses were models of finished oratory.
During this time the Centennial Exposition and World's Fair was held in Philadelphia; and the university became widely known from the beautiful altar and other objects of re- ligious art then seen at the exposition, and which now adorn the Church of the Sacred Heart.
The month of December, 1875, was noted for the thrilling uncertainty that for weeks hung over the . Atlantic steamer Amerique, upon which Father Sorin had taken passage for France. He left Notre Dame on the evening of November 7th, and did not arrive at Queenstown until December 18th of that year. The long silence caused alarm for his safety and there was good reason for the fear, as the great vessel was disabled at sea. It was the most perilous of the nearly fifty passages made across the ocean by Father Sorin during his life. On his safe return to Notre Dame, May 21, 1876, all was welcome and thanksgiving.
February 26, 1876, a patriotic number of the "Scholastic" was issued containing quite a historical account of matters and things connected with Notre Dame. From this very interesting number we have freely drawn in preparing the preceding pages. The edition was prepared in accordance with a request from the Indiana State Board of Education, made to all publications in the State, with a view to furnish statistical and historical in- formation, in connection with the celebration
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of the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
From the very beginning great attention has been given at Notre Dame to manly sports and to outdoor and indoor amusements. Father Sorin himself in the early days joined in the recreations of his young friends, never so happy as when throwing aside his cares he mingled in their merry sports. In the good old game of marbles he was, as we have seen, an especial expert, as in the early spring days many a boy learned to his cost.
One day of the week, formerly Wednesday, but of late years Thursday, was devoted exclusively to physical exercises. In the early years, students took prodigious delight in long excursions on foot, scouring the fields and woods far and wide. Over sandy roads and through swampy prairies they went in merry troops, with a good brother, priest or profes- sor in attendance. A favorite mode of pass- ing the day was to start out immediately after breakfast, carrying the main part of the din- ner in baskets and trusting to the neighboring farmers for butter, eggs and milk. At other times they would give notice a week in ad- vance, and then swoop down on some quiet farmhouse, and there demolish chickens, hot pies and other dainty edibles, which, besides being somewhat more toothsome than the col- lege commons, tasted fifty per cent better from the fact that they had to be paid for.
Again, still longer excursions were taken, in "carry-alls" and other hired vehicles. This was particularly true in winter, when many famous sleighrides were taken.
At a still earlier day, when several of the students were the sons of civilized Indian chiefs or other distinguished braves among the remnants of the tribes yet left in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, even finer sport was found in the weekly excursions. Bears, wolves, deer, turkey, 'coons, opossums, catamounts and prairie-hens were found in the pathless woods and prairies; while the lakes and streams were covered with wild geese and other aquatic game.
On one of these occasions it is related that the boys found a bear in a bee tree, trying to rob the honey. The Indian boys soon smoked out the bear, and then made short work of him, much to the amazement of their white companions. They managed also to get the honey which the unfortunate bear had been after.
With the Indians and the bears, such ex- citing excursions came to an end; but the charms of weekly tramps continue even to this day. They are, however, of necessity, now confined to the grounds of the university, and chiefly by the margins of the charming lakes. In winter time, also, these lakes fur- nish exhilarating skating; while, in summer, St. Joseph's lake, evening after evening, is alive with the merry swimmers. In summer, too, the same St. Joseph's sparkles with the merry boatmen's practice over the silvery waves.
Back in the sixties regularly organized boating clubs were first established; and, year by year, the exercises and rivalries of the dif- ferent crews became of greater and greater interest, both to inmates of the University and to visitors. No commencement exercises are now considered complete without the regattas; to witness which, hundreds of people gather along the shores of the lake, all intent upon the success of their respective friends and eager to wear the colors of the champions.
The earliest record we have of a race is of that which took place in 1870, when the "Santa Maria" won the cup. In after years, we read of victories for the "Pinta," the "Minnehaha," the "Hiawatha," and many others. The boats used upon the lakes are equal to the best in the country.
