Friday, December 15, 1967
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
55-year-old whistle 'blows minds'
By Will Hardesty Kansas Staff Reporter Students at KU call it simply "the whistle."
For 55 years now, the cussed and discussed (not the original, for there have been replacements through the years) has been heard for miles around Lawrence—by housewives in kitchens, farmers in fields, and especially by students either squirming in classroom chairs or heading for classes on Mt. Oread.
When the whistle blows, sending its mushrooming cloud of vapor skyward on a frosty day, people stop in mid-sentence. The whistle says it's 20 minutes past the hour, and the whistle means it.
The whistle of 1967, or one of its predecessors, has been blowing its stack since 1912. The original whistle caused no end of trouble when it was first introduced. Many instructors refused to let their classes out just because of some howling whistle. This lack of communication caused then - Chancellor Frank Strong to issue some special instructions to the students.
"Students are authorized and expected to leave their classes promptly after hearing the signal. Instructors will not consider this a discourtesy."
Instructors unhappy
Instructors unhappy Evidently instructors did consider it a discourtesy. At any rate they didn't like the idea, and Strong had to issue another statement.
Parties to greet alums at holiday roundball games
Jayhawk fans attending the Hawk's vacation games in Kansas City and St. Louis will be greeted by pregame parties for alums and followers.
The parties, sponsored by the KU Alumni Association, will be set up and run by local alumni officers.
Before the clash with the Billikens, the St. Louis officers have reserved a special "Happy Jayhawk Room" located adjacent to the main basketball floor at St. Louis' Kiel Auditorium. The room will be opened from 7 p.m. until game time and then reopened at halftime.
Fans in the Kansas City area can join fellow Kansas rooters at 6 p.m. every night before the Jayhawks play in the Big Eight preseason tournament. The Kansas City alums have reserved a room at the Downtowner Motor Inn, just northwest of the Municipal Auditorium, for Dec. 28, 29 and 30.
Both parties are sponsored and paid for by the Alumni Association and no admission charge or reservations are necessary. Refreshments will be available at both parties.
Christmas Art Sale
Dec. 16, 10-6 p.m.
17, 2-6 p.m.
Portfolio of Drawings,
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1242 Louisiana
"If the instructor isn't through when the whistle blows, get up and go," was the essence of his statement.
In October of 1914, the faculty senate voted to establish a daily devotional period beginning at 8 a.m. The whistle blew at 8 to mark the beginning of the period and again at 8:20 to end the period.
The devotional period was discontinued in 1916, but the whistle blew at 8 and 8:20 as late as March. 1936.
The original whistle had to be replaced when it blew up. The replacement was considered too screechy, so the Building and Grounds men welded the old whistle back together and put it to work again.
In May, 1946. KU inherited a third whistle. This one was donated by a former student, Capt. Robert A. Haggard of the U.S. Merchant Marine. The new whistle was taken from a German transport ship scuttled in Leghorn Bay, Italy.
Not loud enough
The German whistle was blown when V-E Day was declared, but that was about the last time it was heard. It wasn't loud enough, so it was replaced by "Old Faithful," which the Daily Kansan of March, 1946, said could be heard as far away as Lone Star Lake.
Shortly after this the new Campanile was completed. Its 53-bell carillon was tried as a substitute "whistle," but wasn't loud enough.
"Old Faithful" was put back into service and was used until March 26, 1954, when a cracked seam caused it to be replaced by the whistle which is now in use.
The present whistle is still holding up, according to Harry M. Buchholz, superintendent of the physical plant.
Last spring, the whistle took on a new screechy voice for a while. "It was a bad valve which we had to replace," Buchholz said, "but the whistle 'stelf is still fine and ought to be good for years to come."
Under the present class schedule, the whistle blows 11 times each weekday. It sounds at 20 minutes past the hour from 7:20 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. On Saturday it blows five times—once each from 7:20 to 11:20 a.m.
The whistle is always on time, Buchholz said.
Just how far away the whistle can be heard cannot be told in an absolute number of miles. "It
"We set it twice a day. The thing is never off more than a couple of seconds. We set it with the time supplied by the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C."
depends on how the winds are," Buchholz said. "That's what determines how far in any individual direction the whistle can be heard."
The whistle, powered by 175 pounds per square inch of steam pressure, is also used for Civil Defense emergencies.
"When we get a call from them, we blow the whistle—for tornadoes or whatever."
Whatever it is blown for, and no matter how long you've been at KU, when the whistle blows, if you are at all close, its 10-second blast will command silence.
The school of fine arts will present violinist Claudia Fincham, Pratt, in a senior recital, at 8 p.m. Monday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
Senior violinist to present recital
Pianist Dennis Johns, Johnson senior, will accompany Miss Fincham in sonatas by Handel and Brahms and a concerto by Mozart.
group of seniors, will also perform in the recital, playing works by Beethoven and contemporary composer Walter Piston. Members are flutist Sarah Doll, Lincoln; clarinetist Charles Lawson, Muskogee, Okla.; bassoonist Charles Rader, Kansas City, Mo.; and pianist Marsha Farewell, Norton.
The Woodwind Ensemble, a
The recital is free and open to the public.
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