USA > Texas > Harris County > Houston > A thumb-nail history of the city of Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1836 to the year 1912 > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
The following are the big Houston firms with the capacity of their plants:
Kirby Lumber Company, manufacturers, 400,- 000,000 feet.
164 A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
Long-Bell Lumber Company, manufacturers, 500,000,000 feet.
West Lumber Company, manufacturers, '175,- 000,000 feet.
W. H. Norris Lumber Company, wholesalers, 100,000,000 feet.
Vaughan Lumber Company, wholesalers, 100,- 000,000 feet.
Continental Lumber and Tie Company, whole- salers, 100,000,000 feet.
Trinity River Lumber Company, manufacturers, 60,000,000 feet.
Central Coal and Coke Company, manufacturers, 50,000,000 feet.
W. T. Carter & Brother, manufacturers, 50,- 000,000 feet.
Carter Lumber Company, manufacturers, 40,- 000,000 feet.
W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, manufac- turers, 50,000,000 feet.
Sabine Lumber Company, manufacturers, 40,- 000,000 feet.
Ray & Mihils, wholesalers, 40,000,000 feet.
Carter-Kelly Lumber Company, manufacturers, 30,000,000 feet.
Big Tree Lumber Company, manufacturers and wholesalers, 30,000,000 feet.
C. R. Cummings & Co., manufacturers, 25,000,- 000 feet.
J. S. and W. M. Rice, manufacturers, 25,000,000 feet.
165
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
Gebhart-Williams-Fenet, manufacturers, 25,- 000,000 feet.
Bland & Fisher, manufacturers, 25,000,000 feet.
J. C. Hill Lumber Company, manufacturers, 20,000,000 feet.
L. B. Manefee Lumber Company, manufactur- ers, 20,000,000 feet.
R. W. Wier Lumber Company, manufacturers, 20,000,000 feet.
Alf. Bennett Lumber Company, manufacturers and wholesalers, 20,000,000 feet.
R. C. Miller Lumber Company, manufacturers, 20,000,000 feet.
Bush Brothers, manufacturers, 15,000,000 feet.
Southern Pinery Tie and Lumber Company, manufacturers and wholesalers, 10,000,000 feet.
The foregoing foot up within a fraction of two billion feet of lumber annually controlled by Hous- ton firms.
Houston is the recognized center of all that re- lates to handling refining, exporting and financing the output of the Texas oil fields and is rapidly assuming the same relation to the oil fields of Okla- homa. An idea of the importance of Houston in this respect may be formed from the statement that there are five large oil refineries here, thirteen oil dealers and thirty-nine producers and exporters, twenty-three of the latter being large concerns and that Houston has the largest independent oil com- pany in the United States, the Texas Company, with a capital of $36,000,000. Pipe lines from
166
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
all the Texas fields and from Oklahoma converge at Houston and additional lines, to cost something like $7,000,000, are being constructed.
Houston naturally holds first place as a rice market, since it has every advantage. Aside from the physical aspect there is something of a senti- mental side to the question, for it was a Houston man who first pointed out the possibilities of rice culture and who actually took steps to develop it. The late J. R. Morris, as early as the middle seven- ties, organized a company and took out a charter, the object being to cultivate rice in all that territory lying between Houston and the San Jacinto river. He had a survey made which resulted in demon- strating that Houston is about twenty-eight feet lower than some near point on the San Jacinto river from which he proposed to start his canal. He wanted to deflect the water from the river and use it in irrigating the prairie lands and also to utilize the surplus in running machinery at the mouth of White Oak Bayou, at the foot of Main street. For some reason nothing was ever done by Mr. Morris and his associates, but attention was drawn to the possibilities of rice culture, which has resulted in its becoming one of the large and rapidly grow- ing industries of Texas. At the time of Mr. Mor- ris' death it is doubtful if there was as much as an acre of ground in Texas devoted to the cultivation of rice. Today rice holds third place in point of importance among the crops of the State. Harris county alone has 30,000 acres, while there are 253,-
167
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
560 acres in all, of which about 200,000 acres are tributary to Houston.