In 1877, Father Colovin and Father Corby changed places, Father Colovin taking charge of the Watertown, Wisconsin, parish, which Father Corby had conducted with signal abil- ity for five years, and Father Corby again becoming president of Notre Dame, with Father Thomas E. Walsh as vice-president and director of studies.
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One of the first cares of the new adminis- tration was to extend and improve the facili- ties for manly exercises for the students. Im- proved walks were laid out for use in wet weather. The noble avenue leading from the college, lined with wide-spreading maples, was brought to an even grade for a mile and a half south, into the city limits, and then finely .graveled, making the approach to the build- ings one of the finest to be found anywhere.
From the first, the students of Notre Dame had been separated into divisions, according to age. Those over sixteen were called seniors; those between twelve and sixteen, juniors; and those under twelve, minims. The seniors have since been called also Brownsons, in honor of the great philosopher; and the juniors, Carrolls, in honor of the first archbishop of Baltimore. A further division has recently been made, according to which those pursuing the higher courses of study are called Sorins, in honor of the founder of the university.
Each of the original three divisions has a separate study room, a separate dining room, a separate dormitory, and a separate recrea- tion hall and play-ground. The Sorins, how- ever, use the refectory and the recreation halls and yards of the seniors, or Brownsons.
After the introduction of the noble game of baseball the grounds were found too con- fined, and a large campus was set aside for each division, some twenty-five or thirty acres being now devoted to this purpose, giving ample room for extended walks and for all the manly sports, including, alas, the redoubt- able game of football. It must be said, how- ever, that this last game has not been played at Notre Dame with the barbarous accom- paniments found in too many schools and col- leges. As in everything else, so in her games, Notre Dame seeks to present the best. The strong limbs, ruddy complexions and general good health of her students give evidence that her efforts in this matter have not been with- out success.
For cold, wet and stormy weather, all ra-
tional indoor amusements are provided. In addition to these are the libraries, reading rooms, societies, musical and dramatic enter- tainments, with frequent lectures, readings, concerts, etc. A feature of all these amuse- ments and entertainments, and even of the manly sports, is that care is taken that they serve the purposes of a higher education, whether physical, mental or moral. Man's three-fold nature is everywhere and in every- thing recognized, and in the education given, body, mind and soul are always kept in view. That the physical man should grow in strength, grace and beauty; his intellect, in knowledge and wisdom; and his heart, in virtue, are deemed essential towards attain- ing a complete education.
That the facilities for entertainments of a high order have greatly improved at Notre Dame is very clear to those who can remem- ber back even to the war period. Then even the dining rooms were insufficient to accom- modate guests at commencement, or at society reunions. Many a time in the olden day, the annual banquets were taken under the shades of the forest trees where the rustic tables were set up in long lines, and fortunate was he whose chair did not stand in the fierce glare of the sun in June. But, with all their drawbacks, it must be confessed that these woodland feasts had something of the charm which the banished duke found in the forest at Arden.
On one or two occasions, if not oftener, a more convenient location was found, and the long line of tables was laid beneath the grape arbor, thick with the rich leaves of early summer.
With Father Sorin and the other devoted priests and brothers thus watching over and ministering to their friends feasting under the blue vault and with the winds of heaven playing about them, one would sometimes think of those other feasts, taken also in the open air, where the people were seated upon the ground, "for there was much grass in the
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place," and where the blessed Master broke the five barley loaves and divided the two fishes among the multitude.
So, too, in those days, for want of room under any roof, the commencement exercises were often held in the open air. Well is it remembered when that noble man, Father Patrick Dillon, in 1859, had the fine play of Addison's "Cato," and in 1860 Cardinal Wiseman's "Hidden Gem," enacted under the locust trees, which then grew in long lines of thick shade, just east of the present Church of the Sacred Heart, and between that and Brother Peter's garden. With canvas awn- ings and plank platform set up several feet from the ground, the plays were enacted with perhaps as great success and with as much hearty applause as ever greeted the most ac- complished experts on the boards of Wash- ington Hall.
But all this is changed, as by the magic of Aladdin's lamp. Magnificent dining rooms may accommodate the largest gathering of guests; and Washington Hall has as ample a stage platform and as spacious and well seated an auditorium, and gallery, as any audience could desire. From much privation and suffering, by great zeal, labor and devo- tion, have these things been brought about. Let those who enjoy the present blessings not forget through how much self-denial, and for what a great price they have been purchased.
Sec. 9 .- THE FIRE .- The new life inaug- urated with the building of the college of 1865, and which grew broader and stronger as the years advanced, received an added im- petus under the second administration of Father Corby, aided as he was now by the scholarly Father Walsh as director of studies. Father Zahm had taken charge of the scien- tific department on the retirement of Father Carrier; and well did he bear out the bril- liant promise made by his early career. The scientific department became an honor to the university. The other departments continued to flourish in like manner, and Notre Dame
appeared to have taken her place permanently as one of the great seats of learning.
Suddenly, without a single note of warn- ing, the labors of many gifted and holy lives seemed about to be reduced to nothingness. On Wednesday, the 23rd day of April, 1879, the university, with priceless treasures; was burned to the ground. With it, so intense and destructive was the fire, nearly every other building in immediate connection with the institution, perished. The most notable exceptions were the beautiful but unfinished church of the Sacred Heart, and the old frame printing office in which the "Ave Maria" and the "Scholastic" were published.
In the next issue of the latter paper, April . 26, 1879, the sad event was described as fol- lows :
"On fire, in flames, in ashes! Such is the history of Our Lady's College for a few short hours, beginning at about eleven o'clock on Wednesday morning, April 23, 1879. The tale of alarm, of hurried help, of almost super- human but vain labor in extinguishing the raging flames, and finally of saving whatever of value that could be snatched from the fire, has all been graphically told by the daily press for the past few days, and we have hardly the heart to go over the dreadful story. But our friends have a right to hear from us through our own little paper, and so they shall, for, thank God, our printing office is one of the precious things spared by the devouring element.
"The origin of the fire is simply impossible to ascertain. Workmen had been engaged on the roof until ten o'clock, and on coming down had locked the door opening from the dome. Whether some smouldering ember was left be- hind them by the workmen, whether the hot sun inflamed the dry timber dust on the roof, or a spark from the chimney of the steam- house set fire to it, remains a matter of con- jecture. The one thing certain is, that the ac- cident could neither have been foreseen nor prevented.
"The fire was first seen from the Minims'
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yard. The flames were on the roof, near the east side of the dome; and the Minims' shrill cry of 'College on fire!' was soon echoed on every side by brother, priest, student and professor. A very little water at first would have been sufficient to save the building; but before water could be carried to the top of the sixth story, the pitch roof was already blazing, and nothing less than a deluge from the city stand-pipe could have subdued those fierce flames.
"Still, with a hope that was almost without foundation, an unthinking confidence that the beloved edifice could not thus perish before their eyes, long lines of men and boys were formed all the way up the stairways, from story to story, up to the roof, and water was thus sent up from hand to hand. At the same time, water was forced up the pipes by steam, and the great tanks on the upper stories were rapidly emptied by crowds of workers. But they contended with an enemy that could not be subdued. Those in the long water lines, too, became over-anxious to rush, each with his own little water supply, to the fire. Mr. Bonney, the photographer from the city, Professor Ivers, and numerous others, tried in vain to preserve the lines. As soon as the supports of the dome were burned away, and the massive statue fell upon the roof, carrying the flames into the dry mansard wood work, even the most hopeful gave way, and water was brought only to protect those who were saving the libraries, museums, and furniture of the various departments.