Houston has five rice mills with a daily capacity of 7,600 bags, while the capacity of all the mills in the State is 25,200 bags. The annual production averages about two and a quarter million bags, Houston handling about three-fourths of it.
Including the railroad shop workers there are sev- eral thousand wage-earners in Houston employed all the year round to whom is paid something like $8,500,000 annually. This is not for one year, but is for every year and therefore it is not surprising that Houston should be known as the best retail town in Texas. There are over twelve hundred re- tail dealers who, according to an estimate made by the Chamber of Commerce, based on almost com- plete returns, do an annual business of $55,000,000.
The wholesale business of Houston is very great, estimated by the Chamber of Commerce at $90,- 000,000 annually. The leading articles and the amount of business done in each are as follows: Machinery, $3,000,000; hardware, $4,000,000; lumber, $35,000,000; petroleum products, $1,000,- 000; drugs and chemicals, $4,000,000; paints and glass, $1,000,000; furniture, $1,400,000; dry goods, $1,750,000; liquors, $1,250,000; beer and ice, $2,- 500,000; groceries, $8,000,000; produce, $4,600,- 000; sugar and molasses, $2,000,000; tobacco, $1,- 250,000; packing house products, $3,750,000. When to these is added the business done in build- ing material, paving material, electrical supplies
168
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
and other things, it becomes apparent that the esti- mate of $90,000,000 must be under rather than above the actual figures.
Not counting the railroads, trust companies and banks, there are 376 incorporated companies doing business in Houston, the combined capital of which is $145,943,900. There are, of course, thousands of individuals and numerous unincorporated com- panies doing business in addition to these, which shows the magnitude of Houston as a trade center.
In the early days the Houston merchants and property owners who wished to insure against fire loss were compelled to send to New Orleans for their policies, for there were no local insurance agents here. These conditions prevailed until 1858, when Mr. John Dickinson established the first agency in Houston, he representing a New Or- leans firm. Just about the time Mr. Dickinson got his office working satisfactorily and began doing a lucrative business, the war broke out and knocked his business into a cocked hat.
In 1868 the first local insurance company was or- ganized in Houston. This was the Planters' Fire Insurance Company, which did a good business un- til 1880, when a disastrous cotton fire occurred, causing such heavy losses to the company that it went into voluntary liquidation.
In 1895 the Houston Fire and Marine Insurance Company was organized. This company did a good business for several years, but through the in- nocent purchase of a lot of bogus bonds, it was
169
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
forced to suspend and go out of business a few years ago.
The Guarantee Life Insurance Company was the first life insurance company organized in Houston. It was organized in 1906 with a capital stock of $100,000 and prospered from the very beginning. It does an immense business and has over $13,000,- 000 insurance in force. The officers of the Guar- antee are: Jonathan Lane, president; John H. Thompson, vice president and Charles Boedeker, secretary-treasurer.
The Great Southern Life Insurance Company is, in some respects, a wonderful organization. It was organized in 1909 and though it is less than three years old, it has done and is still doing, an immense business. It has a capital of $500,000 and a surplus of $500,000 and outstanding insurance of over ten million dollars. Among its policy holders is one who is insured for $100,000, the largest policy ever written in Texas for one person. The officers of the Great Southern are: J. S. Rice, president; O. S. Carlton, C. G. Pillot, J. S. Cullinan and P. H. McFadden of Beaumont, vice presidents; J. T. Scott, treasurer and Louis St. J. Thomas, secre- tary.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
The First Telegraph Line in Texas-Two Vet- eran Operators First Telephones-The Wire- less Telegraph Companies-Organization of the First Electric Light Company.
The Houston Telegraph of March 18, 1853, mentions the fact that some of the material for the telegraph line betwen Houston and Galveston had been received at the latter place. At that time the land part of the line had been constructed, but the two-mile stretch across the bay at Virginia Point was causing a great deal of trouble. Modern sub- marine cables were unknown at that time and many substitutes for them were suggested and tried. Finally the difficulty was overcome by using ordi- nary iron wire covered with gutta percha, which was warranted by its maker to last for one year and which cost $350 per mile. But before the problem was solved, the land part of the line grew old and fell down, so that it was not until 1858 that an act- ual working line was constructed between the two cities, this being the first telegraph line constructed in Texas. It was not a great financial undertaking, since the cost of the entire fifty miles including the two miles of bay, was only $6,200, of which the Houston people contributed $3,000.