"Most heroically was this labor of saving performed. A stripling student seemed to be endowed with the courage of a hero and the strength of a giant. Especially did the gen- erous and kindly-hearted students rush into their old class-rooms and the private rooms of Very Rev. Father Corby, Father Walsh, Father Kelly, and their prefects and profes- sors, breaking open the doors when necessary, and carrying away to places of safety what- ever had become dear to them by ties of asso- ciation and fond recollection. Many a priest
and professor who forgot all about his own private affairs in laboring for the general safety, can now hardly refrain from tears when he finds that all his little articles of value, books, pictures, costly instruments, pri- vate papers of priceless value, and even heavy desks and book cases, have been securely, and it would even seem, lovingly, carried to places of safety by the warm-hearted students. They loved Notre Dame as their second home, but never loved her as when the cruel flames were snatching her from their eyes forever.
"But while all this was going on, help was pouring in from all sides. All the neighbors, for miles around, were bringing water or try- ing to save some articles. As soon as the fire was discovered, telegram after telegram was sent to the city, imploring help, and ask- ing for the fire-engine. As soon as the firemen could gather from their shops, and put the engine in working order, it was carried out. Mayor Tong, Councilman Nevius, Superin- tendent Abbott, Chief Brusie, Assistant Hull, and numerous firemen and citizens, receive our warmest expressions of gratitude. South Bend displayed a most grateful sympathy in our affliction, which will be remembered so long as Notre Dame and her sister city flour- ish side by side, in mutual help and good will towards one another. The engine had not been used before for two years, had but recently been repaired, and it was not known at first whether it would work. But it per- formed admirable service; and could it have been here in the beginning, or even an hour sooner, it would have saved the college. Had it been here half-an-hour earlier, it would have saved the infirmary building, the St. Francis Home and the Music Hall. But it did great good as it was; for, by checking the flames and dashing water on the adjacent buildings, it saved the kitchen, the steam house, the printing office, and also, perhaps, the presby- tery, the church, and other buildings in the rear. Had the flames once entered the kitchen, and so extended to the western build-
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ings, it is hardly probable that anything would now be standing at Notre Dame.
"It seems a special providence that there was so little wind stirring to carry the flames, and that what air there was, was from the southwest, and so took the fire from the precious Church of the Sacred Heart. It was also a blessed thing that the fire came not in the night, or in the winter. Early as it was in the year, the day was as warm as in June, so that even the feeble and the sick did not suffer from exposure. The hand of God was, besides, present in saving everyone from death, or even severe accident. Two of the students, P. J. Dougherty and Florian Devoto, staying too long on the roof, were intercepted by the flames, and had to jump from one floor to another, resulting in slight injury to the former. Mr. Klingel, a mer- chant of the city, carrying out furniture, barely escaped a falling wall, and was for some time prostrated by the heat. Senator Leeper, gathering an armful of valuable books from a flaming pile, barely escaped a burning cornice falling from above. A Sister, hasten- ing out a rear door of the college, passed under the porch just as it fell in. These were perhaps the narrowest escapes. The coolness displayed by the Sisters, in entering the buildings and carrying away valuables, is beyond all praise. Had they been per- mitted to enter the college at first, they would have saved every movable article uninjured, as they did in the infirmary, carrying every- thing out carefully and putting it in a place of safety. Pity such coolness and good judg- ment was not shown by all. Unfortunately, numbers of over-zealous persons, instead of taking what they could and carrying it out of the building, tossed everything out of the windows, breaking whatever could be broken, and only piling other things up below, for the fire to fall upon the heap and destroy it. The most valuable books, some of them pre- cious tomes, hundreds of years old, were thus burned on the ground outside.
"On looking about after the fires were
brought under subjection, we find the great college utterly destroyed, a burned fragment of wall standing here and there. The in- firmary building, containing, besides, the gen- eral office and the students' office, is burned entirely out, though the blackened walls are still standing. The music hall, with the juniors' play room, is entirely consumed-the south wall fallen in. All the students' trunks, which were kept in this building, were saved; the pianos, however, except one, were lost. The Minims' Hall is, of course, utterly gone. The church, the presbytery, science hall (the rear of the old church, then used by Father Zahm for that purpose), the kitchen, the steam-house, and the printing office are left, as is also Washington Hall.
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