Having constructed the Galveston-Houston line successfully, the owners formed a company called the Star State Telegraph Company and built a line along the Texas and New Orleans railroad
171
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
which was being constructed about that time. When the war occurred the company had its line completed to Orange in East Texas. As an item of interest it may be stated here that when the Texas ports were blockaded during the war it was almost im- possible to get sulpuric acid with which the batteries of those days were operated, and that telegraphing would have been impossible had not some genius found that the acid water from Sour Lake made an admirable substitute for sulphuric acid. The telegraph batteries were charged with Sour Lake water and all difficulty disappeared.
Soon after the close of the war, the Star State Company was absorbed by the Southwestern Tele- graph Company which then covered most of the Southern States. Mr. D. P. Shepherd, who is possibly the oldest telegraph operator in this coun- try, and of whom it is said that he was the first op- erator in the world to take a message by ear, was placed in charge of the new telegraph company with headquarters in Houston.
In 1867 the Southwestern was absorbed by the Western Union Telegraph Company, the latter company thus gaining control of all the telegraph lines in the United States. The Western Union remained master of the field until late in 1910, when it, in turn, was absorbed by the Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company, the largest corporation of its kind in the world.
The first manager of the Western Union in Houston was Mr. Merrit Harris, who died during
172
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
the great yellow fever epidemic of 1867 and was succeeded by Col. Phil Fall, who has the distinction of being the oldest operator in actual service in this country.
The Postal Telegraph Company opened its of- fice in Houston during July, 1898. The establish- ment was merely on a small scale, but by strict at- tention to business has managed to build up an im- mense business and has made itself a formidable competitor of the Southwestern Telegraph and Tel- ephone Company in the local field. The Postal aims at promptness and dispatch, and has thus earned an enviable reputation.
In the latter part of 1910 the Mackey Telegraph and Cable Company established its chief office in Houston, thus making Houston the great telegraph center of the State. All the companies have direct cable connection with all parts of the world, but the Mackey company has facilities possessed by no other company. The cable business out of Houston is immense and the general telegraphing done by all the Houston lines, amounts to very near four million messages each year and is constantly in- creasing.
The Houston Telegram of June 18, 1878, says:
"Mr. J. W. Stacey, the efficient manager of the Western Union Telegraph office in this city, has procured a telephone of the latest improved con- struction, which he will put up for use during the military encampment of the volunteeers of the State next week. The line will run from the Fair Grounds
173
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
to Mr. G. W. Baldwin's library room in the Tele- gram building and everybody wishing to have the pleasure of conversing with a friend a mile distant will have an opportunity. Our friends from the country and many in the city who are skeptical about the truthful working of the wonderful instrument, will have an opportunity to test it to their satisfac- tion. To many of them it will be quite a curiosity, and we expect to see its capacity fully tried. Mr. Stacey will make a trial test today and will have the apparatus in perfect working order by the end of the week."
During the fall of the same year, Mr. Pendarvis, who was telegraph operator for the Morgan Trans- portation Company, connected his office in Hous- ton with the office in Clinton, ten miles away and for a time had direct telephone connection between the two. Commenting on this innovation the Hous- ton Telegram stated that unquestionably when the great convenience of the telephone was appreci- ated they would be installed in railroad depots, bus- iness houses and, perhaps, residences. This predic- tion has come true in a much greater degree than the Telegram supposed possible.
It was not until 1880 that a telephone exchange was established in Houston. Two years later Mr. G. W. Foster took charge of the exchange and it was largely through his efforts and the hearty and valuable assistance of his wife that the telephone business in Texas attained such huge proportions in so short a time. Mr. Foster is still an active man
174
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
in the company and fills one of the higher offices.
The local company has just completed its own skyscraper at a cost of about $1,000,000, and has equipments for caring for 20,000 subscribers with- out making further additions to its plant.
Houston's long distance telephone system is very complete, there being twelve circuits to Gal- veston, seven to Beaumont, three to San Antonio, three to Dallas and one each to Fort Worth and Corpus Christi. Each of these direct circuits has branch circuits reaching all parts of the State.
In addition to the old telephone company there is an automatic telephone company also operating in Houston. This company owns its own home, an elegant building on Rusk avenue near the Fed- eral building.
There are two wireless telegraph companies oper- ating in Houston. One is a strictly private affair owned by the Texas Company. This company has 2,700 miles of private wires in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. It uses these wires for business pur- poses, but keeps its wireless plant always in readi- ness for use in case of failure of its wires. The company owns similar outfits at Beaumont and in Oklahoma.
The other company, the Texas Wireless Telegraph-Telephone, is the only one engaged in public and commercial business. The company has perfectly equipped stations at Houston, San An- tonio, Victoria, Fredericksburg, Waco and Fort Worth. It is distinctly a home company, for all of
175
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
its stock is owned by Texans while its officers and managers are all Texans.
The Houston Electric Light Company was or- ganized in 1882, by Mr. E. Raphael. Its first of- ficers were: E. Raphael, president; D. F. Stuart, secretary. The board of trustees were: A. Grose- beck, B. A. Botts, F. A. Rice, E. P. Hill, D. F. Stuart, J. C. Hutcherson, G. L. Porter and E. Raphael. Only the old Brush carbon light was used. Mr. Raphael exhibited the first incandes- cent lamp ever seen in Houston in August, 1883. The great merit of the incandescent lamp was rec- ognized at once and Mr. Raphael secured a contract to equip the Howard Oil Mill plant with them. This was the first installation of incandescent electric lights in a building in Texas. Mr. Raphael and his associates conducted the business for a year or so and then sold their plant to the Houston Gas Company. That company organized the present electric light company in 1894.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
The Rice Institute-Brief Sketch of Mr. Rice -- Organization of the Great Educational Center.
Among the very early settlers in the new town of Houston was Mr. Wm. M. Rice, who was destined to impress his name indelibly on this, his adopted home. Mr. Rice was a remarkable man. He be- gan his mercantile life in a modest way, but by strict attention to every detail of his business he was soon able to extend his field of operation. His success was assured from the beginning, and, having the money making instinct, or faculty, largely de- veloped, he soon became one of the best known and most prosperous merchants of the city. Much has been said and written about him. Some things absolutely true and some largely imaginative. Those who knew him are aware of the fact that he would not have appreciated some of the latter. Mr. Rice was intensely practical, and cared little for the applause of the crowd. He was a successful mer- chant, a king of finance and nothing more. He was absolutely honest and just, and what was more to the point, he was as just to himself as he was to others. If he made a contract he carried out every detail and he required those who made the other side to do the same. If he owed money he paid every cent of the debt and those who owed him money were required to settle in full. He was merely an ordinary merchant and business man, though a remarkably successful one.
177
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
Had the early friends and associates of Mr. Rice been asked to select one of their number who would make a princely donation towards the cause of edu- cation, the chances are ten to one that Mr. Rice would never have been selected. If he ever gave a thought to art, science or literature no one knew of it. The first intimation that he took the least interest in educational matters was given some time during the middle eighties when the city was en- deavoring to raise money to purchase what was known as Academy Square and the old building that stood on it, for the purpose of turning it into a high school. The property had been owned by a company but had passed into the hands of a private citizen and the city wanted to buy it. Mr. Rice was living in New York at the time, but was paying an annual visit to Houston when the purchase matter came up. Mr. E. Raphael, who was very close to Mr. Rice, and who looked after some of his Hous- ton interests for him, was requested by a committee of citizens to ask Mr. Rice for a subscription to the fund. Mr. Raphael did so and was met by. a prompt refusal, Mr. Rice stating that it was the duty of the city and not of individuals to care for such things as public schools. Then he surprised Mr. Raphael by telling him that he was thinking of a plan by which he hoped to establish a great edu- cational institution here. A few months later he took into his confidence a few gentlemen and, after a thorough discussion of his plans, an organi- zation was formed and, in 1891, a charter was ap-
178
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
plied for and granted. The terms of the charter were most liberal and the trustees were given wide latitude for the future organization of a great non- political, non-sectarian institution of technical learn- ing to be dedicated to the advancement of letters, science and art, to be located in the adopted home of Mr. Rice. As a nucleus for the endowment fund, Mr. Rice placed in the hands of the trustees an interest bearing note for $200,000.
The original trustees were the following named gentlemen: Mr. Rice, himself; his brother, Mr. F. A. Rice, Mr. A. S. Richardson, Mr. James A. Ba- ker, Mr. J. E. McAshan, Mr. E. Raphael and Mr. C. M. Lombardi. Under the terms of the charter this board is made self-perpetuating and its mem- bers are elected for life. Since its organization vacancies have been filled by the selection of the following: Mr. Wm. M. Rice, Jr., a nephew of Mr. Rice, Mr. B. B. Rice and Dr. E. O. Lovett.
Having taken the first step, Mr. Rice became infatuated with the idea he had conceived, and from time to time, transferred to the trustees large in- terests and then, by his will, left the bulk of his large fortune to the institute.
Mr. Rice was murdered in New York in 1900 and there was a long fight in court over his will.
When the trustees finally came into possession of the full resources of the foundation, which now amount to approximately ten million dollars, they invited Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett, Professor in Princeton University, to assist them in formu-
179
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
lating and executing the educational programme of the Institute. The President thereupon under- took a year's journey of study which extended from England to Japan; on the completion of this pre- liminary investigation, a most suitable site of three hundred acres was secured, and to Messrs. Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, of Boston, was committed the task of designing a general architectural plan consistent with the programme which had been adopted for the Institute.
In 1911, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Texan Independence, the corner-stone of the Ad- ministration Building was laid by the trustees. This building, together with the first wing of the Engineering Quadrangle, the Mechanical Labor- atory and Power House, and the first Residential Hall for Men, is rapidly nearing completion. The initial building schedule includes also special lab- oratories for instruction and investigation in phys- ics, chemistry, and biology, and in the application cf these sciences to the arts of industry and com- merce. In the preparation of these preliminary laboratory plans the Institute has enjoyed the co- operation of an advisory committee consisting of Professor Ames, director of the physical laboratory of Johns Hopkins University; Professor Conklin, director of the biological laboratory of Princeton University; Professor Richards, chairman of the department of chemistry, Harvard University; and Professor Stratton, director of the National Bureau of Standards.
180
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
The academic work of the Institute will begin this autumn on the 23rd day of September. A few days later the formal opening will be observed with appropriate ceremonies of inauguration and dedication, on October 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1912. Distinguished scholars and scientists from a num- ber of foreign seats of learning have consented to participate in the proceedings of this the Insti- tute's first academic festival by preparing lectures in the fundamental sciences of mathematics, phys- ics, chemistry, and biology, and in the liberal hu- manities of philosophy, history, letters, and art.
The initial staff of the Institute will be or- ganized in a faculty of science and a faculty of letters. Of those who have been selected for posi- tions under the direction of the faculty of science it is possible to announce the following elections, the names appearing in alphabetical order:
Philip Heckman Arbuckle, B. A. (Chicago), of Georgetown, Texas; Director of Athletics in Southwestern University; to be Instructor in Ath- letics.
Percy John Daniell, M. A. (Cambridge), of Liverpool, England; Senior Wrangler and Ray- leigh Prizeman of the University of Cambridge; Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Liverpool; to be Research Associate in Applied Mathematics.
William Franklin Edwards, B. Sc. (Michi- gan), of Houston, Texas; formerly Instructor in the University of Michigan, and later Presi-
181
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
dent of the University of Washington; to be Lec- turer in Chemistry. -
Griffith Conrad Evans, Ph. D. (Harvard), of Rome, Italy; Sheldon Fellow of Harvard Uni- versity; to be Assistant Professor of Pure Mathe- matics.
Julian Sorrell Huxley, M. A. (Oxford), of Ox- ford, England; Newdigate Prizeman of the Uni- versity of Oxford; Lecturer in Biology at Bal- liol College, and Inter-collegiate Lecturer in Ox- ford University; to be Research Associate in Bi- ology.
Francis Ellis Johnson, B. A., E. E. (Wiscon- sin), of Houston, Texas; recently with the Brit- ish Columbia Electric Railway Company; to be Instructor in Electrical Engineering.
Edgar Odell Lovett, Ph. D. (Virginia and Leipsic), LL. D. (Drake and Tulane), of Hous- ton, Texas; formerly Professor of Mathematics in Princeton University, and later Head of the Department of Astronomy in the same institu- tion; President of the Institute; to be Professor of Mathematics.
William Ward Watkin, B. Sc. (Pennsylvania), Architect, of Houston, Texas; to be Instructor in Architectural Engineering.
Harold Albert Wilson, F. R. S., D. Sc. (Cam- bridge), of Montreal, Canada; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University; formerly Pro- fessor in King's College, London; Research Pro-
182
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
fessor in McGill University; to be Professor of Physics.
There is being constituted a faculty of letters in which will be developed facilities for elementary and advanced courses in the so-called humanities, thereby enabling the Institute to offer both the ad- vantages of a liberal general education and those of special and professional training. For these facul- ties of science and letters the best available instruc- tors and investigators are being sought in the hope of assembling in Houston a group of unusually able scientists and scholars through whose pro- ductive work the new university should speedily take a place of considerable importance among the established institutions of the country.
The subjects in which instruction will be pro- vided as rapidly as possible are mathematics, phys- ics, chemistry, biology, engineering, architecture, ancient languages, modern languages, history, and politics, philosophy and psychology, economics and sociology, and art and archeaeology. The pro- grammes of study are being so arranged as to of- fer a variety of courses leading after four years of undergraduate work to bachelor's degrees in arts, in science, in letters, and in their applications to the several fields of engineering, domestic arts, and other regions of applied science. Extensive general courses in the various domains of scientific knowledge will be available, but in the main the programmes will consist of subjects carefully co- ordinated and calling for considerable concentra-
183
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
tion of study. For the advanced degrees, Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of En- gineering, every facility will be afforded properly qualified graduate students to undertake lines of study and research under the direction of the In- stitute's resident and visiting professors.
Candidates for admission to the Institute who present satisfactory testimonials as to their charac- ter will be accepted either upon successful exam- ination in the entrance subjects or by certificate of graduation from an accredited public or private high school.
There will be no charge for tuition and no fees for registration or examination in the Institute. A small deposit will be required to cover possible breakage in the laboratories and losses from the libraries; the balance from this contingent fee is, of course, returnable at the close of the session.
Rooms in the Residential Hall, for men, com- pletely furnished exclusive of linen, together with table board at the Institute Commons, will be available for from eighteen to twenty dollars per month of four weeks. For both single and double rooms the rental will be uniform without regard to their location, and they will be let in the order of applications received. Diagrams showing the floor plans will be sent on request to any one who may be interested. Accommodations for the residence of young women on the university grounds will not be offered during the coming year. The Residential Hall for Men is of absolute-
184
A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
ly fire-proof construction, heated by steam, lighted by electricity, cleaned by vacuum apparatus, and equipped with the most approved forms of sanitary plumbing, providing adequate bathing facilities on every floor.
The general plan for the improvement of the site of the Institute calls for a number of play- ing and exhibition fields in the vicinity of the resi- dential groups. In fact the wide expanse of the campus affords abundant space for every variety of physical exercise. A determined effort will be made to systematize and make general a sane de- votion to out-door sports in climatic conditions, which render athletics and open-air gymnastics profitably possible the whole year round. The daily time-table of each student will include a def- inite period under the instructor in athletics. Sim- ilarly with a view to developing every student in the manly art of self-defense in oratory and dispu- tation there have been appointed, in the South Tower of the first Residential Hall for Men, halls for two literary and debating societies, whose activ- ities should supplement the work of certain chairs under the faculty of letters.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.